4 • May 29-30, 2020 OPINION bransonglobe.com Fact check: Officer who kneeled on black man’s neck was not onstage at Minneapolis Trump rally By Ali Swenson (AP) CLAIM: Social media posts say a man pictured onstage at a 2019 Donald Trump rally is the Minneapolis police officer who was videotaped kneeling on a black man’s neck during an arrest on Monday. AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The man pictured in these posts is Bloomington Police Federation President Mike Gallagher, not Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. THE FACTS: Social media Kim Rohde Publisher (417) 872-2951 lkimrohde@yahoo.com Brenda Meadows Editor & Staff Writer (417) 231-7601 info@BransonGlobe.com David Stoltz News Correspondent (228) 355-2900 itcdls@gmail.com Gary Groman, a.k.a. The Ole Seagull Opinion Writer Rob Doherty Account Representative & Distribution Manager (504) 583-8907 robd@bransonglobe.com Karen Halfpop Digital/Production Director production@ BransonGlobe.com Submit a letter to the editor: Letters to the editor that are sent via e-mail and are fewer than 400 words are given preference. Published or unpublished letters become the property of the newspaper and will not be returned. All letters must include name, address, and verifiable phone number. BransonGlobe Your source for local news and entertainment info@BransonGlobe.com • Phone: (417) 334-9100 • Fax: (417) 334-3767 • 1447 US Hwy. 248, Suite EE, Branson, MO 65616 BransonGlobe.com posts that showed police officers onstage at the Trump rally in Minneapolis last October misidentified a man in the pictures as Chauvin, a Minneapolis officer involved in the arrest of George Floyd, who died after being held to the ground by the officer, even after stating he could not breathe. The posts included photos of police officers onstage with the president, smiling in shirts that said “Cops for Trump.” Social media users falsely claimed one of the officers pictured was Chauvin. The incident has led to public outcry and protests. “Photos Released on Social Media Appeared to Show Minneapolis Police Officer Who Murdered George Floyd,” read the headline of a Facebook post by left-leaning news website the Political Tribune, which had racked up nearly 120,000 views on Wednesday. “Did this murder ‘Make America great again?’ read a post retweeted more than 1,700 times. But the widespread photos actually show Bloomington Police Federation President Mike Gallagher, not Chauvin, according to Minneapolis police union president Lt. Bob Kroll. “Can you put a stop to the false narrative please?” Kroll told the AP. “None of the officers in the incident were near the Trump rally.” A 2019 video from the city of Bloomington, Minnesota, shows Gallagher explaining how winter weather affects police duties. The man in this video is the same person who was pictured onstage at Trump’s rally. Gallagher did not return a request for comment. Letter to the Editor: Who reports to whom? A simple question to our Citizens: Do we want our Government to report to us or do we want to report to them? Several months ago, the Board of Aldermen had some disagreements about whether or not to spend ~$2M to underground utilities on Highway 76. I, as well as Alderman Castillon and Alderman Milton did NOT feel it was a good use of our resources until AFTER we finalized the entire 76 CID, (which would increase tax revenue by over $4.5 Million per year.) I ultimately recused myself as I was being asked to vote in conflict with my conscience by several clients, which is a textbook reason to recuse. However, the Mayor, City Administrator and Alderman Bill Skains felt differently. At various points all three questioned my motives for being against the measure and ultimately recusing myself with a conflict of interest. One very specific way this disagreement manifest itself was the fact that I received a visit at my place of employment from the FBI! Yes, that’s right, Agent Bob Schafer from the Federal Bureau of Investigations paid me a visit to inquire as to why I voted against and then recused myself from voting on undergrounding of utilities. Now, you might find it interesting that Agent Schaefer admitted to me that our City Administrator, Stan Dobbins asked him to talk with me to see why I initially voted against the measure. pressure me to “re-think” recusing myself from voting. As it turned out, the Agent agreed that I had a “classic conflict of interest” demanding that I refrain from further votes on undergrounding! So, I guess the Mayor, City Administrator and Bill Skains were in the wrong to publicly challenge my recusal on this issue. At the end of the day, I ask the question again: Do we want our Government to report to us (the Residents), or do we want to report to them? Also, of interest is that Agent Schaefer is a Special Agent who focuses on government corruption…. Was I considered “corrupt” because I dare not vote for something City Staff wanted to do? Needless to say, I was shocked that our City Administrator would send the FBI to my office to interrogate and If your answer is that they should report to us, I would encourage you to make your vote count in the upcoming election. I believe the Residents of Branson should be in charge, through their elected representatives, period! Kevin McConnell Alderman Ward 3 @BransonGlobe BransonGlobe @BransonGlobe #Branson Globe
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