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Mayor to Marines: Leave downtown Toledo, Ohio
Mayor to Marines: Leave downtown
He says urban exercises scare people
By JC REINDL BLADE STAFF WRITER A company of Marine Corps Reservists received a cold send-off from downtown Toledo yesterday by order of Mayor Carty Finkbeiner. The 200 members of Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., planned to spend their weekend engaged in urban patrol exercises on the streets of downtown as well as inside the mostly vacant Madison Building, 607 Madison Ave. Toledo police knew days in advance about their plans for a three-day exercise. Yet somehow the memo never made it to Mayor Finkbeiner, who ordered the Marines out yesterday afternoon just minutes before their buses were to arrive. "The mayor asked them to leave because they frighten people," said Brian Schwartz, the mayor's spokesman. "He did not want them practicing and drilling in a highly visible area."
Sergeant Davis, who traveled ahead of the five-bus convoy, stepped from his vehicle into downtown about 3:20 p.m. and was told by a city employee that the mayor wanted him and his soldiers packed up and out by 6 p.m. Members of the 1st Battalion, 24th Marines have trained periodically in downtown Toledo since at least 2004 and most recently in May, 2006. Past exercises have involved mock gun fights, ambushes, and the firing of blank ammunition. The Marines' buses set a course for their battalion's Weapons Company headquarters in Perrysburg Township as soon as they heard of the mayor's decision. Police officers were awaiting the Marines' arrival yesterday afternoon and had set up a roadblock at Madison Avenue and Huron Street. "There was apparently a break in communication somewhere between the mayor and the police department," Mr. Schwartz said. "Where that break was, we don't know yet." Maj. Jeffrey O'Neill, the company's commanding officer, said he was disappointed by how events played out yesterday, especially because Toledo had been a gracious host for Marine exercises in the past. "You can go to military ranges for live fire [exercises], but there's no way to duplicate the urban jungle unless you actually train inside a city," Major O'Neill said. Mr. Schwartz said the Marines declined Mayor Finkbeiner's alternative offer for them to practice their urban patrol tactics inside the former Jones Junior High School, 550 Walbridge Ave. Major O'Neill said he was not aware of such an offer. A pair of Marines spent the better part of yesterday setting up the Madison Building with generators, heaters, radios, and food to become the unit's overnight headquarters. After receiving the mayor's request to leave, they began the task of moving the equipment back into an armored Humvee. Lance Cpl. Brandon Bukrey-McCarty, 22, recalled taking part in the company's 2006 urban patrol exercise in downtown Toledo. He said he learned skills during that exercise that proved useful during the unit's deployment to Fallujah, Iraq, in 2006-2007. "It was extremely helpful," Corporal Bukrey-McCarty said. The training "got me used to looking up on rooftops, looking around every alley, every open door." Sergeant Davis and other company leaders estimated the total cost of the aborted training exercise, including travel, at roughly $10,000. Before he left downtown for Perrysburg Township, Major O'Neill said he was not sure what type of training, if any, his unit could undertake without access to downtown Toledo. "But we're Marines," Major O'Neill said. "We'll adapt and overcome." Contact JC Reindl at: jreindl@theblade.com or 419-724-6065. http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs...WS16/802090394
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#2
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The dustup with the Marines has had bloggers and talk show hosts nationwide ripping Finkbeiner, who insisted he's not unpatriotic and called anyone questioning his loyalty a "baboon." He also offered to allow the Marines to return for training, but not downtown.
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#3
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"The mayor asked them to leave because they frighten people," said Brian Schwartz, the mayor's spokesman.
Now there's a pair of gutless wonders, the mayor and his spokesman. Gee, I wonder what their political persuasion is? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm? Just like the hen-house city pukes in Berkeley, so far left that they truly are enemies of the real people.
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One Big Ass Mistake, America "Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end." |
#4
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Marine-bashing Toledo mayor whines about “f***king ruckus”
By Michelle Malkin • February 15, 2008 04:37 PM Carty Finkbeiner, the jerk mayor of Toledo,cursed on live radio when asked about his anti-Marines stance. He’s always got excuses. This time he says he was “tongue-tied.” More likely: Brain-tied. Radio host Maggie Thurber writes about how The Jerk’s stand could cost the city $57.7 million: Though there are a few who agree with his decision, I don’t think there’s anyone who agrees with the way the decision was carried out, or with the public relations nightmare Carty started because of his last-minute order to prohibit the exercises.
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