VOICE OF DETROIT: The city's independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

DEFEND CODY D.I.T. JUNIOR ARNAZ COLVIN!–

No more police harassment of Arnaz Colvin (or any student) at bus stops or walking to and from school!

Stop the policy of treating all large groups of youth as gangs! 

End the police intimidation, threats, searches, arrests and beatings of Cody students and all Detroit youth! 

We are students, not criminals! Police out of Cody now!  

Submitted by Defend Arnaz Colvin

Nov. 17, 2013

Arnaz Colvin and friends show support for west side of Detroit.

On Oct. 23rd at 4pm, Arnaz Colvin, Junior at Cody D.I.T. High School was beaten and arrested at the bus stop on W. Chicago & Faust st. after trying to get his younger brother, Chris, who has epilepsy, to safety during a fight among students.

Arnaz, who was trying to break up the fight when 5 squad cars arrived (from DPD, DPS, Gang-Squad and Wayne County), was singled out of the group of around 20 of us at the bus stop. Rather than attempt to break up the fight, Police started beating students with night sticks and Arnaz was thrown to the ground by a white DPD cop named Jason Tonti, his knee slamming into Arnaz’s back as he was handcuffed and beaten, even though Arnaz wasn’t struggling.

Tonti, who has a history of violence, was calling Arnaz the N-word as he threw Arnaz in his squad car and drove him to Rouge Park, where he was met by another man, also white, in plain cloths who provided Tonti with a gun. Tonti put the gun to Arnaz’s head and threatened to shoot him and throw him in Rouge River.

Detroit cop Jason Tonti

Tonti then took Arnaz to jail and held him for 3 days with no access to a lawyer or medical treatment. They refused to tell Arnaz’s mom and sister where he was and police continued to threaten Arnaz until he was finally released and was taken to Henry Ford Urgent Care where he was treated for “Lumbar contusion, chest wall pain, contusion to the chest and back, right ankle and left wrist.” Suffering from chronic pain 3 weeks after Arnaz was attacked, he went to Children’s Hospital of Michigan ER and X-ray showed he had sustained a fracture to his vertebra where Tonti’s knee slammed into his back. Arnaz has also suffered insomnia, flash-backs and anxiety, making leaving the house and going to school a daily battle.

Arnaz is seen as a leader at Cody and was targeted as an attempt to intimidate our optimistic and fighting spirit by making an example of him. Yet despite this Arnaz was not intimidated, and when he was released he joined the growing group of us who are a part of The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), and told everyone what happened to him, as a victory story, because, despite his bangs and bruises, he had stood up to the cops and won.

How DPS sees Cody D.I.T. High School

But on Nov. 6th at 3:56pm, Arnaz and a group of about 11 of us were waiting at the same bus stop after school again.

Eleven squad cars (from DPD, DPS and Gang-Squad), pulled up, 21 cops surrounding us, while 3 students (including Arnaz) were searched, even though there was no fight, we were just waiting to catch the bus home. This was caught on video despite the cops trying to delete it from our phones.

We were then told to disperse (even though this is impossible because we need to wait at the bus stop to get home). Arnaz and a group of 4 other students began walking home, the other 6 students further down the street, when 4 of the squad cars, including officer Tonti began to follow Arnaz, cursing and cracking jokes at him, calling him the N-word.

They expected Arnaz to cower and act afraid, but when he just kept calmly walking, they arrested him again, making up the warrant afterwards, held him for 2 1/2 days and charged him with “resisting, obstructing an assaulting an officer” and forced his family to pay an outrageous $7500 bond.

Arnaz’s court date is currently being re-scheduled and we will let everybody know as soon as we find out what day his case will be heard. Whenever it is, we will need to protest outside and pack the courtroom.

Come to Arnez’s hearing @ 36th District Court!

MEET AT CODY HS, DATE/TIME TO BE ANNOUNCED

Free transportation to/from school provided

Family and friends welcome!

Arnez Colvin, Junior, Cody D.I.T. High School

When we fight for Arnaz, we are building the movement we started when we went to Washington D.C. By now everybody has heard about the march on Oct. 15th when BAMN’s case to restore affirmative action, minority political rights and win immigrant rights was heard before the U.S. Supreme Court in D.C. Over 80 Cody students went, and those that didn’t go wish they did! In D.C. we led by example, marching in greater numbers than any other school from the Detroit area.

Detroit students march to support affirmative action in Washington, D.C. 2013.

On Nov. 19th, as many have already heard, we’ll be marching in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan to continue the fight we started in D.C. to restore affirmative action, minority political rights and win immigrant rights, and now we will also protest at the court and fill the courtroom at Arnaz’s case, whatever day it is eventually scheduled for: Whether in Ann Arbor or in 36th District court we will be all be fighting for the justice, dignity and equality that we need and deserve. Join us!

Build the new, youth-led, civil rights/immigrant rights movement to win Cody High School the funding and programs students need and deserve to have an equal, integrated, quality education with same dignity, respect and opportunities of white suburban schools!

Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary 

www.bamn.com  Instragram:joinbamn  facebook:bamn Twitter:@followbamn email@bamn.com 

Liana: (313) 806-1485 Maria: (313) 980-7075 

Jason Tonti was with three-time killer cop Eugene Brown when he shot Darren Miller (r) to death without justificaion; his family won a $3.5 million settlement. Also shown are Brown’s other victims, Rodrick Carrington (l) and Lamar Grable (center).

****VOD editor: Jason Tonti was the partner of the notorious three-time killer cop Eugene Brown in 1999, when Brown killed his third victim, Darren Miller. On the night of January 22, 1999, Miller and his wife Sandra were getting ready to go home from the Free Wheelers motorcycle club, located on Lynch Road west of Van Dyke, next door to the offices of UAW Local 961. A scout car occupied by Eugene Brown and Tonti drove up and Brown asked them what was going on. When Miller and his wife told Brown that they were going home, the scout car left, but then returned.

Three time killer cop Eugene Brown at ceremony promoting him to sergeant.

Police claimed that Miller and his wife were fighting and that when Brown approached
Miller in the vestibule of the club, Miller swung a sledgehammer at him and Brown fired in self-defense. 

However, a lawsuit said that Miller and his wife were on the other side of a locked door when Brown fired through the open weave metal grate at the top of the door, hitting Miller twice in the head.  The lawsuit says that “miraculously” the bullets missed Sandra Miller, but that “the impact of the bullets caused Mr. Miller’s head to explode with blood, spurting and covering Sandra Miller.” The lawsuit was settled for $3.5 million shortly after a jury awarded the family of Lamar Grable, 20, killed by Brown with his partner at the time, Vicki Yost, in 1996, a $4 million civil settlement. Yost was just appointed deputy chief by current Police Chief James Craig, a 28 year veteran of the notorious LAPD.

Former Police Chief Jerry Oliver.

Former police chief Jerry Oliver suspended Tonti and nine other officers without pay  in 2003 for ignoring an order to halt a 17-mile chase of a stolen car through Detroit and Grosse Pointe. The chase resulted in the death of  Melvin Woodyard, 45, and injuries to his mother, Priscilla Woodyard, 67, after one squad car crashed into their Ford Crown Victoria at the intersection of Mt. Elliott and Vernor.  The officers, all members of the Tactical Services Unit, were Richard Neinhuis, Courtney Anderson, Scott Barrick, Jason Criner, Jason Tonti, Glenn Anderson, Timothy Barr, D’Clarence Reynolds, Aaron Kraszewski and Alexis Sukey.

Apparently the indefinite suspension had little effect on Tonti. According to federal court filings, Tonti and his partner Jeffrey Elbert were sued for pulling an unarmed Clinton Frazier from his car and shooting him in the neck without cause on Nov. 21, 2004. The city paid out $10,000 in a lawsuit brought by Kevin Johnson for injuries received June 29, 2006.

Another lawsuit was filed by Dion D. Brown against Tonti and officers Kimberley Gibbs, Michael Garrison and Enrico Rubino for stopping him in 2006 based on knowingly false information. Tonti pointed a gun at the 15-year-old’s head, arresting him, and failing to notify his parents.  The lawsuit was later settled for $21,500.

Related articles on what can be expected under Detroit Police Chief James Craig, appointed by Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2013/10/22/families-demand-no-police-state-under-detroit-chief-craig-top-cops/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2013/10/18/httpvoiceofdetroit-net20131018chief-craig-intensifies-detroit-police-state-march-mon-june-21-9-am-as-trial-of-aiyana-jones-father-opens-in-frank-murphy-to-new-dpd-hq/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2013/08/09/uprising-in-miami-beach-after-police-taser-teen-who-dies-detroit-chief-craig-wants-tasers-here/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2013/07/16/freep-photographer-arrested-for-filming-police/

Wafer shotgunned Detroit teen in face as she sought help on his porch

Pros. Kym Worthy: “We obviously do not feel .  .  . that the defendant acted in lawful self-defense”

Killer freed on $250,000, 10 percent cash or surety bond

Parents call for his conviction, life in prison

By Diane Bukowski

November 15, 2013

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, flanked by assistant prosecutors and other officials, announces charges against Renisha McBride’s killer Nov. 15, 2013.

DETROIT—Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy today announced charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter and felony firearm against 54-year-old Dearborn Heights homeowner Theodore Paul Wafer, in the Nov. 2 death of 19-year-old Renisha McBride of Detroit, who wandered on to his porch after an earlier car accident seeking help. Police reports showed she was unarmed and had not tried to break into the house.

“We obviously do not feel that evidence in this case shows that the defendant acted in lawful self-defense,” Worthy said, surrounded by a phalanx of assistant prosecutors, police, and other judicial officials.

Photo from Renisha McBride’s funeral program.

Wafer used a 12 gauge shotgun to shoot McBride in the face after opening his solid inner front door. According to a police report, McBride was wearing a “blue zip-up hoodie.” After his arraignment that day, Wafer was freed on a $250,000, 10 percent cash or surety bond.

The case has brought international cries of outrage, and comparisons to the Trayvon Martin case in Sanford, Fla. Wafer is white and McBride was Black. A jury acquitted George Zimmerman of Martin’s death last year, leading many to express fear that it is now open season on Black youth.

Theodore Paul Wafer, 54, at arraignment.

Since Wayne County Circuit Court juries are predominantly comprised of white suburbanites, despite the County’s 42 percent Black population, it is not a given that Wafer will be convicted.

“Thirteen days ago, 19-year-old Renisha McBride was involved in a car accident in Detroit,” Worthy said at the outset of the press conference. “At the accident scene, witnesses reported that she was bloodied, disoriented and appeared to be confused. She left the scene on foot. Hours later, her lifeless body was found by the police near the porch of a Dearborn Heights home. She was found with a very large (emphasis Worthy’s) gunshot wound to the face. It’s alleged that she was shot to death by the homeowner after she knocked on his locked front screen door. By all reports she was unarmed and there were no signs of forced entry to the home.

She announced the following charges:

• Second degree murder, which carries a penalty of any term of years
• Manslaughter—death by weapon aimed with intent but without malice, which carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, and
• Felony firearm, which carries a penalty of two years mandatory consecutive.

Mossberg 500A 12 gauge pistol grip pump shotgun like that used by Wafer to kill McBride, who was unarmed.

Worthy said Michigan’s self-defense law does not equate to Florida’s notorious “Stand Your Ground” statute.

“Under Michigan law,” Worthy explained, “there is no duty to retreat in your own home, however, someone who claims self-defense must honestly and reasonably believe that he is in imminent danger of either losing his life or suffering great bodily harm, and the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent that harm. “

VOD and the Huffington Post were the only newspapers to report the defendant’s name prior to Worthy’s announcement. VOD obtained the information from county tax records of his home at 16812 W. Outer Drive and Dolphin.

At a press conference an hour later, McBride’s parents called for Wafer to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Monica McBride (center) and Walter Ray Simmons, Renisha McBride’s parents, speak at press conference as family attorney Gerald Thurswell listens. Photo: Carlos Osorio/AP:

“I want to thank the community for standing out and speaking on justice on behalf of my daughter,” said Monica McBride, Renisha’s mother. “I thank Kym Worthy for her verdict and taking her time and getting the accurate evidence and all the facts before she made any decision. I was very patient and prayerful and faithful that she would come to the right charges to charge this man. I know her father called him a monster but I’m not going to call you a monster. You said it was an accident. When you accidentally do something to someone you say you’re sorry or you apologize. You did no accident. You took a life, you took a beautiful life that was starting to blossom into a beautiful woman and for that I hope you stay in jail for the rest of your life, because I have to go on with my life, and her father, without our daughter.”

Pastor W.J. Rideout is interviewed outside Frank Murphy Hall after prosecutor’s press conference.

They said Renisha graduated from Southfield High School, worked at Ford Motor Company, and has two sisters. They added that she loved animals and soccer.

Senior Pastor Willie J. Rideout of “All God’s People Ministries” in Detroit, a prominent civil rights activist, said, “I am very pleased at the charges, but I’m also absolutely surprised, because I was expecting something like manslaughter only. No one needs to be shot down like a dog. I feel that race was involved. The man looked out his window and saw her on his porch and grabbed the most powerful weapon he had. He has not apologized for the killing. But these charges show that if you are in the Detroit area, you shouldn’t feel like you can shoot someone and get away with it.”

He added that Dearborn Heights police should have arrested Wafer on the day of McBride’s killing.

“If that had been an African-American shooting someone there, they would have been under the jail,” he said.

Judge Mark Plawecki

Wafer, a tall well-built man with a prominent mustache, was arraigned that afternoon in front of Judge Mark Plawecki of 19th District Court in Dearborn Heights. He stood mute on the charges and a preliminary examination date of December 18 was set. No one from his family was present. .

He is now free once again on a $250,000, 10 percent cash or surety bond, after having been released by the Dearborn Heights police the day of the killing. Judge Plawecki set the bond after a whispered bench conference with attorneys for the prosecution and the defense. The prosecution did not object to the bond.

Calling Wafer “Teddy,” his attorney Pat Carpenter said, “My client has a very strong defense to this charge. He has no history of substance abuse or mental illness, just a couple of 20 year old drinking and driving charges. He is currently working at the Wayne County airport, where he has been for 10 years in the highest security class. He cares for his 81-year-old mother. His brother Tim was supposed to be here today, but isn’t.”

Earlier police reports indicated that Wafer lives alone.

Theodore Wafer’s death house at 16812 W. Outer Drive in Dearborn Heights. Outside front screen door has been replaced with a glass door; it is not known if the screen door was taken as evidence.

His attorneys have alleged that he will be exonerated, referring to a medical examiner’s report that showed McBride had a .0218 toxicology reading, twice the legal limit in Michigan for alcohol, along with trace amounts of marijuana. They have also stated variously that Wafer feared for his life and that the shooting was accidental.

Attorney Gerald Thurswell, representing McBride’s family, countered, ““There was no physical confrontation. We know she was intoxicated, but that does not give anybody the right to blow off her head.”

Worthy said during the press conference that Dearborn Heights police did not test Wafer for alcohol or other substances after the incident, despite his earlier history.

Long-time criminal defense and appellate attorney John Royal, of Detroit, said the inclusion of “manslaughter” in the charges “preserves the option” for a jury to convict Wafer of that instead of second-degree murder.

Michigan law says capital cases generally result in remand without bond.

Regarding the bond set for Wafer, Royal said, “There is a provision in the Michigan constitution that anyone in a capital case, where the penalty is up to life in prison, where the proof is evident and the presumption is great, must be remanded with no bond.”

He said however that other factors enter in, including age, links to the community, and any history of not appearing for scheduled court hearings. He said he has gotten some bonds lower than that for second-degree murder charges. He added that the Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor at the hearing would likely have consulted with Worthy before agreeing to the bond.

Regarding the failure of the Dearborn Heights police to test Wafer for alcohol, Royal said, “I would be critical of that. During a thorough investigation, it would be appropriate for him to submit either voluntarily or through a court order to a blood test for alcohol use. I would also hope that they did a gunpowder residue test on his hands and arms; even if he is admitting that he fired gun, that should be a routine procedure.”

The police case report indicates that several witnesses were interviewed at the scene of McBride’s earlier accident in Detroit, on Bramell near Warren Avenue. Click on RM police report for full report.

The report says a woman sitting in a car next to the one that was hit reported that “victim exited her Taurus (airbags had depoyed) alone (wearing jeans and a hoodie) and walked away, then came back and tried to drive away, and then walked south on Bramell, turned east, and rounded the corner of Warren Ave.”

Warren runs into Dearborn Heights; Wafer lives just off Warren there.

It says the individual tried to get McBride to stay at the scene, and offered help because McBride did not have a cell phone, but McBride left, bleeding from a cut hand. The remainder of the witness statements are redacted, as was much of the report before release.

Rally for Justice for Renisha at Dearborn Hts. Police HQ Nov. 7, 2013.

Related articles:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2013/11/13/worthy-has-renisha-mcbride-police-report-sign-petition-to-bring-full-charges-vs-killer/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2013/11/09/justice-for-renisha-mcbride-detroits-trayvon-martin-dearborn-hts-homeowner-is-theodore-paul-wafer/

Pallbearers carry Renisha McBride to her final rest.

 UPDATE NOV. 14, 2013:  911 CALL RELEASED:

UPDATE NOV. 14, 2013  The 911 tape re: Ms. McBride’s slaying above was published today by the Detroit News.

UPDATE NOV. 13, 2013: Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s office today released the following statement:

“Renisha McBride Case- The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office has now received the additional investigation from the Dearborn Heights Police Department. The warrant review process is continuing. News will be released when a charging decision has been made.”

From The Color of Change

Click on http://colorofchange.org/ to sign petition on McBride case.

The life of Renisha McBride, cut short at the age of 19.

The tragic killing of unarmed 19-year-old Renisha McBride has left her family and supporters across the country seeking answers and demanding justice. More than a week after Renisha’s death the shooter has not been arrested and he may not face proper prosecution because of Michigan’s so-called “Stand Your Ground” or “Shoot First” law.¹

Shoot First laws have been under intense scrutiny since the tragic killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman – who “got away with murder” – because Florida’s Shoot First prevented a proper investigation and controlled the instructions given to the jury.² These laws, when combined with the daily reality of deep-rooted racial prejudice, create a culture of fear and violence where Renisha McBride — a young Black woman perceived as a threat — can be killed without consequence. 

Protest against murder of Trayvon Martin. Now young Detroiters must wonder “Could I be the next Renisha McBride?”

Renisha’s family deserves justice and an end to a culture that does not value Black lives. Please join us in calling on Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and the Dearborn Heights police department to fully investigate Renisha McBride’s killing and bring the shooter to justice.

Shortly after the news of Renisha’s death broke, local residents of Detroit and nearby areas rallied for justice — condemning racial profiling and violence against women. Demonstrators referred to Dearborn Heights as a “sundown town”, a mostly white suburb outside of Detroit that has a history of being hostile to Black folks.³

Michigan enacted “Stand Your Ground” in 2006 and its law closely resembles Florida’s.⁴ In this case, the law can protect Renisha’s shooter from criminal prosecution if he believes that he was in danger, even if his belief is wrong and rooted in racial bias. But this tragedy and the countless others like it are preventable, if enough of us continue to speak up and demand justice.

Demand that Wayne County Prosecutor and the Dearborn Heights police department fully investigate and bring Renisha’s killer to justice. And when you do, please ask your friends and family to do the same.

Thanks and Peace,

–Rashad, Matt, Arisha, Kim, William, and the rest of the ColorOfChange team
November 11th, 2013

References

1. “Michigan’s ‘stand your ground’ law mirrors Florida law more than any other state,” Michigan Radio, 7-15-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3078?t=8&akid=3186.871662.xvTUPg

2.”7 Mind Blowing Moments From Zimmerman Juror B37′s First Interview,” ThinkProgress, 07-16-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/2799?t=10&akid=3186.871662.xvTUPg

3. “Detroit activists demand justice for Renisha McBride,” The Grio, 11-08-13
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3079?t=12&akid=3186.871662.xvTUPg

4. See reference 1.

Dearborn Heights death house owned by Theodore Paul Wafer at 16812 W. Outer Drive, Dearborn Heights,MI. Wafer did not have to open his solid door and was clearly in NO DANGER from an unarmed young woman standing on his porch.

VOD editor: VOD does not believe that any stand your ground law applies in Renisha McBride’s case. As stated in our earlier article, the homeowner, Theodore Paul Wafer, even if he did fear for his safety, did not have to open his door, which he did. All he had to do was call 911.

Read http://voiceofdetroit.net/2013/11/09/justice-for-renisha-mcbride-detroits-trayvon-martin-dearborn-hts-homeowner-is-theodore-paul-wafer/

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy with top asst. prosecutor Robert Moran at her side, at state legislature. She has testified there against relief for juveniles sentenced to life without parole.

VOD’s stance is that this was cold-blooded premeditated murder on its face and that Wafer should be charged with first-degree murder. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s office has a disgraceful history of filing inadequate or NO charges against those who murder or kidnap Black children, as in the cases of Aiyana Stanley Jones, 7, and Ariana Hakim-Godboldo, 13.

Aiyana’s killer, Detroit cop Joseph Weekley, was charged only with involuntary manslaughter. Due to the outright and evident neglect of Asst. Prosecutor Robert Moran during his first trial, the jury was hung.

Aiyana Stanley Jones and her little brothers.

Weekley shot Aiyana, 7, in the head with an MP5 assault rifle as she slept with her grandmother Mertilla Jones on a front room couch, during an early morning, military-style police raid on her home. Photos at the trial showed that police had to have seen the numerous toys outside the home while surveilling the premises for nearly an entire day. Aiyana’s cousin Mark Robinson, who the police threw to the ground outside, testified that he screamed, “There’s children in the house” as the “Special Response Team” crashed into the home. Not only Aiyana, but her two baby brothers, her mother and father, grandmother, uncle, and great-aunt were also in the house.

Also read http://voiceofdetroit.net/2013/07/17/detroit-marches-in-wake-of-zimmerman-verdict/ which compares the prosecutor’s conduct in the Weekley trial to that of the prosecutor in the Zimmerman trial.

Also read http://voiceofdetroit.net/2013/09/15/medical-examiner-in-zimmerman-case-sues-for-100-m-claims-prosecution-threw-case/ regarding the medical examiner’s lawsuit in the Trayvon Martin case which claims that the prosecutor deliberately threw the case.

Maryanne Godboldo speaks at rally July 7, 2011.

In Ariana’s case, her mother Maryanne Godboldo was arrested in 2011 after a night-long stand-off with police and a child protective services worker who sought to seize Ariana based on what was held by two judges to be an illegitimate document not even signed or reviewed by a judge. The CPS worker wanted to force Godboldo to put her daughter back on a dangerous drug not approved for use in children or youth.  Those judges, 36th District Court Judge Ronald Giles and Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Gregory Bill, emphatically dismissed serious criminal charges against Godboldo. Worthy appealed their decisions and an appeals court ruled in her favor, re-instating the charges.

Read: http://voiceofdetroit.net/2013/06/01/michigan-court-re-instates-criminal-charges-against-maryanne-godboldo/

Most of Worthy’s top prosecutors are white males who live in Oakland County. Worthy has never prosecuted a Detroit police officer in a killing other than Weekley, although there have been many other cases of unjustified killlings by Detroit cops while she has been in office. Statements from so-called “advocates” for Renisha McBride that they have “faith” that Worthy will enact justice in this case are, sadly, likely to prove unfounded.

DEMAND: FUND PENSIONS AND SERVICES –NOT THE CRIMINAL BANKS 

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2013 – 12 NOON @ BANK OF AMERICA, 500 GRISWOLD (at Congress, downtown Detroit)

Release by: Moratorium Now! Coalition

Nov. 10, 2013

VOD Editor Note: THIS AGREEMENT WOULD PREVENT DETROITERS FROM RECOUPING THE CITY’S LOSSES DUE TO PREDATORY, FRAUDULENT $1.5 BILLION PENSION OBLIGATION CERTIFICATES LOAN FROM UBS AG, SBS 

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, Kevyn Orr celebrate dismantling of Detroit.

Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr and Governor Snyder negotiated a sweetheart deal with Wall Street banks that would increase Detroit’s debt by $350 million by paying $250 million to Bank of America (a client of Orr’s law firm Jones Day) and UBS (United Bank of Switzerland). Barclays, the new lender, would then have a super-priority lien on Detroit’s assets and income tax revenue.

Under this swindle, 20% of Detroit’s income tax revenues, $48 million per year for six years, will be pledged to these banks even after the bankruptcy is completed. At the same time, workers’ pensions are subject to being reduced to 16 cents on the dollar.

This scam is intended to pay off the interest rate “swaps” Wall Street banksters sold to the City.

Former UBS AG banker Peter Ghavami leaves the Manhattan Federal Court in New York July 24, 2013; he has since been convicted and incarcerated. REUTERS Eduardo Munoz

Bank of America and UBS, two of the main predatory mortgage lenders who destroyed our neighborhoods with massive home foreclosures, and whose executives have been jailed (UBS) and indicted (Bank of America) for their municipal bond crimes, already have pocketed $250 million in profits off Detroit city tax revenues on this scheme, even before this new deal goes into effect. UK-based Barclay’s is one of the chief banks indicted in the global LIBOR interest-rigging scheme.

While City Council unanimously voted this deal down, Snyder and Orr are once again ignoring the democratic process. They have already filed a motion to have this deal approved by Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes. Rhodes has set a hearing for Dec. 10, 2013, 

DEMONSTRATION CALLED BY:

Moratorium Now! Coalition http://www.moratorium-mi.org  313-671-3715

Detroiters Resisting Emergency Management (DREM)

Retirees and supporters demonstrate outside federal court as Gov. Rick Snyder testifies in Detroit bankruptcy trial.

Celebrating The Life Of Renisha McBride! * * A No Struggle, No Development Production!

By Kenny Snodgrass

Published on Nov 8, 2013

Funeral program/Photo Kenny Snodgrass

At Renisha McBride’s funeral, her family asked others to be patient as investigators determine whether to file criminal charges against the Dearborn Heights man who had shot 19-year-old Renisha on his porch a week ago.

McBride was shot in the face Nov. 2 as she stood on the porch of a home on Outer Drive around 3:40 a.m. Her family said she was seeking help after being involved in an auto accident that night.

The family’s comments came as several civil rights leaders, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, and U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, today called for justice and a thorough investigation in the case.

A No Struggle, No Development Production! By Kenny Snodgrass, Activist, Photographer, Videographer, Author of

From funeral program; photo by Kenny Snodgrass

1} From Victimization To Empowerment… www.trafford.com/07-0913  eBook available at www.ebookstore.sony.com
2} The World As I’ve Seen It! My Greatest Experience!
{Photo Book}
YouTube: I have over 482 Video’s, 323 Subscribers, over 210,000 hits, now averaging 10,000 monthly on my YouTube channel @ www.YouTube.com/KennySnod

Life of Renisha McBride from funeral program/Photo Kenny Snodgrass

 JUSTICE FOR RENISHA MCBRIDE—ARREST AND CHARGE HER KILLER

Sign Color of Change petition to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy at http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/renisha_mcbride/?akid=3184.202798.7ON75z&rd=1&t=3 

Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/justiceforrenishamcbride

By Diane Bukowski

November 9, 2013 

Dream Hampton speaks to protesters outside Dearborn Heights Police HQ Nov. 7, 2013

Black teen shotgunned to death Nov. 2 on porch of Dearborn Heights home belonging to Theodore Paul Wafer  

Youth at rally compare McBride case to that of Trayvon Martin, call for killer’s immediate arrest, charges to be brought 

“If a white woman had come into a Black neighborhood seeking help, we would have helped her”—child at rally

Isaiah at rally: “If a white woman had come into Detroit for help, we would have helped her.”

DETROIT – The killing of Renisha McBride, 19, on Nov. 2 by a white Dearborn Heights man on the porch of a home owned by Theodore Paul Wafer, has sparked an outcry across Detroit and the nation. Many are comparing it to the vigilante-style killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman in Sanford, Fla. last year.

The story has received coverage from major newspapers across the U.S., as well as wire services.

Others, predictably, are trying to quell the storm by persuading people to wait for an investigation and expressing faith in a “justice” system which failed Trayvon and his family. One “activist” said, “We want to bring the tenor down a little bit and let them do their job,” referring to the police and prosecutor.

“Justice too long delayed is justice denied,” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. countered in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” in 1963. The homeowner, who blasted McBride in the face with a shotgun as she stood on his porch seeking help, has not even been arrested. Dearborn Heights police sent a warrant request to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, whose spokesperson Maria Miller said, “We have requested further investigation by the police that must be submitted to our office before a decision will be made.”

This young man, 20, said he feels he is targeted every day.

 McBride, an African-American Detroiter who graduated from Southfield High School and had just gotten a job with Ford Motor Company, had wandered into a largely white and Arab-American neighborhood looking for help after a car accident since her cell phone wasn’t working, her family and police have said. 

“The press often just reports what the police say,” Dream Hampton said, during a rally outside Dearborn Heights police headquarters Nov. 7, which included many youth. “We’ll take up a collection for gas money if they need it to go to the scene of the crime. We need someone in handcuffs for shooting a 19-year-old with a shotgun. The killer was not a rape victim who had to have his identity protected. We know how we are criminalized. They even criminalized the corpse of Trayvon Martin.” 

SCENE OF THE CRIME: Dearborn Heights death house owned by Theodore Paul Wafer at 16812 W. Outer Drive, Dearborn Heights, MI. Photo by Diane Bukowski

The rally was called by Hampton, activist Yusef Shakur, and rapper Invincible. 

Shakur told VOD, “This killing shows the reality that Black life is not valued in this country. The majority of the more than two million people who are incarcerated in the U.S. are Black.  The real narrative is about white supremacy.” 

Yusef Shakur addresses rally Nov. 7 at outset.

Another woman cried out, “Black women are being murdered, raped, beaten and shot all the time. I’m sick of the apathy in the community and in the media. Where is this man, who is he connected to? Why is he not in jail? Wherever he is, he needs to come to judgment.” 

“If a white woman had come into a Black neighborhood seeking help,” a youngster named Isaiah said, “we would have helped her. All the stereotypes they put on Detroit are wrong. Detroit is not a bad place.” 

Another woman said, “I have a twelve-year-old daughter. I don’t want to hear this kind of news about her. We have a Black President, but it is still open season on us. I’ve been working since the age of 14 and have three college degrees, but people still stereotype me, following me around as I’m shopping.” 

Malcolm X: Everything below Canada is the South.

Another speaker called to mind the racist history of Dearborn, which is currently 89.1 percent white, and Dearborn Heights, which is 86.1 percent white according to the U.S. Census. Dearborn was originally founded by Nazi sympathizer Henry Ford to house white Ford Motor Company workers. 

“Where we’re standing is in a city of restrictive covenants,” the speaker said. “It’s fertile ground for a new apartheid. Malcolm X said anything below Canada is the South. We must organize like we did in the days of Emmett Till. We don’t want anymore strange fruit.” 

Daily media has refused to release the name of the killer, ostensibly because he has not yet been charged. But Dearborn Heights tax records and other online sources show that the owner of the home involved, located at 16821 W. Outer Drive, is Theodore Paul Wafer, 54, who has also lived in Livonia and Dearborn. Dearborn Heights police have reported the killer is a 54-year-old man living by himself. 

Dearborn Heights Police Headquarters on Michigan Ave.

Little else is known about Wafer at this point. His date of birth is Feb. 8, 1959.  He was arrested by the Dearborn Heights Police in 1988 and 1994 for “traffic offenses,” according to State Police records. According to non-criminal Third Judicial Circuit Court records, he has an ongoing case related to a “stalking charge” he brought against a woman in 1995, which was just re-assigned Sept. 3, 2013. Dearborn Heights 20th District Court does not carry online criminal and non-criminal records.

The corporate media publishes the names of Black crime suspects before they are charged every day. In the case of Aiyana Stanley-Jones, 7, shot to death by Detroit police on May 16, 2010 during a horrific military-style raid on her home, reporters asked her family only a week afterwards whether her father, Charles Jones, gave a gun to Chauncey Owens to kill Detroit teen JeRean Blake two days earlier. 

Charles Jones with daughter Aiyana before she was killed by Detroit police May 16, 2010.

The media continued to publish Jones’ name in connection with that killing, claiming  without written back-up that Owens named him in a plea deal. But Jones was not actually charged until 17 months after he rushed out of a bedroom with Aiyana’s mother Dominika Stanley and their infant sons to hear his mother Mertilla Jones, who had been sleeping on a front room couch with the child, tell him, “They just blasted your baby’s brains out.” 

Neither Jones nor Owens have yet been tried, let alone convicted. 

VOD has not been able to reach the killer or his attorney, who has claimed he shot McBride in self-defense, thinking she was breaking into his home. 

Dearborn Heights Police Lieutenant James Serwatowski said in a published report that the killer said he did not even see the person he shot. However, the door to the home is solid, with no window, and a clear glass outer door. Both remain intact, meaning the killer would have had to at least open the inside door. Wafer also has a large plate glass window from which he may have viewed McBride before opening the door. There is also a large globe porch light next to the door.

Door of home owned by Theodore Wafer at 16812 W. Outer Drive in Dearborn Heights, MI.

Protesters at the rally noted he could have called 911 if he feared for his life, and did not have to open his door.

VOD obtained a statement from police headquarters after the rally, written by Serwatowski Nov. 4. 

It says, “In the early morning hours of November 2, 2013 the Dearborn Heights police were called to a shooting in the 16000 block of Outer Drive. A Nineteen year old Detroit woman was fatally shot while standing on the front porch of the home. The case is currently under investigation. The Dearborn Heights Police have identified the person who fired the shot and killed the woman. This incident occurred on the front porch of the home. The decedent was not ‘dumped’ as some have reported. A final report will be forwarded to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office for review in the near future.” 

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s top asst. prosecutors are white males living in Oakland County.

Serwatowski said later that McBride was shot in the face as she stood on the porch around 3:40 a.m.

“She wasn’t shot leaving the porch in the back of the head,” he said in published reports. “She was shot in the front of the face, near the mouth.”

Other earlier comments from Serwatowski left the impression that McBride was a long way away from the house when she had the accident, although later reports said she was only four blocks away.

To date, Worthy has not even issued a press release regarding her intentions.

Participants in Oct. 10, 2012 forum (l to r)
Frederick Headen, who criticized Detroit’s number of city workers, Edward Plawacki, Douglas Bernstein, a trainer of prospective EM’s, Judy O’Neill, a co-author of PA 4 and also an EM trainer, and Charles Moore, a witness for Orr/Jones Day at the bankruptcy trial who said he felt public officials did not have enough business acumen to run their cities.

By Diane Bukowski

November 7, 2013 

(Editor’s note: up-to-date coverage of bankruptcy trial proceedings including former State Treasurer Andy Dillon’s testimony will be forthcoming shortly. Meanwhile, the following.) 

DETROIT—U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes has stricken from the record a request for a hearing on his recusal in the Detroit bankruptcy case which Mary Diane Bukowski, a city retiree creditor and official eligibility objector, as well as editor of Voice of Detroit, filed Nov. 6. 

The request cites Rhodes’ participation as chair, without subsequent disclosure during the bankruptcy trial, in an Oct. 10, 2012 forum on Chapter 9 bankruptcy filings and Emergency Managers. 

Detroit city retirees and supporters protest outside court as Gov. Rick Snyder testifies Oct. 28, 2013.

Five of six speakers were pro-EM, including accountant Charles Moore of Conway McKenzie, a major witness in the current trial. Others included a co-author of Public Act 4, the predecessor to the current EM law PA 436, and emergency manager trainers. Discussion about Detroit’s situation was held according to various news articles, with speakers stating that outside managers needed to take over from elected officials. 

No speakers represented city retirees, workers, union leaders, or retirement system officials. 

 (See earlier VOD story at http://voiceofdetroit.net/2013/10/27/a-thousand-take-streets-to-stop-detroit-bankruptcy-repeat-action-mon-oct-29-12-n-as-snyder-testifies-rhodes-should-recuse-self-led-pro-em-forum/.) 

Bukowski’s filing stated that Rhodes violated Canons 2 and 4 of the U.S. Orders of Conduct for federal judges by allowing the appearance of impropriety as well as raising questions regarding his impartiality in the matter. 

Bukowski’s filing can be accessed at  MDB request for hearing on Rhodes recusal.

Judge Rhodes replaced it with a six-page order denying the motion (click on DB Rhodes order MDB motion. 

Judge Rhodes makes clearly definitive point at Oct. 10, 2012 forum.

Judge Rhodes states in part, “The Supreme Court has held that in evaluating whether a judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned, the inquiry is from the perspective of a reasonable observer who is informed of all the surrounding facts and circumstances.” 

He stated additionally, The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has held, “A district court judge must recuse himself where a reasonable person with knowledge of all the facts would conclude that the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned. This is an objective standard.” 

He went on, “In characterizing a “reasonable person,” the Seventh Circuit observed: “In addition to being well-informed about the surrounding facts and circumstances, for purposes of our analysis, a reasonable person is a “thoughtful observer rather than … a hypersensitive or unduly suspicious person. . . Finally, a reasonable person is able to appreciate the significance of the facts in light of relevant legal standards and judicial practice and can discern whether any appearance of impropriety is merely an illusion.”

Jan. 31, 2005: $1.5 BILLION POC loan from UBS AG and SBS pressed on city council by (l to r) then CFO Sean Werdlow, who later that year took a job with SBS, Bill Doherty of SBS, Joe O’Keefe of Fitch Ratings, Stephen Murphy of Standard & Poor’s, and former Deputy Mayor Anthony Adams. Photo by Diane Bukowski.

As editor of the Voice of Detroit, and as an investigative reporter for the weekly Michigan Citizen from 2000 to 2010, Bukowski has extensively researched and covered issues relating to the Detroit bankruptcy filing for 13 years, including the predatory and likely fraudulent  $1.5 billion Pension Obligation Certificates loan pressed on the City by criminal bank UBS AG and its minority partner Siebert, Brandford and Shank.

Rhodes further cites Canon 4 of the Code of Conduct, which Bukowski also cited, including the following: “Complete separation of a judge from extrajudicial activities is neither possible nor wise; a judge should not become isolated from the society in which the judge lives. As a judicial officer and a person specially learned in the law, a judge is in a unique position to contribute to the law, the legal system, and the administration of justice, including revising substantive and procedural law and improving criminal and juvenile justice. To the extent that the judge’s time permits and impartiality is not compromised, the judge is encouraged to do so, either independently or through a bar association, judicial conference, or other organization dedicated to the law.”

Rhodes continues, “In this case, a reasonable person with knowledge of all of the facts would know that I was only the moderator of the program and made no presentation at all. Instead, my role was limited to introducing the speakers and asking occasional questions to keep the presentations moving, focused and concise. Certainly, I heard the speakers’ presentations and found them informative, but this proves nothing more than my interest in the law and in my community.” 

Bukowski requested in her filing that Rhodes disclose his comments at the forum, which was not video or audiotaped, as well as his connections with the speakers (e.g. who selected them among other factors). She cited a news article which indicated “broad-ranging discussion” of the issues was held after the panel presentation, and included a photo of Judge Rhodes evidently making a strong point. 

Rhodes concludes, “The motion to disqualify is denied. Not for Publication.” 

Attorney Gail Wilson (second from left), a member of the Official Retirees Committee, leaves funeral for her husband, renowned Pres. Leamon Wilson of bus mechanics Local 312, with son Leamon E. Wilson at side April 15, 2013.

Rhodes also struck from the record a motion filed by the Official Retirees Committee for additional representation by Dentons. EM Kevyn Orr asked for the formation of that committee, which Rhodes referred to the U.S. Trustee to appoint. Although it was suspected that the Committee would be biased toward Orr as a result, in fact it has strongly opposed Orr/Jones Day positions on the bankruptcy and conducted blistering cross-examinations of Orr and Governor Rick Snyder. 

Inquiries have been made to the Retirees Committee regarding this matter and will be reported upon receipt.

Sign the petition and Stand with Detroit: http://www.standwithdetroit.org/ .

This video and webpage are authored by the AFSCME International Union. Suggestions I made when I signed the petition: BOYCOTT MICHIGAN PRODUCTS! GENERAL STRIKE ACROSS U.S. to save the nation’s largest and poorest Black majority city, with its proud history of labor and Black resistance to the banks and corporations which have devastated our beloved city.

Retiree Juanita Scott, shown on the video, worked with me at the Health Department before it was destroyed by Bing, Snyder and the banks, for many years. She was a union steward and is a stand-up sister. We went through strikes and grievance battles and efforts to stop the privatization of our historic department. Our Local, AFSCME 457, founded the Coalition to Stop Privatization and Save Our City in 1992 and kept the battle going for many years afterwards.  

Herman Kiefer Health Complex a few years before it was dismantled. This building is now an empty shell, with services run by the private “Institute for Population Health” at Jim Holley’s Considine Family Center (a former city recreation center) on Woodward. Wayne County is supposed to take over Vital (Birth and Death) Records, which has documents going back to the 1800’s, a valuable historic resource for the people of Detroit. It is not yet determined WHERE it will be located.

See some VOD articles on to the Detroit Health Department and our Local’s resolution, sent to the AFSCME International in 1992, to investigate a moratorium on debt to the banks, at the links below.

Diane Bukowski, editor VOD

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2013/04/01/afscme-local-457-called-for-moratorium-on-debt-to-banks-in-1992/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/05/21/detroit-founded-health-dept-in-1825-it-previously-ran-3-hospitals-including-detroit-general-5-clinics-physician-home-visit-services/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/05/21/city-wants-to-replace-health-dept-with-private-institute-for-population-health/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/08/10/did-city-directors-steal-fed-for-private-agencies/

City retirees and supporters protest outside federal courthouse in downtown Detroit Oct. 28 as Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, depicted as the devil in signs, testifies.

Snyder, Orr,  “non-expert” witnesses testify in favor of bankruptcy  

Contrast in Stockton: pensions, assets untouched, pension bonds hit

 Analysis

 By Diane Bukowski

 November 3, 2012

DETROIT – As Round One of the Chapter 9 bankruptcy eligibility trial wraps up here in the nation’s poorest and largest Black-majority city, it has become clear that Wall Street is calling the shots. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, and the trio of well-paid “non-expert” consultants who testified in the first two weeks of the trial are obeying. 

One, Kenneth Buckfire, said “everyone knows” that retirees will only get 16 cents on the dollar.  Another, accountant Charles Moore of Conway McKenzie, admitted that actual actuaries (not accountants) have not yet determined a final figure relating to alleged pension underfunding. The Proposal to Creditors presented by Orr June 14 said it was $3.5 billion, while the most recent finalized reports say it is $646 million. 

Current developments in the Stockton, CA bankruptcy filing, transpiring under elected city officials, are making the Street all the more determined to set a precedent in Detroit by slashing public pensions and assets through an unelected “emergency manager,” while preserving billions in payments to bondholders. 

MOODY’S ON STOCKTON  

“Under Stockton’s plan, the unfunded accrued pension liability of its retirees remains untouched, and the city will continue to fully fund its required contribution to CalPERS [California Public Employee Retirement Systems],” Moody’s Investors’ Service reported Oct. 15. “We estimate that the city’s unfunded accrued pension liability, from both pension plans held by CalPERS, is approximately $500 million.” 

Moody’s concurrently lowered its rating on the city’s $125 million worth of “pension obligation bonds,” peddled by the notorious Lehman Brothers, from “Ca” to “Caa3.” According to Reuters, Stockton pension bond holders face a loss of 50 to 65 percent of principal in the plan of adjustment, which would be paid by insurer Assured Guaranty. 

(L to r) Jan 31, 2005: Former city CFO Sean Werdlow, Bill Doherty of SBS, Joe O’Keefe of Fitch Ratings, Stephen Murphy of Standard & Poor’s, former Deputy Mayor Anthony Adams press for $1.5 BILLION POC loan from UBS AG, SBS at Council table. Werdlow was hried by SBS in Nov. 2005, remains there.

The global criminal bank UBS AG sold $1.5 BILLION worth of the same type of bonds to Detroit in 2005-06, an evidently fraudulent deal. Instead of going after UBS AG, as Stockton went after Lehman, Orr wants to protect UBS AG’s grand heist through a “forbearance agreement” on $279 million of related interest-rate swaps. That will be debated during the plan adjustment phase of the case, to follow if U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes confirms bankruptcy eligibility. 

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stephen Rhodes chairs forum on Chapter 9 and EM’s on Oct. 10, 2010.

His confirmation is likely, despite arguments by attorneys for retirees, who say that the city is not eligible because the bankruptcy filing was done without exempting public pensions, protected by the Michigan Constitution, as they are in California.

After Denton’s attorney Anthony Ullman, representing the Official Retirees Committee, grilled Orr Oct. 28, Rhodes asked Ullman off the record, “May I ask you a question about your line of questioning regarding the Michigan Constitution—is it your position that it prohibits the city from asking retirees to negotiate [on cuts to pensions]?” 

Rhodes chaired a forum on Chapter 9 and emergency managers in October 2012, whose participants included accountant Charles Moore of Conway McKenzie, a key witness for Orr/Jones Day in the trial, and attorneys, one who co-authored Public Act 4, the predecessor to EM Act PA 436, and two who trained emergency managers. (See http://voiceofdetroit.net/2013/10/27/a-thousand-take-streets-to-stop-detroit-bankruptcy-repeat-action-mon-oct-29-12-n-as-snyder-testifies-rhodes-should-recuse-self-led-pro-em-forum/. 

SNYDER: “I DON’T RECALL” PENSION-CUTTING DISCUSSIONS

Protesters outside courthouse demand prison for top criminals.

The “Proposal to Creditors” Orr presented June 14 calls for cessation of all city payments into its pension plans. It says, “There must be significant cuts in accrued, vested pension amounts for both active and currently retired persons.” 

The State Constitution, Art. 9, Sec. 24 says:

“The accrued financial benefits of each pension plan and retirement system of the state and its political subdivisions shall be a contractual obligation thereof which shall not be diminished or impaired thereby. Financial benefits arising on account of service rendered in each fiscal year shall be funded during that year and such funding shall not be used for financing unfunded accrued liabilities.”

 Orr has announced that as of Jan. 1, 2014, current and retired workers’ health care benefits, unprotected under the Constitution, will be eliminated, replaced with a $125 a month stipend to be used under Obamacare. He has also proposed a $9 billion sell-off of Detroit’s Water & Sewerage Department, the third largest in the country, and signed a state lease of Belle Isle, the nation’s largest public island park. 

Noreen and Kenneth Buckfire square-dancing at event in NYC they chaired: “New York New York’s a Wonderful Town.” No wonder–Wall Street’s there.

Snyder testified that EM/bankruptcy-related efforts to score a direct hit on public pensions and assets began “two and one-half years ago.” He said the state would back up Detroit pension funds, as implied in Art. 9, Sec. 24, only under a judge’s order. 

Snyder was asked whether he met with Kenneth Buckfire and Jones Day attorneys on June 5, 2012 to discuss a contingency plan if the state’s original Emergency Manager law, Public Act 4, was overturned, and the use of Chapter 9 bankruptcy as an “end-run” around Michigan’s constitutional protections of public pensions. 

“I don’t believe so,” he replied. 

Shown an email from Heather Lennox of Jones Day indicating that she was “going with Kenneth Buckfire June 5, 2012 to meet with the governor in Michigan,” he said, “I recall meeting with Buckfire, not this specific meeting. I literally do thousands of meetings.” 

Asked whether he recalled the Jones Day attorney or Buckfire talking to him about state  public pension protections at the meeting, he replied, “I don’t recall.” 

Miller Buckfire, a subsidiary of Stifel Financial, embroiled in numerous securities fraud actions across the U.S., and Jones Day were hired in January, 2013 as the city’s “investment banker” and “restructuring consultant” respectively, after City Council approval, despite a public outcry. 

SNYDER IGNORED TOP ADVISORS ON BANKRUPTCY APPROVAL 

Gov. Rick Snyder, Detroit EM Kevyn Orr during a jolly moment.

Regarding any discussions with Orr during preliminary EM interviews over whether “vested pension benefits could be reduced or modified under Chapter 9,” Snyder repeated, smiling smugly, “I don’t recall.”   

Eventually, city retirees in the audience shouted out “I don’t recall” prior to one of his final responses. 

Snyder admitted that he authorized Orr to peremptorily file bankruptcy on the city’s behalf only three months after the EM’s appointment, despite the disagreement of his own top advisors. 

Attorney William Wertheimer, representing a group of individual city retirees known as the Flowers plaintiffs, displayed an email from state records regarding Orr’s formal request for bankruptcy approval, dated July 8, 2013 and forwarded to Snyder on July 12. 

Former State Treasurer Andy Dillon was showing signs of exteme wear and tear back in 2011, during Detroit Financial Review Team meeting.

The email chain includes, among others, Snyder’s chief of staff Dennis Muchmore, top adviser Richard Baird, and former State Treasurer Andy Dillon, who recently resigned in the midst of a messy divorce and allegations of alcoholism. 

“Andy [Dillon] . . . and Baird are in favor of a more deliberative approach at your end, not an authorization but more in the nature of probing and questioning Kevyn’s assumptions/conclusion,” Muchmore’s email says. “. . . I favor this approach primarily because I think we should exercise the Governor’s ability under PA 436 to place conditions on his authorization for a bankruptcy filing. These could include such items as pre-approval by Treasury and/or the Governor of any plan in bankruptcy Kevyn might wish to submit for example. The conditions could also include such items as pre-approval for anything having to do with vested pension benefits, General Obligation debt, or the disposition of certain assets or assets greater than a certain amount in value.” 

Dillon is expected to testify, apparently on behalf of eligibility objectors since Orr/Jones Day rested their case Nov. 4, on Nov. 5. 

KEVYN ORR:  “STAR” FOR JONES DAY; FIRM MET WITH STATE BEGINNING MARCH 2012 TO ENSURE EM, CHAPTER 9 

National Action Network march outside Jones Day Cleveland offices March 25, 2013.

Although Orr resigned from the global Jones Day law firm prior to his appointment March 18 as EM, another email made it clear he is taking orders from the pro-corporate, ultraconservative, racist leaders of the firm.

Jones Day represents most of the world’s largest banks and most of Detroit’s major creditors, including UBS, Siebert, Brandford and Shank, JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, and others. Many have been caught up in global scandals over interest-rate fixing under LIBOR and the ISDAfix, among other crimes.

An email from Corrine Ball, a Jones Day partner, to Orr dated Jan. 15, 2013, ironically the birthdate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., regarding Orr’s proposed appointment as EM, was admitted into evidence. 

Corinne Ball of Jones Day: “Driving Miss Daisy”

“Kevyn- there are diversity related issues, you have to be the star on this stuff and be able to discuss what we can provide,” Ball wrote. 

Another email dated Feb. 11, 2013, said, “Preparation for the EM appointment is important. We must prepare for an orderly transition, not a flash landing. Not sure the state, Dillon, Baird, and the Governor are really thinking and preparing on an operational level. It would be a better process if the firm is well prepared. Jones Day should be there before the EM is in place.” 

Dentons attorney Anthony Ullman of the Official Retirees Committee asked Orr, “Were you aware that Jones Day was in discussion on March 24, 2012 with the state of Michigan about the possibility of the repeal of Public Act 4?” 

Ullman displayed a two-page Jones Day email, referring to a meeting with a “state treasury official” about achieving a “Consent Agreement” before the referendum election, as a step towards the installation of an Emergency Financial Manager. 

Anthony Ullman of Dentons represents Official Retirees Committee.

The City Council passed that consent agreement on April 4, 2012, less than two weeks after the email, and the anniversary date of Dr. King’s assassination. PA 4 was defeated by 53 percent of Michigan’s voters Nov. 4, 2012. 

“As such, state legal counsel and Jones Day provided guidance on whether a Chapter 9 filing could be upheld if PA4 was pulled back?” Ullman asked Orr. 

Orr testified he was “not aware” of that. 

“Are you aware that Jones itself was involved in suggesting an appropriations measure to PA 436?” Ullman asked. PA 436 was enacted in Dec. 2012 including a financial provision which made it referendum-proof. 

“I never heard that from anyone at Jones Day,” Orr said. 

“Prior to the Chapter 9 filing, were you aware of any legal precedent allowing an Emergency Manager to use Chapter 9 bankruptcy to trump the state constitution?” Ullman asked Orr, who has boasted that federal law trumps state law. 

Orr: I have an even more powerful Chapter 9.

“I handled cases involving federal law over state law, but whether I was I aware of specific cases [involving Chapter 9]—I don’t think there were any specific cases,” Orr replied. 

During his testimony, Orr admitted to making what one city retiree called “threatening” statements about his powers during a “public meeting” held at the Wayne State Law School’s tiny Spencer Partrich Auditorium on June 10. 

The statements were played back from the videotape: “I have a very powerful statute—I have an even more powerful Chapter 9. I don’t want to use it but I’m going to accomplish this job—that will happen—Pay me now or pay me later. That is going to happen.” 

At one point during his testimony, Orr said “Chapter 9 had been considered since 2005.” 

Protest at court Oct. 28: Photo: WW

Orr denied knowledge that he would receive bonuses to his $275,000 salary for early conclusion of the Chapter 9 proceedings, set out in one communication admitted into evidence.  He said he was under pressure because his term is 18 months. However, PA 436 provides for the Governor to extend that term, and for a state-appointed “transition team” to govern city affairs for an indefinite period once the EM leaves. 

Other emails to Orr from Jones Day partners were introduced into evidence. 

They stated variously, “Food for thought – the Bloomberg Foundation has a keen interest in this area, about financial support for the project and  particular for the EM,” and “Making this a national issue is not a bad idea. It provides political cover, and more than enough patronage to allow either Bing or Snyder to look for higher callings  in the Cabinet, Senate or corporations.  Further this would give you cover and options are on the back end to make up for your lost time here.” 

Attorneys for retirees and unions contended that Orr had no intention to negotiate in good faith, a requirement for bankruptcy eligibility approval. They introduced a “roll-out plan” for events included in the June 14 Proposal to Creditors, which allowed a period for counter-proposals and review that ended July 19.

Orr also changed the date on his Executive Order declaring Bankruptcy.

Orr admitted that he crossed out the date July 19 at the top of the bankruptcy petition, replacing it with “July 18.” 

Thirtieth Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina.

He said the date was moved up because three lawsuits, filed earlier by Flowers et al, Weathers et al, and the city’s retirement systems asking a state judge to bar any bankruptcy filing without a specific exemption for public pensions.

Thirtieth Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina  ruled in favor of the plaintiffs during a meeting July 18, as Orr was filing the bankruptcy petition at 3:47 p.m. the same day. Rhodes later put a bankruptcy stay on the state lawsuits, along with two federal lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of PA 436, before U.S. District Court Judge George Caram Steeh. 

“I was getting ready to lose control,” Orr said.  “I ignored the lawsuits for almost three weeks. . . . I was concerned one of the lawsuits could undermine my authority under PA 436 to get the job done.” 

Asked “What authority?” Orr responded, “All of my authority.” 

Oct. 28 protest at federal courthouse in Detroit.

Attorney William Wertheimer, representing the Flowers plaintiffs, who re-filed in bankruptcy court, asked Orr, “Have you ever in your meetings or communications with the governor or his staff in any way communicated to him that it was your intention as the representative of the City of Detroit to make a legal claim that state would be obligated to pay any pension obligations under Art 9 sec. 24? In any of your conversations with the governmor, did you ever communicate that because of state law in Michigan, pensions are sacrosanct?” 

Resorting to Engler’s ploy the previous day, Orr said, “I don’t recall.” 

To many further questions, he pled attorney-client privilege, claiming attorneys were present at his meetings with the governor. 

On Oct. 28, before Snyder’s testimony, attorneys grilled Orr about statements in the Proposal for Creditors that the city’s pension systems are underfunded by $3.5 billion. 

Charles Moore of Conway McKenzie testified Oct. 24 that he conveyed that figure to Orr, although Moore is not an actuary, and also that actuarial analyses of the level of pension underfunding have not yet been completed. 

Attorney Ullman asked, “Was it your understanding that Milliman, Inc. said the systems are $0.6 billion underfunded, and perhaps significantly more once appropriate actuarial assumptions are made?  As of June 30, 2011, most recent actuarial reports showed the pensions’ unfunded actuarial assumption liability (UAAL) at $646 million. The OPEB (Other Public Employment Benefits) stood at $5. 7 billion.  Utilizing more current dates and or/more conservative foundations could cause that liability to rise into the billions of dollars?” 

Orr admitted that was the case. 

(Further reports on earlier testimony by Guarav , Charles Moore, and Kenneth Buckfire will be forthcoming if time permits. Meanwhile, readers can hear the  audiotapes of the bankruptcy hearings to date by going to http://www.mieb.uscourts.gov/apps/detroit/DetroitBK.cfm and clicking on “Hearing audio files” under “Quick Links.” A PDF file will download. Click on the paper clip icon on the upper left side, and audiotape will come up.)

Related articles on Stockton bankruptcy:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/15/stockton-downgrade-idUSL1N0I500W20131015

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/business/how-a-plan-to-help-stockton-calif-pay-pensions-backfired.html?_r=0

https://fiscalbankruptcy.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/10-8-13/

Detroit city workers on strike at the Wastewater Treatment Plant Sept. 30, 2012: BACK OFF OUR PENSIONS!

Commentary by John Riehl, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Detroit General Retirement System

John Riehl

September 28, 2013

It is far easier to be a Monday morning quarterback than to play the game Sunday night.

The current review of more than a quarter of a century of how the General Retirement System handled excess earnings has presented some assumptions that belie the intentions of the system’s board at that time.

The mandate of the GRS Board of Trustees is to best serve the interests of its union and nonunion members and beneficiaries. The benefits authorized by the board must be consistent with the approved benefit provisions adopted by the City of Detroit and various unions. The board does not negotiate benefits or have the authority to grant benefits not authorized by the plan.

In the 1980s, when GRS investments earned returns significantly higher than the assumed rate of return, the board, as the pension plan administrator, disbursed the approved benefit — the 13th check, which was discontinued in 2011 — to the retirees. Those earnings were generated, in part, by assets they contributed to the plan while they were employed.

Detroit city retirees protest outside bankruptcy hearing Aug. 19, 2013.

These additional returns also were credited to the employees’ annuity accounts, encouraging more contributions. Millions more were credited to the City of Detroit to reduce its future contributions.

A retiree excess-earning reserve fund was established to set aside monies for the specific purpose of funding a 13th check in years that might not be so profitable.

From 1985 to 2006, 54% of the excess-earnings funds distributed went to the employees, 31.9% went to the City of Detroit and 14% went to the retirees, including interest and the excess-earning reserve fund.

Lehman Bros. collapse due to predatory, fraudulent mortgage lending triggered global economic meltdown. Ernst & Young did Lehman Bros. books, is now advising City of Detroit.

Some say that if the board had invested those excess earnings funds over the 23-year period, the pension fund would be in better shape today. Given the numerous factors that influence fund performance over such a long period, it’s impossible to predict whether that’s true.

One thing is certain, the world changed with the global financial crisis of 2008. The GRS, and all public and private pension systems, would be in a much stronger position today had it not occurred.

Another factor is a shrinking work force. In 1985, the GRS represented 11,679 retirees and 13,385 active City of Detroit employees. Today, the GRS represents 11,730 retirees, and 5,525 active employees, not including Police and Fire Retirement System beneficiaries. That’s significantly fewer employees paying into the fund than years past — and it’s made an impact.

Protest in Detroit in 2009.

Meanwhile, struggling retirees put money back into the local economy, employees were able to save more for their future, and the city had fewer contribution obligations to pay to the fund.

We are presently funded at 77%. Comparatively, the Wayne County and State of Michigan pension systems are funded at 46% and 65.5%, respectively.

The current GRS Board has made decisions that have resulted in a top quartile performance for the last several years. We are well-managed, transparent, accountable and fiscally responsible. Today, the challenges before us are different than any we have experienced, but we are well-equipped and ready to meet them.

(VOD editor: Story on recent bankruptcy hearings which focused largely on pension issues, featuring Gov. Rick Snyder, EM Kevyn Orr, and others will be up shortly.)

Protesters outside federal court in downtown Detroit during Mich. Gov. Rick Snyder’s testimony at Detroit bankruptcy trial.

“Detroit is the battleground chosen by Wall Street to crush the last vestiges of American democracy by creating “the template for direct corporate rule.” Finance capital recognizes that it can no longer coexist with democratic institutions, which are most easily destroyed by attacking Black rule in the cities.”

By BAR executive editor                   

Glen Ford 

October 30, 2013

“If we don’t do something real soon, I think you’ll have to agree that we’re going to be forced either to use the ballot or the bullet. It’s one or the other in 1964. It isn’t that time is running out — time has run out!” – Malcolm X, “The Ballot or the Bullet,” Cleveland, Ohio, April 3, 1964.

A half-century after the man once known as Detroit Red spoke those words, the last grains of sand are trickling from the hour glass of what has passed for democracy in America. The principle of one-person, one vote – or any meaningful franchise, at all – is no longer operative for the majority of Black people in the state of Michigan, whose largely African American cities are run by emergency managers accountable to no one but Rick Snyder, the venture capitalist in the governor’s mansion. The same bell is tolling for every urban center in the land, as hegemonic finance capital creates the template for direct corporate rule through the systematic destruction of Detroiters’ citizenship rights.

Malcolm X–known during his time in Detroit as “Detroit Red.”

The 82 percent Black metropolis has been reduced to a Bantustan in both the economic and political senses of the term. Surrounded by some of the richest counties in the nation, the impoverished city exemplifies a national racial wealth gap that is more profound than that which existed in South Africa at the height of apartheid, as detailed by Jon Jeter in this issue of BAR (See “Worse Than Apartheid: Black in Obama’s America”). The Emergency Manager law, passed by the Republican state legislature after rejection by voters in a referendum, makes the Bantustan analogy complete, with a Black corporate lawyer overseeing the dismantling of every mechanism of local democracy. Kevyn Orr’s ascension as plenipotentiary of Wall Street is also the ultimate logic of the most vulgar current of African American politics, which seeks only Black representation at the highest levels of power, no matter whose interests are served. Wall Street long ago scoped this Black weakness, and has exploited it at every political level.

“The same bell is tolling for every urban center in the land.”

Kevyn Orr

Detroit’s dissolution also sounds the death knell for a generation’s dreams of authentic “Black Power” through purely electoral means in collaboration with corporate “renaissance” schemes. The Black masses have never been envisioned as part of any “renewal” of the cities under corporate auspices.

U.S. Pres. Barack Obama

Rather, investment is contingent on Black disempowerment and removal – the corporate axiom from which the Emergency Manager regime logically flows. Barack Obama, as loyal (and lawyerly) a servant of the banks as Orr, accepts the validity of the premise, which is why he raises no principled objection to Detroit’s disenfranchisement, either in its particulars or as a model for urban America.

The drama unfolds in bankruptcy court, a venue whose rules were written almost entirely by the financial capitalist class. By virtue of the Emergency Manager law, Detroit is represented in court by its nemesis, Kevyn Orr – which is like imposing Newt Gingrich as chief counsel for the NAACP. (The Detroit NAACP seeks to halt the proceedings on voting rights grounds.)

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes co-chairs a pro-EM, pro Ch9 bankruptcy forum on Detroit and other cities on Oct. 10, 2012, a year before current trial.

Orr’s office is referred to as “the city” in both legal terms and by idiot corporate media, who confuse the public by reporting, as did Detroit PBS correspondent Christy McDonald, this week, that the issue is “whether the city can go ahead with its bankruptcy” process. In fact, hardly an elected official or candidate exists that openly supports bankruptcy, especially under Kevyn Orr’s terms (Detroit holds a meaningless mayoral and council election, next week).

Orr may be the most hated man in Detroit – a fact that would be noted by every media outlet in the nation, if the metropolis were largely white. But the Detroit model for democracy’s demolition is depicted as a white supremacist morality play, in which corruption and incompetence are the inevitable fruits of Black majority rule, which must be extirpated by any means necessary. White Americans, in general, can be distracted by the slightest hint of ghetto graffiti from seeing their own futures written on the wall.

“Detroit is represented in court by its nemesis, Kevyn Orr – which is like imposing Newt Gingrich as chief counsel for the NAACP.”

International People’s Assembly protesters march outside Orr’s luxurious digs at Detroit’s Westin Book Cadillac Oct. 5, 2013.

Kevin Orr, ensconced in a $5,000 per month luxury penthouse condominium paid for by one of Governor Snyder’s private slush funds with contributions from secret corporate donors, is building the template for urban democratic dissolution from scratch. He is a crude and unimaginative man, doing Wall Street’s bidding with little finesse in the bright light of day. His arrogance is buttressed by the certainty that he is backed by the real rulers of the American State, Wall Street, and that the outcome in Judge Steven Rhodes’ federal bankruptcy court will create precedent to render all of America’s cities servile and neutered. Orr is also aware that his coloration provides perfect cover for his mission – added value for his services, well worth the luxury suite. (The judge ruled that Orr’s accommodations were irrelevant to the case.)

Former Ala. Governor George Wallace confronts US AG at doors of Univ. of Alabama to stop integration. Now Orr is turning federal government protection for civil rights on its head, trying to use the feds against the majority Black city of Detroit.

First-responders, revered in the post-911 United States, are crucified along with the rest of the city rabble. Orr ejected 8,000 city retirees under age 65 from their city-paid $605 per month health insurance, including police and firefighters. The state constitution specifically forbids impairing pensions, which average only $18,000 a year, yet Orr testified that he thinks federal law allows him to override those protections. He and the governor, who was subpoenaed by unions, both claimed they didn’t start out wanting to bankrupt the city – but why would Snyder hire bankruptcy lawyer Orr unless that were the intention? The lying duo claimed they never conspired to push Detroit into the venue, and that it was the unions that refused to negotiate in good faith. Apparently, “good faith” means negotiating away rights guaranteed by law.

“Orr ejected 8,000 city retirees under age 65 from their city-paid $605 per month health insurance, including police and firefighters.”

Barclay’s on King Street in London: “Brittania rules the waves”–banks rule the world.

Orr admitted that he never even raised the subject of getting the state to help Detroit out of its fiscal difficulties. And, why would he? His mission is not to save the city, but to break it into auctionable pieces and to garnishee its remaining revenue streams for bankers. His opening fiscal reorganization plan would pay off Bank of America and UBS, who have already made millions on a 2005 derivatives scheme with the city, establishing Britain’s Barclay’s Bank as the super-priority creditor with dibs on $4 million a month in Detroit casino revenues if the city defaults.

To ensure that the city can never escape the clutches of capital, the contract would allow Barclay’s to immediately declare Detroit in default if Emergency Financial Manager rule is ended for any reason – that is, the corporate plan calls for the permanent cessation of democracy in Detroit.

Occupy Wall Street protesters.

That’s the plan for the whole country. Wall Street recognizes that it cannot effectively consume the public sphere as long as the public retains the electoral democratic mechanisms to stop it. In other words, concentrated capital can no longer coexist with even the thin gruel of American democracy. The Black polity is the weakest link in the U.S. democratic armor. White folks won’t protect it, and Black folks have the least resources to defend it. The generals of Wall Street have purposely chosen Detroit as the decisive battleground, where the power of massed capital will be hyper-charged by an endemic, unreconstructed racism that can reliably be expected to deny that democracy is really at stake, at all. It’s just, you know – “the Blacks.”

And even some Black folks will agree.

BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.