On the afternoon of Wed., July 31, TPD took a battering ram to the front door of Bishop Chuck Leigh's Apostolic Catholic Church of Christ the Servant in Sulphur Springs. The dramatic door-smashing was captured by ABC Action News. The door was unlocked. TPD keeps sending girls wearing wires to him to get him to sign off on community service hours in exchange for sex. One of the arresting officers told him the orders for his arrest came straight from Mayor Buckhorn’s office. The mayor’s office denies the claim. Leigh had followed one of the girls from a distance and saw her walk toward two Tampa police cars and a waiting ABC Action News van. She leaned into the open police window and spoke to the police.
TPD spokesperson Laura McElroy condemns the notion that the city is out to get Bishop Leigh. “That’s ridiculous,” she said. McElroy initially told CL that the television crew “just happened to be there” during the raid of Leigh’s church. After being caught in a lie by CL she called back to amend her comment. “The news media was invited along for the raid,” she explained,
“but we did not tip them off.” What is the difference between an invite and a tip?
“but we did not tip them off.” What is the difference between an invite and a tip?
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Also there is this, Reverend Russell Meyer, executive director of the Florida Council of Churches, suspects there is more going on than meets the eye with the made-for-media police raid. “There is a real attempt to silence Bishop Leigh,” he says. “The picture painted by the local media is not only a fabrication and an insult, it’s an attack on the Church and its relationship with the poor.” Meyer is one of several following the case who have floated the theory that activists like Bishop Leigh are standing in the way of the city’s gentrification plans for Sulphur Springs and have thus become targets. Citing Mayor Buckhorn’s Nehemiah Project to demolish houses considered havens for drug dealers and prostitutes and the city’s aggressive code enforcement and plans to “repopulate” the neighborhood, some see the work of Leigh’s Apostolic Catholic Church as antithetical to the administration’s vision.
Also there is this, Reverend Russell Meyer, executive director of the Florida Council of Churches, suspects there is more going on than meets the eye with the made-for-media police raid. “There is a real attempt to silence Bishop Leigh,” he says. “The picture painted by the local media is not only a fabrication and an insult, it’s an attack on the Church and its relationship with the poor.” Meyer is one of several following the case who have floated the theory that activists like Bishop Leigh are standing in the way of the city’s gentrification plans for Sulphur Springs and have thus become targets. Citing Mayor Buckhorn’s Nehemiah Project to demolish houses considered havens for drug dealers and prostitutes and the city’s aggressive code enforcement and plans to “repopulate” the neighborhood, some see the work of Leigh’s Apostolic Catholic Church as antithetical to the administration’s vision.
3 comments:
It seems this case is more about political and police corruption than about wrong doing on the bishop's part.
This case appears to be more about political and police corruption than about wrong doing on the bishop's part.
On July 13, 2014 I accepted the governments offer and plead nolo contendere to falsifying an official court document. I did so because I did not have the additional $8000 necessary to take depositions and hire an expert witness to prepare for trial. Indeed I was able to bring the state to what effectively was a draw only because of the generosity of friends who contributed to my legal defense. Lynne and I live on our social security and my war pension. Our battle with the government has left us financially depleted. Without the generosity of our many friends and supporters I have no doubt I would be in jail for a very long time.
On the orders of city hall I was targeted by the Tampa police department. As corroborated in the discovery material obtained from the TPD, the police spared no effort in their campaign to entrap me. They tried to get me involved in the delivery of drugs. I refused. They tried to get me to engage in sex with a prostitute. I refused. They sent an undercover police officer to try to get me to accept child pornography and I refused.
After several months of investigation, I was finally charged with stretching the point on community service hours. This is usually handled administratively. In my case I was arrested on TV with the unlocked door of the church being broken down and guns put to my head. I was subjected to a “perp walk” that made national TV. Horrendous, uncorroborated accusations were made against me to include engaging in “black masses” with the congregation present.
All this was done to diminish my effectiveness as a spokesman and advocate for the poor in inner city Tampa. I think the TPD accomplished their task, but not to the extent they had hoped.
It was very hard for me to accept the agreement because it seemed important to stand up to abuse. I have always understood the Gospel as a proclamation of liberation. It appears that Jesus was willing to give his life in opposition to an exploitive system. I heard the poor who live in Sulphur Spring and the people in my parish community urged me to fight on, but I no longer had the means to continue.
I understand the power of the Tampa mayor and the cruelty of the TPD. I have often told the street people in my neighborhood to refuse to move on when they are rousted by the TPD, but to back off when the police call for backup. I guess when faced with abusive power that is all was able to do. I got no additional penalty. No probation. No jail time. No fine. In return for pleading Nolo Contendere, I just walked away. Of course the real damage was already done
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