By Barry J. Kahn

Here in Syracuse, in Onondaga County, New York (United States of North America) we have a radio station; WSYR am 570, owned and operated by a mass media conglomerate known as Clear Channels. Weekdays, from 05:00 to 09:00, they have a local morning talk forum format show whose announcer’s opinions tend to be biased toward conservatism. From 09:00 to 15:00 they have two biased syndicated talk forum programs whose announcers claim to be “conservative,” an understatement, to say the least. Next on this station, weekdays from 15:00 to 19:00 WSYR Radio has a local call-in talk forum known as the Jim Reith show. This program is also very conservative. Except for one particular talk show, that was on from, if I remember correctly, 19:00 to 22:00 that was much more “liberal,” and was taken off the air after a very brief run; the rest of the day is devoted to more of the same rightwing biased talk shows until 01:00.

This and these have been going on for decades. One day late in November or early December 2007, as I left work at 15:00, I heard a discussion about torture. At the end of one of the calls Jim Reith said, “I have no problem with torture.”

Not too long after, I learned that Jim Reith and WSYR were planning a Christmas party to benefit the McMahon-Ryan Child Advocacy Site, on Friday December 14, 2007 from 3:00pm to 7:00pm at the Syracuse Center for the Performing Arts, 730 East Genesee Street, Syracuse, NY. McMahon-Ryan Child Advocacy Site is a very worthwhile institutional non-profit organization that specializes in helping children who are victims of child abuse such as neglect and sexual assault.

The thought of this child advocacy organization collaborating with a man who is paid to advocate tax dollars be used to torture human beings, and at Christmas time, was by far much more than I could tolerate. I am a Quaker (a member of the Religious Society of Friends), a former committee member of the Children’s Committee of the Rape Crisis Center (now known as Vera House), chaplain of the Onondaga County Volunteer Fire Police. I have been a victim of a sexual assault and abuse as a child myself, and have been disabled both physically and mentally as a result.

My friends and colleagues vowed to take action. Jim Reith has a right to his opinion, and to say over the airways, “I have no problem with torture.” But this kind of mass taunting and sensationalism for profit fosters an environment that cultivates and promotes violence in our community. That is everyone from children to police.

I called Jim Reith by phone. He had always been fair and for the most part respectful and friendly toward me personally. We have much that we agree on, and he does much good for the community. I wanted to go to him as a friend before I went public to give him the opportunity at least to begin to take responsible action. I must say that his producer of course was curious, and wanted to know what this was about, but he was very gracious, and understanding, and went above and beyond to allow me the opportunity to give Mr. Reith the choice as to whether or not Mr. Reith would even allow me to speak with him at all, let alone first.

In the Quaker tradition of Friends, and for the purpose of this letter, I will henceforth refer to Mr. Reith as Jim. I trust he would approve.

When I reached him by phone, Jim asked me permission to record the conversation. I so granted. I am not good at on-the-spot conversation. I believe I asked him if I could meet with him in person. Jim said something like, not without my chief officer and my lawyers. He asked to know what this was about, and I told him. He replied, seeming agitated and somewhat arrogantly, that he had no problem with torture. I don’t know exactly what I said, of course, but I may have replied, “You do now,” or that I was going to take action against him. He wanted to know more specifically. I may have, at that point, said that I didn’t know, that it was something that I had not, as yet, given much consideration to at that time, and asked him if he had any suggestions, explaining that I wanted to give him the opportunity to suggest steps that might help to alleviate the problem, and be the first to do so. He either said, or I may have concluded from what he said, that he did not intend to do anything regarding his comment. I may have then tried to explain again that I would be forced to take action against him or this, his comment. Jim wanted to know what or what kind. I explain that I didn’t have anything specific in mind at the time and may have continued saying that I would think of something. He began to push for an answer and I repeated that I did not know. He continued to push, and, in an effort to be amicable, I may have said something like, I don’t know, maybe boycott his sponsors. That was not enough for him. He wanted to know what else and kept pushing. In frustration, and since he was not going to be polite, and to accommodate his persistence, I did say, out of exasperation, something like, Take you off the air, in an arrogant and cynical manor that reflected back to him his attitude.

At this point in writing this, I cannot recall if this conversation took place prior to becoming aware of the Christmas party, or after. I have since requested a copy of the conversation, but Jim’s producer indicated that it might be impossible to retrieve.

Nevertheless I organized a demonstration and picketed the Christmas party. I created an email to facilitate this demonstration. I sent it to the address I had plus many others that I could gather. Many of these were forwarded to many others until over a thousand were sent, and received.

So the big day finally arrived, I pulled into the parking driveway to park in the lot behind the Center. The Center is owned by Syracuse Federal Credit Union. On the way down the driveway, I saw Joel Delmonico (the local owner of the Clear Channels station). I stopped, opened the window on the passenger front side, greeted Joel and said, “ I’ve been looking for you.” Whereupon Joel came right up to the vehicle greeting me and putting his hand in the window and shook my hand. I told him I was there to demonstrate, whereupon he requested that I not do so. (At least a week earlier I had tried to contact Joel and had not succeeded.) I replied that it was too late now. The conversation ended somewhat abruptly, and I proceeded into the parking lot, pulled into a parking space, put up my tag in the window, put on my warm clothing, pulled out my chair and sign that said, “No Paid Public Advocacy of Torture, Not in My Town.” I noticed that among vehicles in the lot was a Syracuse city police car. A uniformed officer exited his vehicle. He began communicating verbally with one or some other males, all dressed casually. We greeted each other as others and I had been doing in normal everyday mutual polite common courtesy recognition. I walked to the front entrance, set up my chair, sat down, held up my sign, and thus began my one-man protest. No one else showed up.

Shortly I noticed two men walking briskly around the corner of the building toward me. They introduced themselves as police officers and asked me what I was doing. When I said I was protesting, they instructed me as to how I could legally conduct my protest. Since I have difficulty walking, they suggested I set up my chair across the street in the park. I did this, although I explained that I wanted to set up between the sidewalk and the curb. I was also told that I could not park in the rear of the Center, in the handicapped access slot, that it was also private property of the credit union and that I had to move my car onto the street. I was offered an alternative place to park that was no farther away than the space I was occupying. I later complied. Then each extended their hand in a spirited, hardy, and warm, gesture of mutual cooperation and friendliness in keeping with the season. They then proceeded to tell me that if I tried to go inside the Center, I would be arrested. I do not know if I asked why, but Officer Hierholzer said I had “threatened” Jim Reith. A bolt of fear struck me. I was dumbfounded.

Even though my being seen by the public, and the attendees, was very curtailed from my new position across the street from the entrance, I remained in the dark and cold seated holding my sign. There was some contentment, though, in the knowledge that I had made, at least, a slight impact, in that some of the public, as well as in Jim himself. His staff and some of the McMahon-Ryan staff were aware of it and had been made aware that I was there, that I was in earnest.

I sat there for a couple of hours before a car pulled up and parked illegally ahead of the city parking sign that instructed that there was no parking beyond that point. It totally blocked me from being seen. I politely informed the driver that he was not parked legally and was blocking me. I politely suggested a legal parking space slightly down and across the street and no further from the entrance. The driver replied with some sort of excuse, turned his back, continued on his way, totally, deliberately, and rudely ignoring me. I packed up my chair and sign, put them in my vehicle, walked across the street to a hotel where I was allowed to relieve myself, freshen up, get warm, and drink from the public water fountain. Somewhat warmer, refreshed and relieved, I went to my vehicle, took out the sign only, walked across the street to the entrance, and began pacing with my limp, up and down the sidewalk in front of the Center.

Officer Toia saw me, and came out to see how I was doing and to find out why I was no longer across the street. He was concerned about my being on my feet, and asked if I wasn’t cold. I told him that I was doing OK, that I would continue for about fifteen more minutes, and that was about all that I could be on my feet for. He allowed me to continue. When it came time and I had had enough, I got Officer Toia’s attention. He came to me and I asked him what the source was of the accusation that I had threatened Jim Reith. He told me that it was an “email”, and that is all he would divulge. I gave him the “thumbs up.” He acknowledged, and I left at approximately 19:20.

As a citizen of the United States of America, there were rights that I am entitled to that were either denied or not fully allowed. Not accommodating my disability and allowing me to sit in my chair between the sidewalk and the curb on the same side of the street as the entrance where I could easily be seen in the light curtailed the right to freedom of speech. The right to freely assemble by using the false accusation that I threatened Jim Reith, and denying me access to the public Party and thus warmth, refreshment (like a hot cup of coffee), and access to public restroom facilities as set forth in the Americans with disabilities Act, was also denied me. My right to freedom of religion was also denied as this was a Christmas Party, and too, that my donation would have gone to a cause that was well within the beliefs and practices of Christianity that The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) are affiliated. Also denied was my right to privacy as this false accusation was used to slander and defame me in public. I was also denied my right to know who my accuser was sense only a person, not an “email” can execute a police complaint.

I think the Police Officers Toia and Heirholzer were not the originators of the complaint. I think they were carrying out their orders and doing so as best they were trained, and could under the circumstances. I believe, however that they were ordered not to tell me who my accuser was. And, with that exception of this omission of not divulging to me the name of my accuser, and the true source whereupon the accusation was founded, as is my right under law, their conduct would have otherwise been exemplary in the field, for they appeared to be doing their utmost to protect everyone else. I do not think they intended or were the ones directly responsible for slandering me and denying my rights. However, that was the result of their inaction and in that sense, they were directly responsible for the denial of my right to know.

I want to know the true origin of the complaint, and how it was determined that I had made a threat. I want to know why I was denied knowledge of who my accuser was. I want to use this and these thing to prevent this from happening to other citizens. Lastly, I want compensation and restitution in the form of punitive damages for the mental trauma, and sufering this has caused.

My accuser must have had knowledge of my victimization of the childhood sexual assault and resulting trauma, that I am still being treated for at fifty-nine years of age, (because there was no Child Advocacy Site when I was a child), and its contribution to my physical handicap, and I believe this knowledge was used deliberately not just to deny my rights, but as cruel punishment for their perverse pleasure to torture me, to “teach me a lesson,” to silence me, and to stop this movement that is being created to pacify this paid; either by tax dollars, or by radio sponsorships that produces income for shock jocks; this paid public advocacy of torture. For the continuation of this “form of entertainment” only creates an environment that is conducive to the cultivation of violence that manifests itself in the local community in the form of torched kitty cat, and grandchild that is gunned down in the park by peers. For I have sense been told by two individuals that were directly involved to “Forget it.”

I have since email Jim Reith the following…

Jesus said, "Greater Love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his Friends."

I would rather be tortured than have Jim Reith torture another human being for his purpose of ending my torture. Please Jim, if you are my friend, let me go in honor and dignity. I know that this is a concept that you do not comprehend. I love you with all my heart, but as much as I would want to, and believe me I would want to very much, I would instead have to let you go. It would be terribly hard not to, as I know it would be at least as hard for you either way, if not harder; but torturing someone to save me from torture would torture me even worse. In the name of God, Jim, please, I beg you. You see, I was sexually assaulted as a child. And while I have no concept of what John McCain and others went through, or are going through, I do have some idea. And I have some idea of what those who are the victims and those work at the Child Advocacy Site, and others like them, must go through on a daily basis.

In Friendship and understanding, In the name of Jesus I pray,