As I write this column, the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia hasn’t yet gotten underway, yet most of the delegates have arrived - along with an army of protestors.
Recent conventions and meetings, especially the World Trade Organization’s meeting earlier this year in Seattle, showed what the new face of political activism is all about: “civil disturbance.”
It isn’t enough that people have the right to go out, protest about anything they want, such as “the People for the Ethical Treatment of Swords (PETS).” Over the years, you see, swords have gotten a bum rap for being weapons of violence. Swords aren’t weapons of violence, you see, if you subscribe to the same school of thought as organizers of PETS. Swords are merely utensils, just like a fork, knife, or spoon, advocates from PETS argue. Yeah, right. Just last night I had the fine opportunity to cut my T-bone steak with my handy-dandy sword. Oh, stop thinking that hard. I’m joking - there’s no PETS organization here in town - at least as far as I know. I pulled that example out of thin air, but it’s about as off-the-wall as some of the protestors that have shown up to protest here in the City of Brotherly Love.
One of the first protests that marked the unofficial beginning of the Republican Convention was focused on police. Yep, you heard me - the protest was about police and how brutal and murderous they are to suspects, especially black suspects.
A few weeks ago, you see, Philadelphia had the distinct privilege of making national and international news over the arrest of one suspect who has now been implicated, with charges pending in more than half a dozen crimes. The creep’s name,
er, sorry, the suspect’s name is Thomas Jones, according to police reports.
Mr. Jones made his television debut when a local TV news chopper filmed his arrest while hovering -- about a mile from the arrest - yes, please do read that again - about one mile away, in the air - from the place where some serious police action happening on the street.
The TV station, WPVI-TV 6, the local ABC affiliate, had invested in a new camera for the chopper. From the videotape provided by Channel Six, that zoom lens seems to do one heck of a nice job on filming from a great distance. Perhaps this is the “Deluxe Spy/News Lens.” The only problem with the lens that I noticed, you see, is that it didn’t show enough of the nitty-gritty detail going on down at street level. Sure, while
WPVI-TV was able to provided some provoking video of the arrest, it wasn’t able to show enough detail to tell the full story.
Mr. Jones was lucky that WPVI-TV had its chopper in the air. The video that was shot shows about six or seven cops trying to subdue this fine, upstanding Mr. Jones. Once these men in blue have their suspect on the ground, they begin kicking him. Bad cops! Bad! Any person viewing this video, with an intelligence level of a nine-year-old, would be screaming police brutality, right?
Well, if you saw the video on TV, sure, it would only seem natural. The only problem I had with this videotaped apprehension was the news story miserably failed to note Mr. Jones’ actions prior to his arrest. In fact, local media mongers began calling this “Rodney King: Part II.” Nice and inflammatory - exactly what was needed just before the Republican Convention was to roll into town. There was one other thing missing: street-level video of what was actually happening down in the middle of the scuffle.
It seems the illustrious Mr. Jones has a very long criminal history, his police record shows. In fact, Mr. Jones and the city police go way back. In fact, they should be long-time buddies. You see, Mr. Jones first started getting in trouble as a rowdy teenage. His romps have continued for about 15 years or so.
Mr. Jones has been working on getting his life back together for the past few years, even during the past year, some of his supporters argue. That great, but it doesn’t jive very well with police arrest records, nor does it jive with a certain arrest warrant that was issued for his arrest. It seems Mr. Jones needed some transportation last year, according to police records. Being the fine, upstanding, law-abiding citizen he is, Mr. Jones was able to strong-arm a 10-year-old kid out of his bike. What a nice guy, huh? He was arrested for the crime, and ordered to appear in court. He knew he was going back to the slammer. He decided he wasn’t going to do that - not without a fight, at least, so he never showed up for court, so the judge issued an arrest warrant.
Fast-forward to this year.
On July 1, you see, Mr. Jones was again in need of ground transportation. As things worked out, he found the perfect car. It was in the lot, it was green, it was shiny, and it was a 1999 model, in fact. The only problem with Mr. Jones’ new vehicle was the lot in which he found his dream vehicle. It was a supermarket parking lot.
When the owner of the vehicle finished loading her week’s worth of groceries in the car and began getting into the driver’s seat, Jones made his sales pitch. It was something along the line of, “Get out, Bitch!” He grabbed the woman by her arm, twisting it, bending it, yanking on it as he pulled her from the vehicle and jumped into the driver’s seat. See, he’s a really nice guy - he even helped the woman from the vehicle he decided upon. Oh, I forget to mention - the woman was in her late 60s, and Jones, you see, is more than half her age. He also stands six feet, four inches tall, weighs in around 240 pounds or so, and is also muscular. He had the power of persuasion in this business transaction. All of this is based on police report and news report information.
When the cops caught up with Mr. Jones a couple weeks later, they were initially pulling him over for a traffic stop. Things changed quickly, as they often do in police work. The cops soon discovered the car was stolen, but not before Jones began speeding, police reports indicate. The cops pursued him, with sirens and flashers. He raced through town - at speeds nearing 80 mph, the reports indicate.
The cops boxed him in at one point. He jumped out of his beautiful, shiny green car, and according to police reports, pulled out a handgun, and began firing at the cops, striking one in the thumb. Ouch! Our hero then jumped into one of the police cars and sped off. He may have mistaken it for one of his many cars. Oh, wait! He didn’t own a car, did he? He always “obtained vehicles” when needed.
After another chase, this time with Jones hitting other cars as he is trying to evade the cops, he drives on sidewalks, almost hitting several children - as well as nearly driving through a crowd of 70 people gathered for a funeral, police reports indicate.
The cops formed a barricade with other cop cars and were able to successfully stop Jones for the second time in one day - for the second time in one hour, in fact. When he stopped the cop car, the news chopper is suddenly overhead - quite convenient, and lucky for Jones.
The video shows that Jones was sitting quietly in the cop car. Several cops surrounded the car. One brave cop approached the car. There’s no real audio of what was being said at ground level, you have to imagine the cops were screaming at this honorable citizen to place his hands in the air and to look at them. Maybe they are ordering him from the vehicle. Who knows exactly what was said. The single cop approached the door of the cop car. He opened it and grabbed Jones by the shirt and dragged him from the vehicle. There’s a scuttle. Other cops gather quickly. Jones is on the ground. The overhead video, being shot, mind you, from about a mile away, shows several cops kicking this fine citizen, or so it seems. It just isn’t clear enough to show detail. There are too many bodies in the way to see if Mr. Jones was actually kicked, and if so, how many times.
Police reports indicate Jones was, at this point, biting the thumb of one of the cops, refusing to let stop. Within 29 seconds, things are quiet. Jones is in handcuffs and is being led by the cops to a new vehicle waiting to chauffer him to the hospital. At the hospital, Mr. Jones walks into the emergency room, on his own, despite the fact that he has five bullet holes in his stomach from his shootout with the police. The holes are soon discovered. Later, lab tests would reveal the wonderful guy was strung out on all kinds of drugs.
Because of this incident, Rev. Al Sharpton, Mr. Bigmouth himself, was in town badmouthing the police. The NAACP, as well as several other “prominent” people also got in on the act. One person even promised to find the “baddest ass civil rights lawyer” to handle the case.
Poor Mr. Jones. He was so abused. That’s what the first protest of the RNC was all about. As one protestor put it, “The cops are just out to kill the black man.”
That’s an interesting statement. It’s a baseless one, but interesting. The guy just wanted to flap his gums and badmouth cops. So be it. How soon we forget that Mr. Jones was a bad man. Forget that Mr. Jones just shot a cop. Forget that Mr. Jones was trying to eat a cop’s thumb. Forget everything. Just remember that Mr. Jones is black. That’s all that needs to be said. He is black and the cops are the bad guys.
Oh, wait a minute. Philly has another local joke, um, protest reason, as well. This one is named
Mumia
Abu-Jamal. He’s the convicted cop killing radical journalist. He killed Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner. It’s been fought, argued, etc. The guy’s been sentenced to death. His backers want his life spared. I just want a spare rib after the guy is fried.
Onward and upward - let’s look at some other interesting pre-convention protests going on.
How about the radical homosexual group, “Act Up!” They’re in town to protest whatever it is they want to protest this time. Maybe they won’t bring any of their six-foot long condoms filled with creamy goo. The group has a history of using the oversized prophylactics to make a statement. The tactic is usually employed by leaving the giant water balloon in front of the target’s house with some kind of demeaning signage.
Police detained five members of the animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) on Saturday, July 29. Seems the five activists were riding in a truck to get to Philadelphia for the convention. They stopped at a local gas station to add air to one of the tires. While at the gas station, cops came upon the scene. They found the truck had a really nasty odor. Police reports indicate it was loaded full of manure. The cargo was to be dumped on the sidewalk in front of First Union Center. Nice guys, you see. They must have had strong indications that the concrete wasn’t getting enough fertilizer. Yeah, right.
Next!
Let’s see, we have some protestors planning a march down one of the city’s busiest streets. The group has no permit, as the city denied their permit on the advice of the police commissioner. They want to march, effectively stopping traffic in a very busy area near downtown Philadelphia. Right. Despite not having the city’s blessing, and despite being warned that they could face arrest, the group says big deal, the march is still on. The march is supposed to happen sometime during the week of the convention. I guess we’ll see what happens.
The city’s cops have been involved in some intense training for the past few weeks. They’ve been getting up-close and personal instruction on the First Amendment rights of protestors. They’ve been told that they’re paid to take verbal abuse. They’ve been told that violent reactions are wrong. They’ve been instructed on how to better handle potential threats, as well as their own responses. In fact, the police in the city are on the highest alert status than they’ve ever been, according to one report. Every cop in the city is working 12-hour shifts. There is one supervisor for every five cops on the street. Want to mess with the cops? I’d advise against it. The sheriff’s department has their prison buses at the ready for mass arrests.
Weeks before the conventioneers began arriving in town, the cops were involved in surveillance of some of the protest groups. They had reason to believe that the groups were out to cause problems. That’s been proven true. One group, in fact, “People of Color,” as it’s called, held a press conference to discuss its plans for “civil disobedience.” Right. I hope the group doesn’t try labeling itself as “peaceful.”
The city’s police commissioner said he’s never had to use tear gas during his 33 years in law enforcement. He also said that he has no plans to use it during the Republican Convention. He did not, however, that he will not rule out use of tear gas should the need arise. Smart choice. I hope they have more than enough on hand.
Some of the protestors arriving in the city are saying they expect the cops to fight with the protestors, and some of the protestors are saying they are ready for tear gas to be used. Does that sound like plans for peaceful demonstrations? Not in my book!
It’s been really interesting during the past few weeks to listen to people stake claim to all kinds of rights they supposed have in this country. They claim to have the right to protest - where and when they want. They claim to have the right to free healthcare. They claim they have the right to jobs that pay decent wages. They claim to have a right to belch in public. They have the wrong idea of their “rights.”
The First Amendment guarantees the right of free speech. It guarantees the right to a redress of grievances with the government. It guarantees the right to peacefully assemble (protest). It guarantees the right to freedom of religion (nothing organized by the state - not a separation of church and state).
Does the First Amendment say anything about the right to be violent, cause property damage, or insult others? No! It doesn’t even guarantee you the right to be heard by the people you wish to have your “message” heard by. It does ensure you the right to vent. Period.
I hope these protestors that have invaded my hometown for the next week come in, vent peacefully, and leave. I hope they all remain polite. I hope they take all their trash back home. I hope they all keep their fists in their pockets, their phallus’ in their pants, and their threats in their minds. I hope and pray for peace in my city during this next week.
All in all, there are some really neat people that have come to town, though.
It’s estimated that 20,000 hotel rooms have been rented during this week’s convention at 93 area hotels. An estimated 15,000 news folks are in town to cover about 6,000 Republicans. The delegates are out-numbered two-and-a-half to one. Amazing, isn’t it?
Well, the Democratic National Convention is coming up in a few weeks. Let’s see how things are handled out there in
California.
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"Republican
National Convention"
