The hit job
http://thenewagenda.net/2009/04/05/amys-piece-on-senator-slasher-monserrate-in-the-daily-beast/
A New York state senator faces felony charges for allegedly slashing up his girlfriend’s face—and some of the assault was caught on camera. So why is he still welcome in the Senate—and why are Democrats still holding fundraisers for him?
Which is worse: political leaders remaining silent about a colleague who slashes his girlfriend’s face, or political leaders actively funding and supporting the criminal slasher? Well, in the Empire State, we have both!
In the past few months, our country has witnessed two high-profile cases of violence against women—Chris Brown’s alleged assault of Rihanna and the beheading of Aasiya Hassan. In the aftermath, advocates for reducing domestic violence saw a ray of hope: Could our country finally start a much-needed dialogue about violence against women, bring it into the light of day, and work toward solutions? When New York State Senator Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens) was indicted and arraigned last week on six counts of assault for allegedly beating up his girlfriend, we stepped back into the darkness.
At least four security cameras in the Jackson Heights apartment where the incident allegedly occurred caught parts of the attack on tape.
Members of the Democratic Party should have demanded that Monserrate step down immediately. Instead, not only have the Democrats in the New York State Senate stayed silent, they are also working to establish a legal defense fund for Monserrate.
Violence against women is wrong. It’s a despicable crime. Criminals who cut and hurt women should be punished. So why is New York, purported state of enlightenment and sophistication, being so cowardly? Where is the national outrage?
As with many perpetrators of violence, Hiram Monserrate’s indictment did not come without warning. Monserrate has a history of mental health problems. In 1999, he claimed to be suffering psychological problems as a New York City Police Department officer, writing: “I suffer with adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder.” After an assessment by the NYPD’s psychological services unit, Monserrate was forced to relinquish his gun. In 2001, trouble continued when Monserrate was arrested after allegedly using his car to run over the leg of a tow-truck operator who was attempting to tow away his car; the charges were later dropped.
Hiram Monserrate’s alleged assault of his girlfriend in December 2008 is a familiar tune. Man beats up woman in a jealous rage. Woman goes to hospital. Woman tells police that her intimate partner did this to her. Man is arrested. Woman recants statement, says it was an accident. Woman tries to drop charges.
But there was a difference this time: At least four security cameras in the Jackson Heights apartment where the incident allegedly occurred caught parts of the attack on tape. The cameras recorded Monserrate in the second floor hallway outside his apartment, allegedly yelling at his girlfriend, Karla Giraldo, about having another man’s police card, then throwing the card and his girlfriend’s handbag down the trash chute. Cameras then show Monserrate pulling his girlfriend down the stairs. Another camera recorded the girlfriend frantically knocking on her neighbor’s door. Finally, a camera recorded Monserrate grabbing his girlfriend’s arm and dragging her out of the apartment building as she tries to hold on to the door. At the hospital, Monserrate’s girlfriend was given 20 to 25 stitches above the eye for a slash made by broken glass. (Giraldo first told police Monserrate stabbed her in the face with the glass during an argument; later, both she and Monserrate called the incident an accident.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/28/nyregion/28monserrate.html
State Senator Hiram Monserrate and his supporters went on the offensive in and out of court on Friday as he pleaded not guilty to charges of slashing his companion’s face with a broken glass.
Supporters wearing purple ribbons — including a Democratic district leader who runs an organization for preventing domestic violence — declared that the charges were politically motivated and waved signs reading, “Monserrate is pro-choice and pro-woman.”
A political consultant hired by Mr. Monserrate, a Democrat, passed news clips around the courtroom, detailing a 2007 dispute in which Mr. Monserrate, then a Queens city councilman, criticized Queens prosecutors’ handling of a 14-year-old murder case; in the articles, the Queens district attorney, Richard A. Brown, retorted that Mr. Monserrate was “irresponsible” and “ought to be ashamed.”
Karla Giraldo, the woman prosecutors say Mr. Monserrate attacked, stood on the courthouse steps, in a long fur-trimmed cardigan, spike heels, large sunglasses and long bangs that covered the area around her left eye, where she required 20 stitches after the injury. She called a judge’s protection order barring Mr. Monserrate from contacting her — renewed on Friday over her objections — “an injustice.”
“I want to be with my boyfriend,” she declared. “I love him a lot.” ...
..At the courthouse, he was welcomed with hugs and cheers by more than a dozen supporters who wore pins showing St. Michael — “They ward off evil,” one explained — and waved signs.
“No one’s going to take our senator away from us,” said Martha Flores-Vazquez, the Democratic Party district leader from Flushing, Queens, who was one of the most vocal supporters and is the executive director of Community Prevention Alternatives, an organization that she said works against domestic violence.
A handful of people demonstrated against them.
“I don’t think women should be abused,” said one, Simone Dillard.
Both Ms. Giraldo and Mr. Monserrate say she was injured by accident as he brought her a glass of water after they returned from a holiday party for Queens Democrats at the Queens Museum of Art.
Ms. Giraldo’s lawyer, Glenn Marshall, said on Friday that she was lying in bed when Mr. Monserrate tripped over her shoes and spilled water on her face, causing her to start and bump her face into the glass. No one disputes that Mr. Monserrate drove her to Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Nassau County, bypassing several closer hospitals.
So PUMA Lite? Is this what you want to turn America into - trial by witch hunt? Whatever happened to innocent before guilty? I guess not if you are a Democratic State Senator being attacked by a PUMA Lite front.
If he is guilty send him down. If he is innocent then your sorry bigoted movement should face a slander case.
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