McEachran loses - Herald distorts
McEachran loses - Herald distorts
On Tuesday in court, County prosecutor David McEachran lost big time in his attempted prosecution of Jeffrey Gargaro for supposedly making a felony threat on the Bellingham Herald website in the comme
On Tuesday in court, County prosecutor David McEachran lost big time in his attempted prosecution of Jeffrey Gargaro for supposedly making a felony threat on the Bellingham Herald website in the comment section of an article. The charge was reduced to the lowest possible level misdemeanor and will be wiped completely off Jeffrey's record in six months of normal living without him doing anything wrong. Easy enough as Jeffrey has been a normal citizen - as normal as any of us with no record.
The Herald got the story wrong - and ran a headline that was a kiss on the round behind of McEachran. The Herald has easy access to the prosecutor's office for inside information and no doubt does not want to hurt that cozy relationship. The headline: Man pleads guilty to Web threat
It got the story wrong by writing that "A Bellingham Police detective read the comment and obtained …." Actually, a cop in Missouri - the state of Missouri - read the comment and phoned the Bellingham Police. Local police did not notice it. No local reader thought it worth reporting, although hundreds read the Herald blog posts each day. The Herald editors did not think it out of line with the great many death suggesting comments their website has kept posted over time. In short - only McEachran thought it a unusual and a crime.
I posted two articles here that were critical of McEachran's judgement on this case and pointing out he has a record going back decades of suppressing freedom of speech in Whatcom County. The Herald printed only two very small sidebar items about the charges - but ran the distorting headline large in yesterday's paper.
I've no idea what, if any, role NwCitizen had in McEachran's decision. But it was my intention to give this arrogant and repressive and unconstitutional prosecution as much publicity as I could. All I have is this website. But it is read by most of the elected and government leaders in this community - plus most local political junkies. I like to think it had some effect. I had phone conversations with other junkies who urged me to soften my tone and give McEachran room to back off and save face. Being nice is one of the best things we can do - but not in the face of repression. It does not work. Over the years I've learned it is the worst thing we can do. It is what is usually practiced in this small, isolated community.
We must confront abuse of power and corruption head on - if we want to reduce it. The more of us who do expose it and object to it in a public manner, the more chance we have of reducing it. If only one or two of us speak out then we will be isolated as individuals, marginalized, and even driven from the community. I speak from personal experience - as many readers of this know.
Myself and Tip Johnson intend to keep a watch on McEachran. He plans to run in November 2010 for reelection and we intend to do what we can to get him defeated and a new prosecutor elected. For decades local attorney's have been scared to run against him because of his vindictive practices. The last time anyone dared run against him was in the 1980s - but that is for another post.
The Herald got the story wrong - and ran a headline that was a kiss on the round behind of McEachran. The Herald has easy access to the prosecutor's office for inside information and no doubt does not want to hurt that cozy relationship. The headline: Man pleads guilty to Web threat
It got the story wrong by writing that "A Bellingham Police detective read the comment and obtained …." Actually, a cop in Missouri - the state of Missouri - read the comment and phoned the Bellingham Police. Local police did not notice it. No local reader thought it worth reporting, although hundreds read the Herald blog posts each day. The Herald editors did not think it out of line with the great many death suggesting comments their website has kept posted over time. In short - only McEachran thought it a unusual and a crime.
I posted two articles here that were critical of McEachran's judgement on this case and pointing out he has a record going back decades of suppressing freedom of speech in Whatcom County. The Herald printed only two very small sidebar items about the charges - but ran the distorting headline large in yesterday's paper.
I've no idea what, if any, role NwCitizen had in McEachran's decision. But it was my intention to give this arrogant and repressive and unconstitutional prosecution as much publicity as I could. All I have is this website. But it is read by most of the elected and government leaders in this community - plus most local political junkies. I like to think it had some effect. I had phone conversations with other junkies who urged me to soften my tone and give McEachran room to back off and save face. Being nice is one of the best things we can do - but not in the face of repression. It does not work. Over the years I've learned it is the worst thing we can do. It is what is usually practiced in this small, isolated community.
We must confront abuse of power and corruption head on - if we want to reduce it. The more of us who do expose it and object to it in a public manner, the more chance we have of reducing it. If only one or two of us speak out then we will be isolated as individuals, marginalized, and even driven from the community. I speak from personal experience - as many readers of this know.
Myself and Tip Johnson intend to keep a watch on McEachran. He plans to run in November 2010 for reelection and we intend to do what we can to get him defeated and a new prosecutor elected. For decades local attorney's have been scared to run against him because of his vindictive practices. The last time anyone dared run against him was in the 1980s - but that is for another post.
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