Difference between revisions of "Marion Barry"
(reference+) |
|||
| (2 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown) | |||
| Line 5: | Line 5: | ||
|cspan=https://www.c-span.org/person/?marionbarry | |cspan=https://www.c-span.org/person/?marionbarry | ||
|image=Marion Barry.jpg | |image=Marion Barry.jpg | ||
| + | |description=Black [[Washington DC]] mayor convicted of drug possession after intense, multi-year FBI sting operation. | ||
|nationality=US | |nationality=US | ||
| − | |birth_date= | + | |political_parties=Democrat |
| − | |birth_place= | + | |birth_date=March 6, 1936 |
| − | |death_date= | + | |birth_name=Marion Barry Jr |
| − | |death_place= | + | |birth_place=Itta Bena, Mississippi, U.S. |
| − | |constitutes= | + | |death_date= November 23, 2014 |
| + | |death_place=Washington, D.C., U.S. | ||
| + | |constitutes=politician | ||
| + | |convictions=drug possession | ||
|employment={{job | |employment={{job | ||
|title=Washington DC/Mayor | |title=Washington DC/Mayor | ||
| Line 19: | Line 23: | ||
|end=January 2, 1991}} | |end=January 2, 1991}} | ||
}} | }} | ||
| − | == | + | '''Marion Shepilov Barry''' was an American politician and [[Washington DC/Mayor|Mayor of Washington DC]] (District of Columbia) from 1979 to 1991 and 1995 to 1999. He was arrested, convicted and imprisoned for the personal use of [[cocaine]], in an FBI [[entrapment]] operation. After six months in prison, he was later re-elected as [[Washington DC/Mayor|Mayor]].<ref>http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=52602</ref><ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1988/02/29/digenovas-legacy/8f02d31e-df56-4b9f-aac1-416f1f947077/</ref> An expensive and long-running FBI operation was part of a campaign to paralyze the city government in an attempt topple Barry.<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1988/02/29/digenovas-legacy/8f02d31e-df56-4b9f-aac1-416f1f947077/</ref> |
| − | + | ||
| + | ==Career== | ||
| + | In the 1960s, he was involved in the [[civil rights movement]], first as a member of the [[Nashville Student Movement]] and as the first chairman of the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]] (SNCC). Barry came to national prominence as mayor of the national capital, the first prominent civil rights activist to become chief executive of a major American city.<ref>https://archive.org/details/lastofblackemper00barr</ref> He gave the presidential nomination speech for [[Jesse Jackson]] at the 1984 Democratic National Convention. | ||
| + | |||
| + | His celebrity was transformed into international notoriety in January 1990, when he was videotaped during a sting operation smoking [[crack cocaine]] and was arrested by [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) officials on [[Federal drug policy of the United States|drug charges]]. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The deep state campaign against Barry that resulted in his arrest was led by [[United States Attorney for the District of Columbia|DC Attorneys]] [[Joseph diGenova]]<ref>https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/decoding-demonization-marion-barry/</ref> and [[Jay Stephens]]. The operation by the FBI and the [[United States Attorney for the District of Columbia|Attorney for the District of Columbia]] got a string of nine guilty pleas from Barry administration officials. But other officials who traded their D.C. offices for prison cells were much smaller fry. And several investigations, trumpeted by the media, ultimately foundered.<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1988/02/29/digenovas-legacy/8f02d31e-df56-4b9f-aac1-416f1f947077/</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | The arrest and subsequent trial precluded Barry from seeking re-election, and he served six months in a [[federal prison]]. After his release, he was elected to the Council of the District of Columbia in 1992. He was elected again as mayor in 1994, sitting from 1995 to 1999. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Hunter Biden=== | ||
| + | In [[Hunter Biden/Laptop|a leaked conversation]], [[Hunter Biden]] said that he "smoked crack with Marion Barry...And I was a sophomore I guess, I was a junior when that happened...But he used to come there and drink like late, late. And I would be there, and he would go to the bathroom." The timeline of Barry's and Hunter's drug use matches up, as Hunter was a student at [[Georgetown]] in [[1990]], the same year Barry was caught smoking crack in an FBI sting.<ref>https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/15101045/hunter-biden-smoked-crack-marion-barry-bragged-phone-call/</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Prosecution=== | ||
| + | The ''[[Washington Post]]'' wrote: "You do not have to be a member of the 'Re-elect Marion Barry Mayor' campaign to have some heavy, nagging doubts about the manner of Mayor Barry's investigation and prosecution. Not only were his conduct of office and his personal life the object of intense, probing official scrutiny for years -- long past the time that a dry-hole investigation of someone else might have been dropped. The actual circumstances of his arrest, when it finally came, involved an almost embarrassingly abundant measure of federal artfulness and contrivance, not to say a troublesome element of [[entrapment|a trap]]. On the latter score, some of the mayor's sympathizers believe he has a good legal defense of entrapment to the charge of drug possession. Others, including many with no brief for the mayor, speak in more general terms of trickery, disproportionality and unfairness; they are uneasy about the overbearing, almost obsessive way the authorities pursued him for what turns out to be only an alleged misdemeanor."<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1990/01/24/entrapment/754ea1f0-4992-4dc1-9215-ac9157270812/</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | In the obituary, [[Marsha Coleman-Adebayo]] wrote: "Barry was a four-term mayor despite [[FBI]] [[sting operation|stings]] and US government tactics that violated every moral and ethical barrier. There was clearly a target on his back and those in high places made the destruction of Marion Barry a priority. But every time the system thought they had destroyed him, he found an extraordinary inner strength to push back. No doubt, his indiscipline and recklessness provided ample opportunities for his enemies to strike but his courage to fight and his stamina provided the fortitude to prevail."<ref>https://www.blackagendareport.com/node/22172</ref> | ||
{{SMWDocs}} | {{SMWDocs}} | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
| − | |||
Latest revision as of 15:02, 17 May 2023
 Marion Barry       (politician) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Marion Barry Jr March 6, 1936 Itta Bena, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Died | November 23, 2014 (Age 78) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Nationality | US |
| Party | Democrat |
Black Washington DC mayor convicted of drug possession after intense, multi-year FBI sting operation.
| |
Marion Shepilov Barry was an American politician and Mayor of Washington DC (District of Columbia) from 1979 to 1991 and 1995 to 1999. He was arrested, convicted and imprisoned for the personal use of cocaine, in an FBI entrapment operation. After six months in prison, he was later re-elected as Mayor.[1][2] An expensive and long-running FBI operation was part of a campaign to paralyze the city government in an attempt topple Barry.[3]
Career
In the 1960s, he was involved in the civil rights movement, first as a member of the Nashville Student Movement and as the first chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Barry came to national prominence as mayor of the national capital, the first prominent civil rights activist to become chief executive of a major American city.[4] He gave the presidential nomination speech for Jesse Jackson at the 1984 Democratic National Convention.
His celebrity was transformed into international notoriety in January 1990, when he was videotaped during a sting operation smoking crack cocaine and was arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials on drug charges.
The deep state campaign against Barry that resulted in his arrest was led by DC Attorneys Joseph diGenova[5] and Jay Stephens. The operation by the FBI and the Attorney for the District of Columbia got a string of nine guilty pleas from Barry administration officials. But other officials who traded their D.C. offices for prison cells were much smaller fry. And several investigations, trumpeted by the media, ultimately foundered.[6]
The arrest and subsequent trial precluded Barry from seeking re-election, and he served six months in a federal prison. After his release, he was elected to the Council of the District of Columbia in 1992. He was elected again as mayor in 1994, sitting from 1995 to 1999.
Hunter Biden
In a leaked conversation, Hunter Biden said that he "smoked crack with Marion Barry...And I was a sophomore I guess, I was a junior when that happened...But he used to come there and drink like late, late. And I would be there, and he would go to the bathroom." The timeline of Barry's and Hunter's drug use matches up, as Hunter was a student at Georgetown in 1990, the same year Barry was caught smoking crack in an FBI sting.[7]
Prosecution
The Washington Post wrote: "You do not have to be a member of the 'Re-elect Marion Barry Mayor' campaign to have some heavy, nagging doubts about the manner of Mayor Barry's investigation and prosecution. Not only were his conduct of office and his personal life the object of intense, probing official scrutiny for years -- long past the time that a dry-hole investigation of someone else might have been dropped. The actual circumstances of his arrest, when it finally came, involved an almost embarrassingly abundant measure of federal artfulness and contrivance, not to say a troublesome element of a trap. On the latter score, some of the mayor's sympathizers believe he has a good legal defense of entrapment to the charge of drug possession. Others, including many with no brief for the mayor, speak in more general terms of trickery, disproportionality and unfairness; they are uneasy about the overbearing, almost obsessive way the authorities pursued him for what turns out to be only an alleged misdemeanor."[8]
In the obituary, Marsha Coleman-Adebayo wrote: "Barry was a four-term mayor despite FBI stings and US government tactics that violated every moral and ethical barrier. There was clearly a target on his back and those in high places made the destruction of Marion Barry a priority. But every time the system thought they had destroyed him, he found an extraordinary inner strength to push back. No doubt, his indiscipline and recklessness provided ample opportunities for his enemies to strike but his courage to fight and his stamina provided the fortitude to prevail."[9]
References
- ↑ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=52602
- ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1988/02/29/digenovas-legacy/8f02d31e-df56-4b9f-aac1-416f1f947077/
- ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1988/02/29/digenovas-legacy/8f02d31e-df56-4b9f-aac1-416f1f947077/
- ↑ https://archive.org/details/lastofblackemper00barr
- ↑ https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/decoding-demonization-marion-barry/
- ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1988/02/29/digenovas-legacy/8f02d31e-df56-4b9f-aac1-416f1f947077/
- ↑ https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/15101045/hunter-biden-smoked-crack-marion-barry-bragged-phone-call/
- ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1990/01/24/entrapment/754ea1f0-4992-4dc1-9215-ac9157270812/
- ↑ https://www.blackagendareport.com/node/22172
