Did Mayor Lie to Police in Document about Telling People to Keep off his Grass?
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| Mayor Jim Strickland's Side-Eye: Watching the People Who Are Watching Him |
If there were any doubts that the Memphis mayor is still paranoid about non-violent
activists he has identified as political enemies, it was only necessary to
observe the MPD cruiser parked across from his home.
For the sake of accuracy, we drove by to confirm there was not a “no
trespass” sign posted on Mayor Jim Strickland’s property before we asked:
“Did Mayor Strickland make a false report to police when he claimed 43 people had received a ‘no trespass’ notice to keep off his property?” Clearly, this list of names was generated by police. But, that does not excuse Strickland from seeing that some persons on the list he knows to be no threat -- other than political.
Being a “watchdog” and “watching the watchers” is the duty of the press
and citizens, and it’s all elected and appointed officials that bear watching,
not just police, in order to have the most just and democratic possible society.
Memphis
Through the Looking Glass
However, in the opposite-day world of government in Memphis (and
elsewhere), like in Lewis Carroll’s Through
the Looking Glass, where clocks run backwards and things seem wildly askew,
the mayor and law enforcement are spending massive amounts of taxpayer dollars
to police peaceful protests, to illegally spy on citizens and to make lists of
political enemies. The city has called
them “potential security risks.” Local
media has called it the mayor’s “black list.”
What we have is those who must be watched are over-watching the
watchdogs.
In Memphis, certain activists and puzzled others are on a list of 57
persons whom police say must be escorted when they are in the public space of
City Hall. Forty-three of those are from
the mayor’s list, and 14 are from a Memphis Police Department list comprised of
persons who took part in an environmental protest on MLK Day Jan. 16.
This is despite the fact that the city and Memphis police department are
operating under a 1978 Department of Justice consent decree which forbids political
spying, and MPD policy forbids political “intelligence gathering.”
Making the
A-List
In this through-the-looking-glass sort of way, the persons on the
political enemies list seem to have one thing in common: They are trying to make Memphis a better place
to live. They are people the Mayor
should be embracing and engaging, not fearing, libeling and spying on.
Thus, some are calling this list of activists the “A-List.”
None of them seem to have threatened or committed any violent acts toward
the mayor or the police or anyone in government. They have spoken out about social justice
issues and acted to uplift young people in Memphis. Some have publicly criticized the city’s
policies, and some have not.
Some have used tactics of non-violent civil disobedience in the spirit of
Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated in Memphis.
The most appalling of those entires on the mayor's list is that of Mary Stewart, whose 19-year-old son Darrius was an unarmed, backseat passenger at a traffic stop when a Memphis officer shot and killed him July 17, 2015. Mary's sister Teri also made the list.
Two persons whom Strickland well knows from working on issues as a City Councilman are Bradley Watkins and Paul Garner of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. Strickland worked closely with Garner in 2015 in the effort to revive the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board. And Strickland very well knows who Mary Stewart is.
Mayor Puts
It in Writing
Strickland’s signed statement on an official MPD form is titled, “List of
Persons Barred from Premises,” and he attests to police in writing
that those 43 persons have received a “no trespass” notice as required by law
before police can arrest and charge them with criminal trespass, a Class C
misdemeanor. The “premises” is identified
as Strickland’s home at “267 Ridgefield.”
Strickland signed as “property owner,” and dated the document Jan. 4,
2017. This document is also known as an authorization of agency which authorizes a law enforcement agency to arrest someone.
The point is to authorize police to arrest any of those persons without warning should they show up on Strickland's doorstep, driveway or yard.
The legal point seemingly is lost on the mayor, who is a
lawyer, but not on the police department.
“No one but me has received a notice,” says Keedran ‘Tnt’ Franklin, who
live-streamed to Facebook the morning of Dec. 19, 2016, as more than a dozen people took
part in a “die-in” on the front lawn of Strickland’s home near Poplar and
Highland.
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"Die-In" on Mayor's Lawn
Courtesy Keedran Franklin |
Franklin, who is involved with the grass roots group Coalition of Concerned Citizens, said that on the night of Dec. 19, four officers came to his
house. He was sure they were going to arrest him.
However, the police understood that before arresting and successfully
prosecuting someone for trespassing, there is first the requirement to give
notice.
So, there was no arrest, but officers told Franklin:
“Do not go back to 267 Ridgefield again.”
We conducted a survey of several others whom Strickland said had been
notified, and we found no one else who had been told to stay off the mayor’s
grass.
Trespassing
Statute
TCA 39-14-405 states a defense to prosecution for trespassing is if “the
person’s conduct did not substantially interfere with the owner’s use of the
property,” or, “The person immediately left the property upon request.”
Thus, notice must be first given before a trespass charge can be
prosecuted. If a property owner “posts
the property with signs that are visible at all major points,” that pre-empts
the requirement for a personal notice to an alleged offender. That's why we drove by, to verify the absence of a "no trespassing" sign.
On Dec. 19, those “dying” on the mayor’s lawn did not interfere with the
owner’s use of the property, and they were not told to leave. They left on their own, having used political
theater to make a point they had expressed in letters to Strickland and Elvis
Presley Enterprises the day before about how persons were treated on Aug. 15
during a candlelight vigil at Graceland and about lack of city effort on
problems such as poverty and police relations.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Memphis businesswoman and “Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America”
member Lorrie Garcia is an unlikely troublemaker or security threat. However, Garcia made the mayor’s list of
trespassers and security risks, Franklin said, because she and others joined the Coalition of Concerned Citizens on Dec. 31, 2016, and bought movie tickets for 63 teenagers.
“There was a news report about a gang fight going to be at the Malco
Majestic, and we found out it was fake,” Franklin said of his New Year’s Eve action
#FreeMovieChallenge.
“We decided as concerned citizens to reshape the paradigm and buy movie
tickets for teenagers that night and show them that people are here to uplift
you and love you.”
Franklin believes a van parked nearby was taking pictures of him, Garcia
and others of the Concerned Citizens Coalition.
Thus, apparently for surprising some teens with free move tickets, Garcia and
others landed on Mayor Strickland’s “no trespass” list which police in turn
claimed was made up of people who posed a “security risk” at City Hall.
Should anyone disagree with our question about the proper procedure for
giving a no-trespass notice, or if we are mistaken somehow that all 43 persons
on that list had not received official notice to stay off Strickland’s
property, please provide that documentation, and we will publish it. We are not attorneys and are not giving legal
advice.
