Hello everybody:

Notice that the subheadline in the following article

that was published in the printed version of today's

Orange County Register reads, "Protesters said they

were run over, but video didn't support them." I know

as a fact this is the spin that Lt. Mike Handfield of

the Garden Grove Police department is putting out

regarding this matter.

I'm sure that as a police officer, Lt. Handfield has

been at the scene of 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"

even if they were just scraped. But in this case, Lt.

Handfield is trying to make this all sound strange and

unusual; he's trying to imply that protesters that had

been struck by Netkin's minivan were faking their

injuries.

Also, the article printed in The Register fails to

mention that Jim Lafferty, Executive Director of the

Los Angeles National Lawyer's Guild, was himself

almost "run over" by Netkin. He had to literally jump

on the hood of the minivan to avoid going underneath

it and being crushed. I should know because I saw this

happen. I wonder how Lt. Handfield would have tried to

spin this story if Lafferty had been crushed to death?

California state law doesn't give persons driving

3,000 lb. minivans the right to roll over pedestrians,

does it?

Ignoring Lafferty is part of a deliberate strategy.

Lt. Handfield is trying to say, "Oh, well, the

protesters just got knicked by Netkin's minivan. It

wasn't really all that bad. They are all just a bunch

of fakers." If he had told The Register what happened

to Lafferty, it would completely contradict the spin

he's trying to put on the story. Lt. Handfield knows

The Register was going to print verbatim everything he

said without bothering to investigate any of his

claims. And we all know that police officers always

tell the truth, yes? Perhaps his omission of this very

important fact was merely an oversight on his behalf? ;)

It's not surprising to me that the Garden Grove Police

department disclosed this information to The Register

first; they knew they would run it without getting

quotes from anybody else thinking they got a great big

scoop. That Lt. Handfield is quoted in this article

tells me he's the one who is orchestrating the spin

for this story. I know as a fact he was going to wage

this smear campaign almost three weeks ago, based on

various sources. All of this was done with the

approval of top brass, I gather.

Sincerely,

Duane J. Roberts

duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com

P.S. See my other post on la.indymedia.org for additional information:

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2005/07/132245.php





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.