IS HE YOUR CONGRESSMAN?
by Sharon Rondeau
(Mar. 28, 2012) — Rep. Bobby Rush of the first district of Illinois has been removed from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives for failing to observe proper decorum.
Rush wore a sweatshirt with a hood and continued to read Bible verses even as the member presiding over the session, Rep. Gregg Harper, pounded his gavel and called for Rush to remove the hood to observe House protocol. Rush was apparently staging a protest over the February 26 death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin of Sanford, FL, who was reportedly wearing a “hoodie” when he was fatally shot by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman. Rush said that “racial profiling has to stop.”
A reward has been offered by the New Black Panthers for a “citizen’s arrest” of Zimmerman which has also been termed a “dead or alive cash bounty” and could qualify as “solicitation for kidnapping.”
Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Obama spoke out almost immediately following Martin’s death, but further research has showed that Martin had a history of suspensions and of being “in trouble with authorities.” Obama said that “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.” How does he know what his son would look like?
Why would Obama want his son to “look” like this?
- Martin had been suspended from school for evidence of marijuana and a pipe at the time of the shooting.
- He had a record as a juvenile offender.
- Martin had been suspended previously for leaving a graffiti obscenity on a school locker and for tardiness and excessive absences
- A screwdriver described as a “burglary tool” was found in his backpack along with some jewelry of unknown origin
Although initial reports decried the shooting of an “unarmed teenager,” eyewitness reports later surfaced which stated that Martin had been beating Zimmerman before the gun went off. Zimmerman’s nose was broken and his face bloodied. The Sanford Police Department report shows multiple witnesses and confirms Zimmerman’s injuries.
Zimmerman told police that he shot Martin in self-defense. Martin’s parents, who did not live together, reportedly “found support” from members of Congress.
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating “all cases handled by the police department, after receiving complaints from Sanford citizens.” The chief of police has resigned “temporarily.”
Why is the DOJ investigating this case when dozens of children have been killed in Chicago in “gang shootings” during the last six months?
Rep. Rush previously served as an alderman in Chicago and deputy chairman of the Illinois Democrat Party before becoming a member of the U.S. House in 1993. Rush spent six months in prison on a weapons charge and had been a member of the Black Panthers, leaving in 1974. Rush reportedly “did not repudiate” his membership in the group despite its escalating militancy.