Last week, Deputy Sheriff Brendan Hetherman vented before a NorCo Council committee with several job complaints. You can watch the video for yourself, located here. I have spent the past week thinking about this meeting and discussing it with friends and family. Deputy sheriffs certainly have every right to bring their grievances to county council even though I have a different view than they express. What has me really perturbed is how quickly it turned into a bullying session by Council member Kerry Myers. He clearly had his mind made up in advance that he was going to be on the attack, yet was confused about the protest that had him blowin' oil. In a comment he posted on this blog, he was under the incorrect impression that this was a BLM protest. Also, s he is wont to do, he managed to throw race into the mix. He's now become a darling to the Lynch mob, but I consider him a demagogue. .
I've decided to post a transcript of Deputy Hetherman's claim that someone was assaulted during that protest, but Sheriff Richard Johnson refused to allow deputies to respond. Incidentally, I was at that protest myself. There was no assault during the 15 minutes or so that I watched what was essentially a shouting match between Trumpers and anti-Trumpers. Next, I am posting Sheriff Johnson's response to Hetherman's accusation. Hetherman has admitted to me that he was not physically present and witnessed no assault. The Sheriff, however was watching everything and there was no reason to respond because there was no violence or cry for help. Finally, I am posting Myers and his attempt to bully both the Sheriff and Executive.
Hetherman's claim
"The most embarrassing moment of our department occurred after the 2020 election. There were multiple demonstrators outside the courthouse from opposing beliefs that started to become agitated. One of the protesters was punched by another. Easton police had an officer present to watch the crowd and when things started getting heated, the officer called for help. Calls went to the 911 Center from the protesters asking why our deputies were standing inside the rotunda and not helping. The 911 Center called our department and told us assistance was needed outside the courthouse. We had a group of deputies literally running outside to assist when an order to stand down came from Sheriff Johnson, who was standing inside the rotunda, watching the agitated demonstrators.
"This was occurring at our front doors of the government center/courthouse. The Sheriff himself [was] on scene and refused to act to assist Easton PD and the general public."
"That is a direct violation of our duties to act."
Sheriff's Response
"The [Easton police officer] was not on the scene when my guys wanted to run out there. There was a young black man who was filming the crowd that was waving flags. The kid's allowed to do it. One of the demonstrators was screaming at him through a bullhorn, you know. That's not our place. We're not in the streets. That's Easton. I informed Easton of this thing. There wasn't an officer standing by. I watched it. I was there in the lobby. I saw the whole thing. It was not out of hand. So now when my guys come up and say, 'Easton's looking for help,' and I'm there and I don't see Easton, then it's 'No, you're not running out there.' The optics of that is a neighborhood kid is filming demonstrators and now the Sheriff's Department, in uniform, is going to run out and surround that kid? I thought that would be overkill."
Kerry Myers bullying session
Myers: "You're saying it was just some young black man out there with a flag ---
Johnson: "No, he didn't have a flag. He had a cellphone and was filming the flag wavers. I believe he was a neighborhood resident.
Myers: "Is he a citizen of Northampton County?
Johnson: "I don't know, but I believe so if he was a resident."
Myers: "Well if he's a citizen or he's one of your officers, he's a resident of Northampton County.
Johnson: "Not all of my officers are residents.
Myers: "I'm not talking about your officers, I'm talking about that young man that you said had a video and your officers are saying it was an Easton police officer, so there's some mix up here. But still, the issue is this. As a man who put on a uniform and served my country for four years, the first thing they taught us was, Never leave a man standing. Never abandon your post and leave somebody alone. OK? I got a real problem with that. As a veteran. When someone is in a way and he's outnumbered and you've got some - whether it's Black Lives Matter or anti Black Lives Matter - somewhere along the line, someone needs to grow the hell up and get a pair of cahoonies [sic] and say, 'I'm not going to leave somebody laying there.' There's where I have a huge problem because, as a man who took the oath of office to defend the Constitution of the United States of America and everybody here, now I'm saying that as someone who served. We were always taught you never leave a man laying down, but yet, they're saying that someone was left out there and you were giving the order to stand down. is that what you correctly said? To stand down? Did you say stand down?
Johnson: "That was the order and [an Easton police officer] wasn't there, and I showed the [deputy union] that on tape. When they sit there and tell me there's an Easton police officer requesting help outside, and I can see the area and there isn't an Easton police car or police officer there, yeah, I'm going to tell them to stand down. I don't want to give any more attention to these demonstrators than they need.
Myers: "What was the ratio to the man standing out there to the people protesting? 3 to 1? 5 to 1? 20 to 1? How many was it?
Johnson: "There was three young men and I think there was four women who were on the corner of Wolfe and towards the alley there, and the crowd was probably 40-50 people.
Myers: "And a couple of people filming. Did you think that their lives were in danger?
Johnson: "Not at the time. Let's decide who's life we're talking about who's in danger.
Myers: "There's a citizen out here. We all took an oath of office to defend the Constitution of Pennsylvania and United States of America, did we not?
Johnson: "Yes, we did.
Myers: "So that means we protect every citizen of the United States and State of Pennsylvania, is that correct?
Johnson: "Correct.
Myers: "Correct. Now somebody can shake their head and tell me this doesn't happen, but it doesn't matter if it is Yes, No, one way or another. Me, a man, if I see somebody outnumbered 5 to 1, I think I should do the right thing and try to help that young man. Wouldn't you think so?
Johnson: "The young man was not in danger, in my opinion. You had 40 people that were waving flags and he was filming it, which bothered them. And one of them grabbed a bullhorn and started yelling 'Trump! Trump! Trump' in his face. This young man didn't back down from them, and yeah, I had eight people in the rotunda that could have went out in the event that things get lousy. I run out there. What does that look like? I now have eight deputies surrounding the young man. It looks like I'm arresting the young man, who's not doing anything wrong. He has the right to film in public as well as the demonstrators have the right to wave flags in public.
Myers: "You know what? You're 100% correct. Just like the KKK has a right to put a hood on and come after people like me. But you know what? In the same breath, everybody's allowed some protection. Am I right or wrong?
Johnson: "Nobody got injured that day. Nobody was assaulted.
Myers: "But whoever was out there was left alone because you gave an order to stand down. Did you think that might affect the people that work for you? Do you think maybe they were a little upset that you didn't protect anybody?
Johnson: "Who's in charge of the department, me or them?
Myers: "OK. There you go. So it's about you being in charge of the department and there's an issue with morale at this point from some of your folks. But that's OK because you're in charge. We got a problem here that we can't do a lot about because the collective bargaining agreement tells us we can't do anything about it, but we can sure as hell talk about it.
(Lamont McClure approaches podium as it becomes clear that Johnson is being bullied.)
Myers: "And Mr. McClure, if you're gonna' come up here and lecture me ...
McClure: "No, I'm not going to lecture you. He's just ... he got your point. And it's my decision who the Sheriff is in Northampton County.
Myers: "It sure is.
McClure: "Yes, it is.
Myers: "That is definitely your position and that is exactly how you do it and I wish that, in all good faith, everybody in your cabinet had a chance to come get reappointed because right now, reading this [15 pages submitted by Deputy union] and looking at what's going on here, I may be the only one here, but - Whooo! - I have a hard time saying I wanna take orders from this guy because I think my life would be in danger. But you hired him.
McClure: "That's an outrageous statement. No one's life is in danger. None of the management decisions that were questioned tonight put anyone's life in danger. That's an outrageous statement.
Myers: "Stop. This is my meeting. You can walk away frustrated and mad as hell. I'm running this meeting.
Blogger's Note: The days following the 2020 Presidential were tense. These protesters were claiming the county is corrupt at a time when elections workers inside were still tallying the votes. Had depurty sheriffs rushed outside to quell a nonexistent riot, it is entirely possible that some of the more radical supporters would have marched in and made their way to the elections office. What happened on January 6 could have happened here if Sheriff Kerry Myers were calling the shots.
On numerous occasions, Myers claimed to be a veteran who was taught that you don't leave someone when he's down. Nobody was down. No police officer was there. I happen to be a veteran myself. And general order number one is that you do not quit your post until you are properly relieved. Myers was advocating what would have been a court martial offense in the military. Had the deputies abandoned their posts as he suggests, the door to the elections office would be wide open.
Finally, his KKK analogy demonstrates his racism. All he had to hear is that the person filming this event was black, and immediately, he wanted the entire Sheriff's department out there.Myers, like all of us, is a bigot.
42 comments:
It is obvious that your boy McClure has you working overtime on this topic. What you fail to mention is That no one is crying for McClure. Her is a bully himself. He has no respect of anyone other than his team. He makes fun of county council. He is known to hijack the meetings and make his overly long campaign speeches instead of a report. The guy has argued and lectured council on numerous occasions. When any of his directors are asked pointed questions, he runs up and interjects himself. This is normal behavior for him. He and his gang are the most arrogant and authoritarian thugs to have ever inhabited th courthouse.
So, Bravo Mr. Myers, it was about time someone stood up to him. Once you did he took his ball and walked out of the meeting. O'Hare will attack you since that is part of his job but everyone else admires your courage.
Meyers should not be on county council, he should be stripped of his committee chairs and censured where is the president of county council? Why are they not doing their job?
Myers knows a lot about waving a flag… that was pretty much is job as a ceremonial whatever he did in his cushy DC duty.
Annon 1:13 am… Is that you Amy ? Don’t you have a new job to fail upwards in ? You’ll be happy until they tell you you’re not actually the Senator, right ? Use the question marks.
7:36 am........Is that you Charlie Dirtinger? For shame? for shame? Ypu are the one that should be ashamed of himself? You are nothing but a robot? You and McClure are both control freaks? You are finally being called out and both of you are failing the test? Am I am using enough question marks?
According to Brendan Hetherman, someone was assaulted. Is there a way to get the 911 tapes or transcripts to out this argument to rest? This would show a better picture of what occurred and both sides can put this to rest.
If this has become such a slap in the face for the sheriff and your boy Lamont and chucky, make it simple. Call for the 911 tapes. See if a call was placed for assistance. If it was then the deputy is telling the truth and they should have responded. But on one note dont call EPD for an answer Johnson was already throwing a name around of a buddy down there. Things some how always get ,how can I say it , misconstrued. The 911 tapes are all recorded. Just a transcript of the radio call. See who is telling the truth. Bernie this would be called a journalism investigation. Not hey Lamont told me this . Or chucky told me to say that. Get to work!!! But maybe you don't want to lose that access pass to the court house. Only private citizen that's not an employee or officer of the court that doesn't have to go through the machine. Don't want to lose that.
Council loves resolutions... they should read their Civility Resolution! Myers violated it and then some.
Council has the highest paid staff and the highest paid Clerical Tech III. Its funny they have them doing research and they don't even get the basics right. Lori is so worried about looking bad she should study how to get more competent staff!
McClure I think is frustrated with Council. Serving there he knows how to do it right. Hell they basically are a clown car, on fire!
Even when Angle and Dertinger were fighting they at least got stuff done!
I'm truly confused as to what exactly Mr Myers expected to happen if the Deputies were ultimately allowed to go out...
From the sounds of it, you had a bunch of low info, conspiracy minded Caucasian flaggats out there who had nothing better to do that day other than pointlessly whine and protest on a street corner (ironically they made fun of the people who did the same 4 years earlier because Hillary lost, but whatever) - but it is obviously their right to do so.
Then you had some local youth who was amused at seeing the flaggats up close and in person who chose to record it on his phone. Naturally this embarrassed the flaggats, who weren't getting the attention they wanted from the county or local media, so they directed their anger towards the kid with the phone.
At this point it seems that the story gets a little murky in terms of what level of confrontation was taking place between the flaggats and the kids. I'm sure there are records from 911 that can probably provide some clarity, or maybe even the Easton PD. Either way, if the Deputies do go outside, what exactly are they going to do?
Most likely, the path of least resistance for them is to usher away the kid with the phone, which of course will now be videoed as it happens by him and very likely by members of the flaggats. Best case scenario, the kid leaves the area and everyone goes about their business, maybe his video gets some social media buzz and fades away. Other scenarios get varying degrees worse leading to Public Relation black eyes for the Deputies, the county, etc. In very few scenarios would the deputies be running out like the cavalry to save the kid from some imagined curb stomping.
This sounds like a situation where a cooler head prevailed and people are just making this political drama.
If this event truly impacted some deputies morale, then perhaps they should find another job.
One thing I do hate about everything with Myers lately is it's all racism. The woman on election board ,racism ,someone outside racism. He did get the parking spot he wanted racism. Just stick to the facts of each situation and find out the truth. Not just racism. They are gonna change the story. To the boy who cried racism, instead of wolf. It does exist still but not everything is that.
So Heatherman Lied to County Council and to everyone and nothing is going to be done to him for false reporting etc?
The sheriff was physically there and he also secured and showed the video to the union. Heather man was not there nor was the 911 dispatcher.
You didn’t answer the question. Is there, or isn’t there, a 911 dispatch call asking for assistance, Bernie?
I don’t care if they sheriff was there, he’s just attempting to cover his butt.
The 911 dispatcher was obviously NOT at the rotunda, but was 911 called?
You ask for a right to know about everything, but nothing that will prove your point?
Prove the sheriffs wrong.
Wouldn't the 911 transcripts show the people calling in and what they are witnessing from within the crowd? The sheriff was hiding himself and his deputies inside the courthouse so I doubt they could see everything going on. Perhaps the transcript would work against your buddies Bernie....
I am 100% pro law enforcement. But I have to say that who ever thought this was the right guy to speak on behalf of the Sheriff's, they were wrong! From his attire to his not being able to complete sentences.
I reject your racist projection. I'm not a racist. I don't have a racist fiber in my being. I understand actual racists see everything through their racist lenses, however. That's what makes you and Myers racists. It's all about your pre-judging - like assuming all are as hateful as you. I also think it salves your conscience to think everybody is as rotten as you are. Until you stop with the projection and qualification of your racism (i.e. we're all guilty!), you haven't begun to admit you have a problem.
Deputy Hetherman did not lie to County Council. He simply made the mistake of telling them something ass fact when, in reality, it is what he heard.
"Wouldn't the 911 transcripts show the people calling in and what they are witnessing from within the crowd? The sheriff was hiding himself and his deputies inside the courthouse so I doubt they could see everything going on. Perhaps the transcript would work against your buddies Bernie.."
You are welcome to seek them. I see no need. The Sheriff was in the rotunda. You might not be familiar with that area, but it is enclosed by very large glass windows giving you an expansive view of what is going in outside. He could see everything. The 911 dispatcher obviously is not there. Since the Sheriff could see what was going on, he was able to countermand deputies who wanted to respond. He also showed the video to the deputy's union showing there was no police officer asking for help on the scene.
My guess is that the call likely came from a courthouse employee walking in or out. The Trumpers were upset and loud, and many people are unfamiliar with these more raucous forms of democracy.
I do not believe 911 tapes are maintained beyond 90 days. I might be mistaken. It's been a long time since I sought one. My time is limited and I can make better use of it doing other things. But like I said, you're free to prove me wrong.
The one question I have that it would answer is who called. I do know some of the people who were there. Tom Carroll (trumper) assaulted no one.Joe Welsh (anti-Trumper) assaulted no one.
The Sheriff was not hiding. People could see him from outside because, as I said, there are numerous large windows that go from floor to ceiling.
"I reject your racist projection. I'm not a racist. I don't have a racist fiber in my being. I understand actual racists see everything through their racist lenses, however. That's what makes you and Myers racists"
I am a racist. I am a product of my environment and it is something I work on every day. We are all products of our environment and we all grow up with bigotries. If you deny a racist fiber, you are fooling yourself, but not me.
The worst racists are those who deny it, whether it is kerry Myers or you.
"It is obvious that your boy McClure has you working overtime on this topic."
The best way to get me NOT to right about something is to tell me to do so. I was familiar with deputy complaints long before they came to council. The first time, I said nothing. The second time they complained to me, I told several of them, to their faces, that they were off base.
But what really has me bothered is that Kerry Myers actually suggested to deputies that they should refuse to follow orders from a superior officer. I was turned off by his bullying, his confusion about facts, his illogic and finally, his racism. I wanted readers to have it, not from my mouth, but his.
Transcripts are saved a lot longer then 90 days. But your gonna be dropping this like a hot potato. Dont want to prove your boys wrong. Or the deputies right. And yes Hetherman should have presented himself more professional when addressing council. But that should have no bearing on the facts. You just showed your true colors that your Lamont and chuckie little mouth piece.
"Meyers should not be on county council, he should be stripped of his committee chairs and censured where is the president of county council? Why are they not doing their job?"
He can't be removed from county council without a referendum. he can be stripped of his committees. I believe the statement he made undermined the authority of the Sheriff and demands a clear rebuke from Council. I doubt they'll bother. He needs to apologize publicly for undermining the authority of the Sheriff. He claims to be a veteran but he was advocating that they refuse lawful orders.
"Transcripts are saved a lot longer then 90 days. But your gonna be dropping this like a hot potato. Dont want to prove your boys wrong. Or the deputies right. "
I just checked and they are only kept for 180 days. But if one still existed, it would not prove anything. The question whether someone is assaulted is answered by witnesses on the scene, not a 911 call. The Sheriff was there, knew there was no assault, and stopped the deputies as he should have.
Bernie wears his racist claim like a badge of politically correct honor. It's very cool these days, because everyone's a racist and everyone is doing it! Sometimes the only piece of shit in the room is the one staring back from the mirror, Bernie.
So far as I know, most politically correct liberals are racists, too. We are all products of our environment. Some of us admit it. Pieces of shit don't.
What a waste of time and energy and money discussing and laying blame for an act of democracy guaranteed by the Constitution of the US. Get over yourselves and on with the business of this county.
Bernie, during the pandemic, the duties of deputies doubled. We were on the frontline of covid-19 and we continued to work, being exposed to the virus through the public interactions, hospital details, warrant pickups, transports and many other ways while most of the county employees relaxed at home safe with their families.
You can’t just force us to do more work and expect us not to get compensated for it? Have you lost your mind.
Lamont got a substantial amount of federal aid and he should have shown his appreciation to ALL county employees through monetary compensation, not thankful emails and publicity stunts.
Im glad you don’t feel we deserve more money for the amount of work that we do that the public doesn’t understand but counties like Lancaster don’t agree with you and compensate THEIR employees for their work and loyalty.
No that's not the question or issue if a call goes out for assistance or to respond to an area you go. You dont stand down because someone else tells you to forget about it. Unless that person out ranks you . In this case he did. And it was a lawful order and they followed. But in proper chain of command you then file a grievance for the lack of professionalism of the sheriff himself. It was the wrong call. Maybe he got lucky and it worked out this time but if someone would have gotten hurt you would be all over these deputies for doing nothing. Why do we go out looking for drunk drivers . If they make it home no harm no faul. Why have sherriff's in the court room nothing happens 99% of the time. Oh yeah I forgot it's for that 1% when shit goes sideways.
When call goes in thier is a report. The actually voice recording might be gone but every call is documented for ever.
Guessing we are all racists, all homophobes, all sexist. If you're a liberal every white man is an " ist" doesn't matter what you are. You keep drinking the juice and I will keep respecting and treating people the way the should be treated. If they are an asshole I'll treat them like an asshole. If they are a good person, I have no issues. But you enjoy your white guilt. I will live my life. With my gay daughter, and Jews sister in law , and Hispanic cousins husband. See you fool you continue the hate when you forget we are all human and make different mistakes. But doesn't make everyone of us an " ist"
"Guessing we are all racists, all homophobes, all sexist."
That's what I said. All of us, liberal or conservative, black or white, have individual biases and prejudices. I acknowledge mine. I do not think the answer is using politically correct terms but is to treat everyone individually. But if you deny your prejudice, you are lying to yourself.
"Why do we go out looking for drunk drivers . If they make it home no harm no faul. Why have sherriff's in the court room nothing happens 99% of the time. Oh yeah I forgot it's for that 1% when shit goes sideways."
You have no authority to go out and look for drunk drivers, remember? Also, I at no time said there's no need for courtroom security. What I did say is that function could be performed by part-time court security officers or bailiffs. It's hard to justify spending $60k per year for deputy sheriffs to stand around and do nothing.
"Lamont got a substantial amount of federal aid and he should have shown his appreciation to ALL county employees through monetary compensation, not thankful emails and publicity stunts."
So now we have the real problem. You want more $. Instead of attacking the Sheriff or complaining about not being able to go out and bash in a few heads, bring your pay comparisons to the table. I personally feel you are paid pretty well in comparison to other county jobs and would prefer seeing them earn more. But I'm willing to listen. And by the way, drop the childish antics when I come in. Act like a professional.
Bernie it’s always been about more money. The courthouse incident is being used as an incendiary incident to deter people of our real worth. We are well-trained, law enforcement officers that, contrary to your belief, handle multiple incidents where we have sometimes take action to administer first aid, gather evidence, locate witnesses, and ascertain validity of information concerning crimes and/or medical situations committed in our presence all within a professional and ethical code that we must adhere to or be subject to unreasonable discipline. All we are asking for is to be parallel in pay with other local law enforcement agencies because we feel we deserve. Sure there are hotheads in our department, but when push comes to shove, we will be there to protect anyone from harm, and that has been proven with prior actions. We are not the enemy, we just want equal pay.
Using that incident to make your case was very unhelpful, as is arguing that you have powers you simply do not have. I know you were upset at the time bc I heard all about it, but Rich did the right thing in letting the demonstrators continue. It was a very poor way to make your case. It;s also incredibly stupid to attack the very persons who decide whether your arguments for more $ are valid. Hetherman should forget about a career in sales.
He also failed to point out that Rich Johnson or the Chief discretely covered every BLM protest at the courthouse on weekends. There was never an issue. He was unfairly savaged by Hethereman and Myers.
Also, do not make the mistake of listening to Myers when he tells you to disobey lawful orders. That will get you fired.
Having said that, you are an elite group far superior to most police departments. I actually wish you had more law enforcement power. You have correctly stated just some of the many things you do. I remember when a group of you saved the life of one of my best friends. I'll cave on the pay. You are worth more $. You are mostly professional and I have stated before that I have high regard for your department.
What's the requirement, to get the " I'm Not an Employee, but I work here!, privilege?
I want to be able to swipe and go, as well! Especially when that rotunda security platoon, gets busy!!
Everyone should have the right to know, and it would be graciously appreciated if all of NORTHAMPTON county residents, were able to gain, this privilege!!
We all should be trusted, just as yourself, Bernie.
Help us out!!
Thus comment obviously comes from a deputy who has run out of arguments and is now getting personal.
People who use the courthouse on a regular basis can apply for a card. They must pay for a criminal background check and get a photo ID. I got a card under Exec Brown. If you forget your card, you must go thru the detector, although deputies will let you through if they recognize you.
We can ague about whether or not the sheriff made the right call here (I don't know, I haven't seen the recording), but this is a bit much, Bernie: "Finally, his KKK analogy demonstrates his racism. All he had to hear is that the person filming this event was black, and immediately, he wanted the entire Sheriff's department out there.Myers, like all of us, is a bigot."
I think a lot of people have already forgotten the context that gatherings of Trump supporters have a clear pattern of violence against Black people. At multiple rallies, Trump himself offered to pay the legal fees of supporters who beat up Black protestors. At the Charlottesville rally of pro-Trump groups including neo-Nazis, a counter-protestor was deliberately struck with a car and killed. It seems reasonable to me to be concerned about the safety of a Black man filming this group – which, we should remember, was trying to overthrow an election – whether or not we think the sheriff was right not to intervene.
I detest Trump, but that's no justification for what Myers said and how he said it or how he has to invoke race on every single issue. Had someone been hurling racial epithets or threatening this young man, this would be different. But this was peaceful. You point out that Trump attempted to overturn the election results. Had deputies rushed out to protect someone who was under no threat and just bc of his skin color, that would have left the county wide open to anyone who wanted to rush in and destroy ballots. The Sheriff most definitely made the right call. The proof of this is that everything ended peacefully. he and his Chief Deputy covered multiple BLM rallies on weekends outside the courthouse, and there were no issues. He knows what he's doing.
Agreed, his attire was very inappropriate ,but I commend him on taking the responsibility as the President of the union, and putting his people on his back, as he ALWAYS does!! Never mind completing a sentence...
You got the message!!
He made his POINT! Don't you worry, he'll be back, watch his work!!
Nothing from the other 8 Council members?
no call for an apology, just silence
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