Police

J20 Officer Bizarrely Slanders Black Neighborhood In Testimony

December 11, 2017 Alan Pyke, thinkprogress.org Educate! Investigation, Police, Racism, Resist J20

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Officer Michael Howden was supposed to help federal prosecutors establish that the group of protesters they want jailed for decades were assaulting cops wantonly the day President Donald Trump took his oath. But on cross-examination, Howden quickly grew heated as defense attorneys showed him clips of himself saying things he claimed not to remember saying on Inauguration Day. In one of them, Howden said that herding anti-Trump marchers was nothing new for him. “I’m fairly accustomed to that sort of rioting,” Howden is heard saying to another officer in a clip from Howden’s own body-worn camera footage from January 20. “Herding people through Barry Farm when they’re rioting, when they’re out of control,” he continued in the clip. Barry Farm, anonymous to most anyone outside the Washington, D.C., area and even to many who live here, is a public housing development in the Anacostia area of the District. It lies in the Metropolitan Police Department’s 7th District, where Howden is typically assigned — and where MPD’s use of “jump-out” tactics and aggressive stop-and-frisk searches of civilians has drawn public scorn and official sanction in recent years.

Massachusetts, Protesters Balk At Pipeline Company’s Payments To Police

December 5, 2017 Eoin Higgins, huffingtonpost.com Resist! Massachusetts, Pipelines, Police, Protests

By Eoin Higgins for The Huffington Post - SANDISFIELD, Mass. ― When Karla Colon-Aponte arrived at the Otis State Forest on the morning of Oct. 25, she intended to join her fellow protesters praying beside energy giant Kinder Morgan’s Connecticut Expansion Project line, a four-mile-long natural gas pipeline that runs in a loop through the town of Sandisfield in the Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts. The Connecticut Expansion Project has been the focus of sustained activist resistance in this sleepy rural community ever since Kinder Morgan began work at the site in late April. The pipeline, which went into operation last month, links natural gas infrastructure in Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut. The portion of the project in Sandisfield cuts through Berkshire wilderness, across old-growth forest and alongside waterways, which pipeline critics say could potentially damage the natural resources in the state forest. Colon-Aponte, 22, is Taina, the indigenous people of Puerto Rico, and is part of a group known as the “water protectors,” who have traveled the country protesting energy infrastructure projects, using nonviolent resistance tactics to stop projects that they see as endangering water resources. The Massachusetts State Police, expecting trouble from the protesters, were already on site in force when Colon-Aponte arrived at the pipeline. The two sides converged on a dirt road as tensions began to rise with the early morning mist. It started as a faceoff between the protesters and the cops, but quickly escalated. As the police closed in, Colon-Aponte tried to move away from the front line.

Review Faults Police Response To Charlottesville Far-Right Rally

December 2, 2017 Chris Kenning, reuters.com Educate! AltRight, Charlottesville, Police, Racism, White Nationalism

By Chris Kenning for Reuters - (Reuters) - Charlottesville authorities failed to protect public safety and free speech during a white nationalist rally over Confederate statues that turned deadly in the Virginia college town in August, an independent review said on Friday. The violence between counter-protesters and white nationalists, who were outraged by the city’s plan to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, marked an eruption in tensions over the symbols of the Civil War’s losing side. A 32-year-old woman was killed when a car plowed into a group of counter-demonstrators. Friday’s three-month review by former U.S. attorney Timothy Heaphy faulted law enforcement agencies for breakdowns in planning and coordination as well as a timid response that led to “disastrous results.” “The city was unable to protect the right of free expression and facilitate the permit holder’s offensive speech,” said the report commissioned by Charlottesville officials to address criticism of the response to the Aug. 12 “Unite the Right” rally. “This represents a failure of one of the government’s core functions — the protection of fundamental rights.” Charlottesville police declined to comment. The Virginia State Police said in a statement that they spent weeks planning but it was difficult to account for every circumstance.

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.

Police Clear Anti-Fracking Protest Camp From Train Tracks

November 30, 2017 AbSpegman, theolympian.com Resist! Fracking, Police, Protests

By Abby Spegman for The Olympian - Anti-fracking protesters faced off with dozens of police in tactical gear during a predawn raid Wednesday at an encampment blocking railroad tracks in downtown Olympia. Police blocked streets in the area of Seventh Avenue and Jefferson Street where protesters had set up a blockade on Nov. 17 to oppose the Port of Olympia’s shipping of ceramic proppants, or fracking sand, which is used in the oil and natural gas extraction process. The raid began shortly after 5 a.m. Police issued verbal warnings before entering the camp, which Olympia police Lt. Sam Costello said was empty when officers moved in. Later, police dogs were brought in to search for explosives in the area near the railroad tracks. About 20 to 30 protesters, many covering their faces, sang songs and mocked police as public works crews began clearing the camp. When protesters tried to approach the camp, police pushed them back. Olympia police Lt. Sam Costello said there were no arrests made and no injuries reported.

Police Aid Immigration Officials In Crackdown

November 28, 2017 Mica Rosenberg and Reade Levinson, reuters.com Educate! Deportations, Immigration, Police, Undocumented

By Mica Rosenberg and Reade Levinson for Reuters - BENSALEM, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Dozens of police departments in the United States have been granted new powers, or are seeking them, to check the immigration status of people they arrest, aiding President Donald Trump’s broad crackdown on people living in the country illegally. Since Trump took office in January, 29 departments have joined a special program under which they are deputized to perform some tasks of immigration agents, doubling its size in 10 months, according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. And the administration hopes that is just the beginning. Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show that the administration has also had contact with scores of additional jurisdictions about the program, and 38 of those told Reuters in interviews they have submitted applications for the program or are potentially interested in joining. The program, known as 287(g), deputizes local officers trained by ICE to use federal records to vet arrestees they suspect of being in the country illegally and then turn them over to federal agents if they are. The Department of Homeland Security has said in the past that police forces taking part in the program have flagged tens of thousands of people for deportation. The broad expansion of the program comes as Trump seeks to accelerate arrests and deportations of people living in the United States illegally. The large number of departments expressing interest in the program has not been previously reported.

Why Are Police In The USA So Terrified?

November 21, 2017 Robert J. Burrowes, transcend.org Educate! Police, Police State, United States

By Robert J. Burrowes for TRANSCEND Media Service - 15 Nov 2017 – In a recent incident in the United States, yet another unarmed man was shot dead by police after opening his front door in response to their knock. The police were going to serve an arrest warrant on a domestic violence suspect – the man’s neighbour – but went to the wrong address. See ‘Police kill innocent man while serving warrant at wrong address’. For those who follow news in the United States, the routine killing of innocent civilians by the police has become a national crisis despite concerted attempts by political and legal authorities and the corporate media to obscure what is happening. See ‘Killed by Police’ and ‘The Counted: People killed by police in the US’. So far this year, US police have killed 1,044 people. In contrast, from 1990 to 2016, police in England and Wales killed just 62 people. See ‘Fatal police shootings’. Of course, these murders by the police are just the tip of the iceberg of police violence as police continue to demonstrate that the freedoms ‘guaranteed’ by the Fourth Amendment have been eviscerated. See ‘What Country Is This? Forced Blood Draws, Cavity Searches and Colonoscopies’. So why are the police so violent? you might ask. Well, several scholars have offered answers to this question and you can read a little about what they say in these articles reviewing recent books on the subject. See ‘The Fraternal Order of Police Must Go’ and ‘Our Ever-Deadlier Police State’.

Neighborhood Lockdown After Officer’s Shooting Is Troubling

November 20, 2017 Fern Shen, baltimorebrew.com Educate! Baltimore, Police, Police State

By Fern Shen for Baltimore Brew - Two women walking down Franklin Street to get to their cars, parked blocks away because of the lockdown, complained that they had been harassed by officers. “They know I live here. They’ve seen me come and go. But this one had to pat me down. He [the officer] went like this to my jacket, grabbing it,” said Shelly, 25, who asked that her last name not be used. “They wanted to know where I had been. Why do I have to tell him that? It’s just me in my flip-flops trying to go to my own home.” “We haven’t been able to get our mail for four days,” said the woman with her, Samantha, 50, who also asked not be identified. “Is the city going to pay the late fees on my bills?” “It’s so sad what happened to the officer and I hope they catch whoever did it,” another woman said. “But this is really overboard. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Turned into “Open-Air Prison” Police initially said they needed to cordon off the area to try to capture the shooter. Police have said Suiter was in the 900 block of Bennett Place, investigating a previous homicide, when he was shot on Wednesday. So far, no arrests have been announced in the case. This morning, homicide detective Mike Newton told The Brew that the lockdown was necessary to collect evidence. “It’s basically still an active crime scene,” said Newton, who carried a stack of informational fliers advertising a $215,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

Charges Dropped Against 15 Cases Linked To Corrupt Ex-Cop

November 18, 2017 Megan Crepeau, Jason Meisner and Jeremy Gorner, chicagotribune.com Educate! Chicago, Corruption, Police

By Megan Crepeau, Jason Meisner and Jeremy Gorner for Chicago Tribune - In a sudden about-face Thursday night, Chicago police said seven cops once part of an allegedly corrupt crew will be removed from street duties while their conduct years ago is investigated. The reversal came hours after Cook County prosecutors threw out the convictions of 15 men who were framed by the crew — led by former Sgt. Ronald Watts, who did prison time for shaking down drug dealers. Police spokesman Frank Giancamilli said Thursday night that one sergeant and six officers who worked with Watts have been placed on paid desk duty while an internal investigation is conducted. Asked earlier Thursday why several officers tied to Watts’ corrupt crew were still on the force, police Superintendent Eddie Johnson noted none had been convicted of a crime — unlike Watts. “They have due process and rights just like any citizen in this country,” he told reporters after his speech to the City Club of Chicago. “… But we just can’t arbitrarily take the job away from people.” Asked whether those officers might be taken off the streets while the department looks into the cases, Johnson said, “Once I get enough information, then that may be what happens. But right now ... we are looking at it.”

Non-Intoxicating CBD Is Under Attack: Police Raids & FDA Warnings

November 18, 2017 Martin A. Lee, projectcbd.org Resist! FDA, Marijuana, Police

By Martin A. Lee for Project CBD - The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which defers to the DEA on cannabis-related matters, considers CBD to be an experimental pharmaceutical undergoing evaluation. In early November, the FDA sent letters to several companies selling hemp-derived CBD products warning that they were violating the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Acts. This was the third time in recent years that the FDA has issued warnings to CBD manufacturers and retailers, which market hemp-derived CBD products as nutraceuticals or food supplements. The most recent round of FDA warning letters did not involve false statements about the source of the CBD extracts. Instead, the agency objected to unsubstantiated medical claims allegedly made by four CBD oil producers: Greenroads Health, Natural Alchemist, That’s Natural! Marketing and Consulting, and last but not least, the Stanley Brothers. Some of these unsubstantiated claims, according to the FDA, included patient testimonials and assertions that CBD “may be effective in treating tumors from cancer” and other diseases. Thus far, however, there have been no FDA-approved clinical trials that might validate preclinical studies and anecdotal accounts of CBD’s anti-cancer properties. Today one can easily purchase unregulated CBD products online and at some supermarkets and storefronts across the nation.

Group Investigating Police On Inauguration Day Has History Supporting Police

November 15, 2017 Sarah Lazare, theintercept.com Educate! Inauguration, Investigation, Police

By Sarah Lazare for The Intercept - A CONSULTANT PAID by the Washington, D.C., City Council to investigate the Metropolitan Police Department’s crackdown on Inauguration Day protesters is coming under scrutiny for what activists and experts say is a bias in favor of police. The Police Foundation, the purportedly independent group conducting the investigation for the city, is poring over charges of police abuses from January 20. The city’s police department faced scrutiny for violence and arrests that targeted anyone in close proximity to an anti-fascist demonstration, part of a thousands-strong “Disrupt J20” protest against Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration. Demonstrators were allegedly confronted with arbitrary mass arrests and sexual assault, according a lawsuit filed against D.C. and the police. The lawsuit said those in and around the protest came under attack from chemical agents, such as pepper spray, as well as rubber bullets and stinger grenades. Following the mass arrests, hundreds of people were charged with conspiracy, property destruction, and assault, and now many face decades in prison. Defense attorneys say the mass prosecution is unprecedented in Washington, D.C. The police’s actions on January 20 quickly provoked concern.

Protests Against ADL’s Role In US-Israel Deadly Exchange Programs

November 10, 2017 Staff, jewishvoiceforpeace.org Resist! Israel, Law Enforcement, Militarization, Police, Protests

By Staff of JVP - JVP activists demonstrated at Anti-Defamation League offices from New York to Seattle, New Haven to Chicago, and 11 other cities across the country Wednesday as part of a nationwide action organized by Jewish Voice for Peace calling on the ADL to end #DeadlyExchange programs between U.S. and Israeli law enforcement officials. At protests throughout the day, ADL executives refused petition deliveries, and told JVP activists that the New York headquarters would receive the text of the petition signed by 20,000+ people. When organizers arrived at the ADL’s national headquarters in Manhattan they were again refused. After a large rally where 70 recited the mourner’s kaddish for those killed by state violence, seven JVP members–ranging in age from 24 to 72– remained in the lobby of the building, waiting for the the ADL to take the petition. Instead, 30 police officers arrested them as they were reading testimonies from those harmed by police exchange programs and singing “Ain’t gonna study war no more.” In a letter delivered to ADL Director Jonathan Greenblatt Wednesday morning, JVP Executive Director Rebecca Vilkomerson requested a meeting to discuss the demand that this self-proclaimed civil rights organization put an end to these dangerous training programs that perpetuate discriminatory, repressive and violent policies in the U.S. and Israel.

LA Police Arresting People For Speaking 20 Seconds Over Allotted Time

October 27, 2017 Emily C. Bell, www.alternet.org Educate! ACLU, Los Angeles, Police, Repression

By Emily C. Bell for AlterNet - The tweet comes after Melanie Ochoa, a staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California, who sent a letter Tuesday morning to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles city councilmembers. The letter calls on them to “reject the proposed ordinance," because “although styled as a public safety ordinance, it would do nothing to improve public safety.” The letter goes on to reference two specific cases in which residents were removed from meetings at the Board of Police Commissioners. The LAPD had the most “officer-involved killings” in 2015 and 2016, according to the Guardian. When the data is compared to cities with similar populations, the “rate of fatal encounters” was higher in LA than both Chicago and New York last year. The ACLU letter states: “Part of the duty of public officials is to bear the brunt of the public’s displeasure as well as expressions of gratitude and satisfaction. City Council’s irritation is not a public safety threat, and the serious consequences of criminal law should be limited to conduct that actually poses a risk to the safety of others.” The letter gives the example of 81-year-old Tut Hayes. A video posted by user PM Beers shows Hayes speaking at a meeting in 2016, before being forcibly removed from the room, while onlookers yell at the police to let him go.

Police Reportedly Claim A Brooklyn Teen Consented To Sex In Custody

October 21, 2017 Natasha Lennard, www.theintercept.com Educate! Police, Police abuse, Rape

By Natasha Lennard for The Intercept - ON SEPTEMBER 28, attorney Michael David filed notice of a claim against the New York Police Department, the City of New York, and two unnamed police officers, referred to as John and Jim Doe. These plainclothes cops, alleged the claim, “brutally sexually assaulted and raped” his 18-year-old female client. David told me that within a day, he needed to amend the claim: The officers had been identified by police in the press as Brooklyn South narcotics detectives Richard Hall and Edward Martins. “What was strange,” said David, “was that within only two or three hours of me filing, there was a story leaked to the New York Post saying that the detectives were claiming that the sex they had with my client in custody was consensual. They hadn’t even been named yet.” The attorney told me that he believes “the police were trying to get ahead of the story.” At a time of elevated public awareness about police violence and sexual assault, these detectives’ apparent defensive tack raises troubling questions about the way cops approach these national plagues. Let us be clear: Someone in police custody cannot give consent, in any meaningful sense of the word, to the officer holding them. Someone in police custody cannot give consent, in any meaningful sense of the word, to the officer holding them.

LAPD Commission Approves Drone Pilot Program Amid Protest

October 19, 2017 Wes Woods and Brenda Gazzar, www.dailynews.com Resist! Drones, LAPD, Police, Protests

By Wes Woods and Brenda Gazzar for Los Angeles Daily News - The civilian Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday approved a one-year pilot program for the use of drones by police in certain situations, despite significant concerns voiced by the public. The program was approved by a 3-1 vote after commissioners considered guidelines and took public comment. Steve Soboroff, president of the commission, said before his vote the issue wasn’t about drones. “The issue is a universal distrust and categorical distrust of the men and women of the Los Angeles Police Department,” said Soboroff, shouting above the crowd. “And I have a general trust and respect for the men and women of the Los Angeles Police Department, and I will vote for this policy.” Soboroff’s words came after commissioner Cynthia McClain-Hill said she was opposed to the “difficult” issue. “I am not satisfied that this department has done what it should do and needs to do in order to build the trust that is required to support the implementation of this technology,” McClain-Hill said. Meanwhile, commissioner Shane Murphy Goldsmith did not attend the meeting for reasons unclear. Many in attendance voiced their opposition to the program, and loud chants of “Shame on you!” broke out following the decision while four people were detained and issued citations. Afterward, some people in the audience briefly blocked Main Street and 1st Street outside of the meeting to protest of the decision.

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