Pennsylvania Police Chief: F*Ck All You Libtards Out There

[ShinShinKid]

You mean Gilberton is not the new Sparta?

I was under the impression Kessler was the rebirth of Leonidas or some such leader of great import and skill; Napolean!



I hear the Ice Cream in the NorthEast is pretty good!

Bo staffs had me thinking this...set in Idaho, but somehow familiar to people in all parts of the country...

[Luther Blissett]

The general impression that my friend in DHS gives me is that the Obama administration is terrified of the guy. Simply put, they're afraid that towns which have a demographic similar to Gilberton, will all fall under militia rule.

LMFAO. This cat must be related to Wayne Madsen.

I've been through this area before. Gilberton is a tiny-ass housing tract between Shenandoah and -- seriously -- Frackville. It's a quaint little main street drag, but everyone shops at the Wal-Mart in St. Clair. There's just no demographic, geographic, cultural support for a milita confrontation involved here. Taking Kessler out would be a piece of fucking cake if he were an actual target.

His "militia support" is an awesomely ominous term for his high school drinking buddies abusing public carry law.

Have to agree with you regarding the size and "threat" of Gilberton. However, the real fear here is my familiarity with his sentiments because they so closely align with those of my father, my uncles, their friends, and countless other men of that generation that I encounter in my day-to-day life. While some of that writing was cringeworthy, comparable to fearmongering from every and any part of the field, I still find that the general kinetic threat exists.

For instance, I have a question: why did the oath keepers distance themselves from his words? Did he only cross an invisible line into vulgarity?

[Wombaticus Rex]

For instance, I have a question: why did the oath keepers distance themselves from his words? Did he only cross an invisible line into vulgarity?

Yes -- and not just in terms of the profanity -- he was being vulgar strategically. You don't see Heritage Foundation wonks putting up videos on youtube where they're drinking craft beer on their back porch and bitching about minorities & gays, you know? Oath Keepers absolutely needs to maintain an image rooted in the dignity of LEO & armed forces.

There is definitely a groundswell for HOT MILITIA ACTION in the United States, but Kessler is a human turd and PA is probably not going to be ground zero. I would expect to see a resurgence pretty much exactly where it happened in the 1990s: rural midwest & northwest.

[82_28]

But seriously, the way to deal with mentalities like this is just to say "fuck your incurious right wing ass too, bro." I'm here and you're here. Why is it that you're the one with the goddamn fetish of shooting and killing things but we still get along? I think as far as this joker is concerned, it's just insular small town syndrome coupled with decades of right wing indoctrination. This is not to say that PA isn't just one big suburbia compared to what we have out west. It seems gun nuts are different out west because they are more interested in hunting, fishing, boating etc than those in places such as PA. Maybe my view on these kinds of people is just colored by the fact I'm in Seattle and there are plenty of people who love their guns out here but they also don't give a shit that liberals or gays or Asian people (just to name a few) are around them. I have many conservative or right wing friends and it is a known quotient that I am very leftist. We all have the same gripes about the government and shit. But we seem to have differing emphases on what we deem right. They, their guns and shit and me "keep your guns, just don't shoot anyone with it". Sure, you got your military, just don't use it.

The military as a whole, I hate. But as distinct individuals I am fully capable of loving them and theirs. Guns, I hate. But as an instrument meant to hunt or something, I couldn't care less. I lose a lot of leftist cred by being a carnivore, but I could never kill an animal on my own accord. I would cry and pray to whatever gods protected that animal if I ever had to personally kill it. But this guy is a fucking idiot and surprise, he's a cop too on the school board. No way!

People just need to be people and accept differences and never do any harm. And indeed, atheists should pray as well, if they're so damned brave. We should forgive this asshole just because he is here along with us. We'll all be better off if only for a moment.

[Luther Blissett]

I think as far as this joker is concerned, it's just insular small town syndrome coupled with decades of right wing indoctrination. This is not to say that PA isn't just one big suburbia compared to what we have out west. It seems gun nuts are different out west because they are more interested in hunting, fishing, boating etc than those in places such as PA. Maybe my view on these kinds of people is just colored by the fact I'm in Seattle and there are plenty of people who love their guns out here but they also don't give a shit that liberals or gays or Asian people (just to name a few) are around them. I have many conservative or right wing friends and it is a known quotient that I am very leftist. We all have the same gripes about the government and shit. But we seem to have differing emphases on what we deem right. They, their guns and shit and me "keep your guns, just don't shoot anyone with it". Sure, you got your military, just don't use it.

I'm not sure what small town syndrome is, but I hear these types of essentially race-tinged sentiments from people in post-industrial rust belt cities, suburbs, and heavily forested, wooded rural areas. Hunting and fishing are massive pastimes in PA, but people also love to fear Cubans, "Arabs," "jihadis," etc.

I'm not trying to monger fear by implying that this guy touches on a possible widespread nerve, but I see racism every single day whenever people (of privilege, usually white) think they are in a "safe space" to let loose with it. Every day. Microaggressions, prejudice, bigotry. Hell, even the department I work in is all-white, and I think about that all the time.

[beeline]

Hmmmm, this 'militia' idea seems to be gaining traction:

From DailyKos:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/06/1229194/-The-Town-Of-Gilberton-PA-Has-Been-Taken-Over-By-Miltia#

Tue Aug 06, 2013 at 07:28 AM PDT
The Town Of Gilberton, PA Has Been Taken Over By Miltia

With a media blackout no one has heard about this.

If I told you there was this small town where citizens who do not agree with the war lord and his armed, non-government military force live in fear. they are denied the right to go to public meetings to air their complaints and are threatened when they speak out. Most of the town's resident feel threatened, intimidated and terrorized. So is this a small town in Pakistan taken over by the Taliban? No, it's Gilberton, PA a small coal mining town about 45 miles NE of Harrisburg and 35 miles NW of Allentown.

In an article By Eric Dolan, Randy Morris and David Warner of Political Blind Spot .org they write:

Welcome to Gilberton, Pennsylvania, where men with loaded guns, propping up a suspended police chief accuse all other citizens of being “tyrants”. It is a place where men with Swastika tattoos claim the “other people” are the Nazis. What, didn't you hear about this on CNN, Fox, MSNBC, or really anywhere else? Isn't NPR even interested in this story? For whatever the reason, no one is touching this. Perhaps the Federal government fears a stand off and doesn't want this to snowball, or inspire other towns with similar demographics to go the same route. Whatever the reason, this is a true case of media blackout.

More about this US Citizen Taliban takeover below the orange interstate highway interchange squiggle.

As part of the background of the events so far the writers continued:

Gilberton, Pennsylvania is a small borough which is currently living under the constant threat of terroristic violence. Armed men block the entrance to public meetings. Public officials openly threaten every member of society who holds a different political view than they do, and councilmen are strip searched and arrested without cause if they don’t fall in line with prevailing opinions.

Anyone who tries to fire the Police Chief is be forced to live in fear of retaliation from a militia of armed terrorists. Pennsylvania police chief Mark Kessler is the head of a political organization which refers to itself as “The Constitution Security Force.“ Kessler was recently given a thirty day suspension, for using police property as props in a video where he threatens and insults “libtards,” otherwise known as people who hold political views which differ from his own.

According to the Huffington Post, members of the group ”angrily confronted Michael Morrill of Keystone Progress, who delivered petition signatures from 20,000 Americans who want Kessler fired.” In an email Morrill explained, “I have been organizing for four decades. I have faced Klansmen in Kentucky, Ustase in Bosnia and police indiscriminately beating demonstrators in Italy. [Wednesday] night in Gilberton was more frightening than any of those situations.”

Whether the town of Gilberton, Pennsylvania can legally continue to employ someone who is causing members of the community to live in fear, is yet to be seen. Kessler’s position as Police Chief is one which comes with a great deal of power and one which requires a great deal of trust from the public. After viewing the videos he has posted on-line here and here, it is hard to imagine that his outright hate for everyone who holds political views which are different from his own, does not interfere with his ability to perform his duties in a non-partisan manner. Kessler’s out of control behavior has already cost the town of Gilberton a great deal of money. In 2010 he illegally arrested a councilman and performed a strip search on him.

The people of Gilberton borough are also rightfully concerned about Kessler’s irrational behavior. In 2011, while off duty, the police chief fired his weapon during a bar brawl, shooting himself in the hand by mistake. At the time of the incident, police and media reports show that the bar was “packed” with people. In a report from the Republican Herald, published shortly after the incident first occurred, an officer under Kessler is quoted as saying: “He got mixed up. Why, at this point, is still under investigation.”

The town of Gilberton, Pennsylvania has a duty to protect all of it’s citizens first and foremost, and to ensure that all of it’s citizens are able to exercise their constitutional rights. Since Kessler also runs the police in Gilberton, who is there to arrest these militia members when they threaten and intimidate others citizens? Who is there to protect other members of society and ensure that their rights are being protected? How can citizens who hold political views that differ from those of Kessler and his group of gun-wielding bullies not feel terrorized in Gilberton? The Constitution Security Force web-site makes it clear that members will not hesitate to shoot people for expressing political views contradictory to their own.

Still, the mainstream corporate media seems to be sleeping on this story, for reasons which are as of yet unclear. Spread the word. It’s up to “we the people” to let our friends, families and neighbors know what is going on, when the media refuses to do their job.

So this is what the far right, tea party, libertarians want to take this country. Pennsylvania is a northeast testing ground for far right politics. I'm just waiting for Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, North Dakota, etc. to follow. If you think the radical right in those states aren't watching, just wait.

How to stop this - vote in 2014

[Wombaticus Rex]

Still, the mainstream corporate media seems to be sleeping on this story, for reasons which are as of yet unclear.

Maybe because, in terms of that headline at least, it's completely fictitious?

[justdrew]

thank you Beeline. good find.

I think the State Police or county government could dissolve the Gilberton sheriff position and eliminate any legal standing for the township police force. possibly.

failing that (which I wont hold my breath for anyone to show anything like leadership)...

We could await some action from the justice department. heh. As if.

---

It is in no way fictitious wombat, it's a modal they intend to replicate, all over depopulated 'rural' America.

So this is what the far right, tea party, libertarians want to take this country. Pennsylvania is a northeast testing ground for far right politics. I'm just waiting for Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, North Dakota, etc. to follow. If you think the radical right in those states aren't watching, just wait.

How to stop this - vote in 2014

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/federalize-pennsylvania-national-guard-and-disarm-gilberton-pennsylvania-chief-police-and-his-thugs/3pRfNJX7

Maybe not so easy though. It looks like this guy and his pals may be on the way out, but we'll see. I certainly would not be willing to live in a place with this sort of police chief.

[Wombaticus Rex]

..."they" who? THE KOCH BROTHERS, DOOD?

Edit: Fertile, fertile, fertile trolling potential here: http://chiefkessler.com/index.php/csf-i ... emberships

[Hammer of Los]

...

Dis tread's givin' me a good chuckle!

In 2011, while off duty, the police chief fired his weapon during a bar brawl, shooting himself in the hand by mistake. At the time of the incident, police and media reports show that the bar was “packed” with people. In a report from the Republican Herald, published shortly after the incident first occurred, an officer under Kessler is quoted as saying: “He got mixed up. Why, at this point, is still under investigation.”

Shot himself in da hand!

Mistake? Mixed up?

I tink he shot da right guy!

Ha ha ha!

...

[Luther Blissett]

Example of racism that I just came across: http://philadelphia.foobooz.com/2013/08 ... eesesteak/
These protestations are coming from an urban Italian-American and Irish-American community who have lived amongst people of all stripes for their entire lives. To imagine that these folks wouldn't have affinity for anti-immigrant, "anti-libtard", anti-congress, anti-gay, anti-government sentiments seems like fantasy to me.

[beeline]

http://rt.com/usa/chief-kessler-petition-militia-128/


Pennsylvanians ask feds to help disarm intimidating small-town militia
Published time: August 06, 2013 20:38


The police chief of a small Pennsylvania borough has been temporarily removed from his post, but his opponents are far from satisfied. Now residents of a sparsely populated former coal town are asking the feds to intervene in fear of an armed revolt.

Gilberton, Pennsylvania Police Chief Mark Kessler made international headlines last month when his personal, profanity laced YouTube videos went viral, in turn exposing the world to a lawman seemingly intent with defending his Second Amendment right by any means necessary.

“Secretary of State John Kerry, that piece of shit traitor. Who is he to decide what we can and can’t own?” Kessler says in one clip where he argues in support of gun ownership. “And fuck the UN. Who are they to decide what we, the American people, can own?” the disgruntled officer asks.

Kessler uploaded a number of similar videos of himself screaming obscenities at the likes of Sec. Kerry and others, ending each episode by unloading dozens of automatic rounds in front of the camera. After repeated calls for official action, the city suspended him last week for using borough property for personal use. As he awaits the end of his suspension, though, his critics are asking for the government to give them a hand to ensure Kessler’s personal army — a homegrown militia called Kessler's Constitution Security Force — doesn’t try to take control.

Tensions between Kessler and his critics have been high since before the videos began surfacing, but matters were only made worse last Wednesday when the chief asked his Constitution Security Force to surround the town meeting where his suspension was to be discussed.

“When it came time to open the small borough building for the public meeting, these armed men blocked the doors and prevented people from going inside,” local reporter John Luciew wrote from the hearing.

“I have been organizing for four decades. I have faced Klansmen in Kentucky, Ustase in Bosnia and police indiscriminately beating demonstrators in Italy. [Wednesday] night in Gilberton was more frightening than any of those situations,” Michael Morril of Keystone Progress told Huffington Post.

In all, around 100 members of the CSF — outfitted with AR-15 assault rifles — are said to have descended on the scene last Wednesday. Inside the borough hall, the handful of residents lucky enough to bypass Kessler’s security detail spoke of the chief’s intimidation tactics — and a petition signed by 20,000 people demanding Kessler’s termination was delivered to the council.

"He's a nut. I do not feel safe with him around at all," resident Wade Greg Necker said, according to the Huffington Post. Another attendee, Gregory Grove, said of his wife: "She's afraid of him. Kessler is a detriment to this borough."

Gilberton Mayor Mary Lou Hannon said in a statement that she hopes Kessler returns in one month and the entire experience “does not leave a bad taste in his mouth.” It might never come to that, though, if a petition hosted on the White House’s ‘We the People’ webpage garners support in Washington.

Although Gilberton only holds around 700 citizens, nearly 900 people have already signed their names to a petition asking the Pennsylvania National Guard to come and disarm Kessler “and his thugs.”

“Whereas, the Chief of Police of Gilberton, Pennsylvania have usurped the government of the Town of Gilberton through the use of arms and armed intimidation and Whereas, he has recruited armed vigilantes to block access to town meetings and further has threatened and intimidated town citizens who might speak out in opposition against him and Whereas he has posted videos threatening the life of Secretary of State John Kerry and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; we the people of the United States call on the President of the United States, Barack H. Obama to order the federalizing of the Pennsylvania National Guard to go to Gilberton to disarm the Chief and his gang and restore law and order to the Town of Gilberton,” the petition reads in full.

Another 99,000-plus signees must add their digital autograph to the petition to garner an actual response from the White House, suggesting any action whatsoever from the Executive Branch isn’t likely to occur. Even if that goal isn’t reached by the time Kessler’s suspension ends, however, the negative attention he’s drawing from around the world to his tiny town could be enough to garner action, at least on a local level.

Meanwhile, Kessler’s supporters have started a campaign of sorts on their own — a “Support Mark Kessler” crowdfunding page has so far raised $2,367 for the suspended chief in just four days while he misses out on four weeks of pay.

[Wombaticus Rex]

An interesting (and possibly quite ominous) disconnect in two key figures from the above article: the "crowdfunding" raises $2,367, probably an accurate reflection of his real support, and I suppose the socio-economic demographic he's resonating with, too.

Meanwhile, 100 guys with AR-15's is -- at least -- $140k. This is assuming the 100 figure is accurate and they were actually all armed with that model of rifle.

Who funded that?

This is starting to smell like the PMC defending those mines up in Wisconsin, eh?

[beeline]

An interesting (and possibly quite ominous) disconnect in two key figures from the above article: the "crowdfunding" raises $2,367, probably an accurate reflection of his real support, and I suppose the socio-economic demographic he's resonating with, too.

Meanwhile, 100 guys with AR-15's is -- at least -- $140k. This is assuming the 100 figure is accurate and they were actually all armed with that model of rifle.

Who funded that?

This is starting to smell like the PMC defending those mines up in Wisconsin, eh?

Actually, I thought the crowdfunding came from http://chiefkessler.com/index.php/csf-information/memberships, with it's collection of scary and misspelled pages. I mean, who doesn't want to be a member of the Constitutional Security Forces?

And yes, it does remind me a bit of Wisconsin.

[Wombaticus Rex]

I was actually pretty tempted to join yesterday for 1) the hat and 2) being on their email list.