The Rest Of The Story

I just received this from Cheree Calabro one of the founders of IFIRE, if you're not familiar with them make sure to check out thier website at -- IFIRE. They are an excellent organization out of the flat plains of Indiana.

If you read the news coverage of Saturdays Minuteman conference in Arlington Heights, Illinois, you may have been under the impression that the attendees tried to rumble with the protesters. That was the story presented by one of the officers at the event to the media, well, as is often the case there is more light to be shed on the subject...
Here's what Cheree sent--

There is more to the story. Here is what I sent you a couple days ago:

I stopped to thank 2 of the policemen on my way out. The officers were pretty upset about a woman from our side who flipped off the demonstrators and yelled at them. They told me there were only 4 officers at the scene when this happened and they felt like things could easily have escalated out of control because they were so greatly outnumbered. This officer had been there all day and was still very upset with us. His comments were covered by the press. We need to resist the temptation to stoop to the level of our opponents because it only hurts our cause.

Here is the rest of the story that the officer conveniently left out when he was blaming us for provoking the demonstrators.

One of our members was trying to enter the building. His path was blocked by demonstrators, so he said, "Excuse me." and they moved a tiny bit and he tried to get through. Then about 6 of them jostled him and someone shoved him from behind trying to ram him into the railing. They were calling him a racist and probably other things as well.

As I understand it, this is when the woman that the police officer mentioned moved in to assist our guest who was being knocked down. She was screamed at by protesters and flipped off and she reacted in kind. I can't say that I would have been able to control myself under similar circumstances. When our guest clambered past them, they were screaming and cursing at him. He turned and cursed back at them. That's when an officer came running after him and escorted him inside while telling him that he shouldn't start any trouble with the anarchists! This is after he had been assaulted by the anarchists!

Although there were more police on the site, there were only about 4 of them near the entrance where the trouble occurred. Now I question why they didn't do a better job of keeping the entrance open for us. The police blocked off the streets. Why couldn't they have blocked off a 10 foot wide corridor so that we could get in to the building and up the steps? In hindsight, I question whether the police wanted something to happen. You would think they would know that the main place where problems could occur was at the entrance. The demonstrators were allowed to get in our faces from the beginning.

I looked out from inside the building at around 11 a.m. and demonstrators were sitting on all the steps blocking entry. I was told that they linked arms at one point and refused to move. The demonstrators reportedly threw bottles of water at people. One of our speakers had to jump the railing in order to get around the protesters to leave. One of our guests, a veteran, had his tires slashed.

I wonder if the Arlington Heights police officers went to the Garden Grove School of Crowd Control. You may recall that Garden Grove, CA is where the police let the protesters block the only exit from the parking lot after a CCIR meeting where Jim Gilchrist was the featured speaker. There was a large police presence yet protesters were allowed to surround some vehicles while pounding on them and screaming at the people inside. When one man feared that he and his wife would be pulled from the vehicle and beaten, he tried to drive away, knocking a couple of protesters down. If it hadn't been for a video tape of the event, the driver might have been charged.

An Arlington Heights officer told the press that we "baited" the protesters by using the Walnut Street entrance and refusing to use another entrance even though others were available. This is wrong. The Minutemen submitted an event plan to the Christian Liberty Academy a month in advance. The plan called for one entrance, the Walnut St. entrance, to be used. It was selected for its proximity to the parking lot and for security purposes. Guests were required to stop at the registration desk inside this entrance before entering the meeting. All other entrances were locked. Demonstrators still tried to get in through those locked doors.

So, that's the story I've been able to piece together. It's a little different from the one painted by the Arlington Heights police officer when he spoke to me and when he spoke to the press.

Cheree Calabro
www.ifire.org
Valparaiso, IN

I think we all agree on how important it is to be respectful of those who disagree but, I think these folks reacted in fear and anger to the provocation they received from the crowd. Lest you be tempted to think of the protesters as dewy eyed hippies let me disabuse you of that notion.

These folks were radicals and they were looking to rumble, more press for them if something bad happens, you see.

I stopped on several occasions to thank the police officers who were guarding us and was struck by thier cool response. I don't know what to make of it, I can't imagine that they are fans of illegal immigration. Perhaps it was just the fact that we were a pain in the butt for them.

Whatever the reason I am shocked that one of the attendees had to experience that and I cannt say I wouldn't react exactly the same way.