Black Caucus Upset Over Victoryland Attempted Raid

Courtesy of ABC3340

Montgomery, AL – Legislative Black Caucus members are not happy about the attempted raid at Victoryland last week. At today’s meeting one lawmaker said this about the attempted raid, “if you want to go around with a gun and put a sheriff’s badge on and threaten everybody in the state somebody’s gonna get hurt.” That statement shows there is no question members of the caucus are unhappy about they way the planned raid was carried out.  Democratic State Senator Linda Coleman says, “the governor did not have a search warrant he did not have all the paperwork that he needed, did not have a court order but you are still using the force of the state troopers. It conjured up memories of back in the 60’s where we were doing this to hinder a segment of the population.”

However the Governor’s office takes exception with that position. Spokesman Todd Stacy says everything the task force did was done within the limits of the law. Stacy says when a crime is being committed it is the right of law enforcement to act. Stacy says we have obey the rule of law and that is what the Governor believes.

Meanwhile whether or not the task force can raid Victoryland is now completely in the hands of the state Supreme Court. Both sides were told to file a brief with the court. Victoryland filed it’s brief against a raid and closure yesterday. The task force filed its brief to the contrary late Tuesday afternoon.

The doors to Victoryland are closed right now. Those at the casino say it is for a software upgrade to the computers as well as to finish some cosmetic repairs to the front of the main entrance. Whether the doors at Victoryland will open again for business may depend on the decision by the state Supreme Court which could come at anytime since both sides have made their case.

See the video of the news piece here