Obama Administration Protecting the Black Panthers

[kshillbillys]

President Obama's Justice Department continues to stonewall inquiries about why it dropped a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party.

The episode—which Bartle Bull, a former civil rights lawyer and publisher of the left-wing Village Voice, calls "the most blatant form of voter intimidation I've ever seen"—began on Election Day 2008. Mr. Bull and others witnessed two Black Panthers in paramilitary garb at a polling place near downtown Philadelphia. (Some of this behavior is on YouTube.)

One of them, they say, brandished a nightstick at the entrance and pointed it at voters and both made racial threats. Mr. Bull says he heard one yell "You are about to be ruled by the black man, cracker!"

In the first week of January, the Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit against the New Black Panther Party and three of its members, saying they violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act by scaring voters with the weapon, uniforms and racial slurs. In March, Mr. Bull submitted an affidavit at Justice's request to support its lawsuit.

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Associated Press

Attorney General Eric Holder
.When none of the defendants filed any response to the complaint or appeared in federal district court in Philadelphia to answer the suit, it appeared almost certain Justice would have prevailed by default. Instead, the department in May suddenly allowed the party and two of the three defendants to walk away. Against the third defendant, Minister King Samir Shabazz, it sought only an injunction barring him from displaying a weapon within 100 feet of a Philadelphia polling place for the next three years—action that's already illegal under existing law.

There was outrage over the decision among Congressional Republicans, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division—especially after it was learned one of the defendants who walked was Jerry Jackson, a member of Philadelphia's 14th Ward Democratic Committee and a credentialed poll watcher for the Democratic Party last Election Day.

Then the Washington Times reported on July 30 that six career lawyers at Justice who had recommended continuing to pursue the case were overruled by Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli—a top administration political appointee. One of the career attorneys, Appellate Chief Diana Flynn, had urged in an internal memo that a judgment be pressed against the defendants to "prevent the paramilitary style intimidation of voters" in the future.

Justice spokesman Alejandro Miyar says the dismissal was "based on a careful assessment of the facts and the law." But Rep. Frank Wolf (R., Va.), has been asking for more information. Assistant Attorney General Ronald Welch, for example, claims in a July 13 letter to Mr. Wolf that charges against the New Black Panther Party itself were dropped because there wasn't "evidentiary support" to prove they "directed" the intimidation. But Mr. Wolf notes in a letter sent to Justice that one defendant, Black Panther Party Chairman Malik Zulu Shabazz, said on Fox News just after the election that his activities at the polling station were part of a nationwide effort. Mr. Shabazz added that the Black Panther activities in Philadelphia were justified due to "an emergency situation."

Mr. Wolf's demands that Justice make the career attorneys on the case available for questions have been rebuffed. He also wants the House Judiciary Committee to hold hearings. A spokesman for House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers was noncommittal as to whether any hearing would be held.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights voted on Aug. 7 to send a letter to Justice expanding its own investigation and demanding more complete answers. "We believe the Department's defense of its actions thus far undermines respect for rule of law," its letter stated. It noted "the peculiar logic" of one Justice argument, that defendants' failure to show up in court was a reason for dismissing the case: "Such an argument sends a perverse message to wrongdoers—that attempts at voter suppression will be tolerated so long as the persons who engage in them are careful not to appear in court to answer the government's complaint."

The commission noted that it could subpoena witnesses and documents if Justice doesn't better explain its actions.

President Obama needs to clear the air. As a former law professor who specialized in voting rights, he is aware of how important even-handed application of the law is to election integrity. In 2007, then-Sen. Obama introduced a bill to protect Americans from tactics that intimidate voters. It also increased the criminal penalty for voter intimidation to five years in prison from one year.

"There is no place for politics in this debate," he testified before Mr. Conyers's committee in March, 2007. "Both parties at different periods in our history have been guilty in different regions of preventing people from voting for a tactical advantage. We should be beyond that."

One way to get there is for Mr. Obama to insist his Justice Department reinstate the Black Panther case or provide a full explanation for why it was dropped.



I believe Diane, that you need to get with the times and get a little more current. Yes, President George Walker Bush was in office when this incident happened. But what you're failing to understand yet again for the umpteenth time is that under Barack Hussein Obama, aka Barry Soetoro, and his administration with Eric Holder, another black man, the charges were dropped against King "the Hoodlum" Shabazz and as you can clearly see that we've made our point time and time again, this is all up in the news as of the 10th of this month. There's even still mention of it as of today because people (not only us) are pissed. If you care to read the Wall Street Journal comments that we've posted. There's even mention of it in the NY Times and if you slow down and read word for word and not scan the lines, maybe (with some glimmer of hope) you will be able to comprehend that all us stupid redneck imbreds know a helluva lot more than you give us credit for. And speaking of credit, I know that you got a board next to your computer with our names on it. I want to know how come that Anmar and Six Dogs have gold stars next to their names and all I have is an F...


Sincerely Yours,

MR. dysfunctional KSH

P.S. Do they use chemicals on your head when they do your hair? If so, that explains a lot....

[Diane Amberg]

   Why do you need to try to insult me? Are you afraid some people might believe what I've been writing and I might gain a power base?  I'm not running for anything, so don't worry. I'm pursuing this only because I'm the only one on here who had any "fresh" knowledge of the BP incident on voting day, and some of you have tossed out a lot of information, some correct and some based only on what others want you to believe. I don't have a dog in this fight, but some of you despise Pre.Obama so much that I don't know if you can be objective about any of this. Can you keep an open mind about any of it?
   It was covered here on our local stations with our local reporters. It was a local incident and should have stayed that way. But since there was suddenly some political point that could be made and some political money to be made, it went national and I've hardly recognized it since.  All the news stories and comments and ugly politics have all now been predigested through so many writers and national authorities who claim to know all about it but who weren't there, that I would hardly recognize what I saw myself. The kid with the camera claimed to be intimidated...Of all the voting places he could have gone to, why did he show up there?  Someone had spread a rumor that there might be trouble!  Where did that information come from? Someone, maybe the BP themselves, was trying to set up a chance for some trouble. Why did the BP show up there?  Were they at any other voting places?  Did they live in that neighborhood?  OK, now analyze that.  Mouth off yes, to the young cameraman, no question, I saw it myself at the very first airing of the story. Foul mouthed, yup, but no worse than what you all say on here. Nobody who has ever heard the BP on a tirade would have been surprised.  "Brandished a Baton to intimidate people?" Define brandished. Look at the tape again...   Maybe...it could be. Who stood to benefit from trouble at a black voting place in a black neighborhood? Politicians, that's who! Was there any trouble anywhere else in Philly ? Not that I saw or heard of. Bartle Bull who supposedly saw a bunch of stuff, how did he wind up there of all the places he could have gone?  What was he looking for? That was not his polling place. Why wasn't he shown complaining on the student's tape. (That would have been really useful footage.) If there was intimidation going on why didn't he stop it? Why didn't someone call the police if it was so bad? It sounds like a set up to me. To benefit who specifically and for what I have no idea .The whole thing was just a little too convenient. It was politics with a capital P. Why the criminal case was dropped I already told you. The Bush camp said it wasn't winnable. Why it wasn't winnable I don't know, do you? (If the evidence was so strong ,as it supposedly is now, why wasn't it winnable then?) They didn't have to drop it. Why wasn't all this same complaining wasn't done right then.  Why didn't the lid blow off right then and there? The civil case was dropped for similar reasons, but again a lot of political hay was being made NATIONALLY. Locally it wasn't a big deal. Why does anyone expect the President to "explain" the actions?  Pres. Bush didn't have to, and they dropped the more serious criminal charges. Why should the current President. Political favoritism? Probably. Illegal? No. If it wasn't illegal on the criminal charge....well, you know. Will it ever go away, never! When the defendants didn't show up in court in I figured that was that, but politics is politics and you just never know. So now it has just become more fodder for the Chris Dodges and Rush Limbaughs .  A lot of people are upset and should be, but it would have been nice if they had been upset when the criminal charges were dropped which even you all disregarded, but then kept reminding me how the BP were armed and broke the law.
  And just for you KS.Yes, the shop used the same chemicals on me that they did on you the last time you were in there. Dawn said to be sure to tell you "hello" and remind you that you are due for a touch up.

[frawin]

"The whole thing was just a little too convenient. It was politics with a capital P. Why the criminal case was dropped I already told you. The Bush camp said it wasn't winnable. Why it wasn't winnable I don't know, do you? (If the evidence was so strong ,as it supposedly is now, why wasn't it winnable then?) "

Diane, show me some evidence that the Bush Camp dropped this case. It was not even filed until January 2009 and it was dropped after Bush was out of office.

[Diane Amberg]

Ok, try this. "After reviewing the matter, the civil rights division determined that the facts did not constitute a prosecutable violation of the criminal statutes." "The Dept. did file a civil action on Jan. 7, 2009 seeking injunctive and declaratory relief under 11b against four defendants." The election was over, but the Bush team was still in place. The inauguration and swearing in wasn't until Jan. 20th and it was some time after that when the new appointments were made.
  I have no Idea what 11 b was and I'm certainly no B P supporter, but if the evidence was so strong the team in place should have pursued it. As far as why the civil case was not pursued, supposedly it was for the same reason, but since the reins had long since changed by then I can't say for sure. I wasn't being a smart alec, honest. I was and am serious. It absolutely could have been racial preference, but I'm skeptical because I know how Philly feels about those disgusting Black Panthers in general. They make all blacks look bad. Attaching that second piece of video was meant to play to the high emotional response I had mentioned before, and it worked. Politics again. Because we are so small our TV coverage is from Philadelphia, so we see all the Philly news and all the local elections for there and PA and most of NJ too. It gets tiresome because we don't vote for anyone there, but we really get to know their politics, both good and bad whether we like it or not.

[Varmit]

President obama...Black.   Eric Holder...Black.  Black Panthers...black.  Black Panthers adhere to the Black Liberation Theology.  Black Liberation is taught by Jeramiah Wright.  Obama went to wrights "church" for 20 years...you say its not about race?...bullcrap.

As for the Tea Party carrying guns...1)  At the Tea Party demonstrations there isn't any voting going on.  2)  There is no law that says they can't.  3)  There are BLACK people at the demonstrations that are welcome i.e. The Tea Partys are not a racist organization.

[jarhead]

This is like beating a dead horse, but---Diane what do you mean "you are the only one on here (Forum ) who had any fresh knowledge of the BP incident on voting day" ? Several commentators on Fox news carried the story with-in days of it happening . Granted, what used to be known as main stream media, ignored it but Fox didn't. As for it "being a local incident and should have stayed that way"--since when if it happened in the east part of the U.S. that us mid western dummies should not know about it ? If that's the case a few years back when the BTK killer story broke it was a local matter (about as close as you are to Philly ) and should have been blocked for you  people of Delaware.

[Diane Amberg]

Jar, it was on our local stations here on our early evening news that day, not days later. It wasn't live but it was very close. I'm telling you it wasn't any more of a big deal than happens in one form or another every day in big cities all across the country. Don't you dare take what I said and start "creating" conclusions. There were no lines to read between. Why would you suggest my comments had anything to do with you all one way of another? And stop with the "dummy" comments, enough already. I have never said anything like that and wouldn't. Nobody in Philly was  bruised, injured, or physically touched in any way, let alone killed. Heck there is worse talk on the play ground than that. It was all mouthing off!! Who was the BTK killer? I either don't remember or never knew.

[srkruzich]

Well personally they had no business at the polling station, period.  It was not their job to be there especially being a known violent racist group, it should have intimidated any law abiding citizen at the poll and most likely did intimidate them.

Secondly, the preponderance of the evidence aka the video, shows the group is a violent racist group.   So quite frankly, they should have been prosecuted not only for voter tampering but also terroristic threats.  They went way beyond free speech.

[Wilma]

Last night on one of the evening news shows they showed a video of this one guy spouting off and pointed out that this video had nothing to do with the poll situation.  It wasn't made at the polling place or even on the same day.  I agree that they shouldn't have been there, but I have heard that no intimidation took place, they moved away from the doors when they were asked to, they did not create any problems.  If any black voters were intimidated by their black brothers, it didn't keep them from voting.

I don't understand what all the fuss is about.  I think this thread was started to do just what it has done.  Throw everyone into a hissy over something that was taken care of at the time.  Really, a news story that happened more than a year ago?  Isn't there anything more current happening.?  Oh, yes, someone has brought it back for one purpose and one purpose only.  To make the current administration look incompetent.  Really, do we have to go back to something that happened before the current administration?  Isn't there enough happening now to show that?

[Diane Amberg]

Thank you Wilma...that was my point. The second video was made during the summer months, you can tell because of people's clothing and no year was mentioned, at least I don't remember it. I have no idea how old it was. I know the PB have a bad reputation and are quite happy to be considered disgusting. It gets them attention Lots of foul mouth and threats. But actual violence is very rare. Even that is because the BP pick and dig and rant until someone else loses it and all hell breaks loose. In all the years of the original BP movement in the 60's and now with the  "new" ones, I only know of one person who was killed by a BP. (I could be wrong on that.) Huey Newton killed a police office during a shoot out. I won't get into it now because I'll be accused again of being a "Know it All" and I don't mean to come off that way. But if people think about where I was in 1964 when Stokley Carmichael started the origional BP's you might guess. (few on here weren't even born yet.) I was just trying to bring some balance to the incident on election day because it happened here and I knew something about it. Go back to the original post and decide for yourselves. I'm tapped out.