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"I learned that in extreme situations when human lives and dignity are at state, neutrality is a sin. It helps the killers, not the victims." Elie Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor who lost his family in the Holocaust - Nobel Prize Author
Socialism - Liberalism Quotation
"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism, but under the name of liberalism they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program until one day America will be a socialist nation without ever knowing how it happened." – Norman Thomas
This took my breath away. Marisol Valles Garcia, a 20-year-old criminology student has been named the Mayor of Guadalupe, a violent Mexican border town where a former Mayor was murdered in June.
Marisol Valles Garcia
Valles is in school in Ciudad Juarez, about 35 miles from Guadalupe. Along with the death of the town's mayor, police and security officers have been killed and some beheaded. Just last week in Guadalupe, a high-traffic crossing point for drugs into the U.S., eight were killed. The city is the second most violent city after Juarez according to this account.
When a local newspaper asked the student if she feared for her life, she had this to say (as translated by The Upshot): Afraid? Everyone is afraid and it's very natural. What motivates me here is that the project [to make the community safer] is very good and can do a lot for my town. I know that we are going to change and remove this.
I think of my son when he was 20 and can't begin to understand what Marisol's family must be feeling.
"The weapons we have are principles and values, which are the best weapons for prevention," she told CNN. "Our work will be pure prevention. We are not going to be doing anything else other than prevention." It's possible that she's just accepting the limitations of her post: She only has 13 officers, one police car, three rifles and one pistol at her disposal. But it does seem that she is intentionally bringing a new ethos to the department. "I'm not going after the 'malos' (bad ones); that's the federal police and soldiers' responsibility," she said. "We're going after the good ones, like children, parents, men and women who we have to organize so they don't fall prey to the temptation of crime, drugs and easy money."
"I took the risk because I want my son to live in a different community to the one we have today."
Rodney King, the beating victim of LA police in 1991 is marrying Cynthia Kelley, Juror No. 5...one of the women serving on the jury which awarded him $3.8 million.
Rodney King and Cynthia Kelley
Apparently, King called Kelley "on a whim" four months ago. They met previously the day after the trial ended in 1994 and shared a pizza, but both were already married to someone else.
RadarOnline broke this story and are quoting Kelley saying the "first date" was at that pizzeria, even though they were each married. That relationship did not end until King participated in a May 2008 Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.
Kelley was the only Black juror in the beating trial that eventually acquitted the White police officers. She says the White jurors wanted to award King only $100,000.
"During deliberations, the other jurors said, 'Let's just award him $100,000, you know he's just gonna blow it anyway'," Kelley said.
"It was a blessing that I was even there, the other jurors didn't want to give him anything."
How does one person on a jury bounce the compensation from $100,000 to $3.8 million?
Video of the police attack on King showed them repeatedly hitting King with batons. After the officers were acquitted, riots raged through the area. It took the U.S. Marines, the U.S. Army and the National Guard to restore peace. Fifty-three died with more than 2,000 reported injuries.
In November 1989, about two years before the police beating, King robbed a store in Monterey Park, California and used an iron bar to beat the store owner. King was sentenced to two years in prison, but received early parole. By March 1991, he led the led the police on the infamous high-speed car-chase that resulted in the beating.
King's blood alcohol level was more than twice what California law allows, and during the chase, his speed reached 117 miles per hour. After release from the hospital for a broken ankle, a fractured facial bone and bruises and lacerations, King filed a claim with the City alleging eleven skull fractures, permanent brain damage, broken teeth and bones, kidney damage and shock and trauma.
After the riots, King went on television and asked, "can't we all just get along? The store owner he beat probably beat him to that question, but received no face time on television.
King was arrested in 1995 for hitting his then-wife - with his car, and spent 90 days in prison. Arrested again in August 2003 for drunk driving, running a red light and slamming his car into a house. In one of his Celebrity Rehabs he recounted the police beating and indicated he submitted to the police immediately which evidence did not support.
Apparently King has been sober for a year or more. I applaude anyone turning their life around. I hope this is what King has done, and I wish Cynthia Kelley good luck. Rodney King has had more than his share of luck by driving drunk, often - an action that could have killed many.
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) showed his backside on the floor of the House and surprise, surprise, the cameras were rolling. The video quickly went viral, but King's comments have gotten nada attention. Congressman Peter King was the symbolic target of all of Weiner's pent-up Democrat angst wrath. King should be proud to have drawn the worm out of the apple for all the world to see. King was the grown-up and he was telling the awful truth. See two videos below.
Anthony Weiner and Peter King
Carol at No Sheeples Here produced the King video you'll see below. King speaks just before Weiner meltdowns. King is addressing the poor decision to pass the legislation with a two-thirds vote to avoid a vote on granting benefits to illegals -a fact which is moving around the blogosphere under the radar.
And there is another side of the story. Carol has the campaign contributions from entities with interest in the Trade Towers to...who else but some of the co-sponsors of the failed legislation, and numerous other Democrats. Two of the co-sponsors received multiple thousands and two a tidy sum.
Had the legislation been allowed to pass with a simple majority vote, Republicans would have tried to amend the bill to take out funds going to illegal migrants. Democrats then, either had to vote to exclude them from the bill or keep them in the bill. Either way, not a good option for the Party of Amnesty. Note that in the video, King says Republicans were not included in writing the bill. So the observation is: illegals should have NEVER been included to receive taxpayer's monies. This makes arrogant Weiner's little act even more fraudulent.
Read Carol's commentary take a look at who is in the money at No Sheeples Here. Nice Deb has a video of New York WOR radio host, Steve Malzberg, concisely explaining exactly why Republicans would not vote for the bill without an option for an amendment, and why Democrats refused to vote if an amendment was introduced.
Peter King on Aid for 9/11 Health-Related Illness (video)
Donna Jackson, in Cushing, Oklahoma, was on the phone with 911 as a man tried to break into her home. Jackson was home by herself. As she talks to 911, the dogs continue to bark and he bangs on the door. Jackson gets her 16-gauge shotgun out. The 911 operator can hear him knocking and yelling. Listen to it below. (this report is paraphrased)
Billy Dean Riley
Jackson says he is "crazy." She gives 911 instructs for police on how to get in the front gate, the dog's name and where to find a key to the house. The dispatcher asks if she can go to a room and lock herself in. Jackson eventually says I've got a shotgun and I'm not going in a tiny room.
The Operator tells her that she has the 'okay' to defend her property. I don't want to kill this man, but I will kill him. He's kicking the door. He's going to make it in. Please hurry.
Jackson says she thinks he is drunk. Oh dear God,...it's a big shotgun. It will break my arm. As soon as the police get here I'm putting the safety on. Jackson says he keeps yelling "Pat." He's getting ready to break a window.
The man picked up plastic patio table and threw it through the patio door.
Oh, he's got it. He came through the window. She put the phone down. She tells the Operator he is in the house and she is going to shoot. Eventually she does. Oh please dear God I think I killed him. Please dear God in heaven, I think he's dead. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry Father.
The police are still not there. The Operator calls Medi-Flight.
Listen to this woman's anguish. Her anguish for his family. There's only one way to look at this. This man did this to himself. The dead man is Billy Dean Riley. He was 53 years old and the photo above is from a 2005 mugshot. Donna Jackson did not know him. The police do not arrive for what appears to be over 24 minutes after the 911 call begins. The report from NewsOK is here. I've never heard anything like this. I bet you haven't either.
The rally came after a reported emergency meeting held by the [Black Foot Soldiers] movement to to map out plans for a street penitentiary protest and street party that will be held to disrespect tributes, memorials and funerals whites are expected to have for the terrorists.
Whatever the Black Foot Soldiers may be planning, there actually was no "rally."
More...
If your wife takes a golf club to your car and, maybe even to you personally, but you praise her for her courageous actions in saving your life - and you have no intention of filing charges against her, can police actually search your home and demand your medical records in the hopes of charging someone with domestic violence? It appears this is what is happening in Florida to Tiger and Elin Woods. Update 12-02-09 - Tiger's Transgressions - 3 Years Unfaithful? - see below. Oops - another unbelievable update below 12-03-09.
Tiger and Elin Woods
I have been a real Tiger fan, but if the rumors of an affair are true, I'll have to move on. I have a real problem with his penchant to chuck a club in a fit of angernow and then. Philandering will kill my admiration of his competitive spirit and, usually, brilliant play. Golfers are a cut above. Low-lifes have no place in prime-time golf.
Nevertheless, unless Tiger wants to file charges, or unless Elin plans to file against Tiger, what business do the police have issuing search warrants?
TMZ is on Greta's On the Record: About Rachel Uchitel, TMZ says that
Elin Woods actually spoke on the phone with Rache Uchitel after she
grabbed the phone out of Tiger's hand, just before Tiger strode out of
the house and wrecked the Escalade. According to TMZ, there is damage
inside the Woods "vestibule."
TMZ says that Tiger and Rachel Uchitel talked on the telephone last night - Wednesday December 2nd.
Also saying that other women are coming out of the woodwork - and who knows if their stories are true.
Maurice Clemmons, an ex-con, is a person of interest in today's murders of four Lakewood police in Tacoma, Washington. Clemmons has an long criminal history and is believed to have been in the area where the shootings occurred. Clemmons was recently arrested and charged for assaulting a police officer in Washington state, as well as second-degree rape of a child. Unbelievably, the man was allowed to post a $150,000 bail. See Update 11-30-019:40 a.m. CDT. 11:00 a.m. - University of Washington being searched. Update 12-01-09: Clemmons is dead. Details below.
Maurice Clemmons
Clemmons, recently residing in Tacoma, Washington, is a violent man with a long criminal history in Arkansas, where then-Governor Mike Huckabee once communted a lengthy prison sentence.
In 1989, Clemmons, then 17, was convicted in
Little Rock for aggravated robbery. He was paroled in 2000 after
Huckabee commuted Clemmons' 95-year prison sentence. Huckabee, who was
criticized during his run for the Republican presidential nomination in
2008 for granting many clemencies and commutations, cited Clemmons'
youth. Clemmons later violated his parole, was returned to prison and
released in 2004.
Larry Jegley, the prosecuting attorney for Arkansas' Pulaski Country said he had been dreading this day. This from the Seattle Times:
Clemmons' criminal history includes at least five felony convictions in
Arkansas and at least eight felony charges in Washington. The record
also stands out for the number of times he has been released from
custody despite questions about the danger he posed.
Clemmons had been in jail in Pierce County for the past several
months on a pending charge of second-degree rape of a child. He was
released from custody just six days ago, even though was staring at
seven additional felony charges in Washington state.
Clemmons posted $15,000 with a Chehalis company called Jail Sucks
Bail Bonds. The bondsman, in turn, put up $150,000, securing Clemmons'
release on the pending child-rape charge.
Clemmons lives in Tacoma, where he has run a landscaping and
power-washing business out of his house, according to a police
interview with his wife earlier this year.
He was married, but the relationship was tumultuous, with accounts
of his unpredictable behavior leading to at least two confrontations
with police earlier this year.
During the confrontation in May, Clemmons punched a sheriff's deputy
in the face, according to court records. As part of that incident, he
was charged with seven counts of assault and malicious mischief.
In another instance, Clemmons was accused of gathering his wife and
young relatives around at 3 or 4 in the morning and having them all
undress. He told them that families need to "be naked for at least 5
minutes on Sunday," a Pierce County sheriff's report says.
"The whole time Clemmons kept saying things like trust him, the
world is going to end soon, and that he was Jesus," the report says.
As part of the child-rape investigation, the sheriff's office
interviewed Clemmons' sister in May. She told them that "Maurice is not
in his right mind and did not know how he could react when contacted by
Law Enforcement," a sheriff's report says.
"She stated that he was saying that the secret service was coming to
get him because he had written a letter to the President. She stated
his behavior has become unpredictable and erratic. She suspects he is
having a mental breakdown," the report says.
Deputies also interviewed other family members. They reported that
Clemmons had been saying he could fly and that he expected President
Obama to visit to "confirm that he is Messiah in the flesh."
Prosecutors in Pierce County were sufficiently concerned about
Clemmons' mental health that they asked to have him evaluated at
Western State Hospital. Earlier this month, on Nov. 6, a psychologist
concluded that Clemmons was competent to stand trial on the child-rape
and other felony charges, according to court records.
Clemmons moved Washington in 2004, after being released from prison
in Arkansas, state Department of Corrections records indicate. That
would mean he had gone five years or so before landing in serious
trouble with authorities here, according to a review of his criminal
record.
Clemmons started Sea-Wash Pressure Washing Landscaping with his
wife, Nicole Smith, in October 2005. The license for the business
expired last month.
Update 11-30-01 9:40 a.m.:
The Seattle Times led with a SWAT team surrounding a house in the Leschi home in Seattle last night, and a woman saying that Clemmons was on the property and bleeding. The article went on with no other explanation.
However, the UK's TimesOnline is quoting police saying, just one hour ago that Clemmons has been shot and "well might be dead." A house is surrounded and they believe Clemmons is holed-up inside.
But as I write this, FOX is saying they thought they had him cornered and trapped inside his Aunt's house, but now they say he is not inside the house. He has a gunshot wound to his abdomen, and he is armed. Police say they know he was inside the house, but he is not there now.
Update 11-30-09 11:00 a.m. CDT:
There is evidence that Clemmons got off of a bus at the University of Washington. UW is being searched this moment and is under alert.
Update 12-01-09:
A police officer stopped a stolen car in Rainier Valley in south Seattle, and shot and killed Maurice Clemmons. About 2:45 a.m. this morning, on South Kenyon Street, an unidentified, lone officer, said Clemmons was returning to the stolen vehicle as the police officer was checking it. The hood was up and the motor was running. The policeman recognized Clemmon, ordered him to stop and show his hands. Clemmons did not follow the orders and began to run away. The officer fired.
Three associates of Clemmons have been arrested and up to seven others
could be arrested for helping the suspect make his way from the
Lakewood/Parkland area to Seattle, according to Pierce County sheriff's
spokesperson Ed Troyer. The associates provided shelter, transit, cell
phones and other assistance to Clemmons, Troyer says. Now, "They're
going to pay for it," he adds.
Four police officers were killed in what is being called an ambush
in Tacoma, Washington, about 40 miles south of Seattle.
The location of the shooting is said to be on the east side of McChord
Air Force Base. Roads are closed into the area and air space for the
scene has been shut down. Police are calling the murders "a targeted
attack." Update 11-29-09 3:40 p.m. CDT below. Tipline: 866-977-2362. New video below. The dead officers were wearing bulletproof vests. Officers names have been released, and a suspect named - see below.
Forza Coffee at red marker
The killings happened at The Forza Coffee Shop at 11401 Steele St.
South in Tacoma (or Parkland???). What is not clear is a possible connection to McChord Air Force Base. The base is not shut down and is not on alert. MSNBC is reporting
that Forza is "near" McChord. FOX News is
showing the graphic of Forza (above) just outside the eastern border of McChord.
Forza Coffee Shop
Officials at the scene are saying that two men, described as a white
male and a black male, burst into Forza and shot "the four uniformed
officers." The suspects got away. There is a $10,000 reward for any
information leading to the arrest of suspects, according to KOMONews. FOX has given some detail of the black mail as in his 20's, scruffy wearing a black jacket and blue jeans.
"It was just a flat out ambush," Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyertold The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash.
Investigators believe the officers were targeted, and it was not a robbery, Troyer said.
There were other customers in the coffee shop but only the four officers were hit, according to q13Fox.com.
"The four of them are known by everybody here," Troyer said. "We haven't got any information as to why this happened."
The names of the downed officers have not been released. Updates as available.
Update 11-29-09 3:40 p.m. CST:
FOX is reporting that the four officers filled were from the Lakewood Police Department - three men and one woman. The attack happened at 8:15 a.m. today. These officer's deaths are the first since the Lakewood department was established in 2004.
q13fox.com is now reporting one suspect, a black male in either his twenties or thirties, standing between 5'7" and 5"10", with scruffy facial hair, wearing a black jacket and blue jeans. He fled northbound on Steele Street S. towards Highway 512. The possibility of additional suspects has not been ruled out. In the video below you'll hear an officer say that the shooter used a handgun.
A clerk at a nearby store said he saw officers bring a police dog into a nearby apartment complex. According to this report, a white pickup truck in a nearby grocery store parking lot has been tagged "as evidence."
The four officers have been identified and release of their names will happen after next of kin are identified. This report says the four officers made up "one patrol unit, including a sergeant," and all four were wearing bulletproof vests.
The stir over members of the America Police Force, now said to have renamed itself American Private Police Force, housing in a bed-and-breakfast in Hardin, Montana has gone quiet. Is the story over? Maybe the story is over in Hardin, but what about elsewhere? See video below.
Mercenaries - Blackwater in New Orleans
Questions remain:
(1) Was the APF armed as they strolled the streets of Hardin? Notice I did not say "patrolled." At least one person, Michael Hilton, was staying at bed-and-breakfast in the town. As he went about his business, supposedly meeting with town leaders, was he armed?
(2) In light of Michael Hilton's criminal record, including a 6-year stint in a California prison, why is he allowed to be armed?
How is it that they, a foreign operation, are able to circumvent any and all LAWS & Statutes regarding Automatic weapons and operations of this caliber with no oversight from State or Federal Authorities, when the local Sheriff's Dept. stated that all of this is entirely rumor ??????
About being a "foreign operation:" Unless a contract between APF and Hardin has signed, APF is foreign to Montana, at least. Michael Hilton is the head and founder of American Police Force, as far as we know, and he says he is a naturalized citizen, originally from Montenegro. So far, I have not found verification of his naturalized status.
Hilton wears a police-type or military-type uniform. He introduces himself as Captain Michael, but admits that the "Captain" moniker does not indicate a military background. The guy is criminal, many times over. I want to know if Hilton and the APF brought weapons into the town of Hardin, and if he did, what kind of weapons, and were those weapons legal?
It's a scary thing. APF is likely a wanna-be-mercenary group. Who hires these people (aside from Hardin)? The answer is frightening. In 2007, The Washington Post published The Private Arm of the Law.
With the sleeve patch on his black shirt, the 9mm gun on his hip and the blue light on his patrol car, he looked like an ordinary police officer as he stopped the car on a Friday night last month. Watt works, though, for a business called Capitol Special Police. It is one of dozens of private security companies given police powers by the state of North Carolina -- and part of a pattern across the United States in which public safety is shifting into private hands.
Private firms with outright police powers have been proliferating in some places -- and trying to expand their terrain. The "company police agencies," as businesses such as Capitol Special Police are called here, are lobbying the state legislature to broaden their jurisdiction...
That was 2007.
I understand that our city police forces are overwhelmed with foreign and domestic terrorism. If we are paying "special" police, why do we not just fund the "real" police? Maybe the WSJ has the answer.
Hiring private guards is less expensive than hiring new officers. Oakland -- facing a record $80 million budget shortfall -- spends about 65% of its budget for police and fire services, including about $250,000 annually, including benefits and salary, on each police officer.
In contrast, for about $200,000 a year the city can contract to hire four private guards to patrol the troubled East Oakland district where four on-duty police officers were killed in March. And the company, not the city, is responsible for insurance for the guards.
The irony: Oakland was forced to abandon plans to hire International Services, Inc. after find that the company's founder and two executives were charged with defrauding the State of California out of more than $9 million in worker's compensation.
Citizens are desperate to control their neighborhoods, as increasingly, city police and country sheriffs cannot even begin to tamp-down crime. But is turning to private police forces, who are often paid with taxpayer funds, but are responsible to no one, the answer?
American has been on the road to dual law enforcement for many years now, and we didn't even know it. What happens when one of the "dual" overpowers traditional authorities?
I'm not concerned about the portly gentlemen patrolling our malls - at least for now, or our gated communities - unless a less than reputable firm, like maybe American Police Force or International Services, but I am alarmed at the federal government handing over the control of our streets, airports, ports and prisons. Who regulates these forces?
Fans of the CBS-terminated TV series JERICHO will recognize the name "Ravenwood." This was the ruthless mercenary force used by the illegitimate federal government at Cheyenne to subjugate the citizens of Kansas in the aftermath of a massive nuclear attack against two dozen American cities. As with much of JERICHO's superbly written story line, Ravenwood reflected real-world entities.
Private mercenary forces have been used extensively throughout the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, as well as in many other theaters. And as JERICHO correctly depicted, these "private contractors" have largely operated without oversight or accountability. (Can anyone say, "Blackwater"?) For the most part, the American people are unfamiliar with these mercenary forces, because they normally operate in foreign theaters of war. JERICHO put them on the streets of U.S. cities.
Now it looks like JERICHO was more prophecy than fiction.
Mr. Baldwin is referring to Hardin, Montana. We will never know the full story of Hardin, because town leaders are loathe to admit they were duped by a criminal con-man. The Hardin story will fade away, but then Baldwin reminds us:
Any kind of national police force is not only unconstitutional; it is anathema to everything American law and jurisprudence is built upon. Law enforcement is clearly and plainly the responsibility of the states and local communities.
Jim Kouri, Vice President of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, writes:
There are many police and law enforcement officials who are concerned with the growing trend of using military-experienced mercenaries to train and work with local police officers in the United States, but there are many who believe the events of September 11, 2001 dictate the need for this new paradigm.
For example, Kentucky’s Lexington Police Department contracted Blackwater Security International to provide what’s described as homeland security training.
Meanwhile that city’s Mayor Jim Newberry and its chief of police Anthony Beatty refused free training provided by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement federal program that prepares police officers to enforce immigration and border security as part of their duties.
Lexington is on the nation’s list of so-called Sanctuary Cities in which police officers are prohibited from working with ICE or Border Patrol agents in the United States....
So, is this the way it comes down? A city decides it will harbor illegals. They hire private mercenaries to keep that effort unincumbered...and what's next? A city hires private mercenaries or mercenary volunteers to guard polling stations...and encourage a specific vote? That's already happened. A city hires private mercenaries to search private homes for weapons? This almost happened in Washington D.C. The police chief spearheaded the idea, then when the news broke, she claimed she always intended to get a search warrant. Who knows who would have knocked on your door? A policeman or private mercenary?
Asked why the police department's press office confirmed that officers would be asking to search homes without warrants in exchange for amnesty from certain gun and drug charges, Chief Lanier said "I didn't have all the details."
Remember that Chief of Police Cathy L. Lanier insists that the U.S. Supreme Court has no say over the citizen's Second Amendment rights. SCOTUS ruled it illegal to "prevent law-abiding residents from possessing firearms for self-defense inside their homes." Lanier is fighting the ruling.
The Second Amendment says:
"the right of the people to keepand bear arms, shall not be infringed."
In September 2009, Decian McCullagh writing for CBSNews points out that if the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to "bear arms," it must mean something more than walking around your house with a .40 caliber Glock in a belt holster:"
In last year's Heller case, the justices' majority opinion noted that "at the time of the founding, as now, to 'bear' meant to 'carry,'" and that the phrase "'bear arms' was unambiguously used to refer to the carrying of weapons outside of an organized militia." Also: "We find that (the Second Amendment's clauses) guarantee the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation.""
Nevertheless, Lanier has filed another legal brief, the defense of which will be paid by taxpayers, in an effort to disarm law abiding citizens. When homes are searched, whether under search warrant or not, will it be by "real" police, or the Capitol Special Police, who are in Washington, D.C. because:
The fact is that your local police and sheriff's departments are overwhelmed with calls for service, which decreases their ability to patrol your property and respond to all your needs with the attention and timeliness you desire.
I believe in armed police and sheriff. I believe in them using their weapons when appropriate. I know little about the Capitol Special Police. I am not targeting them or other such armed security. It is possible, however, that Obama's plan for a National Civilian Security Force might be happening right under our noses, or at least the foundation for something similar. With no need to actually recruit and train a body to be further used in some unconstitutional way, how would "we the people" know about it?
In the video below, Al Peterson, spokesman for the Two Rivers Detention in Hardin, Montana is quoted saying: "we are excited to have a military presence in a town without a police force." What does that mean? Who is American Police Force? Why would a Two Rivers spokesman refer to them as "military?" Who will be prisoners in the Two Rivers Detention facility? What do residents of Hardin, Montana think about American Police force? See Update 10-2-09 after video below.
Hardin, Montana - American Police Force Mercedes Vehicle Logo
Barbara Sowell at FaultlineUSA started the search for information about the situation in Hardin, Montana and posted her findings here at Maggie's Notebook. Dean Bremkamp blogging at Do the Right Thing first brought this to our attention. This post will build on FaultlineUSA's information and will be updated as new information is available and sources are found.
There are three pertinent questions for starters:
1) Is a corporation, American Police Force locating its operation in Hardin, Montana - planning to operate a training center?
2) Is a corporation contracting with the city to use or purchase the city's jail facilities to house prisoners, and if so, who will the prisoners be?
3) Will American Police Force actually be the police force in Hardin, Montana.
To begin, Kevin Flaherty, blogging in New Zealand at Cryptongon.com blogs on private military contractors. He says he "routinely" follows stories about "mercenaries." Crypton.com's [Flaherty] research about APFC is quoted in the Billings Gazette (linked below). The following will give you some food for thought:
Separate research efforts by The Billings Gazette and others turned up connections and similarities between the APF Web site and sites for other little-known defense procurement companies. All of the Web sites share similarities in design, and some include exactly the same phrases, a red flag to Kevin Flaherty, an American blogger living in New Zealand who writes about private military contractors.
Public records show that the APF Web site, Americanpolicegroup.com, was first registered on May 15, about two weeks after an effort by the Two Rivers Authority to pursue prisoners from Guantanamo Bay made national headlines. A section of text on the APF site refers to the company’s “U.S. Training Center,” and matches word for word text from the Web site for Xe, formerly Blackwater. That company’s U.S. Training Center is touted as the largest facility of its kind. APF representatives have said that their company is a subsidiary of an undisclosed parent corporation founded in 1984. Blackwater was started in 1997. Public Internet records show that the APF Web site is one of six hosted on a single Web server, including a site for Defense Product Solutions. Both share the same double-eagle logo, and the same company, Purepoint Design, developed both Web sites. No one answered a call to Purepoint’s office in Newport Beach, Calif. A section of text on the Defense Product Solutions Web site matches word for word text found on Web sites for Allied Defense Systems and Defense Logistic Services, all promising a similarly exhaustive range of military products and services. Public records for those companies and others with similar Web sites – including Defense Contracting and Consulting, and Worldwide Military Exchange – all show connections to Edward Angelino, a government contractor in Huntington Beach, Calif.
There is this from an original Cryptogon.com post from Flaherty on September 14th [snippets, not continguous]:
An attorney for American Police Force, MaziarMafi, describes the Santa Ana, Calif., company as a fledgling spin-off of a major security firm founded in 1984. But Mafi declined to name the parent firm or provide details on how the company will finance its jail operations.
On its elaborate Web site and in interviews with company representatives, American Police Force claims to sell assault rifles and other weapons in Afghanistan on behalf of the U.S. military while providing security, investigative work and other services to clients “in all 50 states and most countries.”
However, an Associated Press search of two comprehensive federal government contractor databases turned up no record of American Police Force.
American Police Force also is promising to invest $30 million in new projects for the city, including a military and law enforcement training center with a 250-bed dormitory and an expansion of the jail to 2,000 beds. The company says it will build a homeless shelter, offer free health care for city residents and even deliver meals to the needy.
The same report adds this intriguing detail. An AP reporter visited the offices of APF in Santa Ana, CA, and found "Captain Michael behind a desk there:
The man said his boss is a retired U.S. Army colonel named Richard Culver who is currently overseas. Culver’s role with the company could not be immediately verified. The company claim of a headquarters address is just up the street from the White House. The K Street building houses “virtual offices,” where clients pay to use the prestigious Pennsylvania Avenue address and gain access to onsite conference rooms but have no permanent presence. [APFC has an application pending]
Follow the developing story atCryptongon.com. We all need to get into Flaherty's reporting on this.
*****
Research about The American Police Force (APF):
*) This is their website. The url reads www.americanpolicegroup.com. They do not refer to themselves as a corporation, but an "organization." Apparently, the website, since this hit the news, is not always available. AFC says this:
As part of our mission, APF plays a critical role in helping the U.S. government meet vital homeland security and national defense needs. Within the last 5 years the United States has been far and away our #1 client.
*) The American Police Force was incorporated in California in March 2009
Says they specialize in "training military and security forces oversees. Michael Hilton seems to be the spokesman for the company.
*) APF has black SUV's with a never-used Hardin logo which says "City of Hardin Police Force."
APF's Michael Hilton says they are looking for ground for "a planned tactical military training ground." They need 5000-10,000 acres.
*) Some APF representatives are staying at a bed-and-breakfast in Hardin.
*) APF plans to hire 200 locally. They have hired the company's first local employee:
On Friday, American Police Force announced its first local hire: a reporter for the Billings Gazette, Becky Shay, who has covered events surrounding the jail since its construction. She will be the company's spokeswoman for $60,000 a year.
Shay said she intended to bring new transparency to the process, but declined to directly answer the first question posed to her: Where is American Police Force getting the money to operate the jail and build the training center?
“I know enough about where the money is coming from to be confident signing on with them,” she said.
*) CBS Crimesider reports "significant obstacles" for APFC, including no signed contracts to bring in prisoners from outside Montana.
*) Hilton is reported to say that the company will begin payments to Hardin on February 1, 2010, and said their agreement with the city is worth at least $2.6 million annually.
*****
Information about Hardin, Montana and the city's interaction with APFC:
**) Hardin, Montana has a never used "detention" facility known as Two Rivers. Two Rivers Detention Center cost $27 million and the bonds have been in default since May 2008. It has never been used - no prisoners ever. Two Rivers can accommodate 464 prisoners.
**) Hardin has not had a police force in the last 30 years. The Sheriff of Big Horn Countyserves the town.
**) The city of Hardin offered the facility to house prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. Montana Governor, Brian Schweitzer, has opposed bringing in prisoners from outside the state. In 2007, the Montana Attorney General said it was illegal to bring in prisoners from outside Montana. Hardin sued the State and won.
**) The city announced an agreement with APF two weeks ago, but there appears to be no signed agreement.
*****
Information on the "logo" or decal depicted above: It appears the decals have now been removed from the Mercedes SUV's. Here are some thoughts from PrisonPlanet. Follow PrisonPlanet here:
An image on KULR’s Web site shows the insignia on the APF vehicles, which has caused some concern on the Internet as being of conspiratorial origin. APF’s coat of arms, a clearer version of which appeared on the group’s Web site (which had been taken down at time of this writing but is viewable here), shows a double-headed eagle with a red shield and white cross borne on its breast.
The coat appears very similar to the insignia attributed to one Prince AleksandarKarageorgevich, based on RAW STORY’s analysis of images hosted by Burke’s Peerage & Gentry International Register of Arms. The site notes the coat as hailing from the Royal crown of Serbia.
However, the significance or implied nationality of the insignia’s crown could not immediately be identified.
The double-headed eagle itself has been used repeatedly throughout history by many cultures as a symbol of empire, dominance and power.
Ending thought: Can we follow the money? Updates when available.
Update 10-1-09:
The good people of Hardin, Montana have a criminal in their midst, and some there seem ready to hand over their new detention facility to him. Who in Hardin vetted Michael Hilton and his creepy American Police Force?
Hilton says he is a naturalized citizen, born in Montenegro, which is located on the border of Serbia. He speak with "heavily-accented English.
Hilton has spent some time in prison in California. He was convicted of Grand Theft in Orange County, California and other related charges. Reports vary on the number of years he served in a California prison, but range from 2 to 6 years.
Hilton pleaded guilty in March 1993 to 14 felonies, including 10 counts of grand theft, one count of attempted grand theft and three counts of diversion of construction funds, according to Orange County court records. He was sentenced to two years in prison, but it is unclear how much time he served.
Orange County has been a frequent nuisance to Hilton. The jail must know him well there. Civil charges have ranged from fraud, larceny, breach of warranty, breach of contract and false pretense. He pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol. Perhaps Hilton's oddest scam is this:
The complaint alleges that Hilton and others falsely told the plaintiff that the money would be used for the design and manufacture of the coins, and to pay for a National Football League license to produce them.
Hilton is not always "Hilton." His alias' include MiodragDokovich, MiodragDjokich, MiodragDjokovich, Michael Hamilton, Anthony M. Hilton, Michael A. Hilton, Michael Milton and HristianDjokich
Update 10-2-09:
Montana's Attorney General, Steve Bullock, is investigating the arrival of the American Police Force in Hardin:
In a nine-page letter sent late yesterday afternoon to Becky Shay -- the former Gazette reporter who recently signed on as APF's public relations director -- Bullock said he's probing whether APF may be violating Montana's Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act.
Bullock reportedly asked for copies of any contracts between the City of Hardin and APF and any lawsuits filed against the corporation or Michael Hilton.
Update 10-9-09:
According to this report at TMP, American Police Force took down their "Weapons" page on their website.
The Professor Henry Louis Gates story just gets more interesting. As America's pre-eminent Black scholar, Gates spends his life engaged in intellectual pursuits, traveling, charity and resting at his home on Martha's Vineyard. Along with being the director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard, Gates opened a "for-profit" business, AfricanDNA.com, in 2007. What is interesting about this is that a percentage of the profits from AfricanDNA.com are donated to Gates' charitable venture, the Inkwell Foundation. See a video below.
Martha's Vineyard
Professor Gates, through AfricanDNA.com, traces the genealogy of "prominent Blacks." This in Dr. Gates' words:
"I was able to trace the family trees of several prominent African Americans deep into slavery, following the paper trail. And then when the paper trail ended, we tested their DNA in an attempt to discover the origins of their mother's line or their father's line on the African continent."
When Professor Gates returned to his house that fateful night when his neighbor reported that he was breaking and entering, Gates said he had just returned from a trip to China. A spokesman for him said he was inivestigating the genealogy of famous cellist, Yo Yo Ma. Ma is not Black, he's Chinese, born in Paris to Chinese parents. Perhaps Ma paid for the trip?
The office for Inkwell Foundation is located in Professor Gates' Cambridge home, owned by Harvard University. In 2008, this report from Boston.com says that the Inkwell Foundation "has been dormant since its inception." (Thanks to afTicker at Jus' Sayin')
Jill Butterworth, a spokeswoman for the state Attorney General's Office, says Inkwell has never filed the required, annual form PC, for public charities. "They are currently not in compliance," Butterworth said. "It's possible they are inactive or have dissolved. We are checking into it." Gates declined to comment.
Quite frankly, this story is astonishing as there is much, more more. I'll give you the quick flavor and then link the pertinent documentation.
In some fashion Henry Gates raised $205,400 for Inkwell in one year. Of that, $27,000 was paid out in grants. Twenty-three individuals were paid $27,500. The 23 individuals include Angela Delon. Not much is known about her except that it is believed that Delon called Gates to tell him that Obama had just mentioned him on national TV in connection to Cambridge police.
Delon received $6,000. Joanne Kendall, as Inkwell's treasurer, received $10,000 in "research grants." Another $10,500 went out to grants, totalling $27,500.
Joanne Kendall is Gates' assistant. Dell Hamilton received $1,000. He was, or is, the Events Coordinator for the Dubois Institute which Gates directs at Harvard. Nancy Brigham Cyr was an "administrator" for Gates. She has recently been named the administrator of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. She received $500 and she works for Gates.
Eric Foner, a professor at Columbia received $500. John Stauffer collaborated on a NY Times editorial with Gates and received $500.
This list, in this vein, goes on and on.
Allegedly, Inkwell has $177,000+ in assets, unspent. And it's tax filings seem to be non-existent. Read it complete with documentation at RiehlWorldView.
On July 21st, the Washington Post quoted Charles Ogletree, also a Harvard professor, saying that Gates is "resting on Martha's Vineyard." According to Gates, the arrest was "deeply painful and traumatic," and besides that Gates says he is "half-white," "was married to a white woman for more than two decades," and his children are part white."
He is not, he said, a lunatic black nationalist."
So while Gates is perhaps receiving an unknown perk from Harvard through his rented home, and runs his non-profit organization out of that home, he owns a home on Martha's vineyard. Stephanie Gutman, writing for the TelegraphUK, describes it this way:
On the northeast side of the island is the charming neighbourhood of Oak Bluffs whose “big, sprawling homes with large yards and gorgeous architecture” (as one real estate website put it) are the summer home of “prominent African American leaders … famous black writers, politicians, judges and artists”, people like Spike Lee and Oprah Winfrey. President Obama summers here too.
While at Martha's Vineyard, Gutman suggests he will spend his time as follows:
He will work on a documentary, presumably for his regular venue, the taxpayer-subsidized Public Broadcasting Service, which he says will ask: “How are people treated when they are arrested? How does the criminal justice system work? How many black and brown men and poor white men are the victims of police officers who are carrying racist thoughts?”
President Obama and Michelle will be taking their summer vacation on Martha's Vineyard. It's bound to a funfest. I don't see why the taxpayer should be paying for a beer in the White House with Obama, Gates and Sgt. Crowley. Obama and Gates can get together this summer on the Vineyard and Sgt. Crowley will be well-served to heed my advice: try to get out of that meet-and-greet, if you can. You will not be well-served by going. Just ask Newt Gingrich. You can't win with people of this mindset. Noel Sheppard at Newsbursters found the video below, via HotAirPundit
A video circa 1996 has just surfaced of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates speaking in front of a group about racism and affirmative action.
In it, he defamed Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as well as former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
Read this story of a White man being racially profiled (sure it happens!).
Update: 8-12-09:
I previously linked an Inkwell Foundation that is a charitable organization for children. That Inkwell Foundation is not Professor Gates' foundation. The Inkwell that Gates funds is said to be dedicated to reforming the teaching of science and history in inner city schools using genetic and genealogical ancestry tracing."
Henry Gates on Newt Gingrich and Clarence Thomas video
President Barack Obama has said the Cambridge police acted "stupidly" when they arrested Harvard professor, Henry Louis Gates. This is not the first time Barack Obama treated the Cambridge police with little respect. Of seventeen parking violation he received in Cambridge, fifteen went upaid until he began his presidential campaign.
Barack Obama
NewsMax.com reports that as a student in Cambridge (1988-1991) while attending Harvard University, Barack Obama received 17 parking violations and paid only two. I guess a future president can park wherever he pleases. (Thank you to geeeeeZ!).
According to The Somerville News, the tickets included parking in a bus stop, parking without a residential permit and failing to pay meters. My car would have been towed and a lien placed on my house.
When the 2007 presidential campaign ramped up, Obama paid the remaining upaid 15 tickets. That's the height of arrogance...okay, maybe not the height - that would be presidential cabinet picks who haven't paid their income taxes, but it is a close second.
Obama campaign spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, apparently said the tickets were not relevent.
The background on the Obama/Gates/Cambridge police story is that Professor Henry Gates, a Black man and a revered African-American scholar and documentarian, returned to Cambridge from a trip to China recently. It was about midnight when he arrived along with his "driver." Gates had trouble opening his front door and so one of the two men put their shoulder to the door and eventually knocked it open.
Sgt. James Crowley
A neighbor, also Black, called police and reported that two Black men were breaking into the house. The police arrived, and according to police reports, Professor Gates initially refused to provide I.D. to Sgt. James Crowley of the Cambridge police. Crowley also called the Harvard University police to the scene. He refused to tell Crowley whether or not anyone else was in the home. He immediately, again according to a report by another policeman, began yelling that Crowley was racist and "this is what happens to Black men in America."
As the police were leaving Gates come out on his front porch and continued the rant, including "You don't know who you are messing with." Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct. The charges were later dropped.
Gates' account is, of course, completely different. He did nothing wrong, did not harrass the police, etc.
I see numerous rants around the internet that support President Obama's statement, given during a prime time address to the Nation on health care:
Obama called Gates a friend, and said he doesn't know all the facts of the case. Nonetheless, Obama said, anyone would have been angry if treated the way Gates claims police in Cambridge, Mass., treated him. Gates, a Harvard University professor, claims he was arrested in his home after showing ID to police who responded to a report of a possible burglary.
"Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof he was in own home," Obama said during a prime-time news conference that otherwise focused on the health care debate.
What I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately," Obama said. "That's just a fact."
That disparity is a reminder that "race remains a factor in the society," Obama said.
Those supporting Professor Gates' behavior believe that the man was in his own house and should have been left alone, no matter how angry and out-of-control he became.
What about the safety of the police? Do Blacks care that this police officer had to enter a home, verify who was in the house for his safety as well as Gates', as he would have done in a home belonging to Whites or Hispanics?
The police were called to the scene. They didn't show up for a pogrom.
Obama doesn't see what the fuss is, but there is definitely a fuss going on. I think he knew exactly the reaction his words would have. A man in his position doesn't say the police acted "stupidly" without intending to send a message. Obama has drawn criticism from Blacks lately for not being outspoken enough about racism, and for recently saying that Blacks have to do more in our own lives, our own families and our own communities...". Rev. Al explained Obama's surprising upbraiding of the Cambridge police this way:
Have some people wanted him to bring this up sooner?" asked civil rights activist, the Rev. Al Sharpton. "Of course, we have. But the timing had to be right. He had the courage to take a position at a time when he knows some people will disagree."
And this from another pillar of the Black community:
"No one wants to talk about race," said Donna Brazile, a Democratic strategist and ABC News consultant. "He [Obama] does not inject race into the conversation regularly because it clears the room. There are designated times, like Martin Luther King Jr. Day or when we have a large gathering of black folks, like at the NAACP recently, but that's about it."
Sgt. James Crowley made national news once before. As a Bradeis campus police officer, he was on the scene at Brandeis University when Celtic star Reggie Lewis collapsed and died in 1993 during an off-season practice. He gave Lewis mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but failed to save him.
Some people were saying ‘There’s the guy who killed Reggie Lewis’ afterward. I was broken-hearted. I cried for many nights,” he said.
Crowley, 42, said he’s not a racist, despite how some have cast his actions in the Gates case. “Those who know me know I’m not,” he said.
Sgt. Crowley has taught a racial profiling class at the Lowell Police Academy for five years, along with a Black police officer. About 60 students go through that class each year.
He’s a very professional police officer and he’s a good role model,” Fleming [Lowell Police Academy director] said. “Former police commissioner Ronny Watson, who is a person of color, hand-picked Sgt. Crowley. ... I presume because he would be the most qualified and most professional. He’s a very good instructor. He gets very high reviews by the students.”
Lawrence Hickman, a black Boston police officer who also teaches at the academy, said he’s worked alongside Crowley for years now and has nothing but the highest respect for him.
“He’s well versed in the subject matter he taught,” Hickman said. “He is the right instructor for the subject material ... I’m an African-American police officer, If there were any issues or if I thought he was biased, I would have addressed that. We all do the same job and we all know how things get spun out.
The bottom line is he was there answering a call for help, he responded as a professional police officer.”
Fleming said Crowley gets no extra money for teaching the class, which requires him to drive from Cambridge to Middlesex Community College in Lowell. He said the academy is well respected and it is used by cops from 53 communities across the state, including Lowell, Cambridge and other cities and towns.
Professor Gates is unhappy that Sgt. James Crowley and the Cambridge police will not apologize. Tsk, tsk. Now he thinks he will sue the Sergeant and/or the Cambridge police.
The latest news is that Cambridge police are pondering the release of the 911 call that brought them to the house and other transmissions that may have been recorded.
Further, Sgt. James Crowley noted in his report that he radioed police headquarters to let them know he was with the person who appeared to be the home’s lawful resident, but who was “very uncooperative.”
Upon receiving Gates’ Harvard ID, Crowley wrote he radioed in to request “the presence of the Harvard University Police.”
PRESS CONFERENCE LIVE BLOGGING: At this moment, the Cambridge police are holding a news conference. Just a few live-blogging snippets: One speaker said that when President Obama said that the police acted "stupidly," he used the right adjective but directed it to the wrong party." They reject that racism guided the arrest. On speaker says that the Cambridge police should have an apology, but I am unclear whether that apology is requested from Gates or Obama or both. A later speaker said there are no "demands" for an apology.
A spokesman stated that Obama acknowledged that he didn't have all of the facts, and so should have said nothing, saying "in our view there was nothing "stupid" done." Gates controlled the outcome. The spokesman said Obama "implied" a link between what happened and problems with persons of color and law enforcement. That is not true in Cambridge and was not true in this case.
The Cambridge police are now wishing that the charges had not been dropped so that a "trial of fact" could go forward, rather than this playing out in the press.
Read the police reports here.
Photo credit: Senne/AP
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