[Vision2020] Officials Counter Racist Acts

[Paul Rumelhart]

Since you equate silence with assent, let me just say that I disagree 
with your assessment of me; however, I thank you for expressing your 
opinion.

Evaluate my further silence on this matter in whatever way you choose.

Paul

Rosemary wrote:
> Tom is dead on to raise the alarm about this guy. Paul, your sense of white,
> male, middle class entitlement is showing.  I guess you don't understand
> that silence is assent - or you don't care.
>
> Rose Huskey
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
> On Behalf Of Tom Hansen
> Sent: Saturday, August 22, 2009 4:04 PM
> To: Paul Rumelhart
> Cc: Moscow Vision 2020
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Officials Counter Racist Acts
>
> Have you taken a look at the "history" of Paul Mullet?
>
> This worm is a real piece of work.
>
> Turning our backs on him, thinking he will simply disappear, is wrong on
> so many levels.
>
> Mullet had publicly commented in the past, as the leader of the MInnesota
> Aryan Nations, that the only thing wrong with Timothy McVeigh was that he
> did not go far enough.
>
> However, Paul (Rumelhart), if you feel comfortable simply ignoring it,
> that is your choice . . . not mine.
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
>   
>> I'm not sure this is the best way to handle this. By mobilizing and
>> making a big thing out of it, you are legitimizing them to some extent.
>> This does nothing but make them redouble their efforts. It makes them
>> out to be more than they are, and acts as a lightning rod for those who
>> agree with them.
>>
>> They are trying to intimidate people and they only succeed if you become
>> intimidated.
>>
>> I wonder if the best way to handle this isn't to simply throw the
>> pamphlets away that show up on your lawn, and to laugh a little and
>> decline the ones they hand out in person. If they become a big joke
>> instead of a dark presence then maybe fewer people will support them.
>> Let them speak their messages of hate in obscurity, and crack down on
>> them if they break the law.
>>
>> Paul
>>
>> Tom Hansen wrote:
>>     
>>> Courtesy of today's (August 22, 2009) Spokesman Review.
>>>
>>> -------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> Officials counter racist acts
>>> Flare-ups galvanize area leaders, who promise resistance
>>>
>>> Criminal citations and civil lawsuits are options. But a recent rise in
>>> racist activity is best handled by a unified community dedicated to
>>> rejecting discrimination and hate, leaders from across the Inland
>>> Northwest said Friday.
>>>
>>> "We have been vested with the authority and the power to take action,
>>> and
>>> I assure you I will use that power and authority to take a stronger
>>> stance
>>> of boldness," Spokane police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said. "People who
>>> are
>>> hateful are bold. But stand by to stand by, because we are more bold
>>> than
>>> they are."
>>>
>>> City leaders and law enforcement from around the region joined members
>>> of
>>> the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations to respond to racist
>>> fliers that have been appearing in residential yards since April.
>>>
>>> A man with extensive ties to hate groups, Paul R. Mullet, moved to Athol
>>> from Ohio about five months ago and has promised to resurrect the Aryan
>>> Nations. The group moved its headquarters from Hayden Lake after the
>>> death
>>> of its founder, Richard Butler, in 2004.
>>>
>>> Mullet and Kevin McGurre, who's listed in police documents as a
>>> Manhattan,
>>> Mont., resident, were ticketed for littering and Todd Weston, of Athol,
>>> for aiding a misdemeanor Aug. 8 after neighbors in Coeur d'Alene
>>> complained about the fliers to police.
>>>
>>> "We will not be known as places that allow hatred to dwell," Spokane
>>> Mayor
>>> Mary Verner said.
>>>
>>> Racist incidents crop up
>>> The Kootenai County task force is credited with dismantling Butler's
>>> Hayden Lake compound with a civil lawsuit that bankrupted the Aryan
>>> Nations in 2000. The land is now a peace park.
>>>
>>> But racist activity has persisted quietly in the region. In 2007, a man
>>> claiming Aryan Nations ties interrupted a talk by task force founders
>>> Tony
>>> Stewart and Norm Gissel at the Human Rights Institute. Three others
>>> stood
>>> outside the building handing out pro-Aryan literature. That summer, two
>>> men reportedly screamed racial slurs and neo-Nazi mantras at Hayden
>>> Lake,
>>> and Silverwood Theme Park near Athol ordered a group of men with
>>> swastika
>>> tattoos to cover the markings or leave. The men left.
>>>
>>> In April, Coeur d'Alene residents awoke to fliers advertising the Aryan
>>> Nations in their yards. Residents in Spirit Lake have gotten them, too.
>>> Earlier this month, Coeur d'Alene police ticketed Mullet, McGurre and
>>> Weston after a neighbor said they'd thrown the fliers to children
>>> playing
>>> in a yard. Less than two weeks later, Spokane Valley yards were littered
>>> with the fliers, police said.
>>>
>>> 'Speaking out'
>>> At Friday's press conference, Spokane Valley Mayor Richard Munson
>>> encouraged citizens to reject Mullet and his "type of vitriolic
>>> nonsense."
>>>
>>> Officials from Rathdrum, Spokane Valley, Dalton Gardens, Post Falls,
>>> Coeur
>>> d'Alene, Liberty Lake, Spokane, Sandpoint and the Coeur d'Alene Tribe
>>> attended the press conference, which was held off Interstate 90 near the
>>> state line.
>>>
>>> "We believe that where there's hate speech, good speech is essential and
>>> it wins out in the end," said Stewart, task force secretary. ". I
>>> think it comforts the people in the neighborhoods. They know we are
>>> speaking out."
>>>
>>> Two assaults have been reported in Spokane and Coeur d'Alene in the past
>>> month that police think may have been racially motivated, but detectives
>>> say they have no reason to suspect members of the Aryan Nations. Idaho's
>>> hate crime law makes it a felony to "intimidate or harass another person
>>> because of that person's race, color, religion, ancestry or national
>>> origin."
>>>
>>> Washington's malicious harassment law can be used to prosecute racial
>>> intimidation.
>>>
>>> Mullet said in a prepared statement his organization will not violate
>>> the
>>> law.
>>>
>>> "For far to long ALL other groups have been able to spread there
>>> messages
>>> unchallenged and nay encouraged to have free speech but one group the
>>> WHITE RACE!" the statement reads. "The media blitz this morning is
>>> nothing
>>> more than them stirring up a population of people to do nothing more
>>> than
>>> attack us for having the willingness to speak truth, granted to us under
>>> the constitution of the United States!"
>>>
>>> Mullet has promised to fight the littering citation filed this month.
>>>
>>> ----------------------
>>>
>>> Tony Stewart, of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations,
>>> speaks
>>> Friday at a press conference attended by police and human rights
>>> activists. "We believe that where there's hate speech, good speech is
>>> essential and it wins out in the end," he said.
>>>
>>> http://tinyurl.com/n4awq
>>>
>>> -------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> More on Paul R. Mullet, Minnesota leader of the Aryan Nations can be
>>> found
>>> at:
>>>
>>> http://www.rickross.com/reference/hate_groups/hategroups326.html
>>>
>>> Seeya at Farmers' Market, Moscow.
>>>
>>> Tom Hansen
>>> Moscow, Idaho
>>>
>>> "The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to
>>> change
>>> and the Realist adjusts his sails."
>>>
>>> - Unknown
>>>
>>>
>>> =======================================================
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>>>           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
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>>>
>>>
>>>       
>>
>>     
>
>
> "The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
> and the Realist adjusts his sails."
>
> - Unknown
>
>
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