Cleveland Gangsters Handle Media Relations 'Old School' Style
We consider ourselves part of the media, but we still enjoyed this 1982 video clip posted on YouTube in which Cleveland gangsters John Calandra and James Licavoli attack newspaper photographers as the two emerge from the courthouse following their conviction on racketeering charges. (They were allowed out on bond.) I believe Calandra (a member of boss Licavoli's inner circle) is the one in yellow strangling the woman with her own camera cord. I know that because Licavoli is the one swinging the cane at them. Here is some background from a Cleveland ABC affiliate: [It's] just after the 3:45 p.m. announcement of [Licavoli's and Calandra's] verdicts. A throng of media await the men outside the front doors of the courthouse, including WEWS reporter Paul Orlousky and WEWS videographer Bob Wilkinson. Licavoli and Calandra try to avoid the waiting media by exiting through the rear parking lot of the courthouse on Rockwell Avenue.