07/22/2889 12:18 4346853347 LIBRARY PAGE 81/83 July 22, 2009 Honorable William Mims Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia 900 East Main Street Richmond, VA 23219 Dear Mr. Attorney General, Jam writing with an urgent request. Lam chairman of the [fanville Tea Party organization. In the course of our voluntary efforts to advocate fou) olicies and positions that our members hold dear, an atmosphere of intimidat}in and outright fear has been fostered by local law enforcement personnel and melfibers of the State Police. i i I know you share my belief that the use of law enforcement}}ersonnel for political purposes is a gross violation of every principle of a free sqnety and cannot be tolerated. Unfortunately, the clear impression that is being left h the Danville area is that just such a situation exists today. i series of events have occurred over the last several days t}3t have prompted me to write to request an inquiry by your office into the|/totivations of, state police members and local law enforcement with the goal of irfimidating and silencing citizens. i Here is the sequence of events: d © On Saturday, July 19, 2009, members of the Danville Tea Pality attended @ public function for Congressman Perriello and Obama Admijistration Secretaries Chu and Vilsack. Our plan was to ask some very{tlirect questions related to the current healthcare reform bill being debated |h Congress. «Danville Tea Party vice-chairman Bobby Conner and I rode }j-gether and met Patricia Evans and some other members and stood close toe front so we could get a chance to ask a question. F ‘+ After a few minutes, what we believe to have been two Secr}it Service agents were standing next to us. There was also a uniformed polic}; officer behind us, Itseemed to a couple of us that they were all staring at ‘+ Realizing we would not be allowed to ask a question of our fjongressman ata supposedly “town hall” meeting, we decided to go to our cats and get signs which we intended to hold up at the exit from the farm. Buj/as soon as we07/22/2889 12:18 4346853347 LIBRARY PAGE 82/83 got the signs, a county sheriff's deputy pulled up in a white #HIV and a another deputy on foot told us that the owner of the proper}, Buddy Mayhew, wanted us to leave immediately and that we were|tiot welcome. = We complied with the officer's instructions without a word |;" protest. We left and everyone met up ata restaurant nearby to discuss Wihat happened during the day and decide what to do next. As we were leavjug to go home, Bobby was the first to notice an unmarked police car and arjjafficer calling our license plate numbers in over his phone. © That was unsettling enough. However, on Monday morning|ithe police action escalated when the Virginia State Police showed up unannoljnced on Bobby's doorstep and proceeded to question him regarding our pregpnce at Saturday's event, specifically something about a note one offpur group passed to another asking himn to take his picture with Rep. Perrielld ‘the opportunity presented itself. Taken as a serles of actions coming, as they do, so closely tofjether and targeted so specifically at the citizen leadership of opposition to Refs. Perriello’s position on healthcare, we cannot help but conclude that some typ}/of coordination with the local and state police has occurred. Ifsuch coordination between the police and Rep. Perriello's|pffice did in fact take place, we believe it is compelling to learn under whose directijin and instigation. Ifyou find that it was instigated by Rep. Perrieilo and/jir a member of his staff, we believe the line has been crossed and legal action is required. Tunderstand that your office does not have direct authority|ver the State Police, But as the chief law enforcement official of the Commonwe#fzh, you are obligated to defend the civil and constitutional rights of all citizens} It would be unfair to expect us to appeal to the individual who does have direc zuthority over the State Police, Gov. Tim Kaine, given that he also serves as nation}j] chairman of Rep. Perriello’s political party. Having the fox guard the hen house]pas never been acceptable and is no more so in this instance, since it wouldn't turn] put well for the hens. Thank you for your consideration. Your prompt and immediate action can help lift a growing atmosphere of fear and intimidation now being {lt by average citizens whose only crime has been to publicly criticize a local polittian's political agenda, ‘We write in hopes that you can take steps to ensure that citifens in Rep. Perriello’s district can once again feel free to exercise their Constity tional free speech rights without having to fear that they'll be subjected to polfte surveillance and questioning as a result. :07/22/2889 12:18 4346853347 LIBRARY PAGE 83/83 Sincerely, Danville TEA Party t Danville, Virginia i