Fwd: DAVID MCR On the police, a memory from years past

"'Hunter Gray' [email protected] [marxist]" <[email protected]> Tue, 23 Dec 2014 10:55:13 +0000
Newsgroups gmane.politics.marxism.analysis
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-----Original Message-----
From: David McReynolds [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2014 12:12 AM
To: 'A. J. Muste Memorial Institute', 'Brian Drolet', 'Bruce Cronin', 'Caro=
l Kalafatic',=20
[email protected], 'Jill Sternberg', 'Jim Cole', 'Martha Thomases', 'Matt =
Meyer',=20
'Nina Streich', 'Peter Muste', 'Robert Taylor', [email protected], 'Susan =
Cakars'
Subject: On the police, a memory from years past

The Muste Institute is working on a statement on the events surrounding the=
 murder of the two police in Brooklyn - when it is ready, I'll send it to t=
he Edge Left list.


Meanwhile, in terms not having the view that all cops are the same, I think=
 back to 1968 when I was running for Congress here in Lower Manhattan on th=
e Peace and Freedom Party ticket - headed by Eldridge Cleaver, the Presiden=
tial candidate. We had a campaign office over in the West Village, a store =
front place.


I got a phone call from one of our campaign workers that there had been a b=
omb threat. I rushed over and immediately phoned the police and then, havin=
g done that, I had visions of the police wrecking the office in a search fo=
r a possible bomb. I returned to the phone, trying to reach the Mayor's off=
ice (Lindsay was then the mayor and I was on good terms with his staff) to =
try to make sure there would be some protection against the cops destroying=
 the office.


Alas, before I could connect with the Mayor's office the police arrived. Th=
ey ordered everyone out of the office - I agreed, and told the small staff =
to leave. The police said they meant me, too, and I said no, I'd help them =
search for the bomb.


To cut the story short, there was no bomb but of the two cops, one clearly =
would have liked to have planted a bomb (do people remember who Eldridge Cl=
eaver was?) and the other cop was fascinated and took a campaign button for=
 his son.


The police then put a 24 hour police guard on the offices. I phoned and sai=
d I thought an occasional drive-by was more than enough - people could be i=
ntimidated by the parked police car. The police insisted on the 24 hour wat=
ch. I told the staff to be as friendly as possible - they reported that hal=
f the cops were friendly, and chatty, while the other half would have shot =
the place up, given half a chance.


(Yes, I lost the election, but I got nearly 5% of the vote, doing better
than the Conservative Party which - for the sake of history buffs - was run=
ning Bella Dodd. . . check the internet)



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-----Original Message-----<br><b>From:</b> David McReynolds [mailto:[email protected]]<br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, December 23, 2014 12:12 AM<br><b>To:</b> 'A. J. Muste Memorial Institute', 'Brian Drolet', 'Bruce Cronin', 'Carol Kalafatic', <br>[email protected], 'Jill Sternberg', 'Jim Cole', 'Martha Thomases', 'Matt Meyer', <br>'Nina Streich', 'Peter Muste', 'Robert Taylor', [email protected], 'Susan Cakars'<br><b>Subject:</b> On the police, a memory from years past<br><br><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div><div><div><b>The <span tabindex="-1" id=":17g.1">Muste</span> Institute is working on a statement on the events surrounding the murder of the two police in Brooklyn - when it is ready, I'll send it to the Edge Left list.<br><br></b></div><b>Meanwhile, in terms not having the vi
 ew that all cops are the same, I think back to 1968 when I was running for Congress here in Lower Manhattan on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket - headed by Eldridge Cleaver, the Presidential candidate. We had a campaign office over in the West Village, a store front place.<br><br></b></div><b>I got a phone call from one of our campaign workers that there had been a bomb threat. I rushed over and immediately phoned the police and then, having done that, I had visions of the police wrecking the office in a search for a possible bomb. I returned to the phone, trying to reach the Mayor's office (Lindsay was then the mayor and I was on good terms with his staff) to try to make sure there would be some protection against the cops destroying the office.<br><br></b></div><b>Alas, before I coul
 d connect with the Mayor's office the police arrived. They ordered everyone out of the office - I agreed, and told the small staff to leave. The police said they meant me, too, and I said no, I'd help them search for the bomb.<br><br></b></div><b>To cut the story short, there was no bomb but of the two cops, one clearly would have liked to have planted a bomb (do people remember who Eldridge Cleaver was?) and the other cop was fascinated and took a campaign button for his son.<br><br></b></div><b>The police then put a 24 hour police guard on the offices. I phoned and said I thought an occasional drive-by was more than enough - people could be intimidated by the parked police car. The police insisted on the 24 hour <span tabindex="-1" id=":17g.3">watch</span>. I told the staff to be as fr
 iendly as possible - they reported that half the cops were friendly, and chatty, while the other half would have shot the place up, given half a chance.<br><br></b></div><b>(Yes, I lost the election, but I got nearly 5% of the vote, doing better<br>than the Conservative Party which - for the sake of history buffs - was running Bella <span tabindex="-1" id=":17g.4">Dodd</span>. . . check the <span tabindex="-1" id=":17g.5">internet</span>)<br></b></div>




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