Oops

Police concerned about order to stop weapons screening at Obama rally By JACK DOUGLAS Jr. Star-Telegram Staff Writer DALLAS -- Security details at Barack Obama's rally Wednesday stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena. The order to put down the metal detectors and stop checking purses and laptop bags came as a surprise to several Dallas police officers who said they believed it was a lapse in security. Dallas Deputy Police Chief T.W. Lawrence, head of the Police Department's homeland security and special operations divisions, said the order -- apparently made by the U.S. Secret Service -- was meant to speed up the long lines outside and fill the arena's vacant seats before Obama came on. "Sure," said Lawrence, when asked if he was concerned by the great number of people who had gotten into the building without being checked. But, he added, the turnout of more than 17,000 people seemed to be a "friendly crowd." The Secret Service did not return a call from the Star-Telegram seeking comment. Doors opened to the public at 10 a.m., and for the first hour security officers scanned each person who came in and checked their belongings in a process that kept movement of the long lines at a crawl. Then, about 11 a.m., an order came down to allow the people in without being checked. Several Dallas police officers said it worried them that the arena was packed with people who got in without even a cursory inspection. They spoke on condition of anonymity because, they said, the order was made by federal officials who were in charge of security at the event. "How can you not be concerned in this day and age," said one policeman. I remember years ago when I walked into a store to buy a newspaper and I saw on the front page the news about how three white men in Jasper, Texas tied James Byrd naked to the back of a pickup truck and dragged him to his death. There was another black man in the store who looked to be around my age and I heard him say in a voice choked with rage, "This is 1998! This ain't a hundred years ago! This shit ain't supposed to be happening!" He and I looked at each other and we understood, even though we were strangers, that we shared a painful history of loss and heartbreak. We remembered Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and those four little girls who died in a church in Birmingham, Alabama, and we realized that the brutal racism that killed those people so long ago wasn't gone and that it killed James Byrd. We were shocked, confused--and angry. The white guy behind the cash register appeared nervous. Thinking back on that terrible day, I thought, No, it's not a hundred years ago, but if a black man hitchhiking on a dark country road can be lynched, a black man running for President can still be assassinated. And it scares the hell out of me.

Assasination

East Bay: Journalist Chauncey Bailey Gunned Down In Oakland Journalist Chauncey Bailey was shot to death in downtown Oakland on August 2nd. Bailey was killed around 7:30AM on 14th Street near Alice Street, in what police described as "an assassination". Witnesses said a single gunman wearing dark clothing and a ski mask approached Bailey, shot twice and ran away. On August 4th, Devaughndre Broussard, 19, was booked at North County Jail in Oakland in connection with the shooting. Broussard was a handyman at Your Black Muslim Bakery and has reportedly "confessed to having shot and killed Bailey with a shotgun because he was upset with the journalist's coverage of the group." In 2002, the East Bay Express wrote a two-part series about the Yusuf Bey "family", which runs the bakery. The articles included past allegations of murder, torture, kidnapping, rape, and other crimes (see The Sinister Side of Yusuf Bey's Empire and How Official Oakland Kept the Bey Empire Going). In November 2005, Yusef Bey IV and several others were recorded smashing alcohol in several Oakland liquor stores (reports 1 | 2). Chauncey Bailey was an editor for the Oakland Post from June 2007 until his death. Bailey had previously worked as a reporter for The Oakland Tribune, and before that The Detroit News for ten years. Bailey had been known for his assertive style of questioning city officials. Oakland Police spokesman Ronald Holmgren said: "I know him as being a somewhat outspoken type individual, assertive in his journalistic approach when trying to get at matters at hand." New America Media Executive Director Sandy Close said of Bailey, "Chauncey was a co-founder of New America Media and one of the best investigative journalists working bar none. He was brave in the face of whatever challenges he had to confront, especially any institution, public or private, that was not living up to the communities expectations and standards. He loved focusing on the local and global, he was adept at connecting the Bay Area Black community to the international African diaspora. He once said, 'All of the ethnic media are like fingers on a hand. Only together will we be strong like a fist.' Chauncey Bailey was distinguished by his work in the Oakland Tribune, Oakland Post, San Francisco Sun Reporter, San Francisco Bayview, Soul Beat TV and Our TV among others. He will be sorely missed." This is a tragedy, not just for his friends and family, but for his profession and for the community he worked to serve. In an era where the news is either compromised or dumbed-down, Chauncey Bailey was a tough, hard-boiled journalist from the old school. Unlike other reporters who eagerly turn themselves into compliant stenographers, Bailey was a writer that wasn't afraid to ask the hard questions or go to the ugly places in the shadows where bad things were happening. This is a terrible loss. Although I hate using the word, Devaughndre Broussard--if he's guilty--is a stupid nigger who killed a proud black man that the African-American community couldn't afford to lose. Because of Broussard's violent act, Chauncey Bailey has been added to the long list of martyrs who were assassinated because they refused to stay silent. Damn it.