Buffalo Rick Galeener, alleged public urinator.
The fattest lie those in the nativist camp spew about themselves is that they're all true-blue Norman Rockwell American patriots who've never done anything wrong in their lives, while everyone opposed to them is a traitorous, law-breakin' scalawag. But all you have to do is take one look at the lumpen Harley-humpin' idgits in Riders Against Illegal Aliens or Riders U.S.A. to know they're full of the brown stuff when it comes to their chest-thumpin' claims of moral righteousness.
The simple fact that United for a Sovereign America (Riders U.S.A. is its biker wing) has welcomed neo-Nazis into its ranks heretofore should disabuse anyone of the notion that we're talking about the frickin' Rotary Club. But there are other elements that are as about as far from the denizens of Mayberry R.F.D. as you're likely to get. Take for instance, Buffalo Rick Galeener. Galeener recently had a date in Phoenix Municipal Court for a charge of public urination, stemming from an incident occurring on March 8 when the amateur Yosemite Sam impersonator was allegedly caught doin' number one by a resident outside her home near 25th Street and Bell Road, nearby Sal Reza's Macehualli Work Center.
Galeener's a member of Rusty Childress' anti-immigrant hate group U.S.A., which has an ongoing vigil outside the day-labor center that's lasted since the beginning of the year, and has cost the city god knows how much loot, as Phoenix PD has to be present to make sure the assorted knuckledraggers don't assault anyone with the pistols most of 'em are packin'.
Buffalo is practically Childress' second in command, and a racist one at that. He's referred to non-whites as "monkeys" in my presence on more than one occasion. And Senor Buffy's Web site features a page where it asks visitors, "Do you hate illegal aliens?" When you click on "No," the site takes you to a page that reads in 80 point type, "THEN KISS MY ASS TRAITOR!" You're either "fer" or "agin" Buffalo. For him the world is strictly brown and white.
In any case, as you can read here in the police report, the cops originally cited him for indecent exposure. The Hispanic lady told the cops she spotted Buffalo piddling into a plastic container, and that her two-year-old son was with her at the time. According to the report, Buffalo admitted to urinating, but claimed no one saw him. So, uh, how did the cops find out if no one saw ya, Rick? The spot where Buffalo was apparently making water is about block to two blocks away from a McDonald's and a Taco Bell. He could have driven to either when he felt the call of nature.
Ask his buds in U.S.A. about it and they will either claim the whole thing is a lie, or give the line that Buffalo has a "medical condition." Whatever. If some dood on the other side of the immigration argument had done the same damn thing, they'd be calling for his plattered noggin a la John the Baptist and demanding, considering the presence of the kid, that the count be upped to a felony. According to statute, indecent exposure can be a class six felony if the victim is under fifteen. And the Hispanic lady's kid was well under fifteen. Not long after Buffalo's alleged al fresco whiz, Phoenix Police Sgt. Brian Murray related the following:
"There’s a cutoff of 15 years of age," said Murray. "If you have a victim that’s less that 15, it’s a felony. [The victim] was an adult. Now her two-year-old son was with her. We don’t know what he saw or what he did not see. He’s only two and couldn’t articulate what he saw or not."
Remember, Buffalo was not cuffed and booked into jail. He was cited and released. The po-po used their discretion and cut Buffalo some slack.
Vicki Hill, Chief Assistant City Prosecutor for Phoenix, informed me that the prosecutor's office has switched the charge on Buffalo from the cop-requested indecent exposure rap to public urination. Both are class one misdemeanors, with a possible punishment of up to six months imprisonment, three years probation, a $2,500 fine, or any combination of the three. Hill stated that the reason for the change is that the crime did not have a sexual intent, and was more a matter of, um, taking a leak in public...
If the boot were on the other foot, every nativist in the Valley would be baying for blood and crying about a cover-up. P-town reactionaries would never be so generous as to accept the city prosecutor's apparent reasonableness regarding someone in what they call the "open borders" crowd, especially considering there was a two-year-old involved.
Buffalo's lawyer has filed a motion to continue, according to Hill. The next court date is set for June 18 at 300 West Washington, courtroom 508, 1:30 p.m.
Buffalo's a nasty piece of work. The people showing up to the Macehualli Center to demonstrate are of the same ilk, and they are persistent in their harassment of day-laborers and others in that community. It's obvious that they regard most Hispanics, like Buffalo's victim and her little boy, to be less than human. That's why they do not regard what Buffalo did as a crime.
