And when I trapped Police Chief Ken Miller with his own departments procedures concerning the handling of confidential informants months later I already knew Marikay Abuzuaiter had lied to myself and others but I wanted to believe her so badly I continued to hang on to what I wanted the truth to be.
I claimed all along that Councilwoman Abuzuaiter had been framed. Even Eric Ginsberg, the journalist who first broke her story voiced concerns:
"Lawyer Lewis Pitts spoke at last week’s city council meeting demanding an investigation into whether someone in the police department hacked Councilwoman Marikay Abuzuaiter’s e- mail account to “frame” her as a police informant — given the broader context of allegations of police corruption made by ministers at the same meeting, and a pattern of claims of police misconduct receiving inadequate or no investigation, it is imperative Pitts’ demand be met."
But Marikay wasn't framed. At least not in the usual sence of what we think being framed to be.
I made the contention that Councilwoman Marikay Abuzuaiter was in-fact a Citizen Source of Information and not a Confidental Informant. As defined in the GPD Directives Manual: 11.7.2 DEFINITIONS
"Citizen Source of Information- A person or organization, not under the direction of a contact officer, who provides information without becoming a party to the investigation itself; or, a concerned citizen who witnesses an event of interest to the Department and provides information without the expectation of a recommendation for the reduction of charges or reduced sentence, or any other special consideration or action by the Department."
That sounds like any citizen being a good citizen, something we expect from someone with a seat on City Council but try as I might I never could push GPD Cheif Ken Miller into saying Marikay Abuzuaiter was a Citizen Source of Information. Not once. Ken and I had many an angry e-mail on the subject. If you'd like to check behind me my e-mail address is RecycleBill@gmail.com and all correspondence with GPD and the City is signed Billy Jones. The City takes information requests at the following e-mail address: "Email, Inforequests" <inforequests@greensboro-nc.gov>
Also from the GPD Directives Manual: 11.7.2 DEFINITIONS:
"Informant - A person who provides information or investigative assistance and who receives confidential funds, a recommendation for a reduction of charge or a reduced sentence, or any other special consideration or action by a law enforcement agency."
I even went so far as to prove the City of Greensboro and the North Carolina School of Government dead wrong when I pointed them to United States v. Warman, 578 F.3d 320 (6th Cir. Ohio 2009. To date, Professor Frayda Bluestein of the NC School of Government has yet to answer my e-mail or rebuke my Sunday, February 17, 2013 post, Dear, Professor Bluestein in which I proved her previous assumption-- the same assumption used by the City of Greensboro to protect Councilwoman Abuzuaiter's accusers-- was wrong. All these many months later Frayda Bluestein, who works for none other than former Greensboro City Manager, now Bryan Foundation Vice President Ed Kitchen has yet to ever reply to my e-mail.
I pondered back in Februrary as to why the City of Greensboro refused to investigate. Obviously a felony had been committed but even the victim wasn't calling for an investigation.
So was Marikay Abuzuaiter a Confidental Informant? People become Confidental Informants for a number of reasons. The most common is they are caught commiting one or more crimes and roll over on other criminals to get out of going to jail. Others do it simply for the money. Still others do it when someone close to them is in trouble and they are hoping to get that person out of trouble. When I pointed out to Ken Miller that outing Confidental Informants is a felony I got the following reply: Click on the screen grab to make it bigger.
Try using Intent the next time you're stopped for speeding on Wendover Avenue during GPD's Aggressive Driving crackdown and see how far that gets you.
I think GPD Chief Ken Miller has answered the question once and for all and Councilwoman Marikay Abuzuaiter's failure to call for any investigation is in-fact her admission that everything Eric Ginsburg wrote, everything I tried to prove as false, is in-fact true.
And the saddest part is: everything Marikay Abuzuaiter stood for has been compromised by the secrets she still carries, the secrets Mayor Robbie Perkins and others know and will use against her to get what they want in the long run. You see, I still believe her outing was a shot across the bow, a warning to the Councilwoman that it can get worse for her. Remember Marikay, when you messaged me on Facebook and said, "I still have to work with these guys." That's the sound of someone running scared. From what I don't know but Robbie Perkins does and so do the power brokers who will pull Nancy Vaughan's strings.
It doesn't bother me that Marikay is putting bad guys in jail. What bothers me is that in the end Marikay will crumble before Robbie Perkins and the power brokers just as the rest of our current council does today.
