Baltimore Police Gun Trace Task Force Falsely Arrested/Incarcerated Many Residents and Cost City Over $15M. Gang of Thug Cops Used Authority to Routinely Violate Rights and Steal Drugs and Money

From [HERE] The long-term cost of the Baltimore Police Department’s notorious and disgraced Gun Trace Task Force(link is external) to taxpayers just jumped by more than half a million dollars, the result of a newly-approved settlement with one of the unit’s victims (article available here(link is external)).

Baltimore’s spending board approved a $575,000 settlement Wednesday stemming from an arrest made by members of the city’s Gun Trace Task Force, bringing the total paid out as a result of the rogue force’s actions to more than $15 million.

The Board of Estimates voted unanimously in favor of the settlement reached with Darnell Earl, who sued the Baltimore Police Department and three members of the task force over a 2015 arrest that resulted in a year and a half of jail time.

Earl was a passenger in a car in October 2015 that was stopped by police officers Marcus Taylor, Evodio Hendrix and Wayne Jenkins. Following the stop, the officers said they found a firearm under Earl’s seat. Earl had prior convictions for illegal possession of a gun and was charged with multiple firearms-related offenses as a result of the stop. He pleaded guilty to one charge.

After revelations that the task force routinely violated people’s rights and stole drugs and money using the authority of their badge, Taylor, Hendrix and Jenkins pleaded guilty to federal charges. Earl’s conviction, along with many others related to the force, was vacated due to credibility issues with the officers.

Earl sued the department in 2020, alleging numerous violations of state and federal law, arguing there was no probable cause for the traffic stop and that the gun was planted in the vehicle by the officers.

Taylor, who was sentenced to 18 years behind bars, remains in federal prison in Arkansas. Jenkins, sentenced to 25 years(link is external), is being held in Kentucky. Hendrix, sentenced to seven years, was released in February(link is external).

The settlement approved Wednesday brings the total paid out by the city for settlements related to the task force to $15.48 million. The largest of those settlements, $7.9 million, was paid to Umar Burley and Brent Matthews(link is external), who both went to federal prison for drugs that were planted in their vehicle in 2010. That amount eclipsed the settlement paid to the family of Freddie Gray in 2015.

Records Show that Many Oakland Cops Make Over $500K a Year [the Myth of the Underpaid, Urban Cop who is Primarily Engaged in "Police Work," is Propaganda to Manufacture False Public Relations]

From [INDYBAY] Some Oakland Cops Rake In Half A Million Annually, & Have Millions Of Dollars Stashed Away:

Public records reveal that many Oakland cops rake in over half a million dollars in pay and total benefits annually, and that many of the cops are using the money for political activities according to Open Disclosure, and according to records with the Secretary of State.

Additional records reveal that in 2021, the Oakland Police Officers Association had a revenue of $2,202,613, and after subtracting their assets from their liabilities, they had $2,941,298 in net assets.

According to public records, in 2020, the Oakland Police Foundation had net assets of $1,367,475, and in 2020 the Oakland Police Officers Insurance Trust had a revenue of $2,594,071, with net assets of $325,793 at the end of the year. “The organization’s mission or most significant activities: Provide members with insurance benefits.”

In 2020, more public records reveal that the Oakland Police Emergency Net had net assets of $828,109 at the end of the year, and that the Oakland Asian Police Officers Association had net assets of $39,785.

Additional records in 2020 reveal that the Widows and Orphans Aid Association of the Oakland Police Department had $3,555,521 in net assets, and the Retired Oakland Police Officers Association had net assets of $386,332 in 2019.

According to more public records, in 2020 the Oakland Police Officers and Firefighters Health and Welfare TR had a revenue of $1,600,522, and $4,769,006 in net assets. This was established for the purpose of providing dental care benefits to eligible participants. However click here to find additional information regarding dental care for the firefighters and police.

In 2018, the Oakland Police-Community Activities League had a revenue of $409,475, and net assets of $249,004 at the end of the year.

Heavily Redacted Records Show the FBI Surveilled Black Activist Darren Seals. Feds Kept His Traffic Warrants Open to Enable Police to Stop Him Whenever They Wanted and without Lawful Cause

From [HERE] A previously classified, heavily redacted FBI file shows that the agency opened a file on Darren Seals before his death.

Seals was an activist from Ferguson who came to prominence during the protests following the 2014 killing of Michael Brown. In September 2016 he was found shot and killed in his car, which had been set on fire. The murder has never been solved.

In the file, the FBI refers to Seals as "a self-described revolutionary who has espoused somewhat “militant rhetoric” and has access to weapons."

Seals, who was 29 when he died, suffered numerous gunshot wounds throughout his life. In the wake of the 2014 protests he gained national attention for his anti-violence activism, with a focus in particular on combating police brutality.

Seals was outspoken in his criticism of national Black Lives Matter organizers and activists, whom he accused of getting rich off the name of Michael Brown while doing little for the area of St. Louis where Brown came from.

The FBI file shows Seals was under some level of FBI surveillance, though to what extent is unclear. The file on Seals runs over 900 pages, but around 860 of those pages were fully redacted. The remaining 45 or so pages still had significant partial redactions.

Notations in the file indicate that much of the redacted text pertains to "investigative techniques and procedures" as well as private information about people other than Seals.

According to the report, at one point Seals was "investigatively detained" during a traffic stop conducted by police at the request of the FBI.

That detention, which the report says lasted about 20 minutes, seems to be referring to a traffic stop that occurred June 8, 2016.

When police pulled him over, Seals was driving his 2012 Jeep Wrangler with a companion whose name is redacted.

The specific police agency working with federal law enforcement is redacted as well. The report does indicate that an FBI agent and a U.S. Marshal assisted in the stop.

A search of Seals' car turned up nothing.

Law enforcement told Seals there were warrants out for his arrest but then let him go.

A later addition to the FBI file states, "Traffic warrants for subject's arrest remain active if additional car stops are deemed merited."

The investigation into Seals would be reviewed by the field office's chief division counsel "at least semi-annually," the file says.

The chief division counsel is a field office's senior legal counsel.

One partially unredacted page records Seals' death. But like the vast majority of the document, its meaning is largely hidden behind redactions.

"SEALS was found shot to death and burned in his known vehicle on 9/6/2016. [redacted] Police Department is investigating the matter as a homicide," the report says. "The investigative plan will be to [redacted] homicide of SEALS because it is anticipated that violent protests may be generated by his death as conspiracy theories are already forming that Seals was killed by the police because of his black lives matter affiliations."

Seals was not the only Ferguson activist to meet a tragic fate at a relatively young age. Talk of conspiracy has surrounded his death since it happened.

Seals’ FBI file was provided to the RFT by St. Louis-based activist James Cooper, who said he requested it two years ago from the agency using the Freedom of Information Act. FBI files typically become public records after a subject’s death.

Judge Blocks ‘No Recording Cops Within 8 Feet’ Law Even Arizona Cops Don’t Want To Defend

From [HERE] In 2016, Arizona state senator John Kavanaugh tried to make it much more difficult to record police officers. He authored a bill that would create a 20-foot “no recording” zonearound cops, supposedly in the interest of officer safety.

That bill went nowhere. It contained obvious First Amendment problems and reeked of protectionism that armed officers of the law do not need, much less deserve. The idea should have died forever, especially when public sentiment turned definitively against law enforcement, following the murder of unarmed black man, George Floyd, by white Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin — a conviction that probably wouldn’t have been obtained without the assistance of a recording taken by Minnesota resident.

With that in mind — along with the apparent First Amendment issues — Kavanaugh went back to the “no recording” well again in 2021. This time, he trimmed down the diameter to eight feet, under the obviously mistaken assumption the First Amendment wouldn’t be troubled by this shorter length. 

Here’s the excuse Kavanugh offered for his First Amendment Violation 2.0 bill:

Kavanagh, of course, argues that he’s just trying to prevent “violence and misunderstandings.”

He also told the Arizona Mirror that this is to prevent “the destruction of evidence and preventing police officers from harm.”

Despite there being no public demand for this legislation and despite its clear constitutional problems, the bill was signed into law by Governor Greg Ducey, who is apparently every bit as idiotic as those forwarding him this legislation.

In defense of his second assault on established rights, Sen. Kavanaugh offered up this defense in his op-ed published by AZ Central.

I agreed to run this bill because there are groups hostile to the police that follow them around to videotape police incidents, and they get dangerously close to potentially violent encounters. The Tucson police officers who asked me to run this bill said that in their area some of these people videotape from 1 to 2 feet behind them, even when they’re arresting people.

This statement makes it appear Arizona law enforcement supports this broadside attack on the First Amendment. Maybe some of them do. But the law was immediately challenged by a bunch of Arizona news agencies, along with the ACLU. The lawsuit seeking an injunction pointed out the obvious constitutional deficiencies.

That challenge has (at least temporarily) succeeded. A federal court has blocked the law until all the legal issues can be sorted out. 

An Arizona law that would make it illegal to create video recordings of police in certain circumstances will not go into effect Sept. 24 as planned, after a federal judge temporarily blocked its enforcement.

The judge on Friday morning granted a temporary injunction of the law, essentially putting the law on hold while a court case challenging it plays out.

If you want precedent (specific to this district), you’ve got it, says the Arizona federal court in its decision[PDF]:

Under the first Winter factor, the moving party must show that it is likely to succeed on the merits. Here, Plaintiffs have done so. As Plaintiffs observe in their Motion, the Ninth Circuit has recognized that there is a “clearly established” right to “record law enforcement officers engaged in the exercise of their official duties in public places” under the First Amendment. Askins v. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 899 F.3d 1035, 1044 (9th Cir. 2018) (citing ACLU of Ill. v. Alvarez, 679 F.3d 583, 597 (7th Cir. 2012); Fordyce v. City of Seattle, 55 F.3d 436, 439 (9th Cir. 1995) (recognizing that an individual videorecording policing of protest was “exercising his First Amendment right to film matters of public interest.”)). The United States Supreme Court has also recognized a right to gather news. Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665, 681 (1972). Recording video of police officers performing their duties and distributing the video to the public is a news-gathering activity—it serves the Public’s First Amendment right to “receive information and ideas.” Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia, 448 U.S. 555, 576 (1980) (citation omitted); First Nat’l Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, 435 U.S. 765, 783 (1978) (“the First Amendment goes beyond protection of the press and the self-expression of individuals to prohibit government from limiting the stock of information from which members of the public may draw.”).

When a clearly established right meets a piece of boot-licking legislation, it’s the Constitution that almost always wins. That’s what the court foresees, hence the injunction. 

Now, the injunction can be lifted if the Arizona government (in any and all of its forms) can convince the court this restriction is minimal, narrowly crafted to serve a legitimate government interest, and cannot be achieved without this law. Good luck with that. Despite state senator John Kavanaugh’s claims that law enforcement back his law, it appears no form of law enforcement in the state is willing to go to court to fight for the 8-foot law’s survival.

Violent Liberal Puppeticians in California Enact the "CARE Act" which Forces Homeless People to Submit to Medical Treatment and Creates a New 'Make Them Disappear Court' for the Unhoused

From [INDYBAY] Oakland - Welcome to the Twilight Zone? Breaking bad on policy he advanced earlier this year, California Governor Gavin (Gruesom) Newsom signed a bill Wednesday to create extremist courts attacking the unhoused to address mental health and homelessness issues with SB 1388 dubbed the Care Court, by forcing unhoused people accused of having schizophrenia or other illnesses to submit to so-called medical treatment.

Reportedly, Oakland’s homeless population grew by around 1,000 people since the plandemic began, placing around 5,055 people without permanent housing.

Unfortunately, instead of focusing on proven methods that prioritize permanent housing and voluntary healthcare, Governor Gavin Newsom’s so-called “CARE Court” plan would create a new court system that subjects unhoused people with mental health disabilities to involuntary treatment. This is not the answer. California desperately needs more housing and healthcare — not more courts.”

Human Rights Watch Also Opposes The So-Called Care Court:

In a release from Human Rights Watch, it part it states, “Human Rights Watch has carefully reviewed SB 1338 and the proposed framework for the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Court created by CalHHS, and must respectfully voice our strong opposition. CARE Court promotes a system of involuntary, coerced treatment, enforced by an expanded judicial infrastructure, that will, in practice, simply remove unhoused people with perceived mental health conditions from the public eye without effectively addressing those mental health conditions and without meeting the urgent need for housing. We urge you to reject this bill and instead to take a more holistic, rights-respecting approach to address the lack of resources for autonomy-affirming treatment options and affordable housing.

Additionally, “The CARE Court directly targets unhoused people to be placed under court-ordered treatment, thus denying their rights and self-determination. Governor Newsom, in pitching this plan, called it a response to seeing homeless encampments throughout the state of California. CARE Court will empower police and homeless outreach workers to refer people to the courts and allow judges to order them into treatment against their will, including medication plans. Despite allusions to “housing plans,” CARE Court does not increase access to permanent supportive housing and indeed, the bill prohibits the court from requiring the county to provide actual housing.”

What Kind Of Treatment Will The Coerced Unhoused People Be Facing?

What kind of treatment will the coerced unhoused population be facing? That appears uncertain at the moment, but reportedly, “Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective treatment for depression and other psychiatric conditions. There is little comprehensive data on how many patients receive ECT in the United States, nor about the demographics of ECT recipients. This study characterizes the demographics of those receiving ECT, and how these demographics may have changed with time.”

Gingerbread Cottages, Gov Services Overwhelmed in Martha’s Vineyard by the Arrival of 50 Non-White Migrants. Rich, Liberal Neuropeans Seeking Immigration Rebate Ship Unwanted NGHRS to Military Base

From [HERE] A white homeless coordinator in Martha's Vineyard, the latest destination where non-white migrants are being sent by Republican governors in an effort to bring attention to the southern border, said that the island doesn't have the resources to help them long-term and that they will eventually have to move 'somewhere else." [sounds like she is a liar - a good source of info for The Dependent Media].

Martha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts that is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. The island is a resort for tourists and the wealthy and is populated by white liberals who reside in nice, gingerbread homes.

Lisa Belcastro was speaking to reporters Thursday about the community response to the newly arrived migrants.

"We don't have the services to take care of 50 immigrants, and we certainly don't have housing," she said. "We can't house everyone here that lives here and works here."

Her remarks came a day after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent two planes carrying 50 migrants to the island off the Massachusetts coast, known primarily as a summer vacation spot for the wealthy, which prompted an impromptu response by local leaders. 

"States like Massachusetts, New York and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden administration’s open border policies," the governor’s communications director, Taryn Fenske, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. [MORE]

NON-WHITE MIGRANTS TAKEN VOLUNTARILY TO A MILITARY BASE. “VOLUNTARILY” MEANING VOLUNTARily LIKE A COVID VAX MANDATE.

ACCORDING TO FUNKTIONARY:

 Probot – a propagandizing programmed robot. A representative from an organization, agency or institution, especially the Internal Revenue Service, Pentagon, State Department, or Blight House, whose assignment is to make prepared statements and answer “cooked” (prepared) questions at news conferences, briefings and the like. A probot is a proxymoron who conveys programmed disinformation in computerized language and bureaucratese jargon. A probot is one who disseminates lies, distortions and convenient mass truths composed by a superior overruling elite. (See: Proxymoron)

Nigger – “A non-white person who is subject to the system of White Supremacy.” ~Neely Fuller, Jr. [MORE]

According to FUNKTIONARY:

Racism White Supremacy - psychopathic degeneracy. 2) "The local and global power system and dynamic, structured and maintained by persons who classify themselves as white, whether consciously or subconsciously determined, which consists of patterns of perception, logic, symbol formation, thought, speech, action and emotional response, as conducted simultaneously in all areas of people activity (economics, education, entertainment, labour, law, politics, religion, sex and war); for the ultimate purpose of white genetic survival and to prevent white genetic annihilation on planet earth—a planet upon which the vast majority of people are classified as non-white (Black, Brown, Red and Yellow) by white skinned people, and all of the nonwhite people are genetically dominant (in terms of skin coloration) compared to the genetic recessive white skin people." -Dr. Francis Cress Welsing, MD. Hate and oppression can never reign. Only love is supreme.

Pastor Assaulted While Watering Flowers Files Lawsuit: Although Cops Can Request ID If Its Reasonable to Believe Crime is Taking Place, When Cops Demanded ID the Only Sign of Crime was His Blackness

From [HERE] The Black pastor surveilled, assaulted and detained by disfluent, really stupid, white cops after they demanded ID while he was watering flowers  filed a federal lawsuit against the town of Childersburg. The suit alleges the actions of Officers Christopher Smith and Justin Gable, Sgt. Jeremy Brooks and the city violated constitutional rights that protect him from unlawful arrest and guarantee free speech.

The lawsuit also says Jennings suffered emotional and psychological distress during the arrest and its aftermath, resulting in PTSD symptoms such as anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, nightmares and flashbacks.

Jennings, 56, was watering his neighbor’s roses when he was arrested on that Sunday in May, after a white neighbor called 911 and said a “younger Black male” and gold SUV were at a house while the owners — who are friends of Jennings and had asked him to watch their home — were away.

Although there were no signs indicating an unlawful entry, a break in or that a theft was taking place or that any other crime was taking place, the neuropeon authoritarians suspected him of a crime apparently because he was watering flowers. The video speaks for itself.

A Protestor Found Out Rights are Just Favors from Master. Serving 4 Yrs in Jail for Telling Cops “I’m willing to die for the Black, are you willing to die for the blue?” Now Begs Masters to Reconsider

From [HERE] Lawyers are pushing for a judge to reconsider the prison sentence of a South Carolina activist who was convicted for “breach of peace,” aggravated over remarks she made to police during racial justice protests in 2020.

Brittany Martin, a 34-year-old Black woman, is expecting a baby later this year, but in the past months, she has suffered several health complications and lost weight, said Sybil Dione Rosado, one of the attorney’s representing her.

“She has had preterm labor, she’s had several events where she had to be taken on an emergency basis to the hospital,” Rosado told CNN. 

Martin was arrested in Sumter, South Carolina, after taking part in June 2020 protests prompted by the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

Rosado said the verbal encounter that led to Martin’s arrest was along the lines of, “I’m willing to die for the Black, are you willing to die for the blue? This is just a job for you. This is my life.”

CNN has requested documents detailing Martin’s arrest. Sumter Police Department declined to comment on the case. Tonyia McGirt, a police spokeswoman, said it would be “inappropriate” to comment as the case may be reconsidered. 

Martin’s attorneys said she was not “physically violent or threatening” during the encounter.

Last year, Martin was indicted on charges of aggravated breach of peace, instigating a riot and five counts of threatening the life of a public official, according to court records.

Earlier this year a jury found her guilty of one count of high and aggravated breach of peace. In May, a judge sentenced Martin to four years in prison, court records show.

In South Carolina, breach of peace is a crime punishable by no more than a $500 fine or 30 days in prison. However, aggravated breach of peace is an escalated offense, and the judge hearing the case is charged with handing down a penalty “as is conformable to the common usage and practice in this state, according to the nature of the offense, and not repugnant to the Constitution,” according to state law.

“She’s spending four years in jail and pregnant and struggling for the life of her baby because she’s loud and Black. It’s an absolute travesty of justice,” Rosado told CNN.

In an effort to have Martin’s sentence reduced to time served, civil rights attorney Bakari Sellers recently joined Martin’s legal team and filed a memo last month. Sellers is a CNN political analyst and a former representative from South Carolina.

In his memo requesting a reconsidered sentence, Sellers wrote that reducing Martin’s sentence “will allow her to seek and receive the prenatal care she needs to sustain what has been a high-risk pregnancy, plagued by complications.”

He alleges the medical care offered by the South Carolina Department of Corrections is “insufficient to address the needs” of Martin’s “fragile pregnancy,” according to the memo. CNN has reached out to the department for comment.

A reduced sentence, Sellers says, “will adequately reflect the serious nature” of Martin’s actions.

Media Analysis Shows Columbus Police are Disproportionately Shooting and Killing Black Males. Although the Liberal, White City is Only 29% Black, 63% of the People Killed by Cops were Black

From [HERE] and [MORE] Regardless of quite a few measures carried out to reform policing in Columbus over the previous two years, police shootings have continued to disproportionately contain Black males — a disparity that has continued since at the very least 2012, a Dispatch evaluation has discovered.

Columbus metropolis officers have carried out quite a few management and coverage modifications inside the Division of Police since December 2020, when two Black males had been shot by legislation enforcement officers within the metropolis: 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr., who was fatally shot by former Franklin County Sheriff’s deputy Jason Meade; and Andre Hill, who was fatally shot by former Columbus police officer Adam Coy. Each officers are dealing with prison prices in these deaths.

Within the wake of these modifications, the overall variety of shootings by metropolis law enforcement officials did fall from double digits yearly from 2012 to 2020 to a complete of six in 2021, the Dispatch evaluation discovered. However all six of the individuals shot in 2021 had been Black — 4 males and two females — and three of these had been deadly.

All six of the individuals shot by metropolis law enforcement officials to date in 2022 additionally had been Black males. The lone loss of life occurred on Aug. 30 when 20-year-old Donovan Lewis, who was biracial, was shot by Officer Ricky Anderson whereas serving warrants for his arrest on a number of prices.

“We now have to know the depth of the ache, and fairly actually, the phobia that’s felt within the communities that have (police shootings),” stated Ayesha Bell Hardaway, affiliate professor of legislation and director of the Social Justice Heart at Case Western Reserve College in Cleveland.

Since 2012, there have been 156 shootings involving Columbus police during which 169 individuals both had been struck or in any other case concerned. Of these 169 individuals, 104 have been Black males, representing 62% of the overall of individuals concerned.

The identical knowledge from a span of greater than 10 ½-years exhibits that fifty of the 156 shootings have resulted in 54 individuals dying, 34 of whom have been Black males. That representing 63% of the deaths by the hands of police.

Census knowledge from July 2021 exhibits Columbus’ inhabitants as being 29.2% Black.

In 2020, Mayor Andrew J. Ginther and the Fraternal Order of Police entered into an settlement with the Ohio Bureau of Felony Investigation for the state company to research shootings involving Columbus law enforcement officials. Since that point, BCI has been requested to research greater than a dozen shootings, 5 of which have been deadly.

The latest incident during which Lewis was shot and killed occurred shortly after 2 a.m. on Aug. 30. Police had gone to Lewis’ house to arrest him on a number of excellent warrants, together with misdemeanor prices for home violence and assault of his pregnant girlfriend and a felony cost of improperly dealing with a firearm. [MORE]

Another Black Person Shot to Death by Police in Liberal, White, St. Louis. Cops Claim a 16-year-old Had a Gun. White, Dependent Media Parrots Cops

From [HERE] St. Louis police officers fatally shot a 16-year-old who was reaching for a gun, police said Monday.

Darryl Ross was shot just after 11:30 p.m. Sunday at a gas station on the city's north side. Ross is Black. A police incident report said one of the officers involved in the shooting was Black, and one was white.

The city's new Force Investigation Unit, established last month, was handling the investigation.

Police said two drug enforcement detectives spotted several people with guns at the service station and drove to the parking lot. Their car was unmarked and they were in plain clothes but wearing black, bulletproof vests with the word “POLICE” written on the front and back.

Ross, armed with a gun according to the police report, walked away quickly to an alley. The detectives followed him and announced they were police officers. Ross ran, then tripped and fell, dropping a pistol, police said.

As the detectives approached, Ross reached for the pistol, the report said, prompting both officers to shoot him. Ross was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The officers were unhurt.

It was the second fatal officer-involved shooting in St. Louis in less than a week. Officers killed a 61-year-old man last Wednesday at an apartment complex. Police said a man who had been evicted engaged police in a standoff. When officers entered the building, the man charged at officers with a butcher knife, prompting several to open fire, police said.

In August, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones signed legislation creating a Division of Civilian Oversight, an independent agency to investigate allegations of police misconduct and use of force incidents. Under the new law, a Force Investigation Unit under the direction of the circuit attorney investigates use-of-force incidents. [MORE]

Who Do Mostly White Texas Authorities Murder w/the Death Penalty? Study Shows Death Sentences are more than 3X as likely to be imposed in cases involving white victims than in cases w/Black Victims

LYNCH MOBS From [DPIC] A new study of the Texas death penalty, released as the state was conducting its 400th modern-era execution in a case involving a white victim, has documented overwhelming racial disparities in the Lone Star state’s capital punishment system.

Reviewing more than 15,000 capital murder convictions in Texas from 1973 to 2018, University of Detroit Mercy School of Law Dean Jelani Jefferson Exum (pictured left) and University of Cincinnati School of Public and International Affairs Associate Professor Dr. David Niven (pictured right), found “a stark disparity” in whose lives mattered in Texas capital cases based on the race of the victim and the race of the defendant. “The Texas death penalty data shows how pervasive race is in death penalty outcomes,” Exum and Niven write in their Summer 2022 article, Where Black Lives Matter Less: Understanding the Impact of Black Victims on Sentencing Outcomes in Texas Capital Murder Cases from 1973 to 2018, in the St. Louis University Law Journal

“Race,” they say, “is everywhere.”

Exum and Niven found that a death sentence was more than three times as likely to be imposed in Texas in a case involving a white victim than in a case with a Black victim. While 5.2% of Texas 15,394 capital murder convictions resulted in death sentences, death was imposed in 8.5% of white-victim cases compared with 2.7% of Black-victim cases.

“Taken in sum,” they wrote, “we see: a race of victim disparity in death sentences overall; a race of victim disparity in death sentences sorted by race of defendant; a race of victim disparity in death sentences sorted by weapon used; a race of victim disparity in cases with a single victim; and a race of victim disparity in multiple victim cases. … In every single comparison, the racial disparity was statistically significant. In every single comparison, harsher punishment was associated with white victims than with African American victims, who clearly mattered less.”

Exum and Niven conducted an analysis to determine the probability that the persistently large race-of-victim disparities they found could have been the product of a race neutral process. That possibility, they discovered, was astronomically remote — one in 180 septen-decillion (numerically represented as 180,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000). By comparison, they noted, “the odds of winning the Powerball lottery … are quite literally trillions of times better than seeing this disparity in race of victim sentencing in Texas happen by chance.”

The white-victim preference in capital convictions “is so prevalent that we even see a race of victim disparity in non-death sentence cases,” they wrote. In the 11,139 capital murder cases in Texas in which a death sentence was not imposed, those convicted of killing white victims were sentenced to an average of 51.3 years in prison, nearly four years longer than the average of 47.5 years imposed on those convicted of killing Black victims.

A Death Penalty Information Center analysis found similar race-of-victim disparities in Texas execution data. On August 17, 2022, Texas executed Kosoul Chanthakoummane, the state’s 575th execution since the 1970s. He was the 400th person to be put to death for a homicide involving at least one white victim. 69.6% of all Texas executions over that time have involved at least one white victim, and 67.3% (387 executions) involved only white victims. During that same time, 79 people were put to death in Texas for homicides that involved any Black victims (13.7% of executions). 74 of those cases involved only Black victims (12.9%). That meant that a Texas execution was 5.1 times more likely to have involved at least one white victim than any Black victim and 5.2 times more likely to have involved only white victims than only Black victims.

The Texas executions also demonstrated huge race of defendant disparities. While 238 of the 254 white death-sentenced prisoners executed in Texas (93.7%) have been put to death for homicides involving white victims, only 70 of the 207 Black death-sentenced prisoners executed in the state (33.8%) were put to death for murders involving Black victims. 114 Black death-sentenced prisoners were executed for homicides of white victims (55.1%), 110 of which (53.1%) involved only white victims. Just 2.4% of the white executed prisoners (6 cases) were put to death for killing any Black victims. 

“As the Texas example provides, the devaluing effect of Blackness is apparent,” Exum and Niven write. “This is not simply a failure to recognize the value of Black lives—as the Black Lives Matter movement exposes—but a reflection of the societal view that Blackness actually reduces the value and importance of all things—from property to community spaces to ultimate humanity. In life, Black people are vastly under-protected by the law, and the same is true for Black people even in a system designed to exact retribution for death.”

“History shows us that Blackness has been devalued since the founding of America,” Exum and Niven note. “The truth, of course, is that Black victims matter as much as any, even if the legal system and society have not recognized their value.” 

Their proposed response: “We must make the radical choice to uproot systems, like the death penalty, that allow the anti-Black biases in our national consciousness to not only thrive, but to be just. To do otherwise is to perpetuate a system where Black lives matter less.”

“When we accept the fact that the death penalty reveals that Black deaths do not matter,” they conclude, “then it becomes apparent that there is not an antiracist fix for the death penalty other than its abolition.”

Dr Judy Mikovits: Shedding From Persons who Got COVID Shots is Real, Especially if They're Sick and Had More Than 1 Shot. The Spike Protein is a Transmissible Infectious Agent and Can Make You Sick

‘Good Morning CHD’ Episode 126: Spike Shedding - How To Protect Your Family With Judy Mikovits, Ph.D.

https://live.childrenshealthdefense.org/shows/good-morning-chd/c10WU0PCG2

Guest Judy Mikovits, Ph.D., joins host Polly Tommey for an eye-opening conversation on the symptoms of vaccine injury in the unvaccinated. In this episode of “Good Morning CHD,” Dr. Mikovits shares with viewers not only why this phenomenon is taking place but also what to do about it. She speaks to parents and pregnant mothers, explaining why it is critical for us to be protected, informed, and have faith in these times.

Excerpt:

Polly Tommy: "If you are a pregnant woman would you stay away from gatherings where you know people have been recently vaccinated? If you had a newborn baby, or a toddler, or anything like that, would you let them go to the playgroups..."

Judy Mikovitis: "If I were pregnant, I probably would not go in concentrated spaces with people who had been recently vaccinated, especially with more than one shot. But do understand: If they are not sick, they're not likely shedding large amounts. So those simple procedures I just told you in nutritional support, Paximune, and healthy essential oils on your skin, is likely going to be a way that it's not a problem. For children's playgroups, assuming they are three and four -- playgroups, often; newborns not. No vaccines for newborns. No vaccines for those children under three because those vaccines are compromising immune systems that haven't developed..."

US Govt Pretends There's a COVID Emergency, Approves New COVID Boosters Without Human Testing. Despite Millions Harmed, Thousands Dead from COVID Clot Shots, CDC/FDA Claim Injections “Proven Safe"

From [MERCOLA]

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

  • August 31, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized Pfizer’s and Moderna’s bivalent boosters, which will be available to those who have received the primary two-dose series

  • Pfizer is releasing a bivalent injection targeting Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, which are the two currently in circulation. Moderna’s bivalent booster targets the already extinct Wuhan strain and Omicron subvariant BA.1

  • The reformulated COVID boosters will be rolled out without safety or effectiveness data from human trials. They’re being green-lighted based on antibody data from mice alone, even though antibody levels tell us nothing about effectiveness

  • According to the FDA, the reactogenicity profile of Pfizer’s reformulated shot is “overall similar to prototype BNT162b2 vaccine,” and VAERS data prove that’s hardly a selling point

  • This fall, health agencies will also push the seasonal flu shot, and all flu vaccines will be quadrivalent this year, meaning they contain antigens against four influenza strains. Seniors may be at greatest risk for vaccine injury, as they will get a high-dose quadrivalent flu vaccine

As the U.S., U.K. and other countries around the world prepare for a fall vaccination campaign against both the flu and COVID, it’s worth taking note of some basic facts. In “Untested Bivalent COVID Jab Being Rolled Out,” I reviewed potential problems with Moderna’s new bivalent COVID shot for adults, authorized by the U.K. in mid-August 2022.

August 23, 2022, Pfizer and Moderna submitted their respective authorization requests to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.1 Pfizer is releasing a bivalent injection targeting Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, which are the two currently in circulation, while Moderna’s shot targets the already extinct Wuhan strain and Omicron subvariant BA.1.2

August 31, the FDA authorized both.3 The bivalent boosters will only be available to those who have already received the primary two-dose series and/or a monovalent booster at least two months ago. Per the FDA:4

“The Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, is authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 18 years of age and older. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, is authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 12 years of age and older ...

With today’s authorization, the monovalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are not authorized as booster doses for individuals 12 years of age and older ... These monovalent vaccines continue to be authorized for use for administration of a primary series for individuals 6 months of age and older ...

Individuals 18 years of age and older are eligible for a single booster dose of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent if it has been at least two months since they have completed primary vaccination or have received the most recent booster dose with any authorized or approved monovalent COVID-19 vaccine. 

Individuals 12 years of age and older are eligible for a single booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent if it has been at least two months since they have completed primary vaccination or have received the most recent booster dose with any authorized or approved monovalent COVID-19 vaccine.”

The reformulated boosters will be available as soon as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gives its OK.5 6 For the record, all boosters, including these, are still under emergency use authorization (EUA) only, so manufacturers have no liability for injuries, and the reformulated shots are being released based on antibody levels in mice alone.

Vaccine Performance Is Not Dependent on Frequency of Use

It remains to be seen how government and media intend to bully people into continuing with this clearly failed strategy, but if The Atlantic is any indication, we can expect Orwellian double-speak and irrational emotionalism to prevail.

According to The Atlantic,12 “Vaccine performance ... depends on how and how often the shots are used. The more people take the doses, the better they will work.” This is merely blatant and outrageous propaganda whose sole purpose is to increase COVID jab adoption. As noted by one Twitter user,13 that’s complete rubbish, as “The performance of a ‘vaccine’ should have NOTHING to do with everyone ELSE taking it.”

The statement that vaccine performance depends on “how often” they’re taken is also clearly misleading if not outright false. No vaccine in history has depended on boosters several times a year, indefinitely. That’s not how real vaccines work. Historically, vaccine booster doses are spaced years apart, if they’re required at all.

New Formulation Is Only Tested on Mice

As mentioned earlier, the reformulated shots will be rolled out long before any data from human trials become available.14 As reported by The Atlantic,15 they’re being green-lighted based on antibody data from mice alone.16 While this has, for years, been the approval protocol for influenza vaccines, these mRNA shots are hardly run-of-the-mill vaccines.

We have no long-term data on them whatsoever, but in the short-term, the original COVID shots have between them resulted in 1,390,594 adverse event reports being logged with the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS, data as of August 19, 202217).

That includes 134,245 urgent care visits, 174,371 hospitalizations and 30,479 deaths, and due to widespread underreporting, you have to multiply those numbers by underreporting factor of 41 (or more) to get an idea of the true impact. If you do the math, you will quickly discover that the COVID jabs have been the No. 1 cause of death the past two years, far exceeding heart attacks and cancers that were unrelated to the jab.

“According to the FDA, the reactogenicity profile of the reformulated shot is ‘overall similar to prototype BNT162b2 vaccine,’ and as you can see from the VAERS data, that’s hardly a selling point.”

All of these effects have been swept under the rug and dismissed as unrelated to the jabs, and now they’re going to release reformulated mRNA shots based on nothing but mouse antibody data! It’s been said before, but it’s worth stating again, that antibody levels tell us nothing about effectiveness.

Recall: Antibody tests have been discouraged throughout the pandemic as a means to determine whether the COVID shot is providing protection.18 Why? Because your antibody level cannot tell you whether you’re protected against infection, symptomatic illness and serious illness.

It’s the same here. Antibody levels in response to the COVID shot tell us nothing about its ability to protect against infection and severe illness or death. In classic Orwellian double-speak, they claim that if antibody levels are high after the injection in a trial setting, it’s proof of effectiveness. But don’t waste your time measuring your antibody level, because that won’t tell you anything about your immune protection.

In the "Friday Roundtable" video above, Dr. Meryl Nass, Toby Rogers, Ph.D., and Brian Hooker, Ph.D., expose the injuries and deaths occurring from these jabs, while health officials and media continue to ignore and silence concerns. They review and critique the most recent COVID jab recommendations, the new nontesting framework, various data, and resources for those who want to get involved in the continued fight against medical tyranny.

Bivalent Booster Will Be at Least as Reactive as the Original

So many things can go wrong at this point, I shudder to make predictions. According to the FDA, the reactogenicity profile of the reformulated shot is “overall similar to prototype BNT162b2 vaccine,”19 and as you can see from the VAERS data, that’s hardly a selling point.

The Atlantic, however, downplays the situation by focusing only on the fact that we won’t have any data on effectiveness with which to entice and cajole the public into taking more of these devastating experimental gene therapy shots:20

“... the shortcut does introduce a snag: ‘We know nothing yet about the efficacy or effectiveness of these Omicron-focused vaccines,’ [Mayo Clinic vaccinologist Gregory] Poland said. Researchers can’t be sure of the degree to which the shots will improve upon the original recipe.

And public-health officials won’t be able to leverage the concrete, comforting numbers that have been attached to nearly every other shot that’s been doled out.

Instead, communications will hinge on ‘how much trust you have in the information you’re getting from the government,’ UNC’s [public health researcher Deshira] Wallace told me. ‘And that is very tricky right now.’”

How Pfizer Hid Severe Side Effects

With regard to safety, health authorities claim the original COVID shots have already been “proven” safe, hence the CDC and FDA tell us they don’t need human trial data in order to authorize the reformulated boosters.

Not only do VAERS data negate such statements, we also don’t even have all the data from the original trials yet, and what we do have is beyond terrifying. As reported by Children’s Health Defense (CHD) back in June 2022, court-ordered released FOIA documents reveal Pfizer classified nearly all severe reactions in its trials as unrelated to the shot:21

“The latest release by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine documents22 reveals numerous instances of participants who sustained severe adverse events during Phase 3 trials. Some of these participants withdrew from the trials, some were dropped and some died ...

The CRFs [case report forms] included in this month’s documents contain often vague explanations of the specific symptoms experienced by the trial participants. They also reveal a trend of classifying almost all adverse events — and in particular severe adverse events (SAEs) — as being ‘not related’ to the vaccine ...

The many serious adverse events — and several deaths — recorded during the Phase 3 trials are also apparent in a separate, massive document,23 exceeding 2,500 pages, cataloging such adverse events.

This document lists a wide range of adverse events suffered by trial participants classified as toxicity level 4 — the highest and most serious such level. However, not one of the level 4 (most severe) adverse events listed in this particular document is classified as being related to the vaccination.”

The CHD goes on to list a number of examples from Pfizer’s case reports where participants suffered now well-recognized and common side effects of the jab, such as a teen girl who was diagnosed with right lower extremity deep vein thrombosis, November 15, 2020.

Her condition was still “ongoing” as of March 29, 2021, the date of the CRF. She was hospitalized and her condition listed as “serious.” Still, the CRF indicated the condition was “not related” to the vaccine, but rather due to a “fracture,” which occurred before her injection on September 11, 2020.

Release of Patient Data From COVID Shot Trials Delayed

Some of the most important data — the raw patient data from the initial trials — also won’t be available for release until years in the future. As noted in a recent BMJ article:24 [MORE]

In Lawsuit Latino Mom Claims LA School Authorities Tricked Her 13 Yr Old Son Into Getting a COVID Shot by Offering Pizza and Forging Her Signature. Teen Now Suffers from Bleeding and Breathing Issues

From [HERE] A local mother claims her 13-year-old son was given a COVID-19 vaccination at school without her consent, according to a lawsuit filed against the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Maribel Duarte says her son Moises, who is a student at Barack Obama Global Preparation Academy, was offered a piece of pizza for receiving the vaccine. And not only was he vaccinated without her consent, she says Moises was made to forge her name on a consent form.

An image of a vaccine record released during a news conference shows two doses of the Pfizer vaccine were administered in October and November of last year.

Duarte says her son, whom she describes as having had breathing problems and asthma since he was a baby, has suffered side effects from the vaccination. Moises doesn't sleep as well and is no longer physically able to exercise the way he used to, she said.

Her attorney accused the operators of the vaccine clinic of bribery, coercion, assault, battery, and medical negligence. However, they would not provide a copy of the allegedly forged consent form.

African Land Grabs and Conservation Propaganda

From [HERE] Amid the unprecedented global ecological crisis, Africa still supports one quarter of the world’s biodiversity and the largest assemblages of megafauna. Indigenous Africans of the rangelands, desert, and forests have always protected their fauna and flora. Land where they exercise traditional rights has proven  to be central for global biodiversity conservation. But today they are facing the threat of a colossal land grab  by Western conservation agencies, and their corporate and state allies, who advocate to double the coverage of protected areas around the world by setting aside 30 percent of terrestrial cover for conservation by 2030.

Protected areas are the national parks, forests, game reserves, and other places from which states evict original inhabitants for biodiversity conservation. They already cover 15.73% of the terrestrial surface. The Global South accounts for 66% of that coverage, primarily located in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America. Many African countries have set aside between 35%-42% of their national territories exclusively for wildlife and biodiversity compared to 12.45% in the US. Indigenous and human rights activists are sounding the alarm, comparing the 30×30 plan  to the second Scramble for Africa , one that would further dispossess, militarize, and privatize the commons in Africa.

An overlooked yet critical perspective of protected areas is their primitive accumulation function to transfer wealth and immaterial values of nature from colonies to colonizers. They start with the violent dispossession of Indigenous communities, followed by militarized control over the territory, and commodification of lands and wildlife resources by the corporate imperialists. The 2022 book, The Violence of Conservation in Africa: State, Militarization and Alternatives demonstrates why dehumanization and violence against Africans are permanent features of conservation in Africa, and how Western conservation agencies wield power to assault African states’ sovereignty, in order to gain political and economic control over vast areas rich in biodiversity. [MORE]

U.S. Dept. of Commerce Announces More than $7 Million to Tribal Communities

From [HERE] The Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona have been awarded $7.8 million in funding from The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA). 

Both grants are part of the American Rescue Plan's Indigenous Communities program and will be used for local business growth.  

The Chickasaw Nation was awarded a $3.1 million grant to build a critical high-speed network while promoting entrepreneurship and workforce development to the Tribal community in Ada, Oklahoma. The project was organized by the Southern Oklahoma Development Association (SODA) and is focused on creating an economic roadmap to strengthen the regional economy and create jobs. 

“This EDA investment will provide the high-speed internet capacity that Chickasaw Nation businesses need to grow and thrive,” Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Alejandra Y. Castillo said in a statement on Tuesday. [MORE]

ACLU Requests Emergency Court Order Over ‘Abysmal’ Conditions in LA County Jail. Lawsuit says Inmates Sleep on Urine-Soaked Floors and Defecate in Trash Cans in Foul Jail Run by White Liberals

PHOTO ON THE LEFT IS FROM LA COUNTY JAIL. PHOTO ON THE RIGHT IS OF THE NATIONS CAPITOL. SAID PHOTO IS THE PROPERTY OF THE UNDECEIVER VINCENT BROWN.

From [HERE] Inmates at Los Angeles County Jail — many with mental health issues— are sleeping next to urine-soaked floors and are forced to defecate in trash cans, according to shocking claims in a new lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. 

The group filed the request for an emergency order with US District Judge Dean D. Pregerson on Thursday to push Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and the LA County Board of Supervisors to immediately address the “abysmal” conditions at the county jail’s inmate reception center. 

The suit also contains various pictures that show male inmates sleeping in a fetal position on the concrete floor without blankets and next to mounds of trash. Toilet bowls that are full and can’t be flushed are covered by a T-shirt, while inmates try to sleep nearby on filthy metal benches or seats.

“The L.A. County Jail system is a national disgrace,” said Corene Kendrick, deputy director of the ACLU National Prison Project. “For almost 50 years, the jail has been under court oversight to provide the most basic minimum standards of sanitation, health care, and human decency to people detained there. Enough is enough.” 

ACLU attorneys also claim inmates with serious mental health issues who need medical attention are often chained to chairs for days and are forced to sleep while sitting up. 

The LA County Jail houses more than 14,600 inmates and the jail’s inmate reception center is where recently arrested individuals are processed and held while they wait for a more permanent placement at the largest jail facility in the country. 

Under the emergency request, the ACLU is asking the court to order the county to limit the intake process to 24 hours at the most. 

LA County Sheriff’s Officials declined to comment because of the pending litigation.

In a statement to The Post, officials with the LA County’s Chief Executive Office said the Board of Supervisors are working to address the crisis in the jail with the “Care First, Jail Last” initiative that’s focused on closing the Men’s Central Jail and investing $288 million to “alternatives” to incarceration. 

The alternative program includes building community partnerships with community-based organizations to reduce incarceration in LA County with youth programs, provide mental health programs and create jobs for incarcerated individuals. [MORE]

Lawsuit Claims 9 Yr Old Autistic Black Child was Assaulted by Baltimore Public Fool Teacher. Video Shows Teacher Body Slam Small Boy to the Floor and Smother Him w/Her Weight/Knees as Another Watches

From [HERE] A lawsuit announced by attorney Stephen Thomas Jr. claims that a 9-year-old Black student with special needs was assaulted by a Baltimore City teacher in a school in 2019. The alleged incident was caught on surveillance video.

"Words in and of themselves cannot describe what my client experienced on that day," said Thomas.

Video released by Thomas shows the encounter in the hallway on July 29, 2019. The video appears to show the teacher violently putting the student on the floor and placing herself on top of him.

The student is unnamed.

This new lawsuit follows one filed against the city in January. Jovani Patterson, and his wife Shawnda, filed the lawsuit against Baltimore City School Board of Commissioners, Baltimore City Council, and Mayor Brandon Scott.

Patterson sued the system over allegations of misusing tax dollars. He said because students continue to struggle in the classroom, perform poorly on standardized tests, grading irregularities, and inaccurate enrollment numbers, the taxpayers of Baltimore are forced to foot the bill for not only a broken education system but added cost for the criminal justice and social welfare system as well.

“We, the taxpayer, are funding our own demise,” Patterson said. “This has got to stop. This is why we have decided to sue the Baltimore City School System.” [MORE]