Grand Jury to Hear McKinney Case.........per MSNBC

[Kingshakabobo]

http://www.11alive.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=78266

Grand Jury to Hear McKinney Case
MSNBC reported late Wednesday afternoon that a grand jury would hear evidence against Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-4th Ga.) on Thursday.

No word is available on how soon a warrant may be issued against McKinney.

The Washington Post reports Capitol police want McKinney prosecuted on a misdemeanor charge of assaulting a police officer. The fourth district congresswoman has said she's a victim of racial profiling and insists she struck the officer after he touched her inappropriately.

On morning network talk shows, McKinney said even though she changed her longtime hairstyle, security personnel should recognize all members of congress.

[tridim]

1. Wow, the system sure works quickly when a Democrat is the target

Wonder why?

[Chemical Bill]

2. Yeah, how come * doesn't go before a war crimes tribunal? n/t

[RDU Socialist]

23. because someone has to take him to one?

the police of Bosnia didn't arrest Milosevic.

[radfringe]

39. this is why

[Peace Patriot]

67. I can hardly believe the DUers here who don't recognize a "swiftboating"

when they see one.

This cop treated a MEMBER OF CONGRESS--the ONLY U.S. government official that is given special protection in the U.S. Constitution--with disrespect, and laid hands on her. End. Of. Story.

It is her DUTY to protect herself from assault. Someone lays hands on her--and I don't care who it is--she MUST stop that molestation. She is a PROTECTED PERSON. Neither the President nor any of his representatives in law enforcement can remove her from office or prevent her from perfoming her Congressional duties. She is a representative of THE PEOPLE, ***NOT***the government!!!!

Add to that that THIS government is a fascist JUNTA, and the force of that duty of Members of Congress to protect themselves from arrest, detention, and any kind of assault, in the performance of their Congressional duties, becomes even more important.

Do those of you who are dissing McKinney here REALIZE what a precedent this will set if the cops in the pay of, and in the control of, the Bush junta can use "security" as a means of stopping Members of Congress from entering Congress?

I don't care WHAT you think of her. I don't care what she's said. If the outline of this incident is more or less as described, that a cop put his hand on a Member of Congress to impede her entry into Congress, and she reacted to being physically impeded, she is in the right and he is in the wrong. And we had better do everything in our power to keep it that way.

Cops doing "security" and their often petty little rules, and often fascist, 'controlling' demeanor, DON'T MATTER A DAMN when you are talking about a MEMBER OF CONGRESS!

[OKthatsIT]

68. I ABSOLUTELY AGREE. (see video links)

PEOPLE...listen to Sheila Jackson Lee on Democracy Now.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/04/1419259

Also, watch Hannity try to SWIFTBOAT Cynthia with former LAPD detective. The detective wasn't going for it, raising some basic questions that needed to be answered before he could form any opinion. Since Hannity had no proof, the detective couldn't speculate. http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002650.htm

Where's the video of the incident? Wouldn't the forey and halls have surveillance cameras at every angle?

[DearAbby]

3. This is getting ridiculous

I have remained silent about this issue, until now, it is plain this has become a witch-hunt. Let's see the security video of this incident. Let's clear this up...show the video.

[howmad1]

53. My "Bullshit Meter" is pegging off scale.

Anybody wanna take a count of the number of media hits that will be devoted to this witch-hunt and compare it the number of hits about Tom Delay stepping down. Geez, if this doesn't smell Rovian, I'll eat my hat. BTW, if anybody should be taken to task, it should be the asshole Capitol cop/cops who failed to recognize the Congresswoman. I've been through security at Senate and House office buildings dozens of times and know the Capitol cops are trained to recognize every member of Congress before working on Capitol grounds.

This is clear un-adulterated bullshit! And the friggin dems not supporting Cynthia are in lock-step with the repuke bastards. Score another one for the rethugs.

[Zhade]

62. The GJ DOES have to see the tape to make a decision, yes?

If so, mark this down: the tape will clear her. I'm almost certain of that.

Otherwise, the tape would have already been all over the MSM.

[stanwyck]

69. Exactly! Where is the video?

We've been speculating about this at work. No video? Hard to believe. I mean, post 9-11, no video on Capitol Hill at a major checkpoint? After The Pentagon was bombed?
Or...the video is too...what?
I voted for Cynthia. But I want to see the video and see if my Congresswoman behaved badly.
Or not.
Let America decide the way Americans decide. We watch the video.
This is being handled very, very badly.
Bush, our "CEO" president, could have taken control of this situation from the beginning.
Now, it's becoming this polarizing distraction keeping our elected officials from getting work done.

[Sleepless In NY]

4. How stupid is this?

She did the wrong thing, more than likely..but to make a federal case out of it? To pass a resolution? This is what congress considers important enough to put the governments business aside for? Give me a break! 9 trillon in debt...and we need to waste time on McKinney?

[glaeken777]

6. agreed

I have agreed with some of the stances she's taken in the past, but this is just a circus with her as the ringmaster... she should have just confronted the guard verbally and explained the situation calmly. We've got bigger issues and she's becoming a drag by blowing this far out of proportion. Playing right into the hands of the pundits and Dem-haters who drive the media frenzies.

The only valid point she has is that a mere pin is not enough of a security measure.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

11. oh, so it's her fault that they're taking this to Grand Jury level??!

you're kidding right?

[Igel]

73. The DA is playing CYA.

He could ask a judge to issue a warrant; that would say that he thinks there's a case to be made. Those that disagree would be gunning for him. He'd get political heat.

He could decide not to ask a judge; that would say that he thinks there's no case. Those that disagree would be gunning for him. He'd get political heat.

He could ask a grand jury to examine the evidence. That's saying there he thinks there might be a case but isn't going to commit; he's leaving the decision to others. This is DC; those others are likely to be majority black.

If the GJ says 'no indictment', hey, it's out of his hands. If the GJ says 'indict', that's certainly not his decision. Smart guy, that one, avoiding a lose-lose situation.

[djg21]

20. I agree.

She brought this on herself by over-reacting when she was stopped, and then playing the race card and accusing the police officer of engaging in improper and possibly unlawful conduct. Of course this matter will now be prosecuted, if only to vindicate the police officer, and he likely will be vindicated when a series of eye-witnesses testify that McKinney over-reaacted and struck the officer. Her explanations, which seem to change from minute to minute, seem incredible to me, and her allegations of race discrimination and racial profiling trivialize significant issues. McKinney should be ashamed. She is making me ashamed of her.

[rfranklin]

21. The problem we have is Democrats turning on their own...

think about it for a moment.

[RDU Socialist]

24. no the problem we have as democrats is we're too willing to condone

stupid actions, be they made by republicans or democrats.

[goclark]

61. And will they like us any better if we chop our leaders

up and deliver them for Tweety to cut into little pieces on the Evening news?

If we want to jump all over something, let's spend our energy jumping all over Blackwell in
Ohio, now there's a piece of work!

Read a few days ago that he owns some stock in DIEBOLD.

Let's chop that up as a "stupid action" and see how many times we see it on TV.

I have not seen even a tiny mention of it and by his actions in '04, he delivered Ohio to Bush!

I'll take a felony by cell phone from my leaders!

Now Blackwell just might get ELECTED instead of going to jail for "BREAKING THE LAW" but we sweet Democrats don't want anyone to think that we would be BOLD enough to imply that just maybe he just might be GUILTY.

Where is the OUTRAGE for Blackwell!

[lovuian]

5. Pretty stupid... Yes a Grand jury pops up immediately

when other more horrible offenses are nothing!!!

[catmother]

7. grand jury? that's a bit much. i think she was wrong, but an

apology on both parts -- her's and the cop's should suffice. seems like just a misunderstand.:crazy:

[liberalnurse]

27. The highest this could ever go is a Municiple Court at best.

Where in the Hell do they come up with Felony assault?

:scared:

[catmother]

30. don't know. they say she hit the cop. many years ago i called

a cop a pig and he arrested me. it was back in the early 70s. they actually booked me -- i had to go to court. of course, when i went to court i was all dressed up like a nice lady (not like a hippie) which was how i looked when he arrested me. he dropped the charge. :woohoo:

[liberalnurse]

31. This does not rise to the level of a Grand Jury.

A misdemeanor assault at best....which is a Municipal Court issue. They will be obligated to throw it out because it appears to be a trumped up charge. She did not seek out to assault anyone, no premeditation but just a self defense response.

[Zhade]

63. Until the tape is shown, NO ONE knows what happened except them.

NO ONE.

So, where's the tape?

[OKNancy]

8. Thanks for posting, we will need a link soon

Try to edit your post within one hour.
Thanks again

[Charlie Brown]

9. self-delete

[Janice325]

10. Gosh, just when the DHS Repuke sex scandals are popping up!

i.ie., Frank Figuera and what's his name "Doyle." Not to mention DeLay all over Tweety.
Yeppers, McKinney is soooo important for the Republicans to go after. :sarcasm:
Has anyone heard anything lately about the elderly gentleman Cheney shot?

[goclark]

52. Timing is everything

and this is such a HUGE threat to our country, remember that "she broke the law!"

De Lay gets a pass and he is the media darling, huum.

Set Up and we fell right into the trap.

[Charlie Brown]

12. link

http://www.11alive.com/rss/article.aspx?storyid=78266

[Kingshakabobo]

13. Thanks! I'll edit and add. n/t

[DeaconBlues]

14. Wow

What a waste of time and taxpayer's money. What would be a fair finding be if she is found to be guilty? A poking with a pencil?

[yorgatron]

16. that guard sounds like a real candyass

what a mama's boy!

[DeaconBlues]

22. Exactly. If this happened to me I'd forget about it

If some middle-aged congresswoman poked me with a cellphone and gave me a nasty look, I would have just gave her a funny look, found out who she was, and went back to my buddies to have a good laugh about it. Obviously, someone has an agenda.

[tatertop]

17. They are lovin' putting that boot up our ass for all to see once again

And that's what it's all about.
They are gonna teach us a little lesson
while the spineless wonders in Congress look on.
(Except for LIEberman who will be rabidly
praising his brave and undaunted Republican colleagues.)

[djg21]

25. Time out!

She has made serious accusations against the officer that could result in him being disciplined, losing his job, or being subjected to substantial liability under the Civil Rights Act. Why should he tolerate this, especially if he did nothing improper and McKinney's allegations are contrived? McKinney has placed the police department and prosecutors in a corner. They have to prosecute now.

[liberalnurse]

29. The Grand Jury is not about the Officer....

it is about the Defendant, Cynthia McKinney.

[djg21]

35. Sort of.

You are right. However, if the grand jury returns an indictment about McKinney, prompting a plea, or a trial resulting in a finding of culpability, the Officer will be vindicated and likely could not be subjected to disciplinary action or civil liability.

[Charlie Brown]

37. should McKinney be convicted

will she have to resign? Are there any rules in the House to that effect?

[Karmakaze]

66. Not true...

She could be convicted of assault and still be the victim of racial profiling.

[NYC]

64. I read on DU that the officer may be leaving his job

at the end of the week or end of the month. I don't know where I read that. I didn't pay much attention. If someone finds it, please post it.

[boobooday]

15. Oh please

I remember when our local GOP congressman tried to board an airplane with a gun in his carry-on luggage -- it wasn't this big a deal.

[Maat]

19. My point exactly.

I hope that the grand jury votes NOT to indict, and I hope that a message is sent back to the capitol police to get their rules straight.

[stevekatz]

32. you can

Indict a ham sandwich, this will probably go to trial

[LiberalFighter]

36. Hostettler?

[boobooday]

38. Yeah, and he's quite the piece of work

He gets away with being a law-breaking, misogynistic idiot, but hey, he's a Republican.

[LiberalFighter]

49. We got our own with Mr Drug boy Souder

[BeyondGeography]

18. This too shall pass

In the meantime, Cynthia's temper is a losing issue and the Dems and the CBC are right to keep their distance from her.

[KittyWampus]

45. Cynthia threw out a red herring indicating she has little defence

for her actual actions-reactions.

She brought up that the pin needed to go through the checkpoint at will could be duplicated and that sort of security system is weak.

Well, that may be true about the system as it is now, but it is irrelevant and a red herring. Changing the topic as she did is a strategy we employ when we have no real defence.

If she wanted the system changed... then say something. Don't just disregard it and break the rules.

Itmight be an insufficient security system. But it was what was in place.

[Ms. Clio]

55. No pin is is needed or required, according to Sheila Jackson-Lee

[azurnoir]

26. Are these the same

Capital police that threw Cindy Sheehan out at the STU and if I remember correctly they also did the same with a repuke critters wife who offered them some resistance also they apologized to her.
I suspect there are a couple of Capital police who just came on a financial "windfall"

[Roy]

28. Must a holiday at FR......

nt

[Gregorian]

33. They are going to do everything to get her out of Congress.

Their lucky day. Just like 9/11. Although, we all know what a great threat McKinney is to the country. I say drop ship her to Gitmo and toss the key. (NOT!)

Hey, I know an oxycontin guzzling hate broadcaster, if you really want to do America a favor. Like upholding justice.

[brentspeak]

47. It's more than just that

The Republicans want to make this headline news for as long as possible. They want to embarrass the Democratic Party and maybe even start some divisions in the party.

Forget the nation's business; let's vote on another resolution condemning Cynthia McKinney!

:mad:

[KAZ]

57. Seems we're falling for it.

Spot on!

[DELUSIONAL]

34. If anyone here doesn't believe that this was a set-up . . . .

Delay has made known his opinion. . .

The cop must be investigated --

The cop was a white male -- as was the creep who arrested Cindy Sheehan.

This whole thing smells like a set-up and it smelled bad from the very beginning.

The GOP wanted to create something and McKinney got tagged -- based on they way Delay took the topic and started calling McKinney names.

[onenote]

42. I don't

I've seen the CHP in operation close up for more than 15 years and nothing in my experience suggests that this is anything more than a harried Congresswoman rushing around security, a cop trying to watch several people at once and, having not recognized McKinney, making the snap judgment that he needed to stop her to confirm her identity. Unfortunately, both sides have made it into a much bigger deal than it needed to be.

onenote

[Psephos]

54. Yes, you've nailed it exactly

False pride on both sides.

McKinney: "Do you know WHO I AM?"

Cop: "Do you know WHO I AM?"

From where I sit, neither one of them is any more or less than you or me. Jeezus, I hate the effects of proud ego. McKinney shoulda said, oops, I forgot my pin, my bad; cop shoulda said sorry, wish I'd recognized you, and I will next time.

Then it would have been over.

Peace.

[Mistwell]

58. Agreed 100%

Calling this a setup is silly. Everyone involved acted pretty darn human. I agree with everything you said.

[stanwyck]

70. And for this, we're wasting time and money

and resources during a time of war. Remember? We're at war. Or, at least our troops are. The rest of America is watching American Idol or listening to Cynthia McKinney be described as a "crack whore".
Our priorities are way out of whack.
We need to get our troops home, find solutions for our ailing environment, decreased wages and benefits, out of control deficit, and struggling educational and healthcare policies.
Instead, our great minds are filling their time with this "he said, she said" incident.

[onenote]

40. Both sides are overreacting

They need to quietly work this out to make it go away. BOth sides are overplaying it. The CHP by pursuing a misdemeanor charge that, even if it produced a conviction, would result in a penalty of no more than probation with the record expunged after a set period of good behavior (imho). McKinney has overplayed it by playing the race card and not simply acknowledging that she regrets not responding to the cop (and if she wants to say she didn't hear him, that's fine) and that she understands that they were only trying to do their jobs. Now she's got the language from Article I, section 6 of the constitution posted on her website (Congressional immunity) which is ridiculous since, on its face, it doesn't apply to "breaches of the peace" (and if she's claiming that she had a constitutional right to ignore the cop because members of congress can't be required to identify themselves or submit to security checks, she's gonna look ridiculous.

onenote

[Maat]

44. I agree.

I feel like grabbing the Congresswoman and the officer in question, standing between them, and making them both say, "Sorry." This needs to go away. They need to get their rules straight about EVERYONE wearing the pin or not. And, if one forgets one's pin, after that, then one needs to be prepared to run in there with their ID out (I became a master at it when I worked in aerospace and at the county).

[Chemical Bill]

51. The first thing she did was express regret for the incident.

I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I have a hard time when you say she need to do something she already did. It makes me think you get your news from drudge or the corporate media.

Bill

[Karenina]

60. And exactly HOW did this blow up

from an administrative problem into a new tune for the Mighty Wurlitzer? Rep. McKinney had absolutely -0- to do with THAT. Yet so many will fault her, the moment she realized it was getting cranked, for her attempts to get out in front of it in the media. However the *media is neither her or your friend. SHE'S playing the "race card." Kids, that was PLAYED the moment the cop, rather than identifying himself to her by getting IN FRONT OF HER in order to ensure they BOTH knew who was addressing whom, GRABBED her from behind (no gentleman would EVER do that to any woman he considered a lady, KNOWING how such an approach might distress her).

It was PLAYED when the "incident" immediately hit the press before an internal review could even be conducted.

It was PLAYED when Keith Olberman, Jon Stewart, Avarios (sp?) Wonkette and TOM DELAY among others ALL FOUND COMMON GROUND.

Go ahead. Kick her to the curb, kids. Nobody wants to hear the shit she be kicking up from no "uppity Negress." HEY! She screwed the taxpayers for $1000!!!! GET RID OF HER!!!

Stilling her voice will be your *rich reward.

[daleo]

41. Cheney shoots people, no questions asked

Now this? It is incredible.

[Sgent]

43. I don't know what the law is in DC

but in my state, simple assault of an on duty police officer is a felony with a $1000 fine and up to 5yrs in the state pen.

McKinney wanted to make this into a federal case when she went to the media instead of aplogizing. Grabbing someone who waltz's around the metal detector's is proper security work. Maybe the guy should have been demoted for not recongizing her -- but when she hit him and then made it a public issue, she almost gaurenteed this outcome.

[Chemical Bill]

50. McKinney didn't make it a public issue...

drudge and "unnamed repugs" did. McKinney isn't trying to keep it in the news either. DeLay is. McKinney did issue a statement expressing regret. Should she have said it was all her fault so the GJ would have a confession?

Bill

[brentspeak]

46. A Grand Jury??

McKinney's behavior was ridiculous, and her pulling the race card, embarrasing. But even I think a Grand Jury is completely uncalled for. Somebody in the GOP must have compromising pictures of someone high up in the Capitol police. It's obvious the GOP doesn't want this McKinney incident to go away.

[Mistwell]

56. I agree

I wish she had not pulled the race card, or struck the officer. But, this has gotten silly. No harm, no foul, move on.

[LiberalFighter]

48. I have not seen any article naming the officer

Capitol Police Website

They do have email contact for those wishing to be recruited.

They must want new officers that will go above and beyond the call of duty to be incompetent officers.

[HuffleClaw]

59. it is appalling that this isn't being seen for what it so clearly is

a blatant example of racial profiling and assault on a democratic elected official. you can be sure had this happened to condi, the cop would already be on administrative leave pending investigation. but what really galls me is how the democrats have collectively scuttled away from the issue, just as they fled the bush censure thing. just what the hell is it gonna take for them to show any sort of unity?

[djg21]

65. I'm a Dem . . .

and I think McKinney is full of crap. Her attempts at explaining away and justifying her conduct are shameful and incredible. It has nothing to do with her race. I gave her the benefit of a doubt initially, because she is a Dem. Then she started her ineffective spin.

[nolabels]

71. Anything to get the focus off the REAL criminals in known as Republicans

This is getting so ridiculous. Cop manhandles a black woman later find out she is a congress person and later to make it okay the want charge this member of congress with a crime to cover the police :crazy:

First they came for.........

[Thorandmjolnir]

72. I have been mostly quiet about this,

But I have to make one comment:

A Grand Jury about a "scuffle"? This is the big deal. Any evidence of injury to the cop? Any damages or was it just a showe?

I cannot believe this is what the overburdened justice system of America has to deal with, unless the massage is that cops are not to be touched under any circumstances, because they are above the rest of us, even if they act in a manner that some people find wrong.


Just my 2-cents.