ARLINGTON, Va., Aug 28, 2008 (ASCRIBE NEWS via COMTEX) -- Retired police
detective, Howard Wooldridge, representing Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
(LEAP), was ousted from the National Asian Peace Officers Association (NAPOA)
Conference in Crystal City because he was representing a view contrary U.S.
government policy.
LEAP is a 10,000-member organization of police, judges, prosecutors, DEA & FBI
agents, and others who know ending drug prohibition will reduce death, disease,
crime, and addiction, while saving billions of our tax dollars each year.
On Tuesday (8-26-2008) acting under pressure from unnamed federal officials,
Reagan Fong, President of the NAPOA, insisted on the immediate removal of LEAP
from the conference vendor roster. It appears that some of the event's other
exhibitors took exception to the LEAP message and put pressure on the event
organizer to expel LEAP from the event. While the incident was civil and took
place prior to the second day's session it represents a serious violation of
Constitutional rights as cited within the First Amendment.
Federal agency representatives manning booths at the conference included DEA,
Federal Air Marshals, NCIS, and Coast Guard. The prior day LEAP's spokesperson
had visited the DEA booth and described the agent as "decidedly unhappy" with an
opposing viewpoint. In sharp contrast at 37 national and international law
enforcement Conferences where LEAP has been allowed to exhibit, 80 percent of
booth visitors agreed with LEAP's stance for ending this failed drug war.
As for the Crystal City NAPOA incident, the appearance of impropriety is almost
as bad as the real thing. LEAP has attempted to establish contact with Mr. Fong,
NAPOA President, to confirm the details of the incident but we have received no
response so we can only conclude it is blatant censorship originating from a
judgmental "Big Brother" mentality. LEAP believes that this group owes us an
apology. We ask that Mr. Fong identify the individual, agency or group that
lobbied for our eviction from the event.
If this was an independent effort then he or she was acting outside the scope of
authority and should receive administrative punishment for unprofessional
actions. If this action was sanctioned by upper level management then the
managers need to explain their behavior in an open forum. If this was sanctioned
official action by the U.S. Government it is a serious matter which requires
serious and immediate attention.
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CONTACTS: Terry L. Nelson, 817-573-6927
Jack A. Cole, 617-792-3877
