Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

General Services Administration – with the Blessing of the Obama White House – Tells Law...
Judicial Watch ^ | August 7, 2012

Posted on 08/07/2012 2:16:56 PM PDT by jazusamo

Full title: General Services Administration – with the Blessing of the Obama White House – Tells Law Enforcement to “Stand Down” and Not Enforce the Law Against Occupy Protestors According to Records Uncovered by Judicial Watch

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it has obtained records from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) indicating that the General Services Administration (GSA), with the blessing of the Obama White House, instructed law enforcement officers to “stand down” and not arrest “Occupy Portland” protestors who were in violation of the law.

The records, obtained pursuant to a November 11, 2011, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, include internal DHS correspondence. One November 6, 2011, e-mail exchange between DHS/National Protection and Programs Directorate Chief of Staff Caitlin Durkovich and GSA Public Buildings Service Commissioner Robert Peck (who has since been fired) specifically related to Occupy Portland protests taking place on federal property in Portland:

I am sorry to be emailing you on a Sunday night, but wanted to let you know our Press Shop has received a couple of calls from Portland media outlets about a group of 11 protesters who again set up camp at Terry Shrunk Plaza in Portland last night. They have chained themselves to a large drum filled with concrete. GSA controls the permits and has asked FPS [Federal Protective Services] not to enforce the curfew at park and the prohibition on overnight encampments. Reporters have asked if we will be arresting the protestors as FPS did last week.

Our FPS Commander in Portland says they are standing down and following GSA’s request to only intervene if there is a threat to public safety.

Peck responds:

Caitlin: yes, that is our position; it’s been vetted with our Administrator and Michael Robertson, our chief of staff, and we have communicated with the WH [White House], which has afforded us the discretion to fashion our approach to Occupy issues…The arrests last week were carried out despite our request that the protesters be allowed to remain and to camp overnight…

Occupy Portland is part of the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has been beset with accusations of “crimes and dangerous behavior” during its protests.

According to the Oregonian, the week before this email exchange, on October 30, 2011, “Twenty-five Occupy Portland demonstrators were arrested…after refusing to leave Jamison Square. The arrests capped an intense hours-long standoff between police and dozens of protesters who refused to leave the Pearl District park after it was declared closed at midnight. Officers, some in riot gear and others on horses, faced off with protesters who remained in the square, despite being ordered to leave.” The protestors were reportedly arrested on accusations of “trespassing, interfering with a police officer and disorderly conduct for the noise complaints from neighbors.”

Robert Peck was at the center of a scandal involving the GSA in 2010, where the agency spent $823,000 on a lavish Las Vegas “training conference” that featured a clown, a mind reader and a $31,208 reception. Peck was fired as a result of the incident. Peck, who has donated thousands of dollars to Democrat candidates, including Barack Obama, was previously implicated in an unrelated GSA scandal for reportedly brokering a controversial lease deal for a Democratic donor and friend of former Vice President Al Gore. Per The Washington Examiner’s Mark Tapscott: “In Peck’s first go-round at GSA, controversy was sparked when it was learned that excessively high rent was being paid by the FCC to the owner of a building who also happened to be a Democratic donor. Peck was the official who made the deal possible.”

Peck was deposed by Judicial Watch today in a separate lawsuit on behalf of Linda Shenwick, a GSA whistleblower who Peck and others allegedly retaliated against because of Ms. Shenwick’s opposition to wasteful spending, such as parties, that have now caused so much controversy.

“We now have a new GSA scandal – one that involves the Obama White House,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “These documents clearly show that federal agencies colluded with the Obama White House to allow the Occupy Wall Street protestors to violate the law with impunity. These documents tell us that the GSA and DHS can’t be relied upon to protect federal workers or property.”

To view the entire production click here.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: dhs; gsa; obama; occupyprotesters; oregon; ows; portland
Yet one more case of the Obama WH not enforcing law and playing favorites with political cronies.
1 posted on 08/07/2012 2:17:04 PM PDT by jazusamo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: jazusamo; All


Help End The Obama Era In 2012
Your Monthly and Quarterly Donations
Help Keep FR In the Battle!

Sponsoring FReepers are contributing
$10 Each time a New Monthly Donor signs up!
Get more bang for your FR buck!
Click Here To Sign Up Now!


2 posted on 08/07/2012 2:18:51 PM PDT by musicman (Until I see the REAL Long Form Vault BC, he's just "PRES__ENT" Obama = Without "ID")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jazusamo

When the rule of law no longer applies, when the laws are bent to protect them and not you, then the only justice you will find is the justice that you make for yourself.

Worse is coming.


3 posted on 08/07/2012 2:22:24 PM PDT by Noumenon (Obama 2012: Zimbabwe without the airfare)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jazusamo

“If you are a Communist you are immune from the law. If you are black you are immune from the law. I am the Law!” That is Obama’s message to America. If we had a Republican Party with any backbone he would already have been impeached and would be wearing orange at Leavenworth.


4 posted on 08/07/2012 2:23:13 PM PDT by Don Corleone ("Oil the gun..eat the cannoli. Take it to the Mattress.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Noumenon
You're correct, equal protection under the law has been non existent in Obama’s administration.

He's also embedded many civil service employees throughout the executive branch that are not subject to dismissal with a new administration.

Even when he's gone many of his minions will remain.

5 posted on 08/07/2012 2:28:00 PM PDT by jazusamo ("Intellect is not wisdom" -- Thomas Sowell)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Don Corleone
I share your perspective but with Dingy Harry's Senate there was no chance of impeachment and a guilty verdict. The same fate should befall Eric Holder in a more perfect world.
6 posted on 08/07/2012 2:32:34 PM PDT by jazusamo ("Intellect is not wisdom" -- Thomas Sowell)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Noumenon

Exactly. Well said. It is coming. Moreover, the oath of office to uphold the Constitution apparently means nothing. And the corrupt MSM is fully complicit. Just imagine if Bush did this for Pro-lifers or some other group. Can you imagine the absolute howling, and justifiably so. The MSM stands accused of facilitating anarchy. The day is coming when the government/paramilitary jack-booted thugs will start whisking people away in the middle of the night and as long as they are the “right” people being taken there will not be a peep from the corrupt media.


7 posted on 08/07/2012 2:38:27 PM PDT by Obadiah (Insurrection is now an option)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: jazusamo
He's also embedded many civil service employees throughout the executive branch that are not subject to dismissal with a new administration.

Romney has a remedy for this. Executive Order!

8 posted on 08/07/2012 2:57:27 PM PDT by Logical me
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

Please bump the Freepathon or click above and donate or become a monthly donor!

9 posted on 08/07/2012 3:01:37 PM PDT by jazusamo ("Intellect is not wisdom" -- Thomas Sowell)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jazusamo

But they can be riffed


10 posted on 08/07/2012 3:14:23 PM PDT by combat_boots (The Lion of Judah cometh. Hallelujah. Gloria Patri, Filio et Spiritui Sancto.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: jazusamo
The ridulous thing about the RNC and all the super PACs is that not one has put togeather a series of "we don't enforce what we don't like " commericals -

The judge in the gulf siad,"You guys are in contempt" yet not one group has put - 1. the gulf, 2. immigration 3. defense of marriage, 4. voter ID. (see state 0f GA.or Philly Black Panther)5. EPA - where to start !! The ad writes itself. This adminstration does not even do what the courts or the congress require it - they thumb their nose at the rule of law.

11 posted on 08/07/2012 3:17:10 PM PDT by q_an_a (the more laws the less justice)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Obadiah; jazusamo

I have made the determination that I will not submit to arrest for any reason. With everything that implies.


12 posted on 08/07/2012 3:20:46 PM PDT by Noumenon (Obama 2012: Zimbabwe without the airfare)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: combat_boots

Yes, you’re right but there are so many that’ll be tough to do, Holder hired over a hundred radical lefties in the DOJ alone.


13 posted on 08/07/2012 3:27:38 PM PDT by jazusamo ("Intellect is not wisdom" -- Thomas Sowell)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: q_an_a

You make an excellent point and it’s all out there in the public record.


14 posted on 08/07/2012 3:29:44 PM PDT by jazusamo ("Intellect is not wisdom" -- Thomas Sowell)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Noumenon

I won’t either, FRiend. And I can guarantee that their attempt will make international headlines, as it would take a battalion of the 101st Airborne to take me in.


15 posted on 08/07/2012 4:53:35 PM PDT by clee1 (We use 43 muscles to frown, 17 to smile, and 2 to pull a trigger. I'm lazy and I'm tired of smiling.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: jazusamo

tell 10 people and send a letter - I did to my Rino cognressman from DFW


16 posted on 08/07/2012 6:41:50 PM PDT by q_an_a (the more laws the less justice)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson