It was not until the lawyers representing those arrested in the round-up won a Freedom of Information request (in which Mayor Boughton and the City of Danbury fought tooth and nail against releasing the records for months) that the public found out that the city's role in the case wasn't what the Mayor was stating (Danbury PD were driving the van used in the roundup).
Since this news came about, the mayor has refused to answer questions about his remarks and when pressed by then Democratic Mayoral candidate Helena Abrantes at a mayoral debate, Boughton had no comment.
Now, it's important to remember that there is a difference between the Danbury 11 deportation case which is currently in the court and the CIVIL case. In short, it's important to keep your eye on the CIVIL case as that's the case where there is a possibility that the mayor will be held accountable for his statements.
In honor of the anniversary of the revelation of new evidence that links the Danbury PD to the Danbury 11 case, here's my interview with the lawyers of the Danbury 11 that exposed the bombshell.
Orginally posted on 09.18.09
Today, I conducted an in-depth interview with Simon Moshenberg of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization at the Yale Law School legal clinic. Moshenberg is one of the attorneys for the "Danbury 11" and has been actively involved in forcing the City of Danbury to hand over all information regarding an ICE raid in September of last year. For those who don’t know, the Danbury 11 refers to the eleven day laborers who were picked up in a raid by Immigration & Customs Enforcement agents. According to news reports, back in September at Danbury’s Kennedy Park, ICE agents posing as contractors pulled up in a truck and stated they would pay 11 dollars an hour to men who would help take down a fence. Eleven day laborers took up the offer, entered in the truck, and were taken to another location where they were arrested.
In response to the raid, a FOI was filed against the Department of Homeland Security and the City of Danbury in an attempt to seek information and determine what role the city had in the raid.
In several interviews to the press, Mayor Boughton has repeatedly stated that the City played NO ROLE in the raids.
Statements from Mayor Boughton regarding city's role in raid, December 2006:
Channel 8:
Boughton said the city played no part in the September 19th action...
Channel 30:
He [Boughton] said the city was not involved in the planing of the raid...
Once Moshenberg and the Yale law students obtained all the requested material from the city from their FOI complaint, new details surrounding the city's involvement in the raid emerged, which ultimately calls into question the claims the mayor.
With the new revelations made public at the Danbury 11 court hearing last week, I caught up with Moshenberg to learn more about the details that emerged from the FOI request, find out what role the city of Danbury played in the raid, and ultimately find out if the mayor was being dishonest to the public in statements he made to the press about Danbury's role in the raid.
Interview highlights (full interview will be posted soon):
1.: Information obtained from the FOI request shows Danbury police officer as the arresting officer on booking report.
2. According to Moshenberg, in brief to the court, the Department of Homeland Security states that DANBURY POLICE OFFICERS were the ones disguised as contractors and driving the van used to pick up the day laborers. This is contrary to statements Boughton made to the press in December
According to Moshenberg, the city of Danbury has not issued an official response in any legal proceedings regarding DHS's statement.
UPDATE: If you're with the media and are taking quotes from my interview with Simon, please make sure to cite this blog in your report.
As I stated in several emails, I understand the seriousness of this story and will have more of the interview posted as quickly as possible. Thank you.
UPDATE 2: I receiving inquires from the media on this on-going story. If you're a member of the media and having trouble locating the email address for this site, you can email me at hatcityblog@yahoo.com. During the next template update, I'll make it easier to locate my email address.
On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.
