Posted on 04/01/2008 8:47:48 PM PDT by Libloather
A tangle with a cop and an achy heart
By Jeri Rowe Staff writer
Tuesday, Apr. 1, 2008 3:00 am
GREENSBORO — Alexander Kohanowich is a patriotic guy. His six grandchildren call him Pop.
For at least five years, Pop has traveled around our city, showing his support for American troops overseas. He doesn't say much. He just holds his signs at busy intersections and busy events to get people's attention.
Maybe you've seen him.
He'll hang, say, on Westover Terrace, near Wendover. He'll face east in the morning, west in the afternoon, so drivers can see his signs clearly, without staring into a sometimes blinding sun.
His signs say a lot in a few words.
God Bless America!
We Support Our Troops!
They Give Their Today That We Might Have Our Tomorrow
This past Wednesday afternoon, Pop took his signs to Barack Obama's town hall meeting and stood outside, on the grassy median on Coliseum Boulevard, across from War Memorial Auditorium.
He says a motorcycle cop gave him the OK. So, stand he did. For an hour and 40 minutes. He wanted to show his patriotism, always remembering what his father, a Russian immigrant, a World War I veteran wounded in France, once told him.
"This is my country," he told his son about America.
Pop takes his signs everywhere to remind people of the sacrifices of the men and women in uniform.
He never fought. He had to raise six kids.
But he always remembers. And he wants everyone else to remember, too.
Like Wednesday afternoon at the Obama rally. Everything seemed to be fine — until Obama's motorcade got ready to leave from the coliseum complex's service road on the other side of the street.
At the time, Pop was being interviewed by a reporter from WFDD-FM (88.5). He had to rely on his right ear — his good ear, the one with the hearing aid — to hear the questions.
But on his left, where he says he doesn't hear so well, a cop was telling him to move.
Pop turned and put his left hand on the officer's right shoulder. Pop does that a lot. He'll tell you it's the European way: to touch, to hug.
But in this case, Pop wanted the officer to know what he heard from the motorcycle cop.
The next thing Pop knew, he was flat on the ground, hands behind his back, yelling, "For crying out loud, don't break my arms! I'm 78 years old!"
Yeah, Pop is 78. But age has nothing to do with it.
You'd hope we all have the freedom to demonstrate peacefully and say what we believe as long as we don't impose any impediment, any danger to anyone's safety. Including our own.
Right? Not quite.
In our post 9/11 world, there is a heightened sense of security. Cops have to be wary, particularly when a president or a presidential candidate comes to town.
You just never know. Even if it's a grandfather.
It's that balancing act, between an individual's free speech and our community's overall security, that has become so tenuous.
Yet, listen to Pop talk. Look at his arrest warrant. See his misdemeanor charge of assaulting a government official. You wonder what the cops were thinking about this kind-eyed grandfather, holding signs, wearing a shirt emblazoned with the American flag.
Pop says he respects the police and knows he did wrong by placing his hand on the officer's shoulder. But he worries about his country — our country — losing its humanity, its empathy, its brotherly love.
That's Pop's story. The cops have a different story.
Capt. Robert Flynt supervises all the special operations with Greensboro Police Department.
He hadn't heard about the OK from the motorcycle cop. But he said he heard his colleagues asked Kohanowich to move from the median at least twice. The reason: The median is part of the public road, and no one can stand there for anything.
All Kohanowich had to do, Flynt said, was move to the sidewalk on the other side of the street, with his signs, and he would've been fine.
Kohanowich didn't.
Flynt sees the arrest as appropriate without unnecessary force. You put your hands on an officer, you're going to get arrested. That's the bottom line.
So, Kohanowich became the only arrest during the event that created a busy day around the coliseum.
"I hate that it occurred," Flynt said. "Our intention was to get through the day with everyone being safe and with us not having to arrest anyone. As long as people follow our instructions, those things (arrests) won't occur."
Pop will plead his case later this month in a Greensboro courtroom.
Oh, he's fine. The bruise on his right wrist — apparently from the handcuffs — is not much bigger than a pencil eraser.
Ask him about it, and he'll tell you it doesn't hurt. Then, without speaking a word, he'll tap his chest.
That, he says, is where it'll hurt. Forever.
Flynt sees the arrest as appropriate without unnecessary force.
Around town, Flynt is known as something less than a butt swab. Time for him to find a new job.
yeah, slamming a 78 year onto the ground is always necessary for a young, healthy cop.
Proud of yourself officer?
Anyone got email addresses for Flynt, the Greensboro PD and/or mayor? This is a travesty.
You will increasingly read stories of police assaulting patriotic Americans, harassing unarmed middle class citizens, siding with alien trespassers in disputes with indigenous Americans, etc.
This will increase in large part because as the Left takes control of cities and counties, the police will basically be converted into their henchmen. It will occur in part because Political Correctness will make it impossible for the police to take action against any but the unprotected class —basically, the middle class. It will occur in part because leftist political leadership will redefine the job itself so that corrupt thugs and low-functioning narcissists are attracted and deemed more qualified than the traditional police officer.
Look at it this way: if Clinton had been able to serve 100 years as a governor of Arkansas, those state cops he used to bully around when it came time for the governor to go whoring would have morphed into his personal pimp brigade.
The officer simply won't understand such a question. They're neither trained nor bred to "understand" -- just follow. If anyone at the scene of slamming a 78-year-old man to the ground were to ask such a question, the "officer" would simply call for backup and "escalate" the "situation" -- a "situation" that wasn't his to begin with. And lose no sleep over the human cost or aftermath.
Cop should be demoted to a TSA position at the airport.
Plenty of old people too for barking and bossing around to feel like a big man.
"Yeah, Pop is 78. But age has nothing to do with it."
My ass, it has nothing to do with it!
The peace officer (ahem) who cuffed this "menace to society" should have to slowly digest his nightstick, one splinter at a time.
(Hey, that's a lot nicer than my actual thoughts.)
And don't get me started on:
Capt. Robert Flynt, (who) supervises all the special operations with Greensboro Police Department.
I nominate him to consume the byproduct of the aforementioned digestion.
Personally, I think that Obama and his goons got wind of someone being patriotic and that offended them to the point of getting an Obama-supporting officer to go rough up the old guy.
Too bad that what you say is true. There haven’t been very many worthy of the title officer is quite awhile.
NC ping, please.
I’LL bet Officer Flynt wouldn’t have done that to a black or hispanic
Might there be audio of this? That could make things interesting.
Poor old pop is now just realizing his country is no longer his. I realized that two years ago but went from this sad look to extreme anger to steely resolve om attempting to make it right. For the cops, good towns and bad but really bad in certain States. I moved out of NH, between the liberal marital masters and the cops harrassing my family I had enough and live in Maine. I like it here, cops and city manager types still have common sense. It is more expensive because of State income tax and I am resentful my home State is now a liberal *hit hole.
I agree. I'm not big on titles, but rather how people behave towards each other. Handcuffing a 78-year-old for protesting at a political rally earns one a place in hell...and I don't even believe in hell.
I bet if he had been a panhandler it wouldn't have happened like that either.
Who in the hell is giving these idiots badges?
What I found -
Captain R. E. Flynt joined the Greensboro Police Department in 1982, and currently serves the agency as the commander of the Special Operations Division - Metropolitan Operations Bureau. He has worked for the agency in a host of assignments traffic enforcement and special operations since 1990, serving all portions of the city. He has attended classes at Guilford Technical Community College, received his Advanced Law Enforcement Certificate and is a graduate of the Administrative Officer's Management Program at North Carolina State University.
Flynt, Robert Police Capt $78,187
http://greensboro.rhinotimes.com/1editorialbody.lasso?-token.folder=2007-05-31&-token.story=157185.112113&-token.subpub=
Email -
http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/departments/Police/ContactForms/contactflynt.htm
Travesty? Comeon they didnt go to Pop’s house and shoot his dog, did they?
Bingo. Or a Code Pinko either.
I am waiting for the folks who always defend LEO actions to start posting.
nah, that’s how they do it here in Tennessee...land of dog shooting coppers
Bet the cop was an Obama fan or a demorat.
That's just the way cops are these days. There aren't many kindly sheriffs that serve the community and help their neighbors like Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show any more.
These days, cops view all members of the community as potential criminals. They will issue a citation or rough you up and arrest you at a moment's notice. For ANYTHING. Or nothing. It's their "discretion."
I think the fact that police face stinging criticism on a conservative forum like Free Republic is a testament of the state of American police these days.
Just from my personal experience of course.
Let the scumbag in charge of that POS department know how you feel about this outrage:
http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/departments/Police/ContactUs.htm
PS.... The Greensboro PD is under a criminal investigation for mishanding of evidence on 4 separate cases:
http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080401/NRSTAFF/781742734
I hope that Federal Authorities get involved, and the Greensboro PD get their @sses handed to them.
Think that POS outfit is even accredited?
Who was the arresting officer?
I believe Pop. I also believe that idiot, Obama just like the Clintons did had something to do with the arrest. My God, the man was there for over an hour.
I left a message. Thanks for the link.
Our government has become more and more Orwellian, with political leaders feeling that it has become their right to remove those who protest against them from the sight of the accompanying media. Unfortunately, it’s not just the libs who are doing this. People who try to attend events where Bush is making an appearance are escorted away to so-called “free speech zones”, or arrested if they won’t go, for carrying a protest sign or wearing a t-shirt criticizing his policies.
I don’t remember who it was, but someone in Congress reminded the Secret Service that the entire USA is a “free speech zone.” But, so far at least, to no avail.
Greensboro makes Berkeley look normal. Sky high crime rate and extreme left wing city guv. A police dept that would make the any dictator proud.
Greensboro Police Corruption:
Yesterday this article was titled differently: “Criminal investigation of Police Evidence Handling”
http://tinyurl.com/35o95h
Suspended Greensboro police officer arrested on fraud charges: http://tinyurl.com/38fz2h
Greensboro officer charged with DWI after crash
http://tinyurl.com/3c2pba
Ex-Wife Of Officer Involved In Greensboro “Police Scandal” Arrested http://tinyurl.com/2ueglc
Revolving Doors, Crime and Murder in Greensboro
http://tinyurl.com/2veat9
Non-Prosecution of Alleged GPD Sexual Assault
http://tinyurl.com/3y5jq9
Sex, Drugs And Motel Meetings(Greensboro cop)
http://tinyurl.com/2nm3jq
Hinson Can’t Recall Car Sex - Part 44(cop)
http://tinyurl.com/327874
Promoting Incompetence - Part 36
http://tinyurl.com/34xw3l
Officer Molests Local Hooker, Part 32
http://tinyurl.com/35xqbz
Breakdown In Internal Affairs - Part 31
http://tinyurl.com/3x3gav
Sex, Coke & Pot, Oh My - Part 27
http://tinyurl.com/2wltte
New Sketchy Cop Surfaces - Part 26
http://tinyurl.com/32ho89
Police Info Up For Sale - Part 22
http://tinyurl.com/3dzz56
The list goes on and on.
Jerry Bledsoe has written over 52 articles in the past year dealing with the Greensboro Police Dept. corruption and has had his life threatened by drug thugs under Federal investigation and had his personal data accessed from someone in a police cruiser—he doesn’t even live in Greensboro.
Cops in Black and White By Jerry Bledsoe: http://tinyurl.com/3dgjqq
Other local Bloggers documenting the corruption within the Greensboro Police Dept:
The Troublemaker: http://tinyurl.com/35pdpo
Guarino: http://tinyurl.com/3ckz37
If the officer and his "captain" lack sufficient judgment to distinguish between a touch on the shoulder from an old man and an aggressive action, I don't know what to say.
The way many cops behave nowadays, it's awful hard to support them.
Great Bumper Sticker !!!!!!!
I wouldn’t trust the N&R if they told me today was Wednesday.
The GPD needs yet another black eye. Whoops...purple eye. Not black.
Leni
Why wasn’t the reporter arrested? He was at the same place at the same time. The cop has zero common sense, I’d like to see his record of citizen complaints.
*the bottom line is, if you do put your hands on a cop, something is bound to happen, like it or not, especially at events like these....*
I’m not sure that I agree with that, cops are paid public servants, they’re not hot house flowers.
I have never received any training in handling the public, I am not a servant of the public paid by the taxes levied on free citizens yet even I can differentiate in a nano-second between someone laying hands on me in a hostile, insulting, aggressive or offensive manner and an old man leaning forward to hear better what a younger man is saying and in the course of that lightly placing a hand on the younger man’s shoulder.
It ain’t rocket science.
If the cop couldn’t work out what the old man was doing then he has no business in a job where he has to interact with the public.
I am especially wary of senior public officials abrogating on to themselves the right to clobber citizens for having the audacity to touch one of their staff in a completely harmless and non-threatening way.
If a lost little girl takes the hand of a police officer can we expect her to be arraigned for assault?
Fearless Leader denies there are any gulags in the USSR. “Uncle” Joe Stalin is like one of the family. Those who disagree merely needed to go to re-education centers.
The 5 officer on one reporter attack at Waco (when they tried to seize the raid-gone-wrong videotape from the news crew that they’d INVITED to the scene as a publicity stunt) was suppressed for years.
Steroid rage is a real concern among police departments but you’ll never hear any congressional investigations into THAT steroid abuse.
Same with the amped up caffine addiction of cops.
A ticking timebomb waiting to release on someone.
Looks like a regular culture of corruption there. Do the boys in blue follow the code of silence to not speak out against such “irregularities”?
Sounds like the Religion of Peace that always looks the other way at the persons that give it a bad name.
A patriotic white American male. The enemy of Obama’s amerika.
hey,where are the boot licker posts???
That kind of delusional thinking used to be called psychosis.
Like Maine isn’t a liberal chit hole?
Bullcrap. Whoever invented that phrase should be flogged.
I’m not sure that I agree with that, cops are paid public servants, they’re not hot house flowers.
And I'm not sure what either one of those points has to do with anythng, let alone the judgement and actions of the officer concerning this event.
I have never received any training in handling the public, I am not a servant of the public paid by the taxes levied on free citizens yet even I can differentiate in a nano-second between someone laying hands on me in a hostile, insulting, aggressive or offensive manner and an old man leaning forward to hear better what a younger man is saying and in the course of that lightly placing a hand on the younger man’s shoulder.
Again, I don't know what being a paid public employee has to do with anything...or your attempt to equivocate a situation you admit has no relevance to your own experiences. Look, as I said before, I can understand how people feel about this, but if the shoe were on the other foot and this was a CODE PINK operative, or any other such member of what we would consider an undesireable element, I think the responses on this thread would be completely different.
Additionally, I seriously doubt that anyone here could tell the difference "in a nanosecond" between an aggressive action, and one that's not, considering the circumstances, i.e. the man "...turned and put his left hand on the officer's right shoulder."
It's simply an unfortunate event and even "Pop" understood that, to wit:
Pop says he respects the police and knows he did wrong by placing his hand on the officer's shoulder.
The question is, why doesn't anyone else here understand that. Perhaps those who have friends or family in Law Enforcement are in a better position to understand these things than the average idealogue. Just my opinion, mind you.
If the cop couldn’t work out what the old man was doing then he has no business in a job where he has to interact with the public.
It's not what he was doing....it's what he didn't do. That's the point, plain and simple, and again, it's unfortunate that it had to happen this way.
I am especially wary of senior public officials abrogating on to themselves the right to clobber citizens for having the audacity to touch one of their staff in a completely harmless and non-threatening way.
Oh please....as if you or anyone else here could immediately determine such intent when a person fails to follow your orders twice, and then encounters a situation where the man turns and makes physical contact.
Here's a question: do you think Pop is in some way culpable for putting himself in a situation where he knows he is unaware of a certain portion of his environment? Flynt sees the arrest as appropriate without unnecessary force. You put your hands on an officer, you're going to get arrested. That's the bottom line. So, Kohanowich became the only arrest during the event that created a busy day around the coliseum. "I hate that it occurred," Flynt said. "Our intention was to get through the day with everyone being safe and with us not having to arrest anyone. As long as people follow our instructions, those things (arrests) won't occur." Pop will plead his case later this month in a Greensboro courtroom. Oh, he's fine. The bruise on his right wrist — apparently from the handcuffs — is not much bigger than a pencil eraser. Ask him about it, and he'll tell you it doesn't hurt. Then, without speaking a word, he'll tap his chest. That, he says, is where it'll hurt. Forever.
Here's a question: do you think Pop is in some way culpable for putting himself in a situation where he knows he is unaware of a certain portion of his environment?
...with nothing else additional
78 year old troop supporter put on the ground (outside of obama rally in greensboro, nc).
http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/departments/Police/ContactForms/contactflynt.htm
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.