The article “F&M sued, accused of violating man’s rights. Complainant is Ron Harper Jr., online investigative reporter; published newspaper” is another example of the return to quality journalism by the Lancaster Newspapers. Readers of NewsLanc can be proud to have played a role in this.
Starting on the front page, the equivalent of two-thirds of a page is devoted describing in detail accusations that Ron Harper Jr. has brought in a law suit against Franklin and Marshall College, its outgoing president John Fry, members of F & M’s security forces, the Lancaster Police Department, the law firm of Barley Snyder, and others.
Readers of NewsLanc may recall reading about many of the accusations brought by Harper. In fact, publisher Robert Field is witness to some of Harper’s accusation, since the missing Lancaster Post circulation box had been stolen from in front of his home and Harper was allegedly mugged and he and Chris Hart-Nibbrig were arrested on Field’s front lawn across from the Fry residence.
Many have viewed the staratling and deeply disturbing video taken by Harper of security police abuses concluding with him pleading not to be hurt just before he allegedly thrown to the ground from behind.
Harper prepared and filed the suits himself after much research. What has all the trappings of a successful tort action for assault and false arrest were passed over by local law firms, some due to client conflict (which is legitimate) and others perhaps out of fear of offending Franklin and Marshall and the local establishment.
We urge all of our readers to take the time to carefully read the Sunday News article. We have no reason to disbelieve Harper’s accusations. The law suit is testimonial to how far Lancaster went off the track over a period of a decade and the deplorable abuses and contempt for fair play by F & M during ‘King’ John Fry’s reign.
To quote ourselves, “Fry had a way of doing the best possible things in the worst possible way.” Fry also appeared to Field as a man with great fears for his safety with little if any apparent reason. There’s a word for that.
Why are there zero “actual” constitutional and/or civil rights protectors in all the hundreds of lawyers this town is loaded with?
When will one firm or individual stand up against the unbridled power weilded by these cops and mega-corps.
Good luck Ron…
Its a long road where they make up the rules and the citizens rights are not on the chart.
As Warren said “Send Lawyers, Guns and Money”
What a joke. Harper’s lawsuit, charging everyone under the sun and including all kinds of unverifiable and lurid accusations, is a publicity stunt.
Harper’s lawsuit is based on verifiable facts. What he claims happened actually did happen, and has been substantiated.
John Fry’s reputation has been tarnished forever, and justifiably so.
Its one thing to report on the news, but its another matter entirely to manufacture the news for personal interest, and by way of this lawsuit (wishful) personal gain. Pathetic.
So, when an LNP reporter wanted to interview Mr. Field for a story on the needle exchange program, Mr. Field would only respond through e-mail. Not a person to person interview. I suppose Mr. Field wouldn’t have been offended had the LNP reporter repeatedly shown up at Mr. Field’s house and on Mr. Field’s property basically demanding an interview, right? And if Mr. Field didn’t comply with the LNP reporters demands, said reporter begins making inferences about Mr. Fields motivations behind his not agreeing to a face to face interview> That wouldn’t bother you right Mr. Field!?! By the way, what happened to volume 47 and volume 50 in your archives? Last I checked they were missing? Seems Harpers M.O. is to be as rude as possible as often as possible hoping someone will reach their threshold for human tolerance of that sort of behavior and give Ronnie a reason to sue. Meet the new conservative philosophy.
Robert Field’s response. “I have found that questions sent by e-mail are beneficial to both the reporter and the subject in that they give time for a more studied reply and they avoid misunderstanding or possibly even misreprentation.
“If a reporter came to my doorstep to interview me, I would have asked that he or she send the quesitons. If they came a second time, I may have been annoyed, but certainly not afraid or felt a need for help from the police. I am neither a bully or a coward.”
You are absolutely right about using email to answer reporters’ questions. It’s the only way to assure your ideas are being accurately represented by the news media.