Kenneth Gladney
ST. LOUIS–(KMOX)–The man who says he was beaten by union activists outside a Russ Carnahan healthcare forum almost two years ago accuses the St. Louis County Counselor of stalling the case for political reasons.
“We haven’t received any justice for this yet,” said Kenneth Gladney.
On August 6, 2009, Gladney says he was attempting to display “Don’t Tread on Me,” flags and conservative buttons outside a town hall meeting on healthcare reform, when he was verbally and physically attacked by two men wearing purple Service Employees International Union t-shirts.
In November of 2009, St. Louis County Counselor Patricia Reddington issued misdemeanor assault charges against two SEIU members, Elston McCowan of St. Louis and Perry Molens of De Soto. The men pleaded not guilty and requested a jury trial.
Gladney believes the case was put on the back burner because 2010 was an election year.
“I don’t think they really want this to go to trial,” Gladney said, “I think Patricia Reddington and all of those guys, they want this to go away, because I believe it goes a little further up to Charles Dooley. He didn’t want any backlash during the election.”
Gladney also wonders if the politically influential SEIU may have something to do with the delay.
“I think honestly, Charles Dooley and Patricia Reddington, they have a big stake in this when it comes to the union,” Gladney said, “They are go-getters for the union.”
Responding to these concerns, Reddington says there is nothing political about her handling of the case.
“Well, I don’t know that it was an issue at all during the election,” Reddington said, “We don’t have any reason to put it on the back burner, nor have we done that with this or any other case.”
Reddington says because the defendants requested a jury trial, and her municipal court system has no jurors, she is working with the state courts to schedule a court room and a jury.
When asked about Gladney’s suspicion that the SEIU may have had something to do with the delay, Reddington says that’s not true.
“His opinion is speculation. There’s no basis for it. It’s not true. No one made any phone calls,” Reddington said.
No trial date has been set, but Reddington says the case should go to trial “sometime this summer.”
Copyright KMOX.
3 Comments
Kenneth, we are all waiting to see you have your day in court, so that the tape that exonerates the accused, and the medical records which prove you to be a grifter and a con artist, can be entered into the public record. And we will all get to point and laugh.
April 1, 2011 at 9:28 am | | Report comment
There are many people in this city watching this very closely. It would best serve our county representatives, to get yourselves right on this incident, as quickly as possible, to diffuse what appears to be a smoldering fire. The people are sick & tired of corruption and inside politics running our lives and ruining our liberties.
April 1, 2011 at 10:24 pm | | Report comment
Funny how the NAACP refused to help a black man called racist names and assaulted, solely because he was a Republican
April 4, 2011 at 10:14 pm | | Report comment