Harassment in Sheboygan

Cross-posted at THEB.

Mark Belling talked about this on his show today.

Apparently the powers-that-be in Screwy Sheboygan have taken it upon themselves to harass the proprietor of the Sheboygan Spirit, a public forum which allows citizens to comment on public events and officials, among other topics.

The Sheboygan Spirit had a link to the Sheboygan Police Department on the forum. Yawn. So what? Many blogs have links to public officials and services in their links section.

Apparently Mayor Juan Perez doesn’t care for this forum or its proprietor. Why? The Spirit led a recall attempt against Perez for attempting to abolish the police department, among other things. Typically, Perez played the race card and accused his political foes of targeting him because he is Hispanic.

You can read about the recall and the reasons behind it here.

Recently, the Sheboygan Spirit proprietor received a letter from the City Attorney, Stephen McLean, demanding that the link to the Police Department be removed from the forum’s home page. No reason. It isn’t illegal to post such links to any web site. Not only that, he demanded that the link to the Police Department be removed from the proprietor’s private business web site as well.

The proprietor did as the City Attorney demanded and removed the links. Not long after, she received a phone call from the Police Department stating that she was now the subject of an investigation by the Police. Apparently, this investigation of a private citizen for no apparent reason was personally ordered by the Chief of Police in Sheboygan, David E. Kirk, a crony of Mayor Perez.

So the Mayor orders his buddy, the Police Chief, to begin an unwarranted criminal investigation of a private citizen who led the recall efforts against him.

Can you say, Abuse of Power? Recall this guy? Maybe he should be impeached.

The police do not serve at the discretion of the mayor or any other elected official. They are to protect and serve the public as a whole. How many tax dollars and man hours were wasted as a result of this politically motivated stunt aimed solely to silence a critic of the mayor? I could say there were probably real crimes to be investigated and real criminals to be caught, but one of the idiot liberal judges in Sheboygan — also cronies of the mayor — would just let them go anyway.

Are we now to fear speaking out and being critical of elected officials for fear they’ll send their personal collection of brownshirts, attired in their jackboots and Nazi bucket helmets, to make sure we don’t step out of line?

If there were a real newspaper in Sheboygan, this would be front page. But the Sheboygan Press is also a lapdog for Perez and his goon squad, as well as the idiot liberal judges that allow dangerous criminals to roam the community.

By the way, here’s the link to the Sheboygan Police Department that had Perez so upset.

While you’re at it, why not let Mayor Perez know what you think of his attempts to intimidate a private citizen into silence? His e-mail is: mayor@ci.sheboygan.wi.us. Perez can be reached by snail mail at:

The Honorable Juan Perez
828 Center Avenue, 3rd Floor
Sheboygan, Wis. 53081
Phone: (920) 459-3317

Be respectful if you e-mail or write.

You can also let Chief Kirk know what you think of him being a willing participant in the harassment of a private citizen. His e-mail is: dkirk@ci.sheboygan.wi.us. Kirk can be reached by snail mail at:

David E. Kirk, Chief of Police
828 Center Avenue
Sheboygan, Wis. 53081-4499
Phone: (920) 459-3343

Once again, please be respectful if you e-mail or write.