Cornell Campaign Needs To Address His Arrest More Thoroughly

Jorge Cornell's campaign for an at-large spot on the Greensboro City Council seems to think that a video of his arrest that was posted on his campaign's website pretty much speaks for itself.

I almost hesitate to comment about the video. There are several surreal qualities to it: a fairly calm but forcefully insistent police officer; a fairly calm but forcefully resistant Cornell; a less calm daughter screaming about her father (Cornell) being arrested; a younger girl who is crying (Cornell's other daughter?); a woman asking for her cell phone, which is apparently in Cornell's possession; Cornell going on about his council candidacy and the current scene validating past claims he's continuing to make about the police unjustly targeting him and the organization he leads; seemingly unrelated people who are right there where the action is but who don't seem that interested, affected, bothered, or concerned; etc. (I'd be curious to know what unaffiliated witnesses thought about the whole scene.)

The best special effect, which well suits the entire scene's surrealism, came at the end of the video: carefree bubbles floating over Cornell and the police officer as Cornell is placed in the police car. (To my knowledge, Just Be has not been accused of arranging for its store to be in the background for this video.)

In an initial News & Record report, Sgt. Ron Sizemore, head of the Greensboro police gang unit, said, "They got out in the street and started hollering and flashing gang signs, and they knew some Bloods where there."

The N & R report continues: "It was unclear whether Cornell was flashing gang signs. A police report for the incident was unavailable Sunday afternoon. Gang members from the Bloods and the Latin Kings do not get along, Sizemore said, and the arresting officer, R.A. Watkins, attempted to speak to some of the men near Cornell. 'And they needed to talk to them. And (Watkins) tried to step around (Cornell) and Cornell blocked his path,' Sizemore said."

I'm probably not the only one now waiting for Cornell's campaign to post the video showing the events leading up to when Cornell inserted himself between the police officer and the man/men that the officer was attempting to question. (Video is not always the perfect evidence some of us would like it to be, particularly when it's conveniently turned on for one scene but not an earlier one.)

Cornell's campaign cites its endorsement of the Paradigm Shift. Part of that document emphasizes Cornell's efforts to increase the peace among different groups/gangs.

These are some questions I have for Cornell:

1) Did the hollering and flashing of gang signs actually occur? And if so, were Cornell's friends or fellow Almighty Latin King & Queen Nation (ALKQN) members participants in these activities?

2) Did Cornell himself participate in the hollering and flashing of gang signs?

3) Why did Cornell not simply allow the officer to talk to the man/men the officer was originally trying to address?

4) If Cornell, his fellow ALKQN members, or his friends did participate in the hollering and gang-sign flashing, what defense does Cornell have to offer for these actions?

5) Were Cornell and his friends/fellow ALKQN members aware that Bloods were nearby? If so, what kind of dialogue/interactions took place between them? Was peaceful or uncivil discourse taking place between members of the two groups? What was Cornell's role in what was taking place?

I'm also still curious to hear Cornell address some of the issues and questions I raised in this post. It's obvious that Cornell's website has attracted some interest and curiosity. Part of my curiosity stems from seeing students inspired by gangs and not feeling that their interest in gangs is ultimately in their best interests, academically or otherwise. I do think that some less mainstream leadership may be needed to lead some young people away from the negative temptations typically associated with gangs. The Paradigm Shift expresses an interest in addressing these issues, but part of me is skeptical. (The Paradigm Shift literature recognizes that there will be some, if not much, skepticism about some of its proposals.) The video of Cornell's arrest has increased my skepticism rather than raising my hopes in his leadership. If he's serious about his city council campaign, he has an obligation to address the concerns that other citizens and I have about how he handled himself during this incident.