Hello everybody:

The latest issue of The Orange County Register is
reporting that the District Attorney's Office has
decided not to criminally prosecute Hal Netkin, the
Van Nuys bigot who drove the minivan that hit about
four people at the anti-Minuteman protest in Garden
Grove on May 25th. This is not a surprise to me since
the DA's office made the decision not to charge Netkin
with any crimes almost three weeks ago, but have been
sitting on this information ever since. Why? They
wanted things to cool down a bit after the Garden
Grove Police raided Theresa Dang's Westminster home
before they made their decision public.

But what I find very interesting is the comment that
Lt. Mike Handfield of the Garden Grove Police
Department supposedly made to The Register:

"Video footage emerged during the investigation
showing that two protesters might have been hit by a
side-view mirror, Lt. Mike Handfield said. One
protester was shown standing up after apparently being
hit, walking through the crowd with a megaphone and
returning to lay next to the other protester before
claiming to have been run over."

What Lt. Handfield hints is that the protesters were
faking their injuries. In essence, this is an attempt
to smear people. I knew this was coming, too. The
reputation of the Garden Grove Police Department has
been badly damaged by their mishandling of the May
25th demonstration, and their raids of homes for lost
flashlights and issuance of misdemeanor citations to
journalists who drop cigarette butts didn't make
things any better. So I guess they want to reclaim
some lost ground by smearing protesters, perhaps?

Well, I'm sorry Lt. Handfield, but I know as a fact
that a Registered Nurse at the anti-Minuteman protest
told persons struck by Netkin's minivan to stay on the
ground to avoid injuring themselves any further in
case bones and internal organs had been damaged. No
competent physician would ever allow anybody hit by a
moving vehicle to walk around until they've been
examined by a doctor or a paramedic.

In case anybody might have any doubts about this
claim, I have seen a videotape that the Orange County
District Attorney's Office released to a defendant
charged with an alleged criminal offense related to
the May 25th protest, and can tell you right now that
this Registered Nurse is clearly viewed in the tape
giving medical advice to the protester that Lt.
Handfield tries to smear. This tape was originally
given to the District Attorney's Office by the Garden
Grove Police, who incidently got it from a source
linked to people who support the Minutemen. (In fact,
Garden Grove Police are alleged to have gone out of
their way to contact racist groups linked to the
Minutemen to obtain videotape of the protesters; if
true, it puts into doubt their claim they are "neutral
party" trying to enforce the law in an "equal and fair
matter").

The real question that people need to ask now is this:
Is it the policy of the Garden Grove Police to smear
people who have been struck by automobiles? Do they
smear people who have been involved in other kinds of
accidents, as well? Does Lt. Handfield have
qualifications to diagnose people's injuries based on
what he sees on videotape? I thought his job was to
fight crime?

Sincerely,

Duane J. Roberts
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com


http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/07/11/sections/breaking_news/article_593352.php

Monday, July 11, 2005

Protest driver not charged
The incident occurred at an appearance by the
Minuteman Project's Jim Gilchrist.

By JENNIFER MUIR
The Orange County Register

GARDEN GROVE — No charges will be filed against a
man
accused of running over two protesters outside a
building where the leader of a group that opposes
illegal immigration was being honored, police said
today.

Harold Netkin, 69, of Van Nuys was arrested May 25
after trying to drive his van into the meeting
honoring Jim Gilchrist, the Minuteman Project leader.

The protesters said Netkin ran them over after they
surrounded his van outside the Garden Grove Women’s
Club.

Video footage emerged during the investigation showing
that two protesters might have been hit by a side-view
mirror, Lt. Mike Handfield said. One protester was
shown standing up after apparently being hit, walking
through the crowd with a megaphone and returning to
lay next to the other protester before claiming to
have been run over.

"(Netkin) was not trying to assault anyone," Assistant
District Attorney Jo Marie Escobar said. "He was
trying to save his own vehicle. There was really no
question about it."

Five protesters were arrested after rocks and cans
were thrown.

Three face a felony charge of throwing a full soda can
at police. Kurt Isobe, 19, Hugo Sarmiento, 24, and
Juan Silva, 26, are scheduled to appear at a pretrial
hearing Aug. 22, Deputy District Attorney Kelly Grogan
said.

The OC Register is getting lazy, again. You'd think with such a large building, they could afford to talk to more people before they write a story.

The fourth estate is supposed to keep an eye on people with power, but it looks like the OCR is more interested in protecting the people with power. It reminds me of... oh... maybe the San Gabriel Valley Tribune and their biased coverage of the Baldwin Park events.

Are we in a journalistic wasteland or what?

My injury was almost exactly like this ^


I was struck by a car so hard I went completely over the top
and ended up on the ground behind it, with my bike totalled

I didn't think I was injured much at first so I got up and walked away

Within an hour due to a severe bone bruise I could no longer walk and ended
up in the emergency room hopping on the other leg..



> Is it the policy of the Garden Grove Police to smear
people who have been struck by automobiles? Do they smear
people who have been involved in other kinds of accidents, as well?


We were in Florida, the driver of the car had Alaska tags, and even
though there were witnesses who saw me go over the car, and my
bike ruined (frame bent) *they refused to do anything* other
than take a report. When I later contacted them about the driver
*they refused to provide me with any information to track him down
for an insurance claim*

They were useless

I didn't even call them - some bystander did when they saw me flying
over the car.


> One protester was shown standing up after apparently being
hit, walking through the crowd with a megaphone and
returning to lay next to the other protester before
claiming to have been run over."

Not "run over" but HIT - as even the videotape showed. I was hit
really hard (as above) and they (after checking the driver's ID)
downplayed it and acted like it was no big deal.

Bystanders were *shocked* and told me I should sue both the driver
and the police for not arresting him.


I was riding across a huge parking lot - I look well ahead at all cars
as I'm riding and stopped this car at a 4-way stop from the time I entered
the lot, it sat there idle the whole time, it took me around 30 seconds
to cross the lot, the car just sat at the stop sign (which I thought was
unusual most cars only stop a second the go) when I got to where it was
at an access road at the edge, right as I went across about 10 feet in
front of it he *peeled away* from a dead stop and struck me !

that's why I went completely over the car - he squealed his tires from
a stop he had been at for an extended period of time

Like he hit me on purpose - as hard as he could

I was watching him though - he was having a heated argument with
his girfriend/wife and he peeled out in anger from arguing with her,
he wasn't watching the road but her as he did it - that's why he hit
me so hard..

I explained this to the cops - witnesses thought he hit me on purpose
but I saw him arguing and not looking - I just couldn't get out of
the way because he came so fast from stomping on the gas..



I got to help from the cops at all and they acted like I wasn't hurt
even though bystanders were shocked I could get up at all and a couple
of elderly people told me I should lay down and wait for the EMS to
arrive because my neck or other bones might be broken

I didn't want to make a fuss and felt ok right then (although my leg
hurt really bad it didn't hurt enough at first to keep me from walking
on it) Over the next hour the pain became so bad I couldn't put any
weight on it and had to hop around on the other one.

A bone bruise is as severe an injury you can have without actually
breaking a bone - any harder and it would have been broken...

But I got up and could walk at first..

Notice that the subheadline in the below article published in the printed version of the Orange County Register reads, "Protesters said they were run over, but video didn't support them." This is the spin that Lt. Mike Handfield of the Garden Grove Police department is putting out.

I'm sure that as a police officer, Lt. Handfied has been involved in enough accidents in his career to know that it's not uncommon for people who have been hit by motor vehicles to say they've been "run over". But he's trying to imply that protesters were faking their injuries.

Also, the article printed in The Register fails to mention that Jim Lafferty, Executive Director of the National Lawyer's Guild, was almost "run over" by Netkin. He had to jump on the hood of the minivan to avoid going underneath the car. I should know because I saw this happen.

It's not surprising to me that the Garden Grove Police department disclosed this information to the Orange County Register first; they knew the coverage would be slanted in their favor. That Lt. Handfield is quoted tells me he's the one orchestrating the spin.

Sincerely,

Duane J. Roberts
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com


http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/07/12/sections/local/local/article_593491.php

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Driver not charged in Minuteman confrontation
Protesters said they were run over, but video didn't support them.

By JENNIFER MUIR
The Orange County Register

GARDEN GROVE – No charges will be filed against a man accused of running over two protesters outside a building where the leader of a group that opposes illegal immigration was being honored, police said Monday.

Harold Netkin, 69, was arrested May 25 after driving his van to the meeting honoring Jim Gilchrist, the Minuteman Project leader.

The protesters said Netkin ran them over after they surrounded his van outside the Garden Grove Women's Club.

Video footage emerged during the investigation showing that two protesters might have been hit by a side-view mirror, Lt. Mike Handfield said. One protester was shown standing up after apparently being hit, walking through the crowd with a megaphone and returning to lie next to the other protester before saying he had been run over.

"(Netkin) was not trying to assault anyone," Assistant District Attorney Jo Marie Escobar said. "He was trying to save his own vehicle. There was really no question about it."

Five protesters were arrested after rocks and cans were thrown.

Three face a felony charge of throwing a full soda can at police. Kurt Isobe, 19, Hugo Sarmiento, 24, and Juan Silva, 26, are scheduled to appear at a pretrial hearing Aug. 22, Deputy District Attorney Kelly Grogan said.

Fuck the DA, you don't need him to press charges in a civil court.

Sue Ned directly, Then you can subpoena the police video.