Why should anyone care about the firing of Keith Gladney? Several reasons exist. For example:

1.Keith Gladney is the brother of Kenneth Gladney, the St. Louis man thrust into the national spotlight Aug. 6 after he was allegedly beaten by a group of thugs from the Service Employees International Union at a South St. Louis County health care town hall meeting hosted by ultra-liberal Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.). Video shows what happened to Kenneth Gladney after SEIU thugs found him selling conservative memorabilia outside the event at Bernard Middle School in South St. Louis, then judge for yourself whether allegedly is a term that adequately describes the beat-down.

2. Keith Gladney publicly criticized St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch and St. Louis County Counselor Patricia Redington for dragging their feet when it came to charging the individuals allegedly involved in the beating of his brother. Later, he joined a nationwide chorus of conservatives appalled by the fact that the duo — formerly known as the St. Louis version of an Obama “Truth Squad” — filed only ordinance violations Nov. 25.

3. Keith Gladney joined a nationwide chorus of conservative appalled by the fact that, on Nov. 25, Redington filed only orordinance violations — not felony chargees — against his brother’s alleged attackers.

Now, back to the issue of Keith Gladney’s firing.

Inside the packet of information that arrived in my mailbox a few days ago — a response to the aforementioned Sunshine Law request — from Dr. Dolores Gunn, director of the St. Louis County Health Department and ultimate superior of Keith Gladney, were two lists.

The first list contains the names of 482 individuals, segregated by department or division, who were employed by the St. Louis County (Mo.) Department of Health as of Jan. 1, 2009.

The second list contains the same breakout of information as of Dec. 31, 2009, and shows an increase — to 489 — in the total number of DOH employees.

In reviewing the lists, I learned that Veterinary Services — the division that employed Keith Gladney — began the year with 24 employees and ended the year with 30. In addition, I learned that two VS employees whose names were on the list at the beginning of the year were not at the end of the year and eight VS employees whose names were not on the roster Jan. 1, 2009, were on the year-end roster. That’s a net increase of six employees during the 12-month period.

Though the VS work force grew by 25 percent in 2009 and Keith Gladney had received a positive performance review only two months earlier, he was terminated for cause only months after he stood up for his brother, Kenneth.

Preliminary conclusion: Keith Gladney’s firing appears to be an example of how Democrats, in the words President Barack Obama’s deputy chief of staff Jim Messina used on the day of the Kenneth Gladney beating, “punch back twice as hard” against those who oppose their socialist ways.

Stay tuned for more details on the firing of Keith Gladney.

Regular readers of Big Government will recognize the sur name of this unfortunate soul who finds himself unemployed just as the holidays are upon us.  Yes, Keith Gladney is the brother of Kenneth Gladney, the man who was assaulted by leaders of the St. Louis SEIU outside of Rep. Russ Carnahan’s Town Hall for Health Care on August 6, 2009.

Considering the fact that government work seems to be the only growth industry in this economy Keith probably thought he was in a stable job, serving diligently for the Animal Control agency, a division of the St. Louis Dept. of Health.  And, considering he was just given a positive job performance rating as recently as October, it must have come as a heartbreaking shock to learn of this Dickensian turn of events just he was preparing for his Christmas.

So, what changed between September and today?  What could have been the reason for Mr. Gladney’s termination?

Could it be that Mr. Gladney was outspoken in his support for his brother?

That he called on the County Prosecuting Attorney to bring justice to his family for the assault that had been captured on video and detailed in a 23-page police report?

Is it a coincidence that the same Prosecuting Attorney that Keith called out in his statement is also one of the highest ranking officials in the government structure that Keith worked for?

Kenneth Gladney

Is it surprising to learn that the Department of Health (the department that oversees the operations of Keith’s agency) works very closely with SEIU Local 1 on County Health related issues and policies?

And why now?  Of all times?  If they really wanted to punish Keith for his statements in favor of his brother’s case, why wait until now?

Is it a coincidence that this happens hours after the Senate finally got Pres. Obama’s Health Care Scheme passed through the Senate cloture vote and on its way to final ratification?

Could it be that the power structure in the county was waiting for the cloture vote so as to act from a position of political safety with no potential negative repercussions?

These are questions many of us have been asking each other since we heard this sad and disturbing news.  Rest assured that Big Government is gathering much information regarding the stated reasons for Gladney’s termination and the facts involved with his job performance.  We plan to answer all of these questions in the coming days.

But, for now.  All that matters is that a man is suddenly out of work right before Christmas Day.  Please, now more than ever, keep the Gladney family in your prayers and let us all hope that 2010 shows them real justice and, dare I say… hope?

Margarida Jorge

On the evening of August 6^th hundreds of citizens were shut out of the meeting and not allowed to question their elected official while hundreds of SEIU members were ushered in a side entrance to sit in reserved seats in the front of the hall.  This followed precisely the instructions penned by Margarida Jorge of HCAN.

• We need to stack our folks in the front to create a wall around the Member…
• Get to your location early and make sure you set up the venue in a way that ensures that the attendees you want are at the front and that any protesters who come are sequestered as far as possible from the stage.
• Make sure that you assign marshals to take care of moving the crowd, keeping people organized and orderly, and acting as security

According to eye-witnesses, Elston McCowan and Perry Molens approached Kenneth Gladney and began grabbing the “Don’t Tread on Me” materials that he was distributing.  This also was in line with the instructions laid out in the HCAN memo.

• Another way to limit protesters’ ability to hijack your event is to confiscate signs or leaflets that they may bring into the venue from outside.

The climate of intimidation and frustration created by following HCAN’s rules of “Responding to Right-Wing Attacks” led to the confrontations outside of Rep. Carnahan’s town hall meeting.

The St. Louis Police were dispatched that evening to respond to the assault on Kenneth Gladney and arrests were made.  Big Government has already revealed the 24-page police report detailing the police’s own account of the events as well as eye-witness testimony.  The suspects taken by the police that night were booked on assault charges and last Wednesday, November 25^th, more than three months after the incident, charges were finally brought against the suspects.

Elston McCowan

As anyone who has taken a high school civics class can tell you (or, more likely, anyone who has ever seen an episode of ‘Law and Order’), city and county attorneys are responsible for prosecuting suspects who the police arrest.  The County Prosecuting Attorney has ultimate authority over cases such as the arrest of SEIU senior staff members Elston McCowan and Perry Molens.  And the Prosecuting Attorney is an elected official which by definition makes that person a politician.  Who is the politician ultimately responsible for ensuring the crimes against Kenneth Gladney are brought to justice?

Meet Robert McCulloch .  Robert McCulloch  is the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney in whose jurisdiction these arrests were made.  Last year, during the presidential election, Robert McCulloch was a central figure in something called “The Barack Obama Truth Squad”.  This “truth” squad was created at the request of the Missouri Obama for America campaign.  As KMOV reported at the time:

“They will be reminding voters that Barack Obama is a Christian who wants to cut taxes for anyone who makes less than $250,000 a year. They also say they plan to respond immediately to any ads and statements that violate Missouri’s ethics laws.”

McCulloch himself was quoted in the report saying:

“If they’re not going to tell the truth, somebody’s got to step up and say, ‘That’s not true. This is the truth.’”

That is what McCulloch said he would do on “The Barack Obama Truth Squad” in his capacity as Prosecuting Attorney, NOT as a paid employee of the Obama for America Campaign.  Please understand, in September of 2008, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch  took on as his responsibility as a public official, paid for by the good people of Missouri, the role of “Rapid Response” for the Obama Campaign responsible for informing the voters of what is true and what is not, all the time reminding everyone that Barack Obama is a Christian who wants to cut taxes for anyone who makes less than $250,000 a year.  I think even the most casual observer can look at this and reach the conclusion that Mr. McCulloch  brings with him a certain level of partisan bias when executing his duties as Prosecuting Attorney.

As the KMOV report stated:

“The Barack Obama campaign is asking Missouri law enforcement to target anyone who lies or runs a misleading TV ad during the presidential campaign.”

“The Barack Obama campaign is asking…”  We have already discussed who was in charge of the Barack Obama campaign in Missouri, but I think it bears repeating:

• Buffy Wicks ran the Obama for America campaign in Missouri, Buffy Wicks now works for Valerie Jarret in the White House Office of Public Engagement and was involved in the NEA Conference Calls.
• Sara Howard worked with Buffy Wicks on the Obama for America Campaign in Missouri and Sarah Howard worked at SEIU in St Louis.  The day before the St. Louis town hall she was hired by Rep. Russ Carnahan.
• Margarida Jorge also worked at SEIU in St. Louis, just like Sara Howard and Margarida wrote the HCAN memo on fighting back against the right.
• Just like Jorge and Howard, Elston McCowan and Perry Molens worked at SEIU in St. Louis.  They have been charged with the bloody assault of Kenneth Gladney.

Now, let’s add THIS one to the mix:

• Robert McCulloch worked on behalf of the Obama for America campaign (Wicks and Howard) by aggressively promoting a pre-emptive strike against negative campaigning against Barack Obama.  McCulloch is the person charged with the duty to bring charges against McCowan and Molens for assaulting Gladney outside the town hall meeting of Carnahan arranged by Howard following the volatile template written by Jorge!  (Follow all that?)

So, how did McCulloch do in executing his duties in the Gladney case?  McCulloch handed the case over to county counselor Patricia Redington and washed his hands from that point on.  It is interesting that McCulloch moved so quickly in using intimidation tactics by wielding the power of his office and the threat of legal ramifications for any negative advertising that may have suggested that candidate Obama might not actually lower taxes on everyone making $250,000 per year (have you gotten your tax cut yet?) but he passed the buck when it came to this case.

Meanwhile, Redington let this case languish for months before finally bringing modest charges against the suspects on the afternoon before Thanksgiving (an obvious attempt to let the story disappear).  One week before the charges were brought, Big Government reported:

• Redington hasn’t spoken to Kenneth Gladney
• Redington hasn’t called any of the witnesses on the police report.
• Redington hasn’t contacted any of the Tea Party members that are seen on video
• Redington hasn’t contacted any of the people who shot video that night and whose YouTube urls are listed on the evidence page

Also, despite the fact that Redington never investigated the injuries Gladney suffered and never interviewed the medical personnel who administered assistance to Gladney, she still felt it best to reduce the charges down to an ordinance violation.  In the words of Judge Anthony Napolitano:  “The moral equivalent of jay walking.”

But, make no mistake; this is happening on McCulloch’s watch.  He has the authority to handle this case and to ensure that proper charges are filed, but he has chosen not to.  It begs the question:  If he jumped through the “Truth Squad” hoops when Buffy Wicks asked him to during the campaign, is it possible he has turned his back on this case for similar reasons?

Tomorrow:  We reveal a document linking the activities of HCAN and SEIU in August at the town hall meetings with the highest levels of the Government.

Photo by Dana Loesch

St. Louis County Prosecutors watered-down the charges in the Kenneth Gladney case from a misdemeanor to an ordinance violation without so much as even calling St. John’s Hospital, where Gladney received treatment for his injuries, and checking Gladney’s hospital record or speaking with care providers on site.

Elston McCowan and Perry Molens were witnessed on video assaulting Gladney who is seen being taken to the ground. Cheryl Johner punched Kelly Owens in the face – which Owens caught on camera, an assault witnessed by a police officer, according to the police report – and all three get off with nothing more that ordinance violations.

Owens beating recap:

It has been discovered that no one from Patricia Redington’s office ever accessed Gladney’s medical records for use in determining the charges filed in the case.

Not only did the prosecuting attorney’s office fail to immediately file charges after the assaults, but now it would seem that partiality is being shown as evidenced by the downsize in the severity of charges without even checking on the extent of Gladney’s injuries.

Remember that Patricia Redington’s office made sure to file charges against Bill Federer, on behalf of Dick Gephardt campaigner James Larrew (which were subsequently tossed) on the following day, which was a national holiday. Redington is said to not have actually interviewed any witnessed, either.

So:

No witnesses interviewed.

Medical record wasn’t accessed.

They must have a magic crystal ball because I don’t know how you can file charges without actually investigating the case.

Gladney beating recap:

Developing …

*Update 1: I’m hearing that the review fell under Assistant County Prosecutor Brian Malone. Contact info:

100 S Central Ave
St Louis, MO 63105-1732
(314) 615-2600
(314) 615-7042

Related:

Anatomy of a Beat-down Part 1: Why Kenneth Gladney was Beaten, and by Whom

On October 9th, 2000, Patricia Redington, a newly appointed St. Louis County Counselor showed such dedication to her job, that she opened the office on the Columbus Day holiday in order to file assault charges against Republican candidate Bill Federer.  This is in contrast to the way she handles the, typical case and the way she is handling the case of Democrat SEIU members pounding a businessman.   St. Louis area patriots smell a rat and show no signs of letting up until justice is served.

Realizing that workers can lose their initial zeal for their jobs, we can understand why Counselor Redington now says that despite what she did for Federer, her typical time to get charges written up and filed is six to eight weeks.  That is unfortunate for Federer who had an election in four weeks and might have appreciated a delay.  He lost his election as voters had to choose between throwing out Gephart and voting in a guy under a legal cloud and media scrutiny.   The respected author, historian and family man just might be mentally unstable considering he had in fact, been charged with a crime.  Redington, by the way, is a Democrat.

Now Redington is getting some renewed attention for the ordinance violation charges she filed on Thanksgiving “Eve” over three months after she received the police reports.  The timing smells like a “dump” tactic typically used by politicians who dump bad news on Friday afternoon hoping for minimal public exposure.  This action came only after a steady drum beat of pressure by St. Louis bloggers then Andrew Breitbart’s Biggovernment.com, and finally Glenn Beck.  It was not until the Beck coverage that a single major St. Louis media outlet other than our conservative talk radio station, KFTK, picked up the story.  Chalk one up for new media lighting a fire under old media.

This time the accused assailants are Democrat campaign operatives, members of the Service Employees International Union sporting the latest thug fashion, purple people beater SEIU t-shirts.  The victim, Ken Gladney was a black guy just trying to make a buck selling Gadsden flags and buttons to the attendees at a Congressional Town Hall meeting.  The “courageous” Congressman Carnahan was so nervous about what his constituents might say to him that he provided a “union only” entrance and put bussed-in union members in the first 300 seats making his constituents settle for the 200 nose bleed section seats left over.  Hundreds were stranded outside.

Perhaps it was the sense of entitlement.  Did they fancy themselves “made men”?

The President, whose White House was quoted saying of the Tea Party protesters “if they are going to hit us, we will hit them back twice as hard”.  The SEIU thugs have a union president Andy Stern, who is the number one White House visitor with 22 visits which is five times the number two visitor, carbon tax speculator Al Gore.  Stern believes he bought the Presidency for Obama.  So it is no surprise that the union is paying the legal expenses for the accused assailants, one of whom was so convinced that pounding people was official union business that he filed a workers’ compensation claim for injuries he gave himself during the melee’.  The insurance company did not see it that way and refused the claim.   Meanwhile, contributing to the speculation about how far the arm of the SEIU reaches into the Democratic establishment is the way Redington is handling the case.

Redington charged Federer in two days.  Her average is six to eight weeks.  In fact, every single case filed by Redington’s office in August has been filed, and 37% were even adjudicated before she made time for the SEIU thugs.   Worse, for beating Ken Gladney and calling him the “n” word for expressing a political view, the assailants are charged with an ordinance violation.  Victim Ken Gladney, a black man facing justice denied, is in disbelief.  The St. Louis Tea Party is not going to let this story die quietly.

Redington denies that she was sweeping anything under the rug.  Maybe, but waiting over three months to bring pathetically inadequate charges is worse, especially from someone with such a peculiar track record.  According to reports, she brought these charges without ever interviewing the victim or obtaining hospital reports detailing the extent of the injuries.  The black Democrat County Executive Charlie Dooley a union autoworker, could take sympathy with Gladney and remove Redington.  He has remained totally silent.  Democrat County Prosecutor Bob McCullough could file real felony state charges including the application of Missouri’s hate crimes law.  He is ducking.

There is a cynical observation of American politics that is rather crude but thought provoking in defining the difference between a liberal and a conservative.  It holds that a conservative is someone who has been a victim of crime and a liberal is someone falsely accused.  In Pat Reddington’s St. Louis County it appears that “victim” is a status reserved for liberals, and “perpetrator” is a status reserved for conservatives.

Ken Gladney is pictured here after his public beating by SEIU thugs. Kenneth Gladney attended this protest against SEIU violence in August in St. Louis. He was beaten, kicked and called racist names by Russ Carnahan’s SEIU supporters after the town hall meeting earlier that week. St. Louis County officials have yet to press charges.

It’s been over 3 months and still St. Louis county officials have not met with Kenneth Gladney to discuss the case nor have they press charges against the SEIU thugs who beat him.

Today after Kenneth set up an appointment with the county officials to discuss the crime– they blew him off. Kenneth made the appointment and they totally ignored him.

Later today Kenneth Gladney talked about how the county is ignoring the crime against him:

Kenneth Gladney was beaten once in the street in a hate crime. But, it doesn’t matter to county officials.

They have better things to do than protect a black man who was assaulted by SEIU thugs.

Cross-posted at GatewayPundit.

Redington is now responding to emails saying she is looking into the events, the investigation is still under review, and her office is interviewing witnesses.  This is one of her responses to a St Louis county resident about the affair.

There were several incidents at this event which required police intervention, and our office is reviewing the police report and has been interviewing various witnesses before making a final decision on what charges may be issued.

One wonders just what exactly if anything new is being done.  Three months seems a long time to wait to bring charges, especially in the case of Kelly Owens, where the incident is on video camera and witnessed by a police office.  The answer given by Redington is noncommittal, and basically says ‘we’re looking into it.’  But are they?  The pressure of the police report, the line drawn between St Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch and the Obama truth squads, and the background stories on Perry Molens and Kelly Owens got local citizens up in arms and interested KMOX reporter Kevin Killeen enough to ask some questions.  This is Redington’s response to Killeen’s questions.

Six people were arrested by St. Louis County Police, with at least two suspects booked on suspicion of assault. But the person who will decide whether to file charges,  St. Louis County Counselor Patricia Redington, is still sorting it all out. “There were multiple altercations and police involvement,” Redington said. “We’re looking at the whole evening and the charges that may be filed as a result of that.”

Redington says there were half a dozen possible criminal incidents at that event and she plans to announce her findings all at the same time. She did not give KMOX a timetable for the announcement. But, according to Redington, the incident, ‘definitely has not been swept under the rug.’”

It’s interesting that Redington says the incident is not being swept under the rug.  I wonder if she would admit that it has been slowed to a crawl so as not to bring to light the fact that five HCAN supporters were arrested the week that Margarida Jorde sent out instructions on how to counter Townhalls?  And let’s not forget Jake Wagman, the silenced reporter arrested that night. If the Post Dispatch had done their job as a news organization and asked a single question about the event anytime after August 14th, perhaps we wouldn’t still be waiting to find out if it’s acceptable to punch and kick your political opponents to send a message.  It is only when KMOX contacts Redington that we hear the investigation is moving forward.  And yet the question remains whether Redington is telling the whole truth, or counting on the local press to cut her some slack.

In the email above, Redington says her office “is reviewing the police report and has been interviewing various witnesses.”

Allow us to remain slightly skeptical and ask, just who exactly is Patricia Redington interviewing?

• She hasn’t spoken to Kenneth Gladney
• Redington hasn’t spoken to Kelly Owens.
• Redington hasn’t called any of the witnesses on the police report.
• Redington hasn’t contacted any of the Tea Party members that are seen on video
• Redington hasn’t contacted any of the people who shot video that night and whose YouTube urls are listed on the evidence page

Who exactly is Redington interviewing?  If she’s talking to witnesses, she’s only talking to ones pre-approved by SEIU’s defense lawyer, the high powered Paul D’Agrosa. We should keep in mind that D’Agrosa is being paid by SEIU Local 2000, the employer for Elston McCowan and Perry Molens.  He, like SEIU and their new media spin team, have fallen silent.  Despite her protestations, it’s very clear that Redington is delaying action for some reason.  If Big Government hadn’t broken the story, it’s not hard to imagine no word of this would have been spoken until healthcare was passed and the charges could be filed or pled down over a busy holiday weekend.

Redington was forced to act because KMOX asked her a question.  Compare the foot dragging of one serious assault and one face punch to her quick work filing charges when a Democratic staffer claimed he was pushed after jamming his camera into a Republican’s face.   We’re wondering just how much pressure Redington is under because McCulloch is pushing all the heat to her.  Email responses from McCulloch’s office claim the problem is all Redington’s, but that is passing the buck as well. Political and racial violence could easily give him the authority to prosecute under Missouri state laws, as could Gladney’s medical reports, which could elevate the assault to a felony.  McCulloch is not interested. It seems he’s more concerned with prosecuting citizens who don’t pay $600 to a mechanic than investigating clear attempts to use violence to frighten away legitimate political protest.  It’s a shame.  He could have made quite a name for himself as a staunch defender of St Louis citizens if he had the courage to at least bring the matter to the attention of the press.  We are unconvinced with the argument that a prosecutor with a 20 year political record has no influence in a story as big as the beating of a black man by union members and the arrest of five Healthcare for America Now volunteers.

For Redington to tell citizens and reporters the investigation is ongoing is a sign that pressure is getting to her.  If you’re from St Louis, keep it up.  And if you’re the Post Dispatch, anytime you want to pretend to be a real paper, you’re welcome to get involved.  We’ll even give you our notes.