Depiddy Lawn Jockey In Court Again

The Chump’s favorite Lawn Jockey is at it again!

The question is, when exactly is Wisconsin going to hold him accountable for the murder of prisoners under his care?

David Clarke – Your black Lawn Jockey Strap

Ex-Sheriff David Clarke Faces Trial Over Facebook Taunts Against Plane Passenger

A federal judge said Clarke’s posts were an issue of possible “First Amendment retaliation.”

Staunch President Donald Trump ally and former Milwaukee County sheriff David Clarkefaces trial this month for Facebook taunts against a plane passenger who Clarke thought disrespected him.

Passenger Dan Black filed a civil rights lawsuit against Clarke arguing he violated Black’s First Amendment rights with retaliatory Facebook posts on the sheriff’s page. Wisconsin U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller ruled Friday that Clarke’s posts could “reasonably be understood as a threat, coercion, or intimidation that punishment … will immediately follow.” A jury is now set to hear the case Jan. 22.

Threatening posts appeared on the sheriff’s Facebook page after Black, a Milwaukee resident, filed a complaint about his treatment by Clarke when the two men encountered each other on a plane heading from Dallas to Milwaukee early last year. Black shook his head when he recognized Clarke, and Clarke directed deputies to detain Black after landing. Black was met by six deputies and two police dogs, questioned and escorted from the airport, according to an FBI account of the events.

Black filed a civil rights suit against the deputies and Clarke — who was once considered for a post as Trump’s deputy secretary of Homeland Security — accusing them of violating his constitutional rights of free speech and due process, and his right against unreasonable seizure.

Stadtmueller threw out most of Black’s claims, and dropped the case against the deputies. The judge ruled that being questioned by deputies did not constitute a “seizure,” and that the lack of due process was not the “most egregious official conduct” to “shock the conscience” and therefore did not require a trial.

But Stadtmueller ruled a jury should determine if the Facebook posts constituted intimidation that amounted to retaliation against Black. One of the posts on Clarke’s Facebook page said if “Sheriff Clarke were to really harass you, you wouldn’t be around to whine about it.” Another post said the next time Black or anyone “pulls this stunt on a plane they may get knocked out.”

The judge concluded that “Black has raised a triable issue … as to his claim for First Amendment retaliation based on Clarke’s Facebook posts.”

 

Why Black Children Run Away From Home…

Yeah, a lot of black children run away from home or go missing. One of the reasons the Police and media don’t take it as seriously as they could is this…

Many of these children have reasons to run away.

Want to keep black kids from running away from home? Stop hitting them.

We need to pay attention to the home lives that missing kids are fleeing from.

Last month, a rumor that more than 500 mostly black and Latino children from the District of Columbia had been abducted and sold into sex slavery went viral on social media. A new decision by D.C. police to alert the public whenever children were reported missing had backfired; most of the kids had been found safe within 24 hours, but those updates never spread as far as the initial reports. Worried people, from the Congressional Black Caucus to LL Cool J, raised alarms over what looked like a sudden epidemic that was being ignored in ways that would be unimaginable with white children.

Hoping to quell the outrage, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser assured the public that there has been no surge of missing kids. “But that doesn’t mean there aren’t children that need our help,” she said March 24 as she unveiled plans to create a task force to work with vulnerable teenagers.

Hundreds of children of color have been reported missing in D.C. at some point since January, but those numbers aren’t higher than usual. The police say 2,242 children were reported missing in 2016, down from 2,433 in 2015. Virtually all of them were found unharmed within 24 hours; in many cases the children, who showed no evidence of being exploited by sex traffickers, had repeatedly run away from home, according to a spokesman for the mayor.

Which means many children do indeed need our help — and we need to pay more attention to the home lives that they might be running away from.

Rates of reported child abuse are disproportionately high for black children. According to the Justice Department , black children ages 12 to 19 are “three times more likely to be victims of reported child abuse or neglect.” As many as 7,354 young people ages 12 to 24, most of them black, experience homelessness each year in D.C., and more than 2 million children nationwide do. In one national survey, nearly half reported intense conflict, neglect or physical harm by a family member as a major factor in their homelessness. Others experienced family instability due to unaffordable housing, or left the juvenile-justice system or the foster-care system without enough education or support to make it on their own. Research from the Administration for Children and Families shows that up to 42 percent of runaway and homeless youth are sexually abused before they leave their homes.

Black children are also disproportionately likely to suffer treatment at home that’s so bad that they want to flee. In 2015, black kids had the highest rate of abuse and neglect, at 14.5 per 1,000 children, compared with 8.1 per 1,000 for white children, according to the Children’s Bureau, part of the Department of Health and Human Services. More than 3,600 black children in the United States have died as a result of maltreatment in the past decade, a rate three times higher than for all other racial groups. Suicide rates among elementary-age black children have nearly doubled since the 1990s, while the rates for white children have fallen, according to a 2015 report from the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A disturbing number of children in D.C. and elsewhere are gambling that life on the street could not be worse than their abusive homes. I made the same choice in 1987 and in 1991 while growing up in Trenton, N.J.

I ran away from my adoptive family when I was 9 and again when I was 12. After the second time, I refused to go back, and I ended up yet another black child in New Jersey’s foster-care system. A warm bed and steady meals in my adoptive home were not worth constant “whuppings” and verbal abuse — which my adoptive parents and the wider black community said were love, discipline and protection from the police or white racists. I felt safer on my own, even if that meant living on the street. From age 12 to 14, I was shuttled between foster homes, youth shelters and group homes, until I was fortunate enough to win an academic scholarship to the Lawrenceville Prep School. So I understand where many of these kids are coming from.

My own experiences helped shape my role as an advocate for children, and it’s painful to see how common such abuse still is in my community. Without question, the toughest part of my work is convincing black people that a “no hitting” zone at home is crucial to helping children feel and be safe. Whupping kids is not “a black thing.” But parents argue that without whuppings, their children will end up in prison, even though we’ve been having national conversations about mass incarceration for decades. They cherry-pick Old Testament scriptures to justify hitting. They argue that there’s a difference between spanking and abuse, as if a child’s body experiences pain differently based on what parents call a swat or the intent behind it. And many people proclaim that they were whupped as children and “turned out fine,” even though they’ve grown up to see striking a child’s body as normal behavior. It’s a violent, unnecessary parenting practice planted in our culture through colonialism, slavery, forced indoctrination into Christianity and centuries of racial trauma.

If we are going to talk about missing children in D.C., we must look at beating kids as one of the root issues. Yes, sex trafficking does happen, and yes, the types of children who go missing in Washington and other cities — mostly black; mostly poor; disproportionately lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer — are more vulnerable than other kids. But neglect and abuse are among the most commonfactors.

So much of our national focus on black children is on how “bad” they are: how they need more physical punishment, zero tolerance at school, harsh sentences from the courts. They are blamed for their own deaths at the hands of adults who claimed they were afraid of them. That systemic devaluation of black children even extends into classrooms. In 19 states, students are still subject to corporal punishment; a disproportionately higher number of black children receive it. According to reports by the Education Department’s office of civil rights and Human Rights Watch, racial bias contributes to this problem, along with black parents signing opt-in forms empowering teachers and administrators to hit their children.

These messages have consequences. When black children are constantly told that they are a problem, that they are unworthy and undeserving of empathy and kindness, that they can be beaten in schools, in the streets, by cops and by the people who love them, running away from home doesn’t seem like such an extreme choice. If home so often isn’t a safe haven, should we be surprised?…Read the Rest Here…

 

 

Military Did Not Appreciate the Chumph Using Military Widow as a Political Freak Show

 

One look at this picture tells you exactly how the Military felt how Military Leaders thought about the Chump psychologically raping a dead soldier’s widow for political points.

That freak-show turned my stomach last night. Especially because it was the Chumph’s attempt at gaining points for “fighting terrorist” which led to him ordering the ill conceived raid which resulted in deaths in the first place.

I am massively and utterly amazed the MSM commentators were stupid and venal enough to let him get away with that shit.

Ex-NSA analyst rips Trump for exploiting ‘trapped’ widow: ‘She didn’t want to stand up — we know why’

Former NSA analyst and columnist John Schindler reacted in horror on Tuesday after seeing Trump “exploit” Carryn Owens, the wife of slain Chief Petty Officer William (Ryan) Owens.

According to Schindler, the president crossed the line during his address to a joint session of Congress when he used Carryn Owens as a political prop.

Schindler immediately expressed his disgust on Twitter.

Follow

John Schindler

✔@20committee

Snr Chief Owens’ widow…for God’s sake leave this poor woman alone.

Trump gloating, of course…talking the Bible.

10:01 PM – 28 Feb 2017

• 440440 Retweets

• 1,2991,299 likes

Follow

John Schindler

✔@20committee

Anybody who saw the faces of the Joint Chiefs tonight when the cam hit them knows exactly what the US military thinks of Trump.

10:16 PM – 28 Feb 2017

• 2,1852,185 Retweets

• 4,4054,405 likes

16h

John Schindler

✔ @20committee

Anybody who saw the faces of the Joint Chiefs tonight when the cam hit them knows exactly what the US military thinks of Trump.

Follow

Jason Bainbridge @WhileInTheWild

@20committee I like to call it resting military coup face pic.twitter.com/z92PQ0yVxC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvu1d3BasDU

 

Dayton Police Pepper Spray Black Man Already in Restraint Chiair

Talk about serial molesters! Police in Montgomery Country in Dayton, Ohio again Pepper Spray detainees who have been put into a restraint chairs and is helpless to defend themselves.

The man, Charles Wade had been arrested for being drunk

‘I can’t breathe!’: Video reveals Ohio cops pepper spraying man while he’s strapped in chair

New video has surfaced that shows police officers at the Montgomery County Jail in Dayton, Ohio pepper spraying a black suspect’s face despite the fact that they had already strapped him into a restraint chair.

The video, which was obtained and posted by the Washington Post, shows a man named Charles Wade being repeatedly hit with shots of pepper spray to the face while sitting in a restraining chair after his arrest for alleged drunk driving last October.

As he was being sprayed, Wade coughed and repeatedly told the officers that he was having trouble breathing as they told him to “stop resisting.”

“I can’t breathe, help me please!” he said repeatedly.

The Post notes that Wade this week filed a lawsuit against the Montgomery County sheriff’s department with the U.S. District Court in Ohio, in which he alleges the officers employed excessive force during their attempts to restrain him.

The Montgomery County Jail is the same jail that drew heavy criticism for similarly pepper spraying a white woman named Amber Swink, who was sprayed even after being restrained with a seven-point harness.

Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer at the time said that it was wrong to pepper spray Swink while she was restrained, but he called it an isolated incident. Wade’s attorney, Douglas Brannon, tells the Post that this new footage shows such incidents are much more common than what the department has let on.

“I think it happened again because there was no discipline handed out to officers involved in abusing Amber Swink,” he said. “I think this type of treatment is becoming something that happens with impunity within the Montgomery County jail.”

 

 

In DC, Broken Trust in Police

Maybe some of the cities wouldn’t be so broke…If they introduced some rationality to their Police forces.

‘It made me hate the police’: Ugly encounters with officers fuel loss of trust, costly payouts

The sound of a battering ram against wood would have been jarring enough, but Viola Briggs had a metal front door.

The only warning that it was about to come crashing open was a knock and a three-word shout: “Police! Open up!”

The 55-year-old legal assistant had just finished watching an episode of “CSI: Miami” on her computer. She would have opened the door but didn’t have time to take a step. She shouted for her older brother, who lived with her in their Southwest Washington apartment. Then, suddenly, the door frame gave way and 13 police officers rushed in, weapons drawn.

Over the past two years, one graphic video after another has captured ugly and sometimes deadly interactions between police officers and black residents of the communities they serve. From one city to the next, the shaky-framed images have fueled demonstrations and made household names of the dead: Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile.

But for Briggs, and many people like her across the country, their trust in the police was eroded long before videos of police shootings were going viral on Facebook and Twitter. It was destroyed in moments that were not caught on camera and that might have gone unnoticed if they hadn’t been reported.

An extensive examination of citizen complaints and civil lawsuits filed against D.C. police over the past decade shows that even in a city with a majority-black department and a robust civilian oversight office with newly enhanced powers, hundreds of incidents occur each year in which people feel mistreated by those who are supposed to protect them.

In one case, a 65-year old African American man said he was leaving a library in Southeast Washington when he was detained and handcuffed, even though he did not fit the description of the threatening library patron police had been called about. In another, an officer admitted to spreading a black man’s buttocks twice in an unlawful body-cavity search but denied that he “jammed” a finger inside him, as the man claimed.

Since 2005, the city has agreed or been ordered to pay at least $31.6 million in 173 cases alleging police misconduct, including claims of false arrest and excessive use of force, according to a Washington Post analysis of data obtained from the D.C. attorney general’s office.

Complaints against police — and the settlements that sometimes result — are common across the country. Baltimore, which has a similar-size police force, paid $5.7 million in 102 court judgments and settlements for alleged misconduct between 2011 and September 2014, according to a Baltimore Sun analysis of city and court records. During roughly that same period, alleged police misconduct cost the District $2.9 million in 38 cases.

But since then, the District’s payouts have risen sharply. In the first nine months of 2016, misconduct lawsuits cost city taxpayers at least $3.8 million in judgments or settlements. And last week, the family of Terrence Sterling, a motorcyclist fatally shot Sept. 11 by a D.C. police officer, filed a $50 million lawsuitagainst the city and the police department alleging that the 31-year-old “was unarmed and posed no danger” when he was killed.

Some of the District’s lawsuits detail beatings that resulted in hospital stays. Others tell of people who had committed no crimes before contentious encounters with police landed them in jail.

Viola Briggs and her brother, Frank Briggs, were the recipients of a settlement this year.

The two had moved into their apartment three months before the night of Jan. 20, 2012, when the officers, several wearing ski masks, held them at gunpoint.

Police had a search warrant for drugs but did not find any, according to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the siblings. The case, launched against the city and the 13 officers involved, argued that the warrant was based on a conversation with a confidential informant and that investigators did not attempt to corroborate the information or research who lived at the residence.

Once inside, the officers ordered the siblings to lie on the floor. Viola Briggs did. But as her brother, then 56 and suffering from back pain so debilitating that he qualified for disability, slowly lowered himself, an officer shoved him to the ground, according to the suit.

Before that day, Viola Briggs said, she held a deep respect for law enforcement. One of her three sons is an Army captain who has considered joining a civilian police force, she said. She regularly donated to the Fraternal Order of Police. And, after two U.S. Capitol Police officers were killed in the line of duty, she wrote this on a Washington Post online memorial site: “I would like to express my sincere condolences to the family of the two brave officers who gave their lives for the protection of others. May GOD be with you in your time of need and may HE also bring you peace.”

After the raid on her apartment, she said, she was left not only with a broken door but also with a shattered sense of security. For years, she slept with a baseball bat at her side and a chair shoved against the door.

“It made me hate the police,” Briggs said. “Not all of the police. It made me hate the police at the 7th District because of what they did to me.”…More here…

 

Eastpointe Michigan Cops Beat Restrained Black Man – Lawsuit

This is a bit hard to watch as 5 white cops jump and beat a black man…

Michigan cops strap black man to a chair and beat him until he is blind in one eye

 

A black resident of Eastpointe, Michigan has filed suit against local police after they tied him to a chair and beat him so severely that he permanently lost the vision in one eye.

Detroit’s Fox 2 News said that Frankie Taylor was arrested for driving under the influence on Aug. 10, 2015, but what happened when he arrived at the station was like something from a nightmare — and cameras caught it all.

“If you keep acting like a child, you’re going to get strapped in that chair and you’re going to stay there,” an officer can be heard on tape telling Taylor.

The station’s surveillance cameras caught officers carrying Taylor to a chair and restraining him, then threatening to tase him. Another officer entered the frame, donned a pair of gloves and began to beat Taylor savagely until he lost consciousness.

“Stop resisting,” the officer robotically repeated between blows to Taylor’s face and head. “Stop resisting. Stop resisting.”

Taylor’s screams of pain and terror can be clearly heard on the tape’s audio.

“The guy hit me so many times, it made me cry once I seen the tape,” said Taylor to Fox 2. “I was knocked out.”

Taylor’s attorney James Rasor said that rather than seeking medical treatment for Taylor’s injuries, they transferred him to Macomb County Jail the next day.

Within days he was admitted to Detroit Receiving Hospital for surgery, but it was too late to save his eye.

“He has permanent loss of eyesight in one eye. His vision is severely compromised,” said Rasor. “He has these horrible nightmares.”

Rasor said that unlike white arrestees, Taylor was not allowed to make a phone call.

“You want to protect people from this type of brutality by police forces,” said Rasor. “White folks were allowed to use the phone by police officers; even one who had urinated in his pants was allowed to use the phone. Frankie Taylor wasn’t, and the only difference is that Frankie Taylor happens to be African-American.”

“I don’t feel like that I was a threat to the officers to the point that they had to hit me until I was unconscious,” Taylor said. “I wouldn’t expect this from officers.”

 

Black Woman – White Boyfriend Trump Supporter

Is this woman really that hard up for a man?

Black woman calmly endures her boyfriend’s disturbing racist rant

A black Rhode Island woman endured an abusive, racist rant by her white boyfriend during a fight. In a recording, her then-boyfriend, who appears to be a fan of Donald Trump, berates her about the Black Lives Matter movement, complete with multiple n-words and a policy suggestion for Donald Trump.

“You know what? The second he’s elected, that’s what Trump should do,” he says. “Give all you mother fuckers your tickets back. You don’t like it? Peace!”

“Black lives matter, go matter in fucking Ghana” he continues.

Somehow achieving the superhuman feat of maintaining her composure, she asks, “You do realize you sound like a racist, right?”

“I don’t care. You wanna know why? Cause I’m not up there saying white lives matter, white lives come to the front, black lives go to the back, I’m just like, “Hey, what’s up? How you doing?”

He then proceeds to pantomime how he imagines BLM protestors talk, and concludes with, “Fuck your black ass, get the fuck out.”

“Get out of my country, you’re causing the fucking problem. Bye!” he says.

 

Stop and Frisk Scam on Amtrak

One of the things which I believe should be on everyone’s “Bucket List”, if you can beg, borrow, or steal a way to pay for it is to take one of the few remaining Great Train trips in the US. If you are willing to go to Canada, there are still a number of unbelievable Trans-Canada, Rockies, and Northern excursions.

The last of the great trains in the US is the California Zephyr linking the Windy City and the west coast, the daily two-night California Zephyr is Amtrak’s longest route at 2,438 miles. It cuts right across the center of the US, traversing cornfields, cattle country and the Great Plains before climbing great S- and U-shaped curves to reach the Continental Divide inside the six-mile-long Moffat Tunnel at 9,239 feet above sea level and the highest point reached by an Amtrak train.

You cross the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, follow the Colorado River for more than 200 miles, cross the Oregon Trail, touch the old Rock Island Line immortalized by Lead Belly and Johnny Cash and pass the wooden covered bridges featured in the film The Bridges of Madison County.

As a train buff, I have done the Zephyr , the Sky Chief (LA to Chicago), The Crescent (NYC to New Orleans), The Great Northern, and the Empire Builder (Chicago to Seattle). Fun…fun…fun!

Apparently the local Police (at least on the Zephyr) have taken to harassing the passengers and absconding with their money.

The Dangers of Going West on Amtrak

Another traveler reports being harassed by police officers on the California Zephyr.

Due to high costs and low ridership, Amtrak loses money on the California Zephyr, the passenger train that traverses a picturesque route from Chicago to the Bay Area. Its balance sheet would improve if more people could be persuaded to buy tickets for a “Superliner Roomette,” where there’s a picture window to watch passing scenery, two fold-down beds, and private space to get a good night’s sleep.

But the few passengers who forgo a faster, cheaper flight, shelling out upwards of $800 in hopes of an unusually pleasant journey, are setting themselves up for unpleasantness: On the route, law-enforcement officers are prone to treating passengers who’ve done nothing wrong as suspects in the drug-trafficking business.

This harassment has been going on for years.

In previous articles, I’ve written about Joseph Rivers, a 22-year-old who boarded an Amtrak train with his life savings, only to have it seized by DEA agents with no evidence of any lawbreaking, forcing him to hire a lawyer to get back what was rightfully his. I’ve written about mathematician Aaron Heuser, who traveled aboard Amtrak around the time he left his job at the National Institutes of Health—near Reno, law-enforcement officers violated his rights and took money from his wallet. I’ve noted the ACLU’s work to document behaviors deemed “suspicious” on Amtrak trains:

Among them:

Unusual nervousness of traveler
Unusual calmness or straight ahead stare
Looking around while making telephone call(s)
Position among passengers disembarking (ahead of, or lagging behind passengers)
Carrying little or no luggage
Purchase of tickets in cash

Purchase tickets immediately prior to boarding
After publishing those stories, I received correspondence from other innocent people allegedly harassed by law enforcement on Amtrak trains, many on travel to California. And I’m sorry to report that despite my efforts to shed light on these abuses, and similar articles in other publications, I still receive new emails with the same old story.

The latest comes from Evan Rinehart, an engineer who lives in New Orleans, Louisiana. He recently took an Amtrak to Chicago without incident, save for chilly temperatures and a passenger seated beside him in coach whom he found unpleasant.

He decided to buy a private compartment for the rest of his journey west.

On the last morning of his trip, he wrote, he was prematurely awoken from the good night’s sleep he purchased at a premium. A plain-clothes police officer was knocking at his door.

“He asked if I was transporting large amounts of drugs, large quantities of currency, or illegal weapons. Obviously I said no, which was true,” he wrote. “Then he asked me about the purpose of my trip and how long I would be in San Francisco. I didn’t have much of a plan, but I told him I was visiting friends there, which was true. Then he wanted to search my luggage, all two small bags in the roomette, ‘with your permission of course, with you present.’ I knew that there needed to be a warrant to justify such an unreasonable search, but being intimidated as all hell I let him. When I backed into the hallway he introduced me to his partner who was standing some distance away who just stared at me the whole time.”
All this when at most the search would uncover an amount of drugs so tiny it could fit in two small travel bags. How would that change the drug scene in the Bay Area?

Most law-enforcement officials would consider this a non-incident: cops got consent for a search and found nothing at no cost beyond their time. In reality, these sorts of “nothing to see here” interactions unnerve people, spoil their journeys, and cause them to feel that they’ve been mistreated by their own government. The experience is only more galling when the public employees conducting the search adopt a hostile attitude, treating innocents like they are lying criminals.

The person who searched Rinehart’s bag started to engage him about what he had packed. “At one point he remarked that I didn’t have enough clothes with me for the length of my vacation, however long he thought that was,” the passenger recalled. “This remark pissed me off, but at the time I continued treating these guys like normal people hoping they would leave. As the train was getting ready to leave he abruptly ended the conversation, thanked me for being patient and they left.” Rinehart has been seeking a refund from Amtrak without success, complaining that his treatment aboard the train was “less than first class,” though he paid $917.

More troubling was what happened when he tried to file a complaint about the interaction with law enforcement. “Thinking these police may not have been real, I called Amtrak police to report suspicious circumstances,” he wrote. “Without confirmation that this was standard procedure, the operator suggested that I definitely should call Reno police to get the specific unit and reasons for being selected. So I called Reno police and the woman I talked to was quite unprofessional, also didn’t confirm that it was standard procedure, or seem to be concerned that I thought it might be fake police. Then she suggested I call internal affairs.”…More Here…

 

 

19 Cops Show Up to Accost Black Woman Entering Her Own Apartment

It now takes 19 Cops to take down a 110lb black woman! Santa Monica?

And as for Mr. Palmer…I think it’s a pretty safe assumption your local Bank Robber and thug life isn’t running around in a Toyota Prius. I mean “Excuse me officer, it’s been 40 miles – would you guys please hold on for 12 hours while I recharge the car?”

19 Officers Swarm Black Woman As She Tries To Get Into Her Own Apartment

Faye Wells

A black woman who got locked out of her Santa Monica apartment is claiming that the actions of police were racially motivated when 19 officers showed up outside her door, some pointing guns at her, in response to her neighbor’s report of a break-in.

Fay Wells, who is the vice president of strategy at a multinational corporation, penned a piece inThe Washington Post today, detailing the harrowing ordeal that took place on Sept. 6 and how she is still shaken up. She writes, “I’m heartbroken that the place I called home no longer feels safe.”

Wells had just gotten back from her weekly soccer game and found that she had locked herself out of her home, and hired a locksmith to open the door for her. But after she got inside her apartment, that’s when things escalated. A large dog was barking in her stairwell, and officers pointed guns at her. They entered her apartment, and an officer pulled Wells’ hands behind her back and took her outside. That’s when she saw an “ocean of officers.” Though Wells says that the officers at the time wouldn’t explain to her why they were there, she later found out that a total of 19 were dispatched and that her white neighbor had reported a burglary at her apartment.

Wells writes:

It didn’t matter that I told the cops I’d lived there for seven months, told them about the locksmith, offered to show a receipt for his services and my ID. It didn’t matter that I went to Duke, that I have an MBA from Dartmouth, that I’m a vice president of strategy at a multinational corporation. It didn’t matter that I’ve never had so much as a speeding ticket. It didn’t matter that I calmly, continually asked them what was happening. It also didn’t matter that I didn’t match the description of the person they were looking for — my neighbor described me as Hispanic when he called 911. What mattered was that I was a woman of color trying to get into her apartment — in an almost entirely white apartment complex in a mostly white city — and a white man who lived in another building called the cops because he’d never seen me before.

It’s still been an uphill battle for Wells, who says she’s had to jump through hoops to get from the Santa Monica Police Department the names of the officers who showed up that night. Even then, the facts don’t match up. She only received 17 of the 19 names from authorities, and the Washington Post got 17 names that didn’t all match up with the list Wells received. She’s since filed an official complaint with internal affairs. The department told the Washington Post that it was within protocol based on this type of call to warrant “a very substantial police response.”

 

Her complaint comes just months after the Santa Monica-Venice branch of the NAACP called for an investigation into the Santa Monica Police Department after 36-year-old Justin Palmer wasarrested and pepper-sprayed by officers while he was charging his electric car at Virginia Avenue Park. Palmer said that officers told him on April 21 that the park was closed at 11 p.m. and he couldn’t be there, even though it wasn’t 11 p.m. yet. Police told him they needed his ID, and he asked why they needed it when he did nothing wrong. Palmer told KTLA that an officer threw him to the ground, his head hit the ground and he blacked out.

Authorities said Palmer “actively resisted” the arrest, but nearly two weeks later, the Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office said they would not be filing any charges against Palmer, saying it was partly because the signs at the park weren’t clear about the parking lot being subject to the park hours and “a question concerning when Mr. Palmer arrived in the parking lot and when officers made their initial contact with him.”

The NAACP said in a statement: “This act of excessive force points towards racial profiling that has become a central concern as other residents that are not African American have said they have never been approached by SMPD for charging their vehicles after 11:00 p.m. at Virginia Avenue Park.”

Palmer filed a complained against the city of Santa Monica, claiming the police used excessive force, but the city denied the claim in June. However, Justin Sanders, the attorney of Palmer, who is black, said this isn’t about race, but rather “this can happen to anybody, no matter what your station in life is.”

Wells writes that the NAACP requested info from the Santa Monica Police Department for “demographic information on all traffic, public transportation and pedestrian stops; so far, the department has promised to release a report of detailed arrest data next year.”

 

Mentally Handicapped Black Man Held as a Slave in South Carolina

This is pitiful.I sincerely hope they lock these two abusers up for a long, long, time in general pop.

Bobby Paul Edwards tortured and abused mentally ill black man in his restaurant

Mentally handicapped black worker rescued after 4 years of torture and enslavement by SC restaurant owners

Two brothers in Horry County, South Carolina are facing charges that they treated a mentally handicapped black employee like a slave for years, beating and overworking the man, who lived in squalor on property owned by their restaurant.

According to the Charleston Post and Courier, two Charleston attorneys filed a civil suit on behalf of Christopher Smith, who worked at the J&J Cafeteria in Conway for 23 years, but was hideously abused and exploited from 2010 to 2014.

The suit lists 14 counts against J&J owner Ernest J. Edwards and manager Bobby Paul Edwards, including false imprisonment, discrimination and exploitive labor practices. Bobby Edwards, 50, was arrested a year ago in connection with the case. Those charges are still pending.

Last October, Smith was rescued when social workers received a tip from an anonymous source who expressed concern for the man’s safety. Attorneys Mullins McLeod and David Aylor said that while the civil suit cannot change the past or rectify the harm done to Smith, hopefully it will “bring about positive change in the future.”

The Post and Courier explained that Smith worked at the Edwards brothers’ business for more than two decades, but it was when Bobby took over as manager in 2010 that Smith’s situation turned ugly.

Smith was routinely called the N-word, according to the suit. He was savagely beaten with a frying pan, hot tongs, butcher knives, belt buckles and fists. He worked 18-hour shifts Monday through Saturday and 11-hour shifts on Sundays with no breaks, receiving little pay. His total wages for each year added up to less than $3,000.

The complaint against the Edwards said that Smith was often abused on the job, dragged into the walk-in freezer where he could be heard screaming in terror and pain by other employees and begging his abusers not to kill him.

Smith told social services workers that he was too afraid to run away or leave his job at the J&J Cafeteria because he believed the Edwards brothers would hurt him even worse or murder him.

When he wasn’t at work, Smith lived in a filthy, cockroach-infested apartment owned by the Edwards brothers. The lawsuit described Smith’s living conditions as “subhuman.”

McLeod and Aylor reported that when Smith was examined by medical professionals and the Conway, SC police, he was covered in scars and other evidence of prolonged, brutal abuse.

He was targeted for abuse by the Edwards brothers, they said, because he is black.

 

Blue Criminals Matter Nov 16th

Covering the period from Nov 9th to Nov 16th. Sexual Assaults and rapes in blue.

1. net‏@NPMRP 1h1 hour ago

Houston, TX 3 officers pled guilty to ticket fixing; received deferred adjudication–convictions may be expunged http://ow.ly/UGunv 

2. net‏@NPMRP 2h2 hours ago

Update: Waynesburg, PA fmr officer pled guilty to assault for drunkenly breaking into apartment and assaulting man http://ow.ly/UGtRU 

3. net‏@NPMRP 2h2 hours ago

Update: Seabrook, NH fmr officer sentenced to 21 days in jail for assaulting inmate. http://ow.ly/UGtEB 

4. net‏@NPMRP 3h3 hours ago

Yukon, OK officer arrested for aggravated assault and battery against a woman in Oklahoma City. http://ow.ly/UGtbt 

5. net‏@NPMRP 3h3 hours ago

Jacksonville, FL sheriff’s officer arrested for smuggling contraband (magazines, cigarettes) into jail. http://ow.ly/UGsfl 

6. net‏@NPMRP 4h4 hours ago

Saline Co., AR fmr chief deputy sentenced to probation for waiving a fine in exchange for flooring in her kitchen. http://ow.ly/UGs3H 

More

7. net‏@NPMRP 5h5 hours ago

Lowndes Co., GA deputy pled guilty to collecting over $300k in disability from NJ while working law enforcement jobs http://ow.ly/UGrrS 

8. net‏@NPMRP 5h5 hours ago

U.S. Secret Service officer arrested in sting for sending explicit picture to person he thought was 14 yr old girl.http://ow.ly/UGqRd 

9. net‏@NPMRP 6h6 hours ago

Kissimmee, FL SRO arrested for assault of 13-year-old child; served notice for intent of termination.http://ow.ly/UGqtE 

10. net‏@NPMRP 6h6 hours ago

Nassau Co., NY fmr officer filed lawsuit for false arrest, She claims she was stopped and arrested b/c she is black. http://ow.ly/UGpyx 

More

11. net‏@NPMRP 7h7 hours ago

Michigan State Police officer arrested for solicitation in Lansing.http://ow.ly/UGoUv 

12. net‏@NPMRP 7h7 hours ago

Georgia Bureau of Investigation fmr agent was arrested for child molestation and related crimes.http://ow.ly/UGoKR 

13. net‏@NPMRP 8h8 hours ago

Bethel, AK fmr officer apprehended in Anchorage. He was wanted for sexual assault and misconduct.http://ow.ly/UGoyB 

14. net‏@NPMRP 8h8 hours ago

Billings, MT officer reprimanded for inappropriately requesting personal information from law enforcement database. http://ow.ly/UGo4Y 

15. net‏@NPMRP 9h9 hours ago

Update: Calhoun Co., MI deputy sentenced to probation and fined for DUI crash and weapons violation in June. http://ow.ly/UGnkZ 

16. net‏@NPMRP Nov 13

Pharr, TX officer arrested in connection w/ shoplifting and also assaulting loss prevention officer. http://ow.ly/UCMhK 

17. net‏@NPMRP Nov 13

Houston, TX officer arrested for smuggling people across US-Mexico border. http://ow.ly/UCLP7 

18. net‏@NPMRP Nov 13

St. Petersburg, FL officer resigned after 2 fellow officers accused him of using excessive force & lying about it http://ow.ly/UCL8v 

19. net‏@NPMRP Nov 13

Update: Albuquerque, NM board reinstated officer fired for having body cam off during fatal shooting of Mary Hawkes. http://ow.ly/UCIiJ 

20. net‏@NPMRP Nov 13

Indianapolis, IN officer arrested for domestic battery in January had charges dropped and was reinstated. http://ow.ly/UAu28 

21. net‏@NPMRP Nov 13

Denver, CO officer accused of having sex with intoxicated mentally challenged woman while on duty.http://ow.ly/UAtK8 

22. net‏@NPMRP Nov 13

San Antonio, TX officer suspended for threatening a woman in a nail salon. Video of incident released. http://ow.ly/UAtFq 

23. net‏@NPMRP Nov 13

San Mateo Co., CA deputy loses suspension appeal for dishonesty & faces criminal charges for smuggling contraband. http://ow.ly/UAtln 

24. net‏@NPMRP Nov 13

Alachua Co., FL deputy suspended during domestic violence investigation. http://ow.ly/UAt0h 

25. net‏@NPMRP Nov 12

Ely, MN officer charged with having sex with a teenager.http://ow.ly/UxTx3 

26. net‏@NPMRP Nov 12

Denver, CO ordered by jury to pay 80yr old blind man $400k for violent arrest at bus station in 2012. http://ow.ly/UxTks 

27. net‏@NPMRP Nov 12

Riviera Beach, FL officer charged w/battery for slapping phone out of the hand of disabled vet who was recording him http://ow.ly/UxSA8 

28. net‏@NPMRP Nov 12

FBI counterterrorism agent found guilty of second-degree assault on man in Chevy Chase, MD for incident off-duty. http://ow.ly/UxRLN 

29. net‏@NPMRP Nov 12

Shelby Co., TN captain arrested for interfering with a child-rape investigation against her son.http://ow.ly/UxRo3 

30. net‏@NPMRP Nov 12

Update: Madison, AL fmr officer’s 2nd federal trial for assaulting Indian man ended in mistrial. http://ow.ly/UxUD9 

31. net‏@NPMRP Nov 12

Detroit, MI officers (2) charged with embezzlement, larceny & misconduct for stealing from motorists. http://ow.ly/UxR8U 

32. net‏@NPMRP Nov 12

Update: Milwaukee, WI fmr officer will not face federal charges for shooting Dontre Hamilton. http://ow.ly/UxUdN 

33. net‏@NPMRP Nov 12

Washington, DC detective indicted for stealing more than $13k in bogus overtime. http://ow.ly/UxQY3 

34. net‏@NPMRP Nov 12

Update: Chicago, IL officer arraigned for firing gun at suburban officer and driving drunk. Next court date 12/1. http://ow.ly/UxQHU 

35. net‏@NPMRP Nov 12

Carteret Co., NC fmr deputy accused of indecent liberties with a child under 16.http://ow.ly/UxQad 

36. net‏@NPMRP Nov 11

USCBP (San Diego) agent arrested for fatally shooting boyfriend. She claims self-defense. Investigation ongoing. http://ow.ly/Uv4M2 

37. net‏@NPMRP Nov 11

Update: Minnesota trooper’s (vehicular) manslaughter charges dismissed b/c prosecutors violated his Garrity rights http://ow.ly/Uv48k 

38. net‏@NPMRP Nov 11

Moore, OK SRO is on leave and under investigation for alleged assault against an autistic 14 year old child.http://ow.ly/Uv3AW 

39. net‏@NPMRP Nov 11

Lubbock, TX officers (2) suspended for excessive force against auto theft suspect. http://ow.ly/Uv0kS 

40. net‏@NPMRP Nov 11

Colwyn, PA fmr officer pled guilty to stalking in Montgomery County. Faces murder & other charges in Delaware County http://ow.ly/UuZHK 

41. net‏@NPMRP Nov 11

Phoenix, AZ officer arrested twice in 3 days. First for domestic violence; second for sexual exploitation of minor.http://ow.ly/UuZcc 

42. net‏@NPMRP Nov 11

Fort Worth, TX officer arrested for DWI for riding his motorcycle. http://ow.ly/UuYTq 

43. net‏@NPMRP Nov 11

Mobile Co., AL detective arrested for DUI http://ow.ly/UuYHB 

44. net‏@NPMRP Nov 11

Austin, TX officers shown on video punching man they were attempting to arrest for jaywalking. Investigation ongoing http://ow.ly/UuXX1 

45. net‏@NPMRP Nov 10

Pittsburg, TX officer suspended after he was accused for role in unspecified February criminal case. http://ow.ly/Us6x3 

46. net‏@NPMRP Nov 10

Peach Co., GA deputy fired and arrested for sexting 17yo teen.http://ow.ly/Us7eR 

47. net‏@NPMRP Nov 10

Update: Hill Co., TX sheriff pled guilty to tampering in officer licensing scheme. Sentenced to deferred probation. http://ow.ly/Us6oq 

48. net‏@NPMRP Nov 10

Update: Bloomfield, NJ 2 officers face at least 5yrs for false swearing & misconduct for 2012 use of force & arrest http://ow.ly/Us5ln 

49. net‏@NPMRP Nov 10

Update: Raytown, MO fmr officer sentenced to two years’ probation for stealing drugs & jewelry from evidence room. http://ow.ly/Us4Wy 

50. net‏@NPMRP Nov 10

Update: Hummelstown, PA officer who fatally shot man in the back while he was on the ground acquitted of all charges http://ow.ly/Us347 

More

51. net‏@NPMRP Nov 10

Sangamon Co., IL liability committee recommends settling excessive force and false arrest case w/ woman for $150k. http://ow.ly/Us2xt 

52. net‏@NPMRP Nov 10

Update: Denton Co., TX fmr deputy sentenced to nearly 13 years for child pornography possession.http://ow.ly/Us2oH 

53. net‏@NPMRP Nov 10

Richmond, VA officer arrested for sexual assault against a child.http://ow.ly/Us1tl 

54. net‏@NPMRP Nov 10

Tuscaloosa, AL officers (3) suspended after tasing and arrest of university students at a party goes viral. http://ow.ly/UtbCV 

55. net‏@NPMRP Nov 9

Salt Lake City (Unified PD) fmr officer charged with forcible sexual abuse for actions against 17-year-old girl.http://ow.ly/Uot7d 

More

56. net‏@NPMRP Nov 9

University of North Dakota officer fired and charged with 10 counts of child pornography possession.http://ow.ly/UosVR 

57. net‏@NPMRP Nov 9

Houston, TX officer fired for ‘pacing’ motorists in his personal car when off duty and sending tickets via mail. http://ow.ly/Uoslb 

58. net‏@NPMRP Nov 9

Los Angeles, CA officer no longer with department after a shot was fired into a home and his gun was found at scene. http://ow.ly/UornG 

More

59. net‏@NPMRP Nov 9

Duval County, FL SRO suspended for conduct unbecoming for actions against a mother of a student. http://ow.ly/UoqLF 

60. net‏@NPMRP Nov 9

New York, NY officer arrested for off-duty assault of man at a Billy Joel concert in August. http://ow.ly/Uoq02 

More

61. net‏@NPMRP Nov 9

Thomas Co., KS sheriff faces multiple allegations of professional, criminal, and sexual misconduct.http://ow.ly/UoptJ 

62. net‏@NPMRP Nov 9

Kern Co., CA deputy faces charges for firing his gun outside casino. Fellow deputy pled guilty to aiding him. http://ow.ly/UooPb 

63. net‏@NPMRP Nov 9

USCBP (Douglas, AZ) fmr agent pled guilty to smuggling marijuana from Mexico. He will be sentenced in January. http://ow.ly/UonOd 

64. net‏@NPMRP Nov 9

Update:Memphis, TN officer remains suspended after grand jury did not indict for shooting death of Darrius Stewart. http://ow.ly/Uonrw 

65. net‏@NPMRP Nov 9

Lorain, OH officer suspended for 30 days for giving his wife credentials to access confidential police database. http://ow.ly/Uond5 

66. net‏@NPMRP Nov 9

Fort Smith, AR officer suspended w/o pay for 30 days after sexual harassment complaint filed by another officer.http://ow.ly/Uomur 

67. net‏@NPMRP Nov 9

Millburn, NJ to pay $455k in damages to fmr sergeant who was retaliated against for whistleblowing against officer http://ow.ly/UoiZg 

68. net‏@NPMRP Nov 9

Update: Chatham Co., GA deputies sentenced for death of Matthew Ajibade. One given 30 days in jail; other probation http://ow.ly/UohcC 

 

Faux News Reconstituted Racist “Expert”

Faux News is at it again, having convicted perjurer and fired racist Policeman Mark Fuhrman on camera daily as their “expert”. He is primarily known for his part in the investigation of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman and his subsequent felonyconviction for perjury.

Lets look at Mr Fuhrman.

Fuhrman gave a taped interview in 1985 to Laura McKinney, an aspiring screenwriter working on a screenplay about female police officers. Fuhrman bragged about his membership in the secret organization within the LAPD known as MAW, or Men Against Women. In further interviews, Fuhrman bragged about beating and torturing gang members, “we had them begging that they’d never be gang members again, begging us.” Fuhrman’s negative attitude toward African-Americans was also evident in the taped interview. He said that he would tell blacks, “You do what you’re told, understand, nigger?”

His perjurious denial of the use–in the ten years prior to the trial–of the term “nigger” brought immediate world-wide condemnation. Even the prosecution denounced Fuhrman in their closing arguments, calling him a “bad cop.”

Indeed, here is a copy of Mr Fuhrman’s Guilty Plea to Felony Perjury.

So now that we have established he is a racist, a self admitted torturer, committed police brutality, and a liar…He is just the sort of person to provide “expert testimony” for Faux News!

Fox News expert: South Carolina cop who flipped black teen out of her desk was ‘polite’

The South Carolina police officer who was filmed flipping a student out of her desk was “polite,” according to a Fox News crime scene expert.

Former Los Angeles Police Department detective Mark Fuhrman on Tuesday night told Fox News host Sean Hannity that the officer did not use excessive force, according tovideo published by Media Matters.

“I’ll tell you why it’s not excessive,” Fuhrman said. “He verbalized, he made contact, he verbalized, he was polite. He requested her. He verbally did that.”

“The next level is he put a hand on her,” he continued. “She escalated it from there. He used soft control. He threw her on the ground, he handcuffed her. He didn’t use mace. He didn’t use a Taser. He didn’t use a stick. He didn’t kick her. He didn’t hit her. He didn’t choke her. He used a minimal amount of force necessary to effect an arrest.”

Here he is on Megyn Kelly’s Show –

 

More Dirt in Ferguson

If you peruse some of the boards and blogs on the Internet, the conservascum racists are out in full glory about Michael Brown’s murder. One of the issues is why exactly did the town blow up over the shooting?

My theory has been there have been a lot of incidents which have led up to the rioting – and more than just the scam the police and judges were running to skim money from the residents.

What sort of person is Officer Wilson?

Well, you might get an idea from this video released by the Guardian…

Ferguson: video shows Darren Wilson arresting man for recording him

Officer who shot and killed Michael Brown is seen telling Mike Arman ‘I’m gonna lock your ass up’ if he does not stop

Video footage has emerged showing Darren Wilson – the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri – threatening and arresting a resident who refused to stop filming him with a cellphone.

Wilson is seen standing near his Ferguson police SUV and warning Mike Arman: “If you wanna take a picture of me one more time, I’m gonna lock your ass up.” Arman, who had requested Wilson’s name, replies: “Sir, I’m not taking a picture, I’m recording this incident sir.”

The officer then walks to the porch of Arman’s home and apprehends him, after telling him that he does not have the right to film. The 15-second clip was uploaded to YouTube on Friday but recorded in 2013, according to police documents.

Arman, 30, was charged with failing to comply with Wilson’s orders. He claimed in an interview on Saturday that the charge was dropped after he told his lawyer he had video footage of the incident. Arman, who runs a small housing non-profit, has a criminal record and has previously been charged with resisting arrest.

“I was working on my porch with my toolbelt on and was being cordial,” Arman said of the incident. “But I wanted to safeguard myself by recording what happened.” Filming police officers carrying out their duties is widely considered to be legal and protected by the first amendment of the US constitution.

Court and police officials in Ferguson could not be reached for comment. When asked on Friday whether the officer in the video clip was Wilson, a spokesman for the Ferguson police department told the Guardian in an email: “I don’t think that is him.” The spokesman did not respond to further questions.

But a police incident report confirms that Wilson arrested Arman at his home on Redmond Avenue on 28 October 2013. The report states Wilson had arrived to issue a court summons regarding derelict vehicles that were being left on the property in violation of city rules. Redacted images of the report were first published by the Free Thought Project….more…

And that is by no means the worst of the police criminal behavior that has been going on in Ferguson…

 

From the Daily Beast

Rape, Lies & Videotape in Ferguson

A pregnant woman’s account of being assaulted by a city police officer and a video of an aggressive Darren Wilson are only heightening the foreboding over the Michael Brown grand jury.

…And a video was posted on YouTube of a citizen’s October 2013 encounter with a uniformed cop who a police department spokesman suggests was not Wilson but almost certainly was.

The department spokesman’s doubts notwithstanding, the ensuing arrest report was fielded by none other than Wilson, badge 609. The report states that Wilson had been preparing to issue 30-year-old Mike Arman a summons for having broken-down cars in his yard, in violation of one of the ordinances that allow the city to raise millions of dollars from poor and working people and issue an annual average of three warrants per household. Wilson attests that he arrested Arman for “failure to comply” after he supposedly ignored instructions to “remove the camera from my face in order for us to complete the process of the derelict vehicles.”

Never mind that Arman’s camera was those eight strides from being in Wilson’s face. Wilson also cited Arman for “violation of pit bull regulations,” saying there were three in the yard. Arman would insist that he has only a bulldog.

Wilson’s narrative is enough at odds with the videotape that the possibility arises that his written account is in possible violation of state law 575.080 against making false reports to a law-enforcement officer. That would seem to apply even if you are one yourself.

The report ends with Wilson transporting Arman to the Ferguson jail….

In any event, Arman seems to have fared much better than a woman who was consigned to the correctional staff at the Ferguson jail after being pulled over for an expired license plate and giving a false name on Oct. 9, 2013.

The woman is identified only by the initials J.W. in court papers from a subsequent federal civil-rights lawsuit. She is described as having been “in her work clothes, that is, nursing scrubs,” as Hayden commenced to fingerprint her and take her mug shot.

“J.W. heard Hayden say softly, ‘You smell good,’” the papers report. “Hayden softly said words to the effect, ‘This will teach you a lesson.’”

The papers note that J.W. had never met Hayden before. She was placed in a cell and Hayden told her that she also had outstanding traffic warrants in other jurisdictions. He repeatedly walked past her cell.

“J.W. was distraught and said words to the effort of, ‘Let me go… I haven’t done anything wrong… I just don’t have money to get my plates,’” the papers report. “Hayden said words to the effect of, ‘Be quiet… Others will hear.’”

The report goes on, “J.W. sensed that Hayden was acting in a sexually provocative manner toward her. J.W. did not respond… J.W. told Hayden that she was several months pregnant. J.W.’s pregnancy was showing.”

J.W. then informed Hayden that she was suffering “pain and discharges.” Hayden checked with a superior and summoned an ambulance. The EMTs checked J.W. and said it was up to Hayden whether she was released into their custody.

“Hayden did not indicate a decision in J.W.’s presence,” the papers say. “Hayden and the EMTs left the room. J.W. never saw the EMTs again.”

Salvation must have seemed at hand when J.W.’s boyfriend arrived and posted the necessary bond to free her on the new Ferguson charges. Hayden removed J.W. from her cell and had her sign some official forms.

“Hayden began to make remarks with words to the effect of, ‘You’re the type of girl that can get me in trouble,’” the papers report.

The papers go on to note: “J.W. was crying. J.W. kept asking to go home. J.W. said, ‘I will do anything to go home.’”

The papers emphasize, “By that remark J.W. did not intend to deliver the message that she would have sex with Hayden in exchange for release. The remark was in the nature of a rhetorical statement while in an emotional state of extreme distress.”

Hayden continued to say that J.W. had outstanding warrants. J.W. had no way of knowing that he had not notified any of those other jurisdictions that she was in custody.

“J.W. was in great fear,” the papers report. “Hayden said, ‘Follow me.’”

The papers allege that Hayden escorted J.W. down a number of hallways.

“Hayden took J.W. into a boiler room in the City of Ferguson jail,” the papers charge. “Hayden then unbuttoned his pants, removed his penis.”

The papers report that J.W. was too afraid to resist his command for her to perform oral sex on him. She nonetheless seems to have proved herself the wrong woman to assault.

“J.W. captured some of Hayden’s pubic hairs in her hand,” the papers report.

She held on to the hair as Hayden led her further back into the boiler room.

“Hayden then had J.W. bend over and he indicated that he was going to have intercourse with her,” the papers say. “Because she was afraid, J.W. did not resist.”

The papers suggest that Hayden was careful not to leave any DNA-laden material.

“Hayden ejaculated in his hand,” the papers allege. “Hayden then released J.W. from jail custody via a side door to the building… Hayden told J.W. words to the effect of, ‘Run and stay close to the building.’”

The papers suggest that this was to avoid security cameras. Hayden might well have imagined he had no further worries, that he was at the very worst in the realm of “he said, she said.” He does not seem to have anticipated that she could have maintained such remarkable presence of mind.

“Immediately after the rape, J.W. went to a Subway restaurant across the street and retained a bag to hold the captured pubic hair,” the papers go on to recount.

J.W’s sister came and took her to a hospital emergency room. Investigators from the St. Louis County Police responded. J.W. presented them with her evidence.

“DNA analysis has confirmed that the public hair is from Hayden,” the papers say.

One remaining question, a question the authorities have not yet answered, is why they took more than a year to arrest Hayden when such seemingly damning evidence was available almost immediately. And then he was charged not with forcible rape, but with having sex with a prisoner and then aiding her escape. His attorney says he will be pleading not guilty at his arraignment in December.

Another lawyer closely associated with the case has indicated that the FBI had become involved in the investigation. That suggests the feds may have come across the stalled case after the shooting of Michael Brown, when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder ordered a larger investigation into the way law enforcement is conducted in Ferguson.

Even though J.W. and Hayden are both black, she felt only right in filing a federal civil-rights suit on Friday against him and the City of Ferguson. The suit charges that she was denied due process by being raped by a correction officer while in custody.

“The conduct of City of Ferguson law enforcement in engaging in repeated acts of violence and constitutional violations against the citizenry constitutes a pattern,” the suit charges. “The city has taken inadequate steps or no steps at all to control the violent acts of its law-enforcement personnel.”

Another federal lawsuit, one in which a man was arrested in a case of mistaken identity and then charged with destroying property by bleeding on the uniforms of the Ferguson cops who allegedly beat him, was tossed out by a lower court judge who ruled the complainant’s injuries were not sufficiently serious. That case is due to be heard by an appeals court next month.

 

 

 

 

Charter Failure and Corruption

Another conservative failure – privatization of schools.

The Charter “Movement” never was about better education for kids – it is all about lining folks pockets and destroying politically influential teacher’s unions.

So…when is someone going to step in and stop this criminal farce?

The truth about charter schools: Padded cells, corruption, lousy instruction and worse results

Imagine your 5-year-old boy went to a school where he was occasionally thrown in a padded cell and detained alone for stretches as long as 20 minutes.

Or you sent your kid to an elementary school where the children are made to sit on a bare floorin the classroom for days before they can “earn” their desks.

Or your kid went to a school where she spent hours parked in a cubicle in front of a computerwith a poorly trained teacher who has to monitor more than 100 other students.

Maybe you don’t have children or send them to private school? So how do you feel when you find out the local school that you pay for with your taxes is operating a scam that diverted millions of dollars through fake Medicaid billing?

Or the school used your tax dollars as “grants” to start up other profit-making enterprises … orpay lavish salaries – $300,000, $400,000 or more – to its administrators … or support a movement linked to a reclusive Turkish cleric being investigated for bribery and corruption.

Welcome to the world of charter schools.

Are there wonderful charter schools doing great things for kids? Probably. Are all these cumulative anecdotes an unfair representation of the value that charter schools can bring to some communities? Maybe.

But neither of those questions matters because of what the charter school movement has come to represent in the landscape of American education.

 

Charter schools have been relentlessly marketed to the American populace as a silver bullet for “failed” public schools, especially in poor urban communities of African-American and Latino/a students.

Politicians in both parties speak glowingly of these schools – which, by the way, their children seem never to attend.

Opening charter schools has become the latest fad for celebrities including athletes and rap stars.

Huge nationwide chains – called education management organizations (EMOs) – now run many of these charters. A recent study by the National Education Policy Center found, “Students across 35 states and the District of Columbia now attend schools managed by these non-government entities.” These for-profit and nonprofit EMOs – such as K12 Inc., National Heritage Academies, Charter Schools USA and KIPP – now account for nearly half of the students educated by charter schools.

Substantial, well-funded nationwide organizations have rapidly developed to lobby for these schools. One such organization, the Alliance for School Choice, recently received a $6 million gift from the Walton Foundation, of Wal-Mart fame.

Slick marketing campaigns have been rolled out in communities across the country to tout the coming of new charters.

The actual academic results of these schools seems to hardly anyone, despite report after reportshowing that these schools tend to do poorly on state and national tests and fail at providing equitable education to underserved students.

Yet lobbying for more of these schools continues unabated with more money funneled into the campaigns of politicians who support charters and more efforts to press state lawmakers to lift any provisions currently in place to regulate how these schools operate and are held accountable to the public.

 

Police Misconduct and Brutality…Again

Why is it the police in Florida can arrest a black man at his job 258 times for being at work…

And can’t get a murderer like George Zimmerman off the street and not pulling guns on women?

In the second incident this week to make the news concerning racial profiling, police abuse, and brutality – “Get Tough on Crime” laws have turned into a mechanism of racial harassment and brutality. The first incident (or more properly series of incidents) were in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, where officers harassed, beat, and videotaped black men they accosted on the street, threatening them with arrest if they didn’t sing or dance on video for the officers amusement. A series of videos uncovered by local paper posted at a local Police internal message board, by the Motor City Muckraker, show black men in the town being stopped and harassed by police, and forced under threat of beating or arrest to sing or make animal sounds.

 

 

The case in Miami Gardens, Florida is even more vicious.  A local store owner, tired of having his employees and customers summarily harassed and arrested by Miami Gardens Police, while doing nothing more nefarious than taking the trash out, minding the store, or purchasing a Lottery Ticket,  installed a video surveillance system. What the videos show is Miami Gardens Police harassing, arresting, and using force to arrest people on manufactured grounds over a year.

Here, a store employee (Earl Sampson) taking out the trash is arrested for “trespassing”…

Earl Sampson has been stopped and questioned by Miami Gardens police 258 times in four years.

He’s been searched more than 100 times. And arrested and jailed 56 times.

Despite his long rap sheet, Sampson, 28, has never been convicted of anything more serious than possession of marijuana.

Miami Gardens police have arrested Sampson 62 times for one offense: trespassing.

Almost every citation was issued at the same place: the 207 Quickstop, a convenience store on 207th Street in Miami Gardens.

But Sampson isn’t loitering. He works as a clerk at the Quickstop.

So how can he be trespassing when he works there?

The link to the Miami Herald Article which broke the story is here.

Earl stocking the shelves…And arrested for trespassing…

Now admittedly Miami Gardens has a crime problem. It is a poor area, and robberies and shootings are not uncommon. However, it is hard to see how arresting law abiding citizens on trumped up charges, while they are at work – is doing anything to stop the serious crime problems.

How “Zero Tolerance” Policing Helped Bad Cops in Florida Create a Civil Rights Nightmare

The Miami Herald has published a stunning, maddening story about alleged persistent police harassment of blacks in the city of Miami Gardens, Fla. (You should read the entire Heraldstory; it will raise your blood pressure and ruin your weekend, but you should still read it.) For years, police would come to a convenience store in a transitional neighborhood and hassle black customers and employees in the name of proactive crime prevention—regularly citing and arresting men for loitering or trespassing, even when they weren’t.

One man, an employee of the store, was “stopped and questioned by Miami Gardens police 258 times in four years,” with almost all of these incidents happening on store premises. He was arrested 62 times for trespassing, and, again, these were arrests for being on the grounds of the store where he was employed. These incidents and others were recorded by video cameras installed by the store’s owner for the express purpose of documenting police misconduct:

The videos show, among other things, cops stopping citizens, questioning them, aggressively searching them and arresting them for trespassing when they have permission to be on the premises; officers conducting searches of Saleh’s business without search warrants or permission; using what appears to be excessive force on subjects who are clearly not resisting arrest and filing inaccurate police reports in connection with the arrests.

The harassment continued even after the store’s owner asked the cops to leave him and his employees alone. Since then, the store’s owner has reported police harassment of his own. “I ’m going to get you mother-f—–,” he says one cop told him during an allegedly gratuitous traffic stop.

How does something like this happen? Blame it on endemic racism, yes, and on bad apples in the police department—but also blame it on a short-sighted local crime-reduction policy that, in retrospect, was always, always ripe for abuse. The convenience store incidents began when police convinced the store’s owner to enroll in the department’s “Zero Tolerance Zone” program. In Miami Gardens, when a shop becomes a Zero Tolerance Zone, the owner signs an affidavit authorizing the police to enter the premises when the owner is absent and question, eject, and/or arrest all those whom they suspect of being up to no good. The website of the Miami Gardens Police Department notes that the program is “designed to reduce the number of individuals who are sometimes seen trespassing and loitering on private property without legitimate business.”

Miami Gardens does have a serious crime problem—murders there have “more than doubled” in recent years, says the Herald—and, in theory, this program is meant to address that problem by keeping potential malefactors on their toes and off the streets. In practice—at this one convenience store, at least—by authorizing police to act in the owner’s stead, the “Zero Tolerance Zone” just made it easier for bad cops to abuse power.

The fact that Miami Gardens police kept arresting that one particular employee even after it was very clear that he worked at the store is baffling, and obviously indicates that more was going on here than simple overzealousness. But the alleged police misbehavior is rooted in the idea that cities can keep their streets safer by keeping poor black men off of them, and that it’s up to an individual cop’s discretion to determine what sort of behavior is and is not appropriate.

The “Zero Tolerance Zone” initiative sounds similar to the controversial stop-and-frisk programs that have been deployed in New York and other cities, where police officers are encouraged to routinely stop and question people on slim grounds—“suspicious behavior” is a favorite excuse—in hopes of seizing guns and drugs and stopping crime before it starts. In both programs, cops have been accused of routinely exceeding their authority against people who have no real means of stopping them from doing so. Inevitably, the people being stopped and questioned are minority residents of crime-ridden areas—police have no incentive to deploy these tactics in rich white neighborhoods with minimal street crime. Inevitably, when cops are authorized to engage in this sort of proactive policing, some cops will overdo it, and trample citizens’ civil rights in the process.

This all comes down to the goddamn stupid, silly, racist “broken windows” theory of crime prevention that encourages police to treat the symptoms in hopes of curing the disease. This doesn’t work in medicine or crime prevention. “Broken windows” theorizes that disorderly neighborhoods invite criminal behavior, and that cracking down on quality-of-life violations can make neighborhoods safer. But while taking a hard line on public disorder might make the streets cleaner, there is little evidencethat the strategy is an effective way to reduce crime. (Broken-windows policing was most famously applied in New York during the Giuliani administration, but the decline in the city’s crime rate during that timespan probably had more to do with the end of the crack epidemic than with the NYPD taking a hard line on jaywalking.)

More broadly, there will always be crime in poor neighborhoods as long as these neighborhoods lack good jobs, good schools, good mental health resources, and other things that truly help make neighborhoods stable. Thinking you can stop crime by ticketing loiterers (or manufacturing bogus charges against people who look like loiterers) is the sort of willfully obtuse policymaking favored by shortsighted, indifferent leaders who value appearances over results. As a long-term crime-prevention strategy, broken windows is intellectually bankrupt; as a short-term strategy, it is a recipe for civil rights abuses. If the allegations are true, the Miami Gardens story makes this all painfully clear.