In Part 1 of this series we detailed the events leading up to the assault on Kenneth Gladney on August 6th and revealed the document written by Margarida Jorge at Health Care for American Now (HCAN) a front group funded by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) which laid a blueprint for the unions to follow that evening at Rep. Russ Carnahan’s town hall meeting. Yesterday, in Part 2, we exposed a second town hall meeting that occurred the same night in Tampa Bay, FL with Rep. Kathy Castor that followed the same structure and had very similar results. We also detailed the relationships of key decision makers at HCAN, Rep. Carnahan’s office and the White House and showed how they were all inter-related at SEIU, the Obama for America campaign and the two accused of assaulting Kenneth Gladney that evening.
Margarida Jorge
On the evening of August 6th hundreds of citizens were shut out of the meeting and not allowed to question their elected official while hundreds of SEIU members were ushered in a side entrance to sit in reserved seats in the front of the hall. This followed precisely the instructions penned by Margarida Jorge of HCAN.
- We need to stack our folks in the front to create a wall around the Member…
- Get to your location early and make sure you set up the venue in a way that ensures that the attendees you want are at the front and that any protesters who come are sequestered as far as possible from the stage.
- Make sure that you assign marshals to take care of moving the crowd, keeping people organized and orderly, and acting as security
According to eye-witnesses, Elston McCowan and Perry Molens approached Kenneth Gladney and began grabbing the “Don’t Tread on Me” materials that he was distributing. This also was in line with the instructions laid out in the HCAN memo.
- Another way to limit protesters’ ability to hijack your event is to confiscate signs or leaflets that they may bring into the venue from outside.
The climate of intimidation and frustration created by following HCAN’s rules of “Responding to Right-Wing Attacks” led to the confrontations outside of Rep. Carnahan’s town hall meeting.
The St. Louis Police were dispatched that evening to respond to the assault on Kenneth Gladney and arrests were made. Big Government has already revealed the 24-page police report detailing the police’s own account of the events as well as eye-witness testimony. The suspects taken by the police that night were booked on assault charges and last Wednesday, November 25th, more than three months after the incident, charges were finally brought against the suspects.
Elston McCowan
As anyone who has taken a high school civics class can tell you (or, more likely, anyone who has ever seen an episode of ‘Law and Order’), city and county attorneys are responsible for prosecuting suspects who the police arrest. The County Prosecuting Attorney has ultimate authority over cases such as the arrest of SEIU senior staff members Elston McCowan and Perry Molens. And the Prosecuting Attorney is an elected official which by definition makes that person a politician. Who is the politician ultimately responsible for ensuring the crimes against Kenneth Gladney are brought to justice?
Meet Robert McCulloch . Robert McCulloch is the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney in whose jurisdiction these arrests were made. Last year, during the presidential election, Robert McCulloch was a central figure in something called “The Barack Obama Truth Squad”. This “truth” squad was created at the request of the Missouri Obama for America campaign. As KMOV reported at the time:
“They will be reminding voters that Barack Obama is a Christian who wants to cut taxes for anyone who makes less than $250,000 a year. They also say they plan to respond immediately to any ads and statements that violate Missouri’s ethics laws.”
McCulloch himself was quoted in the report saying:
“If they’re not going to tell the truth, somebody’s got to step up and say, ‘That’s not true. This is the truth.'”
That is what McCulloch said he would do on “The Barack Obama Truth Squad” in his capacity as Prosecuting Attorney, NOT as a paid employee of the Obama for America Campaign. Please understand, in September of 2008, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch took on as his responsibility as a public official, paid for by the good people of Missouri, the role of “Rapid Response” for the Obama Campaign responsible for informing the voters of what is true and what is not, all the time reminding everyone that Barack Obama is a Christian who wants to cut taxes for anyone who makes less than $250,000 a year. I think even the most casual observer can look at this and reach the conclusion that Mr. McCulloch brings with him a certain level of partisan bias when executing his duties as Prosecuting Attorney.
As the KMOV report stated:
“The Barack Obama campaign is asking Missouri law enforcement to target anyone who lies or runs a misleading TV ad during the presidential campaign.”
“The Barack Obama campaign is asking…” We have already discussed who was in charge of the Barack Obama campaign in Missouri, but I think it bears repeating:
- Buffy Wicks ran the Obama for America campaign in Missouri, Buffy Wicks now works for Valerie Jarret in the White House Office of Public Engagement and was involved in the NEA Conference Calls.
- Sara Howard worked with Buffy Wicks on the Obama for America Campaign in Missouri and Sarah Howard worked at SEIU in St Louis. The day before the St. Louis town hall she was hired by Rep. Russ Carnahan.
- Margarida Jorge also worked at SEIU in St. Louis, just like Sara Howard and Margarida wrote the HCAN memo on fighting back against the right.
- Just like Jorge and Howard, Elston McCowan and Perry Molens worked at SEIU in St. Louis. They have been charged with the bloody assault of Kenneth Gladney.
Now, let’s add THIS one to the mix:
- Robert McCulloch worked on behalf of the Obama for America campaign (Wicks and Howard) by aggressively promoting a pre-emptive strike against negative campaigning against Barack Obama. McCulloch is the person charged with the duty to bring charges against McCowan and Molens for assaulting Gladney outside the town hall meeting of Carnahan arranged by Howard following the volatile template written by Jorge! (Follow all that?)
So, how did McCulloch do in executing his duties in the Gladney case? McCulloch handed the case over to county counselor Patricia Redington and washed his hands from that point on. It is interesting that McCulloch moved so quickly in using intimidation tactics by wielding the power of his office and the threat of legal ramifications for any negative advertising that may have suggested that candidate Obama might not actually lower taxes on everyone making $250,000 per year (have you gotten your tax cut yet?) but he passed the buck when it came to this case.
Meanwhile, Redington let this case languish for months before finally bringing modest charges against the suspects on the afternoon before Thanksgiving (an obvious attempt to let the story disappear). One week before the charges were brought, Big Government reported:
- Redington hasn’t spoken to Kenneth Gladney
- Redington hasn’t called any of the witnesses on the police report.
- Redington hasn’t contacted any of the Tea Party members that are seen on video
- Redington hasn’t contacted any of the people who shot video that night and whose YouTube urls are listed on the evidence page
Also, despite the fact that Redington never investigated the injuries Gladney suffered and never interviewed the medical personnel who administered assistance to Gladney, she still felt it best to reduce the charges down to an ordinance violation. In the words of Judge Anthony Napolitano: “The moral equivalent of jay walking.”
But, make no mistake; this is happening on McCulloch’s watch. He has the authority to handle this case and to ensure that proper charges are filed, but he has chosen not to. It begs the question: If he jumped through the “Truth Squad” hoops when Buffy Wicks asked him to during the campaign, is it possible he has turned his back on this case for similar reasons?
Tomorrow: We reveal a document linking the activities of HCAN and SEIU in August at the town hall meetings with the highest levels of the Government.