XPost: alt.government.abuse, alt.law-enforcement, alt.security.terrorism 
 XPost: nyc.politics 
 From: nospam@me.com 
  
 "Freedom Fighter"  wrote in message 
 news:H9GOa.44652$0v4.3082206@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net... 
 > 9/11 party gets raided 
 > Cops seize coolers seeking alcohol at fund-raiser 
 > Originally published on July 8, 2003 
 > By MICHELE McPHEE and CELESTE KATZ 
 > DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS 
 > 
 > Dozens of cops descended on Rockaway Beach on the Fourth of July and broke 
 > up a fund-raiser for memorials to 9/11 victims, angry partygoers charged 
 > yesterday. 
 > 
 > "When they came [it was] literally a SWAT team," said high school teacher 
 > Marie McGoldrick, 31. "You can't imagine how bizarre this was. We're 
 talking 
 > about families of people who lost their loved ones on 9/11." 
 > 
 > Police said yesterday they were simply trying keep alcohol off the beach. 
 > But people in the tight-knit Queens community, filled with cops and 
 > firefighters, charged they were harassed on a day that should have been 
 > dedicated to the memories of fallen family and friends. 
 > 
 > The clash began in the early afternoon when police tried to look in 
 coolers, 
 > searching for alcohol. 
 > 
 > When some of the 500 revelers objected, officers began confiscating 
 coolers 
 > and writing tickets - in some cases without even looking inside, 
 partygoers 
 > charged. 
 > 
 > Things got worse around 8 p.m. when about 50 cops began sweeping people 
 off 
 > the beach, as others in dune buggies drove along the shoreline, shining 
 > spotlights on beachgoers, witnesses said. 
 > 
 > Families fled, putting an abrupt end to a party that raised $10,000 for a 
 > memorial garden at nearby St. Francis de Sales Church and a Beach 116th 
 St. 
 > tribute to victims of the terror attack and the Flight 587 crash. 
 > 
 > "It was the most disgusting thing you've ever seen in your life," said 
 > Richard Knott, 46, who was slapped with a disorderly conduct summons. 
 "They 
 > raided the beach for no reason. 
 > 
 > "I said, 'What is this, Iraq? Is this Tiananmen Square?' One [cop] just 
 > pointed at me and said, 'You come over here.' ... They threw the handcuffs 
 > on me in front of my wife, my mother and my children," he said. 
 > 
 > Yesterday, police officials defended the cops' actions. 
 > 
 > Uniformed sweep 
 > 
 > "There were summonses written and confiscations made up and down the 
 beach. 
 > This event was not singled out," said NYPD Capt. James Klein. "The police 
 > were there to enforce the law. They wanted to let people have a good time 
 > while obeying the law. There's no alcohol consumption allowed on the 
 beach." 
 > 
 > Ten summonses were issued for violations ranging from alcohol to noise to 
 > disorderly conduct, cops said. Klein said 14 coolers with beer were 
 > confiscated. 
 > 
 > Klein said representatives of the 100th Precinct met with party organizers 
 > before the event and agreed there would be no alcohol or open fires - but 
 > both rules were broken. 
 > 
 > Emotions were still running high last night in the neighborhood, which 
 lost 
 > up to 90 people in the terror attack and five people on the ground in the 
 > Nov. 12, 2001, plane crash that also killed 260 passengers and crew. 
 > 
 > As they raged about the July 4 debacle, angry locals were planning a rally 
 > tomorrow night to protest what they call general police harassment of 
 > beachgoers. 
 > 
 > Firefighter George Johnson, the man on the left in the famed photo of 
 three 
 > firefighters raising the American flag at Ground Zero, said he'll be 
 there. 
 > 
 > He said that during the July 4 raid, a woman showed cops a picture of her 
 > son, who died at Ground Zero. "She said, 'This is a party in the name of 
 my 
 > son. You should be ashamed of yourselves,' and they went right on doing 
 what 
 > they were doing." 
  
 Those cops lost friends and family too.  They still have to do their job 
 even after that great loss.  Alcohol and open fires are not permitted on the 
 beach, so people got tickets for it and got their alcohol confiscated.  One 
 or two cops can't do that effectively. 
  
 -- 
  
 jaybird 
  
 I am not the cause of your problems.  I am the result of your actions... 
 Your life is not my fault. 
  
 --------- 
  
 --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05 
  * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)