The Kerry Myers Bully Exhibition

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.