The ideas about a curfew or the National Guard in the streets of Coatesville would definitely stop the arsons here.
But Coatesville is not a town in Iowa. The next town is not 100 miles away. The arsonist or arsonists could just start fires in say, West Chester. Or he/they could just shut down for a year.
The ATF is here and Coatesville is crawling with police, local, State, Federal and private investigators. I have to drive around and check but I would bet that the drug dealers are all but shut down completely. At the very least they would have to take it indoors.
Am I being too cynical in saying that there is such a big turnout to get the arsonists because the multi-million dollar drug distribution business in Chester County is all but shut down and it’s killing the “off the books” economy here? Even the booster stores might have had to shut down.
The only good thing is that the roaches in City Hall are now in the national spotlight.
Not too cynical, Jim. I'd like to see the curfew used to stop the dealing.
ReplyDeleteOne thing about the meeting last night, I left with the nagging feeling that maybe this spree is less about arson and more about racist hate.
to moondancer:
ReplyDeleteChester County is not without its share of white supremacists. Along with several others I have seen young men with swastika tattoos here over the past few years.
Pat Sellers was the campaign manager that helped to elect the “bloc of four”.
Pat ran for congress in 1996. Sellers contacted Larry Pratt to do a fundraiser for his campaign after Pat Buchanan was forced to drop Pratt as a campaign manager because of Pratt’s KKK, Nazi and Militia connections.
See:
“Lancaster Intelligencer Journal
Lancaster, PA Thursday April 11, 1996
House hopeful charged in fight with teenager
Coatesville school board president scuffled with daughter’s boy friend
Sellers, and electrical worker who trails his opponent in the race, has also come under fire recently for seeking the support of Larry Pratt, a former aide to presidential candidate Pat Buchannan.
Pratt is executive director of Gun Owners of America. He left the Buchanan Campaign after the media reported on his ties to the Ku Klux Klan and the white supremacist group Aryan Nation.
Pratt has indorsed Sellers and will be the keynote speaker at a fund-raising dinner for Sellers next week.
Sellers said the allegations against Pratt are untrue and that he sought Pratt’s support because of his expertise on gun issues.”
Sellers writes in right wing journals but he is not the bomb throwing terrorist type. Pat is strictly political. I think that Sellers moved into the America First group when it splintered off from the John Birch Society.
Pat Sellers worked very closely with the Saha family in their multiple lawsuits against the City of Coatesville. All the stuff on the internet concerning the "Saha Farm" and Coatesville on right wing extremist property rights websites may have attracted the attention of KKK types.
There have been several arrests of white supremacists in the area; the most notable being Joshua Sutter and John Keohane operating in Parkesburg.
See:
Local police receive awards
GINA ZOTTI , Staff Writer
A state trooper who helped take down high-ranking members of a local white supremacist cell was one of three local law enforcement officers recently commended by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In addition to the anonymous trooper, whose name is not being released because of his undercover status at a Chester County state police barracks, West Goshen Detective Sgt. Gregory Stone and Coatesville Detective Martin Quinn were recognized for their investigative work that led to the guilty pleas or convictions of a number of violent local criminals.
http://www.uwf.edu/counterterrorism/news/20050100/%5B20050112%5D%20Local%20police%20receive%20awards.html
With all that; I still don’t think that white supremacists are involved in setting fires. It is not their thing. They would want some kind of recognition, or it would be directed at a specific target. I think the combination of inexperienced police, lots of flammable material and fairly easy escape routes make Coatesville a target for arson.