Young mayoral candidate threatened for criticizing program

Etherzone | Paul Fallavollita

[newsperson999]

Here’s a developing story I wrote as a freelance piece. I offered it to the Brooklyn Center Sun-Post, but they turned it down, saying they prefer to do their own reporting and that they would pass the information on to their community reporter who will do her own story "if she deems it newsworthy." Therefore, I’m breaking it first here on Ether Zone….

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn.— Brooklyn Center, Minn. mayoral candidate Mark Anderson sparked controversy over his campaign promise to de-fund Brooklyn Peacemaker Center, a local tough-love juvenile crime-fighting program. Anderson claimed someone associated with the Peacemakers threatened him with a libel lawsuit for suggesting that the program was not an effective deterrent on his campaign website.

Anderson’s official website declares, "We must change our spending priorities. The City spends money on things like the ‘Peacemaker’ program…Crime is one of the worst problems facing the city of Brooklyn Center. The answer to fighting crime is not some city program, or more cops, or proactive policing. The ‘Peacemaker’ program that Brooklyn Center has will not work…The answer is to allow the citizens of Brooklyn Center to defend themselves." MORE HERE

[drjimmy]

Perhaps this part of your story might have made the newspaper a tad wary of printing your freelance piece: Anderson contends that someone contacted him by phone about his campaign positions and threatened him with a lawsuit. Anderson said he was unable to recall the person’s name, but believes the person is connected with the program.
I do gotta hand it to this "young mayoral candidate" on one score: If he keeps up this inability to remember such important things, he'll have a great future as a politician.