Wright Arrested in Post Office Protest

PLAYING POST OFFICE

by Derek Hoyle

A minor kerfuffle occurred at the Post Office in Fort Bragg late Monday afternoon, when long time critic of KZYX board malfeasance, general activist, and crusader against public wrongdoing, Jeff Wright, was arrested while attempting to address an issue with the Post Office staff that he feels is unjust.

Apparently, Mr. Wright was collecting his mail and then requested to speak with Postmaster Denice Sisco about the recent and severe reduction of the lobby hours allowing access to the Post Office boxes, which has negatively affected many box holders.

He nearly avoided arrest only weeks ago, after staging what he referred to as a “one man protest” over the lobby hours, and that so-called protest only brought 3 officers, at that time he wasn’t arrested, he was instead invited by Post Office staff to come back during business hours and speak with the Postmaster about the issue.

I was tipped off to the incident by none other than Fort Bragg’s Paul Bunyan his own self, cleverly disguised as Mike Stephens, who witnessed the four police officers involved in the hoopla, as they arrested and packed up Mr. Wright and his bicycle to the police station.

After some research, I was unable to determine if Mr. Wright had been detained and released, or arrested and taken over the hill to the jail in Ukiah, until 11:40 PM, when I accepted a collect call from the Low Gap Detention Center, from one Jeff Wright.

He told me Postmaster Denice Sisco basically stonewalled his questions, and was quite rude while doing so, and that she insisted that the Police arrest Mr. Wright for trespassing, not even giving him a final chance to leave the premises.

Then Mr. Wright informed me that not only was Postmaster Sisco beyond brusque, she was also punitive, and had called the Federal Postmaster, who within hours, canceled his fully paid up Post Office Box, and barred him from the Fort Bragg Post Office, all with no due process.

Now Mr. Wright, an older Air Force Veteran, who rides a bicycle for transportation, has to find another Post Office to get his monthly check, which is at least 5 miles away, so that action appears to be swift and vindictive punishment for complaining and asking questions.

Mr. Wright hopes that he’ll be released in the morning, and can take a bus back to Fort Bragg, after that I believe he’ll be looking into legal recourse for his trouble, so the story continues.

Editor Note: While apparently Jeffry Wright was released this morning, according to Mendocino Sheriff logs, he has not contacted Derek Hoyle or Mendocino TV yet, so we are unable to ascertain whether he has been able to make his way safely back to the coast.

Editor Note # 2: Tuesday night update: As of 9:00 tonight, March 14, Jeff Wright is working his way back and is in Fort Bragg.  Many people have been very upset that the Fort Bragg Post Office has drastically cut the days and hours the lobby is open for patrons who have paid increasing post office box fees for extremely limited service.  Rumors are rampant regarding the bloody incident that precipitated this change.  Questions remain as to how this decision was made and what can be done to rectify it.  Just blaming it on homeless people is not an appropriate answer and Mendocino TV will continue to follow up.