SEIU’s Targeted Townhall Violence: You Started It And Now You Don’t Like it

by Capitol Confidential

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SEIU is not stupid. When reports first came out of violence at the Russ Carnahan TownHall in Missouri, SEIU flacks jumped into their media spin machine and got to work. Tim Targaris, the SEIU new media spokesman started the party with a Tweet declaring:

Seven teabaggers arrested at Missouri town-hall event today. One SEIU staffer sent to hospital (shoulder) and will be ok. 9:01 p.m. August 6th.

We know now that it was five HCAN supporters who were arrested, but Tagaris continued to tweet false information, defending the story by citing an internal brief and then moving to other media response. A pledge was quickly created and touted by SEIU, decrying violence at townhalls. A video was cut that took the post-attack YouTube footage and spliced it with alternating footage of SEIU members singing peacefully followed by groups of tea party protestors shouting. And then an anonymous phone call characterized as a death threat was played for dramatic effect. It was some very fine propaganda.

Step 2 was turning the initial attacker Elston McCowan into a saint. SEIU and their pet bloggers on the left started talking about the 40-something, blind in one eye Baptist minister who was brutally attacked by teabaggers (SEIU likes to repeat the sexual slur). McCowan published photos of himself in a black outfit, a white priest collar, and a sling. He was Saint Innocent, the real victim. Once the video was released, SEIU created a second version of the story, maintaining it was McCowan who was attacked while laying helplessly on the ground. On August 13th, a full week after the attack, in an interview with Don Fitz of the St Louis Gateway Greens, McCowan relates what he claims is the real story behind the attack:

“When I pointed at the button, Gladney slapped my hand. So I told him not to hit me and pointed at it again and repeated my question. He smacked my hand even harder, hit me several times and pushed me down. As I went down, I grabbed him by reflex to break my fall. I hit my shoulder and something popped. I lost consciousness for a moment but soon realised that Gladney continued to hit me.

“Another SEIU guy, Perry Molens, came over and told Gladney, ‘He’s a minister and won’t fight back. He can’t see out of one eye. Stop hitting him!’. When Gladney kept on, Perry tried to get him off of me and threw a punch in the process.

McCowan doesn’t claim there was a struggle or a fight. Neither he nor Gladney say they wrestled or fought. Both say they were attacked, and did nothing to fight back. McCowan even goes so far as to say he lost consciousness, and while Gladney continued to strike him, Perry Molens sweetly begged Kenneth Gladney to stop because the blind minister wouldn’t fight back. It’s quite the story. Gladney, a 38 year-old 130 pound diabetic and leukemia survivor trying to make a little money for his family, explodes in rage and drives the 6 foot, 220 pound gentle giant to the ground while his union brother looks on and pleads for him to stop the beating. It’s touching, but it’s also not believable.

Molens is the weak link in the story. He has escaped scrutiny because SEIU went live with McCowan and his minister alibi. No one seems to talk about Molens, and for good reason. When you look into the background of Perry Molens and understand what he was up to that night, the house of cards comes crashing down. The SEIU Media team, it’s enablers in the press, and its attack dogs in the new media are exposed as at best fools, and at worst, liars who will say and do anything to protect union violence. At issue is the question of whether SEIU staff were directed to cause a disturbance that night to send a message to Tea Party activists. No one has asked Perry Molens what he was doing there that night. We should look at that now.

Perry Molens and Elston McCowan go back a long way. Internet searches of their activities show them active in union politics for over at decade together, and possibly longer. They both now work at SEIU, but were former members of AFCSME. Both were let go in an internal union struggle over who would control Missouri political union spending, and when SEIU won that battle, they were rewarded with new jobs as staff organizers. They are battle-tested, loyal, and aren’t afraid to apply a little pressure when necessary. They also know where the bodies are buried, so to speak.

This video testimony of Missouri ProVote staff member Marshall Rowland shows some typical organizing tactics of Perry Molens. Notice that Rowland is actually intimidated by Molens physically, and is ironically offended at the idea that card check could be forced on him by outside people.

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That video was shot by Antonio French, a blogger turned Democratic politician in St Louis City. Marshall Rowland is an employee of Missouri ProVote, a progressive activist working to elect progressive candidates. Missouri ProVote is allied heavily with ACORN and SEIU 1099. This is how Molens treats his friends. As you can see, SEIU Local 2000 can be less than friendly. At 6 foot 5 inches, 250 lbs, Molens is a very big man. He towers over McCowan, who is no shrinking violet. They’re big. They’re mean. And they know how to intimidate people. They are on the staff of SEIU, and they attended the Carnahan TownHall that night wearing their purple people beater shirts. At least, they did when they were outside.

Here is picture of Perry Molens outside the townhall.

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And Here is a picture of him inside the townhall, just a little while earlier.

molensblue

This picture, taken by a Tea Party activist inside the townhall, was accompanied by the following note.

“This is the shirt he wore inside but NOT the one he wore outside…

He never sat back down, but rather, walked out early.”

This picture is the last in a series for Molens and McCowan. They were together, and then Molens leaves, alone. This raises some questions that the prosecutors might want to ask Mr. Molens when they decide to get back to doing their jobs. It was a hot August night in Missouri. The temperature that day was in the high 80’s, and the sun had just gone down as the townhall concluded. Why would Molens leave the auditorium and then put his purple Healthcare ‘09 shirt on over his polo? He wasn’t trying to hide his healthcare affiliation inside the gym. The hat clearly labels him as SEIU, and he was sitting in the special reserved section for HCAN members. Something else made him change. Something made him go outside, add a layer of clothing, meet back up with McCowan, and then “randomly” encounter Kenneth Gladney. If something goes wrong, and the cops come, you can always ditch the top layer and leave, while the cops look in vain for a tall white guy in a purple shirt.

The story and the message are clear. Let these teabaggers know who is delivering the message. Let them know SEIU will confront you if you stand up. Create an incident that could be spun by the press as “violence erupts at townhalls.” If it sounds farfetched, I suggest you go back to the original post-attack video. Cheryl Johner, the third person arrested for assault that night tells us exactly what happened. 24 seconds into the video, the girl in the green shirt is saying “what is going on?”, and you can hear Cheryl reply,

“You started it, and now you don’t like it!”

Minutes later, Cheryl Johner punched Kelly Owens in the face. How’s that for a message? Townhall protestors had taken to the streets and caught the Democrats off guard. Now HCAN and their SEIU allies were there, and the message was intimidation. First through words, then through fists, and finally, through the organized propaganda machines of the healthcare hordes. HCAN knew that Townhall protests had been highly effective in derailing their agenda. They needed to take the initiative back. Russ Carnahan had been repeatedly humiliated for weeks by Tea Party. You could say that he was hit. That night, in St Louis, SEIU and OFA hit back twice as hard.

Just one question remains. Who ordered the Code Purple?


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Posted Nov 17th 2009 at 6:03 am in Uncategorized | 55 Comments