Priest Charges Business Sells Drug Kits
Father Pfleger Led Activists Into Woodlawn Business
(CBS) CHICAGO Community activists and police stormed a South Side business Tuesday, busting it for allegedly selling illegal drug kits.
Saying enough is enough, outspoken community activist Father Pfleger led a small army of activists into a Woodlawn business.
As CBS 2's Mike Parker reports, the group demanded the store owner clean up his act.
It is a kit for smoking crack. It’s called a "hookup" and according to South Side priest Michael Pfleger, kits like that were being sold for $2 inside a Woodlawn neighborhood convenience store.
"You recognize this sir? You sell these here. We bought these twice in the last week," Pfleger said.
On Tuesday, Pfleger and 40 supporters went into the store and challenged the man behind the counter.
"Now you either empty them out or we're shutting down your store right now. Sir, when the police get here we're going to press charges. You can either work with us or you can go to jail. You make up your mind," Pfleger said.
Chicago police came to the store and quickly arrested the clerk on misdemeanor charges based on Pfleger's complaint. Although police say they found no evidence themselves, the clerk was led away in handcuffs.
There was praise for Pfleger's action.
"He does a beautiful job in the community. He fights for everybody," said resident Louis Kenniel.
"This is about protecting our children and providing a quality of life in the neighborhoods," said State Sen. Jacqueline Collins (D-16).
But others in the crowd outside jeered what was going on.
"We'll always have hecklers that say leave them alone, they're all right. This stuff is killing our kids," Pfleger said.
Pfleger says the state drug paraphernalia law, with its misdemeanor charges, is not tough enough. He wants a new city ordinance that would close down businesses that peddle the items.
8 comments:
Wow! You guys rock!
Merci,C. This was one of the wildest ones I have ever been on. We had every type of demon imaginable manifesting... there were a lot of addicts outside of the store who were half out...oops, I'm mean totally out of their minds. They made no bones about the fact that they were unhappy about us taking on their supplier... If you have ever encountered a crack addict...you know its a whole new breed of insanity... I'm really concerned about what I'm hearing on the news about Meth too...
"We had every type of demon imaginable manifesting..."
What do you mean?
Was that the actual headline?
SOoooo.... does this come under the banner of peaceful protest?
C. We had very hostile ranting addicts trying to come at us. Then we had one guy who climbed a light pole and heckled us. One lady came in the store and yelled profanities. Then another one cuddled up all over our director of ministry,(we were in a tight crowd) and just kept snuggling a little closer, a little closer... It was wild....
MCM - "Priest Charges Business Sells Drug Kits" was the actual headline. Yes, we would consider this peaceful non violent protest....at least on our part.
All of the items in the “drug kits” are common items that can be purchased at most any store anywhere. The glass tubes are only slightly harder to come by but can still be found without too much trouble. At most all you have done is inconvenience the druggies. Now they have to make several purchases instead of one. If you really want to make a difference get with your local drug task force and make some drug buys for them.
In reference to the other post on “Beautiful Death” while making a traffic stop we confiscated one glass pipe in the form of a snake and charged the driver for possession of drug paraphernalia. She was more upset about losing her pretty pipe than being charged.
Thank you. Actually, we did make purchases for the police and we always work with them and the task force. Some are more cooperative than others.Unfortunately the commander he knows for this district was off that day, but we still accomplished what we wanted, getting the store closed. It just took a little more insistence... I don't know if you're familiar with Fr. Mike's work, he has been instrumental in getting tougher laws concerning the sale of drug paraphernalia. We've also managed to close down many, many stores that have not only sold drug paraphernalia, but also cigarettes and alchohol to minors. The story about the snake pipe doesn't surprise me in the least.
Thank you for your input!
8:15 PM
Also, we are very aware of that the items are commonly purchased, the point was that the store owners had the audacity to bag them up and sell them outright as drug kits. There were originally 4 stores in the area selling them. When we got the first two to close, the other two just stepped up their business... hence the protest and the arrest. Our methods have actually proven quite successful over the years.
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