LETTER TO WW
Pa. cops set up gays
Somerset County, located in southwestern Pa., has been a
hotspot for KKK and other fascist elements for the past few
years. This summer the KKK held a rally at the Somerset County
Court House, which was protested by local people, Workers World
members, the ISO, and others, including the Anti-Fascist Coal
Country Coalition.
Also, the KKK and right-wing religious nuts have been
picketing the only gay bar in Somerset County, the Casa Nova,
for years. Patrons have been intimidated and harassed. And it
was revealed that a local police chief had been supplying the
KKK and their friends with addresses of the patrons from
license plate numbers. Nothing has ever been done by the
authorities to curtail any of this blatant fascist
terrorism.
On Oct. 15, undercover police went into Babcock Park, after
supposedly receiving complaints from local residents, probably
KKK supporters and other bigots, that gay men were meeting in
the park. Police arrested eleven men, claiming that some of
them grabbed the undercover police on the crotch and others
attempted to lure them into the woods for sex. Two of those
were well liked and dedicated teachers at two separate local
high schools.
The local newspaper, "The Johnstown Tribune Democrat," has
been receiving many protest letters due to the fact that they
made this incident the front page headline and went into
explicit details about what each of the arrested men were
allegedly doing.
Philip Kupchella, a Spanish teacher and English teacher, a
forensics coach and drama instructor at a small school in a
coal mining town, was especially targeted in the article even
though he had only been cited for "Disorderly Conduct". The
article described that Mr. Kupchella had been discovered in the
woods by police doing various sexual acts with another
partner.
The other teacher, also well liked by his students and
considered a great teacher, has already resigned from his
position. The newspaper placed his photo on the front page of
the paper. The paper then went on to say that Mr. Kupchella had
refused to answer their calls and that they had visited his
home and he would not come to the door.
A number of his students have written letters to the editor
defending him and lambasting the paper for their
irresponsibility. The local Unity Coalition and the Coal
Country Anti-Klan Coalition are planning to write letters and
picket the newspaper. It is obvious that this was a outright
police set up, carried out by the Somerset County State Police,
who are known for racism and anti-gay bigotry.
Letters of protest can be sent to:
The Johnstown Tribune Democrat,
425 Locust Street, Johnstown, Pa.
Nick Brisini
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
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