End of an era: Yes, Charlie Rangel will retire

It’s a sad day inside the Beltway, as a fixture of the New York Democrats’ political machine makes it official: Charlie Rangel will retire at the end of the current term. According to The Hill, Charlie has finalized a decision he hinted at last year primarily because he wants to exit the public stage at the same time as Barack Obama.

Moe Lane at RedState is sad at the thought of Rangel’s departure, mostly because he would have preferred to see him expelled and convicted.

Jeff Dunetz, who describes Rangel as perhaps the most corrupt man in Congress, takes a walk down memory lane, recalling some of the New York Congressman’s notable schemes.

Rangel was just one of those Democrats who, over a career dating back longer than many of our readers have been alive, proved that you can get away with nearly anything if you are simply brazen enough, willing to lie and stick by your story to the bitter end. The Democratic machine in New York and his allies in Congress made sure that no matter how outrageous his indiscretions or blatant his violations of the law, his career would carry on. For his part, he simply shrugged his shoulders when bad headlines routinely cropped up and pointed the finger at somebody else. When he was caught not paying his rent for lengthy periods of time, he actually blamed the GOP for pointing it out.

Back in 2013 we thought that justice might finally come knocking at Rangel’s door over systemic failures to pay his taxes and shelter his income, when he was actually censured in Congress. But did that stop him? Not in the least. He went back home to the Big Apple where he received a hero’s reception and continued about his business of handing out favors to the well connected in his community. There was no level of embarrassment which could put a dent in the man’s armor. Even with national headlines shining a light on his corrupt practices, Rangel fought off two successive primary challenges (albeit by close margins) and just kept on keeping on.

And now it’s ending. As Moe Lane so elegantly put it, Charlie Rangel has won in the ultimate meaning of the word. He gamed the system for more than four decades, enriching himself at the expense of those he was supposedly representing, dodging the law and living the high life. And he never paid any serious price for his actions the entire time.

HERE IS THE REAL CHARLES RANGEL

A TOOL WORKING FOR THE BLACK MUSLIMS

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Harlem_mosque_incident#The_incident

On April 14, 1972, a 10-13, or NYPD officer’s call for assistance from a man claiming to be a Detective Thomas, was received by police. The call came from 102 West 116th Street, the Nation of Islam Mosque No. 7, where Malcolm X was once minister.

Officer Phillip Cardillo and his partner Vito Navarra of the 28th Precinct responded, entering the mosque.[1] When they arrived at the mosque, they heard scuffling on the floor above. As they made their way to the staircase they were intercepted by 15 to 20 men who forced the officers to retreat down the stairs and back into the hallway. Police officers Victor Padilla and Ivan Negron, of the 25th Precinct, arrived and entered the premises. The officers were outnumbered and were then attacked. Cardillo’s partner was able to escape as a steel door was closed, trapping officers Cardillo, Padilla and Negron.[2][3][4]

According to the New York Police Department, the officers were attacked by around 15 to 20 congregants, were beaten, and stripped of their guns. Padilla was then beaten and blackjacked into semi-consciousness while his partner fought off several men who were trying to grab his revolver. With his back to the door, officer Negron suddenly heard shots. Negron turned and saw a man with a gun in his hand who seemed to be getting up from the floor where officer Cardillo now lay shot.[3][4]

During the incident, Officer Cardillo was assaulted, stripped of his firearm and was shot at point-blank range. Negron, managing to free himself from his attackers, drew his revolver and fired three shots. It is not known if the man with the gun was hit; he escaped.

Officer Rudy Andre of the 28 Pct., broke the glass on the front metal door and saw the patrolmen inside on their backs.

He fired several shots through the broken glass into the hallway which scattered the men who had been assaulting the officers, thus enabling officer Negron to unbolt the double metal door.

During the melee, officers Cardillo and Padilla were seriously injured.[2][5]

During the initial attempt to enter the mosque, police officers, including Cardillo’s partner Officer Vito Navarra, claimed that prior to being forced out, they witnessed a man named Louis 17X Dupree standing over the dying Cardillo with a gun in hand. After reinforcements arrived, allowing police to retake the mosque, Dupree and several others were initially arrested at the scene.

However, before Dupree could be taken into custody, Louis Farrakhan and Congressman Charles B. Rangel arrived at the scene, threatening a riot if Dupree was not released.[6]

An unrepentant Farrakhan would later state that the officers “charged into our temple like criminals and were treated like criminals.”

READ WHAT SLIMEBAG RANGEL DID IN THIS 1972 KILLING OF A NY CITY POLICEMAN

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Seedman said he made a deal with Rangel: The NYPD would leave the mosque if Rangel promised to deliver the suspects to a local police station that afternoon.

Rangel agreed.

The NYPD withdrew from the mosque, leaving behind the crime scene, blood and ballistics evidence, and 16 suspects.

Rangel and the suspects never showed up.

Rangel has denied Seedman’s version of the events, but has never offered his own. He did not respond to interview requests.

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April 19, 2015
http://nypost.com/2015/04/19/did-an-fbi-call-accidentally-kill-an-nypd-officer/

Phillip Cardillo, an NYPD officer was killed 43 years ago inside a Harlem mosque. Later this year, it’s expected that the street in front of the new police academy in Queens will be named after Cardillo.

It’s a belated honor for the only unsolved police killing in modern NYPD history.

At 11:41 a.m. April 14, 1972, a call came into the NYPD’s communication division.
“Hello, this is Detective Thomas of the 28th Precinct.”
“Yeah.”
“I have a 10-13 West 116th Street.”
“102 West 116th?”
“Right, that’s on the second floor.”
“Second floor?”
“Right”
“Hold on.”
But the caller hung up.

A 10-13 is every cop’s worst nightmare, a red alert meaning “officer in distress.”

Two policemen, Phillip Cardillo and Vito Navarra, rushed to the address, which was the Muhammed Mosque #7 of the Nation of Islam. Its leader, Louis Farrakhan, had offices on the third floor.

The mosque doors, usually bolted shut and manned by the Nation of Islam’s own paramilitary force, the Fruit of Islam, were unlocked and unguarded.

In the reception area, Cardillo and Navarra encountered six men. Navarra darted up the stairs. Somewhere up on the second floor, he believed, a brother officer was in serious trouble. He was met by 10 men who forced him back down the stairs.

Nine more cops rushed into the reception area. A fight broke out.

All but three of the cops were forced from the mosque and the metal doors were slammed shut and locked. Cardillo and two other cops were left inside.

At 11:45 — less than five minutes after the fake 10-13 call — police radios reported an ominous new development: shots fired.

Officer Phillip Cardillo was mortally wounded.k
As cops forced their way back into the mosque, Cardillo and another officer were found “lying on the floor, both bloodied.” Cardillo had “received a gunshot wound on his right side during this attack, the bullet exiting from his left side.”

Backup had now arrived. Some of the officers pursued a “fleeing group into the basement, where approximately 16 [men] were located, frisked and detained.”
But the suspects “refused to answer questions and refused to identify themselves,” according to the Blue Book.
Meanwhile, outside, “the situation in the street deteriorated ... to the point of potential riot.” A crowd had gathered, bricks were hurled from rooftops, vehicles were overturned and burned.

Farrakhan and Rep. Charlie Rangel appeared, while other Muslims entered the basement and started screaming invectives at the officers and demanded the removal of all police officers from the mosque,.

One high-ranking officer at the scene, Chief of Detectives Albert Seedman, took charge.

Seedman said Rangel told him: “That crowd upstairs, they know you’re down here. If you don’t leave now, I can’t guarantee your personal safety.”

Seedman was unfazed. He called in a request for backup. The NYPD had detailed plans to handle urban unrest. He was stunned by the response: Request denied.

He said a superior officer “made it clear to me that we should abandon the mosque in order to minimize the threat of a possible riot.”

Seedman said he made a deal with Rangel: The NYPD would leave the mosque if Rangel promised to deliver the suspects to a local police station that afternoon.
Rangel agreed.

The NYPD withdrew from the mosque, leaving behind the crime scene, blood and ballistics evidence, and 16 suspects.

Rangel and the suspects never showed up.

Rangel has denied Seedman’s version of the events, but has never offered his own. He did not respond to interview requests.

Detectives faced the near-impossible task of finding Cardillo’s killer. Witnesses were in the wind, and mosque workers had already mopped up the crime scene.
Despite these hurdles, investigators eventually zeroed in a suspect — Nation of Islam member Louis 17X Dupree.

James Harmon was the lead prosecutor in both Dupree trials.
The lack of evidence hindered the prosecution. Dupree’s first trial resulted in a hung jury. In a second trial, Dupree, who now uses the name Khalid Elamin Ali, was acquitted.ges (2)

However, whether or not Dupree pulled the trigger doesn’t answer the bigger question: Who lured Cardillo to his death?
The 10-13 call, it turns out, was a fake.
While there was an actual Detective Thomas working at the 28th Precinct, he didn’t make the call.

Who lured police to the second floor of the mosque, during a time of political and racial unrest, has never been answered.

Most believe it was a Nation of Islam member, trying to incite a confrontation.

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