Ex-DOJ Lawyer Blames Dismissal of New Black Panther Case on Reverse Racism
A former Justice Department lawyer says officials ordered him to drop charges in a voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party in a decision he says is symptomatic of the administration’s reverse racism.
J. Christian Adams, now a Virginia lawyer and conservative blogger, told Fox News that the Justice Department won’t pursue voting rights cases against white victims. “There is a pervasive hostility within the civil rights division at the Justice Department toward these sorts of cases,” he said. Adams quit in protest after the decision.
The case stems from a November 2008 incident at a Philadelphia polling place that has “become a cause celebre for conservatives,” the Main Justice blog reports. “Two members of the anti-white fringe group stood outside the polling place in military-style garb, one of them holding a night stick.”
The Justice Department did obtain an injunction in the case against the nightstick-wielding party member that requires him to stay away from polling stations. The department says charges against other party members were dropped because the claims were not supported by the facts and the law.
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is probing the decision to dismiss charges, Fox says.
In a written statement cited by Fox News, Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler responded to Adams’ comments. “It is not uncommon for attorneys within the department to have good faith disagreements about the appropriate course of action in a particular case, although it is regrettable when a former department attorney distorts the facts and makes baseless allegations to promote his or her agenda,” she said.
Fox News has posted this YouTube video of the polling place.
