Posted on 01/11/2006 11:12:12 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
(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 jurors in his opening statement.
But Assistant District Attorney David Feiss said the low-level Milwaukee staffers just ran amok and turned "Operation Elephant Takeover," a plan to plaster Milwaukee Republican Party headquarters with Democratic signs, into felony destruction of property designed to immobilize the GOP's get-out-the-vote effort.
"They almost got away with it," Feiss said in his opening statement.
Those on trial include the sons of two prominent local Democrats, U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore and former Acting Mayor Marvin Pratt. Both watched Tuesday's proceedings from the front row of the gallery. Michael Pratt, Sowande Omokunde, Moore's son, Lavelle Mohammad, Lewis G. Caldwell and Justin Howell face up to 3½ years in prison and fines of up to $10,000 if convicted.
Ever since the incident was reported, the case has been fraught with political implications. District Attorney E. Michael McCann was heavily criticized for taking nearly 12 weeks to bring a case against the five men. He said it took so long because many of the people involved were Democratic Party workers who had returned to their out-of-state homes after the election.
Feiss said he will tie the defendants to the crime with cell phone records and the testimony of Democratic staffers about the defendants' own braggadocio.
He quoted Mohammad as having boasted after the attacks: "We got 'em. We got 'em good."
Several of the five defense attorneys tried to undercut the Democratic Party witnesses expected to testify for the state. They blamed Democratic national consultants brought to political battleground Wisconsin from out of state with masterminding - and possibly carrying out - the tire slashings.
Robin Shellow, representing Omokunde, tied the vandalism to reputed bitterness over losing the 2000 presidential election and claimed aggressive protests in the 2004 campaign were linked by strategy to the tire-slashings.
"These aren't just card-carrying staffers," Shellow said of the outside consultants. " . . . They believe the fight is for legitimate democracy, and they're passionate."
"Until Opel Simmons and his team hit Wisconsin, nothing like this had ever happened," said Rodney Cubbie, Pratt's attorney.
Simmons, of Virginia, told investigators he and a fellow national Democratic staffer had gone to Madison the night before the election but returned to Milwaukee to see some of the defendants leave the local party headquarters, return and brag about the vandalism, according to the complaint and prior testimony.
The first and only witness to testify Tuesday was Cedric Peoples, the security guard on duty at GOP headquarters on W. Capitol Drive on Nov. 2, 2004. He said he doesn't have a full memory of what he saw.
He testified that he saw a white man in an alley and a black man pass through the area before being driven away. He heard air escaping from some tires but said he didn't see the tires get cut. In all, 40 tires were damaged on 25 vehicles.
"I don't recall exactly what I told the dispatcher," Peoples said.
His testimony will continue today.
The trial almost got delayed after jury selection. The defense asked Circuit Judge Michael B. Brennan to start the whole jury selection process over because prosecutors used six of their 10 challenges to remove minorities.
Feiss said his strikes were not racially motivated and gave Brennan some of the reasons the state struck four of the jurors: One grew up with defense attorney Cubbie's sister, one had worked with Mohammad in a Best Buy years ago, another said on his juror questionnaire that he hated police, and one was about to start a teaching job, a profession Feiss said is generally thought to contain people more inherently sympathetic to defendants.
Brennan denied the defense request and started trial with the original 14 jurors: ten whites - five men, five women - and four blacks - three women and one man.
"Operation Elephant Takeover" Ping! ;)
He means the kind of "legitimate democracy" where you criminally obstruct your opponents to keep them from getting to the polls...
The SODDI defense - "Some Other Dude Did It"
Gee, what a surprise one of them was called Mohammad.
and in a legitimate Democracy if you can't win by fair elections you sabotage those who oppose you. It also has the added effect of intimidating those who work for another candidate that you do not want elected. In a legitimate democracy that is.
Does Dean have an alibi?
Where have I see this before?
Info on Mayor Pratt:
Bridgette L. Ridgeway
Campaign Press Secretary
Mayor Marvin Pratt, City of Milwaukee
(414) 355-0126 office
(414) 759-7149 cell
(414) 355-3068 fax
RidgewayPR@aol.com
Info on Gwen Moore:
Washington, DC Office
Phone: 202-225-4572
Fax: 202-225-8135
District Office
219 N Milwaukee St STE 3A
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Phone: (414) 297-1140
Fax: (414) 297-1086
The only way to protect legitimate democracy is to keep people from voting. People voting for Republicans is an example of "illegitimate democracy".
I smell a "Rove did it" coming along!
Cedric doesn't sound like he wants to remember what he saw or heard. JMHO
Slashing tires. How professional and adult. They were thugs.
Which reminds me...was it johnny kerrrie or his wife tahrayza who mentioned the word THUGS on one of their campaign trips? Referring to "George Bush can send his THUGS...etc." Not sure of the exact line but it was there. Thugs? Mmmmmmmm, Thugs. What do we call tire slashers? :)
"Sowande Omokunde"
What is that, some African phrase meaning
"Dumb Mother-f"???
It seems the defense will say the "Democratic staffers" themselves were the criminals. Either way, look for the number of local Democratic workers in Madison to be way down next time.
Actually, the tires committed suicide..they were too ashamed to be working for that liar Bush..
"Outside (Dem) Operatives Blamed in Tire (Slashing) Case (WI)"
Confirms my belief that the DemocRAT party is a criminal enterpise.
I believe they're covering it on CourtTV. Check your listings.
Haven't seen one tiny bit of coverage today on any of the major networks...not even FOX. *Shrugs*
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