LETTER: John Fry violated my constitutional rights

By Ron Harper, Jr.,  Co-publisher of the Lancaster Post

This morning I read yesterday’s dual editorial lauding John Fry’s time in Lancaster and how many positives he achieved here.

While I readily concede that John’s ‘fans’ have legitimate reasons to lament his departing, I have trouble understanding the lack of outcry to Fry’s damage to the First Amendment.

With the notable exception of NewsLanc’s Robert Field, no one has even mentioned the 900 pound gorilla that is in the room (In my view, Robert has shown himself to be a true patriot, standing up against the powers-that-be).

I know many people don’t like me, but John Fry violated my constitutional rights, and people should know about it. You might want to consider your own (and children’s) personal liberties as it relates to my experience.

Here is what happened to me:

When John Fry sent his uniformed police (private, but constitutionally sworn officers by OUR court) to serve a ‘no trespass’ notice on me rather than answering valid questions about his involvement in the ‘justice’ of the Dip-basketball felons, that was bad. Legitimate police don’t go off their territory and serve civil papers.)

When those same F&M police stole my newspaper box in front of Robert Field’s house, that was worse.  I am convinced they wanted me to come looking for our property where it was hidden on campus so that they could attack me there!  At a minimum this is failure to report lost/stolen property.  Since the F&M police knew who owned the box and kept it anyway, this is called theft. After all, they just served trespass notice on me so they knew where we could be found!

Co-publisher/Owner Chris Hart Nibbrig and I were replacing that stolen box and securing it to a pole on the day of the assault.  Remember that this was in the public right-of-way at a public bus stop.  This was not on John Fry’s backyard deck!  This was criminal assault and harassment.

When I was hand-cuffed and thrown in the back of a cruiser, I told my assailant that he was violating my constitutional rights, that he had no right to detain me and demanded to see my lawyer.  My assailant laughed aloud and said, “That’s why we (F&M) have lawyers!”

They held Chris and I for 2 1/2 hours against our will.  Keep in mind that they didn’t even have a bogus trespass letter on Chris like they did on me.  How could anyone in America believe that it’s alright to detain the publishers of a newspaper and not suffer consequences as a result of their actions?! (That’s called unlawful detention.  Kidnapping.)

Remember that the F&M police then falsely charged me with crimes.  They dropped the charges, of course, but not until it prevented me (and now Chris) from going to the ‘public meeting’ held for the rail yard relocation.  Someone should be charged with false swearing/false reports for what was clearly a lie.  In 2 1/2 hours they should have gotten something correct!

All of those crimes were in of themselves terrible but that’s not all they did.

Remember that the week-end before the assault, one of the Dip Felons’ dad went around the county and systematically stole our entire distribution of papers.  (the Turkey Hill clerk, where I taped the felon’s dad stealing the papers, told him that he was not allowed to more than one and he did anyway!)  Was there collusion between F&M and the thieving dad?  No one has investigated nor asked any uncomfortable questions of the parties involved.

A month or so later, I received a letter from F&M’s lawyer granting me access to the campus for the McCain/Palin event.  Why did my previous assailant wag his finger, yell and verbally confront me that day?  Why did the Lancaster City police officer read the letter giving me permission to be there, and tell me to leave the property?  They were trying to create a ‘situation’ whereby I would be arrested by some other law enforcement (Secret Service, Pennsylvania State police etc…) Why do I suspect this?  They slandered me during a ‘security’ meeting that morning and I have the letter from F&M’s lawyer admitting to it! That plan didn’t work because I simply walked away.

Weeks later that same lawyer was in court arguing that I was a threat and they had a legitimate reason to keep me off campus for public meetings! Nothing changed during the passage of time giving me access to the campus except their strategy to ‘get’ us!  You will recall that we were forced to sue F&M to gain access to a government study commission and ACLU meetings!  Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas Judge Dennis Reinaker ruled against F&M and ordered them to stand down!  It’s significant that the ONLY court that’s heard anything about the F&M situation ruled in MY favor and against F&M.  It’s also note worthy that a non-lawyer beat a high-priced Barley Snyder lawyer.

F&M police also rented a car and for at least a week did surveillance on our newspaper box, photographing any/all who took a newspaper from the box.  Presumably, they illegally used their access to PENNDOT records to create an enemies list.  (they used their PENNDOT records to send ‘no trespass’ notices to protesters and others they didn’t want to deal with)

While all of the above is criminal and could include obstruction of justice and intimidation of a witness (the lying F&M gardener received TWO phone calls while in a scheduled interview with police from Mrs. Fry!), the most significant law broken is called

“Official Oppression”

§ 5301.  Official oppression.

A person acting or purporting to act in an official capacity  or taking advantage of such actual or purported capacity commits  a misdemeanor of the second degree if, knowing that his conduct

is illegal, he:

(1)  subjects another to arrest, detention, search, seizure, mistreatment, dispossession, assessment, lien or other infringement of personal or property rights; or

(2)  denies or impedes another in the exercise or enjoyment of any right, privilege, power or immunity.”

If what those F&M police did to me isn’t Official Oppression than no one can commit this crime.   What about RICO?  When you have everyone from the lawyers, to John Fry, down to the gardener and housekeeper all working together, it’s clear that this pattern of illegal conduct was orchestrated and choreographed (Not coincidently, three times in my life I have been illegally and falsely accused of criminal conduct by clients of Barley Snyder – besides F&M, one of the other ones was Lancaster Newspaper reporter, Brett Lovelace, where the police report prominently mentions Barley Snyder lawyer, George Werner !).

I haven’t even addressed the civil damages to my name, reputation as well as destroying our business.

I am used to standing up for people who have had themselves and their rights trampled by the ‘system’.  I foolishly expected that someone with authority would stand up for me.  Where is the District Attorney?  Where is the city police? Where is the Mayor?

I am still getting over the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that was brought on by this unexpected and undeserved, cowardly, rear assault by F&M police officers who took an oath to uphold the constitution. If you didn’t know this, with PTSD it’s not that can’t remember the incident, it’s that you can’t forget it!  That being said, I know this: a country, a county, that allows a private police force to be used to steal, assault, kidnap, harass, intimidate and otherwise destroy a business and it’s owners, is not one that my forefathers gave their life’s blood to obtain.

John Fry is leaving Lancaster County, and, frankly that pleases me greatly.  But the damage done to the collective psyche of those who love liberty and have enjoyed the freedoms of this great country will not be easily repaired.  If newspaper publishers can be assaulted, detained, etc. on a public street in Lancaster without any legal consequences, what should others conclude?

Of course I have civil remedies available to address the wrongs, but what about when those people who are paid handsomely in salary, pensions and other benefits, to uphold the laws and have taken an oath to our constitution, fail to do their job?   It’s not hard to see why they have done nothing when my colleagues at the newspaper and WGAL, FOX43 et al, have willfully forgotten the outrageous conduct by someone who should be held to a much higher standard.

Shame on all of them.