It sure sounds like it!
Manson testimony on 2/27/1973, during the Hawthorne surplus store robbery trial.
"During his hour-long testimony, Manson stressed that the antisocial, violent attitude of the group
around him was the outgrowth of many contacts with law enforcement.
Questioned by Miss Share’s attorney, Richard Hirsch, about problems with
society in general and police in particular, Manson said, “We were
pushed into a corner … we didn’t have any choice.”
Speaking about what he called an escalation of police interference with their existence, he testified:“It started with a polite knock on the door and ‘May we come in?’ I’d opened the door because my door was always open to everyone. They would, at first, politely check IDs. That’s how it started. But two years later it became a 250 storm trooper raid. They were steadily pushing, pushing and pushing until there was nothing left…it was like a yo-yo game and we were their favorite game.” "
Box 57 pg150of491 Grand Jury testimony of Mary Brunner:
Q: And when you speak about raiding, had the police been there when--when I speak of the police I am also including the Sheriff's Department as well -- had the police or Sheriff's Department been to the ranch before this particular day? (July 28th)A: They were there almost every day.
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Squeaky:
Q:
During the time that you were at the Spahn Ranch, did you have any
contact with the police, either the Los Angeles Police Department or the
Sheriff's office? ... Did you have almost daily contact with them?
A(Fromme): Almost, yes. ..
Q: Were you also, the group of people that were at the Spahn Ranch, frequently arrested?
A: We were. I have been frequently arrested with everybody. They would keep us for three days and let us go, never take us to court.
A(Fromme): Almost, yes. ..
Q: Were you also, the group of people that were at the Spahn Ranch, frequently arrested?
A: We were. I have been frequently arrested with everybody. They would keep us for three days and let us go, never take us to court.
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Sandy:
Box 6 vol3076 pg17of302 Testimony in the Penalty Phase of the TLB trial
Sandra Goode: The police. They came--we almost--They became a part of our daily life actually after a while.
We were friendly to them, and then they became--they began coming in
greater numbers, the more of us there were the more of them, the more of
us--and it grew.
Q: How often would they come to the ranch to harass you?
A: It became nightly. Always with, "We'll get you yet, Charlie," this type of thing.
Q: How often would they come to the ranch to harass you?
A: It became nightly. Always with, "We'll get you yet, Charlie," this type of thing.
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Gypsy:
Box14 vol3076 pg265of302
Q: Would you tell us, please, Miss Share, the ...frequency that law enforcement came to the Spahn Ranch while you lived there with some other people?
A: At least every day. ..Sometimes more than once a day. ...I know that for months and months and months the police were always there, always there, always trying to arrest somebody for something, and taking some people to jail, and then letting them go two days later. ...I saw police often, often, for a long, long time.
Q: Would you tell us, please, Miss Share, the ...frequency that law enforcement came to the Spahn Ranch while you lived there with some other people?
A: At least every day. ..Sometimes more than once a day. ...I know that for months and months and months the police were always there, always there, always trying to arrest somebody for something, and taking some people to jail, and then letting them go two days later. ...I saw police often, often, for a long, long time.
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Nancy Pitman:
LADA files Box 6 Vol176 Testimony in the Penalty Phase of the TLB trial pg150of164
Q: Did the police come to the Spahn Ranch all the time?
A: Yeah, all the time, every night.
Q: Did the police come to the Spahn Ranch all the time?
A: Yeah, all the time, every night.
Had you let him put on a defense, he could have explained to you why
his face was planted in the dirt.
=============================================
In a related vein:
Even before TLB, Manson and Family were the subjects of an active
investigation by, or had previous contact with, an astounding array of
local, state, and federal entities.
--The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD)
--City of Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD)
--The Los Angeles Sheriffs Office (LASO)
--L.A. County Fire Department (LACoFD)
--The Inyo County Sheriffs Office
--The California Highway Patrol (CHP)
--The Las Vegas Police Department (LVPD) and/or the Clark County Sheriff's Department
--The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (Justice Dept)
--The Federal Parole Officers of the Justice Dept
--Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) (Treasury Dept)
--The US Secret Service (Treasury Dept)
--National Park Service (Interior Dept)
--Ventura County Sheriff's Office
--Kern County Sheriff's Office
--Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office
--Mendocino County Social Services Dept.
(... the Welfare Department files contain extensive information about Manson and the “family.” --Louise H. Renne, Deputy Attorney General, State of California)
--The Office of the State of California Attorney General (in Sept of '68)
(Renne memo)
--The Mendocino Probation Department and the Los Angeles Probation Department.
--And
that doesn't count the inclusion of any covert operators of the
police/intelligence agencies. People like Reeve Whitson.
--A mention should be made of Melba Kronkright, that "executive for a government social service,"
as Fromme said in her book, Melba, who showed up one day in Topanga
Canyon to hand out freebies for the Mansonoids, the beginning of a
two-year relationship.
9 comments:
Put yourself in Charlie's shoes in the summer of '69. He and his Family are subject to an unending campaign of petty harassment. His frustration and anger are rising. Combine that with his 'get out of jail free card' and Charlie's sure knowledge that he had a pass on committing crimes, and what do you get? A recipe for bloodshed.
Thanks Starviego.
When people communicate through speech or writing, it’s common for them to exaggerate as they express themselves. Phrases like “you always” and “you never” are exaggerations in that they are not 100% accurate but the action or inaction is not extremely rare or unexpected. So when Manson Family members say that LE was there daily, it needs to be taken with a gram of salt.
Alternatively, certain LE officers main duty is to patrol. It’s expected for patrol officers to patrol and check things out. Pulling into parking lots of businesses, especially after business hours, and observing is expected procedure as is using parking lots to turn around or parking at various places and waiting and watching. The people that are being observed will complain that LE is always there and conversely there will be others that will complain that LE is never there when you need them.
Certainly the girl's claims could have been exaggerated, but it's still true that the cops were there A LOT.
Barbara Hoyt :
At Spahn : "Charlie had Family members up here on the hill watching the cops watch us... so we were all watching each other. It was all fun..."
Box 46 vol28 pg81, Deputy Wachsmuth, arresting officer in Outlaw Shacks bust of Aug 24:
Q: Incidentally, in the period of August 1969 had you been frequently patrolling the Spahn Ranch area?
A: Yes, I was.
I think you'd be hard pressed to find a late 60s/early 70s commune anywhere in the world that wasn't getting regularly harassed by the cops... particularly if they were running a dune buggy chop shop and had a couple of biker gangs visiting regularly. :-)
That said, it's kinda hard to imagine why they would've been on the Secret Service's radar... at least until Squeaky took a potshot at Ford.
Confessions of an ex-Secret Service Agent: The Marty Venker Story by George Rush c.1988 pg112
"Back in 1970, when I was working in Los Angeles, I used to climb the steps of the Federal Building and pass a woman who'd carved X's into her forehead. She was holding a vigil for Charles Manson, who was standing trial inside for the murder of actress Sharon Tate and eight others. Even before the murders, Manson's hatred of Richard Nixon had earned him a Secret Service interrogation. The woman on the steps was Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme. Squeaky and I developed a relationship. She called me a pig and I'd tell here to stick it up her ass."
So police harassment caused Manson and his pals to violently kill strangers? Nah. Sorry.
No, Gina, it didn't.
The '250 storm troopers', was, of course, after the murders.
The first 'Family' PR strategy was the claim it was all just police harassment with no substance because it played to the underground/leftist press. See the Free Press February 6, 1970. For a few months Manson was a hero to some of those. All that ended when Kasabian testified.
Did the police harass longhairs? Of course. Was the Family on their radar? Of course. They had stolen cars, dope, underage runaways, stolen credit cards, a growing arsenal and a neighboring property owner who wanted them off Spahn Ranch. Did it drive them over the edge? Ah...no.
They was Gatlin' at Bobby Bosley and his friends. They better pray that.......
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