Tuesday, June 4, 2019
Not Letting a Sleeping Dog Lie
In the HudsonValley360 coverage of the scuffle that occurred in the hallway of the Galvan Armory during a special meeting of the Common Council on April 24, Council president Tom DePietro is quoted as saying, "The less said about this unfortunate incident, the better for everyone." Roger Hannigan Gilson is not being constrained by DePietro's wishes. Today, on his blog The Other Hudson Valley, Gilson returns to the incident and publishes the video of the scuffle captured by the building's security camera: "Video: Hudson Council President Grabs, Shoves Man Outside City Meeting."
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There's no sound with the picture?! I guess everyone already knows the m.o. of the alleged victim: a hostile verbal tirade.
ReplyDelete"A hostile verbal tirade" is legal and protected by the the Constitution. Grabbing someone from behind (at the top of a flight of stairs no less) and pushing them against a wall is illegal and called assault.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, but when the occasion suits him battery is an option featured in the "victim's" own arsenal of aggressions.
DeleteJust not on this occasion which is, regrettably, the only one being discussed.
In other words the man's a total hypocrite. Forgive me for taking that into account.
Wait, not "agreed"! What about the fighting words doctrine?
DeleteWikipedia:
"In United States constitutional law, [the fighting words doctrine] is a limitation to freedom of speech as protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
"In 1942, the U.S. Supreme Court established the doctrine by a 9–0 decision in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire. It held that 'insulting or "fighting words," those that by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace' are among the 'well-defined and narrowly limited classes of speech the prevention and punishment of [which] … have never been thought to raise any constitutional problem.'"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_words
Investigation by the Sheriff's Department? Appointment of Special Counsel? My goodness, you'd think someone had thrown a bag of dog poop at the Mayor!
ReplyDeleteA reader identified as "Maybe So" submitted this comment:
ReplyDeleteAny altercation that results in anyone, let alone an elected official, aggressively putting their hands on another person is unacceptable. Tom DePietro’s insistence that people should talk less of the incident only benefits him and his ‘getting away’ with it and he knows it. Everyone needs to know that this is the type of person he is capable of being— it’s disgusting. The council should remove Tom DePietro from his role as it demonstrates a complete lack of knowledge and respect for fellow citizens in Hudson. What’s the protocol? Does he need to be served papers, arrested?
Although I voted for Mr. DePietro in the last election, I will absolutely not do so again this year. The best predictor of future behavior is usually past behavior— and our council president’s volatile emotional outbursts in addition to his out of touch rhetoric and lack of leadership to the rest of Alderman have made it evident that he is not suited to the role. I’m appalled by his decision making or lack of— Hudson deserves better.
Boys will be boys ... so what's the history between these boys ???
ReplyDelete