Monday, September 8, 2014

Charlotte Observer Stirs The Racial Tension Pot

NO Doubt by now you've read, seen or heard that CMPD Officers arrested an apparently well known Gay activist who also just happens to be Black, last Monday. The arrest occurred Uptown at the CMS Education Center across from Marshall Park, while most of the city was enjoying a quiet Labor Day Holiday.


Normally such arrests in Charlotte would be of little note, but the madness of Ferguson has given the main stream media something to focus on.

But for some reason the staff at the Charlotte Observer felt it necessary to stir the racial tension pot.  Apparently from the paper's perspective two white CMPD Officers arrested a black man for "no reason" or at worse a minor city ordinance violation.

And so it goes that the local paper penned an editorial with the following headline:

CMPD confronts Moral Monday activist over leaflets

A video of a confrontation between Charlotte-Mecklenburg police and an activist at the Moral Monday march in the Queen City this week is raising eyebrows about police actions. The activist was reportedly leaving leaflets on cars about voting rights when police placed him in handcuffs after they asked for his identification and tried to take his cell phone.

 The local paper went on to let Ty Turner explain his view of the "Confrontation"

“They said they would charge me for distributing literature... I asked [the policeman] for the ordinance number [being violated], because they can’t put handcuffs on you if they cannot tell you why they’re detaining you. I said, ‘Show me where it’s illegal to do this.’ But he would not do it. The officer got mad and grabbed me. Then he told me that I was resisting arrest!”
CMPD spokesperson Jessica Wallin reportedly told qnotes that Turner was only detained. But in a video taken by another activist, one officer clearly (sp)  says he's under arrest.

The city does have an
ordinance against the distribution of handbills or other paper materials on vehicles. Some say it is rarely enforced. It's not a well-known ordinance in any case.

More disturbing is what allegedly happened after Turner was handcuffed and taken away in a police cruiser. Turner told ThinkProgress that he was never taken to the Mecklenburg County Jail. According to the report, “Instead of transporting Turner directly to the Mecklenburg County jail, which sits just a few blocks from Marshall Park, he said they took him first to an empty parking lot behind the highway. ‘They took me to three different spots other than the jail,’ he said. ‘They knew they were in the wrong.’”

A video of the incident doesn't show what happened prior to the confrontation but it does raise questions about whether the incident could have been handled better and tensions defused in a more productive manner. Initially, Turner calmly asks an onlooker to be a witness as he asks for the ordinance he is violating. But tensions soon escalate.  Several other officers eventually appear on the scene, and one is heard saying the matter will be investigated.


They should investigate.

The editorial goes on to point out:

After hearing about the arrest on Monday, about 30 participants from the Moral Monday rally — including state NAACP President Rev. William Barber, Charlotte NAACP President Rev. Kojo Nantambu and Mecklenburg County Commissioner Pat Cotham — marched silently to the Mecklenburg County Jail to ask for Turner’s release.

Turner was released shortly after and issued a citation.

On Tuesday, the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners appointed Turner to a board committee, prompting this email from Commissioner Bill James:
 
"I am not sure if this is just an isolated incident but it is troubling to vote for a candidate to serve on a board committee last night to represent the Board of Commissioners only to see that the day we appoint him he was arrested for violating the law.
 
"At one level it shows a lack of sophistication about how to get things done. At another level, if he is so supportive of civil disobedience why does he want to serve on a board which is clearly working ‘within the system’?

"Obviously he has the political bug, running for State Senate as a Democrat (but losing to Mr. Jackson I think).

"In any event, it is troubling that the candidate we select to represent us is a loose cannon."

Judge for yourself whether the video below shows "a loose cannon." It does show something troubling though - a heated confrontation between police and a citizen over a minor incident that looks as if it could have been avoided. 

Read more here: http://obsdailyviews.blogspot.com/2014/09/cmpd-confronts-moral-monday-activist.html#storylink=cpy


More disturbing is what allegedly happened after Turner was handcuffed and taken away in a police cruiser. Turner told ThinkProgress that he was never taken to the Mecklenburg County Jail. According to the report, “Instead of transporting Turner directly to the Mecklenburg County jail, which sits just a few blocks from Marshall Park, he said they took him first to an empty parking lot behind the highway. ‘They took me to three different spots other than the jail,’ he said. ‘They knew they were in the wrong.’”


After hearing about the arrest on Monday, about 30 participants from the Moral Monday rally — including state NAACP President Rev. William Barber, Charlotte NAACP President Rev. Kojo Nantambu and Mecklenburg County Commissioner Pat Cotham — marched silently to the Mecklenburg County Jail to ask for Turner’s release.

Then on Wednesday "The Observer" ran this headline:

Police: CMPD officers behaved appropriately when arresting man at protest

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said they believe their officers behaved appropriately when arresting a man outside a “Moral Monday” demonstration on Labor Day.

Ty Turner, a community activist who once ran for a state Senate seat, was arrested then un-arrested and released without being booked into jail. He was ultimately given a citation for posting handbills on cars.

His arrest was caught on video at least twice – by a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officer and on Turner’s phone, which he briefly held above his head out of officers’ reach.

The rest of the article from the paper is here.

Then on Thursday the "Local Paper" printed a hit piece from Madeline McClenney-Sadler
under the "Viewpoint" subhed:

For blacks, there's no right response to bigoted police

Which offered this little gem:

Given what we do at Exodus Foundation.org to redeem black lives, in the aftermath of the arrest of Ty Turner, the senseless slaughter of Jonathan Ferrell, the choke hold of Eric Garner, the gunning down of Michael Brown, the martyrdom of Kejieme Powell, and the countless named and unnamed victims of police misconduct, I must warn parents and loved ones of young black and brown people. There is absolutely no right answer with which you may equip your son or daughter that will protect him or her after being pulled over by a bigoted officer.

First, as long as Charlotte and Mecklenburg County have a police chief like Rodney Monroe, who is actively trying to educate his officers on implicit racial bias and how it poisons good police work, we need to support efforts to see that all officers receive such training both in Charlotte and around the state.

Secondly, we must agree not to appoint any future police chief who does not make a verbal and written commitment to continue Monroe’s legacy of reducing arrests and training officers on implicit racial bias.


The entire viewpoint piece is here.

Which brings us to the alternative view from the other side of the blue line. CP has heard from sources who give some interesting back story regarding Mr. Turner's arrest and then "un-arrest".

When the two CMPD Officers approached Mr. Turner just as they approach dozens of citizens each day, the plan was not to arrest, harass, or even intimidate Mr. Turner. Their only interest was a man, in the CMS Education Center parking lot, that they noticed was by himself moving between cars. A man whose actions looked a lot like someone intent on breaking into autos.

Mr. Turner's immediate reaction when approached was to become loud, and unruly. He was given several chances to "settle down".  Yet he continued to be completely uncooperative and verbally abusive. By the time the person recording the event is close enough, to capture on video the happenings, Mr. Turner is seen clearly resisting, at which point the Officers had every right to use force to get Mr. Turner to comply.

But the Officers showed great restraint, allowing the belligerent Turner to continue his rant and to continue resisting his detainment.

What the video doesn't show is that the Officers were in contact with their supervisors and that the decision to "arrest" Mr. Turner wasn't made by the "white" Officers but rather, it came from CMPD Deputy Chief Kerr Putney who happens to be black. Putney is a long serving member of the department who has earned the respect of many within and outside law enforcement.

It was Putney's decision to arrest Mr. Turner because he was combative and verbally abusive. Which in the police line of work, means there might be more to this than just some guy putting leaflets on cars.

Once everything was sorted out Mr. Turner's only crime became resisting arrest, but it was Chief Monroe's decision to overrule DC Putney, ordering the Deputy Chief and another member of command staff to go to the jail and "un-arrest" Mr. Turner.

Had Mr. Turner been respectful of the law, of the Officers and of what his actions gave the appearance of, he would not have been arrested in the first place.

The Charlotte Observer's efforts to make Ty Turner's arrest into something racial is embarrassing and appears nothing more than a desperate ploy to garner reader's attention.


Read more here: http://obsdailyviews.blogspot.com/2014/09/cmpd-confronts-moral-monday-activist.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://obsdailyviews.blogspot.com/2014/09/cmpd-confronts-moral-monday-activist.html#storylink=cpy

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Romo has turned this police department into an embarassment. Race should not have been allowed to be entered in as a factor in this incident, despite what the media carelessly "reports". Unfortunately Romo has and always will be a politician and will never be a police chief.

It is sad to see how he wilingly jumps at the chance to throw his officers under the bus and can't use common sense for once. The video clearly shows a violation of the law and Mr. Turner's opinion on the matter and his obvious lack of knowledge on the law should not have been given any value.

Looks like more of the same from Romo and his cowardly decision making.

Anonymous said...

Is CMPD beginning to have issues with avoidance as a result of situations like this?

Anonymous said...

I have not idea who Madeline McClenney-Sadler is but she does not have her facts straight.

Her statement "Monroe’s legacy of reducing arrests" is just insane. The only arrests Monroe has reduced are those of his buddies.

Anonymous said...

Shame on you Chief Monroe, for once again throwing police officers under the bus! Let those who yell the loudest undermine the laws and doing what's right.

Inspector Clouseau said...

In the racial arena, no one needs to stir anything. It is what it is. Given history, are we humans arguably inefficiently and ineffectively using our time and resources to discuss race relations?