(FEBRUARY 8, 2017) Ever since her appointment last summer, Cynthia McClain-Hill has been used like a screwdriver to disassemble any sense of harmony within the LAPD Commission.
“(Commissioner McClain-Hill) is really black. She’s connected to us,” Black Lives Matter-LA leader Melina Abdullah said during a September meeting that turned into a melee. “They don’t want her.”
Abdullah was referring to other police commissioners on the five-member board, including Commission President Matt Johnson, whom she often insults with monikers like “House Negro”.
“They want black people that think they’re white,” Abdullah continued. “They want black faces on white supremacy.”
McClain-Hill isn’t a neophyte anymore, but BLMLA still uses her to troll Commissioner Johnson - like a manipulative child pitting mom against dad.
“I like Cynthia McClain-Hill, but in a lot of ways she does function as the Negro whisperer,” said BLMLA activist Trevor Gerard.
“She sort of tries to placate us.”
Throughout McClain-Hill’s six-month tenure, activists have continued to exploit that obvious vulnerability.
Last week it was revealed that McClain-Hill has been subpoenaed to testify against her fellow police commissioner in a case involving Gerard (a.k.a. Trevor Ferguson). Johnson filed a temporary restraining order against the BLMLA activist in December.
LA Weekly, February 2, 2017:
In the complaint, Johnson accuses Gerard of stalking him at his home in Sherman Oaks and at the entertainment law firm where he works in Century City. Johnson states in the complaint that he feared for his life and the safety of his family.
According to Nana Gyamfi, the attorney representing Gerard in court, McClain-Hill will testify about another allegation made in the complaint: that Gerard mouthed violent threats to Johnson from the audience at board meetings and made threatening statements, including “a gratuitous reference” to Johnson’s children.
Gyamfi told L.A. Superior Court Judge Carol Boas Goodson at the (January 31, 2017) hearing that McClain-Hill "will testify that Mr. Ferguson has not mouthed threats, that she has not seen Mr. Ferguson mouth threats to Mr. Johnson or make any threats verbally or audibly.”
Last year, activists encouraged a rift between McClain-Hill and Commissioner Steve Soboroff.
After McClain-Hill stepped on Soboroff’s toes during consecutive September meetings, he finally blew his top.
(Activists affiliated with Black Lives Matter-LA created tension between Commissioners Cynthia McClain-Hill and Steve Soboroff during an LAPD Commission meeting on September 20, 2016. McClain-Hill can be seen in the video laughing along with the activists taunting Soboroff)
Pandemonium ensued, and Soboroff was accused of flipping off activists as he vacated the meeting.
A week later, Soboroff swallowed his pride by apologizing to both BLMLA and McClain-Hill before morphing into a new role of ‘whipped puppy’.
“I want to thank Commissioner Soboroff for doing what is difficult, and that is saying in public that he made a mistake in losing his temper,” McClain-Hill said. “Apologies aren’t easy. Grace demands that when they are sincerely given, that we try to accept them.”
The union representing rank-and-file LAPD tried to raise a red flag about McClain-Hill early on, but like usual, the cops were ignored by Mayor Eric Garcetti.
“She’s gotta go,” said Craig Lally, President of the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL), after firing off a letter to the mayor condemning his appointee.
“Ms. McClain-Hill has publicly aligned herself with disruptive activists, and encouraged their boorish and profane behavior, along with their bullying tactics at Police Commission meetings.”
“Commissioner Matt Johnson had to adjourn the October 4 public meeting of the Police Commission due to the highly disruptive behavior of the professional agitators who show up each Tuesday. Rather than joining her fellow Commissioners after the public adjournment, Ms. McClain-Hill stayed with the group responsible for shutting down the public meeting and encouraged their anti-democratic behavior.”
A video posted by PM Beers (@pmbeers) on Oct 4, 2016 at 12:42pm PDT
(Commissioner McClain-Hill spoke to activists affiliated with Black Lives Matter after their disruptions shut down an LAPD Commission meeting on October 4, 2016)
McClain-Hill told activists affiliated with BLMLA that “it’s not your fault the meeting was shut down” (see video above) after their repeated disruptions caused the early adjournment.
It was an attempt to calm the crowd, which was riled up after the mother of a man shot dead by LAPD threatened to kill police officers during public comment.
Commissioner Johnson remains the only obstacle preventing BLMLA and its allies from completely taking over the weekly meetings, which is why he is being targeted.
(LAPD Commission President Matt Johnson filed a temporary restraining order against BLMLA activist Trevor Gerard in December)
Anti-police activists taunt him almost every week, harass him at his law firm, and intimidate his family outside their home.
Now BLMLA will use Johnson’s own colleague, Commissioner McClain-Hill, in an attempt to discredit him in LA Superior Court.
(OCTOBER 26, 2016) The Youth Justice Coalition (YJC), a non-profit funded by LA Police Commissioner Shane Murphy Goldsmith’s foundation, is suing the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Counsel for the Plaintiff, filed the lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday, but most media deemed to be credible are making no mention of YJC’s involvement.
Los Angeles Times, October 25th:
The Los Angeles Police Department has violated the due process rights of thousands of city residents by serving them with gang injunctions without first allowing them to challenge those orders in court, according to a federal lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The suit seeks to stop the department from enforcing injunctions against people who have not been given a chance to show they aren’t gang members.
LAWSUIT WITH YJC LISTED AS PLAINTIFF CAN BE FOUND HERE
Last week, this piddly blog revealed several anti-police nonprofits which receive support from LAPD Commissioner Goldsmith’s foundation. Since then, the YJC has shut down an Environmental Impact Report hearing and organized against the LA School Police.
Now, YJC wants a federal court to bar LAPD from enforcing gang injunctions.
All with the blessing of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s newest appointment to the police commission.
Flyer for Youth Justice Coalition's campaign against the LA School Police, in conjunction with Black Lives Matter-LA.
YJC has formed a strong alliance with Black Lives Matter-LA (BLMLA) and other groups seeking to dismantle the police, often taking part in disruptions targeting LAPD Commissioners Matt Johnson and Steve Soboroff.
After protesters caused the October 11th Commission meeting to go into closed session, YJC penned a letter with BLMLA, Los Angeles Community Action Network (LACAN), Stop LAPD Spying Coalition and White People for Black Lives (WP4BL) criticizing the Board.
Commissioner Goldsmith’s foundation also funds LACAN.
(SEPTEMBER 28, 2016) Commissioner Steve Soboroff has apologized to neophyte police commish Cynthia McClain-Hill, a cadre of activists who call him a white supremacist every week, and several others for blowing his top during last week’s LAPD Commission meeting.
“Last Tuesday I lost my temper,” Soboroff said at the beginning of yesterday’s meeting.
Some in the audience reacted by laughing in his face.
After Commissioner Matthew Johnson called for order, Soboroff continued.
“I want to apologize to a number of people. First of all, to Commissioner McClain-Hill. Second of all, to the other commissioners. Third of all, to the police officers that were in this room, because I think that losing my temper escalated things that put you guys in a difficult position, and I apologize for that. And last but not least, I want to apologize to everyone that was here.”
It’s unknown if this admission of guilt was ordered by Mayor Eric Garcetti, or if Soboroff swallowed his pride on his own accord. Regardless, don’t expect the apology to result in Black Lives Matter-LA treating Soboroff with more respect. Quite the opposite.
“I want to thank Commissioner Soboroff for doing what is difficult, and that is saying in public that he made a mistake in losing his temper.” McClain-Hill said. “Apologies aren’t easy. Grace demands that when they are sincerely given, that we try to accept them.”
During last week’s meeting, Soboroff snapped at McClain-Hill while being taunted by activists affiliated with Black Lives Matter. As Soboroff left the meeting, he was accused of flipping off protesters.
(JULY 20, 2016) Early this morning, Los Angeles Police Commissioner Steve Soboroff offered to finance a picnic for LAPD and Black Lives Matter-LA.
Despite being a police commissioner for nearly three years now, Soboroff still hasn’t figured out that Black Lives Matter doesn’t like cops.
BLM-LA leader Melina Abdullah has compared the modern police force to “slave catchers”, and admits one of the group’s long-term goals is “police abolition”.
Yet, the naive commish thinks common ground can be found.
Commissioner Soboroff got the idea from a questionable story published by USA Today.
A Black Lives Matter group in Wichita, Kan., originally planned a protest Sunday but instead had a cookout with police.
Following recent officer-involved shootings and acts of violence, the Kansas Black Lives Matter Group wanted to voice concern. Tuesday after a long discussion with the Wichita Police Department, the group decided to cancel the Sunday protest and instead come together with officers for the First Steps Cookout, a gathering in a local park aimed at taking the first stop towards building a relationship between officers and the community.
But according to Black Lives Matter’s website, they have no chapter in Kansas.
However, the site’s listing of official chapters does showcase a quote from cop killer Huey P. Newton.
Anyone can make a sign or repeat a slogan, but that doesn’t mean they fully understand the “Black Lives Matter” crusade or its leaders’ motives. Of course, that’s probably part of the plan.
In the eyes of an ignorant media, any black person that utters “Black Lives Matter” must represent the highly-organized, subversive campaign.
To be clear, “Black Lives Matter” is a global movement intent on dismantling both the police force and capitalism. They pay tribute to Marxist revolutionary Assata Shakur before every event, and hold many other cop killers in high reverence. Its roots can be traced back to the radical Weather Underground of the 1960s.
The cops in the street understand this, even if Commissioner Soboroff doesn’t. That’s probably why the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL), the union representing LAPD, asked Mayor Eric Garcetti for more support last weekend.
Black Lives Matter’s leaders aren’t looking to negotiate, compromise, or attend picnics with police officers. The sooner the LA Police Commissioners realize this, the safer we’ll all be.
***UPDATE 12:09PM***
***UPDATE 12:09PM***
***UPDATE 12:09PM***
A few hours after this blogger questioned the authenticity of what USA Today described as “a Kansas Black Lives Matter Group”, they were disavowed by the real Black Lives Matter movement.
Black Lives Matter-DC clarified that the picnic with law enforcement “is not in line with our principles.” The national Black Lives Matter account retweeted those sentiments.
More evidence that LAPD Commissioner Soboroff has no clue about the Black Lives Matter movement or the threat it poses.
(JULY 18, 2016) “We are staying here until the mayor’s ass come out,” vows Black Lives Matter organizer Melina Abdullah.
It’s Day 7 of what has been dubbed #OccupyLACityHall, and the occupiers have a list of five demands.
Regardless what you think of Black Lives Matter’s goal of abolishing the police force, they might have a point about dismantling Mayor Eric Garcetti’s crony police commission (Demand #4).
(Black Lives Matter-LA’s list of demands.)
The roots of this commission’s current mess were planted nearly three years ago by Garcetti himself. He was a newly-elected mayor hellbent on cleaning house.
Los Angeles Times, August 14, 2013:
Mayor Eric Garcetti put his mark on the Los Angeles Police Department on Wednesday, announcing plans to shake up the civilian panel that oversees the force with four new members.
The choices represent a notable lack of experience in policing issues. Although such knowledge has not been a prerequisite for past appointees to the board, the arrival to the commission of these four all at once equates to a dramatic loss of institutional knowledge of how the LAPD operates, its strengths and weaknesses.
The real wake-up call came a year later, after those same Garcetti appointees all voted to reappoint Chief Charlie Beck.
Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, August 12, 2014:
“It’s worth noting that all four of those commissioners were appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti, who has been a vocal supporter of Beck. And so you are left wondering precisely how independent Garcetti’s appointees really are, no matter their claims or his.”
That perception has not changed, and will likely become even worse in the months to come.
Because on Garcetti’s LAPD Commission, political payback and diversity seem to trump public safety and experience. In an era of ISIS-inspired massacres, anti-police activism and cop killers, that is a troubling thought.
After three more police officers were shot dead in Louisiana on Sunday, the union representing LAPD asked Garcetti for leadership and support.
This is where we’re at today.
(Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) is the union representing LAPD officers)
Let’s take a closer look at Garcetti’s idea of LAPD civilian oversight.
Allow me to present, “Everything you Need to know about Garcetti’s LA Police Commission” (part 1):
1) Steve Soboroff. The Jewish businessman.
The Los Angeles Times described him as “one of the city's power elite and a staunch supporter of Garcetti”.
The real estate developer is known to taunt the very citizens he represents. From Occupy LA-types, to cop-friendly Trump fans, Soboroff’s ongoing impropriety has managed to piss off just about everybody in town.
(LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and LAPD Commissioner Steve Soboroff shake hands at a commission meeting)
Shortly after his appointment, the Los Angeles Times asked Soboroff how he got the gig.
Los Angeles Times, September 25, 2013:
“I asked for it. I just popped an email to Eric [Garcetti] saying I will go on the Police Commission if you're interested, and that started it,” Soboroff admitted.
It probably didn’t hurt that Soboroff helps bankroll Garcetti’s campaigns, but don’t ever let anyone tell you that appointments are bought.
2) Matthew Johnson. The black dude.
A big-wig entertainment lawyer, he joined the police commission last September. Johnson is often the brunt of Black Lives Matter insults, being called a “house Negro”, among other things.
Both Johnson, and his wife Yasmine, are long-time Garcetti donors. In 2013, Garcetti appointed Yasmine to the Board of Zoo Commissioners.
3) Sandra Figueroa-Villa. The hyphenated-Latina.
That’s right! Another Garcetti donor.
She runs a nonprofit in Echo Park called El Centro del Pueblo, which means “the people’s center” in Spanish. It’s part of the National Council of La Raza familia.
Millions of public dollars have flowed through her nonprofit over the years via an anti-gang program involving the LAPD.
4) Kathleen Kim. The Asian academic.
Kim is a law professor at Loyola known for her work combating human trafficking. She didn’t give Garcetti money, but did vote to reappoint Chief Beck.
Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2014:
“I believe I was appointed to this commission in part to pay special attention to the needs of our immigrant residents. And on that front the LAPD has made important accomplishments.”
In 2003, it was estimated that Kim’s father, Dr. Soon Kim, had amassed a net worth of $40 million. In 2006, he paid the U.S. government a $1.73 million settlement after being accused of Medicare and Medicaid scams.
5) Robert Saltzman. The gay guy.
Saltzman was appointed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in 2007. That probably explains why he was the lone vote against Chief Beck’s reappointment in 2014.
The “out gay” commish might be the only true independent voice on the board, but that doesn’t matter anymore.
Saltzman is on his way out soon, and the mayor has already chosen attorney Cynthia McClain-Hill, yet another Garcetti donor, as his replacement.
Just when you thought Garcetti couldn’t make things any worse.
(South LA activist Najee Ali with Garcetti’s upcoming LAPD Commission appointee, Cynthia McClain-Hill. photo: Najee Ali/Facebook)
Although McClain-Hill’s nomination still needs the consent of City Council, she’s already received a public stamp of approval from Garcetti cheerleader Najee Ali, one of Black Lives Matter-LA’s most despised rivals.
Los Angeles Times, June 30, 2016:
Najee Ali, a civil rights activist focused on South L.A., said Garcetti “put aside political grudges for the best interest of our city” in nominating McClain-Hill to the Police Commission. He described her as an “iconic figure in our community.”
(JULY 8, 2016) ‘Black Lives Matter’ is using the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile to advance an anti-capitalist movement intended to dismantle police forces like the LAPD.
(Patrisse Cullors is co-founder of Black Lives Matter. She was mentored by Eric Mann, who was involved with the Weather Underground in the 1960s.)
Black Lives Matter-LA leader Melina Adbullah explained the movement’s long-term goals to USC’s Annenberg Media:
Black Lives Matter is still a long way off from the grand vision. That involves a “massive reform of public safety,” said Abdullah. “We’re talking about police abolition. We’re talking about police disarmament.”
However, she asserts that police are only a tool in a “white supremacist patriarchal heteronormative capitalist society” that requires dismantling.
The Black Lives Matter movement seeks revolution, and that can’t happen as long as current government structures remain in place.
Black Lives Matter-LA has called for “all out action” at next Tuesday’s LAPD Commission meeting, which they disrupt every week under the guise of “free speech” and “peace protest”. That tame narrative might con tools like Matt McGorry into playing along, but a more accurate description might be “socialist revolutionaries disrupting and dismantling the police force”.
(JULY 1, 2016) Actor Matt McGorry, who plays a one-legged prison guard that knocked up an inmate on Orange Is the New Black, now opines on the LAPD Commission meetings.
Can we start calling this the Abdullah-Soboroff Feud?
If so, I’m #TeamAbdullah, although our long-term goals differ. But let’s call a spade a spade (no pun or racial jab intended).
It’s unclear when McGorry started following this spat, but based on his assessment of the situation, I’m speculating not long.
Earlier this week, BLM-LA leader Dr. Melina Abdullah (a.k.a Grandmaster Melly Mel) basically did the same thing she’s done every Tuesday for the past two years. McGorry, who describes himself as an “intersectional feminist” in his Twitter bio, is late to the party.
McGorry took the bait, praising Abdullah and BLM-LA tactics which he inaccurately described as “exercising free speech and peace protest” to nearly 450,000 Twitter followers and 735,000 Facebook fans.
I don’t believe McGorry is intentionally trying to deceive people. He just has no idea what he’s tweeting about. Unfortunately, most of his audience probably hasn’t figured out that you can’t believe everything you read on social media.
These neverending disruptions are about two things:
1) REVOLUTION
2) REVENGE
Dr. Abdullah and her allies have become a weekly pain in the rear for the police commissioners. It’s a response to a smug Mayor Eric Garcetti and his crony appointees who never seriously considered denying Chief Charlie Beck’s reappointment in 2014.
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE
Don’t get me wrong. I encourage and share BLM-LA’s disdain for Mayor Garcetti (a.k.a. Backdoor Mayor) and most of the police commissioners he appointed. But Abdullah’s army is the same crew that shut down the 405 freeway near LAX airport two days before Christmas, and threatened Commissioner Soboroff (known for taunting the civilians he supposedly represents) on more than one occasion. It’s gone far beyond “exercising free speech and peace protest”, as McGorry naively misinterpreted.
30-year-old McGorry, who uses social media to prove to the world how politically correct he is, came out as a male feminist on Facebook last March.
Since then, he’s apparently swallowed the same principles of intersectionality shared by groups like Black Lives Matter, DREAMers and transgender advocates. It’s about intertwining Revolutionary movements to transform the United States.
McGorry hasn’t replied to any of my tweets, so I’m not sure who influenced his 16-month obsession with “intersectional feminism”. But if he were a student of Dr. Abdullah’s, you can bet he’d make the revolutionary professor proud.
McGorry said exactly what you would expect an intersectional (male) feminist to say in this Time article published two months ago:
“Speaking out about these things, as much as there’s a lot of sh-t out there that frankly hurts my feelings a lot, it’s never going to be as hard as being a woman or being trans or being black,” he said. “And especially never going to be as hard as speaking out about sexism or racism as a woman or a person of color.”
I stopped watching OITNB after writers killed off Vee Parker, but I sincerely respect McGorry’s artistic achievements in the television industry. But excelling in the arts does not always translate into understanding the motivations of the self-described “Revolutionaries” who have turned Garcetti’s commission into a weekly circus.
Having said that, if McGorry chooses to use his social media empire to bag on Mayor Garcetti (a.k.a. Mayor YogaPants) and/or his crony appointments (like Steve Soboroff), I’m all for it.
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