police brutality

1 Yr After Mike Brown’s Death, Tef Poe & Kayla Reed Hungry For Justice

August 8, 2015 Interview with Kayla Reed and Tef Poe Raqiyah Mays and introduction Shenequa Golding, www.vibe.com Educate! #BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Ferguson, Mike Brown, police brutality

Interview with Kayla Reed and Tef Poe by Shenequa Golding - White supremacy on any level does not shock me. I’m very aware of how it operates and how it manifests in the systems that oppress us, so in the space, as far as The New Yorker, I’m disappointed but I’ve come to expect that some of the national media outlets do things to agitate spaces. Am I shocked? No. But my response is we knew Darren Wilson was racist the moment he killed Mike Brown. Stood over his body and had to negotiate with his grandmother to put a sheet over him. We knew the day he got assaulted and his cheek looked rosey red to me. We knew he got a million dollars and he’s living apparently on the outskirts of St. Louis and is concerned about a lawsuit and doesn’t see the value that someone lost their child. I think he is living proof of why we continue to be in this struggle and why we continue to fight but I have no expectations his mind will be liberated from the hatred that he encompasses.

Sick Mother of 8 Detained For Stealing Food Dies

August 7, 2015 Erica Garner and Reggie Harris, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! health, police brutality, Poverty, Racism

By Erica Garner and Reggie Harris. New York, NY - We applaud Governor Cuomo for temporarily instituting a special prosecutor to investigate tragedies like Raynette Turner's death. Without his executive order, we would not be paying attention to the unacceptable death of this mother of eight arrested who was held for two days without bail for allegedly stealing crab legs from a grocery store (presumably to eat). After reading the responses from local politicians and community activists, we find it necessary to highlight a glaring question we are left with after all of the congratulations and backslapping: Is it reasonable to keep a visibly sick mother of eight in jail for two days because she allegedly stole food?

Half Of Black Americans Say Police Have Treated Them Unfairly

August 6, 2015 Jesse Holland, www.AP.org Educate! police brutality, Racism

By Jesse Holland for AP - A majority of blacks in the United States - more than 3 out of 5 - say they or a family member have personal experience with being treated unfairly by the police, and their race is the reason. Half of African-Americans respondents, including 6 in 10 black men, said they personally had been treated unfairly by police because of their race, compared with 3 percent of whites. Another 15 percent said they knew of a family member who had been treated unfairly by the police because of their race. This information, from a survey conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, comes as the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, approaches its first anniversary and the nation continues to grapple with police-related deaths of black Americans.

Sandra Bland’s Family Files Federal Lawsuit

August 5, 2015 David Lohr, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! #BlackLivesMatter, #SayHerName, Black Lives Matter (BLM), police brutality, Sandra Bland

By David Lohr in The Huffington Post - The family of Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old African-American woman found dead in a Texas jail cell after a controversial arrest, announced the filing of a federal lawsuit against officials in Houston on Tuesday. "We are looking for the individuals involved in this situation to take accountability," Cannon Lambert, the Bland family attorney, told reporters at a press conference in Chicago. Lambert said the lawsuit has been filed against state trooper Brian Encinia and all officials involved in the arrest and incarceration of Bland. The action, Lambert said, was prompted by "inconsistencies" in the investigation into Bland's death and the unwillingness of authorities in Waller County, Texas, to share information with the Bland family. "[We have been] unable to get many of the answers we have been asking for," the attorney said. "This family needs an answer to the principle question: What happened to Sandra Bland?"

During B’more Uprising, City Officials Criminalized Hashtags

August 4, 2015 Kevin Gosztola, www.shadowproof.com Educate! Baltimore, Black Lives Matter (BLM), police brutality, Surveillance, Uprising

By Kevin Gosztola in Shadow Proof - The surveillance by the city, a security company, and a corporation reflects how scared everyone was of the protesting. The uneasiness was used to justify the bolstering of security, even though there was only one day in the beginning where riots occurred. Such monitoring, much of which was aimed at protesters, fits in with DHS’s practice of tracking “Black Lives Matter” demonstrations closely since Michael Brown was gunned down by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. The FBI has used its Joint Terrorism Task Force to provide support to the Mall of America for a Black Lives Matter protest on December 20. Mall of America security have catfishedBlack Lives Matter activists in order to collect intelligence against them.

Court Of Appeals Keeps Eric Garner Grand Jury Secret

August 3, 2015 Edward McAllister, www.reuters.com Resist! Criminal Justice, Eric Garner, Law, New York City (NYC), NYPD, police brutality

By Edward McAllister in Reuters - A New York state court on Wednesday declined to release details of a grand jury investigation that led to a police officer being cleared of wrongdoing in the death of Eric Garner after his chokehold arrest in Staten Island in July last year. Lawyers for civil rights groups and New York's public advocate office in June called for the release of the grand jury minutes including transcripts of testimony, exhibits and details of certain grand jurors to better understand the decision not to charge officer Daniel Pantaleo for Garner's death. Garner was black and Pantaleo is white, and the case caused widespread protests last year. The lawyers did not establish a compelling reason for disclosure of the minutes, the appellate division of New York State's Supreme Court said on Wednesday.

8 Stats That Reveal How Badly Police State Hurts Black Women

August 1, 2015 Terrell Jermain Starr, www.alternet.org Resist! Black Women, Mass Incarceration, police brutality

By Terrell Jermain Starr in Alternet - A major barrier in understanding the ways in which the criminal justice system treats black women is the dearth of research on the subject. While statistics on how law enforcement engage black men are plentiful, similar data on black women is limited. But Bland’s death has sparked a rare national conversation that’s forcing the country to take a closer look at how law enforcement and the criminal justice system treat black women. AlterNet was able to find eight statistically-backed ways in which law enforcement disproportionately abuses black women, despite limited scholarly research devoted to the issue. Below are some of the most glaring findings, along with some commentary from Willingham and Jordan-Zachery.

LAPD Pressed Gun To Chest & Shot Unarmed Homeless Man

July 31, 2015 Jeff Sharlet, www.gq.com Educate! Africa, LAPD, police brutality, Racial Justice

By Jeff Sharlet un GQ - Five months after the March 1 Los Angeles police killing of an unarmed black man named Charly "Africa" Keunang—a story I reported in-depth for the July issue of GQ—the Los Angeles coroner has finally released the results of its autopsy. They are profoundly disturbing. Two of the six bullets that killed Charly entered his body through what are called "contact gunshot wounds"—which means the muzzle of the officer's gun was pressed directly against Charly's body. Like a slaughterhouse killing. I'd already reviewed a less-detailed autopsy report commissioned privately by Keunang's family and had access to leaked body-cam videos and recordings of internal police interviews with several of the officers involved. Even so, the autopsy report is startling. There's a moment in the body-cam video when it appears to me that Officer Francisco Martinez has his hand on Charly's torso—Charly is on his back after having been wrestled down and tased—with his gun pointed at the body.

The Cost Of Failing To Comply With Structural Racism

July 31, 2015 Zachary Norris, www.truth-out.org Educate! #BlackLivesMatter, #SandraBland, #SayHerName, Black Lives Matter (BLM), police brutality, Racism

By Zachary Norris in Truth Out - As a member of Black Lives Matter Bay Area, I attended last weekend's Movement for Black Lives convening in Cleveland, Ohio, and witnessed a whole new generation of us following. We are refusing compliance. While I was in Ohio, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, the organization of which I am the executive director, hosted a vigil and speak out for Sandra Bland back in Oakland. Black women claimed the space and expressed their rage over what happened to Sandra, the many injustices they have experienced at the hands of the state, and the need for revolutionary change. We are not asking for entrance or acceptance into this order of things. We see a Black president presiding over the country, and the killings haven't stopped. We know the president has his own "kill list." In a country such as this one, the simple demand that Black lives matter has always been a demand for a whole new order of things.

The Making Of The American Police State

July 30, 2015 Christian Parenti, www.informationclearinghouse.info Educate! History, Labor, police brutality, Police State, Racial Justice

By Christian Parenti in Information Clearinghouse - How did we get here? The numbers are chilling: 2.2 million people behind bars, another 4.7 million on parole or probation. Even small-town cops are armed like soldiers, with a thoroughly militarized southern border. The common leftist explanation for this is “the prison-industrial complex,” suggesting that the buildup is largely privatized and has been driven by parasitic corporate lobbying. But the facts don’t support an economistic explanation. Private prisons only control 8 percent of prison beds. Nor do for-profit corporations use much prison labor. Nor even are guards’ unions, though strong in a few important states, driving the buildup. The vast majority of the American police state remains firmly within the public sector.

Ohio Cop Indicted On Murder Charge In Traffic-Stop Shooting

July 30, 2015 Dan Sewell, Kantele Franko and Mitch Stacy, www.AP.org Educate! #BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Cincinatti, police brutality, Sam Dubose

A University of Cincinnati police officer who shot a motorist during a traffic stop over a missing front license plate was indicted Wednesday on a murder charge, with a prosecutor saying the officer "purposely killed him" and "should never have been a police officer." DuBose's family had pressed for release of Tensing's body camera video, and news organizations including The Associated Press had sued Deters to get it released under Ohio open records law, but Deters released it before any ruling was made. Deters called the shooting "senseless" and "asinine." "He purposely killed him," Deters said. "He should never have been a police officer." The prosecutor also said he thought it was time to reconsider the UC police department's role. "I don't think a university should be in the policing business," Deters said.

UC Unions Call On AFL-CIO To Terminate Police Union’s Membership

July 29, 2015 Mario Vasquez, www.inthesetimes.com Resist! Labor Unions, police brutality, Student Activism, Worker Rights and Jobs

By Mario Vasquez for In These Times - United Auto Workers Local 2865, the union representing 13,000 teaching assistants and other student workers throughout the University of California, called on the AFL-CIO to end its affiliation with the International Union of Police Associations (IUPA) in a resolution passed by its governing body on July 25. The resolution came in the wake of a letter written by the UAW’s Black Interests Coordinating Committee (BICC). The group formed in December 2014 in response to the acquittals of police officers in the deaths of Mike Brown and Eric Garner and is largely inspired by recent actions in the Black Lives Matter movement.

Experiencing Police Brutality Made Me An Activist

July 29, 2015 Monica Raye Simpson, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! #BlackLivesMatter, #SayHerName, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Black Women, Cleveland, police brutality, Social Change

By Monica Raye Simpson in The Huffington Post - This past weekend, I joined over 1500 other activists from across the country in Cleveland, Ohio for the Movement For Black Lives Convening. We were all together -- black cis-gendered women and men, black queer women and men, trans women and trans men, black elders, black young people, black babies -- from across all movements learning, strategizing, resisting, creating and healing together. For me, it was a truly spiritual experience. I was sad that I had to return to Atlanta early, especially when I realized that this powerful and historic weekend took an unfortunate turn when Cleveland law enforcement arrested a 14-year-old boy and used pepper spray on protestors who fought to protect him. As I watched this ordeal unfold on social media, I wanted so desperately to be on the front lines with my sisters and brothers. I thought to myself, How could this weekend -- one full of so much love and brilliance -- end like this?

How The Criminalization Of The Queer Community Affects Us All

July 29, 2015 Andrew Extein, www.centerforsexualjustice.org Educate! Criminal Justice, Law, police brutality, Public Health, Queer, Sexual Violence

By Andrew Extein in Center For Sexual Justice - Sexual minorities, including queer and LGBT people, face many obstacles when navigating the criminal justice system. One especially difficult challenge is the treatment of sex within the legal system. Sex crimes and sex laws have had far-reaching repercussions, and queer people often find themselves targeted. There is a long, well-documented history of law enforcement entrapping queer people in prostitution busts and gay cruising stings. HIV status is increasingly criminalized nationwide. Trans* folk are harassed and singled out by law enforcement. Queer people are more likely to be targeted for civil commitment. Current sex laws ignore the needs and realities of queer youth, while seeking to criminalize their unique experiences. In jails and prisons, queer people, especially youth, are extremely vulnerable, often the focus of sexual and physical abuse by inmates, guards, and staff.

LAPD Convinces LA Times To Fire Editorial Cartoonist, Ted Rall

July 29, 2015 Ted Rall, www.anewdomain.net Resist! Art, Freedom of Press, LAPD, Los Angeles, Media, police brutality

By Ted Rall in A New Domain - As an editorial cartoonist for The Los Angeles Times, I have drawn numerous cartoons critical of the Los Angeles Police Department’s abuse, corruption and heavy-handed incompetence. Now it seems the LAPD has gotten even: It has convinced the Times to fire me. At issue is a blog I wrote to accompany my May 11, 2015 cartoon for the Times. It was about an announced LAPD crackdown. Not on violent crime, but jaywalking. I opened with a personal anecdote from nearly 14 years ago, when a Los Angeles police officer ticketed me for jaywalking on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. The date was October 3, 2001. I’ll get into the allegations below the fold. But first, here is a far-from-complete sample of LAPD-related cartoons I’ve drawn for The Times and some other publications. . .

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