Save Newport Real News in Newport Beach
A few days ago, longtime activist Bob Rush sent out an email in regards to the results of a Public Document Request Act that he had done in Newport Beach. Included in the results of his query was an email that seems extremely concerning on its surface, which can be seen here: http://savenewport.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Enemies-List-PDF.pdf
In a nutshell, there was a guy named “ET Snell” who made a comment about Scott Peotter’s recall and said something to support him. Former Mayor Keith Curry– definitely not a supporter of Peotter– emailed the City Manager and the Chief of Police to alert them to the existence of this “ET Snell” person.
Upon quick research, the guy looks to be a bit… eccentric. He dresses up as a clown and goes to council meetings throughout SoCal area and speaks on topics which I frankly didn’t bother listening to, because that’s not important. What is important is that Curry stated “I have no reason to believe him to be a threat or dangerous in any way”, but decided to alert the police and the city manger to his existence anyway.
Now, I am not taking a side on the Peotter recall and frankly that’s outside of the realm of this conversation, so please don’t comment about how I either hate or I love him, because I hear both all the time and they both cannot be true simultaneously. This is about a list of people who are kept in secret by the government.
I spoke to Curry on this and he told me that the city does maintain a list of potential threats to councilpeople, especially after some councilpeople were targeted with violence by nutjobs. That makes sense. But why would you list someone who you have no reason to believe to be a threat or dangerous in any way? Was this just a “heads-up”? Or is there something deeper here?
While Curry wholeheartedly agrees that such a list exists for policing purposes, I have been told that the City Manager has denied the existence of such a list in its entirety. This is where things go from “that makes sense” to “wait– what is happening here?”. If the existence of this list is for public safety, then why would the city deny the existence of a list? Curry, for his part, has nothing to gain from saying falsehoods about such a lists existing, so I have to believe that such a list exists. The City Manager, however, denies it.
This is very, very suspicious.
So what would it look like if Newport actually had an “Enemies List” maintained by the highest levels of city staff?
Well, as an activist I am used to getting hit with barbs from those who don’t agree with me– that’s fine. I usually don’t take it personally, because there are some people who are simply not capable of disagreement without thinking that they need to attack someone elses character, rather than to logically attack their argument. This is an issue of mental stability but is sadly far more common than one would think in local politics.
But sometimes, things go well beyond verbal attacks. Brace yourselves for later this week when I detail an absurd-sounding story that is completely documented which I believe shows exactly what an “Enemies List” would look like. I’ve been sitting on this story for months because I simply could not make sense of it if an “Enemies List” did not exist– and to proclaim that one did exist without any admission of it frankly sounds insane. Now that the existence of one appears indisputable, I will share this months-long saga of cover-ups, theft, and lies all stemming from a single incident from the highest levels of government in Newport. Trust me– it’ll be quite the read.
