Charlie White Indicted For Vote Fraud

Former Indianapolis City-County Councilor Patrice Abduallah did it with the help of Marion Co. Clerk Beth White without legal consequences, but Secretary of State Charlie White won't be afforded the same lenient treatment. A Hamilton Co. grand jury has charged White with 7 counts of voter fraud, theft and perjury stemming from a special prosecutor's investigation looking into allegations he falsified his voting address as that of his former wife so that he could continue to serve as a member of the Fishers Town Council. The Star reports on White's indictment

The state’s top election official will face seven felony counts, including voter fraud, perjury and theft, a special prosecutor said today.


Secretary of State Charlie White was accused of intentionally voting in the wrong precinct during the May 2010 primary, a potential felony.

If ultimately convicted of a felony, White would have to give up the position that he won by a wide margin over Democrat Vop Osili in November’s election.

White has admitted to voting in a district where he no longer lived. The registered address was a home he had shared on and off with his now ex-wife until 2009 . . .

Special Prosecutors John Dowd, a Republican, and Daniel Sigler, a Democrat, also investigated less-serious charges that White's campaign neglected to place a payment disclosure on a mailer, as required by election guidelines.

In light of today's indictment, I think Marion Co. Prosecutor Terry Curry needs to reopen the case of former Indianapolis City-County Councilor Patrice Abduallah, who falsely claimed an address in a city-county council district in which he did not live for nearly four years. Even after Marion Co. Clerk Beth White discovered he was living outside the district after he filed a statement of candidacy for the May 2007 primary election showing his address outside the district, White ignored it and allowed his name to be placed on the primary ballot and to continue serving as a councilor drawing salary and benefits in clear violation of Indiana law. When I later discovered in August of that year that the home he was claiming as his voting address was an abandoned home and published it on this blog, Democrats forced Abduallah to resign from the council and drop his bid for re-election--after the legal deadline for naming a replacement candidate for the November ballot. Democrats caucused and appointed Andre Carson to fill Abduallah's seat, but White, as the chief elections officer for Marion County, allowed Carson's name to replace Abduallah's on the ballot in violation of Indiana law. Former Marion Co. GOP Chairman Tom John refused to press the issue on behalf of Republicans. He was later hired by a close political ally of the Carson political machine, Lacy Johnson, to work as a lobbyist at Ice Miller following the November election. This story bears repeating because it is emblematic of the hypocrisy in our political and legal system today. I don't excuse what White did, but I abhor selective enforcement of our laws.

UPDATE: The perjury charges relate to false statements White is accused of making on his marriage license for his marriage to his second wife and his voter registration. The theft charge relates to taking his salary as a Fishers Town Council member when he didn't reside in his district. He is also charged with fraud for lying on his mortgage application. Again, Prosecutor Curry, we're waiting for you to bring similar charges in the Patrice Abduallah matter. We're all paying for a 65% increase in our local income tax with his deciding vote because he fraudulently claimed to represent my district on the city council when he lived in another council district. Fox59 News reports White turned himself in to the Hamilton Co. Sheriff's office at 2:30 for processing on the criminal charges accompanied by his father Darrell White.

UPDATE II: I previously reported Gov. Mitch Daniels had privately asked White to resign his office. Now he is publicly calling for him to step down. Daniels says his position is supported by White's fellow Republican statewide officeholders. Here's his statement:

“This news is sad and regrettable, but the only course of honor is for Mr. White to step down from his duties, at least during the duration of these proceedings until a verdict is reached.

"It would be neither credible nor appropriate for the state’s top elections official to continue to perform his duties while contesting criminal charges, some of them under the very laws the Secretary of State implements. I have consulted with each of the other statewide elected officials and our judgment about this is unanimous.”

Daniels will name White's successor if he resigns.

Northwestern Students Treated To Live Sex Act Demonstration

Apparently it's not enough to teach human sexuality at prestigious universities these days. It's now necessary to provide live sex act demonstrations to students because the professor couldn't think of a good reason a live performance should not be allowed and the students were intrigued by the notion. Here's what happened recently at a Human Sexuality class at Northwestern University "to further the advancement of knowledge"--yes, that includes watching a woman being penetrated with a dildo in front of a large audience :

More than 100 Northwestern University students watched as a naked 25-year-old woman was penetrated by a sex toy wielded by her fiancee during an after-class session of the school’s popular “Human Sexuality” class.


The woman said she showed up at the Feb. 21 lecture expecting just to answer questions, but was game to demonstrate. The course’s professor on Wednesday acknowledged some initial hesitation, but said student feedback was “uniformly positive.”

And Northwestern defended the class and its professor.

“Northwestern University faculty members engage in teaching and research on a wide variety of topics, some of them controversial and at the leading edge of their respective disciplines,” said Alan K. Cubbage, vice president for University Relations. “The University supports the efforts of its faculty to further the advancement of knowledge.” . . .

In a statement, Bailey said he hesitated briefly before allowing the public sex act.


“My hesitation concerned the likelihood that many people would find this inappropriate,” he wrote. “My decision to say ‘yes’ reflected my inability to come up with a legitimate reason why students should not be able to watch such a demonstration.”

After the demonstration, several students tried a different sex toy that gave a “titillating” but not painful shock, testing it out on their arms, said Ken Melvoin-Berg, who narrated the after-class lecture. Melvoin-Berg said the school paid him between $300 to $500 for his appearance.

Faith Kroll, the woman who stripped, was laying down on a towel when she was penetrated in the Ryan Auditorium. When she arrived, she thought she just would be answering students’ questions and showing off sex toys they brought, including whips, paddles and a clown wig . . .

In his statement, Bailey said student feedback was “uniformly positive.”


Marcus, a musician who said he has worked as a sex educator, said he thinks it is “smart and important” for students to be learn about sexuality.

“It’s really scary for young people who want to get involved in the BDSM community who don’t understand issues regarding consent and safety,” he said.

Melvoin-Berg said he met Prof. Bailey through a swinging couple who previously spoke to the class. Melvoin-Berg runs the “Weird Chicago Red Light District Sex Tour,” which has participants playing games like “spot the ho” as they travel the city looking for prostitutes. He also teaches “Networking for Kinky People,” a 3-hour version of the one hour lecture he gave at Northwestern.

Melvoin-Berg said the sex toy used was BDSM, but was “not like a pain thing...we wanted to make it poignant.”

“I did mention this was going to be the best money their parents had spent on their education,” he said . . .

This isn’t Bailey’s first brush with controversy. His 2003 book, “The Man Who Would Be Queen,” sparked hostile debate in the transgender community by claiming that there were more reasons for men to become women then simply that biology trapped them in the wrong body. Several transgender women who spoke with Bailey claimed they did not consent to being used for research and accused him of practicing psychology without a license.


Bailey said in his statement Wednesday that during the Feb. 21 after-class lecture, “I was not in a mood to surrender to sex negativity and fear.”

“Do I have any regrets?” he wrote on Wednesday. “It is mostly too early to say. I certainly have no regrets concerning Northwestern students, who have demonstrated that they are open-minded grown ups rather than fragile children.”

I'm really struggling with what passes for normalcy these days. And I thought I had liberal views on sexuality. To think former Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson wanted to shut down Melyssa Donaghy's sex dungeon because of non-sexual S&M role-playing she acted out with her consenting clients in the privacy of her home. Let's hope none of his children went to school at Northwestern.

How Do You Deal With A Guy Who Can't Even Accept His Own Public Statements?

Check out this video WTHR recorded of the meeting between House Speaker Brian Bosma and House Democratic Leader Pat Bauer and their respective legislative leaders in Bosma's office today. Go to 4:15 in the video where you will hear Speaker Bosma ask Bauer what it will take to get the Democratic caucus to return to the State House from their exile in Illinois. Bosma related that demand Bauer put out last week that he and Gov. Daniels agree that 11 legislative items will not be called down for consideration for the remainder of the session as a condition to the House Democrats agreeing to return to the State House. Bauer remarkably claims he never made such a demand; he said they were only expressed in terms of concerns his caucus had. Bosma then read from Bauer's own public statement, at which point Bauer asked to see the statement from which Bosma was reading--the one everyone who has followed the State House news the past week have all read. Bauer then took issue with his own words and began dissembling. He suggested there had been unrecorded conversations between him and Bosma that would indicate otherwise. Pressed, Bauer seemed to suggest the demand list was down to 9 bills, but perhaps those matters could be sent to a study committee rather than being acted upon. He seemed clueless on the latest amendments being offered to the school voucher bill that specifically addressed concerns raised by his caucus. He then fumbled with his iPad and began looking to staff for assistance. Listening to this guy incoherently mumble and stumble his way through this meeting you have to wonder how he continues to get elected year after year as the Democratic leader. He certainly doesn't make a good impression in these discussions witnessed by a bevy of State House reporters. You can view all of the videos of the meeting by clicking here.

Ballard Bills Me For His Re-Election

I've seen peculiar solicitations from politicians over the years, but the one I received in the mail today from Mayor Greg Ballard takes the cake. The plain white envelope came addressed to me with "STATEMENT ENCLOSED" emblazoned over my name and address. When I opened the envelope, I found a cut-off document at the top entitled "2011 Annual Support Statement", complete with a tracking code and suggested payment of $500.00 or other small denominations. Below the statement was a letter from Ballard:

I'm excited to share with you that I recently announced that I will seek a second term as Mayor of Indianapolis.

This was a very personal decision for me, Gary, but I was encouraged by the support of my wife, Winnie, and by hundreds of good people from all walks of like throughout the county who know what a difference our team has made for the city we love . . .

Can I count on you to join me again as a valued member of the Ballard campaign team in 2011?

Sorry, Greg, but I'm not feeling the love and would never make the mistake of supporting you for any elective office again, particularly Mayor of Indianapolis, after you broke virtually every campaign promise you made four years ago as a candidate. I don't need a bill sent to me for your re-election; I'm already paying dearly in higher taxes, higher water and sewer bills and higher fees. If I want a tax-and-spend liberal who runs the city as a Pay-To-Play racket for all of the city contractors making lots of money at my expense, I'll vote for someone else. In other words, don't tell me the dog's tail is wagging, explain why it's biting my hand.

Mayor's Office Employee Takes Job With ACS--Working On Parking Meters

I predicted when the Ballard administration awarded its one-sided parking meter privatization deal to ACS, a politically-connected company that is represented by Barnes & Thornburg, we could expect to see officials of the Ballard administration land jobs with the private contractor. Sure enough, a employee from the mayor's own office has taken a job with ACS. As reported by the Urban Times, Mayor Greg Ballard's neighborhood liaison for the Downtown Center East Region, Tonja Beeler, has taken a job with ACS. "Beeler is now working with ACS as an analyst in the ParkIndy program to upgrade the city's parking meter system," the Urban Times reported in the March edition. As Ballard's neighborhood liaison, Beeler fielded questions and promoted the parking meter deal to residents affected by the parking meter deal in the eastern downtown area while the administration was promoting the project last year. When I e-mailed Ballard's communications director Marc Lotter asking for confirmation of Beeler's new employment, he indicated he was forwarding my request to city legal because I was an attorney and he wasn't familiar with my publication. Nice. As if I don't know he and other members of his press staff read this blog regularly.

The Ballard administration recently announced ACS would begin installing new electronic meters this month. During the first phase, 1,250 meters in downtown and Broad Ripple are expected to be replaced by the end of march with single-space meter heads. Rates will jump from .75 cents an hour to $1.00 an hour as of March 28 and metered hours will be extended from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., along with meter enforcement on Saturdays. The initial single-space meter heads will be replaced later this year with multi-space boxes. Rates will increase again in January to $1.50 an hour, resulting in a doubling of the rates in a period of less than one year. Meter enforcement in the areas outside the heart of downtown and Broad Ripple will be enforced from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. All 3,600 metered spaces will be enforced with the new parking meters by year's end.

The Ballard administration claims the 50-year deal with ACS will net the City between $363 to $600 million over the life of the lease agreement, including a $20 million upfront payment. However, other municipalities have installed similar electronic meters as those being installed by ACS for a few million dollars without turning over 50-years' worth of profits to a private contractor, allowing those cities to reap all of the enhanced revenue benefits from having electronic meters. Any revenues derived by the city from the deal will not be enjoyed city-wide because those revenues will be dedicated to projects within downtown and Broad Ripple, even though those areas of the city are already siphoning off hundreds of millions of dollars in property tax revenues from TIF districts.

Notre Dame Law Professor Wants Congress To Investigate Obama's Natural Born Status

A well-respected law professor at Notre Dame University Law School becomes one of Indiana's first constitutional scholars to weigh in on the debate over whether President Barack Obama is a natural born citizen as required by the U.S. Constitution to serve as president. Dr. Charles Rice, Professor Emeritus, believes enough facts surrounding Obama's birth status are in question to warrant an investigation of Congress to put the matter to rest once and for all. Most notably, Dr. Rice agrees with the point I've been making for almost two years that based on what we know for certain there is legitimate doubt as to whether Obama is a natural born citizen.

In an original article republished on The Steady Drip blog, Dr. Rice cites the Minor v. Happersett case decided by the Supreme Court in 1875 as sufficient to cast doubt on Obama's natural born status based on the Kenyan citizenship of his father. While this involved a case on which it was not necessary to determine whether a person is a natural born citizen as that term is used in the U.S. Constitution, the Court's opinion made clear there was disagreement on its meaning:

In Minor v. Happersett, in 1875, the Supreme Court, made an incidental reference to the issue: "[N]ew citizens may be born or they may be created by naturalization. The Constitution does not, in words, say who shall be natural-born citizens. Resort must be had elsewhere to ascertain that. At common-law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives, or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners. Some authorities go further and include as citizens children born within the jurisdiction without reference to the citizenship of their parents. As to this class there have been doubts, but never as to the first." 88 U.S. 162, 167-68 (1875).

Critics of the so-called birthers, as they are derisively referred by persons ignorant of the U.S. Constitution, continue to misinform the public and insist that numerous court challenges have decided in favor of Obama's eligibility. "The rejections have been based on various grounds, including the plaintiff''s lack of standing to sue and other specified and unspecified procedural grounds," Rice writes. "No court has agreed to decide any of those suits on the merits," he adds. Responding to the inability of plaintiffs to prove standing to pursue their cases challenging Obama's eligibility, Rice says "it is fair to say that the Obama controversy involves significant issues of fact and law that deserve some sort of official resolution" without offering a "conclusion as to whether Obama is eligible or not."

Dr. Rice is troubled by Obama's unwillingness to put the issue to rest by producing records to satisfy those who doubt his eligibility. He believes the so-called "birthers" have raised legitimate issues. "That legitimacy is fueled by Obama''s curious, even bizarre, refusal to consent to the release of the relevant records," he observes. "If it turns out that Obama knew he was ineligible when he campaigned and when he took the oath as President, it could be the biggest political fraud in the history of the world," Rice says. "As long as Obama refuses to disclose the records, speculation will grow and grow without any necessary relation to the truth." He adds, "The first step toward resolving the issue is full discovery and disclosure of the facts."

We should not only be looking to the courts to resolve this issue according to Dr. Rice. He believes a congressional inquiry would be entirely appropriate under the circumstances. "A committee of the House of Representatives could be authorized to conduct an investigation into the eligibility issue," he suggests. Rice quotes from former President Woodrow Wilson's book "Congressional Government" authored in 1884:

It is the proper duty of a representative body to look diligently into every affair of government and to talk much about what it sees. It is meant to be the eyes and the voice, and to embody the wisdom and will of its constituents. Unless Congress have and use every means of acquainting itself with the acts and the disposition of the administrative agents of the government, the country must be helpless to learn how it is being served; and unless Congress both scrutinize these things and sift them by every form of discussion, the country must remain in embarrassing, crippling ignorance of the very affairs which it is most important that it should understand and direct . . .

Rice suggests three matters for possible investigation by a committee looking at Obama's eligibility, including legislation on the subject. He notes the stunning fact there is currently no law that requires a presidential candidate to establish their eligibility to serve as president:

1. To ascertain the facts, compelling by subpoena the production of all the available records relevant to Obama''s eligibility, including the complete Hawaiian records of his birth; his passport records to ascertain whether he traveled to Pakistan in 1981 on an American or other passport; the records from Occidental College, Columbia University and Harvard Law School to determine whether Obama described himself as a foreign student; and such other records as may be relevant. The disclosure of such information to the public would be an appropriate exercise of Congress'' "informing function."


2. The consideration of legislation to require candidates for a federal elective office to produce, at an appropriate time, evidence of their eligibility for that office. There is now no federal law or regulation that requires such disclosure.

3. The consideration of legislation to define the constitutional term, "a natural born Citizen."

Dr. Rice concludes his blog post: "The American people do not know whether the current president achieved election by misrepresenting, innocently or by fraud, his eligibility for that office. I neither know nor suggest the answer to that question. But it would be a public service for the House of Representatives to employ its authority to determine those facts and to recommend any indicated changes in the law or the Constitution."

Hats off to Dr. Rice for having the courage to stand up and say what so many constitutional legal scholars in this country are thinking under their breath but are afraid to say aloud for fear of being labeled a racist, a nut job or, as the Left loves to call us, a "birther."

UPDATE: Sen. Mike Delph's legislation, SB 114, would have established requirements for presidential candidates to establish their constitutional eligibility to gain access to the Indiana ballot. While Sen. Sue Landske, who chairs the Elections Committee, did not schedule the bill for a hearing before the bill deadline, she has offered SR 30, which urges the Legislative Council to study the issue during the interim period before next year's legislative session. Sen. Delph is co-authoring the resolution.

Daley Nephew May Have Walked On Homicide Charge; Case File Lost

This is a heart-wrenching story of how a mother of a 21-year-old son learned late one night he had been critically injured in a street fight while bar-hopping in downtown Chicago in April, 2004. Days later, she had to make an agonizing decision to remove life support for her only son because of a severe brain injury he sustained when his head struck the street and complications from emergency heart surgery performed on him. Nancy Koschman's son David was 5'5" and weighed only 140 pounds. Chicago police detectives told her nothing about what had happened to her son that fateful night. She learned for the first time while watching a TV news broadcast that Mayor Richard Daley's nephew had been implicated in her son's death. The Sun-Times recounts how Nancy learned Mayor Daley's nephew was involved and other circumstances surrounding his death:

She didn’t know anything about the group her son and his friends ran into until she caught the news on TV the night of May 20, 2004. The TV report said a nephew of Mayor Daley — Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko — was part of the group David had bumped into. Vanecko had been in legal trouble before — he’d pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor weapons charge stemming from a 1992 brawl at an underage-drinking party thrown by Daley’s son, Patrick Daley, in Grand Beach, Mich. Other news outlets quickly picked up the story. Suddenly, David Koschman’s little-known death was thrust into the spotlight.


Nanci Koschman left her house for the weekend, getting away from the reporters camped outside her home.

“When all the articles hit, I didn’t understand it was a police investigation, I guess,” Koschman says of how she viewed things then. “I’ve never been involved in anything like this before. All my friends are trying to help me just get through each day.”

Newspaper stories over the following week quoted authorities saying her son had been “pushed or punched” during an altercation with three other men but that no charges would be filed.

Frustrated, Koschman asked a lawyer — the sister of a friend — to set up a meeting with the police.

“After all of the news broke . . . I feel like I’m being bombarded,” she recalls. “I wanted to sit down with them and figure out what happened.”

When her brother-in-law and an attorney arranged for a meeting with Chicago police detectives, Nancy was dumbfounded when they told her that her son had started the fight and it was his fault he got hurt.

“There was no case as far as this detective was concerned. It was all my son’s fault. He came in with an attitude when he walked in the room, like he was doing me a big favor.


“He turned the whole thing to my son started it, provoked it and — I don’t want to say this — deserved what he got.”

She remembers the detective telling her, “Your son was drunk.”

The detective didn’t identify any of the people her son had run into that night, she says, but did tell her, “You’d be really impressed by the names of the people involved in this.”

“I said, ‘My son is dead. I don’t care who is involved in it.’ ”

The meeting lasted no more than half an hour. Koschman, who’s 62 and works as a secretary in a medical office, says it ended with the detective telling her that the people her son and his friends had run into that night had hired lawyers.

“All of their attorneys have been here,” she recalls him saying, “but your son’s [friends] came down with their mothers.”

After nearly 7 years of inaction, Chicago police suddenly began reinvestigating a case that had gone nowhere. Chicago police didn't even bother to inform Nancy. She learned about the renewed investigation from reporters. All of David's friends confirmed the slightly-built 21-year-old was not the aggressor in the altercation. Daley's nephew and another friend fled the scene after punching David and knocking him to the ground.

This January, the police began re-investigating Koschman’s death, the Chicago Sun-Times and NBC5 reported Monday. Detectives began re-interviewing Koschman’s four friends — Scott Allen, James Copeland, David Francis and Shaun Hageline — who were with him the night he was punched. The series of new interviews happened days after a Sun-Times reporter filed a request with the Chicago Police Department on Jan. 4 seeking police reports about the matter.


The four friends, now speaking publicly for the first time, all told the Sun-Times that the police and prosecutors were wrong about the slightly built Koschman being the aggressor that night and concluding that whoever hit him had acted in self-defense.

Vanecko’s group that night included Craig Denham, a former LaSalle Bank official who later married a sister of Mayor Daley’s son-in-law, and Kevin D. McCarthy and his wife, Bridget Higgins McCarthy. She’s a daughter of developer Jack Higgins, a close friend of the mayor.

Kevin McCarthy was 31 and his wife 26 on the night their lives intersected with those of Koschman and his friends, who all had recently turned 21.

The McCarthys remained on the scene after Koschman was struck and fell. Denham and Vanecko, both 29 at the time, ran away, the Sun-Times reported Monday.

The McCarthys and Denham declined to comment. Vanecko did not return calls seeking comment.

Nanci Koschman says the police haven’t gotten in touch with her about the new investigation, which she learned about from a reporter.

“You are telling me they are saying it’s an open case?” she says. “Wouldn’t that be nice if somebody tells me it’s an open case? As far as I’m concerned, it’s closed, dead.”

In a strange twist, the Cook Co. Prosecutor's Office is standing by its decision years ago not to bring charges in Koschman's death but says the case file for Koschman's death, which the coroner's office ruled was a homicide, is missing. The prosecutor's office, which was run by Richard Daley before he became Chicago's mayor, says the witnesses could not identify whether Daley's nephew or another man implicated in the case struck Koschman. Witnesses said the man who struck Koschman was wearing a hat, and Sun-Times reporters learned Daley's nephew shaved his head before appearing in a police line-up, which changed his appearance considerably, and none of the men in the line-up wore a hat.

“They declined charges, but they can’t find the file?” said Richard Kling, a criminal-defense attorney who is a law professor at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. “I’ve been doing this for 39 years, literally thousands of cases. I’ve never seen a felony-review file missing. Ever. Never heard of one.


“There’s certainly some red flags,” said Kling. “Like not investigating the case earlier, a missing felony-review file, transferring the case from one area to another and not having lineups until a month later.”

When questioned if Chicago police gave special treatment to his nephew, Mayor Daley remained flippant.

Daley repeatedly refused to comment on questions raised by the Chicago Sun-Times after the newspaper conducted its own investigation into Koschman’s death.


Asked why the case was re-opened, Daley initially changed the subject to his push for stricter gun laws, the purpose of Monday’s news conference.

“I know you want to talk about other things. [But] this is gun violence. Would you ask a question on that one, please? Ask one. Can you ask a question on gun violence? Why not? ... Knock-knock. No one is there,” Daley said as police and community leaders who joined him at the Homan Square police warehouse laughed along with him.

Asked repeatedly whether his nephew was treated with kid gloves, Daley initially said, “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.”

Then, he said, “I have no idea. I don’t even know what you’re talking about. ... Any other questions?”

A Sun-Times editorial is calling on Chicago Police to get to the bottom of the story.

Charlie White Said He Feared For His Safety When Attorney Snapped Photo Of Him

A police report filed in the scuffle that took place a couple of weeks ago between Secretary of State Charlie White with attorney Tim Stoesz after Stoesz took a picture of him includes statements from White, his father and Stoesz. "I was momentarily afraid for my safety since I am a statewide official involved in highly publicized legal cases," White stated in explaining why he called for police assistance. White and his father were waiting for his mother to conclude her testimony before a grand jury being conducted by a special prosecutor to determine whether he committed vote fraud when the disturbance occurred. "I was on my cell phone on the 2nd floor [of the Hamilton Co. Judicial Center] waiting for my mother to get done . . .  when a man came very quickly toward me and held a camera phone near my face. It was startling to me he moving (sic) so quickly toward me." White says Stoesz yelled "punk" and "your finished" at him. He said Stoesz asked him, "Don't you have anything else better to do?" Some of Stoesz' comments were audible on a video taken of the incident by Stoesz' friend, Shelley Haymaker, an attorney who serves as Director of the Hamilton Co. GAL Program.

In his statement, Stoesz describes Whites's father Darrell as the aggressor. "I was confronted by Charlie White's father who flipped me off and alleged I was harrassing him," after he said he took Charlie's picture with his cell phone. "I attempted to walk away and was followed by Charlie White's father." "I walked away at the request of Sheriff's deputies." Stoesz confirmed there was no physical contact between the men. White's father described Stoesz as being "belligerant, abusive and threatening." "He kept up the menacing attitude and I was thinking for my son's well-being." "With recent incidents in Arizona, people are getting killed by strangers just like Mr. Stoesz." White's father claimed police ordered Stoesz to "cease and desist but he refused and kept coming back and yelling at me and Charlie."

The sheriff's deputy who responded to the disturbance said after speaking to the witnesses and reviewing the video taken by Haymaker, he determined no criminal activity took place. You can view Haymaker's video of the incident at this earlier post.

Coats Won't Endorse Lugar

The HoosierPundit blog picks up on this statement from Sen. Dan Coats' office:

"Senator Coats has taken the position of not endorsing primary candidates and is leaving that decision to the voters of Indiana."

Now that I think about it, I don't recall Lugar endorsing Coats during his hotly-contested primary last year either.