police brutality

How Baltimore Prosecutors Pursued A Police Shooting Victim

December 13, 2017 Brandon Soderberg, injusticetoday.com Educate! Baltimore, Police, police brutality

“Victory,” the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office tweeted in October after Keith Davis Jr. was found guilty of second-degree murder. Keith’s wife Kelly and members of the activist group Baltimore Bloc who have been advocating for Davis for years called attention to the language: the SAO, headed by celebrated, purportedly progressive prosecutor Marilyn Mosby, best known for indicting the six officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, declared “Victory” instead of invoking “Justice.” It was evidence that, in Kelly Davis’ words, Mosby and the SAO have “a vendetta” against her husband. Keith Davis Jr.’s story begins on June 7, 2015, when he was shot by the Baltimore Police three times near the Park Heights neighborhood in West Baltimore.

Former Police Officer Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison For Death Of Walter Scott

December 8, 2017 Marina Fang, huffingtonpost.com Resist! police brutality, Racism, South Carolina

By Marina Fang for The Huffington Post - Slager, then an officer in North Charleston, South Carolina, shot Scott while Scott was running away from him. A bystander captured the death on cell phone video. The killing was one of many high-profile cases of police killing unarmed black men in recent years. At Thursday’s sentencing hearing, Slager said that he takes responsibility for Scott’s death, and Scott’s mother, Judy, expressed forgiveness. In May, Slager pleaded guilty to violating Scott’s civil rights by using excessive force. Two other federal charges and a murder charge from the state were dropped in exchange for the guilty plea. “Law enforcement officers have the noble calling to serve and protect,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement Thursday. “Officers who violate anyone’s rights also violate their oaths of honor, and they tarnish the names of the vast majority of officers, who do incredible work. Those who enforce our laws must also abide by them — and this Department of Justice will hold accountable anyone who violates the civil rights of our fellow Americans. On behalf of the Department of Justice, I want to offer my condolences to the Scott family and loved ones.”

Lawyers For Keith Davis Jr. File Motion For New Trial

December 1, 2017 Brandon Soderberg Baynard Woods, baltimorebeat.com Resist! Baltimore, police brutality, Racism

By Brandon Soderberg Baynard Woods for Baltimore Beat - Lawyers for Keith Davis Jr., a man shot by Baltimore Police in 2015 and subsequently charged with and eventually convicted of the murder of Kevin Jones near Pimlico Race Track, have filed a motion for a new trial challenging the reliability of the prosecution’s star witness, David Gutierrez, and how the State’s Attorney presented, as the motion says, “a member of the notorious Texas Syndicate prison gang,” to the jury. Among the claims are the the prosecution mischaracterized Gutierrez’s criminal background by presenting him as a “nonviolent, sympathetic” drug dealer (rather than someone who helped set someone on fire, among other violent crimes listed), that the state essentially hindered discovery, and that Gutierrez perjured himself, and that the state knew he did it. The state’s case relied almost entirely on Gutierrez’s testimony. “Once the verdict was rendered, we were not given adequate time to vet Gutierrez to know who he was, defense was not given time to do that, so afterwards, after this unfortunate and unjust verdict was rendered we were able to do research and we found that David Gutierrez is a federal inmate serving 25 years for RICO acts as well as murders,” Kelly Davis, Keith Davis’ wife told The Real News in front Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse last month wearing a “FREE KEITH DAVIS” t-shirt. “He was an enforcer for the Mexican cartel and a part of the Texas Syndicate Gang—it is a very dangerous, cruel gang that is within prisons in California and Texas.”

Protesters Call For Charges Against Officer Who Killed Teen

November 30, 2017 Staff, theamericanconservative.com Resist! Police, police brutality, Protests, Racism

By Staff of Associated Press - HARTFORD, Conn. — Protesters on Monday called for criminal charges against a police officer who killed an unarmed 15-year-old boy and for the release of surveillance and other video that shows the May shooting. Demonstrators sought to bring attention to the fatal shooting of Jayson Negron by Bridgeport rookie officer James Boulay after a traffic stop. A 21-year-old passenger, Julian Fyffe, also was wounded. Activists chanted "no justice, no peace" and other slogans outside the state Supreme Court in Hartford before blocking a street between the court and the state Capitol. Seven people were arrested. There also were 20 minutes of silence to mark what demonstrators said was the time it took for police to call for emergency medical help as Negron and Fyffe lay in the street. "Officer Boulay acted as judge, jury and executioner for what should have been a routine traffic stop," said Kerry Ellington, an organizer with New Haven-based People Against Police Brutality. Negron's sister, Jazmarie Melendez, accused authorities of covering up what really happened to him. "We know that they're doing everything in their power to make Jayson look like he was in the wrong when we know that he wasn't," she said.

Haitian Police Massacre Teachers & Students Fighting For Education

November 23, 2017 Staff, sfbayview.com Educate! Education, Haiti, police brutality, Repression, Strikes, Students, Teachers

By Staff of San Francisco Bay View - Oct. 17 – The Moise regime attacked demonstrations throughout the country marking the anniversary of Haiti’s first coup d’etat in 1806 and the assassination of its first head of state and founder, General, later Emperor, Jean-Jacques Dessalines. He is revered as a personification of Haiti’s independence and for his relentless campaign to distribute land to the formerly enslaved African majority, the chief reason for the coup against him. Oct. 12 – Members of BOID, the militarized unit of the Haitian National Police (PNH), trained and supervised by the U.N.-U.S. occupation with U.S. taxpayer dollars, rampaged through the Port-au-Prince community of Lilavois, burning down houses and terrorizing the population in yet another case of repression and collective punishment. The short video posted on “HaitiInfoProj” on Oct. 25 was filmed in the dark during the police terror and is accompanied by a plea: “BOID terrorists set fire indiscriminately to cars, homes and businesses of people struggling to make ends meet …, shooting tear gas that is greatly harmful to children with asthma … How can we blame people for leaving Haiti …?” Radio and witnesses reported that one person is known to have been executed, others have disappeared, and many others severely beaten.

Eric Garner Videographer: Ramsey Orta Can’t Breathe

November 9, 2017 Josmar Trujillo, fair.org Resist! Eric Garner, Justice, police brutality, Racism

By Josmar Trujillo for FAIR - The only one punished since Eric Garner's killing is the citizen-journalist who recorded it. When we went to a New York state prison to visit Ramsey Orta, the young man who filmed a police officer choking Eric Garner to death on a Staten Island sidewalk in 2014, we didn’t even make it past the metal detectors. Last year, members of El Grito de Sunset Park, an NYC-based group that organizes patrols to film cops on the street, as Ramsey did, drove with me a few hours north to Fishkill prison, where Ramsey was being held. We called ahead to confirm visiting hours and protocols, and we brought clothes and books that had been donated to him by supporters and friends back in the city. When we arrived at Fishkill, we put our belongings into a locker and went up to the main visitors desk to check in, where a prison official told us Ramsey wouldn’t be allowed to see any visitors at all. Why? They wouldn’t tell us. We weren’t even allowed to leave the clothes and books behind for Ramsey. Frustrated and tired, we had no choice but to drive back down to the city.

The Empire Comes Home

October 24, 2017 Danny Sjursen, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! police brutality, Racism, State Violence

By Danny Sjursen for The Huffington Post - It was 11 years ago next month: my first patrol of the war and we were still learning the ropes from the army unit we were replacing. Unit swaps are tricky, dangerous times. In Army lexicon, they’re known as “right-seat-left-seat rides.” Picture a car. When you’re learning to drive, you first sit in the passenger seat and observe. Only then do you occupy the driver’s seat. That was Iraq, as units like ours rotated in and out via an annual revolving door of sorts. Officers from incoming units like mine were forced to learn the terrain, identify the key powerbrokers in our assigned area, and sort out the most effective tactics in the two weeks before the experienced officers departed. It was a stressful time. Those transition weeks consisted of daily patrols led by the officers of the departing unit. My first foray off the FOB (forward operating base) was a night patrol. The platoon I’d tagged along with was going to the house of a suspected Shiite militia leader. (Back then, we were fighting both Shiite rebels of the Mahdi Army and Sunni insurgents.) We drove to the outskirts of Baghdad, surrounded a farmhouse, and knocked on the door. An old woman let us in and a few soldiers quickly fanned out to search every room. Only women ― presumably the suspect’s mother and sisters ― were home.

Man Convicted Of Murder In Case That Covers Police Shooting

October 19, 2017 Baynard Woods, www.therealnews.com Educate! Baltimore, police brutality, Police Shootings

By Baynard Woods for The Real News Network - A Baltimore jury convicted Keith Davis Jr. for the murder of Kevin Jones on Tuesday evening, after only a couple hours of deliberation in a case full of police irregularities. Davis, a focal point of the city’s activist community, was the first person to be shot by Baltimore Police in June 2015, following the in-custody death of Freddie Gray that rocked the city with protests. Davis was initially acquitted of all but one of the charges against him—but that one charge, police said, tied him to Jones’ murder. Police claimed that Davis hijacked an unlicensed cab, driven by a man named Charles Holden, who then pulled up beside a police car, causing the gunman to flee. Two officers chased the man who fled the car on foot and eventually cornered Davis in a garage, where they, and other officers who had since arrived on the scene, fired more than 40 shots at him. At the time, they claimed that Davis fired at them, a claim later retracted. When Davis, who was on his cellphone with his fiancée Kelly Holsey throughout the ordeal, was hit by three bullets he fell to the ground. Police later claimed that they found a gun and Davis’ wallet on top of a refrigerator inside the garage. The police story did not stand up. “To my recollection that don’t look like him to me,” Holden, the primary witness, said in court. Another witness, Martina Washington, who was in the garage when Davis ran in, testified that police had influenced her description of the man who entered the garage.

City Of St. Louis Feeling Effects Of Ongoing Protests

October 6, 2017 Panda Monium, www.rebz.tv Resist! Police, police brutality, Protests, St. Louis

By Panda Monium for Rebz.TV - After 19 days of protesting, it seems that finally the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is starting to see the light. It’s really expensive to pay these geared up cops… to the tune of 2.9 million dollars in overtime so far. Officers are beginning to reconsider their career choice. They are tired and frustrated, and the angry protesters insulting them is indeed making some of the cops feel bad about themselves, by being frankly told exactly what people think of their profession. There are a few cops that have a shred of humanity left, and are ashamed of how peaceful protesters are being treated. And I know for certain that there are officers who continue to retain their professionalism, and are appalled at the embarrassment their coworkers are creating for the police department as a whole. Of course, we’ll never see those kinds of admissions publicly, because that would be a sign of weakness and division, and these could be taken advantage of! But we see them.

Mass Arrests In St. Louis As Police Brutality Protests Continue

October 5, 2017 Rafi Schwartz, www.splinternews.com Resist! Arrest, police brutality, Protests, St. Louis

By Rafi Schwartz for Splinter - Police in St. Louis conducted mass arrests on Tuesday night after a group of activists blocked traffic on a city highway in the latest protest against former police officer Jason Stockley’s acquittal for the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith, an unarmed black man. Faced with a heavily armored police line as they marched up the Interstate, the protesters reportedly chanted, “We don’t see a riot here. Why are you in riot gear?” They were then maneuvered off the road by law enforcement officers, who proceeded to arrest them one by one. While police did not immediately release a full count of those arrested, local alderman John Collins-Muhammad told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch 126 people were detained—among them State Representative Bruce Franks (D–St. Louis) and civil rights activist Rev. Starsky Wilson. Alarmingly, police also arrested journalist Jordan Chariton and his cameraman Ty Bayliss, both of The Young Turks, during the protests. According to at least one observer, law enforcement officers targeted members of the press during the opening minutes of their arrests.

‘No Justice, No Profits’ Protests Target Concerts, Businesses

September 22, 2017 Staff, www.thepolemicist.net Resist! police brutality, Protests, Racism, St. Louis

By Staff of St. Louis Post-Dispatch - The concert got underway as scheduled and once the first song, "My Life," drowned out the protesters' chants, many of them headed back toward Kiener Plaza. Several again blocked Broadway and Market. The chants also included "Out of the county and into the streets." Alexandria Lane-Detwiler of Chesterfield was among the protesters. "I can't sit at home in my privilege and not come out," she said. Onstage, Joel made reference to the unrest. "Good evening, St Louie," he said early on. "Glad you made it. I know things have been a little tense around here." At one point, a couple of protesters appeared to be attempting to block a police SUV in the street, but they were pulled away by organizers of the protest. Danielle Williams, 19, joined the protest along with a friend. The St. Louis resident said she was happy to see that it had drawn a largely white crowd. She said she has felt a lack of empathy for the concerns of black urban residents like herself from others who don't share her skin color and don't live in the city. "They're not trying to understand," she said. "They don't get it because they don't live where we live." Candy Voyd, 64, says she lives in The Ville, a historically African-American neighborhood in north St. Louis. As the protest wound down, she noted that police had kept their distance from the marchers. She said she believed it was because most of them, like her, were white.

Why A Team Of 8-Year-Old Football Players Decided To Kneel For National Anthem

September 22, 2017 Tyler Tynes, www.sbnation.com Resist! Activism, Nationalism, police brutality, Racism

By Tyler Tynes for SB Nation - A group of youth football players in Cahokia, Ill., decided as a team to kneel to protest racial injustice in America, mirroring Colin Kaepernick’s original stand that got him exiled from football. Members of the Junior Comanches football team demonstrated Sunday after kids asked team coaches about the protests in St. Louis over a not-guilty verdict of an officer killing a black man in 2011. Protests in the city over the unjust killing, sparked by a new verdict, have continued for days. Jason Stockley, a white officer, killed Anthony Lamar Smith in December 2011. Dashcam recordings showed Stockley saying he was going to “kill that motherfucker” while he and another officer pursued Smith assuming he was a part of an earlier drug deal. Stockley ended up shooting Smith five times. Following a discussion by the youth players who saw protests on televisions at home, Orlando Gooden, a Junior Comanches coach, told the Belleville News-Democrat that the idea came up during practice and that parents supported it.

St. Louis Police Declare “We’re In Control” As Crackdown On Protests Enters Fifth Day

September 20, 2017 Genevieve Leigh, www.wsws.org Educate! Police, police brutality, Protests, St. Louis

By Genevieve Leigh for WSWS - “We’re in control,” announced the head of the St. Louis, Missouri Police Department, Lawrence O’Toole, at a press conference Monday after a weekend of unrest in the city over the acquittal of a white cop who shot a black man to death in 2011. “This is our city and we’re going to protect it,” O’Toole declared. The escalation of the brutal police crackdown in St. Louis came as the demonstrations entered their fifth day Tuesday. In sharp contrast to the largely peaceful character of the protests, police have displayed alarming levels of belligerence and arrogance in their repression of protesters. Groups of police officers in riot gear were heard early Monday morning marching through areas forcibly cleared of demonstrators chanting, “Whose streets? Our streets!” mocking protesters with a slogan commonly used at rallies. The authoritarian declarations of the police chief and his officers came on the heels of the arrest of 123 protesters in a massive roundup on Sunday night. The arrests were carried out using a highly criticized police technique called “kettling,” in which police surround and trap protesters so they cannot escape. They are then arrested en masse for alleged refusal to disperse. Nearly a day after the mass roundup, police were refusing to release information on how many of the arrested remained in custody.

Police Chant: ‘Whose Streets Our Streets’ After Mass Arrests

September 20, 2017 Jamiles Lartey, www.theguardian.com Educate! Police, police brutality, Police State, Protests, St. Louis

Police officers watch demonstrators as they continue to protest in St Louis Police officers watch demonstrators on Sunday night after Jason Stockley, a former St Louis police officer, was found not guilty of the murder of Anthony Lamar Smith in 2011. Photograph: Joshua Lott/Reuters View more sharing options Shares By Jamiles Lartey for The Guardian - Police officers in riot gear gathered alongside a St Louis boulevard late on Sunday night, chanting “whose street, our street”, a common refrain used by those protesting against the acquittal of a white former officer over the death of a black man, after successfully clearing the street of demonstrators and onlookers. At a news conference early on Monday, interim police chief Lawrence O’Toole said police had seized at least five weapons and said he was “proud to tell you the city of St Louis is safe and the police owned tonight”. “We’re in control,” he said. “This is our city and we’re going to protect it.” The chant drew criticism, however, from protesters, activists and some police officers. In a statement, Sgt Heather King, president of the Ethical Order of Police, a group founded by African American officers, said: “That chant goes against the very code of ethics we swore to abide by. “Whether we agree with demonstrations, protests or acts of violence, it is our job to do our job free of personal bias.” On Twitter on Monday, the group said: “We are human and we will make mistakes. We are also people who have the last word, which can be – arrest, freedom, or death. No need 2 chant.” Hundreds of officers had mobilized after another day of peaceful protests over the acquittal of Jason Stockley in connection with the death of Anthony Lamar Smith. The protest began at the police headquarters downtown. Hundreds of people marched through downtown streets, the posh Central West End and the trendy Delmar Loop area of nearby University City.

Police Tactics Kettling, Mass Arrests Questioned In St. Louis

September 20, 2017 Doug Moore, www.sanfrancisco.stltoday.com Resist! Police, police brutality, Repression, St. Louis, Tactics

By Doug Moore for St. Louis Post-Dispatch - ST. LOUIS • Police used a technique called kettling on Sunday night to box in about 100 people at a busy downtown intersection and arrest them for failing to disperse. It’s a tactic used to corral a group of people who fail to follow police orders. St. Louis police took the action after several windows were broken and concrete planters and trash cans overturned. But some of those caught in the box made by rows of officers said police overstepped their bounds, using excessive force and chemical spray on people who were not protesting, including residents trying to get home and members of the media. As police closed in from all sides, they struck their batons in unison on the pavement, in a cadence march. Tony Rice, an activist who goes by Search4Swag on Twitter, said he was shocked by the police behavior. “It was the most brutal arrest I’ve ever experienced in my life,” Rice said. “I thought I was going to die.” He said he could not lie prone on the ground, as ordered, because he had his bike with him. Rice said his neck was being pressed against part of his bike, and he told the officers: “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.” Those bused to the jail seemed confused by what was happening, Rice said. Pedestrians were arrested along with legal observers, protesters, a freelance photographer and a doctor, he said.

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