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?
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.
Original: Garden Grove Police launch smear campaign against anti-Minutemen protesters