Friday, January 18, 2013

Was Kvon Smith A Terrorist Threat Or A Political Pawn?

On Tuesday, Scott Walker put on the pageantry he euphemistically called the "State of the State" address.  It was a rather nauseatingly choreographed event to make it appear that he was finally, after more than two years, getting serious about jobs.

It is common knowledge and a long standing tradition of Walker's to grandstand and showboat whenever he can.  He is forced to try to inflate his image as much as possible to cover up for his lack of substance.

In this case, he had to try to avoid as much as possible his dreadful job of creating jobs while pushing for the mining legislation he was paid to get done last year.

But as much pageantry that went on during the speech, there was a lot more during the day leading up to the speech, but of a much more subtle nature.

It started out with Walker releasing all of the supposed death threats he's received over the past two years.  Of course, if one reads past the headline and the first few paragraphs, one finds out that critical emails and calling him a poopyhead were considered threats.

Now enter Kvon Smith.

Smith is a young black man who, as Jeff had already pointed out, obviously has some mental health issues.  Smith allegedly had made some unspecific threats and was eventually arrested for allegedly carrying Molotov cocktails into the Capitol.

So far the story has a certain amount of plausibility to it.

However, this story is starting to break down.

First of all, witnesses are reporting that the police had originally detained the wrong guy.  Apparently all black people look alike to them, not that they are racist or something.

It is also being reported that the police allowed Smith to hang around outside for a while with the Solidarity Singers and near a group of grade schoolers.  That's not what one would expect them to do with someone they see to be such a great threat.

It was also found that the Molotov cocktails weren't explosive or even flammable.

Now it could be rationally explained that the police were just protecting the public safety by taking into custody a guy who had made threats and was carrying bottles of unknown substance.  But when one considers all the missteps and lack of concern, it becomes a story that's harder to swallow.

What makes me really suspicious is that they waited until he was well inside before arresting him.

I think that there is a strong possibility that they used Smith to meet their ultimate goal, which was to evacuate parts of the Capitol and control who was going into the building leading up to Walker's speech.

The reason they would want to do that is because they did not want Walker's dog and pony show to be blemished like it was last year when Walker was met with a large group of rather vocal protesters.  They were so loud that they could be heard on tape during his speech:
Protesters also made their opinions loudly known during the course of the event, with most gathered in the rotunda and audible on the Wisconsin Eye broadcast of the speech chanting "Recall Walker." A few anti-Walker activists made it into the public galleries to watch the speech, and five were escorted out after interrupting Walker at various points in his speech.

One woman yelled "Liar!" after Walker said, "I will continue to be a good steward of the taxpayer's dollar," and another later shouted "Walker doesn't care about poor people!"
I could see Chief Dave Erwin - who has had already ordered his men out into the night to hunt down and accuse and intimidate an elderly woman of being a criminal mastermind for singing at the Solidarity Singalong - would not hesitate to use a mentally ill man as a political pawn to appease his boss.

And like I said, Walker is desperate to build up his image, since he has no substance to stand on.

14 comments:

  1. I had the exact same reaction to this whole debacle. Shades of Bush with the color system, and talking about supposed terror threats right before the elections. We already know, through Walkers own admission, that he'd be willing to have non-protestors infiltrate the protestors and create havoc.

    How convenient that the death threats were discussed, and a supposed thwarted attack, take place on the same day that Walker is finally spending a day in Madison, only to display in full color his dog and PHONY show. And yes, I know I spelled pony wrong ;-)

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  2. According to a source in the legislature, the Capitol Police arrested the first black man who walked into the building. He didn't come close to fitting the description of the suspect, but he was black and that was good enough. He was held for half an hour before being released. You would think that NOT having Molotov cocktails and being able to produce I.D. would be sufficient, but with black men you can never be careful enough. Meanwhile all the Republican Pink Boys marched right past security with their concealed weapons, despite the supposed threat against the Weasel's life. Some things never change.

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  3. To sum it up: Chief Erwin will go to people's houses in order to arrest folks who sing, but tells his men to "stand down" until a bomber is actually inside the Capitol.

    Sounds like a good example of why Jarheads should only be taking orders instead of issuing 'em...

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  4. Guess I'm on the list..... I've called that jackass a lot worse than poopy head. 8-)

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  5. I thought that the release of the email threats and arrest were suspicious too. Even more disturbing is that many people thought the same thing - the trust between Wisconsinites and this governor is just gone. The John Doe investigation, dropping the "bomb" and the phone interview where he told a fake Dave Koch that they considered sending trouble makers into a peaceful crowd of families was just the start.

    Add to that his breach of contract with train manufacturer Talgo and loss of money by WEDC and it paints a very problematic picture of an administration that can't figure out how to do anything. I won't even talk about the jobs and his fake listening sessions held in closed facilities.

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  6. Without stronger evidence, let's leave the conspiracy theories to the other side.

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    1. Thank God for at least one sensible reaction :)

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    2. Jim, they said the same thing to me when I said that Walker and friends were using Milwaukee County property and money for Walker's campaign...years before Walkergate.

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  7. This has the beginnings of a fine fairy tale.

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  8. Of course it was orchestrated, Kvon Smith was contracted to show up specifically in time on the right day to orchestrate an evacuation that coincided with the State of the State. Everyone was is on it, that's why the Capitol Police detained the wrong guy. Oh wait...

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  9. This is the most moronic article I have ever read. Keep me laughing liberals, you're pathetic.

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    1. The MOST moronic article you've ever read, really? Well, at least you read (so you claim), and that's a start. I have to say though your comment does remind me of something. Ah yes: http://markwmjackson.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/gandhi-first-they-ignore-you.jpg

      Are you going to come back and fight soon?

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    2. Yes, I know it's hard to believe that the Republicans are smart enough to be opportunistic and are sleazy enough to use a mentally ill person as a pawn, but they've already done that with Segway and pink slip guy.

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  10. This story is just a testament to the really broke down mental health system. Although I work in the field it didn't take long to realize he was in a delusional state. Too bad jails are being filled with the mentally ill and beds reduced at state hospitals. Release the mentally ill who are delusional on the streets and increase guns so the vigilantes can "take care of"our mental health system? Seems that way...

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