Almost everyone has seen the video at You Tube of a member of the Black Panther Party holding a nightstick at a Philadelphia voting place in 2008.  Yesterday the Washington Times posted an article explaining that a justice official has stated that there was “insufficient evidence” to bring a civil case against the New Black Panther Party for disrupting election in Philadelphia. 

“Mr. (Thomas E.) Perez, the only Justice Department official to testify publicly before the commission about the case, said that without sufficient proof that party members or the organization’s leader, Malik Zulu Shabazz, directed or controlled unlawful activities at the poll or made speeches to incite or produce lawless action, the complaint “would have likely failed” in court.”

I understand that pictures can be doctored and thus cannot be relied upon as evidence, but this video seems rather clear.

A written statement by the Black Panther Party stated that Mr. Shabazz should not have brought a nightstick to the polling place, but stated that it was an ‘honest error.’  If a tea party member showed up with a nightstick, would that be an ‘honest error’?  I am truly sorry that our Justice Department does not see fit to protect voters from intimidation at the voting booth.  There are laws setting limits on how close political activity can be to polling places, don’t we have laws to prevent voter intimidation?  Is anyone in the current administration interested in upholding them?