Police violence

Federal Judge Calls On Supreme Court To Overturn ‘Qualified Immunity’

August 9, 2020 Julia Conley, Commondreams. Create! Legal System, Police violence, Qualified immunity, Systemic Racism

Handing down a ruling to dismiss a civil lawsuit which alleged a police officer violated a Black man's Fourth Amendment rights during a traffic stop in 2013, a federal judge in Mississippi made clear that he sided with the plaintiff—and demanded the U.S. Supreme Court overturn legal precedent that makes it nearly impossible for the judicial system to hold officers accountable for rights violations. Calling for an end to qualified immunity, which dates back to a 1982 ruling and shields police from civil liability in most cases, U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves turned his ruling into a plea for justice for plaintiff Clarence Jamison as well as countless other Black Americans who have faced violent abuse and deadly use of force by officers.

Over 60 People Have Driven Their Cars Into Protesters Since May

August 5, 2020 Ray Levy-Uyeda, Mic.com. Educate! Counter protest, Police violence, Rebellion2020, Violence

At least 68 people have driven their cars into Black Lives Matter protesters since May 25. The incidents, most incited by civilians and some by police, represent an alarming trend in counter-protest violence against those marching in the streets. On foot, protesters are often defenseless against attacks by speeding vehicles; many have been injured and at least one person has died. Data collected since late May by Ari Weil, deputy research director at the Chicago Project on Security and Threats of the University of Chicago, shows that vehicle assaults on protesters are increasingly common.

Mass Violations By US Police Of Protester’s Rights

August 5, 2020 Amnesty International. Educate! Accountability, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Police violence, Rebellion2020

On 25 May 2020, George Floyd was detained, tortured and extrajudicially executed by Minneapolis Police Department officers who restrained and suffocated him by holding him on the ground and kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes. His death sparked widespread protests across the USA and the world and a long-overdue conversation about systemic racism and policing. Recent events have also raised longstanding concerns about violations of human rights, including the rights to life, to security of the person, to equal protection of the law, to freedom from discrimination and to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

What Has Happened To Police Filmed Hurting Protesters?

July 31, 2020 By Zipporah Osei and Mollie Simon, Pro Publica. Educate! Accountability, Police violence, Rebellion2020, Transparency

It has been almost two months since a Los Angeles Police Department patrol car accelerated into Brooke Fortson during a protest over police violence. She still doesn’t know the name of the officer who hit her or whether that person is still policing the city’s streets. The officer did not stop after hitting Fortson and instead turned around, nearly hitting other demonstrators in the process, and sped off. The LAPD almost surely knows who the officer is. The squad car’s number is clearly visible in one of the multiple videos that captured the incident.

Current NYPD Officers With The Most Substantiated Misconduct Complaints

July 30, 2020 By George Joseph, Christopher Robbins, Jake Offenhartz and Jake Dobkin, Gothamist. Educate! Accountability, NYPD, Police abuse, Police violence

Approximately four thousand of the NYPD’s 36,000 active officers have at least one substantiated complaint of police misconduct, according to data from the Civilian Complaint Review Board published by ProPublica on Sunday. Gothamist/WNYC has identified seven officers in the CCRB’s data set with substantiated allegations in at least six separate complaints—the most of all current NYPD officers. All enjoyed high-ranking positions as of last month, according to the dataset. All are white men. Some have been the subject of extensive news coverage. We have reached out to each officer named here individually and through their unions. Some did not reply and others referred us to the NYPD or their union.

The Heart Of Darkness In Portland

July 29, 2020 Mike Hastie, Counterpunch. Resist! Civil Liberties, Police violence, Portland, Rebellion2020

The chant: “All Cops Are Bastards,” is becoming much louder since the Feds started kidnapping protesters off the street in unmarked vans, with police not identifying themselves. It has been swift and terrifying for those who have been arrested in this black ops fascist mentality. It is against the law, as people are being stolen without probable cause, which is a nice way of saying it is a crime being committed by people who took an oath not to do these kinds of things. But, then again, when I was in Viet Nam, the U.S. Government had absolutely no rules in warfare. Geneva Convention Rules were for fools. In a way, this is the tragedy of what is happening in Portland and all over the country. What is happening domestically in this country, especially involving police who have been militarized, is we are seeing the accumulation of terror that the United States Government commits all over the world. Since the end of World War II, the United States Government has bombed 30 countries. The reason most people don’t believe what I just wrote, is because whenever the truth threatens one’s core belief system, there is an urgent need to deny its reality.

Calls For Video Related To John Neville’s Death Persist

July 29, 2020 By Lee Anne Denyer, WXII. Resist! Black Lives Matter (BLM), Police violence, Prisoner rights, Transparency

Protesters made new demands of Forsyth County elected officials Tuesday, calling for a general increase in transparency from county leaders, and specifically, the release of video pertaining to the death of an inmate at the Forsyth County Detention Center. "We're fighting for truth, justice, dignity, humanity, economic justice, social justice," said Tony Ndege, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Winston-Salem. "We stand against state violence, but we also stand for social and economic justice." Demonstrations began in Winston-Salem weeks ago and groups like Black Lives Matter Winston-Salem say they plan to continue calling for change. While the group wants fairness and equality for the entire community, its demonstrations are largely focused on advocating for minority communities.

Video: NYPD Officers Throwing Protest Leader Into Unmarked Van

July 29, 2020 By Jake Offenhartz and Gwynne Hogan, Gothamist. Resist! Civil Liberties, NYPD, Police violence, Rebellion2020

NYPD officers dragged a protest leader into an unmarked minivan van and doused onlookers with pepper spray during an anti-police brutality march in Manhattan on Tuesday night. The individual, who friends identified as an 18-year-old trans woman named Nicki, was grabbed from the group by plainclothes officers at 25th Street and Second Avenue. Video shows a man in an orange shirt marked "Warrant Squad" helping to push the woman into a silver KIA minivan before driving away. Witnesses said the arrest came as roughly 200 people were leaving a small plaza on 26th Street where they had stopped for a skateboarding event, amid a planned 24-hour demonstration against the NYPD and the raid of City Hall earlier this month. "Suddenly there was an unmarked grey van that moved out in front of us that had been waiting for us," said Derrick, a 32-year-old protester, who declined to give his last name. "Four guys jumped out and a line of police bicycles came out from down the block...

Understanding Trump’s Plan In Portland Could Be Key To Preventing A Coup

July 29, 2020 By George Lakey, Waging Nonviolence. Strategize! Donald Trump, Fascism, Nonviolent Action, Police violence

One key to a winning strategy is to figure out what the opponent’s strategy is and refuse to be manipulated — in Portland and in the other cities on Trump’s target list. Federal intervention in Portland has turned the previous hundreds of late-night protesters into thousands. Nonviolent tactics include dancing, a “Wall of Moms,” and orange-clad dads with leaf-blowers, who blow away tear gas. Other activists have escalated violent tactics in response to the escalation by the feds. According to The New York Times, some of the protesters used lasers while federal officers fired projectiles into the crowd. Court papers claim that a Molotov cocktail was thrown and one protester was charged with hitting an officer with a hammer, while the Times reported multiple efforts by some protesters to set alight the wood on the façade of the federal courthouse. The fire attempt of course reinforces Trump’s dubious claim that the feds need to be there to protect federal property.

Vietnam Veteran Sprayed With Chemical Weapon In Portland Protest

July 28, 2020 Graig Graziosi, Independent. Resist! Chemical Weapons, Police violence, Portland, Veterans

Federal troops were filmed pepper spraying an elderly Vietnam War veteran who was attending a protest in Portland over the weekend. The veteran, Mike Hastie, was standing several feet from a line of federal troops and shouting at them about his time in Vietnam when a troop rushed him from his side and sprayed pepper spray in his face. Mr Hastie was rebuking the troops for following orders he believes are unlawful rather than upholding an oath to the US Constitution. He continued yelling at the federal troops as they walked away despite having the pepper spray in his eyes.

The Militarized Assault On Our Right To Protest

July 27, 2020 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, Clearing the FOG. Podcast federal law enforcement, Freedom of Assembly, Police violence, Portland, Rebellion2020

The Trump Administration sent federal law enforcement, including the paramilitary squad of Customs and Border Patrol, BORTAC, which has been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, to the streets of Portland, OR to stop the ongoing demonstrations against racist police violence. Federal law enforcement, working with local police, is also being sent to other cities where anti-racist protests are going on. We speak with constitutional lawyer Mara Verheyden-Hilliard about the legality of this and how activists can fight back to protect the rights of everyone and end police violence and lawless impunity.

More Federal Officers Deploying To Portland

July 27, 2020 Conrad Wilson and Jonathan Levinson, OPB. Educate! Defund the police, federal law enforcement, Police violence, Portland

Several dozen additional out-of-town federal law enforcement officers are deploying to Portland as they look to make additional arrests in the coming days, while also shifting tactics from the use of tear gas, according to multiple federal law enforcement sources. The federal response has so far sparked four civil rights lawsuits, a Department of Justice inspector general investigation, proposed legislation in Congress limiting the role of federal law enforcement in American cities, and has injured a number of protesters. Rather than quell the protests as was the intent, it’s served to reenergize and strengthen the city’s protest movement.

Thousands Of Police Discipline Records Kept Secret For Decades Published

July 27, 2020 By Eric Umansky, ProPublica. Resist! New York City (NYC), NYPD, Police violence, Public information

Until last month, New York state prohibited the release of police officers’ disciplinary records. Civilians’ complaints of abuse by officers were a secret. So were investigators’ conclusions. The public couldn’t even know if an officer was punished. Today, we are making this information public and, with it, providing an unprecedented picture of civilians’ complaints of abuse by NYPD officers as well as the limits of the current system that is supposed to hold officers accountable. We’ve published a database that lets you search the police complaints so you can see the information for yourself. Data experts can also download the data.

Using Chemical Agents On Peaceful Protesters In A Pandemic

July 27, 2020 By Benjamin G. Davis, Jurist. Educate! Chemical Weapons, COVID-19, health, Police violence

Remember the protestors with guns walking into statehouses and protesting the stay at home orders? Do you remember a single case where teargas or pepper spray was used against those nearly all white protestors who were protesting in the sense of trying to encourage reopening which is what the Executive has been imprudently pushing? Fast forward to this last week. Were teargas and pepper spray used on looters? No. It was used on peaceful protestors who were protesting after the murder of George Floyd. Now, given teargas and pepper spray have the nefarious quality of causing people to cough and sneeze and rub their eyes, you see where I am going. If 5 percent of the protestors were infected with COVID-19, these riot control agents were operating as accelerants of community spread.

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