http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/article/0,2845,MCA_25340_4755412,00.html

Protesters raise race issue in bribery trial

By Marc Perrusquia
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June 7, 2006

The issue of race resonated through a bullhorn Tuesday as demonstrators marched outside the federal courthouse where former state senator Roscoe Dixon is being tried.

Dixon, facing bribery charges, took the stand and engaged in a series of fiery exchanges with a prosecutor, while outside a handful of protesters staged their own drama.

Carrying placards such as, "Tennessee Waltz is a Government Conspiracy against Black Democrats,'' the protesters handed out leaflets and vowed to be a presence at each of the five remaining Waltz trials.

"We're going to be asking the federal government to be investigating the Tennessee Waltz,'' said Isaac Richmond, national director of the Commission on Religion and Racism, who organized the protest.

"It (the sting) was created to target black Democrats,'' Richmond said. "And overwhelmingly, that is what it's done.''

Race has been a topic of concern for some ever since federal prosecutors announced last year that an FBI undercover sting code-named Operation Tennessee Waltz had netted indictments against 10 current and former public officials statewide.

Eight of those 10 are black.

A smattering of officials across Tennessee have commented on the case's racial dynamic -- some offering bitter criticism -- yet not until Tuesday has there been any organized commentary.

Richmond says he plans a petition drive to urge the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to investigate the Waltz sting in which undercover agents posing as corrupt businessmen paid cash bribes to officials for their influence in winning government contracts.

Among them, Dixon, 56, who is black, is charged with five felony counts for selling his legislative influence. A federal jury will begin deliberations this morning.

Dixon's lawyer, Coleman Garrett, claimed before the trial that his client was the victim of selective prosecution, unsuccessfully alleging that the FBI targeted black officials while bypassing whites. At trial, Garrett argued that Dixon was a victim who was entrapped by an investigation intent on setting him up.

Whether the jury buys that argument remains to be seen, but it's clear the Waltz prosecutions are viewed contemptuously by some African-Americans.

"Extra! Extra! Read all about it. We're calling for an investigation of the Tennessee Waltz investigation,'' Richmond shouted as he marched with five others.

U.S. Atty. David Kustoff said he had no comment on the demonstration, as did George Bolds, spokesman of the local FBI office. "People have a right to express their opinions,'' Bolds said.

[highlight]One who sat through parts of the trial, African-American blogger Thaddeus Matthews, said he didn't agree with Richmond's view.

"There is a segment of the black community that will always say it's us against them,'' Matthews said. "(But) you can't be trapped unless you go to the trap. If a politician is corrupt, no matter what color he is, you need to hold him accountable.'' [/highlight]