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Police the Police

Kicked Out After Refusing To Stand For Pledge

September 9, 2014 Justin King, www.theantimedia.org , , , ,
Winter Garden, FL – Mayor John Rees ordered a man to stand first for a prayer, then for the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of a City Commission meeting last Thursday. When the man refused, the Mayor ordered the Chief of Police to use force and “escort” him from the room. Chief of Police George A. Brennan just followed orders and violated the man’s civil rights. The whole incident was captured on the victim’s cellular phone. Joseph Richardson is reported to have repeatedly asked the city to change its invocation and documents the prayer. Mayor John Rees does not seem to fully grasp the severity of his actions. After the incident he said “Life will go on.” Constitutional watchdog group, the American Civil Liberties Union, has a page dedicated to the question of the Pledge of Allegiance. It states: The Pledge being recited in the early years. “Can I be made to recite the Pledge of Allegiance? No. The Supreme Court has ruled that just as the First Amendment protects an individual’s right to say what he or she wants, it also protects his or her right not to say something. Almost 60 years ago the court determined that compulsory flag salutes are a violation of an individual’s right to free speech. So, students in public schools may refuse to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance and choose to remain quietly seated instead. Note, however, that if you decline to say the pledge that you do not have the right to disrupt the proceedings.”

5 Ferguson Officers Apart From Brown Shooter Named In Lawsuits

September 1, 2014 Kimberly Kindy and Carol D. Leonnig, www.washingtonpost.com , ,
Federal investigators are focused on one Ferguson, Mo., police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager, but at least five other police officers and one former officer in the town’s 53-member department have been named in civil rights lawsuits alleging the use of excessive force. In four federal lawsuits, including one that is on appeal, and more than a half-dozen investigations over the past decade, colleagues of Darren Wilson’s have separately contested a variety of allegations, including killing a mentally ill man with a Taser, pistol-whipping a child, choking and hog-tying a child and beating a man who was later charged with destroying city property because his blood spilled on officers’ clothes. One officer has faced three internal affairs probes and two lawsuits over claims he violated civil rights and used excessive force while working at a previous police department in the mid-2000s. That department demoted him after finding credible evidence to support one of the complaints, and he subsequently was hired by the Ferguson force. Police officials from outside Ferguson and plaintiffs’ lawyers say the nature of such cases suggests there is a systemic problem within the Ferguson police force. Department of Justice officials said they are considering a broader probe into whether there is a pattern of using excessive force that routinely violates people’s civil rights.

Two Police Involved In Ferguson Abuse Removed From Force

August 30, 2014 Joel Currier, www.stltoday.com , , ,
Two police officers are no longer working at their departments due to their actions during the protests in Ferguson. A Glendale police officer suspended last Friday after commenting on Facebook that he thought Ferguson protesters should be "put down like rabid dogs," has been fired, officials say. Meanwhile, a St. Ann police lieutenant resigned Thursday after he pointed an assault rifle at protesters and cursed at them, officials said. Lt. Ray Albers had worked for the department for 20 years. Glendale Officer Matthew Pappert, suspended with pay last week, was fired Thursday after an internal investigation wrapped up Wednesday, said Glendale City Administrator Jaysen Christensen. Pappert's comments also included postings that said Ferguson protesters were "a burden on society and a blight on the community." Another posting said, "Where is a Muslim with a backpack when you need them?"

Officer Turns Off Camera Before Shooting Man During Traffic Stop

August 30, 2014 Matt Agorist , www.thefreethoughtproject.com , ,
Armand Bennet, a 26-year-old man from Algiers, LA was pulled over by NOPD officer Lisa Lewis on August 11th, 2014. During the stop Bennet was shot in the forehead by officer Lewis, and survived. Bennet has since hired attorney, Nandi Campbell, who claims that Bennet never resisted. He did try to run away after the first time he was shot, like any sane person would do, and that’s when, Campbell says, Lewis shot at him a second time. An attorney for officer Lewis claims that she turned off her body camera because her shift was about to end and she was on her way back to the station. Is powering off a body camera some sort of long and drawn out procedure which requires so much time that officers begin said procedure prior to clocking off? Was she also taking off her shoes or her bullet proof vest? Apparently she thought her pistol was still worth “keeping on.”
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