BCPL Director Kelly Millis: "I Am Not Gay!"

Braddock — Denying that he did anything wrong and stating emphatically that "I am not gay," Braddock County Public Library Director Kelly Millis asked the people of Braddock on Tuesday to forgive him for being arrested last week in a police sting in a men's room at the Austin Convention Center at the annual Texas Library Association conference.

Millis, who was taken into custody on September 21 by a plainclothes officer investigating reports of lewd conduct in the restroom, said he pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge in an effort to suppress a story — pursued by the Braddock Times — that he has secretly engaged in gay trysts.

Millis said the story has been following him for years thanks to thirteen disgruntled ex-employees.

"For eight months leading up to September 21st my family and I had been relentlessly and viciously harassed by The Braddock Times. If you saw the article today, you know why. Let me be clear: I am not gay. I never have been gay," Millis said in a news conference in his hometown of Braddock.

"Still, without a shred of truth or evidence to the contrary, the Times has engaged in this witch hunt at the behest of several vicious individuals. In pleading guilty, I overreacted in Austin because of the stress the Times investigation and the rumors it has fuelled all around North Central Texas. Again, that overreaction was a mistake and I apologize for my judgment," Millis said.

Meanwhile, back in Braddock, County Council members announced they will launch an ethics review of the director.

"This is a serious matter. Due to the reported and disputed circumstances, and the legal resolution of this serious case, we will recommend that Millis's incident be reported to the State Ethics Committee for its review. In the meantime, leadership is examining other aspects of the case to determine if additional action is required," council member T. Diana Belle-Little said in a statement on behalf of the council.

Millis was arrested on September 21 by a plainclothes officer. The police report from Sgt. Dale King, who made the arrest after an encounter in which he was seated in a stall next to a stall occupied by Millis, described Millis tapping his foot and blocking the stall door with his roller luggage. King said he recognized the actions "as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct."

Millis plead guilty in an Austin court earlier this week. He claims he is innocent of anything untoward, saying that he simply has a "wide stance when urinating," but he should have consulted a lawyer rather than trying to brush the incident under the rug. He paid a $575 fine and was given a stay on a 10-day prison sentence barring no further violations during one year of unsupervised probation.

Millis said Tuesday that he is now reviewing his actions with an attorney to see if he can reverse the damages.

"I did not seek any counsel either from an attorney, staff, friends or family. That was a mistake and I deeply regret it. Because of that, I have now retained counsel, and I am asking counsel to review this matter and to advise me on how to proceed," he said.

Millis has been debating whether to prolong his 33-year career as a Braddock County employee, or resign in shame and disgrace, ironically in the same position many of his employees have found themselves in.

"Next month, I will announce, as planned, as many of you have already been told, whether or not I will seek to remain in my position. As library director, I fully realize that my life is open for public criticism and scrutiny, and I take full responsibility for a lapse in judgment I made in attempting to handle this matter myself," he said.

"I am not gay. I love my wife, my family. I care about friends and staff and BCPL. I love serving this great county. Over the years, I have accomplished a lot for Braddock, and I hope Braddock County will allow me to continue to do that," he said.

Both friends and opponents are closely watching the latest events unfold. Political science instructor Jason Martinez told The Braddock Times that if the allegation of Millis trying to initiate a gay sex tryst in the bathroom is true then he is "about done politically."

BCPL employee Michael Beckwith said Millis "has done a lot of good for Braddock." He said the rumors about sexual indiscretions have gone on for years but he never thought any of the claims had much significance, and it was part of the hardball tactics used against those in public service.

Allegations that Millis is a closet homosexual have dogged him since his school days in the 1960s, according to close personal friend Noah Retro.

During Millis's tenure at BCPL in the early 1980s, when county employees stood accused of abusing interns, Millis took the unusual step of issuing a pre-emptive denial of involvement.

The paper said it had received allegations in May from a man who said he and Millis engaged in sex at a men's bathroom in An Inconvenient Cafe in Braddock. Another man claimed Millis eyed him up during a half-hour cat and mouse chase in a Braddock store in 2004. One former BCPL employee said, "just look at the guy. It's obvious he's a queen. I mean, hell, he makes Christopher Lowell look like John Wayne. He did paint the walls of BCPL purple after all. Plus, he hangs out at the gay bar all the time, especially at lunch."

Millis, with his hand on his hip, called the charges scurrilous.

"I've been in this business 33 years in the public eye here. I don't go around anywhere hitting on men, and by God, if I did, I wouldn't do it in Braddock, TX! Jiminy!" he told the newspaper.

Alleged Drunken Driver Crashes Into Braddock Drive-Thru

Thursday, September 27, 2007
Alleged drunken driver crashes into Braddock drive-thru

By Graham Niles
The Braddock Times

The employees working the drive-thru at the McDonald's on Ewing Street deserve a break today after an allegedly heavily intoxicated man drove into a cement barrier leading to the pickup window on Tuesday only to return Wednesday to hand the clerk a $5 bill with vomit on it.

Deputies were called on Tuesday by a clerk who indicated Oliver Jonathan Blair III, 43, of Brownview Apartments, had struck a yellow cement barrier that separates the window from the building with a 2001 chocolate brown Ford F-150 pick-up truck leaving a yellow mark in the front of the truck but he was gone by the time deputies arrived on scene. On Wednesday at about 1 p.m. deputies received a call that Blair had returned and handed the clerk a $5 bill covered in vomit, Braddock Sheriff Fenton Washburn said. Blair was visibly intoxicated when deputies arrived Wednesday and was having difficulty walking and talking, Washburn said. Washburn said eight beer cans fell out of the driver's side door when Blair stepped out and police found empty 12-packs and many more beer cans inside the vehicle.

"The inside of the car was covered in filth," Washburn said, adding that — in addition to beer cans — human feces and vomit were found in the vehicle. Washburn said it appears that Blair was using his vehicle as a restroom. Blair gave police an address of 420 Kemellia Avenue, the address of the Braddock County Public Library. Blair was arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated, his second offense. "He did pay for his food," Washburn said.

Despite the fact that Blair has had many run-ins with the law, he was immediately released by Federal District Judge William J. Jennings, who argued that McDonald's was at fault because the signage around the drive-thru was obscured by nearby bushes and not readily visible.

Braddock man charged in sex-chat case

Friend scuffles with 4 agents, injuring 3. Is cited for resisting arrest.

By JANE KELLER, Staff Braddock Times

BRADDOCK COUNTY, Tx. - When deputies showed up at a Braddock apartment Thursday to arrest a man and confiscate his computer, the suspect's mentally retarded friend bolted for the bedroom. Tony Fanuci, 41, of 334C Brown Rd. in Brown View Apartments, was quietly taken into custody by agents from the state Attorney General's Office for allegedly having sexually explicit Internet conversations with what he believed were young teenage girls. But his 29-year-old house mate, David Downs, who weighs about 300 pounds, ran upstairs to the bedroom and used his body to barricade himself behind the door, prosecutors said.

Agents for the attorney general repeatedly asked Downs to open the bedroom door so they could confiscate the computer. When he didn't, according to the affidavit, three state agents "forcibly entered the door by shattering the door into pieces."As they entered the bedroom, according to documents, Agent Robert Sloop grabbed Down's wrist, and the suspect "became physically combative," refusing to be handcuffed and yelling and shaking uncontrollably. The struggle continued, according to the affidavit, with Downs "lying on the ground on top of his hands, struggling and refusing to place his hands in a position for handcuffing, which caused the physical strength of four agents ... to get the defendant into custody." As a result of the struggle, according to the affidavit, three of the four agents, including Sloop and Henry Borck, sustained arm scratches, while Kevin Stith injured his wrist. Downs was taken into custody on charges of resisting arrest and obstruction of justice. Fanuci was charged with four counts of unlawful contact with a minor and one count of criminal use of a communication facility — using a computer to have sexually explicit conversations with what he believed were young girls. Both men were arraigned before District Judge William J. Jennings and released on their own recognizance. Prosecutors said the investigation is continuing, pending examination of the computers by the Attorney General's Office. Jennings was overheard asking the district attorney "what's the big deal here?"

Fanuci had been under investigation for several months by the office's Child Predator Unit. According to the arrest warrant affidavits, he had been conversing on the Internet for months with what he believed were 13- or 14-year-old girls. He sent them pictures of men's genitalia and explained to them how to perform a variety of sex acts. He asked them if they had a boyfriend or if they thought he was too old to "chat" with on the computer. In reality, Fanuci had been conversing with agents of the state Attorney General, who were posing as young girls. Although Fanuci had no physical contact with anyone, prosecutors said the conversations and pictures were enough to support criminal charges. The charges coincide with each of the four dates — in March, May, July and August — that Fanuci allegedly sent the pictures, according to court documents. Using three different screen names ("FatBoy66," "Manservant4321," and Lovemuffin469") agents said, Fanuci allegedly had contact with four different "girls," all of whom identified themselves as 13 or 14 years old. He sent a picture of a male, dressed in jeans and a shirt, according to documents, but said he had another picture, warning the girls that it was "naughty." The conversations took place at various times of day, some as early as 9:30 a.m. and the latest around 6:30 p.m. Each time, the conversations would turn to sexual topics and questions about the girl's sexual experience and his explicit explanatory replies, telling them, "I have done everything you can with a girl." Fanuci, according to court documents, identified himself once as a 20-year-old male from near Strasburg, PA, and another time as his actual age of 41."Is that too old to chat," he asked, according to documents. During one conversation with what he believed was a 14-year-old, according to the affidavit, Fanuci asked, "Am I too old to chat with?" and then did the math for the teenager, noting "'cuz I am 15 years older."

The Attorney General's Office said Braddock County Sheriff's deputies assisted in serving the warrants and making the arrests Thursday. In announcing the arrests today, the attorney general noted that his agents have arrested more than 93 suspected predators since 2005. "The Internet is a wonderful tool for information and communication, but it has also become a popular stalking ground for predators searching for young victims — either sexually propositioning children or sending explicit photos or videos," noting that many of these incidents originate in public libraries. "It is essential that parents talk to their children about online hazards, and report any predator who sexually solicits children or who sends them sexually graphic material."Internet predators can be reported to the Attorney General's Office by logging onto the Web or calling 1-800-555-1469. He also encouraged parents, teachers and other concerned adults to review Internet safety tips in the "Operation Safe Surf," section of the Web site and for children, in the "Just 4 Kids" section.

Former BCPL Employee Zapped With Taser Caught on Tape

Former Librarian Who Questioned John Perry (T.M.I.) To Be In Court

Braddock, Tex. -- A former librarian at Braddock County Public Library man was Tasered and detained by library security after trying to ask Braddock Mayoral candidate John Perry, (D) about the election and other subjects during a Braddock County Public Library forum. Videos of the incident posted on several Web sites show officers pulling Aaron Whitaker, away from the microphone after he asks Perry about impeaching BCPL Library Director Kelly Millis and whether he and Millis were both members of the secret society Skull and Bones at Central University of North Texas and whether or not they have had sexual relations in the bathroom at An Inconvenient Cafe, where both men are members.

"He apparently asked several questions -- he went on for quite awhile-- then he was asked to stop," Braddock Library Assistant Director Inez Mitchell said. "He had used his allotted time. His microphone was cut off, then he became upset." As two officers take Whitaker by the arms, Perry is heard to say, "That's alright, let me answer his question." Audience members applaud, and Whitaker struggles to escape for several seconds as up to four officers try to remove him from the room. Whitaker screams for help and asks "What did I do?" as he tries to break away from officers. Kelly Millis is heard to say, "You insulted me you son of a bitch, now you are gonna pay!" He is forced to the ground and officers order him to stop resisting. Whitaker says he will walk out if the security officers let him go. As Perry tells the audience he will answer the man's "very important question," Whitaker struggles on the ground and yells at the officers to release him, crying out, "Don't Tase me, asshole, tase that fucking faggot director and that bitch Mitchell" justbefore he is Tasered. He is then led from the room, screaming, "What did I do?" Whitaker, who is a politcal consultant for Braddock Sheriff Fenton Washburn, has hired Attorney Daniel O. Agbor and plans to sue Millis, Mitchell and Braddock County. Whitaker claims he will take the library over and turn it into an Amish-themed restaurant, museum and hotel.

Sheriff Fenton Washburn said Braddock Sheriff's Deputies would conduct an investigation into the use of force employed by BCPL. "The Sheriff's department does have a standard procedure for when they use force, including when they use a Taser, and we will hold the BCPL security personnel to the same standard" Washburn said. "That is what the investigation would address -- whether the proper procedures were followed, whether the officers acted appropriately...and whether Millis and Mitchell overstepped their bounds"

Ill Gotten Gains results

In action at Braddock County Coliseum today:

WNWA Ill Gotten Gains


Three Stages of Hell for the WNWA World Heavyweight Championship- Stage 1: Texas Bullrope Match. Stage 2: Tables, Ladders and Chairs (TLC) Match. Stage 3 (If necessary)- Last Ride Match.

The Liberal Librarian def. Ass Butte (C) to win the championship after winning the first and
third stages with help from Tony Fanuci.

War Games
The Supremacists (Captain Redneck, Dale Taylor, Eustus Fraley and Triple K) def. The Confederate Cripplers (Del Rey Preddy and Kevin Coleman) and The Hill Hoppas (Hampton and Bob-Oh Wheir).

Ladder Match for a World Heavyweight Championship Match at November Nightmare
Chi-Town Chris Collins def. Erich Edwards

WNWA Texas Tag Team Championship
Crummox: The Lummox and Da Crunk def. The Insiders

Grudge Match
Pike and Rabbi Rage def. Lord Shaftsbury and Prince Charming

Real-Life Handicap Match
The Legion of Dum: Tony Fanuci, Letravis Gorman and David Downs def. Claudie Clay and Dusty Jones

Big Medicine Match-Loser goes to Braddock Obesity Clinic.
Obeso def. fATAS

WNWA World Television Championship
Amos Beiler def. The Earl of Hurtford

Samuel Yoder def. Seamus Street

Team Agbor def. Da Brothas and Tyrone Jefferson was arrested for attempted murder on Judge Jennings.