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"One man packs, another attacks
A leading anti-gunner attacks Shariar Ghalam
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by Wayne Laugesen (letters@boulderweekly.com)
Shariar Ghalam, a gun-toting activist, fought a war and smuggled his family from tyranny to freedom. He's seen people hang for their beliefs. He thought he'd seen it all, until last week.
Ghalam-locked and loaded with a Sig Sauer 9mm semi automatic-was attacked by a peace protester while awaiting a Charlton Heston speech.
Get this: The aggressor was Robert Howell, vice president of the Boulder Chapter of the Bell Campaign, which lobbies for gun laws and peace.
Perhaps Howell, 55, thought Ghalam was a Neanderthal loser, as the anti-gunners like to view their opponents. He's not. Ghalam, 36, is successful and smart. He speaks five languages fluently-Persian, English, French, Kurdish and Arabic.
At age 18, Ghalam flew F-5 fighter jets solo into combat, dropping a half dozen 1,500-pound bombs a day on Iraqi targets and shooting down enemy fighters.
He's competent, having started his own construction business in Boulder from scratch. His company, SMG Construction, was widely acclaimed for renovating a church parsonage into a home for the Boulder County AIDS Project in record time.
Ghalam fought hard to be here, smuggling his dad from an Iranian prison to save him from execution by Hezboallah ("Party of God") guards who served the Ayatollah Khomeini. Ghalam is clearly above average, and was able to rise above tyranny in a quest for freedom. He represents everything this country is about.
Yet today, he stands charged with brawling and has been deprived of his right to legally conceal a gun. That's because Ghalam was slugged, then chased down by Howell.
It all began shortly after Ghalam and Howell showed up in front of Macky Auditorium the early evening of March 21. Heston, president of the National Rifle Association, was to give a speech that night that Ghalam wanted to hear. Upon his arrival at Macky, one of several pro-gun protesters handed him a sign and bullhorn. Howell, along with at least 100 others, arrived with signs opposing guns.
---------------------------------------------
A "dirty Arab"
One peace protester told Ghalam he looked like "a dirty Arab." A small group of peace protesters also antagonized Ghalam, saying he looked like a Middle Eastern terrorist. Ghalam, who is Kurdish, ignored them.
Ghalam had a bullhorn and was chanting pro-gun, pro-freedom slogans. Howell says Ghalam came too close to him with the bullhorn, and refused polite requests to move along.
"I gently pushed the horn sideways," Howell says. "Then he steps back and rams the bullhorn into the side of my head. So I threw a punch and hit him in the nose."
Apparently, nobody in the crowd-including Howell's friend and fellow protester-saw Ghalam hit Howell with a bullhorn. They did see Howell slug Ghalam, and dozens of cameras recorded the blood.
"My witness, Ann Coakley with the Bell Campaign, did not see him hit me, which is a bit puzzling," Howell says. "All I can say is she must have looked away. I'm just hoping some of the kids who were there with other anti-gun groups saw it."
Ghalam says nobody saw it, because it didn't happen.
"We're carrying our signs and this man comes up to me and says take your bullhorn away," Ghalam says. "He calls me something like a 'filthy Arab.' I said I was doing what he was, and exercising my right to free speech and peaceable assembly. He got closer, and closer, and pushed the bullhorn into my face. I shoved him, and repeatedly said 'don't touch me please,' as I continuously backed away."
Whatever happened in the first few moments of the fight remains in dispute. It's an established fact, however, that Ghalam walked away, trying to end the dispute. Channel 4 News has it on tape. Witnesses, including police, saw it.
"I'm walking away, and he's chasing me down hitting me as I try to get away," Ghalam says.
Even Howell doesn't contest that. "After I slugged him, I went after him," Howell told me. "He was backing up, and I proceeded toward him. This went on for about 10 feet."
It went on until University of Colorado police officer Paul Davis tackled Howell and held him to the ground. "Officer Davis went after the man who he thought was the aggressor," says Sgt. Brett Brough, of the CU Police Department.
The police report, written by CU Police Officer Michael Lowry, also reveals which party was more aggressive after police intervened.
Of pro-gunner Ghalam, Lowry wrote: "He was cooperative, and said he did not wish to fight."
Of peace protester Howell, Lowry wrote: "I turned towards Officer Davis, and saw he was on the ground with his subject, later identified as Robert Howell. Officer Davis was telling the subject to calm down."
But Howell did not obey, the report states, and continued to struggle with Officer Davis.
"I released Shariar Ghalam and went to assist Officer Davis," Lowry wrote. "Officer Davis eventually talked Mr. Howell into calming down."
Which fortifies a sociological theory: An armed society is a polite society.
During the altercation, Howell was hostile; Ghalam was polite. And Ghalam-the polite one-was very much armed.
---------------------------------------------
Locked and loaded
"The gun was loaded, with a round in the chamber," Officer Lowry wrote in his report.
Which doesn't seem to alarm CU police. Right away, after police intervened, Ghalam told them he had a concealed weapon and a permit to carry it. Police thanked him for his professional demeanor. Boulder County Sheriff George Epp has suspended the permit until the case is resolved. Although police clearly viewed Howell as the aggressor, both men were ticketed for brawling-a standard procedure when police break up fights.
Ghalam's actions teach us that concealed weapons permits are a sound form of gun control. Here's a man so responsible that he wouldn't think of breaking a gun law, so he went through a rigorous process to obtain special permission from the sheriff to carry his weapon responsibly. Ghalam is so oriented toward peace that he chooses not to defend himself, and not to fight, unless it's a matter of life or death.
The peace protester, by contrast, bloodied another man, chased him down, and later struggled with police.
Ghalam, like most of the pro-gun protesters last week, believes private gun ownership is essential to peace. In Iran, under the tyrant Shah, citizens were allowed no guns. When the oppression became too much, citizens stormed military arsenals, armed themselves, and overthrew the Shah.
"The revolution began with fists in the air," Ghalam says. "It ended with citizens taking up arms to overthrow the government."
At first, new leader Ayatollah Khomeini asked nicely that all the guns be turned in. The revolution is over, Khomeini argued, and I'm a nice man-a God-fearing, responsible leader who wants nothing but freedom and peace.
"The next step from Khomeini was to tell people if they wanted peace they needed to turn in any of their neighbors who still had weapons," Ghalam says. Next, guns were taken forcefully, at gun point, by Khomeini's soldiers.
"I remember an entire family being machine gunned down because one of Khomeini's good citizens reported them for having military weapons," Ghalam says. "It was a lot like Waco (Texas), only the government didn't bother with spin."
Once the guns were gone, oppression and enslavement ensued. The nice man with the white beard became a tyrant, and made it illegal to belong to any party other than Hezboallah.
---------------------------------------------
Public hangings
"People were killed for their beliefs," Ghalam says. "The government would tie four or five people by their necks to an I-beam, then hang them from a crane. If you went to the supermarket, it was common to see people hanging in the parking lot. And the people had no weapons to overthrow this government."
Ghalam's father, a former general suspected of plotting a coup, was captured for execution. Ghalam, fighting in the Iran/Iraq war, paid an insider and professional smuggler to help his dad escape. Ultimately, Ghalam, his three brothers, his mother and father ended up in France.
Ghalam came to the United States in 1989, because as a teenager he had read and memorized our Constitution-a violation of law for which he could have been imprisoned.
"It was in a Boy Scout manual, which I carry with me to this day," Ghalam says. "I remember the first time I read the Second Amendment. I said there is no way this can be true. There is no such thing as a country that would write into its constitution a law that would allow people to have weapons to protect themselves against tyranny. I said 'This is too good to be true.' I made it my mission in life to someday live in the country that was so devoted to freedom that it allowed its people the tools necessary to overthrow a government."
Howell doesn't get it. He sees no reason for people to have guns, other than to hunt.
"It's very unlikely what happened in Iran will ever happen here," says Howell. "This country is very different from Iran. We have a tremendous government, a constitution and a Bill of Rights."
Exactly. And the second "right" is the freedom to own a gun. Why? To limit government power, just like everything else in the document. Guns are why America seems different. Guns are why suburban housewives shop at Safeway without seeing bloody corpses hanging from cranes. Guns, which killed federal agents at Waco, are why the government has taken time off from attacking religious groups. Guns are why people can confront each other with signs and bullhorns in public. Shariar Ghalam is living proof.
Wayne Laugesen can be reached at Wayne@Laugesen.com or 303-499-4187. Send letters to the editor to: Boulder Weekly Letters, 690 S. Lashley Lane, Boulder, CO 80303; e-mail to letters@boulderweekly.com; fax 303-494-2585.
© 2000 Boulder Weekly. All Rights Reserved."
"One man packs, another attacks
A leading anti-gunner attacks Shariar Ghalam
- - - - - - - - - - - -
by Wayne Laugesen (letters@boulderweekly.com)
Shariar Ghalam, a gun-toting activist, fought a war and smuggled his family from tyranny to freedom. He's seen people hang for their beliefs. He thought he'd seen it all, until last week.
Ghalam-locked and loaded with a Sig Sauer 9mm semi automatic-was attacked by a peace protester while awaiting a Charlton Heston speech.
Get this: The aggressor was Robert Howell, vice president of the Boulder Chapter of the Bell Campaign, which lobbies for gun laws and peace.
Perhaps Howell, 55, thought Ghalam was a Neanderthal loser, as the anti-gunners like to view their opponents. He's not. Ghalam, 36, is successful and smart. He speaks five languages fluently-Persian, English, French, Kurdish and Arabic.
At age 18, Ghalam flew F-5 fighter jets solo into combat, dropping a half dozen 1,500-pound bombs a day on Iraqi targets and shooting down enemy fighters.
He's competent, having started his own construction business in Boulder from scratch. His company, SMG Construction, was widely acclaimed for renovating a church parsonage into a home for the Boulder County AIDS Project in record time.
Ghalam fought hard to be here, smuggling his dad from an Iranian prison to save him from execution by Hezboallah ("Party of God") guards who served the Ayatollah Khomeini. Ghalam is clearly above average, and was able to rise above tyranny in a quest for freedom. He represents everything this country is about.
Yet today, he stands charged with brawling and has been deprived of his right to legally conceal a gun. That's because Ghalam was slugged, then chased down by Howell.
It all began shortly after Ghalam and Howell showed up in front of Macky Auditorium the early evening of March 21. Heston, president of the National Rifle Association, was to give a speech that night that Ghalam wanted to hear. Upon his arrival at Macky, one of several pro-gun protesters handed him a sign and bullhorn. Howell, along with at least 100 others, arrived with signs opposing guns.
---------------------------------------------
A "dirty Arab"
One peace protester told Ghalam he looked like "a dirty Arab." A small group of peace protesters also antagonized Ghalam, saying he looked like a Middle Eastern terrorist. Ghalam, who is Kurdish, ignored them.
Ghalam had a bullhorn and was chanting pro-gun, pro-freedom slogans. Howell says Ghalam came too close to him with the bullhorn, and refused polite requests to move along.
"I gently pushed the horn sideways," Howell says. "Then he steps back and rams the bullhorn into the side of my head. So I threw a punch and hit him in the nose."
Apparently, nobody in the crowd-including Howell's friend and fellow protester-saw Ghalam hit Howell with a bullhorn. They did see Howell slug Ghalam, and dozens of cameras recorded the blood.
"My witness, Ann Coakley with the Bell Campaign, did not see him hit me, which is a bit puzzling," Howell says. "All I can say is she must have looked away. I'm just hoping some of the kids who were there with other anti-gun groups saw it."
Ghalam says nobody saw it, because it didn't happen.
"We're carrying our signs and this man comes up to me and says take your bullhorn away," Ghalam says. "He calls me something like a 'filthy Arab.' I said I was doing what he was, and exercising my right to free speech and peaceable assembly. He got closer, and closer, and pushed the bullhorn into my face. I shoved him, and repeatedly said 'don't touch me please,' as I continuously backed away."
Whatever happened in the first few moments of the fight remains in dispute. It's an established fact, however, that Ghalam walked away, trying to end the dispute. Channel 4 News has it on tape. Witnesses, including police, saw it.
"I'm walking away, and he's chasing me down hitting me as I try to get away," Ghalam says.
Even Howell doesn't contest that. "After I slugged him, I went after him," Howell told me. "He was backing up, and I proceeded toward him. This went on for about 10 feet."
It went on until University of Colorado police officer Paul Davis tackled Howell and held him to the ground. "Officer Davis went after the man who he thought was the aggressor," says Sgt. Brett Brough, of the CU Police Department.
The police report, written by CU Police Officer Michael Lowry, also reveals which party was more aggressive after police intervened.
Of pro-gunner Ghalam, Lowry wrote: "He was cooperative, and said he did not wish to fight."
Of peace protester Howell, Lowry wrote: "I turned towards Officer Davis, and saw he was on the ground with his subject, later identified as Robert Howell. Officer Davis was telling the subject to calm down."
But Howell did not obey, the report states, and continued to struggle with Officer Davis.
"I released Shariar Ghalam and went to assist Officer Davis," Lowry wrote. "Officer Davis eventually talked Mr. Howell into calming down."
Which fortifies a sociological theory: An armed society is a polite society.
During the altercation, Howell was hostile; Ghalam was polite. And Ghalam-the polite one-was very much armed.
---------------------------------------------
Locked and loaded
"The gun was loaded, with a round in the chamber," Officer Lowry wrote in his report.
Which doesn't seem to alarm CU police. Right away, after police intervened, Ghalam told them he had a concealed weapon and a permit to carry it. Police thanked him for his professional demeanor. Boulder County Sheriff George Epp has suspended the permit until the case is resolved. Although police clearly viewed Howell as the aggressor, both men were ticketed for brawling-a standard procedure when police break up fights.
Ghalam's actions teach us that concealed weapons permits are a sound form of gun control. Here's a man so responsible that he wouldn't think of breaking a gun law, so he went through a rigorous process to obtain special permission from the sheriff to carry his weapon responsibly. Ghalam is so oriented toward peace that he chooses not to defend himself, and not to fight, unless it's a matter of life or death.
The peace protester, by contrast, bloodied another man, chased him down, and later struggled with police.
Ghalam, like most of the pro-gun protesters last week, believes private gun ownership is essential to peace. In Iran, under the tyrant Shah, citizens were allowed no guns. When the oppression became too much, citizens stormed military arsenals, armed themselves, and overthrew the Shah.
"The revolution began with fists in the air," Ghalam says. "It ended with citizens taking up arms to overthrow the government."
At first, new leader Ayatollah Khomeini asked nicely that all the guns be turned in. The revolution is over, Khomeini argued, and I'm a nice man-a God-fearing, responsible leader who wants nothing but freedom and peace.
"The next step from Khomeini was to tell people if they wanted peace they needed to turn in any of their neighbors who still had weapons," Ghalam says. Next, guns were taken forcefully, at gun point, by Khomeini's soldiers.
"I remember an entire family being machine gunned down because one of Khomeini's good citizens reported them for having military weapons," Ghalam says. "It was a lot like Waco (Texas), only the government didn't bother with spin."
Once the guns were gone, oppression and enslavement ensued. The nice man with the white beard became a tyrant, and made it illegal to belong to any party other than Hezboallah.
---------------------------------------------
Public hangings
"People were killed for their beliefs," Ghalam says. "The government would tie four or five people by their necks to an I-beam, then hang them from a crane. If you went to the supermarket, it was common to see people hanging in the parking lot. And the people had no weapons to overthrow this government."
Ghalam's father, a former general suspected of plotting a coup, was captured for execution. Ghalam, fighting in the Iran/Iraq war, paid an insider and professional smuggler to help his dad escape. Ultimately, Ghalam, his three brothers, his mother and father ended up in France.
Ghalam came to the United States in 1989, because as a teenager he had read and memorized our Constitution-a violation of law for which he could have been imprisoned.
"It was in a Boy Scout manual, which I carry with me to this day," Ghalam says. "I remember the first time I read the Second Amendment. I said there is no way this can be true. There is no such thing as a country that would write into its constitution a law that would allow people to have weapons to protect themselves against tyranny. I said 'This is too good to be true.' I made it my mission in life to someday live in the country that was so devoted to freedom that it allowed its people the tools necessary to overthrow a government."
Howell doesn't get it. He sees no reason for people to have guns, other than to hunt.
"It's very unlikely what happened in Iran will ever happen here," says Howell. "This country is very different from Iran. We have a tremendous government, a constitution and a Bill of Rights."
Exactly. And the second "right" is the freedom to own a gun. Why? To limit government power, just like everything else in the document. Guns are why America seems different. Guns are why suburban housewives shop at Safeway without seeing bloody corpses hanging from cranes. Guns, which killed federal agents at Waco, are why the government has taken time off from attacking religious groups. Guns are why people can confront each other with signs and bullhorns in public. Shariar Ghalam is living proof.
Wayne Laugesen can be reached at Wayne@Laugesen.com or 303-499-4187. Send letters to the editor to: Boulder Weekly Letters, 690 S. Lashley Lane, Boulder, CO 80303; e-mail to letters@boulderweekly.com; fax 303-494-2585.
© 2000 Boulder Weekly. All Rights Reserved."
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