THE JACKAL IN CAPTAIN HYDE-MIAMI UPDATE 6/18/07

The following is a rush transcript and may contain errors.

Correction/Clarification: 6/20/2007 Captain James Hyde is employed by the Miami Dade Police Department

The Jackal in Captain Hyde 

JACKAL: any of several species of wolf-like carnivores of the dog genus sharing with the hyena an exaggerated reputation for cowardice. 

Miami, Florida U.S.A.:  Saturday, June 16^th, 2007 will go down in history as a “National Day of Disgrace” as the City of Miami helped to lay the first amendment of the United States Constitution to rest.

For readers who aren’t familiar with the first amendment, it stands as perhaps the most fundamental right of all. It is the very foundation of democracy itself and serves to keep oppression and tyranny from invading our way of life.

It prohibits government from interfering with or abridging freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

On Saturday, June 16^th, a coalition of human rights advocates including former sex offenders, victim advocates, therapists, and members of the media gathered for a press conference in Miami, Florida to exercise that right. However, on the morning of the scheduled event, local police were on the scene in force ordering citizens to leave or face immediate arrest.

In the weeks prior to the event, the coalition sent out numerous press releases urging journalists to join them for the press conference which was originally scheduled to occur at the Holocaust Memorial located on Meridian Avenue. Just days before the event, the coalition changed the location of the event to the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, which is located directly across from the Memorial.

Going through the proper channels, a member of the coalition joined the chamber and filled out the appropriate application, which was approved. All was a “GO” until the coalition took “proactive steps” to inform local law enforcement as a courtesy and to head off any potential vigilante or other unfavorable activity in the vicinity. The effort by the group to ensure the public’s safety as well as a peaceful assembly was ultimately used instead, as the basis for disbanding the group.

The day before the event, I spoke with Captain James Hyde of the Miami Police Department. Captain Hyde advised me that under no circumstances was the group going to be allowed to hold the press conference at the Holocaust Memorial. I then informed Captain Hyde that the group had a change in plans and the press conference was instead going to be held at the Chamber of Commerce. Captain Hyde became angered and told me that the group could NOT hold the press conference at the Chamber of Commerce either. He stated, (but did not cite) a Federal ruling had just been handed down barring that type of activity at either the Memorial or the Chamber of Commerce. I asked for clarification on the Chamber and he said that the ruling “applied to the Chamber as well due to its close proximity to the Memorial.”

Both the Holocaust memorial and the Chamber of Commerce are privately owned and operated. This is important to note as the owners of the chamber of Commerce have the right to approve or deny applications for the facilities use and should certainly not be subjected to police and/or political pressure.

Captain Hyde asked me for additional information as to who approved the conference room at the Chamber. When I returned a phone call to him with that information, I was placed on speaker phone and he informed me that he had just met with the City attorneys. There were voices in the background, which I strongly suspect were those very same attorneys.

I had also spoken personally with a detective “Rosa” from Captain Hyde’s department and assured her, as I did Captain Hyde, that the event was a press conference, NOT a demonstration. There were not going to be picket signs or “sticks” as she inquired. I told her that “the only thing the group would be armed with was information in the form of fliers and press kits”.

Perhaps that is where the coalition went wrong. The press kits contained “truths”, “facts” and “hard data” that may ultimately have resulted in the embarrassment of elected officials. The group was also in possession of a vast amount of information which has been systematically with-held from the public from far too long. Captain Hyde was also sent a copy of the coalition’s policy statement. His blatant aversion to the press conference and the information which was to be shared can only mean that he and/or elected officials were afraid of what the press conference would have revealed. It is my firm belief that the denial of a small group of peaceful citizens to hold a simple press conference was a concerted effort by Miami Police Department, Captain James Hyde, (and perhaps others) to strong-arm the chamber behind the scenes.

The last thing Captain Hyde relayed to me the day before the event was that the coalition “had better have a plan C”.

This left me curious. Why would Captain Hyde say that? The Coalition’s application had already been approved and the room at the Chamber of Commerce reserved. From the outset of my conversations with Captain Hyde I was given the unmistakable impression that he was determined to do everything in his power to stop the event before it ever even started. On Saturday, the day of the event, that is exactly what happened. At least six police cruisers lined the street with lights flashing with numerous plain clothes officers standing guard and running off both members of the media and the public. Hastily placed upon the door of the Miami Chamber of Commerce was a hand-written sign that simply said “CLOSED” right next to the Chamber’s business hours.

I’m not sure what the bigger story here is. Was it the information that was contained in the press kit coupled with the coalition’s message? Or was it that the City of Miami, lawmakers, and law enforcement have something to hide? Ultimately, this whole thing smells of something much worse than what we see on the surface and leaves me seriously wondering what rights, if any do we actually have left in America.

Julia Tuttle Photos-Miami Florida click to view

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6/16/2007 All Rights Reserved

Photos courtesy of Tom Madison

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