Peekskill N.Y - On November 3rd 2011, Fox News ran a national story about a New York town that has banned clapping at its city council meetings. The community activist that was featured in the Fox story, Darrell Davis, says the staff of some big name Democrats are involved in attacking poor people and people of color in the Westchester County small city of Peekskill NY. And the no clapping rule was just the latest of several actions they have orchestrated to gentrify Peekskill and then attack residents who fight against it.
According to Davis, who himself has been arrested for talking at council meetings, escorted out by police, and illegally banned from all Housing Authority property, Democrats are maliciously attacking a Housing Rights movement in Peekskill N.Y. Specifically, residents and supporters of the Peekskill Housing Authority, where the Chairman of the Housing Authority Board, Ron Abad, is overseeing a massive eviction process of mostly minority tenants. Ironically, Abad is the Assistant Commissioner of Homeless services under New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg!
Abad was appointed by Peekskill Mayor Mary Foster, a Democrat. Darren Rigger, who works for Congressman Charlie Rangel, was elected to the Peekskill city council this past November the 8th. He is the past Chairman of the Democratic Party. He was part of, Davis contends, the most racist political campaign in Peekskill’s history this year.
Mike Morey, also a past Democratic Party Chairman, worked on the Peekskill Democrat’s campaign this year and was tallying votes for them election night. He works as a regional coordinator for Senator Charles Schumer.
During the election campaign, the Democrats attacked Davis relentlessly and accused the Republicans of seeking his help to get elected. Davis wrote a scathing article for an online newspaper in response, accusing the Democrats of lying and making him out to be a local Willie Horton by trying to scare away white voters.
For the past two years residents of Public Housing and their allies and supporters have marched, picketed and spoke out at Peekskill City Council meetings against the mass evictions only to have the mayor- who appoints five of the seven housing board members- claim she can’t help them. Instead she has attacked their free speech and right to assemble. Both the Committee on Open Government and the ACLU have been critical of them in writing.
In response to poor people and people of color fighting the gentrification, the Democrats first removed the “citizens to be heard” segment from the beginning of the meeting. They would then make the public wait- sometimes for hours- as they conduct their business and then get up and walk out when it was the residents turn to speak.
Next the mayor bought in police, many dressed in swat gear, into the council chambers, threatening residents with arrest if they went over the allotted five minutes each citizen had to speak. As residents would ask the mayor and council questions, the mayor would just stare back and let the clock run out and then tell residents to “sit down, your time is up.”
Finally, as the movement grew and more citizens and civil rights groups came to the defense of the residents, the mayor and council voted to ban clapping under threat of arrest.
The Peekskill Democrats have allowed the laws to be broken and abused in this blind drive to gentrify. They are sabotaging Public Housing in Peekskill. Ironically, it was Congressman Rangel who introduced a bill to protect Public Housing Authority residents, and one of his own employees is a big part of attacking them in Westchester County.
“For Democrats to set themselves up as champions of the poor and people of color nationally and behave this way locally is hypocrisy and they need to be called on it,” Davis said.
Fox News “No Clapping”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/03/taking-liberties-clap-off/
Willie Horton Article
http://www.thedailypeekskill.com/opinion/peekskill-democrats-use-willie-horton-tactics
Dems support sexual harassment defendant over Black people
http://www.darrelldavis.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/07/peekskill-mayor-exposed-as-antipoor-antiblack-politician.html
For more information contact Darrell Davis at 914-471-1094 Davis hosts two radio shows on five stations in parts of New York City, Westchester, NJ, CT. and the Hudson Valley (WLNA, WBNR, WQHQ, WVOX, WVIP).
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