Cops In Kansas Goes To Voters House For Opposing Barack Obama
A Kansas resident is claiming he has been unfairly threatened by officers after he hand delivered a note to a police department administrator explaining why he will not vote for Obama.
Brent Garner of Lawrence, Kan., told WND he composed an essay on Oct. 29 detailing Obama's connections with communist Frank Davis and Weatherman William Ayers, the Democrat's tax plan and his lack of protection for infants born alive following failed abortion procedures.
He then put the letter in an envelope and delivered it to Obama supporter and Lawrence Police Department civilian administrator Kim Murphree, whom he had met at his church.
"She demanded to know what was in the envelope," Garner said. "I simply told her to read it that it was self-explanatory and then walked off her property. She then began to yell at me and call me names while I was in the street."
Garner said his wife witnessed the incident from the couple's minivan.
He then drove home, and a clergyman from his church called him, saying Murphree had complained about the letter. While he was speaking on the phone, only 10-15 minutes following his letter delivery, an officer from the Lawrence Police Department appeared on his doorstep.
"He belligerently demanded to speak with me," Garner said. "I asked him if I was required to speak with him without an attorney present. He told me no, and I bade him leave my property. He then told me that Kim had lodged a criminal trespass complaint against me and that if I went on her property again I would be arrested."
Garner said he told the officer he would consult an attorney.
"I perceived this to be a blatant effort to intimidate me over my political beliefs and that such action was illegal and unconstitutional," he said. "He became more belligerent where upon my wife stepped up and informed him that what Kim claimed I had done was a lie as she, my wife, was there as a witness."
Garner said he believes the administrator used her association with the local police to punish him for his political beliefs.
"A 15-minute response for something like this, something that would be considered a nonviolent crime?" he said. "If I had been violent, a quick response would have been most in order."
Chapter 21, Section 3721(a) of Kansas law states criminal trespassing is when a "person enters or remains therein in defiance of an order not to enter or to leave such premises or property personally communicated to such person by the owner thereof or other authorized person."
But Garner said he was never aggressive, and he left Murphree's property immediately. However, police still met him on his doorstep.
"I was told that if I went anywhere near her that they would arrest me," he said.
When WND contacted dispatcher Kim Murphree to verify the allegations, she responded, "Me, let you know if it was true?"
She then referred to the department's internal affairs officer and hung up her phone before the conversation had ended.
Internal affairs officer Sgt. Bill Corey said, "It looks like someone showed up to her house, the fellow you talked to, apparently. He was very aggressive apparently, and she wanted him off her property, and he wouldn't leave."
But when told that Garner said he did leave immediately, Corey said, "I don't know. I don't think so. It doesn't show here in the call."
Corey confirmed that an officer had spoken with Garner.
"We just said that that person doesn't want them on their property, and they have the right not to have someone on their property if they don't want them on their property and please don't go back," he said.
Corey said police filed an informational report, but he said he doesn't believe Murphree will press charges.
However, Garner said he has contacted John McCain's campaign, and it has collected information from him about the incident. He plans to consult an attorney.
"If I can drag the Lawrence Police Department into it, I am going to do that," he said. "To me, this is a blatant attempt to punish me for my constitutionally protected right of free speech."
A Kansas resident is claiming he has been unfairly threatened by officers after he hand delivered a note to a police department administrator explaining why he will not vote for Obama.
Brent Garner of Lawrence, Kan., told WND he composed an essay on Oct. 29 detailing Obama's connections with communist Frank Davis and Weatherman William Ayers, the Democrat's tax plan and his lack of protection for infants born alive following failed abortion procedures.
He then put the letter in an envelope and delivered it to Obama supporter and Lawrence Police Department civilian administrator Kim Murphree, whom he had met at his church.
"She demanded to know what was in the envelope," Garner said. "I simply told her to read it that it was self-explanatory and then walked off her property. She then began to yell at me and call me names while I was in the street."
Garner said his wife witnessed the incident from the couple's minivan.
He then drove home, and a clergyman from his church called him, saying Murphree had complained about the letter. While he was speaking on the phone, only 10-15 minutes following his letter delivery, an officer from the Lawrence Police Department appeared on his doorstep.
"He belligerently demanded to speak with me," Garner said. "I asked him if I was required to speak with him without an attorney present. He told me no, and I bade him leave my property. He then told me that Kim had lodged a criminal trespass complaint against me and that if I went on her property again I would be arrested."
Garner said he told the officer he would consult an attorney.
"I perceived this to be a blatant effort to intimidate me over my political beliefs and that such action was illegal and unconstitutional," he said. "He became more belligerent where upon my wife stepped up and informed him that what Kim claimed I had done was a lie as she, my wife, was there as a witness."
Garner said he believes the administrator used her association with the local police to punish him for his political beliefs.
"A 15-minute response for something like this, something that would be considered a nonviolent crime?" he said. "If I had been violent, a quick response would have been most in order."
Chapter 21, Section 3721(a) of Kansas law states criminal trespassing is when a "person enters or remains therein in defiance of an order not to enter or to leave such premises or property personally communicated to such person by the owner thereof or other authorized person."
But Garner said he was never aggressive, and he left Murphree's property immediately. However, police still met him on his doorstep.
"I was told that if I went anywhere near her that they would arrest me," he said.
When WND contacted dispatcher Kim Murphree to verify the allegations, she responded, "Me, let you know if it was true?"
She then referred to the department's internal affairs officer and hung up her phone before the conversation had ended.
Internal affairs officer Sgt. Bill Corey said, "It looks like someone showed up to her house, the fellow you talked to, apparently. He was very aggressive apparently, and she wanted him off her property, and he wouldn't leave."
But when told that Garner said he did leave immediately, Corey said, "I don't know. I don't think so. It doesn't show here in the call."
Corey confirmed that an officer had spoken with Garner.
"We just said that that person doesn't want them on their property, and they have the right not to have someone on their property if they don't want them on their property and please don't go back," he said.
Corey said police filed an informational report, but he said he doesn't believe Murphree will press charges.
However, Garner said he has contacted John McCain's campaign, and it has collected information from him about the incident. He plans to consult an attorney.
"If I can drag the Lawrence Police Department into it, I am going to do that," he said. "To me, this is a blatant attempt to punish me for my constitutionally protected right of free speech."
