Free Republic

FREEHOLD, N.J. – Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., has been the target of a credible threat made against his life by a North Jersey man on social media, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. Dereal Finklin, 43, who is a registered Democrat in East Orange, was charged with making terroristic threats against the congressman on Saturday. Finklin has been held in the Monmouth County Jail in Freehold Township since the weekend. A detention hearing is scheduled for 8 a.m. Wednesday, before state Superior Court Judge James J. McGann, confirmed Christopher Swendeman, a spokesman for the Prosecutor's Office. “Not much we...

Three people have been arrested in connection with the robbery of a priceless Stradivarius violin, but the instrument has not been found, police said Wednesday. The three suspects — two men, ages 42 and 36, and a woman, 32 — were arrested Monday morning at their respective Milwaukee residences and remained in police custody Wednesday. One of the suspects has been linked to a prior art theft. The violin, crafted in 1715 and known as the Lipinski Strad after a former owner, was stolen from Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Frank Almond during an armed robbery Jan. 27. Almond had played...

Day 3  Day: WednesdayLocation: Target CenterTime: 10:40 PMArrests: 102 Video Despite band's plea for peace, 102 arrested after Rage Against the Machine concert Even though fans who attended Wednesday's Rage Against the Machine concert were asked not to cause trouble when they left Target Center, scores of people didn't comply with the request. Trouble did break out on downtown Minneapolis streets and police arrested 102 people who had attended the concert, according to the Joint Information Center which is coordinating security in connection with the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Of those arrested, 87 people were tagged with...

MILWAUKEE — A U.S. lawmaker's son and three Democratic campaign workers were sentenced Wednesday to four to six months in jail for slashing tires outside a Bush-Cheney campaign office on Election Day 2004. The men pleaded no contest in January to misdemeanor property damage. A fifth worker was found not guilty. "This case had to be a public example of what can happen when you interfere with voters' rights," said Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Michael Brennan, who rejected prosecutors' recommendation of probation for the four men. The Wisconsin state Republican Party had rented more than 100 vehicles to give rides...

(AP) MILWAUKEE Four Democratic presidential campaign workers were sentenced to jail time ranging from four months to six months Wednesday for puncturing the tires of Republican vehicles on Election Day 2004. The men had pleaded no contest in January to misdemeanor property damage. A fifth worker was found not guilty. Those who pleaded no contest were Sowande A. Omokunde, the son of Democratic U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee; Michael Pratt, the son of former acting Milwaukee Mayor Marvin Pratt; and Lewis Caldwell and Lavelle Mohammad, both from Milwaukee. They originally were charged with felony property damage but accepted plea deals...

In an unexpected twist in the Election Day tire slashing trial, four former Kerry-Edwards campaign staffers, including the sons of U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) and former Acting Mayor Marvin Pratt, have agreed to plead no contest to misdemeanors. The plea agreements came in the middle of jury deliberations after an eight-day trial on felony property damage charges that carried potential 3 1/2 year prison terms upon conviction. Michael Pratt, 33, Sowande Omokunde, 26, Lewis G. Caldwell, 29, and Lavelle Mohammad, 36, have all pleaded no contest to misdemeanor counts of criminal damage to property. Omokunde is Moore's son. Prosecutors...

For all the overheated talk of fraud in Wisconsin's last presidential election particularly in Milwaukee one incident stands out and demands significant punishment. Those who slashed the tires of 25 rented vans and cars at the GOP headquarters in Milwaukee the morning of the 2004 election may have prevented hundreds of people from voting.

Tire-slashing boasts recalled Witness says 5 were 'excited' about vandalism By DERRICK NUNNALLYdnunnally@journalsentinel.com Posted: Jan. 11, 2006 The key state witness in the election day 2004 tire-slashing trial testified Wednesday that the five defendants had all come into his office "excited, kind of boisterous" that morning to brag about vandalism that stranded 25 vans Republicans had planned to use for taking voters to polls. Election Day Vandalism Photo/Jack OrtonOpel Simmons III, a Democratic Party consultant, testifies Wednesday in the trial over tire-slashings on election day 2004. More Information Criminal complaint Recent Coverage 1/10/06: Outside operatives blamed in tire case 1/9/06:...

(But prosecution says locals ran amok in damaging GOP vehicles...) The real culprits in the election day 2004 tire slashings of Republican Party vans were emotional Democratic operatives from out of state, lawyers for some of the local men charged in the crime said Tuesday at the start of their trial. These aren’t just card-carrying staffers...They believe the fight is for legitimate democracy, and they’re passionate. "The out-of-towners, the industry people," played key roles in the tire-slashing but figured out how to shift blame onto the local party workers after John Kerry carried Wisconsin and they left, Craig Mastantuono told...

Fourteen months after John Kerry narrowly carried Wisconsin in the 2004 presidential election amidst allegations of voter fraud, five campaign workers for the Kerry-Edwards campaign team are set for trial Tuesday in Milwaukee on felony charges of damage to property.The "Milwaukee Five” is charged with slashing 40 tires on 25 separate Republican vehicles on the morning of the 2004 presidential election. The vehicles were rented by the Wisconsin Republican Party to transport less-mobile voters to the polls on Election Day. In total, the vandals disabled 25 percent of the Republican Party’s "Get Out the Vote” fleet. The defendants include Sowande...

Five Democratic campaign operatives charged with felony counts of property damage in the slashing of tires on Republican Party get-out-the-vote vehicles before polls opened Nov. 2 will be tried early next year, under a schedule laid out Monday. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jean W. DiMotto, who has handled the case, authorized switching the case to Judge Michael Brennan because she will move to small-claims court duty in August. Attorney Robin Shellow, who is representing Sowande Omokunde, the son of U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), had requested that the cases remain with DiMotto, but attorneys for the other defendants had asked...

Five Democratic campaign staffers who allegedly slashed the tires of 25 Republican get-out-the-vote vans on Election Day in Milwaukee will stand trial on felony charges. The defendants, who include the sons of a congresswoman and former acting mayor, face a maximum three and a half years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted of vandalism. The vans were rented by the GOP to drive voters to the polls. On Election Day, the five left Milwaukee just after 3 a.m. and returned shortly thereafter, according to the pretrial testimony of two Democratic presidential campaign workers, Levar Stoney and Opel Simmons....

Two more men turned themselves in to Milwaukee police Saturday in connection with the slashing of tires on 20 vans and cars rented by the Republican Party on election day, according to department records. Lavelle Mohammad, 35, of Milwaukee and Justin J. Howell, 20, of Racine were booked on charges of criminal damage to property. Sgt. Ken Henning said no additional information about the case was available Saturday. On Friday, two other men - Lewis Gibson Caldwell III, 27, and Sowande Ajumoke Omokunde, 25, both of Milwaukee - surrendered to police on the same charge in connection with the incident,...

The 25-year-old son of newly elected congresswoman Gwen Moore was arrested Friday by Milwaukee police and later released in connection with the election day slashing of tires on 20 vans and cars rented by the Republican Party, according to police records. Advertisement Sowande Ajumoke Omokunde, also known as Supreme Solar Allah, arrived at the Milwaukee police administration building Friday morning with his attorney, was arrested at 9 a.m. and held in the police holding facility for several hours before being released, according to records. Omokunde is one of three suspects who had been arrested as of late Friday. Opel E....

The 25-year-old son of newly elected congresswoman Gwen Moore was arrested Friday by Milwaukee police and later released in connection with the election day slashing of tires on 20 vans and cars rented by the Republican Party, according to police records. Sowande Ajumoke Omokunde, also known as Supreme Solar Allah, arrived at the Milwaukee police administration building Friday morning with his attorney, was arrested at 9 a.m. and held in the police holding facility for several hours before being released, according to records. Omokunde is one of three suspects who had been arrested as of late Friday. Opel E. Simmons...