BAMN Circus Erupts at Board Meeting

LANSING, MI:

Breaking news from the road. Nearly a 120 By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) members initiated violence in an effort to intimidate Board of Canvassers members into not approving the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI) petition to end race preferences despite a second, stern order from the Michigan Court of Appeals last week. The Court, ordering that its October 31 order take immediate effect so that frivolous BAMN appeals don't delay other necessary steps, denying BAMN's motion for reconsideration, and sanctioning three intervening defendants from "In the Hood Research", mandated that the Board of Canvassers certify MCRI "forthwith."

When the meeting began, Doyle O'Connor (D) began with an impassioned plea to BAMN members to address the issue "before the board," using terms that Katherine DeGrow (R) labelled as "inciting." 2 and 1/2 hours later, after a parade of BAMN "testimony" (and, by our choice, two MCRI representatives for less than 10 minutes), the Board had reached a point where it was ready to vote on a motion to certify. As Lynn Bankes (R - appointed by Democratic Governor Granholm, who opposed the initiative philopophically but felt compelled to follow the rule of law) began to read her motion, and a sense developed among BAMN members that it might be approved "forthwith", BAMN members, at the behest of Luke Massie and Shanta Driver, began to chant relentlessly (15-20 min), stomp on the floor (a second floor that vibrated), and mounted dozens of chairs where they yelled at a level where Board business could not be heard. Lansing City Police remained outside, with Paul Mitchell (D) privately threatening to leave if anyone was removed for disturbing the peace and disrupting a meeting. With none of the Canvassers having the courage to call the police into the room, the BAMN crowd grew bolder, and a group of roughly 20-30 surged forward from their chairs approaching the Board's hearing table. This AP/MLIVE wire reports picks up this part of the story:

High school students from the Detroit area knocked over an empty table where witnesses give testimony. The table was knocked over as students chanted "They say Jim Crow, we say hell no!" and moved toward the front of the room when the board prepared to vote on the proposal.

As a crowd surge of a couple dozen finally approached the Canvassers, the Court Reporter was forced to quickly gather up all the microphones and laptop recording equipment, and police, who had previously been reluctant to enter because "no property was being destroyed," began to restore order (and several other police units were called to the scene). The evacuated Board members wound up in a second security room, with representatives from the two oppositions groups (but not the mass of BAMN, which had been contained by a police line in the hallway) and MCRI and several TV cameras and other reporters, where a "security discussion" occurred. Degrow, the current chair, then reconvened in the original room announcing that the meeting would recess for an hour and reconvene at 2pm.

At 2pm, O'Connor made another impassioned plea to incite the BAMN members, and accused the other Board meetings and MCRI of conspiring in a closed meeting (far from it - for a number of reasons which I will analyze later).

After a half hour more of O'Connor speechmaking, the motion was called again to vote, at which point BAMN became impossibly loud yet again. The Canvassers and reporter huddled, and when the dust cleared it was learned that Paul Mitchell voted against it, unclear whether O'Connor voted against or abstained (same effect), and that Bankes and DeGrow voted to certify. Deadlocked again, the Board adjourned.

An MCRI press release was issued within minutes (nothing surprises MCRI anymore), and will be posted at some point on MCRI's site, along with additional details. MCRI plans to seek holdings of contempt, although the exact nature of the legal filings is being determined.

Canvasser Paul Mitchell threatened to sue Zarko Research and Consulting for taking his photo in the hallway, asserting that individuals do not have a right to take pictures of others (even public officials) in a public place without "permission," and when he denied the allegedly necessary permission, ZR snapped a photo (to be published when I get my digital upload capability back in more comfortable quarters), Mitchell stated he would sue.

A variety of other original photos, and greater descriptive detail will be published late this evening here.

In other news, Mark Brewer, Chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party (see photo essay), was at the event and clearly giving direction to O'Connor and Mitchell.

More to follow.