Posted on 07/11/2011 7:17:08 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
The Arizona town that's become a YouTube sensation for its police department hauling away a woman speaking at a town-hall meeting declared a state of emergency this afternoon, leaving many local residents in fear of what officers dressed in full riot gear might do.
Jennifer "Jade" Jones, 45, the woman forcibly removed by police from a recent public meeting in Quartzsite, Ariz., despite the vocal objections of the mayor, says an illegal secret meeting was held today with the public locked out of the building.
"About noon today, the town council, at the request of the police chief, declared an official state of emergency," Jones said online. "Please help!"
The Arizona Republic reported the emergency meeting was held "to beef up security after receiving death threats."
Jones told WND there's actually no emergency of any kind, as it's a peaceful Sunday with people attending church; but in the wake of a WND report which exposed allegations of wrongdoing by local government officials, the town council and police convened an unpublicized meeting to declare an emergency for their own protection.
"Obviously it has put a fear into them, as they realize, 'Oh my God, everyone's looking at us now,'" she said. "There's been no incident to warrant this. They did this to protect themselves. The people are in danger."
She says local residents have no idea what may be coming next.
"They've got their tactical gear on, the police chief and his sergeant," Jones said. "I don't know what that means. I need to get the word out in case they come here. I am very concerned for my safety. We're two hours from Phoenix, out in the middle of nowhere. A lot of things can go wrong before someone gets here."
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
More news http://www.parkerpioneer.net/articles/2011/07/11/news/doc4e1bbc98edd99386157241.txt
Donna, her right to speak was denied, at she was forcibly removed by police acting against the law. That link above relates that the Councils’ rules only allow the mayor to order any one removed.
I honestly don’t think you have a clue what you’re talking about. The woman WAS orderly. The Mayor WAS handling his job. He was telling the cops to let her alone because she DID have the floor. Good grief! You must have a problem!
“ut roh. I’d say it’s high time for a special election to replace sheriff Hothead - let’s see if he tries to stop THAT”
Sorry, but this is not a matter for elections. Even if a majority wanted their police to behave in an illegal manner, that would not matter.
The state of Arizona needs to step in and make sure the open meetings laws and the false arrest laws are obeyed in their state. As someone else said, the state should immediately suspend the local police chief and step in before there is some violence.
A Quartzitian needs to sue, I suppose.
A town of 3800 has how many cops?
I assume the lady falsely arrested will sue over that. But that just gives her some tax payers money. It does not stop those who in the name of the tax payers would behave in such a way.
Stuff your personal insults. You’re so busy being “right” you can’t listen.
As I said, the Mayor must do his duty. If something goes wrong he should act.
The woman was addressing the crowd which no council allows.
Some of these small towns, I don’t know.
I wonder how many are quasi-dictatorships. And then you have cases like that town in Cali where they gave themselves exorbitant salaries.
If it were up to me there’d be a lot of local government reorganization.
Dukes of Hazzard. Boss Hogg.
Quartzsite was a town I always wanted to visit some day. It’s one of the most important sites in the USA for rockhounds and mineral collectors-maybe the most important site of all. Now, I think I’ll be avoiding this place...Sure hope those folks there get this situation under control, and heads roll. Unbelievable!
There are only a handful of police and city councilmen in the town of over 3000. Why are the citizens not rounding them up? Why is the mayor not calling in help from a militia?
I’ve never heard of a rule that says a speaker must face the councilmembers at all times when speaking. She had four minutes; she should have been allowed all 240 seconds before anyone said as much as boo to her, regardless of which direction she chose to face.
Guidelines for being heard
Citizens can speak on any item by completing a citizen comment card and submitting it to city staff prior to the meeting. A sample of the speaker card is shown below:
sample of speaker card
Citizens may only speak when recognized by the mayor or the presiding officer of the meeting if the mayor is absent. However, it is the policy and practice of the mayor and council to allow citizens to appear before the city council on any published agenda item to express their views. A citizen speaker card must be completed for each item the speaker may wish to address.
In compliance with the Open Meeting Law, speakers should confine their statements to the issue on the posted agenda which is before the council. Speakers are also requested to limit their comments to approximately two minutes or as designated by the mayor.
Opposing viewpoints may be expressed by the citizens present. As a courtesy, citizens are reminded to address their comments to the mayor and council and not to the audience present. Please show respect for all speakers and avoid personal comments. Remember, council must hear both sides of an issue to make an informed decision.
Had to go all the way to Phoenix to find that? well, "As a courtesy", does not mean the same as 'mandatory', even in Phoenix.
Now, the most that likely would have happened, in Phoenix, would have been for the Mayor to request the young lady to please address him directly, or for a councilman to quietly ask, not her, but the Mayor, to direct her so. And, as a mayoral candidate, as you say, the young lady should have been given the same respect that others expected, and she certainly would have been given that respect - in Phoenix.
The Mayor of Quartzsite made no such request for face-to-face conversation, and in fact, the officers-gone-wild pretty much kept her facing away from the Mayor and towards the audience after that.
Like it or not, it's the Mayor's show, therefore, irregardless of whether she was in Quartzsite or Phoenix, irregardless of how you personally want to interpret 'courtesy' or 'mandatory', the young lady was not out of order until the Mayor, and ONLY the Mayor, said she was out of order, and he didn't.
Ya'll are out of control down there, and if you DID support your Mayor, you'd stand by his repeated admonishments to the Mad Squad that the young lady had the right to speak for 4 minutes without being manhandled.
What is that ? I realize its a AA platform but whose is it ? What are the caliber of the guns & missiles.
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.