Constitutionalist blames police for fatal shootout (shooting in Massillon, Ohio)

The Canton Repository (Ohio) ^ | August 13, 2002 | ED BALINT

[ResistorSister]

CANTON — Dwight Class said it didn’t have to end this way for Donald Matthews and the Massillon police officer whom he shot and killed.

Class said Patrol Officer Eric Taylor and the other officers and state trooper who were part of a fatal police chase Friday night did not have the authority to pull Matthews over on a traffic stop.

Or to pursue and attempt to arrest him.

Class attends the meetings on constitutionality that Matthews used to lead before he died in the shootout with police that started with a traffic stop on Route 21 in Doylestown and ended at First Street NW and Cherry Road in Massillon.

Matthews was president of the National Constitutionalist Academy and studied the U.S. Constitution. He held weekly meetings at the Denny’s Restaurant on Tuscarawas Street W in Perry Township. About 15 to 22 people usually attend, Class said. He said Matthews also held weekly meetings in Cleveland.

STRONG BELIEFS. Dwight Class and his wife, Sárra,
stand outside Reed Funeral Home after attending
calling hours for Donald Matthews of Jackson
Township on Monday afternoon. Police shot and
killed Matthews after he led police on a chase and shot and
killed Massillon Police Officer Eric Taylor on Friday
night. Class said the shootout wouldn’t have occurred
if the state trooper who pulled Matthews over on a
traffic stop had shown proof that he had an oath of
office and a bond. Repository / Michael S. Balash

Class attended calling hours for Matthews at Reed Funeral Home on Monday. Visitation was held from 3 to 5 and 6 to 9 p.m.

The first session appeared to be sparsely attended. Roughly 12 to 20 vehicles were parked in the funeral home lot. Visitors trickled in during the two hours. Family members and friends occasionally gathered in the parking lot or near the entrance of the funeral home.

Class spoke strongly about the events that unfolded Friday when a state trooper pulled Matthews over for driving 12 mph over the speed limit.

If the trooper could have produced proof that he had taken an oath of office and had a bond, “it would have been a nice, simple conversation (and Matthews would have said,) ‘I recognize you as an officer now.’ ”

That would have prevented the gunshots, Class said.

“I don’t think it had to have happened at all,” the Canton resident said, citing constitutional issues.

However, his wife, Sárra Class, said Taylor “should have been shot.”

Dwight Class disagreed and told his wife to stop making the comment.

“I thought he was a good man,” he said of Matthews. “He tried to get things done; he tried to get them done peacefully. That’s what he taught in class.”

Matthews taught other constitutionalists “to get the ‘paper trail started’ ” by filing cases in court, Class said.

Class said he has filed lawsuits over traffic violations involving himself and Rodney Class. One of the cases involves New Philadelphia police, he said.

Dwight Class also said he’s filed a lawsuit in federal court in Akron over alleged civil rights violations.

He said he’s planning to take legal action this week against Massillon Municipal Judge Edward J. Elum in the Ohio Supreme Court. That complaint involves a warrant issued against Class — he said he doesn’t know what for.

Dwight Class, 51, said he retired after working 30 years at the Timken Co.

He gave a reporter a “notice” of “civil rights violations by Ohio police and (the Ohio Highway Patrol).”

“Ohio is a home-rule state,” it says. “Chances are that if the brothers and sisters are stopped by any local police, they do not have an oath of office or bond to hold a position as a civil servant.”

Without the oath or bond, an officer doesn’t have the power to arrest a citizen, Class says.

Standing outside the funeral home, he said, “We don’t have a police force in the state of Ohio; we have private, at-will employees.”

A bumper sticker on a pickup truck at the calling hours carried the slogan: “I love my country but I fear my elected officials.”

Class said he expects Friday’s incident to boost attendance at the National Constitutionalist Academy meetings.

But not everyone who attended the calling hours shared Class’s point of view.

John Newlund, 49, of East Liverpool, said Matthews was his wife’s brother-in-law.

“He gave me a card one time,” Newlund said of the academy, “and I just blew it off. I believe you should pay your taxes.”

Newlund said he would “absolutely” pull over for a traffic stop.

“He should have stopped,” he said of Matthews. “It was only a speeding ticket — it happens thousands of times a day.

“You go by the law, the law of the land.”

You can reach Repository writer Ed Balint at (330) 580-8315 or e-mail:

ed.balint@cantonrep.com

[ResistorSister]

However, his wife, Sárra Class, said Taylor [the police officer] “should have been shot.”

She sounds like an intelligent woman. /sarcasm

[ResistorSister]

If anyone would like to see the rest of the story threads on this event...just type the word: massillon - into the forum's search engine.

[YOMO]

Yet another "Nutcase" to worry about. Where do they find them?

[gunnedah]

The officer was like any other person working for a living.Groups like these are like Osama and his thugs,I agree with them about governments abuse of power but they must attack this along different lines.Officer Taylor to them are like collateral damage to our government and Osamas way of thinking.People taking on the cause over government corruption and abuse are taking on the wrong people.You need to direct your attention to the fat cats and those that actually abuse the government by using those under them to do their dirty work.It is no doubt in my mind the government in this country has run amuck but you need to start where the source begins and that is not the foot soldier so to speak.

[xsmommy]

You'd be amazed at what people wear to funeral homes these days....

[wimpycat]

However, his wife, Sárra Class, said Taylor [the police officer] “should have been shot.”

She sounds like an intelligent woman. /sarcasm

Her husband Dwight is a little smarter than she is, 'cos he knows enough to want to avoid sounding like a complete and utter nutburger:

Dwight Class disagreed and told his wife to stop making the comment.

[Maelstrom]

You guy should be quite proud, harbor...you're well on your way to labelling Constitutionalists the next terrorist group in America.

I really do hope you live long enough to reap the fruit you've sown.

[dighton]

Toothless trailer trash alert.

Cain't be trash, their last name is Class.

[basil]

Sometimes you have to pick the hill you are willing to die on. Geez--for me, it certainly wouldn't be over a traffic ticket!

I'm all for studying and discussing the Constitution, but from the looks of this guy and his wife, and from some of the things they are quoted as saying, I don't think I'd want to be in a discussion with them about anything!

[Poohbah]

Was Matthews a "Constitutionalist?" Are the Classes "Constitutionalists?"

[AppyPappy]

Sorry. He's right. These types are fast becoming terrorists. And they aren't Constitutionalists because they don't follow the US Constitution. They follow their own constitution.

[wimpycat]

You guy should be quite proud, harbor...you're well on your way to labelling Constitutionalists the next terrorist group in America.

Well, you've got one Constitutionalist, Don Matthews, murdering a cop over a traffic stop (after warning that's what he would do if a cop ever tried to give him a ticket), and you have another, Sarra Class, saying the cop deserved to be shot. So, tell me again, who is labelling Constitutionalists as terrorists? I would say they themselves are doing a pretty good job of it without OPH's help.

[Poohbah]

Class said he expects Friday’s incident to boost attendance at the National Constitutionalist Academy meetings.

Yup. Donald Matthews, brave warrior for the cause and all that.

I wonder how Sarra Class' next traffic stop goes after that little gem of wisdom she offered...