I attended the MLK celebration at King’s. I am not
in the shoes of an African-American, but if I was I would have a number of
concerns.
I scanned the audience multiple times for public
officials. I especially scanned the front five rows. I recognized only Eddie
Day Pashinski. No one else. If I missed somebody, please message me.
It is obvious that Gerard Dessoye and Mayor Leighton
don’t care about “trivial” matters such as racial equality. Perhaps they
figured that since the fruit punch bowl wasn’t spiked they had better places to
be. But you would think that they could at least appear as though they cared.
Are there any African-American attorneys in Luzerne
County?
There is one African-American WB school board
member.
How about city officials? County Officials?
Magistrates? Judges?
There is one WB cop. Any others? What about firemen?
I give credit for those African-Americans who showed
and were enthusiastic. But really… isn’t there miles of ground to be made up?
Are you actually happy with the status quo?
The choice of King’s
College was interesting. I wonder how many African- Americans and Hispanics
know what King’s College has viewed as “the
wrong crowd” in the recent past. Do they also know that Joe Noone, James Noone, JJ Murphy, Drew
McLaughlin, Gerard Dessoye, and Thomas
Leighton are all alumni of King’s? Based on perhaps the biggest civil
rights lawsuit in NEPA history… here are some allegations from a current lawsuit based on occurrences from four
years ago regarding “The Mines” nightclub (only open 3 days per week).
Let me begin by saying that this night club had a perfect safety record. No violations
whatsoever. Defendants in the case are four King’s employees (some of whom may
have retired) and Chief Dessoye and Mayor Leighton and others. Here are some
allegations taken from legal documents.
-
The
Mines’ patrons were approximately 30 – 40 % African-American and Hispanic.
-
WB
police Chief Gerard Dessoye advised “The Mines’” owner Thom Greco that the
clientele of “The Mines” was not
a “good mix” with King’s College
and it was the “wrong crowd.”
-
Father
O’Hara of King’s College advised Greco that the clientele was not a “good mix”
with King’s. He said he would try and have them shut down.
-
King’s
College claimed that parents were going to pull their kids from school because
of “The Mines?” (my note: Really? No problems with Senuna’s, Gonda’s, Beer Boy’s, Liam’s, and the Hardware Bar? Parents targeted just the Mines. Hard to
believe.)
Slash and Burn
-
Robert
McGonicle (VP of student affairs) and John McAndrew (Dean of Students) sent an
e-mail inviting students to a forum on how to file LCB complaints against “The
Mines.”
-
Paul
Lindenmuth (Chair of Criminal Justice and Sociology) falsely told students that
there had been drug busts at “The Mines” and that the nightclub had lost its
licenses.
-
The
city began harassment by falsifying police reports to make it appear as though
crimes were being committed.
Engaged were 30 law enforcement agencies, 3 LCB
agents, a WB Swat Team, 8 police vehicles, a motorcycle, and two K-9 dogs. A “shock
and awe” campaign against “The Mines” was launched and it was shut down.
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