A Year Later Bad Cops in Alameda, Ca. Charged With Felonies

Took a while, and a video seen around the world – but San Francisco authorities have finally decided to some down hard on two bad cops.

Deputies charged in San Francisco beating caught on video

Two Alameda County sheriff’s deputies have been charged with multiple felonies after video showed them repeatedly hitting a suspected car thief during an arrest in San Francisco last year, officials said Tuesday.

The alleyway beating of the suspect, Stanislav Petrov, was caught on surveillance video (Note: The video, above, is disturbing and contains several shouted obscenities) and released on YouTube in November by the San Francisco public defender’s office, which said it received the footage from someone who operates a security camera in the area.

The grainy footage shows two Alameda County sheriff’s deputies chasing a man on foot. As the man slows, one officer tackles him and punches him twice. The second officer arrives and starts hitting Petrov with his baton. Soon both officers can be seen hitting Petrov with their batons.

Sometimes Petrov can be seen lying on the ground and other times on his knees. Once the officers begin striking him, he does not appear to be resisting.

“Policing that violates our constitutional rights damages the reputation of every person that wears the uniform, and it damages the public’s perception of those that are sworn to serve,” San Francisco Dist. Atty. George Gascon said in a statement announcing the charges. “When officers take the law into their own hands, they undermine the moral authority of the entire criminal justice system.”

The deputies, Luis Santamaria and Paul Wieber, are 14- and three-year veterans of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, respectively, officials said. They are charged with assault under the color of authority, battery with serious bodily injury and assault with a deadly weapon. They’re expected to surrender by Wednesday and be held in lieu of $140,000 bail….Read the Rest...

 

Maryland Cop Who Put His Gun to Homeowner’s Head Sentenced to Prison

Imagine you have gone out with a friend to a restaurant or a ball game, and your friend drives. You get home, and your friend pulls the car in front of your house and you talk for a few minutes before exiting the car to go to your house. A Cop pulls up, and claims you are “illegally parked”, even though thee are no no-parking signs on the street – and you are still in the car with the engine running. You explain to the Cop that this is your house, show him your ID and get out to go home, when the Cop pulls out his gun, and points it in your face while screaming at you – threatening to kill you. That was exactly the situation in PG County in the Maryland suburbs last year. Fortunately a bystander caught the cop on video.

Justice actually happens…Sometimes. This one was an egregious case of a Prince George’s Cop, in the suburbs of Washington, DC attacking a pair of men, one of whom was being dropped off at his home by his friend. The motive apparently was to show off for some of the Cop’s friends who were on an illegal “ride along” on that day.

 Former Md. police officer sentenced for pointing gun at man’s head

The victim of the Police Assault, William Cunningham speaks to the press outside the Courthouse.

A former police officer who was found guilty of holding his gun to a Prince George’s County resident’s head to intimidate him will serve five years in prison without the chance of parole for his actions.

The sentence was the mandatory minimum that former Prince George’s County officer Jenchesky Santiago could have been given. He faced up to 45 years behind bars. He was convicted in December of first- and second-degree assault, use of a handgun during a crime of violence, and misconduct in office.

Santiago’s actions were captured on cellphone video, which was a key piece of evidence at his trial.

The incident happened in 2014 after Santiago, while on patrol, approached a car that he claimed was illegally parked in a Bowie neighborhood. When a passenger in that car tried to walk off to his home, Santiago ordered him back into the car, pulled his weapon when the man refused, and dared the man to a fight. He can be seen on video holding his gun up to the victim’s face.

Before handing down the sentence, Judge Dwight Jackson called the case “sad on a lot of levels” and said there were “no winners … only losers.”

Jackson, the son of a police officer, told Santiago “you have diminished them and what they do.” He speculated that Santiago was “perhaps bored, or perhaps wanted to show off” to two friends whom he had brought on an unauthorized ride-along that day.

The judge also heard at times tearful statements from Santiago’s mother, sister and fiancee, who described him as a caring, loving person devoted to his two young children. Jackson later said, “The person who is here to be sentenced bears no resemblance to the person they know.”

Prosecutors also accused Santiago of not taking responsibility for his actions. In a recorded phone conversation from jail, Santiago “described the fact that not only was he not remorseful and had no intention of apologizing in this case,” said Angela Alsobrooks, the state’s attorney for Prince George’s County, “but still believed even after this case that he was owed an apology from the victim.”

“It kind of didn’t sit well with me to hear that he was not apologetic, or had no remorse,” said victim William Cunningham outside the courthouse. “I did think that he may shoot me, or my life may have been in jeopardy.”

Santiago, now 26, was fired from the police department on Dec. 18. His lawyer said he also expects Santiago to be dishonorably discharged from the Navy, where he serves as a reservist.

 

Republicans on Welfare

A favorite conservative line is that they are paying for black folks on welfare with their taxes. The following is a list of the counties in America with the highest Food Stamp benefits…

			PERCENTAGE OF EACH GROUP THAT RECEIVES FOOD STAMPS
COUNTY	STATE	2009 POP.	ALL PEOPLE	WHITES	BLACKS		CHANGE ’07-’09
Starr	Texas	63,177	36%	63%	19%		+6%
Costilla	Colorado	3,173	24%	62%	77%		+22%
McKinley	New Mexico	71,477	28%	56%	0%		+11%
Owsley	Kentucky	4,667	49%	49%	>90%		+5%
Wolfe	Kentucky	6,933	42%	43%	14%		+5%
Clay	Kentucky	24,102	37%	39%	9%		+5%
Ripley	Missouri	13,446	39%	39%	22%		+22%
Lee	Kentucky	7,389	37%	39%	6%		+3%
McCreary	Kentucky	17,341	37%	38%	7%		+8%
Hancock	Tennessee	6,669	37%	38%		26%	+18%
Dunklin	Missouri	31,300	44%	37%		>90%	+16%
Grundy	Tennessee	14,182	36%	37%		6%	+29%
Magoffin	Kentucky	13,101	37%	37%		18%	+2%
Carter	Missouri	5,867	36%	37%		60%	+14%
Washington	Missouri	24,817	35%	36%		18%	+24%

Notice anything?

ANd the two counties where “>90%” of black folks are on food stamps?

Dunklin, Missouri

The racial makeup of the county was 88.64% White, 8.68% Black or African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.03% from other races, and 1.06% from two or more races.

Owsley, Kentucky

The racial makeup of the county was 99.22% White, 0.10% Black or African American, 0.06% Native American, 0.04% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.02% from other races, and 0.54% from two or more races. 0.72% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race.

You can look at the full data set here.

A Map showing the levels of SNAP recipients on a County level also shows something else interesting. The majority of the counties in America with 25%, 50%, or more on Food Stamps…

Are in the very Republican South. The darker areas represent counties where 30% or more of the population is on SNAP.

You can find this interactive map, including maps broken down by Democrat/Republican here.

According to a TIME analysis of county-by-county food stamp enrollment data, GOP politicians represent more districts that majorly (30%+) participate in SNAP than Democrats.