BY FRANK VERNUCCIO
The Bronx Times Reporter
has demonstrated the fi nest example
of journalistic integrity
by allowing contrary voices to
be published.
In a community, city and
state wholly dominated by
a single party and supportive
media, the airing of other
views is a true necessity for
the maintenance of the First
Amendment. It is expected
that those views would produce
disagreement from the
predominantly leftist majority;
that’s the nature of public
debate.
What is truly worrisome
and devastating to constitutional
liberties and public
safety itself however, is the
impulse, by several, not just
to disagree with non-Democrat
views, but to attempt to
censor them out of existence
altogether. This is a nationwide
trend that began on college
campuses, expanded to
social media sites and now has
metastasized to the general
public square.
Unfortunately, even key
elected offi cials have signed
on to this revolt against the
Bill of Rights. Several years
ago, Senator Charles Schumer
called for the weakening of
free speech rights, alleging
that paid political speech is not
covered by the First Amendment.
He stated that “The First
Amendment is sacred, but it is
not absolute.” Frighteningly,
the Senate Minority Leader received
the support of the Democrat
delegation. Happily, that
was not enough to secure passage
of the measure.
On college campuses, students
and professors not kowtowing
to left-wing orthodoxy
are ostracized, attacked and
banned. Social media giants
censor out voices they disagree
with and cut deals with overseas
Communist regimes. The
mayor of one city discourages
his police from protecting the
property of a federal agency
leftists dislike, a growing tendency
Bronx man sentenced in cold case
District Attorney Darcel Clark announced on Aug. 11 that a Bronx man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to fi rst-degree
manslaughter in the 1999 death of his neighbor. Courtesy of Facebook of Darcel Clark
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,30 AUGUST 21-27, 2020 BTR
in progressive-run metropolises.
Hollywood moguls
harass entertainers who contradict
leftist positions. Major
news media outlets ignore
facts that don’t fi t in with their
left-wing views.
In addition to the academic,
political, and fi nancial acts
against those disagreeing
with the left, violence has been
employed. Antifa actually uses
the classic tactics of fascists
and totalitarians to physically
assault any that dare disagree
with it. It serves as the
shock troops of the anti-free
speech movement. While serving
as vice chair of the Democrat
National Committee,
Keith Ellison signaled support
for Antifa.
These Gestapo-like tactics
are being supported and encouraged
by some Democratic
leaders. Rep. Maxine Waters of
California has urged supporters
to assault Trump cabinet
members at gas stations and
anywhere else they’re seen.
“If you see anybody from
that cabinet in a restaurant, in
a department store, at a gasoline
station, you get out and
you create a crowd and you
push back on them and you tell
them they’re not welcome anymore,
anywhere,” she said.
A key tactic of those opposing
the presence of contrary
views and the practice of free
speech rights is to make broad
and untrue statements about
those with more centrist or
conservative views, then not
allow the offended to respond.
Recently, the legal abuses
by the Obama Administration
have been noted in this
column and other forums. The
use of the IRS to harass the
Tea Party, and the use of the
Justice Department to attack
those disagreeing with the former
president on climate issues
are two salient examples.
These are not allegations, they
are facts. Indeed, the IRS was
forced to publicly apologize
for its actions. Nevertheless,
those courageous civil libertarians
pointing out these violations
are publicly denounced
for detailing the lawbreaking
by Democrat partisans. Even
worse, they are frequently ignored
and not given the chance
to address the public.
The dominance of mass
media by the left has acted as
a shield for the misdeeds of
those it favors. It was recently
pointed out that the Obama
Administration tilted towards
Iran, the world’s leading sponsor
of terror. That reality is
downplayed by the biased media.
A former Obama offi cial,
John Kerry, has met with Iranian
offi cials since leaving offi
ce. That is not an opinion, it
is a fact. Yet mentioning those
facts brings down a torrent of
objections from leftists who
seek to rewrite history for
their own benefi t, a tactic common
to totalitarian regimes.
Dissent and disagreement
in a free nation are healthy.
The growing leftist and progressive
tendency to censor
and employ violence against
those it disagrees with are
worrisome signs that that
health is deteriorating.
CIVIC CENTER
COMACTA
VIST US ONLINE AT WWW.BXTIMES.COM
UPDATED DAILY
BY JASON COHEN
District Attorney Darcel
Clark announced yesterday
that a Bronx man has been sentenced
to 20 years in prison after
pleading guilty to fi rst-degree
manslaughter in the 1999
death of his neighbor.
The defendant, Curtis
Batchelor, 44, was sentenced
to 20 years in prison and fi ve
years’ post-release supervision.
Batchelor pleaded guilty
to fi rst-degree manslaughter
on Feb. 27.
“More than two decades
have passed since the defendant
killed his neighbor, a
56-year-old woman who lived
on the fl oor above him,” Clark
said. “DNA taken from another
crime he committed in
2017 connected him to the 1999
crime scene. The defendant
believed he had gotten away
with her killing, but in the end
justice prevailed.”
According to the investigation,
between May 25, 1999 and
May 27, 1999, the defendant
stabbed Elsa Grullon more
than 20 times in the face, neck
and chest with a knife while he
raped her.
Grullon was discovered
dead on May 27, 1999 by a family
member. Batchelor was arrested
and convicted in January
2016 for a minor crime and
his DNA was taken.
In March 2016, the DNA was
found to match the DNA recovered
from the Grullon’s body.
Batchelor was arrested Feb. 27,
2017 for the death of Grullon. As
part of the plea deal the rape
charge was dismissed.
/WWW.BXTIMES.COM
