Officer Park letter (flouride)

Dec. 9, 2002

To Whom It May Concern,

I was in attendance at a public county meeting at the old county court house in Farmington prior to 6:00 p.m., Monday, December 2, 2002. I was allowed the microphone just after 9:30 p.m. (approximately) after having stood in the main room in overflow standing.

I announced that I wished to talk about the inaccessibility and arrogance of the county commission and “unfunded” mandates (fluoride referendum). I was going to tie this into the proposed tax hike. Perhaps less than a minute into talking, an old man stood up about 3 rows from the front and started screaming and gesturing. I told him to “sit down and shut up” as it was my turn to talk. I believe I said, “I’ve got the microphone,” and “I’m talking about ‘unfunded’ mandates.”

Dannie McConkie has a grudge against me, I assume, because in the past he has given my name to the media and prior to this meeting he singled me out by name publicly. McConkie, as meeting conductor, should have quieted or ejected the old man and any others speaking out of turn, and allowed me to resume. Instead, he apparently had me evicted in violation of my “civil rights”. I was physically pushed out of the room by a cop after the microphone was snatched from my hand without warning. I was pushed out of the room and then left un-accompanied. I walked down stairs was walking south down the hall when I stopped to talk with someone and had been doing so for about 45 seconds when one Sgt. Glenn Parker approached from my back or blind-side and without warning shoved me and started yelling.

While I was talking to this man, a female officer (Hispanic or Mediterranean, about 5’1”, black hair, about 100 lbs.) had her back to the west wall facing an overflow room and was in a position to witness the entire unprovoked assault.

Officer Parker’s conduct was incompetent, unwarranted, unnecessary, uncalled-for, unprofessional and was simply assault under color of authority. The smirk on Parker’s face when I asked for his name and badge number is a pretty good indication that Davis County lets its cops run unchecked.

Like many cops today, Parker is a coward hiding behind a badge, a punk and a cheap-shot artist; an instigator masquerading as a “peace officer”. Time will tell if he is also a liar and a perjurer.

D. Michael Bingham