Thread: FB, TX: LULAC suit alleging harassment prompt restrictions

Well, I know that LULAC is stepping up their campaign to make Support Farmers Branch racist.

However, I can say for a fact that Tim Scott WAS following Elizabeth Villafranca on Sunday as Elizabeth came to my door to try to talk me into taking down my FOR sign and putting up her AGAINST sign. And less than five minutes after that Tim Scott was at my door telling me "Thank You" for keeping my FOR sign up.

So he may have receipts and people to back him up that he was somewhere else that day, but I can say that he was keeping a close eye on Elizabeth. I'm sure he was just watching to see if she "converted" anyone to her side. But I can see why she would feel a little uneasy for him to be tracing her steps. However, a lawsuit is a bit over the top, especially since Elizabeth had at least one guy with her. No woman with her kids would go door to door without a man around to "protect" them from harm.

Gee, I never thought I'd be smack in the middle of a controversy!!! I had just hoped that Support Farmers Branch (including Tim Scott) would not resort to lying about their activities, as Tim Scott has seemed to do in this case. I hope there are no other lies about intimidating voters. Don't they train these guys NOT to be combative so they WILL NOT give fuel for LULAC to run with?

I almost feel like writing Tim Scott an email to say that he disappointed me in this situation. It does not make our side look good.

Here's the article.

TexasGal



Backers of rental ban hit with order

FB: LULAC suit alleging harassment prompts temporary restrictions

12:00 AM CDT on Friday, March 30, 2007

By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News
ssandoval@dallasnews.com

A state district judge has issued a temporary restraining order against some supporters of a proposed Farmers Branch ordinance targeting illegal immigrants.

The order from 160th District Court Judge Jim Jordan was issued late Wednesday in response to a lawsuit that Dallas lawyer Domingo Garcia filed on behalf of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

It alleges that members of Support Farmers Branch have engaged in "intimidation, harassment, threats, false accusations and the filing of false police reports" against members of the Farmers Branch chapter of LULAC as they campaigned against the ordinance, which goes to voters May 12.

The ordinance would ban apartments from renting to most illegal immigrants.

The suit names City Council candidate Tim Scott; Tom Bohmier, one of the most vocal supporters of the ordinance; the Support Farmers Branch political action committee; the city; and police Cpl. Terry Eoff. It also names Andrew Williams, but leaders of Support Farmers Branch said they don't know him.

But on Thursday, Mr. Garcia made revisions, dropping Mr. Scott, Mr. Williams, the city and Cpl. Eoff from the suit. Mr. Scott also was dropped from the temporary restraining order.

Mr. Garcia said the city and Cpl. Eoff were removed from the suit because they must be sued in federal court.

The restraining order issued by Judge Jordan requires Mr. Bohmier and any member of Support Farmers Branch to refrain from "stalking, harassing, shadowing, [or] tailgating" within 100 feet of any person known by them to be a member or volunteer for the Farmers Branch chapter of LULAC. The supporters also are banned from making hateful, rude or harassing communication with LULAC members.

Allegations disputed

In an affidavit filed with the lawsuit, Elizabeth Villafranca, head of the Farmers Branch chapter of LULAC, said Mr. Scott had followed her on Sunday as she campaigned against the ordinance, intimidating and stoking fear in her, her 7-year-old daughter and other passengers in her vehicle.

Mr. Scott said the allegations against him were "absolutely and unequivocally" untrue.

"Once it was seen that I have ironclad evidence, including receipts and toll transactions, and can get signed affidavits that prove where I was, and that I didn't do that, they decided to remove me from" the suit, Mr. Scott said. "I asked them to apologize and to say what they filed was false, and they said they wouldn't."

Mr. Garcia said Thursday that that wasn't the case. He said Mr. Scott was removed from the suit because he had sworn in court Wednesday afternoon that he was not involved in any of the behavior described and that he would encourage supporters of the ordinance not to engage in that behavior either.

"We took him at his word," Mr. Garcia said. "The only thing LULAC and the citizens of Farmers Branch want is a clean, fair campaign. We don't want dirty tactics being used against our supporters, and the temporary restraining order was an attempt to stop the dirty tactics."

The lawsuit says the defendants deluged Ms. Villafranca with "rude, harassing, hateful and illegal" telephone calls and e-mails, "hoping to frighten them to stop their efforts to defeat Ordinance 2903."

Mr. Garcia's petition unsuccessfully asked that Support Farmers Branch members be banned from being within 100 yards of, or trying to communicate in any way with any Hispanic resident of Farmers Branch.

"The Gestapo tactics and political terrorism of the anti-immigrant group Defendant Support Farmers Branch PAC and its members ... are designed and/or intended to stop, or at least hinder, Hispanic citizens from registering to vote and to suppress their vote," the lawsuit said.

Mr. Scott and other supporters said they would never condone such tactics.

"We've gone out of our way to tell everyone involved, 'Do this the right way, the honest way,' " Mr. Scott said.

Ms. Villafranca's sworn affidavit also alleges Mr. Bohmier followed her vehicle for several hours on Sunday.

Mr. Bohmier has said that he followed Ms. Villafranca on Sunday after receiving reports that someone in a vehicle like hers was seen removing signs supporting Ordinance 2903. He said he called police to let them know he had spotted the vehicle that was earlier reported to be involved in the sign theft, and that he followed only because police asked him to do so.

On Tuesday, officials from the U.S. Justice Department said they were investigating Ms. Villafranca's complaints that Support Farmers Branch was engaging in voter intimidation.

Ms. Villafranca said Wednesday evening that she had not sought a temporary restraining order.

"Originally I had contemplated it. I felt really afraid for my daughter," said Ms. Villafranca, who owns Cuquita's restaurant in Farmers Branch and has been one of the leaders in the movement to defeat the proposed ordinance. She said her 7-year-old daughter was in her vehicle as she was being followed on Sunday.

"I decided [obtaining a restraining order] was not the best thing for the community," she said. "I don't want to take action to further divide the community."

Thursday morning, Ms. Villafranca said she had not authorized Mr. Garcia to include her affidavit as part of the lawsuit, and that when she talked to a reporter Wednesday night she was unaware it had been filed with the court. Mr. Garcia confirmed that explanation.

"Elizabeth signed an affidavit but said she didn't want to be a party [to the lawsuit], even though I think she's the victim," Mr. Garcia said. "We decided it would be better to have LULAC do it than her individually."

Mr. Garcia said he was authorized to file the lawsuit by state and national LULAC leaders.

O'Hare's criticism

City Council member Tim O'Hare, the driving force behind the ordinance, said the latest volley in the emotionally charged campaign would backfire on Ms. Villafranca, LULAC and other opponents of the ordinance.

"Somebody has got to call this woman and these people out for their lies and their deception and their deceitfulness," Mr. O'Hare said.

"It's yet another example of bullying tactics by people who are accusing supporters of this ordinance of being bullies. It's another attempt to cost the city of Farmers Branch money, and this goes far beyond what's fair and what's decent, and I believe that actions like these may only motivate our supporters to go to the polls."

Whether the accusations on both sides of the fence will help or hurt either side is difficult to gauge, said Jim Riddlesperger, political science professor at Texas Christian University.

"I guess whether it helps their cause depends on where they were before it was publicized," he said. "If you look like the tide is going against you, obviously raising issues that tend to increase the profile of an issue is something that might be very positive for your side. ... It's hard to say if taking an issue public is a bad strategy or good strategy."

Travis Carter, leader of the Let the Voters Decide political action committee fighting the ordinance, said the court actions this week had nothing to do with that group.

"I think we as a community, on both sides of this issue, should be debating the merits of [the ordinance], and we need to, as quickly as possible, move past any and all of anything that pulls us away from what's most important – that's debating and discussing this ordinance," Mr. Carter said.

http://link.toolbot.com/dallasnews.com/71545

This is a bunch of crap.

Actually, I think it's LULAC trying to intimidate the citizens that are "keeping an eye on them". Which is not illegal.

They are building a case so they can turn around and sue individuals when they don't get ther way.

Dixie

Originally Posted by Dixie

This is a bunch of crap.

Actually, I think it's LULAC trying to intimidate the citizens that are "keeping an eye on them". Which is not illegal.

They are building a case so they can turn around and sue individuals when they don't get ther way.

Dixie

Kinda like the "flying Imans sueing the John Does that correctly reported suspicious activities on that plane!
They are trying to turn the law around on us using technicalities.
It won't work. But hey, nice try.

New to this board, thanks for the support!

Here's what really happened regarding the Temporary Restraining Order that LULAC and Elizabeth Villafranca filed against me. I received a call a couple of Wednesdays ago at 4:30pm saying that I was named on a TRO, and that there was a hearing in an hour downtown. I hadn't been served any paperwork, and questioned the late notice. I rushed to the courthouse, where I was met by attorney Domingo Garcia, and provided a copy of the complaint, which stated that I "followed and harassed" Mrs. Villafranca, her seven year old daughter, and several other volunteers from "11:30p to 12:30n" the previous Sunday, "changing lanes when she changed lanes," "tailgating," etc. I laughed out loud in the courtroom when I read the document. I told the judge and Mr. Garcia exactly what happened, and I was non-suited in a matter of hours.

What did happen was I went to lunch with my family at Tin Star in Plano. (If you aren't a regular, you should check them out, it's great.) We returned to FB a little after noon, and I drove up Webb Chapel to show my wife all the signs that had been placed the day before. I noticed a volunteer from the group "Let the Voter's Decide" at a house with a "For 2903" sign in the yard, and knowing that the strategy of that weekend for the opposition was to try and convince citizens to switch our signs for theirs, I was curious how this was going to play out. (TexasGal, this was your house, right? I'm assuming.) I made the block a few times, waited for that volunteer to leave, then stopped and introduced myself and thanked the homeowner for keeping our sign. (I GREATLY appreciate it.)

Please know that my comments on this have been consistent, and truthful. I was driving down Webb Chapel that day, but I was not even remotely doing what the false affidavit claimed I was doing.

Even though I was non-suited, one of our volunteers and the Support Farmers Branch PAC were still included in the suit, and we were fortunate enough to secure fabulous legal representation. A subpoena was issued to take Mrs. Villafranca's deposition, and she dodged it with all her might. Soon after, her affidavits were pulled from the suit, and you can read in last Sunday's Dallas Morning News the infighting that this entire debacle has sparked amongst the opposition group.

And I am happy to report that the judge today signed papers that makes the entire TRO disappear.

This is a great example of deception and intimidation on the part of LULAC. We stood up for the truth, and we won.

Thanks for all the support you show for Farmers Branch and Ordinance 2903. Feel free to contact me for any reason, I'd love to chat with everyone.

Tim Scott

Welcome Timrangers, thank you for the update and good news!
Good luck in FB!

Congradulations, and thanks for the story the truth and hopefully the end. certainly shows the true colors of LULAC.

Good luck to Farmers Branch we are keeping our eye on whats happening there!!

Welcome to Alipac Timrangers! I hope you win the race!

Also, we knew this was one of their dirty tricks!

Dixie

Who would have thought that a group that supports criminals illegally trespassing into our country and menacing our roadways and towns would resort to dishonesty?

This is a great example of deception and intimidation on the part of LULAC. We stood up for the truth, and we won.

This is GREAT NEWS!

Tim,

Welcome to ALIPAC and please let everyone in FB know we are with them!

We plan to send you some help and volunteers right after we clear our DC operations. Our people have been working behind the scenes to help where we can in FB.

I hope we have a great victory there, just like we did in Carpenterville, IL a few nights ago in their city elections.

William Gheen
President, Americans for Legal immigration PAC
www.alipac.us