Posted on 08/13/2002 3:48:08 AM PDT by ResistorSister
CANTON Dwight Class said it didnt have to end this way for Donald Matthews and the Massillon police officer whom he shot and killed.
Class said Patrol Officer Eric Taylor and the other officers and state trooper who were part of a fatal police chase Friday night did not have the authority to pull Matthews over on a traffic stop.
Or to pursue and attempt to arrest him.
Class attends the meetings on constitutionality that Matthews used to lead before he died in the shootout with police that started with a traffic stop on Route 21 in Doylestown and ended at First Street NW and Cherry Road in Massillon.
Matthews was president of the National Constitutionalist Academy and studied the U.S. Constitution. He held weekly meetings at the Dennys Restaurant on Tuscarawas Street W in Perry Township. About 15 to 22 people usually attend, Class said. He said Matthews also held weekly meetings in Cleveland.
Class attended calling hours for Matthews at Reed Funeral Home on Monday. Visitation was held from 3 to 5 and 6 to 9 p.m.
The first session appeared to be sparsely attended. Roughly 12 to 20 vehicles were parked in the funeral home lot. Visitors trickled in during the two hours. Family members and friends occasionally gathered in the parking lot or near the entrance of the funeral home.
Class spoke strongly about the events that unfolded Friday when a state trooper pulled Matthews over for driving 12 mph over the speed limit.
If the trooper could have produced proof that he had taken an oath of office and had a bond, it would have been a nice, simple conversation (and Matthews would have said,) I recognize you as an officer now.
That would have prevented the gunshots, Class said.
I dont think it had to have happened at all, the Canton resident said, citing constitutional issues.
However, his wife, Sárra Class, said Taylor should have been shot.
Dwight Class disagreed and told his wife to stop making the comment.
I thought he was a good man, he said of Matthews. He tried to get things done; he tried to get them done peacefully. Thats what he taught in class.
Matthews taught other constitutionalists to get the paper trail started by filing cases in court, Class said.
Class said he has filed lawsuits over traffic violations involving himself and Rodney Class. One of the cases involves New Philadelphia police, he said.
Dwight Class also said hes filed a lawsuit in federal court in Akron over alleged civil rights violations.
He said hes planning to take legal action this week against Massillon Municipal Judge Edward J. Elum in the Ohio Supreme Court. That complaint involves a warrant issued against Class he said he doesnt know what for.
Dwight Class, 51, said he retired after working 30 years at the Timken Co.
He gave a reporter a notice of civil rights violations by Ohio police and (the Ohio Highway Patrol).
Ohio is a home-rule state, it says. Chances are that if the brothers and sisters are stopped by any local police, they do not have an oath of office or bond to hold a position as a civil servant.
Without the oath or bond, an officer doesnt have the power to arrest a citizen, Class says.
Standing outside the funeral home, he said, We dont have a police force in the state of Ohio; we have private, at-will employees.
A bumper sticker on a pickup truck at the calling hours carried the slogan: I love my country but I fear my elected officials.
Class said he expects Fridays incident to boost attendance at the National Constitutionalist Academy meetings.
But not everyone who attended the calling hours shared Classs point of view.
John Newlund, 49, of East Liverpool, said Matthews was his wifes brother-in-law.
He gave me a card one time, Newlund said of the academy, and I just blew it off. I believe you should pay your taxes.
Newlund said he would absolutely pull over for a traffic stop.
He should have stopped, he said of Matthews. It was only a speeding ticket it happens thousands of times a day.
You go by the law, the law of the land.
You can reach Repository writer Ed Balint at (330) 580-8315 or e-mail:
All politics aside: Matthews' actions on the night he refused his ID to the officer, fled the scene, and pulled a gun on the cops; those actions are common knowledge and are not in dispute.
Do you believe Matthews was justified in anything he did? If you answer a simple "No" and leave it at that, then I for one won't have another word to say to you. It's a real easy question and would clear up a lot of confusion if you would only answer it.
Find the post where I said that.
Thank you for your comments. The lynch mob atmosphere that develops on these threads should be genuinely disturbing to all who witness it and possibly more than a few of the participants.
Best regards,
No. The man in question had a cookie on his computer, but being a FReeper is much more than that. The man disgraced the Constitution, disgraced the forum, and would clearly have been banned had he survived.
At your earliest convenience please investigate minimum standards of objective inquiry. At one time in this country the Scientific Method was a required part of the High School Syllabus.
Reassure me and others reading this that you can recite the steps of the Scientific Method and connect those steps to an analysis of the tragic events in Ohio in a meaningful and objective way.
It will be a useful exercise for all concerned.
Best regards,
No reply yet? Imagine attending a FReep protest with one of these self-annointed avengers of Sacco and Vanzetti, when the police come by and politely ask us to keep on the curb.
Laughing out loud. Good job!
Best regards,
Are you suggesting that a police officer who stops a motorist for speeding thereby "insults" the Constitution?
The fact is, you accept the word of the police when it suits your agenda and you get all methodical and skeptical and "fair-minded" when a gunowner shoots and kills a cop. Spare us the hypocrisy and stick to your 2nd Amendment threads. Matthews' case isn't a 2nd Amendment issue anyway, but a nutcase, freakazoid psycho killing a cop issue.
Anyway, we all know that the law only applies to government "subjects," not government itself. We all know that ignorance of the law is no excuse unless you work for government. We all know that the Constitution doesn't enumerate limited powers of government rather, government can do whatever it wants as long as the Constitution doesn't specifically prohibit it. We all know that whatever the majority votes as ok is the law of the land. We all know that "the police power" is unlimited so long as there's a "compelling state interest." We all know that lawyers, judges, and politicians are as honest as the day is long and would never lie, cheat, steal, or misrepresent anything, after all, they know they're public servants in a position of public trust. We all know that every legislator has carefully read and considered every law they pass. We all know that every police officer has read the laws they enforce from their inception through current law to make absolutely sure that they are complying with their oath of office which specifies that they must uphold the Constitution. We all know that every law on the books is 100% beyond question because it never would have gotten there otherwise. We all know that there's no need for a state or federal archival service because nobody needs that moldy old paper anyway - it's just another wasteful government bureaucracy that ought to be disbanded.
For those who aren't brain-dead, knee-jerk, statist, closet Nazi's, you might find something interesting in the link below. Otherwise, ignore it. By the way, I won't be responding to those who don't like what they find there. Take it or leave it or tell it to somebody who cares. I'm outta here.
http://taor.yvo.dynip.com/on_law.htm
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