Omar Thornton Victim of Racism and Union Management Corruption

Omar Thornton Victim of Racism and Union/Management Corruption

(With Permission from Broadway Stagehands Democracy)

The editorial staff held a meeting yesterday regarding the murders in Connecticut. We concluded that when Omar complained to union and management about racism that the Teamsters and Management built a phony case of stealing against him to cover their Racism and Lack of Union Democracy. We have seen the same story repeated over and over again in Local One IATSE. Complain and they set you up. Omar was not correct in his shooting spree but he too was a victim.

Kristi Hannah, girlfriend of Omar Thornton, recalls gunman's goodbye, racism concerns

BY Matthew Lysiak In Enfield, Conn., and Corky Siemaszko
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Originally Published:Wednesday, August 4th 2010, 11:37 AM
Updated: Wednesday, August 4th 2010, 12:06 PM

CT shooting suspect Omar Thornton with his girlfriend at left Kristi Hannah.

Hill/AP

Authorities converge on Hartford Distributorsin Manchester, Conn., Tuesday.

The girlfriend of the Connecticut truck driver who killed eight of his co-workers said Wednesday that on the morning of the massacre "he was in a daze."

Speaking exclusively to the Daily News for the first time since Omar Thornton ended his deadly rampage by shooting himself, Kristi Hannah said she did not he was planning to unleash hell - but she knew something was not right when he left her apartment.

"That morning he seemed like he was in a daze," she said, speaking at her mom's house. "His eyes weren't right. They were empty. I kept asking him what was wrong but he wouldn't tell me."

Thornton, she said, "was quiet."

"He gave me a weird hug," said Hannah. "It was really long. And a kiss and said goodbye. He looked at me hard and told me he loved me."

Then he was gone.

A short time later, Hannah said, the cops showed up.

"Two detectives showed up asking for Omar," she said. "I texted Omar and asked, 'Why are two detectives at my door? You've never done anything wrong in your life.' He didn't answer. I texted him again, 'Are you okay?'"

Still, there was no answer from Thornton.

Then, Hannah said, she saw the reports flashing across the screen of her TV and a horrible realization set in.

"I saw the news and I collapsed on the ground," she said. "I couldn't even move. I felt so sick."

Hannah said that all their plans for the future crumbled in an instant.

"We were engaged, we were talking about having a family," she said. "I fell in love with him because he was the most gentle man I had ever met. His eyes were so kind. He would never hurt another creature."

Hannah said she can't reconcile her memories of Thornton with the cold-blooded killer who turned the beer and wine wholesaling business where he worked into a slaughterhouse.

"Omar was very kind," she said. "His sister had a drug problem and Omar spent a lot of time caring for his nephew."

Hannah also backed up claims by Thornton's kin that the 34-year-old gunman finally snapped after years of being subjected to racist taunts by co-workers.

"Everyone of \[the victims\] was a person I heard Omar mention," she said. "He didn't go around randomly shooting people. He knew these were the people who harassed him."

Thornton, a black man, "was very sensitive about his race," said Hannah.

"If you called him a n----r he would go off," she said. "But he kept it inside. He kept it all bottled up."

Thornton was reportedly about to be fired for stealing cases of suds, but his girlfriend denied he was a thief and claimed he was a good worker who was recently promoted to driver.

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Monday, August 17, 2009

MJ TO BE BURIED AT FOREST LAWN FOR HIS 51 BIRTHDAY

Michael Jackson to be buried on birthday, King of Pop's father says

Monday, August 17th 2009, 4:00 AM

Klein/Reuters

Michael Jackson will be laid to rest on August 29, his father, Joe, says.

Beck/Getty

Michael Jackson's father, Joe, plans to return to Vegas after his son is buried to receive a celebrity star in the singer's honor at the Brenden Theatres.

The King of Pop will finally be laid to rest. Or so says his dad.

Michael Jackson will be buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. on Aug. 29 on what would have been the King of Pop's 51st birthday, Joe Jackson told Steve Friess, the Daily News' man in Las Vegas.

The elder Jackson indicated that the burial plans had been made final just in the past few days. He discussed the burial over ribs and jalapeño corn bread at the poolside Simon at Palms Place at the Palms hotel and casino.

With him was the stunningly beautiful Crystal Marven, a singer he has signed to his new record label, and her mother.

The elder Jackson says he will return to Vegas after his son is buried that Saturday to receive a celebrity star in the singer's honor at the Brenden Theatres, a cinema at the Palms that Michael Jackson and his children frequented. The Brenden will also screen the 1988 film "Moonwalker" that day.

Papa Jackson said he is supportive of the Los Angeles Police Department probe into his son's June 25 death so far - but also said that cops may be making Dr. Conrad Murray "the fall guy for a whole lot of people."

He did not elaborate. Murray was Michael Jackson's personal doctor and with him the day he died. Murray's lawyer has confirmed the Vegas-based doc is being investigated for administering the anesthetic Propofol and possibly other drugs. He denies wrongdoing.

A Vegas pharmacy was searched Aug. 11 for evidence Murray sought Propofol there.

Meanwhile, Joe Jackson, who lives separately from the singer's mom, Katherine, says she's taken Michael's death particularly hard, and frequently bursts out in tears.

Jackson said he had tried to see his son in the months before his death, but "the security guards wouldn't let me get to him."

He also dismissed talk that the Neverland mansion would be moved to Las Vegas as his daughter, La Toya Jackson, told reporters last week.

"How would they do that?" Jackson asked.