Ghailani, IMPD Survey, Piland’s Merit Board Decision & The American System

Ahmed Ghilani is noted to be an Al Qaeda terrorist.     He was imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay and accused of being complicit in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. This week a New York City jury found him not guilty of conspiracy to bomb the embassies and also not guilty of  224 counts of murder, which were the number of people that died in the bombings, but guilty of trying to destroy U.S. property. A number of legislators and pundits, to include Rush Limbaugh believe that the Obama administration should not have tried Ghilani in a civilian court of law. These naysayers think that U.S. attorney general Eric Holder made a big mistake. Hummm Limbaugh,

what are you and the others telling us with your position? I will get into what we are being told in just a few. Hold on and buckle up.

This week the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) released the results of their survey of the officers that work for the city of Indianapolis. The officers overwhelmingly stated that they felt like the command leadership of IMPD,     

which would be Mayor Greg Ballard, the Public Safety Director Frank Staub and Police Chief Paul Ciesielski  did not support the rank and file officers. You can read the full survey by clicking on the link below. http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/wthr/PDF/fopresults.pdf (Survey)

Cat Anderson of WTHR Channel 13 asked me to respond to the officers’ position. You can hear and see my response by clicking on the link below, however I want to respond a little further in-depth. http://www.wthr.com/video?clipId=5317734&topVideoCatNo=103348&autoStart=true (My response)

John Tuohy in the November 23, 2010 edition of the Indianapolis Star writes “the FOP claims . . . they (the Command Staff) have taken unduly harsh disciplinary actions against some officers accused of misconduct.” The opinion expressed in the officers’ survey appears to be tied to the beating that Brandon Johnson experienced and the death of Eric Wells who was run over by a drunk Officer Bisard. Chief Ciesielski wanted Officer Jerry Piland fired because of the part he played in the beating. The officers evidently want the command staff to condone this type of behavior by officers on the street. In my opinion, the Command staff did support the officers when Chief Ciesielski did not recommend that all of the officers that beat Brandon be fired.   Officers Carney, Clothier, and Piland all should not only have lost their job over the beating they administered to Brandon, they should also have had their day in court. Prosecutor Carl Brizzi still has the opportunity to press charges. Now I am sure you are asking how does all of this relates. Here comes your answer. Are you buckled in?

Rush Limbaugh, et.al, felt that Eric Holder made a huge mistake by trying Ahmed Ghalaini in a civilian court. To take this position ol’ Rush is saying he does not have faith in the justice system to get it right. These are the same courts that try U.S. citizens. Mayor Ballard has taken the same position with the Indianapolis Civilian Police Merit Board.  The board ruled 6 to 1 against Chief Ciesielski’s recommendation to fire Piland.  The president of the Merit Board, Paul Oberlies said the board did not want to make Piland the scapegoat. He said the board felt that Brandon should not have been arrested in the first place, so if Ciesielski was not going to hold Carney responsible for beating Brandon with the help of Clothier, then they were not going to hold Piland accountable for kneeing Brandon in the head at the end of the arrest. Lord help us today!! Oberlie’s position says he and the other five members of the board that voted with him are willing to justify Piland’s beating of Brandon because the others that beat him are not being held accountable. All of the IMPD command structure has publically stated that the Merit Board got it wrong in their decision. Touhy writes that “Straub publicly condemned the decision.” On this I agree with Straub. However, this is where our agreement parts company. Let me explain.

Under the law for the State of Indiana the Merit Board decision can be appealed by either party in the action. Mayor Ballard, and Public Safety Director Frank Straub have both publically acknowledged this right to appeal. Yet, Mayor Ballard takes the position that since the board ruled 6-1 against the Chief’s recommendation it would be an act of futility to appeal the decision to the court. If the Mayor truly believes that the Merit Board got it wrong does it not make logical sense to give the court the opportunity to get it right? This position by Mayor Ballard reflects the position of Rush Limbaugh. Neither of them have faith in the American judicial system.  Both of these positions carry serious implications.  

The Mayor of a major United States city does not believe in the court system. The premier conservative talk show host in America feels the same way. The President of America, Barack Obama  by his action of trying Ghalaini in the American court system shows he believes in America. If people of like Mayor Ballard and Rush Limbaugh don’t believe in the system aren’t they saying that they do not want America to be America? If people are not tried in a court of law then in essence America has become a police state. A police state means mob rule with the police being the mob. This is the implication of the IMPD survey. The police want full reign to do whatever they want to do without being held accountable by the Command Structure. The Mayor deceitfully supports a police state by not appealing the Merit Board decision to the court. And major republican legislators, along with Limbaugh, have the nerve to criticize President Obama because he truly believes in the American system that was envisioned by the Founding Fathers. If America is going to remain the government envisioned by the Founding Fathers then Mayor Ballard, Rush Limbaugh, et.al better start showing their trust that a court of law can get it right. Otherwise, our rights as American citizens will continue to erode. Therefore, we might as well prepare for the revolution. Thank you for listening to AjabuSpeaks. Be sure to tune in Mon-Fri from 11AM to 1PM at www.thewarhorn.com to hear AjabuUnleashed.