Friday, January 23, 2009

Video, Al Flowers Press Conference

Photo By John Hoff

The Minneapolis Mirror has posted video of the Al Flowers press conference announcing his lawsuit, click here for that Mirror story with the video.

In this Mirror video, one sees...

A much different side of Al Flowers than was present at the JACC press conference, where he was an angry, repetitively-shouting, disruptive loon. He talks about his "right to ask questions" and yet the video from the JACC press conference, click here for a link, shows how Al Flowers shouted statements, over and over, and not always questions, i.e., "I got four residents that says you was illegal." In fact, he shouted about somebody having the audacity to stand in front of him.
When Flowers was loudly taking a cell phone call, and somebody asked him to take it outside, he snapped back rudely and proclaimed "I am the community." (The audio of his "I-Am-The-Community" response isn't as clear on the tape as the voice telling Flowers to take the call outside, but I heard and I have another witness who heard the--now infamous--"I Am The Community" declaration)

North To Minneapolis (You Go North, The Rush Is On)

One thing I do like very much about this Mirror video, however. Flowers describes North Minneapolis and the Jordan neighborhood as the site of a "gold rush." I tend to believe some of the same stuff. Bargains are everywhere, fine old houses that can be snapped up for a song and turned into owner-occupied housing in the next "hot" neighborhood. The demographics of North Minneapolis are changing from "hood" to "good" as revitalization takes its course.

Listen to Al Flowers: now is the time to buy, buy, buy houses in North Minneapolis.

Turnabout Would Be Fair Play?

Oh, also, one can't help but wonder what would be the reaction of Al Flowers, his two hangers-on, and his attorney if somebody came up and started shouting, over and over, stuff like:

DO YOU LIVE IN JORDAN, AL FLOWERS? YOU SAY YOU LIVE ON NORTH EMERSON, WELL, HALF OF NORTH EMERSON IS HAWTHORNE. WHICH SIDE OF EMERSON DO YOU LIVE ON, AL? NO, DON'T TALK ABOUT YOUR LAWSUIT, I DON'T HAVE TIME TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR THREE DOLLARS, I WANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE IN THE JORDAN NEIGHBORHOOD, BECAUSE UNTIL I KNOW WHERE, I HAVE MY DOUBTS AND OTHER FOLKS HAVE DOUBTS, TOO.

If readers have comments they want to shout at Al, at the top of their lungs, feel free to use the comment threads and your CAPS LOCK.

Al Might Have To Give Back His $3 Judgment

Oh, in regard to the photo...this shows my point of view, when Flowers shoved City Council Member Don Samuels. Was I a witness? You bet. Did I see Flowers get elbowed? Did I see Flowers have his toes stepped on?

No, I saw nothing like that. On the contrary, I saw Flowers shove Samuels because he didn't like Samuels standing in front of him, with Samuels having his back turned. It seemed to me Flowers had taken the role of a "protester" with his shouted statements, and Samuels was taking the role of a "counter protester" by standing directly in front of Flowers, back turned.

Samuels was within his rights to passively stand there, facing away from Flowers. The person who called 911 felt menaced by Flowers--who was shouting at the top of his lungs, seemingly without emotional control--and was scary. I moved out of the way, actually thinking fists and elbows would start flying, because Al was shouting so loudly, angrily, and REPETITIVELY. One definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over, hoping for a different outcome. When somebody shouts repetitively...they meet the definition.

The cops who removed Flowers didn't seem to be "doing the bidding" of Samuels. On the contrary, they showed up at an address in response to a 911 call about an angry, menacing guy shouting at the top of his lungs. They identified that guy easily and asked him to step outside. He didn't go cooperatively. They grappled with him, and he resisted, as one can clearly see from the series of still photos more so than from the videos. (Though the videos show, from a distance, some of Al's physical resistance on the walkway, as the cops demanded Al go ALL THE WAY TO THE STREET and Al didn't want to go)

I spoke to the officers and observed some of the interaction, out there in the street. The officers had looks on their faces which seemed confused. They didn't seem to understand why somebody had called 911, and then they were speaking to somebody like Ben Myers, who seemed to be taking authority and speaking in defense of Flowers. I spoke to one of the cops and said something like, "What's going on here is very political, I suppose it's tough to sort it all out." And the officer said something back like, "We just came to some address in response to a 911 call."

I'm Being Repressed! Oh, See How They Repress Me!

Tactically, it makes sense to announce a lawsuit quickly. That way, if Al gets charged with obstruction of legal process, he can say the charges are politically motivated and in response to his lawsuit.

But here's my prediction: this lawsuit won't go as well for Al Flowers as the other lawsuit, the one where he snagged $3.

No jury is going to enjoy seeing the "Mr. Jekyll" aspect of Flowers' personality caught so richly on videotape. They'll have to ask themselves, "Is somebody acting like this a person who is menacing, and should be removed from a public meeting?"

Al Flowers believes in free speech, all right. He believes in it for HIMSELF. When somebody else uses the right to free assembly to try to share the same floor space with Flowers, then we see Flowers the Thug emerge, shoving and shouting because somebody dared to stand in front of him while he was trying to heckle. It's also richly ironic to see complaints being aired of Flowers being "discredited" when, after all, that's what Flowers was trying to do, both to Samuels when he called Samuels a "house nigga" and with Michael Browne, when Flowers tried to say Browne was acting illegally.

Why? Oh, because four residents told Flowers that, so in the mind of Al "I Am The Community" Flowers, that's a legal majority...Flowers and four people he knows.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a joke. Stressing the fact that they want a dignified dialoge now, just underscores how undignified Al Flowers was at that press conference at the JACC office. There is a time and place raise objections. I am all for the ability to hear differing viewpoints. But to do it in a way that involves speaking over other people, raising your voice in a completely disrepsectful manner is not the way to do it.

Jill Clark should be ashamed of herself for filing such a silly lawsuit in a clear attempt to get more name recognition. Not the type of character that should or will be on the Minnesota Supreme Court. Shame on you counselor.

In regards to the other two people, it seems clear to me that they are in it for their own self interests. Money. Money. Money. Or as the one guy likes to say "The Gold Rush" in north Minneapolis.

Why is it that Hawthorne can deal with this "Gold Rush" in a dignified manner, whereas these people end up acting like children -- seeing who can yell the loudest at a press conference.

A good thing about this is the fact that a spotlight is being shined on these peoples' actions.

How shameful.

Anonymous said...

Johnny, in the 8th line down from top, you write click here for link.. but the link didn't come through.

Anonymous said...

I want to yell at Al so thanks for providing the space.

HEY AL! THE ONLY COMMUNITY YOU ARE IS THE LUNATIC COMMUNITY - GUESS WHAT, BEHAVIOR IS NOT A PROTECTED CLASS!! YOU CAN BE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BASED ON YOUR POOR BEHAVIOR! MAYBE YOU SHOULD ADVOCATE FOR BEHAVIOR TO BE PROTECTED! GET A LIFE AND GO BACK TO LINDEN HILLS - TRY THAT B.S. IN THAT COMMUNITY! RAISE THE BAR AL, RAISE THE BAR.

Anonymous said...

SHUT UP AL! SHUT UP AL! SHUT UP AL!

*c'mon, chant with me*

SHUT UP AL! SHUT UP AL! SHUT UP AL!

Anonymous said...

correction - you CAN'T be discriminated based on behavior...

return to yelling at Al.

Anonymous said...

I think Julius H. Marx said it best when he sang

I don't know what they have to say,
It makes no difference anyway,
Whatever it is, I'm against it.
No matter what it is or who commenced it,
I'm against it.

Your proposition may be good,
But let's have one thing understood,
Whatever it is, I'm against it.
And even when you've changed it or condensed it,
I'm against it.

For months before my son was born,
I used to yell from night to morn,
Whatever it is, I'm against it.
And I've kept yelling since I first commenced it,
I'm against it!

When it comes to progress and a brighter future, Al and Jill Clark are usually standing in the way.

Anonymous said...

I GOT FOUR PEOPLE THAT SAY AL FLOWERS DON'T LIVE IN JORDAN! I GOT FOUR! PEOPLE! THAT SAY AL! DON'T! LIVE IN JORDAN! I GOT A RIGHT TO ASK QUESTIONS!!! I GOT FOUR PEOPLE THAT SAY AL DON'T LIVE IN JORDAN! THIS IS A PUBLIC FORUM AND I GOT FOUR PEOPLE THAT SAY AL DON'T LIVE IN JORDAN! THIS IS ILLEGAL! YOU DON'T GET TO POST YOUR COMMENT IN FRONT OF ME, I GOT FOUR PEOPLE THAT SAY AL DON'T LIVE IN JORDAN!

Anonymous said...

Point #1: Isn't Don Samuels' standing in front of Al Flowers also a form of expression that would be protected under first amendment rights?

#2: "Mr. Flowers chose a court action so there would be a calm, dignified scrutiny of what went on..." Al, it's a little late for you to call for calm and dignity.

#3: His nonsensical rant about foreclosures (it's calm but it's still a nonsensical rant) literally had me laughing until my sides hurt. First, he does raise a valid point about whether adequate measures were used to calculate whether north Minneapolis gets a fair share of housing dollars spent by DC on the foreclosure crisis. BUT he says we're getting "$150 billion." The NSP dollars coming to Minnesota include $5.5 MILLION for Minneapolis and another $38 MILLION for the state, of which Minneapolis may get perhaps another $5 or $6 MILLION. Also, it's "median" income, with an "n." We clearly hear him say "medium income." And WHAT ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH does this have to do with Al's conduct at the press conference?

#4: I didn't see Farheen doing anything on Saturday to support a "mature, dignified, respectful, dignified discourse" either.

#5: Our final speaker is the only person who makes a modicum of sense in this whole freakshow. He loses points for calling the organization the "Jordan Area Community Neighborhood Association," but we at least have acknowledgment that the elections themselves were legal. (Although as a point of order, if I'm not mistaken, Mr. Jerry Moore was fired before the new executive committee was formed.) I am happy to hear north Minneapolis accurately described as a "gold rush." But here's a news flash: While you are busy filing your frivolous lawsuits and parading in front of cameras with your concern over who controls the "gold" of foreclosed/vacant properties, people with their own agendas (both good and bad) will be busy buying up these properties! If you really want to affect the balance of power that is in shift because of the foreclosure crisis, then STOP YOUR BICKERING, ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES, AND GET TO WORK!

Johnny Northside said...

To the second anonymous: thanks for catching that, and I've added the link.

In regard to standing in front of Al Flowers, back turned: it sure looked like expressive conduct to me. Shoving Samuels from behind--albeit expressive conduct--would be assault and battery, wouldn't it? Protesters who hold up signs aren't allowed to SHOVE people who stand up in front, holding their own signs.

But when Flowers says "free speech" he apparently means free speech and free assembly only for Al Flowers, not for anybody else.

Anonymous said...

AL AND JILL WENT UP THE HILL TO FETCH A PAIL OF MONEY. AL BLAMED DON AND JILL WENT ON AND ON, BUT THEIR CLAIM OF SUPPRESSION WASN'T FUNNY!

AL IS HIGH AND JILL FEEDS THE BOTTOM...THESE SHENANIGANS ARE PURELY ROTTEN!

NOW STOP THIS NONSENSE YOU BICKERING FOOLS...BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW THE NEW MAJORITY HAS FOLLOWED THE RULES.

Anonymous said...

Hey I was just wondering if someone is cross eyed can they read this clearly??

1915bung said...

Samuels needs to file a restraining order against Flowers. As an active councilman it would be his duty to attend the JACC meeting, which of course means that flowers would have to stay away.

Maybe without Flowers , JACC might have a chance to get some work done!

Anonymous said...

WOW
Lowry Hill neighborhood fiasco or Jordan neighborhood fiasco ALL
need to go to their rooms take a time out and reflect...come out when you can talk about what YOU did...

Anonymous said...

AL! I'M GOING TO NEED TO ASK YOU TO TAKE YOUR PRESCRIPTIONS ON A REGULAR BASIS! YOU ARE ONE PRESCRIPTION SHORT OF CAUSING BODILY HARM!

Johnny Northside said...

In regard to the "Lowry Hill Neighborhood fiasco," I'm not familiar with that. Can you say more about that?

Anonymous said...

johnny, mpls crime watch blog had some recent posts/links about lowry hill neighbors filing lawsuits and restraining orders. check out the blog and wcco

Johnny Northside said...

I didn't find it on that blog, but I Googled "Lowry Hill" and "restraining order" and found something.

http://wcco.com/crime/lowry.hill.feud.2.908641.html

That is--thank goodness--an instance of neighbors having a fued, and not a neighborhood association having a schism.

Jeff Skrenes said...

There's also a story in today's Strib about the Lowry Hill fiasco. I know your policy about posting Strib links on the blog, but you might want to check it out yourself anyway.

Anonymous said...

Something just dawned on me, have you ever noticed that Al (and his familiar Zach) have never stepped up to actually take on a neighborhood problem? No, I will tell you why. First of all it would mean accountability, something Al has never been exposed to. Secondly, there would be an outcome measurement, something Al has never achieved. These two public access buffoons (now joined with the Green Party's answer to Dick Franson and the legal profession's own semi-retarded Don Quixote) will never do anything unless it serves their own need to feed their insecurities and self-imposed prophet status.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Wouldn't it be really odd if Al Flowers was living on, say, SOUTH Emerson??? I wonder...

Johnny Northside! said...

The link to the Mpls Mirror story with the video is dead. You really can't trust the mirror not to get rid of old stories when political alliances or personal alliances shift.

This blog, however, has not and will not engage in such journalistically and ethically dubious behavior.

Johnny Northside! said...

Mirror.

Capital letter "M" Mirror.