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DOJ 'peacemakers' helped Sanford stay cool amid rising tensions
Orlando Sentinel ^ | April 15, 2012 | Arelis R. Hernández

Posted on 04/15/2012 9:36:08 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe

When racial tensions flared in Sanford, a league of secretive peacemakers reached out to the city's spiritual and civic leaders to help cool heated emotions after 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in February.

When civil-rights organizers wanted to demonstrate, these federal workers taught them how to peacefully manage crowds.

They even arranged a police escort for college students to ensure safe passage for their 40-mile march from Daytona Beach to Sanford to demand justice.

As national figures and sign-waving protesters grabbed the spotlight after Trayvon's death, federal workers from a little-known branch of the Department of Justice labored away behind the scenes, quietly brokering deals between the city officials and residents to help prevent violence and lay the groundwork for peace.

Even though last week's arrest of suspected shooter George Zimmerman calmed some tensions, the Community Relations Service will remain in Sanford for an unspecified period of time. "As long as we're needed," the agency's acting director said.

The Community Relations Service offers few details about its work.

City officials, local leaders and residents say these peacekeepers have played a key role in easing tensions during some of the most heated moments after Trayvon's shooting.

"They were there for us," said the Rev. Valarie Houston, pastor of Allen Chapel AME Church, a focal point for the community after the unarmed teen's death. She met the peacekeepers there for the first time during a March 20 town-hall meeting. "We felt protected," she said.

Houston said the conciliators told her they act as the "eyes and ears of the community" and provided guidance about keeping their message about nonviolence clear.

At every rally, community meeting and march, since the shooting, conciliators were there.

In their Navy blue windbreakers, polo shirts and dark sunglasses, they look like federal agents.

(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...


TOPICS: Government; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: communityrelations; crs; doj; dojcrs; executivebranch; federalworkers; georgezimmerman; holderspeople; justicedepartment; justicefortrayvon; justicefortrayvoninc; sanford; secretpeacemakers; trayvon; trayvonmartin; zimmerman
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1 posted on 04/15/2012 9:36:17 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
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To: Tailgunner Joe

What the heck are “secretive peacemakers” anyway?

Seems to me that they didn’t need any of these folks until after the msm and Hussein stuck their noses into it and began spreading lies.


2 posted on 04/15/2012 9:45:07 PM PDT by bgill
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To: bgill

Yeah, right, seems to me like it is a prison gang with a nice name and with official “DOJ” titles for the sheeples.

Welcome to Gulag Amerikkka.


3 posted on 04/15/2012 9:47:59 PM PDT by JudgemAll (Democrats Fed. job-security Whorocracy & hate:hypocrites must be gay like us or be tested/crucified)
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To: Tailgunner Joe

Never heard of this “branch” of the DOJ before. How many other secretive branches are there?


4 posted on 04/15/2012 9:48:11 PM PDT by ConjunctionJunction
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To: bgill

Exactly. The DOJ must be so busy calming crowds that they have no time to look into violence against whites, perpetrated by this same demographic.


5 posted on 04/15/2012 9:50:15 PM PDT by Amberdawn
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To: maggief; Cboldt; LucyT; thouworm; rolling_stone; kristinn; 2ndDivisionVet; STARWISE

????


6 posted on 04/15/2012 9:55:05 PM PDT by hoosiermama
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To: JudgemAll

“Yeah, right, seems to me like it is a prison gang with a nice name and with official “DOJ” titles for the sheeples.”

AKA Holder’s Homies


7 posted on 04/15/2012 9:56:17 PM PDT by Stormdog (A rifle transforms one from subject to Citizen)
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To: Tailgunner Joe

If there was any doubt that DoJ would hit Zimmerman with a “violation of civil rights” charge if the state charges don’t pan out, there’s no doubt now. I gotta think that the “secretive peacemakers” are spending as much time scurrying between the file cabinet holding the personnel records of the Sanford PD and the courthouse copier as they are spending ministering to the various pressure groups.


8 posted on 04/15/2012 9:56:55 PM PDT by jiggyboy (Ten percent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: Tailgunner Joe

“Community Relations Service” = Community Organizing


9 posted on 04/15/2012 9:58:01 PM PDT by fullchroma
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To: Tailgunner Joe

The secret DOJ crew forced the police chief to resign:

“They helped set up a meeting between the local NAACP and elected officials that led to the temporary resignation of police Chief Bill Lee, said Turner Clayton, Seminole County chapter president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.”


10 posted on 04/15/2012 10:00:25 PM PDT by reagandemocrat
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Uhhh, yeah right. The riots didn’t happen because they charged him. The riots will happen even worse when they acquit him.


11 posted on 04/15/2012 10:01:15 PM PDT by dsrtsage (One half of all people have below average IQ. In the US the number is 54%)
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To: Tailgunner Joe

This explains everything.....


12 posted on 04/15/2012 10:04:04 PM PDT by moehoward
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To: Tailgunner Joe

Where’s RICO when you need it? This is a protection racket pure and simple. Use a (relatively) insignificant event, blow it out of proportion, lay the foundation for huge problems... Then step in and offer to “help” with the situation. All the while gaining intel, power, influence, setting precedents...


13 posted on 04/15/2012 10:04:46 PM PDT by ThunderSleeps (Stop obama now! Stop the hussein - insane agenda!)
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To: Tailgunner Joe
Headline?

Easing racial tensions in Sanford
Attorney General Eric Holder seeks help of Outcasts of Alabama to calm the situation
U.S. Dept. of JustUs Special counsel Al Sharpton will coordinate.

14 posted on 04/15/2012 10:06:32 PM PDT by WilliamofCarmichael (If modern America's Man on Horseback is out there, Get on the damn horse already!)
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To: Tailgunner Joe

Liberals take some sort of inexplicable pride in convincing knuckleheads not to burn down their own neighborhoods.


15 posted on 04/15/2012 10:06:44 PM PDT by vbmoneyspender
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To: Tailgunner Joe

I don’t believe a frigging word of that article. Since THEY didn’t burn down South Florida (yet), despite all their efforts to, the chief unindicted accomplice in the murder of Brian Perry and his boss, obama, who has yet to condemn THEIR people for putting out ‘Wanted Dead or Alive Posters’, now is taking credit for no riots or fires.


16 posted on 04/15/2012 10:08:09 PM PDT by jmax (We only have to blame ourselves.)
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To: Tailgunner Joe
Their caps are embroidered with the Justice Department's seal. They watch and listen silently. But they say little publicly.

When reporters try to chat them up, they remain stoic, saying simply they cannot talk to the media.

17 posted on 04/15/2012 10:08:38 PM PDT by hoosiermama
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To: Tailgunner Joe
So Holder's buddy Sharpton rolls into town to stir up trouble, and then Holder sends some peacenik bureaucrats to calm things down.

...and why does this feel like a Harlem Globetrotters game? ...or a wild west shootout at Six Flags? Ya’ know, the good guys and bad guys all have the same signature on their paycheck.

18 posted on 04/15/2012 10:10:24 PM PDT by Tex-Con-Man (T. Coddington Van Voorhees VII 2012 - "Together, I Shall Ride You To Victory")
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To: Tailgunner Joe
We wuz gonna riot. But we didn't.

Disgust!


Sounds like they know some one will be suing them for inciting violence soon!

19 posted on 04/15/2012 10:12:35 PM PDT by rawcatslyentist ("Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one," Jeremiah 50:31)
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To: Tailgunner Joe
Looks like some of Holder's droogs must now have fancy new uniforms.


20 posted on 04/15/2012 10:14:14 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (You only have three billion heartbeats in a lifetime.How many does the government claim as its own?)
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