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Racist fliers litter streets of Ridgefield

Thursday, December 8, 2005 6:34 AM PST

By Staff

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RIDGEFIELD, Wash. (AP) -- Hundreds of racist fliers have been left in the streets of this town north of Vancouver, Wash., apparently the result of a flap over the firing of a police officer.

The business card-sized fliers were strewn outside the town hall, police station and downtown businesses early Monday in what is being investigated as a potential case of malicious harassment, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, Police Chief Bruce Hall said.

The cards showed a racial caricature and expressed support for the town manager, George Fox, who was suspended last week pending an investigation into the firing of a black police officer, Carl Mealing.

Mealing, who was dismissed Sept. 28 but has since been reinstated and placed on paid leave, filed a federal lawsuit last week accusing the town of racial discrimination and wrongful discharge.

Fox, in turn, was suspended late last week by the five-member town council pending into an investigation into claims of racism and other wrongdoing.

"George Fox speaks for the silent majority," the cards read. "Make sure Ridgefield stays the way it should be. Washington state needs more officials like Mr. Fox."

Fox did not return a telephone call from The Columbian of Vancouver. His lawyer, Donald A. Greig, Tuesday said the town manager knew nothing about the cards and was "upset they were even out there."

Surveillance videotape from a bank may help identify whoever was responsible for the fliers, Hall said.

He added that there was no apparent link between the fliers and two earlier incidents, the burning of a swastika on the front yard of a house Oct. 23 and the discovery of a swastika, a racial slur and a drawing of a person being hanged in a boys bathroom at the local high school Nov. 17.

Census figures show the town had a population of 2,147, including six blacks, in 2000.

"I think the majority of the people are very upset" by the fliers, Hall said Tuesday. "The talk in the coffee shop is that its shocking and has no place in this community."

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free spirit wrote on Feb 7, 2008 1:19 AM:

" If they were in bad condition , it would seam that the neighbor who saw them in the woods would have immediately rescued them, and asked questions later. Obviously they were not in bad condition, only crates(not a crime) or carriers. Maybe he did take his animals with him on a trip. I have taken mine before,and know many people who take thiers along(even in RVs. Sounds like extreme tree huggers to me. Or maybe the PETA people who think a dog should never be crated.I guess it is more humane to go to dog shows and let other peoples dogs out in protest to them bieng in thier crates. I guess if this results in them getting hit by a car, lost, or running at large , this is acceptable. Most vet's require that an animal is crated in the waiting area. I hear no mention of whether or not they had food, or water. I think the humane society also must have someting better to do than chase after a guy and 18 dogs that are not in unsavory condition, even by the accounts of the neighbor who saw them in the woods. If they were in bad condition shame on that neighbor for leaving them there. "

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