The allegations against Milwaukee Ald. Michael McGee, Jr. just keep on coming.
The latest:
Ald. Michael McGee used his anti-crime Rapid Response Team as a way to solicit bribes from business owners in his district, a federal search warrant released today alleges.
The warrant says that McGee extorted money by saying giving money to the team would improve the area where the owners operated their businesses, the warrant says. Those who didn't contribute would be punished by having their licenses withheld, the warrant said.
In one case, McGee extorted $20,000 from a business as a "commitment" to the team, the warrant said.
FBI agents searched the organization's office on June 3.
Yeah, McGee is a real team player, isn't he?
The guy is an absolute disgrace.
Given that the apple doesn't fall far from the elder McGee's tree, McGee the younger was destined to be a sleazeball.
He has delivered on that in spades.
What I do not understand is how leaders in Milwaukee's African-American community have the nerve to align themselves with McGee by holding a rally, a "prayer vigil," to show their support for him.
MILWAUKEE -- Several dozen Alderman Michael McGee, Junior supporters held a protest Thursday afternoon on the front steps of the Milwaukee County Courthouse. They say McGee's 100 thousand dollar cash bail is too high. They want him released on a signature bond.
“This is about justice. And this isn’t justice right here, what’s happening to him, right now, to have his bail be so high, I would do this for anyone," said protester Stanley Richmond.
McGee supporters say that all of the other Milwaukee aldermen charged with crimes got out of jail on a signature bond and were allowed to stay at home until they were convicted. Many think McGee is being unfairly targeted because he stood for things many other people in city government opposed.
"We having a problem in our community right now where and we feel like our leadership is being targeted for the stance that they take in our community,” McGee supporter Lamonte Harris said.
The other aldermen charged with crimes weren't plotting to kill someone or "beat down" people.
McGee is being treated the way he is because of the way he is, because of his history -- having multiple identities, using two Social Security numbers, making threats of violence, lying in court, etc.
To suggest that McGee's bail is high as revenge and a means to punish him for where he stands on government issues is absurd.
The response from some of Milwaukee's African-American leadership is truly disturbing.
From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
"The purpose for the rally is to really highlight the injustice that is taking place," William Muhammad, minister of Muhammad's Mosque No. 3 said Wednesday.
"They are holding him like a political prisoner," said Muhammad, a McGee supporter.... "It is unfair, unjust and wicked. Anyone who cares about justice should come out and express it."
...Jerry Ann Hamilton, president of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the fact that McGee still remains in jail is "grossly unjustified."
"Bail is not meant to be punishment," Hamilton said. "Bail is intended to secure the defendant's appearance in court and prevent fleeing. Ald. McGee has many roots in this community. He is not a flight risk."
NAACP local president Hamilton apparently has confidence in McGee's character. She doesn't believe he's a flight risk. She's entitled to her opinion, but the decision on bail isn't hers to make.
And minister William Muhammad's remarks are really irresponsible.
McGee is no political prisoner. Good grief.
It's as though these people are doing everything they can to compound tensions.
The support McGee is getting in Milwaukee reminds of Democrat Congressman William Jefferson's supporters in New Orleans.
There, too, ministers and the president of the local NAACP chapter have come to Jefferson's defense. They are also playing the race card and painting the criminal as the victim.
Read more.
In both the case of McGee and the case of Jefferson, the NAACP continues to lose credibility.
Simply put, the group has lost nearly all semblance of integrity. This once great civil rights organization too often is now little more than a front group of hacks and extremists, promoting people and policies that actually run counter to its professed mission.
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