Charges Against 'New Black Panthers' Dropped by Obama Justice Dept.

[JBond]

Charges Against 'New Black Panthers' Dropped by Obama Justice Dept.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2009/05/29/charges-black-panthers-dropped-obama/

Charges brought against three members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense under the Bush administration have been dropped by the Obama Justice Department, FOX News has learned.

The charges stemmed from an incident at a Philadelphia polling place on Election Day 2008 when three members of the party were accused of trying to threaten voters and block poll and campaign workers by the threat of force -- one even brandishing what prosecutors call a deadly weapon.

The three black panthers, Minister King Samir Shabazz, Malik Zulu Shabazz and Jerry Jackson were charged in a civil complaint in the final days of the Bush administration with violating the voter rights act by using coercion, threats and intimidation. Shabazz allegedly held a nightstick or baton that prosecutors said he pointed at people and menacingly tapped it. Prosecutors also say he "supports racially motivated violence against non-blacks and Jews."

The complaint says the men hurled racial slurs at both blacks and whites.

A poll watcher who provided an affidavit to prosecutors in the case noted that Bartle Bull, who worked as a civil rights lawyer in the south in the 1960's and is a former campaign manager for Robert Kennedy, said it was the most blatant form of voter intimidation he had ever seen.

In his affidavit, obtained by FOX News, Bull wrote "I watched the two uniformed men confront voters and attempt to intimidate voters. They were positioned in a location that forced every voter to pass in close proximity to them. The weapon was openly displayed and brandished in plain sight of voters."

He also said they tried to "interfere with the work of other poll observers ... whom the uniformed men apparently believed did not share their preferences politically," noting that one of the panthers turned toward the white poll observers and said "you are about to be ruled by the black man, cracker."

A spokesman for the Department of Justice told FOX News, "The Justice Department was successful in obtaining an injunction that prohibits the defendant who brandished a weapon outside a Philadelphia polling place from doing so again. Claims were dismissed against the other defendants based on a careful assessment of the facts and the law. The department is committed to the vigorous prosecution of those who intimidate, threaten or coerce anyone exercising his or her sacred right to vote."

FOX News' Eric Shawn contributed to this report.

[Doomsday101]

Not surprising many of us saw the report when it happened and now this administration turns a blind eye to blatant voter intimidations by the members of the Black Panthers? Pathetic

[WoodysGirl]

Maybe the article isn't clear or I misread. Does it say why the charges were dropped?

[iceberg]

Maybe the article isn't clear or I misread. Does it say why the charges were dropped?

1st sentence?

[WoodysGirl]

1st sentence?
I read the first sentence, but it doesn't say why. Technicality, legal reason, etc.

I get why Bush's administration brought the charges. I don't get why Obama's administration would drop them and the article isn't clear in that regard.

[zrinkill]

They would have been dropped if McCain had won as well.

Charges like that are hard to make stick if no one was physically injured.

Not to mention they showed on tape people just ignoring them and walking by.

The only people who were really stopped were the cowards.

[Hostile]

They would have been dropped if McCain had won as well.

Charges like that are hard to make stick if no one was physically injured.

Not to mention they showed on tape people just ignoring them and walking by.

The only people who were really stopped were the cowards.This.

[WoodysGirl]

They would have been dropped if McCain had won as well.

Charges like that are hard to make stick if no one was physically injured.

Not to mention they showed on tape people just ignoring them and walking by.

The only people who were really stopped were the cowards.
Yeah, the Obama thing really isn't a big deal. I just like to know the WHY of things.

It wouldn't matter to me if McCain's admin would've dropped the charges. That's a pretty big detail to leave out of the article.

Edit: Re-read it again and now I see the statement at the bottom of the article. Poorly placed, IMO. That said, that's not exactly a detailed explanation either. Oh well.

[zrinkill]

It wouldn't matter to me if McCain's admin would've dropped the charges.

I just mentioned that because it seems the slant on the article is that Obama's admin is letting them off the hook because he is half black.

Which is nonsense in my eyes.

[Doomsday]

They would have been dropped if McCain had won as well.

Charges like that are hard to make stick if no one was physically injured.

Not to mention they showed on tape people just ignoring them and walking by.

The only people who were really stopped were the cowards.

Doesnt matter to me if someone is a coward or not they have the right to vote without fear or intimidation. Even if only one person was too afraid to vote it is one too many in my opinion.

[WoodysGirl]

I just mentioned that because it seems the slant on the article is that Obama's admin is letting them off the hook because he is half black.

Which is nonsense in my eyes.
Gotcha.

Obama is the prez. He will get credit and blame equally.

I try to filter through that to get to the meat of the article.

[Doomsday101]

So if the members of the Klan were outside a polling place using intimidation tactics to scare off potential voters would anyone expect the charges to be dropped? Black or white does not matter to me but when hate groups and that is what the Black Panthers are and they use intimidation to stop potential voters then they should be tried in a court not let off by the administration

[zrinkill]

Doesnt matter to me if someone is a coward or not they have the right to vote without fear or intimidation. Even if only one person was too afraid to vote it is one too many in my opinion.

I agree ...... just stating the reasons the charges were probably dropped.

I have worked as "security" before in governmental situations (some very "hot") and I will tell you that charges like this are usually hard to actually make stick.

[zrinkill]

So if the members of the Klan were outside a polling place using intimidation tactics to scare off potential voters would anyone expect the charges to be dropped?

Yes .... as long as no one was physically injured.

It would not be worth the costs for the slap on the wrist that would happen.

[iceberg]

I read the first sentence, but it doesn't say why. Technicality, legal reason, etc.

I get why Bush's administration brought the charges. I don't get why Obama's administration would drop them and the article isn't clear in that regard.

AH - i missed the why. : ) i''ll go wake up now.

[Doomsday101]

Yes .... as long as no one was physically injured.

It would not be worth the costs for the slap on the wrist that would happen.

I think that is a mistake because if you can get away with it then it will only continue if not get worse. I don't care what party we are talking about or which hate group is doing it.

[JBond]

EDITORIAL: Protecting Black Panthers

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/29/protecting-black-panthers/

Imagine if Ku Klux Klan members had stood menacingly in military uniforms, with nightsticks, in front of a polling place. Add to it that they had hurled racial threats and insults at voters who tried to enter.

Now suppose that the government, backed by a nationally televised video of the event, had won a court case against the Klansmen except for the perfunctory filing of a single, simple document - but that an incoming Republican administration had moved to voluntarily dismiss the already-won case.

Surely that would have been front-page news, with a number of firings at the Justice Department.

The flip side of this scenario is occurring right now. The culprits weren't Klansmen; they belonged to the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. One of the defendants, Jerry Jackson, is an elected member of Philadelphia's 14th Ward Democratic Committee and was a credentialed poll watcher for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party when the violations occurred. Rather conveniently, the Obama administration has asked that the cases against Mr. Jackson, two other defendants and the party be dropped.

The Voting Rights Act is very clear. It prohibits any "attempt to intimidate, threaten or coerce" any voter or those aiding voters.

The explanation for moving to dismiss the case is shocking. According to the Department of Justice: "These same Defendants have made no appearance and have filed no pleadings with the Court. Nor have they otherwise raised any other defenses to this action. Therefore, the United States has the right ... to dismiss voluntarily this action against the Defendants." In other words, because the defendants haven't tried to defend themselves, the Justice Department won't punish them.

By that logic, if a murderer doesn't respond to the charges, he should be let free. That's crazy.

The Obama Justice Department did take one action against one of the four defendants: It forbade him from again "displaying a weapon within 100 feet of any open polling location" in Philadelphia. Given that it already was illegal to display a weapon at a polling place and that he was not even enjoined from carrying a weapon at polling places outside of Philadelphia, it is hard to see what this order accomplished.

We asked the Justice Department if it was unable to provide any explanation for dropping the case. Justice press aide Alejandro Miyar merely said: "That is correct." Multiple times we asked both the department and the White House to comment on charges that the dismissals represented political bias. We received no substantive response.

Hans Von Spakovsky, a legal scholar at the Heritage Foundation and a former commissioner at the Federal Election Commission, tells us, "In my experience, I have never heard of the department refusing to take a default judgment... . If a Republican administration had done this, it would be front-page news and every civil rights group in the country would be screaming about it."

Consider that the behavior of the defendants was so bad that witness Bartle Bull, a former Robert F. Kennedy organizer who did extensive legal work on behalf of black voters in Mississippi, testified it was "the most blatant form of voter discrimination I have encountered in my life."

Eric Eversole, a former litigation attorney with the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, told us: "It is truly unprecedented for the Voting Section to voluntarily dismiss a case of such blatant intimidation. The video speaks for itself."

We couldn't agree more. After the 2000 Presidential election, Democrats complained about voter intimidation in Florida by pointing to a police car that had been two miles away from a polling place. The police didn't do anything to anyone, but their presence was deemed sufficient to vaguely intimidate people en route to the polls. In this case, the New Black Panther Party actually blocked access to a poll.

Unlike the Florida incident, this case involving the New Black Panthers screams out for tough justice. Instead, the Obama administration looks the other way. This all but invites racial violence at future elections.

More info:
http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/052909_noticeofdismissal.pdf (http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/052909_noticeofdismissal.pdf)

http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/052909_complaint.pdf (http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/052909_complaint.pdf)

http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/052909_smithletter.pdf (http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/052909_smithletter.pdf)
[/URL]

[URL="http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/052909_noticeofdismissal.pdf"] (http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/052909_complaint.pdf)

[TheCount]

I think that is a mistake because if you can get away with it then it will only continue if not get worse. I don't care what party we are talking about or which hate group is doing it.

It happens all the time, cases get dropped for the most asinine reasons on a regular basis.

However, the idea that the administration is dropping the charges because Obama is half black (which apparently overrides any compassion he may have for his other half). is just plain silly.

[Bob Sacamano]

The Black Panthers are probably the weakest political organization in history

[Doomsday101]

It happens all the time.

I don't care what group it is and no it does not happen all the time and people in the past have been prosecuted for it so don't hand me that crap. The Black Panther are a hate group and these thugs where seen out front of a polling place intimidating others no ands if's or buts about it. Had any other group done this I would expect prosecution of them. By the way as a Catholic I am no fan of the KKK and they are no fan of mine or any other catholic and I'm not afraid to call them what they are mindless and worthless hate mongers

[Doomsday101]

It happens all the time, cases get dropped for the most asinine reasons on a regular basis.

However, the idea that the administration is dropping the charges because Obama is half black (which apparently overrides any compassion he may have for his other half). is just plain silly.

I did not say they were dropping it because Obama is black I said it because they were the group clearly seen doing it and were fully supporting Obama so there was no doubt what their motive was. Seems you are more hung up on color than me.

[burmafrd]

SO no way to prove that the charges were dropped because the Obama administration did not want their guy in trouble. No way to prove the opposite either= but any way you look at it it looks bad f or the current administration.

[TheCount]

I did not say they were dropping it because Obama is black I said it because they were the group clearly seen doing it and were fully supporting Obama so there was no doubt what their motive was. Seems you are more hung up on color than me.

I was referring to zrinkill's post, hence the fact it was on a new paragraph. Unlike most people that think not talking about race is the best way to show how awesomely un-racist they are, I believe in talking about it. We didn't get to this point by pretending we don't notice when someone is Chinese vs when they are Indian.

If you deem that as being hung up on race, then so be it. Doesn't bother me.

[Yoshimitsu]

The Black Panthers are probably the weakest political organization in history

When they first started out they actually stood for something. They got torn apart by the government and haven't recovered since.

[Doomsday101]

I was referring to zrinkill's post, hence the fact it was on a new paragraph. Unlike most people that think not talking about race is the best way to show how awesomely un-racist they are, I believe in talking about it. We didn't get to this point by pretending we don't notice when someone is Chinese vs when they are Indian.

If you deem that as being hung up on race, then so be it. Doesn't bother me.

You assumed that my problem with letting these thugs go was because they were black and so is Obama and that is not the case. I pointed it out because the tactic was to intimidate voters from voting for the opposition. I don't care who and what party a person is in if someone is found doing this then that person or persons need to be arrested and charged. I do know for a fact that had the KKK was doing that the black community would have been up in arms and rightfully so but it should not make a difference if it was the Klan or the black panthers. Funny thing is as different as they are in their views they are pretty much the same and that is pathetic.

[bbgun]

Gee, I remember when politicizing the Justice Department was supposed to be "bad."

[ABQCOWBOY]

Gee, I remember when politicizing the Justice Department was supposed to be "bad."


What was that, like last year?

:laugh2:

[WoodysGirl]

When they first started out they actually stood for something. They got torn apart by the government and haven't recovered since.
Yeah, the New Black Panther party is pretty much wack. They're nothing like what the real Black Panther were like.

[bbgun]

What was that, like last year?

:laugh2:

Yep, just another "wacky" coincidence.

[MetalHead]

Next election I will stand up front the voting venue looking menacing and exposing my handgun(I'm in TX and I carry a permit)...precedent has been set...and I'm a minority(brown),so i'll walk.....

WTH has this country come up to?

[Jon88]

Next election I will stand up front the voting venue looking menacing and exposing my handgun(I'm in TX and I carry a permit)...precedent has been set...and I'm a minority(brown),so i'll walk.....

WTH has this country come up to?

Yeah I guess that behavior is OK.

I would have decked them in the mouth if they even tried to intimidate me.

[TheCount]

You assumed that my problem with letting these thugs go was because they were black and so is Obama and that is not the case. I pointed it out because the tactic was to intimidate voters from voting for the opposition. I don't care who and what party a person is in if someone is found doing this then that person or persons need to be arrested and charged. I do know for a fact that had the KKK was doing that the black community would have been up in arms and rightfully so but it should not make a difference if it was the Klan or the black panthers. Funny thing is as different as they are in their views they are pretty much the same and that is pathetic.

I didn't assume your problem was because they are black, more likely who they were committing their thuggery "for" and that they were "let go" by that administration after they won.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I've never seen you storm on here and tongue-lash the Black Panthers before this.

[Jon88]

I didn't assume your problem was because they are black, more likely who they were committing their thuggery "for" and that they were "let go" by that administration after they won.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I've never seen you storm on here and tongue-lash the Black Panthers before this.


I don't see what difference that makes. They were wrong and should have been charged.

[ShiningStar]

I didn't assume your problem was because they are black, more likely who they were committing their thuggery "for" and that they were "let go" by that administration after they won.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I've never seen you storm on here and tongue-lash the Black Panthers before this.


Why there was no reason to, no one has a problem if they peacefully assemble, its when they force and intimidate than you have a problem.