Anti-war demonstrators assaulted in Spokane

Incredible. It's amazing freeper types like to boast about this country having freedom of speech and yet anybody who disagrees with their view are hassled and even assulated like what happened in this story....

http://www.kxly.com/common/getStory.asp?id=36261


John

"Expunged" already?

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4910029/


I hope it works.

John

The brown shirts are out....be careful people.

One of the victims of this crime is a frequent contributor to a list server which I moderate called spokaneprogressives@yahoogroups.com; he uses the name tayacan2004, and his email address is arroyoribera@netscape.com. I am sure he would appreciate your support. There has been a discussion string concerning this crime on SpokaneProgressives describing the events, the media reaction and law enforcement progress.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

clipped from news story:

The man who assaulted a war protester could face federal charges.

Three protesters were holding up anti-war signs on a Northeast Spokane corner, when a blue Jeep pulled up. The protesters say the Jeep's passenger grabbed and ripped up their signs, and one protester was thrown to the ground. Normally, that would mean an assault charge, but the violation of free speech rights makes it a federal felony.

Police have the Jeep's license plate number, but have not yet contacted the owner.


Please keep us informed
:dem:

The following is a post on SpokaneProgressives by tayacan2004 concerning the assault on him.

From: "tayacan2004" <arroyoribera@netscape.net>
Date: Fri May 7, 2004 11:57 pm
Subject: FBI response to assault case

I spoke to Spokane FBI office chief Dezihan today and inquired about
the civil rights case the FBI was going to investigate. Dezihan said
that I must be misinformed. I told him that I was just referring to
what had been reported in the Spokesman Review and other media. He
said that he had just returned to town and had not seen the reports.
He said that the preliminary report from the police is all he has.
He said that "I just don't see how it would be an abuse of civil
rights". I told him that if his office did not intend to open a civil
rights case that I intended to file a civil rights complaint myself.
He said that he worked for 2 years in the Civil Rights Bureau of the
FBI. He then added that "however, I want to reserve judgment". He
then told me that I could come into his office in Rockpoint Complex
from 8:30 to 5 PM and file a report with one of his staff.

Didn't we learn about all this sh*t in the 60's and 70's? Now, law 'enforcement' is turning a blind eye to assault and battery in order to stifle free speech and gives the okay to this behavior?

Thankyou Spokane law for posting this and please keep us informed.

BTW, Welcome to the DU!!!
:party: :toast: :bounce: :kick:

Here is Tayacan2004's latest update on the situation with the Spokesman Review. Like I said he is a prolific contributor to SpokaneProgressives. It basically says that after he complained they posted the entire article on the newspaper's web site. They did not change the article in the archives. This is the permanent electronic record for the newspaper which people access when they want to do research.

Well here are the two new e-mails I have sent to the Spokesman Review
regarding their story on the assault on Al Mangan, myself and free
speech. In summary, as a previous post documented, S-R staff did make
whole the on-line version which one can reach by clicking on the
calendar at their page http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news/archives.asp

However if one goes to the archives (which one would have to after a
few months) to purchase the article, that version is an edited version
of 342 words, while the actual version is 547. The archives pages
says this: "The Spokesman-Review's archives: The complete electronic
archives of The Spokesman-Review, which contains the full, verified
text of every story written by our staff writers that ran in every
edition of the paper since July 1, 1994. Searching is free;
downloading the full text of an article costs $1.95." (Emphasis on
"full, verified text of every story".

Will keep you posted. Personally I think it is important. Someone
attempted to deny me my write to free speech. Now the S-R is posting
for posterity an severely edited version of a story on that assault
which deletes the last ten paragraphs with the assistant police chief's comments and mine on free speech.

Any thoughts. (Any quotes Frank, since you've got the book handy
there).

arroyoribera wrote to S-R:

Well me pestering again. So you did restore the version of the May 6
article (covering the May 4 assault on me and Al Mangan) available by
clicking the date on the calendar. That version has some 547 words,
at least according to my word count on Microsoft Word and does appear
complete. However, the version available for sale on your archive has
only 340 or so words, if I recall correctly. Should that be the case?
Again is the edited version (minus the last ten paragraphs of quotes
from the deputy police chief and from me) the version of record? If
so, who decides how to edit the version of record? Look forward to a
response. David Brookbank

arroyoribera wrote to S-R:

> Ken S and Steve S, Thanks for posting the rest of the article.
Regarding the questions I asked about whether the on-line version is
the version of record when down the road someone orders a copy of an
article and whether it is the version that news services would pick
up, could I get an answer in a return e-mail or in the weekly column
where you answer questions from readers?
> By the way, my mother saw a vehicle at a gas station today which had
an effigy of an Iraqi lashed to the front of it. We are indeed a
civilized nation. Hopefully you all will follow these demonstrations
of the "goodwill" of the U.S. people toward the Iraqis.

> arroyoribera wrote to S-R:
>
>> Hi Tom C and Ken S, I was interested to note that the on-line
version of the 5/6/04 story "Protesters allege assault, civil rights
violation" is an abbreviated version and is missing the last 10
paragraphs which includes most if not all of the information regarding
the Asst Police Chief's concerns about free speech, my background, and
my comments about free speech. Is there any reason why that would
have been done? Am I correct in assuming that the abbreviated version
becomes the version of record, i.e., if someone orders a copy from the
paper or a wire service wants a copy, they will get the abbreviated
version? Thank you.
>> David Brookbank

P.S. I spell checked the entire post.

I thought we went to Iraq to liberate the Iraqis?!!!?! Not since I left Central Illinois, back in '92, have I heard of such Bushsh*t! Oh my! I see your local paper is doing everything in it's power to ensure freedom of the press and speech!?! Amazing. Thank you for keeping us up to date on this.

Bit by ever-sprawling bit. Maybe getting stirred out of their nests makes them angry.

Tayacan2004 made the following post on SpokaneProgessives to update us on the story of his assault.

As of Tuesday morning, May 11, exactly one week after the assault, SPD detective Jolly told me that she had still not run the license plate of the blue jeep of the two men who carried out the assault. She also told me that she had not talked to Ben Strength, the David's Pizza delivery man who witnessed the whole event and apparently was the first call to 911. Others also called 911 but have not been interviewed, at least according to Dep. Chief Odenthall who told me only one person had been interviewed and expressed surprise when I told him that the 911 operators themselves had told me that there had been several calls. As far as I know only Al Mangan, myself, and perhaps Jay Sullivan, the third protester, have been interviewed. I did not know until talking to Jay at the protest on May 11th and then talking to Ben Strength, that the driver of the jeep had also been involved in the assault, having gotten out of the jeep and intimidating Jay before going back to the jeep and eventually running the jeep into the guy who assaulted me. Assistant Chief Odenthal made it clear to me May 11 when I called him that the SPD was still trying to determine--as he was quoted in the S-R--"who assaulted who" (his bad grammar is forgiven). He made clear that the SPD are not clear about whether I might have used a "disproportionate" amount of force in defending myself. I challenge the Assistant Chief to allow withoutreaction or defending himself in some way (reaching out and grabbing the guy's shirt perhaps) a large male to approach him out of a jeep which just went to great lengths to do a u-turn, enter a parking lot, park and unload a large aggressive passenger who then approaches him from his side at a brisk clip and causing concern that he would push him and an 82 year old man (Al) into rush hour traffic on Hamilton just two feet away. I would suggest that rather than finding himself on the ground with a skinned elbow and a bad neck, as I did, the asst.chief would have found himself standing over a body with a bullet in its chest. But then again Al and I were engaged in the deadly activity of peaceful free-speech. Dangerous guys, you know.

So....I can feel from your post that the Spokane Police Department is hostile toward anti-war causes? This is indeed deeper than I first imagined.