THE MATTER OF OFFICER PHIL WHITE'S TWEETS AND THE HYPOCRISY OF SAN JOSE MAYOR SAM LICCARDO

Post 8/23

If you are a resident of San Jose California, you might know about the scandal involving some controversial tweets by San Jose police officer Phil White in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. Many activists and City officials interpret the tweets as threatening and perhaps racist. Officer White was fired from the police department after an uproar by several community members last July. Recently, Officer White was reinstated  as a result of arbitration. Of course, many in the local media have covered this matter. However, my post refers to two recent articles by a local Metro newspaper, San Jose Inside (SJI). Here are the links for the two articles so you can judge the matter for youself:

http://www.sanjoseinside.com/2016/02/26/sjpds-white-privilege-problem/

http://www.sanjoseinside.com/2016/03/08/activists-urge-council-to-appeal-officer-whites-reinstatement/

The purpose of this post is to address the hypocrisy of San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and San Jose Inside. They have been quick to condemn  Officer White for his tweets. They supported Officer White's firing, and they oppose his reinstatement. Yet, for the past five plus years, Mayor Liccardo and the San Jose City Council have refused to initiate an investigation into my discrimination complaints against the San Jose City Attorney's Office. SJI has refused to do a story on my case, even though I presented them with indisputable evidence of criminal misconduct by San Jose city officials and the federal courts. Here is a comment I posted in reply to SJI's article regarding Officer White's reinstatement. My comment was posted briefly but was removed. So far, I can't re-post it. Therefore, I am posting it here:

Comment:

Mayor Liccardo coming out against Officer Phil White getting his job back is no surprise. It was predictable. All of this phony concern about White’s tweets is laughable. This is political grandstanding at its worst, apparently an attempt to show that the City does not tolerate bias and racism. Which is not true. Mayor Liccardo and the City Council have a lot more to worry about than those tweets by Officer White. They have their own issues with discrimination, as well as, public corruption. The NAACP and other community activists have every right to be critical of White’s tweets. But, it they are serious about issues related to discrimination against blacks/African Americans, I suggest that they ask the Mayor and City Council to respond publicly to the lawsuits I filed against the City for discrimination related to my disability retirement from the police department.  There has been a criminal cover-up of this matter by the Mayor and other top city officials, with help from the federal courts. It is quite clear that the City has a double standard when it comes to enforcing its policies relating to discrimination and the City’s Code of Ethics. Rank and file police officers are held to a higher standard than top city officials. Over the last five years, I filed numerous complaints with the top city officials against the San Jose City Attorney’s Office and three former police administrators for discrimination and criminal misconduct relative to a lawsuit I filed against the City. Not a single one of my complaints have been investigated, as is mandated by city policy. This scandal with the tweets by Officer White pales in comparison with the Bull Connor like manner in which I have been treated by Mayor Liccardo, the City Council and several other City officials. The mistreatment I endured was a flagrant violation of my constitutional rights, and was nothing more than a high-tech lynching. SJI and the rest of the local media lap dogs for the City should be ashamed for not reporting my story. Apparently they are okay with City officials discriminating against a black police officer. But any opportunity to disingenuously portray a police officer as being a racist or violating a person’s rights, they are all over it. So who is more unfit for their job, Officer White or Mayor Liccardo and the City Council? If you want to read about a real scandal, check out the following links: https://www.facebook.com/groups/624131267713226/

www.opnlttr.com/letter/open-letter-san-jose-mayor-sam-licardo-and-city-council

http://crnctz.blogspot.com/2015/08/exposing-cover-up-of-cheating-scandal.html

A new lawsuit I recently filed against Mayor Liccardo, the City Council and the City of San Jose in US District Court has not yet been included in the above links. The case number is 15-cv-5729-EJD. You can look it up in PACER.

Fred Bates – retired sergeant, SJPD