Beacon Street Journal

New light is being shed on the curious case of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case in Philadelphia which was mysteriously dismissed by the Obama Justice Department. The Justice Department had previously secured a default judgment in Federal District Court when the defendants’ failed to answer the Civil Complaint or otherwise appear in court to defend the charges.

The Washington Times is reporting that:

Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli, the No. 3 official in the Obama Justice Department, was consulted and ultimately approved a decision in May to reverse course and drop a civil complaint accusing three members of the New Black Panther Party of intimidating voters in Philadelphia during November’s election, according to interviews.

The decision by Perrelli, an Obama supporter who raised $500,000 for the Democrat candidate’s presidential campaign, pitted career attorneys of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, who wanted to pursue the case against recently named political appointees.

Front-line lawyers were in the final stages of completing that work when they were unexpectedly told by their superiors in late April to seek a delay after a meeting between political appointees and career supervisors, according to federal records and interviews.

And the rationale for dismissing the charges? Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler stated that the department has an “ongoing obligation to be sure the claims it makes are supported by the facts and the law. She said that after a “thorough review of the complaint, top career attorneys in the Civil Rights Division determined the “facts and the law did not support pursuing the claims against three of the defendants.

Ms. Schmaler’s assertion offered in support of dismissing the case is ludicrous. What part of the case was not supported by the facts or the law? The incident at a Philadelphia poll during last November’s election was a slam dunk case of voter intimidation. Three members of the New Black Panther Party, clad in paramilitary uniforms, one of whom was wielding a two foot night stick, were captured on video tape in front of the entrance of the polling station issuing racial threats and racial insults to voters as they entered the polling station.

The Justice Department has been stonewalling Republican lawmakers, including Frank R. Wolf of Virginia, who have attempted to ascertain the basis for the decision to dismiss the case. Wolf has been prevented from interviewing the career attorneys in the Department who wanted to pursue the matter.

The posture of the Obama Justice Department on this matter, in conjunction with his disastrous and precipitous intervention in the Gates case, belies the contention that Barack Obama was going to be the “post racial” President.

In light of the overwhelming evidence caught on video tape, the decision to dismiss the case against the New Black Panther Party defendants reeks of politicization of the Obama Justice Department. It is ironic that Perrelli’s decision to drop the matter was approved by Attorney General Eric Holder, who earlier in the year had castigated Americans for being cowards when it comes to discussing matters of race. Whose acting cowardly now?