In keeping with the mission of "Truth To The Masses," and in light of many of the mistruths and misinformation floating around on social media; portions of James MacArthur's upcoming book, Innocence Isn't Free, will be released in this space. Article below is a sampling of the widespread, popular support for MacArthur. Many in media choose to conveniently ignore this, as the campaign to minimize and malign one man continues. - Ed. By Cindy Walsh, Director, Citizens' Oversight Maryland---Maryland Progressives
Often first on scene, MacArthur has a long legacy of
breaking stories before mainstream mass media.
I would like to add a few issues that are central to this case and never get addressed in the press. First, James is a well-respected journalist in Baltimore and provides a service that is found in no other media in Baltimore.....holds the police and City Hall responsible for what most people understand is criminal and corrupt behavior.
That is after all the mission of FREE PRESS.
What we do not hear in this case is that the police came to this man's door with no warrant or intent. They knocked on the door and James chose not to answer because.....and this is my assumption....he feared for his life. Remember, we have had in Baltimore 17 people killed by police that were later found to have no weapon or no criminal act.
by A.F. James MacArthur, Managing Editor, (REVISED -- be part of the process, email suggestions or corrections, or use the comments link below article)
A.F. James MacArthur with Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld III. After an interview near police headquarters.
UPDATED: After running this piece, The Baltimore Sun reacts by banning The Baltimore Spectator from their talk forum. ------------------------------------------
So a certain editor of a certain news site introduced the idea of a Violence Reduction/Prevention Symposium. An open letter was sent to Mayor Dixon to which we got a response. In attempting to get further discussion going, the author posted the letter on the "local news" discussion forum of the Baltimore Sun's online website.
A healthy discussion with good constructive ideas began to flow. Several retired and active members of law enforcement chimed in with their thoughts on how to combat Baltimore's out of control crime. A few chronic complainers also checked in. Rather then put the complainers in their place and allow a good free flow of thoughts and ideas to continue, The Baltimore Sun staff pulled the plug on the discussion and deleted the entire thread and attached conversations.
Readers, I submit to you, with all of the excellent crime reporting we see at times in the pages of the Baltimore Sun, why then, if there were true concerns for the community, why would a constructive discussion be killed?
Unfortunately we live in a one newspaper town. The Baltimore Sun is the most dominant and largest media presence in Baltimore. As an admitted news junkie, I, and so many others, are forced to rely upon them to stay informed. In a busy city such as Baltimore, no one site, no one reporter, no one venue can possibly cover all that is going on. At least not with any depth and comprehensiveness.
My love hate relationship with our quirky little daily paper shall continue. My questions to the sincerity and motives of their reporting shall also continue. I love newspapers, but is it any wonder their days are numbered and they're dying off faster than fruit flies?
Space does not allow me to go into details. Search online and check out how many news papers have gone bankrupt, slashed staff, ceased from existing, and others barely hanging on. Find out how many have switched to all online formats, thereby no longer being a newsPAPER.
New Media will boldly march on into the future, but we can't do it alone. In a mission of "Truth To The Masses," we need all hands on deck. That includes you Baltimore Sun. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Peter Hermann and Justin Fenton are two of the primary crime reporters of The Baltimore Sun. Their work has often been cited in pieces seen at The Baltimore Spectator.
(EARLY DRAFT -- be part of the process, email suggestions or corrections, or use the comments link below article)
The only reason I am not sitting in jail right now is because of a well meaning Maryland State agent who will remain unnamed. He said the warrant for my arrest was on the verge of being issued, but he feared for my safety in Baltimore's Central Booking facility and did what he could to not have the warrant issued. For this reason, and this reason alone the inevitable was delayed. They may still get me, but it hasn't happened yet.
Last time I was taken to central booking, a man I arrested (remember what I used to do?) was brought into the same area as me (thanks a lot!). Immediately he looked at me and his words were "what are you doing in here?" This situation was extremely dangerous and could have led to me being attacked and even killed. People get killed in Baltimore's Central Booking all the time. All it would take would be for him to share with other inmates that the man sitting over there is a cop (true or not), and those low lifes would have plotted and eventually attacked me.
Baltimore has a long history of violating civil rights. The hundreds of thousands of arrests that happens here (no exaggeration), with so many being tossed out for no evidence is as un-American and anti-Constitutional as you can get. Folks, I've been trying to tell you but no one's really listening. They've done it to me before, and they'll certainly do it again. In Maryland, especially Baltimore, it doesn't take anything to be thrown in jail, without any probable cause or evidence. Sadly, this is a story that is still mostly unknown.
Coming from me, it's easy to dismiss. This is serious! Just because I'm a bit of a wild radical doesn't mean I'm a kook. My hope is that in putting these stories on the internet, no matter what happens to me, somewhere out there, the story will exist. As I've said before, you can kill a man, but his words never die. There's a lot going on, and I will do my best to get as much of it out as possible, so help me God!
From Thousands To Less Than A Hundred -- What Happened To The Baltimore Spectator? by A.F. James MacArthur, Managing Editor, with T.R. Mencken, Editor In Chief
(EARLY DRAFT -- be part of the process, email suggestions or corrections, or use the comments link below article)
From it's inception, the Baltimore Spectator has long been a harsh critic of Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley. Although the primary focus of the site is Baltimore City, the former Baltimore mayor along with many of his associates including Congressman Frank Kratovil have been frequent targets of opportunity. After weeks of ongoing direct frontal assaults, Governor Martin O'Malley and his team appear to be taking covert actions to fight back.
We know for a fact that Governor O'Malley has read critical stories written about him on The Baltimore Spectator. Once on a Saturday night at 10:35 PM, from his Blackberry, our sources tell us O'Malley logged onto the Spectator to read a story that had been published about him less than minutes prior. The Spectator wants to know, does the governor of the State of Maryland really has the time to pay attention to words written on some, small time, underfunded, virtually unknown little blog?
In the interest of time, let us do our best to briefly summarize. It is well known detail to us that many of our thousands of readers were Maryland State employees, accessing the website from state computers. This is all well and fine. Government workers everywhere go to various news sites all the time. For some strange reason, we keep getting various reports of them being unable to access the site. The situation seems to be a fluid one. Never lasting very long, by the time it's investigated, the problem seems to be fix. That is, until now.
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK!
After releasing a dry humor, sarcastically done satire video entitled "The Governor Hates Me," things began to take a turn for the worse. In the video, with O'Malley jokingly portrayed as movie villain Darth Vader, complete with heavy breathing sounds, A.F. James MacArthur tells a true story of the ongoing cold war like tension between him and Governor O'Malley.
The Baltimore Spectator used to get thousands of visits, suddenly, as of this writing, the traffic has slowed to less than a hundred as of yesterday. A quick look at the traffic log shows a conspicuous absence of the the many government computer viewers who used to come to the site every single work day. and we thought this was America!
CONSPIRACIES AND THE BALTIMORE POLICE DEPARTMENT
Most interesting of yesterdays web traffic was among the only users on the site, were several from Baltimore Police Headquarters. Of course, this was after the release of a controversial three minute video. In the video, producer A.F. James MacArthur compares the Baltimore Police policy of hiding the names of police officers involved in shootings to Ku Klux Klansmen hiding their faces and identities while committing atrocities.
So let's review. Thousands of visitors, many of whom were government employees. Suddenly they all disappear, but Governor O'Malley, his staff, and Baltimore Police headquarters are still visiting the site. Draw your own conclusions!
ONE FINAL PIECE
On the brand new radio show "SPEAK UP! With James MacArthur -- Live From The Bunker," the host tried to pull up a story earlier linked on the site, only to embarrassingly discover, on live radio, the link was dead. The story detailed how Governor Martin O'Malley had brazenly stood up and dissed a group of Maryland Black Mayors who invited him to a meeting. At the last minute, without explanation, O'Malley was a no show. The link was viewable and the story was there. Suddenly now, the story is no where to be found on the original website. Long before the story could make it, it's just simply disappeared.
The tactics being employed are no different than the kind of free speech suppression and intimidation used in Communist China. Indeed Chinese Democracy may already be here. In the land of the free, and the home of the brave. Better yet, in Baltimore City, one of the most significant cities in American history, the birthplace of the Star Spangled Banner. The location of the Final Great Battle repelling the British and permanently establishing the United States Of America where people could be free, should these unconstitutional tactics be tolerated? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER WORD: We know this attempt at getting the true story out will be subeject to further attack and suppression. We know the chances of some brave reporter (see "Reporters Need To Grow A Set) in the mainstream media picking this up is extremely remote. We know by publishing this, we ourselves are subject to potential bodily harm and injury. And we also know the easiest thing to do is write us off, write this story off, and dismiss us as crazy, wildly imaginative, internet conspiracy kooks! To this end we simply respond -- "TRUTH TO THE MASSES!"
The Maryland Black Mayors, Inc. is a private, non political, non partisan, non profit corporation; representing over 700,000 citizens and residents and managing over $2.2 billion annually. MBM, Inc. was created to promote and develop program models designed to improve educational, economic, health and social levels within the respective jurisdictions of its members; promote efficient and responsive government within all of the jurisdictions served by the membership, through studies of special or peculiar problems of common concern; and through the creation, implementation, development and maintenance of social, educational, economic and other programs and projects designed ultimately to enhance the quality of life for residents of the affected municipalities. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Baltimore Sun Follows Us, Do You?
Get updates and random musings from the mind of MacArthur. Baltimore crime, grime and politics with a sprinkling of nonsense thrown in for good measure on twitter.com/baltospectator --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arresting Officer A No Show, While District court judge questions legitimacy of The Baltimore Spectator
By A.F. James MacArthur, Managing Editor
When the case was called, like anyone else, I was a bit nervous. Going to court can be a stressful event as it is. But when the judge opened her mouth, and the first words from the bench to me were; "Are you friends with Ed Norris?" Shrugging my shoulders and looking at the ground, I had no idea how to answer this. Where was the Judge going with this?
Looking up, Judge Halee Weinstein cracked a smile and said; "you don't have to answer that." Sigh, what a relief. Being a fan of the controversial former Police Commissioner, turned talk show host, in this town, where so much is built upon guilt by association, you gotta really be careful or you could easily wind up being put away.
Being in court for a case so foolish it should have never even gotten to court. I was already pissed off and on edge.
A company car assigned to me was wrongfully impounded by Baltimore Police. With company check in hand, I went to Pulaski Highway.
If you've ever been to the impound, you know that this single location represents everything wrong with Baltimore City government. Inefficient staff. Poor customer service. Dilapidated facilities. Plus jacked up fees for service makes one feel he's just been violated after leaving. Many cases of impounded cars are clouded with fraud and criminal wrong doing. City employees, including cops, and unscrupulous private tow operators participate in a theft and payola scam.
With a background in criminal investigations and intelligence, I decided, since I must go to this awful place, why not do a quick piece on the customer service experience. My story has already been told, (see video), but I will quickly summarize.
While recording my story for later airing (see video), impound lot staff responded with hostility. I was quickly arrested and charged with trespassing. Officer Michael Maurice of the Baltimore Police Department, an officer with a long history of questionable arrests and disciplinary actions against him, even added to his report that I had no legitimate business there. Never mind the impounded car I came to retrieve, or the fact that I was a reporter, protected by the First Amendment, doing a story.
This piece of work never bothered to show up. In open court the prosecutor told the judge he left numerous messages for Maurice, but never heard back. CASE DISMISSED! Another innocent black man, arrested without cause in Baltimore City.
Spending time in that despicable place called Central Booking; the inhumane, callous, dehumanizing treatment received there, is enough to turn anyone into a domestic terrorist. To destroy a municipality that is crushingly oppressive, lacking concern for civil rights and true American justice is an option. Or, start a citizen/activist journalist revolution, cast a bright spotlight on the darkness of local government, and make sure they know their being watched!
Take a guess which one I picked.
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After note; Judge Weinstein asked the State's Attorney if he verified whether or not I was an actual reporter. Never mind just one week ago, I was interviewing Mayor Sheila Dixon, why didn't she ask her? What about my interviewing Police Commissioner Bealefeld? Hey judge, in China, you need government approval and special permission to be a journalist. Look at the flag lately? This ain't China!
Multimedia journalist, A.F. James MacArthur produces and appears on a daily talk radio show, writes for several news websites under various pen names, and appears in regular video special reports and commentary.
MESSAGE TO ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT/INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES
To all those who willfully, deliberately and routinely violate the civil rights of law abiding American Citizens; Yes, you're powerful. Sure, you're everywhere. But this is still America, and the Constitution of the United States Of America still reigns supreme as the law of the land. The Baltimore Spectator will vigorously and aggressively defend against any and all attempts at spying and suppression. Let it be known to all that we are already aware of the regular monitoring and shadowing attempts. There is nothing to hide, but cross the line and there will be hell to pay.
In the end, efforts to impinge upon the freedoms of the people will ultimately fail. Some of us may get taken out in the ongoing battle for true and lasting freedom, but as I've said many times before, and will say till the day I die or get taken out by you goons, THERE ARE MORE OF US, THAN THERE ARE OF YOU.
A.F. James MacArthur -- American patriot & lover of liberty.
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