Another Criminal
Rothschild, Matthew
Editor's Note Matthew Rothschild Another Criminal Shortly after our last issue came out, I got an e-mail from Thomas C. Frazier, who works as an investigator for an anti-pollution agency in Orange...
...His purpose, he says, was "to engage in a legal and peaceful protest" against George W. Bush...
...He had read the cover story "Protester = Criminal...
...I then asked Officer Montecino, 'Can I have my sign back, and I'll just leave then?' Officer Montecino responded by stating, 'I don't have time for this,' while simultaneously striking my right forearm with a smashing blow with one side of a set of handcuffs...
...He weighs the risks of computerized voting along with the benefits, and he conveys ideas on how to safeguard this basic right of democracy for every citizen...
...The President was in town that day at the Radisson Hotel and Convention Center to support the candidacy of now-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger...
...I have to refer you to internal affairs...
...If convicted, Frazier could get a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail...
...Officer Montecino responded, 'Give me the sign,' and snatched the sign away from me while still encasing my arms," Frazier wrote...
...For no apparent reason, Officer Montecino raced towards me screaming, 'No, no, no, no.' Shortly thereafter, "without any provocation, Officer Montecino then grabbed my sign by enveloping my arms and sign together in one rapid swoop," Frazier wrote...
...Freelance writer Damien Jackson adds his article on how African Americans, who were the most disenfranchised in 2000, are demanding that their votes be counted this time...
...Civil rights groups are also vowing to increase black voter turnout, Jackson reports, which is one more bad sign for George Bush, along with the war and the economy...
...Editor's Note Matthew Rothschild Another Criminal Shortly after our last issue came out, I got an e-mail from Thomas C. Frazier, who works as an investigator for an anti-pollution agency in Orange County California...
...On October 16, he decided to take the day off to go to San Bernardino from his home in Santa Ana...
...We assigned the story to Marc Eisen, the editor of Isthmus, Madison's weekly newspaper...
...Frazier was arrested for obstructing a police officer...
...Sergeant Ernie Lemos of internal affairs says its investigation has been completed and is "being reviewed by the staff...
...I called Montecino to get his side of the story...
...Meanwhile, Frazier still faces the charge of obstructing an officer, which the district attorney refuses to drop...
...I just finished your article and thought that you might be interested in somewhat of a similar case I'm involved with," he wrote...
...But he didn't get far with it...
...Almost every time I speak in public, someone asks about the possibility that George Bush will steal the next election by hacking the new electronic voting machines...
...Can't I just get across the street to show my protest...
...So this month, we examine the controversy surrounding electronic voting...
...Frazier had a sign that on one side said, "Shock & Awe" = "Maim & Murder" and on the other, "Indict Bush-Crimes Against Humanity...
...I was confronted by a charging police officer (later identified as Officer John Montecino)," Frazier wrote in a complaint he filed with the San Bernardino Police Department...
...Here is what happened to Frazier...
...I can't discuss it," he told me...
...I'm not conspiratorial by nature, but after Florida, you never know...
...Eisen, one of the most judicious reporters we know, delved into an aspect of the story that has received relatively little attention: the need disabled people have for electronic voting machines...
...Frazier asked, according to his complaint...
Vol. 68 • March 2004 • No. 3
