Opinion:

It’s Time For A Change

From Sin City Concept

It Isn’t Cute, It Is Criminal

And Good People Are Dying

Attn FBI: Organized Crime Exists,

Just Look Under Dirty Rocks

by Johnny Gunn

The Las Vegas concept of what happens here stays here got a jolt in the gut on Sunday, April 6 when the body of Buffalo Jim Barrier was discovered in a motel along the Boulder Highway, because that death could change the way things are done in Clark County.  It’s time for the general public to realize that criminal activity is not limited to obnoxious young punks flipping gang signs, that criminal activity takes place in the highest levels of government in that county.  And right now, it appears as though some very high level protection is taking place.  This isn’t a simple little opinion piece, it is a call to action that must begin with a full fledged grand jury investigation that reaches into the depths of Clark County degradation.

Without so much as a howdy-do, the local cops said Barrier died of natural causes despite the fact he, among others, is responsible for the closure of the Crazy Horse Too strip joint, is responsible, among others, for the prison terms for Rick Rizzolo and his criminal henchmen, and has had his life threatened by Rizzolo’s own father.  Rizzolo the elder allegedly tried to run Barrier down in his own parking lot just recently.  There have been rumors of a hit for more than a year, and it is believed by many that because of Rizzolo’s known ties to organized crime that a hit would take place.

Those ties from organized crime go deep into the Clark County higher echelon of “officials.”  From elected officials to appointed and salaried officials, from the judiciary to high levels of law enforcement, Clark County is known to have elements that respond favorably to the wants and needs of organized crime and it’s time to quit hiding it under the slogan, sin city.  If those in a position to seat a grand jury in the southern Nevada county won’t do it, it is time then for Governor Jim Gibbons to call for a state grand jury, which he has the authority to do, and clean out the mess known as Clark County government.

And, Nevada’s new Federal Attorney has the authority to call for a federal grand jury investigation, one that is decades overdue.  None of these problems are new, they have been known for generations, and looked on with a casual if jaundiced eye by those outside the jurisdiction.  A recent investigation conducted under the auspices of the state attorney general’s office discovered enough evidence of criminal behavior within the Las Vegas city government to fill a fair sized prison ward, but, as with so much that takes place in Clark County, nothing went past the issuance of the paperwork from the investigation.

The Rizzolo family is made up of small time hoodlums, similar in fashion to the Galardi family, with strong association to organized crime families, some in Chicago, some along the east coast.  They make their money preying on the weak by way of naked women, drugs, money laundering, and political coercion, and for years their names have been associated with Clark County’s highest elected officials.  Why?  Let’s go back to that phrase, “they make their money by preying on the weak.”  It was Galardi that spread hundreds of thousands of dollars amongst some members of the Clark County Commission, was found guilty of doing so, and is still looked on as someone a politician should know.  Meet the weak, sir Galardi, they will line up and bow to your dollars.

Rizzolo hasn’t been out of federal prison for a month and the man that is very responsible for him being in prison is found dead.  Coincidence?  And as we go to press there is no investigation.  And the Clark County District Attorney was given thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from a Rizzolo hosted fund raiser.  And there is no investigation.  And the Crazy Horse Too empty building is up for sale, a sale that is being hampered by Rizzolo’s attorneys who happen to have strong ties to the Las Vegas city government.  And there is no investigation.

Barrier is more than a symbol in this current call for a clean up of Clark County’s criminal activity; he’s responsible, along with others, for getting that first little baby step accomplished.  A crime ridden titty bar was closed and the felons that ran it were jailed.  That’s a good start, but only a start.  Now, Barrier, a retired professional wrestler with probably the finest collection of collectibles in the country, a man with a loving family and a real sense of right and wrong, is dead from what can only be described as questionable circumstances.  And so far the cops are not interested in finding out why this man was found dead in a motel room.

Barrier’s collection of memorabilia has been described as about the best in the country with first hand equipment belonging to such as Hulk Hogan, Muhamed Ali, Elvis, Wayne Newton, even Kid Rock.  The collection has been estimated to have a value well into the millions, and at least one report indicates he may have been expecting to meet someone who was interested in purchasing parts of the collection.  Or, was the reputed phone call a set up to lure the big man to an out of the way place for a killing?

Another reported set of phone calls gave Barrier the impression that he may have found a new location for his auto and boat repair business.  He had been looking to buy property for his relatively lucrative business.  Or was he set up for a killing?

There are so many early questions dealing with the death of the man responsible, along with others, for the downfall of the Rizzolo killing field.  Why was Barrier’s best friend Steve Miller, a crime fighting journalist and former Las Vegas City Councilman told of the death by people associated with the Rizzolo family?  Why did one of Barrier’s daughters get the word of Buffalo’s death from someone other than law enforcement?  Why was a beat cop given the authority to tell the family that it was a natural death?  Any death that takes place somewhere other than a hospital and is considered questionable, as any death in a motel room would be, is supposed to be followed by an autopsy.  It isn’t the responsibility of a beat cop to make the decision in a questionable death situation.

Coupled with the Royal Links report authorized by former Nevada Attorney General George Chanos, published reports in the Los Angeles Times dealing with criminal activity in Clark County courts, and Mike Galardi’s felonious activity with Clark County Commissioners, Barrier’s death should lead to an open door for a full grand jury investigation of criminal activity in Clark County.  It should be obvious to the most jaded mind that the county is over run with criminal activity that is becoming more than just an economic burden, it is becoming a citizen safety problem.  Jim Barrier was a taxpaying businessman who valued and understood the concept of “doing it the right way,” with a concept of ethical and moral behavior, and whose death is more than questionable; it is a call to arms to those that also believe in good government.

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Cartoon by Thomas Nast, April 12, 1874