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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Static on Static
To the editor: I am an admirer of Static. I usually read that section first. A citizens’ group, “Concerned Citizens for Presidential and Vice-Presidential Impeachment,” presented a resolution to that effect to the Fort Worth City Council. Some persons spoke just as individuals. Static’s article in the Aug. 15 issue contains several grave misrepresentations that require correction.
Static gives the impression that there was not really an intention for the council to pass the resolution. Derogatory remarks made of the mayor and city council members are untrue. Council members listened; the mayor was attentive and respectful. The citizens’ group did not ask the council to endorse the resolution — they asked that the council consider the resolution and make a decision at a later date. Council members did not dismiss the resolution “without so much as a batted eye.”
Our group couldn’t be more serious. We are continuing our efforts and have every expectation that the Fort Worth City Council, after deliberation, will indeed be the first such body in Texas to endorse the resolution. We have confidence and trust that council members will indeed weigh this heavily. Journalists were well aware that this action is sponsored as a citizens’ initiative, not by the Tarrant County Green Party or Code Pink Fort Worth, who were endorsers, not co-sponsors. One of the speakers, Michael McNeil, a Gulf War veteran, was grossly misrepresented. He has not done several tours to Iraq. His hands were not shaking. The important aspects of his statement were ignored by Static.
Static identified one group, IWW (Industrial Workers of the World), as being present at the meeting. There was no disruption at all from anyone in the audience. There was no opportunity for council members to support or not support the IWW members or anyone else. The IWW group has not endorsed or co-sponsored this citizens’ initiative. Since they didn’t identify themselves to the council, how would the council know who they were? While they may choose to do so in the future, they had not done so then. The statement that an IWW member was standing on the front row and refused to sit down until grabbed by a police officer is not true.
Sensationalism is not usually Static’s forte. Please — the facts, ma’am, just the facts. Get back to the dependable Static news.
Diane Wood
Fort Worth
Editor’s note: See this week’s Static for clarification.
Taser Prosecutions?
To the editor: The Weekly’s “Tase-Mania” story (July 25, 2007) by Gayle Reaves gives a lot of insight into the brutal uses to which some officers put the power of their Tasers. The romance of this “fashion accessory” is the fact that it allows unbridled oppression to be carried out against suspects.
There’s empirical evidence about the dangers of Tasers, particularly when police don’t know whether the persons being tasered are on drugs. If you have a heart condition, epilepsy, or mental condition, getting tasered could have devastating consequences. It demands the question: Why shock people if there are alternatives that wouldn’t cause death or permanent damage?
Officers who use these weapons in unwarranted cases should be identified as criminals and prosecuted for commission of civil rights violations.
Edna Maskell
Fort Worth
No Sympathy Here
To the editor: Brad Will (“Who Killed Brad Will?” Aug. 8, 2007) traveled at great personal expense to a city full of riots and became pals with masked cop- killers taking slingshots to gunfights. When you throw Molotov cocktails at the police, the police will eventually fire back. He wasn’t murdered. He followed people he knew would be shot at and eventually got hit by stray bullets.
In the second place, Brad Will was part of the “social justice movement,” a.k.a leftist rioting and domestic terrorism. His press credentials were from Indymedia, born of the Seattle WTO protests, which were marred by pre-planned and orchestrated violence. Brad Will fled New York City after 9/11, when he evidently suspected that the authorities wouldn’t put up with his “incendiary” broadcasts anymore. The Mexican radio message “They pretend to be journalists, but they have come to teach terrorism classes” doesn’t sound far off the mark.
Mr. Ross, the author of the article, denounces the Mexican bosses who direct mayhem from afar, but the “social justice movement” advocates mayhem worldwide. Brad Will’s death is no more a tragedy than that of an arsonist who dies in his fire.
Clint Shaw
Fort Worth
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