| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Le Mod Pol" |
| Date: |
03 Feb 2004 01:03:55 PM |
| Object: |
Protesters upend Daley's news conference on guns |
Protesters upend Daley's news conference on guns
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter
February 3, 2004
Mayor Daley and U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald joined
forces Monday in a new assault against gun traffickers,
but the unveiling of the crackdown was "hijacked" by a
former Death Row inmate now running for state representative.
Aaron Patterson disrupted a news conference at the
Ogden Park Fieldhouse by shouting out pointed questions
about alleged police brutality and waving pictures of
Darrell Hamilton, an 18-year-old South Side man gunned
down by Chicago police in December after refusing to
put down a revolver.
Joined by Fred Hampton Jr., son of the slain Black
Panther leader, Patterson demanded that Fitzgerald
investigate Hamilton's death and the police shootings
of two other young black men: Michael Walker and
Shurron Grant.
Daley reacted to the disturbance, first by trying to
ignore the protesters and seeking refuge from other
questioners, then by abruptly canceling a second news
conference that would have allowed reporters to ask
more questions about the hired truck scandal.
Fitzgerald, who subpoenaed the city's hired truck
records just last week, was furious. He lectured the
protesters from the podium and let them have it after
the disastrous news conference ended.
"If Mr. Patterson wants to campaign, then go out in the
street and campaign. . . . I was offended. We're trying
to work together to do something positive, and somebody
else wants to hijack it for their own purposes,"
Fitzgerald said.
The U.S. attorney said he has no sympathy for claims by
Patterson and Hampton that Chicago's homicide rate has
been brought down by "terrorizing" black and Hispanic males.
"If there were 650 killed last year and under 600 this
year, I can tell you that the number of black men in
the city who've been killed has gone down," he said.
Walker, 21, was shot in the face in October 2002 by a
narcotics officer as the two wrestled for control of
the officer's gun in the hallway of a Cabrini-Green
building. Grant, 23, was shot to death last September
in the 5900 block of South Peoria after he allegedly
fired a semi-automatic assault rifle at police.
"All we're telling the feds . . . is while you're
spending all of this money and time talking about gun
shops, what about the officers who go onto pensions
like Joseph Miedzianowski, [Jon] Woodall and others
from Area 5. Why aren't you investigating some of the
other cases they were involved in?" Patterson said.
Patterson was arrested last month while trying to
register voters outside an Englewood soup kitchen. He
angrily denied that Monday's disturbance was a
publicity stunt in his campaign to unseat first-term
state Rep. Patrician Bailey (D-Chicago) in the March 16 primary.
"Come on. Stop it. I've been pulling stunts long before
I ran. Haven't y'all seen me since I've been out? Do I
need to run for office to pull a stunt? I'm going to
pull a stunt regardless of whether I'm in office [or
not]. We're revolutionaries. We do what we got to do,"
he said.
The anti-gun initiative known as Project Safe
Neighborhoods calls for law enforcement at the federal,
state, county and city levels to join forces in a
coordinated crackdown that targets the worst offenders
for the harshest penalties.
For the last two years, the crackdown has been aimed at
convicted felons charged with gun possession. Now, gun
traffickers will also be targets. Sixteen defendants
were arrested Monday in Chicago, Milwaukee, Tennessee
and Indiana on various federal charges related to the
illegal sale or purchase of guns.
Miedzianowski was a Gang Crimes investigator who
federal prosecutors once branded the "most corrupt cop"
in Chicago history. He was sentenced to life in prison
for operating a Miami-to-Chicago heroine ring with gang
members, some of whom he protected from murder charges.
Woodall is a former Gang Crimes specialist recently
convicted of stealing cocaine from a drug dealer,
selling some of it and planting even more on an
innocent man.
--
LP
In politics, moderation is the best policy.
.
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| User: "Daniel J. Stern" |
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| Title: Re: Protesters upend Daley's news conference on guns |
03 Feb 2004 01:32:05 PM |
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On Tue, 3 Feb 2004, Le Mod Pol wrote:
the unveiling of the crackdown was "hijacked" by a former Death Row
inmate now running for state representative. Aaron Patterson disrupted a
news conference at the Ogden Park Fieldhouse by shouting out pointed
questions about alleged police brutality
<snip>
Patterson angrily denied that Monday's disturbance was a publicity stunt
"Haven't y'all seen me since I've been out? Do I need to run for office
to pull a stunt? I'm going to pull a stunt regardless of whether I'm in
office. We're revolutionaries. We do what we got to do," he said.
We do what we got to do, yo. I'm going to pull a stunt, y'all. Bling bling
yo. We revolutionaries, word.
\/\/hatever.
.
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| User: "Le Mod Pol" |
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| Title: Re: Protesters upend Daley's news conference on guns |
03 Feb 2004 02:52:10 PM |
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"Daniel J. Stern" wrote:
On Tue, 3 Feb 2004, Le Mod Pol wrote:
the unveiling of the crackdown was "hijacked" by a former Death Row
inmate now running for state representative. Aaron Patterson disrupted a
news conference at the Ogden Park Fieldhouse by shouting out pointed
questions about alleged police brutality
<snip>
Patterson angrily denied that Monday's disturbance was a publicity stunt
"Haven't y'all seen me since I've been out? Do I need to run for office
to pull a stunt? I'm going to pull a stunt regardless of whether I'm in
office. We're revolutionaries. We do what we got to do," he said.
We do what we got to do, yo. I'm going to pull a stunt, y'all. Bling bling
yo. We revolutionaries, word.
How many years was he on Death Row?? Was he one of
those that Gov Ryan pardoned on his last day?
\/\/hatever.
What is funny, Daniel, -- It got Daley off the hook for
embarrassing questions he soon must answer about the
trucking graft scandal and his connection to the chi mafia
--
LP
In politics, moderation is the best policy.
.
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