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Making Calls for Hillary
Most Backing Clinton The process will include thousands of union-organized phone calls, mailings and home visits, most of which will be on behalf of U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, but Sen. Barack Obama has also won some converts in her home state and will have city union volunteers in action. The United Federation of Teachers has been a strong and early supporter of Ms. Clinton, with President Randi Weingarten going door-to-door in New Hampshire on her behalf. Ms. Clinton also made an audio appearance at the Jan. 16 UFT Delegates Assembly with a live call-in. Officials are convinced the membership will turn out in force for their "favorite daughter." "I can't tell you that it's 100 percent," said Marvin Reiskin, the UFT director of political action, "but I'm very confident that we're doing very, very well." The UFT's is among the most-developed get-out-the-vote operations in the city. Volunteers are dialing their co-workers from phone banks in every borough, with member-to-member phone calls to every active and retired member in New York and New Jersey.
Those contact calls will also collect information on whom each member plans to vote for so that Feb. 5's get-out-the-vote campaign can be strategically targeted. Active members and retirees started making the calls Jan. 14 and will continue until Primary Day. "We're making tens of thousands of phone calls," said Mr. Reiskin, "and I'm not talking about robo-calls." Thousands of E-Mails The calls will be complemented by tens of thousands of e-mails and two sets of mailings to members informing them why the union is supporting Ms. Clinton. There are three American Federation of Teachers members running as Clinton delegates in the metropolitan area, and special mailings will notify members who can vote for them. Nina Tribble, who is running as a delegate in Nassau County, will lead a door-to-door education campaign there to convince members to vote for her. (Ms. Weingarten is what's known as a "super delegate" and will be automatically seated at the party convention because of her position on the Democratic National Committee.) The UFT has not confined its efforts to the tri-state region. Mailings have gone and continue to go out to retirees aides stated that pre-trial publicity that might be deemed unfavorable to the three Detectives had been offset by statements issued by the NYPD and a media campaign orchestrated by the Detectives Endowment Association on their behalf. It also responded to a poll commissioned by one defense lawyer that showed that a majority of potential jurors had already concluded that the shooting was not justified with another one that showed just 35.5 percent of those surveyed had formed an opinion about the case.
Cops' Faith in Judges
The Appellate ruling prompted DA Brown to issue a statement that the court decision "reflects that which we said all along, that a fair and impartial jury can be selected from among the 2.3 million residents of Queens County." The three Detectives, however, opted not to go that route, instead asserting their right under the state's Criminal Procedure Law to be tried by a judge. That method has been favored by cops in several high-profile cases in which a civilian's death resulted during the past 25 years, based on the belief that judges are more likely than jurors to decide a case on the facts and not be influenced by outside matters such as community pressure or street rallies. DEA President Michael J. Palladino said in a phone interview following the granting of the bench trial, "We just didn't have a comfort level with a jury trial in Queens." He cited factors including "the avalanche of media, the Mayor labeling the shooting 'excessive' and 'inexplicable,' and Sharpton holding marches." He was referring to the Rev. Al Sharpton, who organized several rallies while serving as a spokesman for Mr. Bell's widow, Nicole Paultre-Bell, and the two men who survived the shooting, Mr. Guzman and Mr. Benefield. Alarmed by Gun 'Threat' 6 It occurred outside a nightclub, Kalua Cabaret, that was being monitored by the NYPD because of reports of various criminal, violations taking place inside. Detective Isnora was working undercover inside the club and overhead an argument at its entrance during which Mr. Guzman allegedly told one of his companions, "Yo, get my gun." The Detective called for back-up but, fearing that the three men might begin shooting before other cops could intervene, he followed them back to their car, according to police statements. The three men were inside Mr. Bell's car when he confronted them, he said, claiming that he displayed his badge while training his gun on them. According to police, Mr. Bell responded by driving the car into Detective Isnora, then backing up and hitting a police van that had been around the corner when the Detective called for help. The Detective said that when Mr. Bell drove the car forward toward him again, he began firing. Other cops followed. When the shooting ceased, they discovered that no one in Mr. Bell's car was armed. DEA Cites Past Records It was subsequently disclosed by police that Mr. Bell, who was to be married later that day, had been drinking heavily at his bachelor party. Mr. Palladino has pointed out that all three men in the car had criminal records and questioned how they were supporting themselves at the time of the shooting. Among the three cops besides Detectives Isnora and Oliver - who accounted for 31 of the shots and at one point reloaded his weapon - who fired their guns, only Mr. Cooper was charged by the Queens grand jury that considered the case. |
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