Activists Targeted, Defamed by NYPD - Internal Flyer Found

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From [Alternet] Two West Harlem residents, Christina Gonzalez, 25, and Matthew Swaye, 35, ran into a surprise when they showed up for a community meeting at their local NYPD precinct last week. There, on the wall of the 30th Precinct, were their mug shots—only they weren’t wanted for any crime.

Christina Gonzalez and Matthew Swaye are police reform activists who regularly film police interactions in their neighborhood, especially to record the NYPD’s controversial Stop and Frisk policy. Although filming police is completely legal, the poster (which was full of misspellings, I might add), advised officers to "be aware" that these "professional agitators" not only film police "performing routine stops," but also" post the videos on YouTube.

"Subjects purpose is to portray officers in a negative way and to [sic] deter officers from conducting their [sic] responsibilities." the warning from Sergeant Nicholson reads. "Do not feed into above subjects’ propaganda."

Gonzalez says it is the NYPD spreading propaganda and that the poster is an obvious tactic to criminalize, intimidate and target her. Since Gonzalez became involved with Occupy and the Stop-and-Frisk movement this fall, police have given her plenty of reasons to look over her shoulder, including calling her out by name and address, erecting a watchtower on her corner and aggressively arresting her sister in front of Gonzalez.

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Georgia Argues Immigration Law is Constitutional: Police Allowed to Stop & Detain All Non-white People

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From [HERE] Lawyers for the state of Georgia argued Friday in court filings with the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit that its immigration law is constitutional under the recent US Supreme Court ruling in Arizona v. United States [opinion, PDF; JURIST report]. The appeals court in March deferred ruling [JURIST report] on challenges to Georgia and Alabama's controversial immigration laws until after the Supreme Court issued its ruling on Arizona's law, and the states were given until Friday to file new briefs consistent with that decision. Georgia argued in its filing that the provision of its law being challenged is most comparable to the provision of the Arizona law that was upheld by the Supreme Court, which requires police officers to check the immigration status of those who are arrested and allows them to stop and arrest anyone whom they suspect of being an illegal immigrant. Alabama conceded in its filing that some of the provisions of its law are unconstitutional because they are similar to the ones struck down in Arizona v. United States but argued that some of its provisions should be upheld. The appeals court will now consider both oral arguments, which were held in March, and the new filings by the states and issue a ruling consistent with the Supreme Court's decision.
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96 Year-Old Latino Former Arizona Governor Detained, Disrespected by Border Patrol in 100 Degree Heat

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In photo, Raul Hector Castro, a Mexican-born American politician. He has served in both elected and non-elected public offices, including United States Ambassador and the 14th Governor of Arizona (1975-77). He was the first Mexican American to be elected governor of Arizona. At the age of 96, he is the oldest living United States governor. He was stopped and detained for nearly an hour by Border Patrol - the 3rd time he has been stopped by police. Although he was not stopped and detained under the racist Arizona law upheld by the Court last month, such a stop would have been lawful under state law.  That is, to the police he looks "illegal" due to his skin color -he is not white. These police seizures violate the 4th Amendment and the application of the law violates the Equal protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Arizona law, similar copy cat Juan Crow laws in other states such as Georgia (see above story) and the NYC stop and frisk policy may be preconditions to genocide. Yes genocide. As the number of Jews or more specifically, semites (non-whites) rose in Nazi Germany, Jews felt the effects of many decrees and regulations that restricted all aspects of their public and private lives. In the U.S. changing demographics may cause such a tipping point as well. Watch your back - bw. From [ThinkProgress] and [HERE] Last month Castro was stopped by U.S. border patrol agents after residual radiation from a medical procedure he’d recently undergone triggered an alarm at a checkpoint in Tubac, AZ. The 96 year-old heart patient was then forced to exit his vehicle in the 100 degree Arizona heat and wait in a tent in a business suit, even as his companion begged the agents not to subject an elderly man to such treatment. Castro said he was detained for 40 to 45 minutes; the federal agency said it lasted 10 minutes.

"I don't think being Hispanic had anything to do with it," the 96-year-old Castro said. Castro's wife, however, is calling for changes in Border Patrol procedures. She said the Border Patrol officials need to use "more common sense" when they encounter elderly people who have undergone medical procedures.

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Philadelphia Police Face Manslaughter Charges in Killing of Unarmed Black Teen: Officers Lied about Shooting

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From [HERE] and [HERE] After nearly four years of investigation, two former Philadelphia police officers were charged Friday in the fatal off-duty shooting of an unarmed black teenager trying to play "peacemaker" in a dispute between police officers and an alleged suspect over a stolen pizza, District Attorney Seth Williams announced.

Chauncey Ellison Sr., 39, a former sergeant assigned to the 22d District, was charged with voluntary manslaughter for shooting Lawrence Allen, 19, once in the back in November 2008 outside of Allen's home on the 1900 block of Renovo Street. Ellison and his then-girlfriend, Robin Fortune, 44, also an officer in the 22d District at the time drove around in search of a 16-year-old who had punched the couple's teenage son and stolen a pizza from him.

Allen was not involved in the robbery and was trying to calm the situation down, even offering to pay for the pizza, Williams said. After Ellison drew his gun, Allen stepped in and tried to be a peacemaker. “He actually said to Sgt. Ellison, ‘why do you have a gun out? All this over a pizza? I will give you money for the pizza. Let’s just calm all this down’.” Witnesses told the grand jury that Ellison, who was egged on by his enraged girlfriend, shot Allen once in the back. 

The bullet severed Allen's spinal cord, leaving the father of three a paraplegic. Allen spent the rest of his life in hospitals, fighting medical complications stemming from the shooting. He was left paralyzed from the chest down. He died three months later in February 2009, after battling numerous infections and dropping more than half of his body weight.

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Parents Settle Suit against Shenandoah Police: Latino Teen Beaten to Death and Hung by Officers

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From [HERE] and [HERE] The parents of a Hispanic teenager who died in police custody in eastern Pennsylvania have settled a lawsuit alleging officers beat their son to death. The federal complaint says Shenandoah police in 2004 beat 18-year-old David Vega to death and then hung his body in a holding cell to make it look like a suicide.

A judge dismissed the case Tuesday, citing a settlement. Terms were not disclosed. Lawyers did not immediately return requests for comment late Friday. The lawsuit named as defendants the borough, police Chief Matthew Nestor (in photo) and Capt. Jamie Gennarini. The officers denied wrongdoing. Nestor was convicted last year of falsifying a police report in a separate racially charged case involving the death of a Mexican immigrant.

Vega was a high school student on Nov. 28, 2004, when he and his younger brother fell into a heated verbal argument on their porch. Hearing the commotion, neighbors began stepping from their homes, one of whom called police. Two officers arrived and David began mouthing off. He was arrested. Two hours later he was dead. Police told his parents that he’d hanged himself in his cell. “That’s bullshit,” says Carlos, a former chef who was disabled in a 2000 car wreck. “David was going to college. He had a girlfriend. He had everything to live for. They beat him until he died.”

David didn’t have a shirt on when he was arrested. “There are 20 people who say he didn’t have a bruise on him when they cuffed him,” Carlos said. But when Carlos viewed the body, David was covered with bruises. The Schuylkill County coroner accepted Shenandoah police chief Matthew Nestor’s explanation that the bruises resulted from David’s resisting arrest. According to the lawsuit, a second autopsy confirmed David “suffered extensive, massive injuries consistent with a profound beating… The defendant did not die of hanging.”

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Latino Veteran Dies in Las Vegas Police Custody, Family Questions his Death

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From [HERE] More questions than answers after a man dies in police custody. The family of the victim says police aren't telling the whole truth about the arrest. Glenn Ybanez, 33, was the passenger in a car pulled over Monday morning for a routine traffic stop that turned into a foot chase. Ybanez was a U.S. Army veteran born in Guam. He died after reportedly suffering from medical distress while in police custody.

Metro won't confirm where the incident happened, but his family says it was near Valley View and Tropicana. Although the family acknowledges Ybanez probably shouldn't have ran, they say what happened at the end of that chase is suspicious. They're questioning why he died. "They gave us no information whatsoever from the start," says Sylvio Ybanez, the victim's brother. "Police wouldn't answer, doctors wouldn't answer, they wouldn't even come to us. Nothing." He said the police are downplaying the incident asking, "Why are there bruises on his arms? He has a scratch on his forehead, his eye is popping out and his left eye is closed."

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NAACP reacts to Cop’s lie about shooting: North Charleston Police Officer Shot Himself, Blamed Black Men

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From [HERE] On Friday, North Charleston Police Chief Jon Zumalt met with the media to discuss an alleged shooting involving longtime officer, Sgt. Eddie Bullard. "When we were out there we stated getting uneasy about the case," Zumalt said.

According to Zumalt, the 15-year veteran claimed two black suspects confronted him and shot him while he was conducting a building search outside a carpet store on Rivers Avenue during the early morning hours of July 4th. "There wasn't any evidence of a struggle. We couldn't just find zero evidence. Nobody was calling us. We usually get tips," Zumalt said. Bullard was transported to the hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening and released the following day. Zumalt says Bullard eventually admitted to making the story up and that he actually shot himself. "He needs to be fired and should never be able to work in law enforcement again," said Dot Scott, the president for the Charleston branch of the NAACP. "A dishonest cop is a dangerous cop."

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Prosecutor says Manslaughter Charges Appropriate in Baltimore Police Killing of Black Teen

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From [HERE] Only James D. Laboard knows his intentions the night Baltimore County police said the off-duty officer chased a group of teens who had thrown a rock at his home. But as authorities considered charges in the ensuing death of Christopher Brown, they had to try to discern Laboard's intentions. Laboard was charged with two counts of manslaughter — one involuntary — in the asphyxiation death of the Randallstown High School teen; either count could carry a 10-year sentence.

The victim's mother expressed outrage that the officer isn't facing more severe charges, alleging that the officer received preferential treatment and calling for an outside investigation. But several legal experts said the manslaughter charges may be the strongest possible, given what's known about the case. The difference between manslaughter and murder charges centers on whether a suspect intended to kill. Experts pointed out that according to the information that has been made public, there appear to be few witnesses and little evidence to provide insight into Laboard's intent on June 13.

According to police, Laboard was at home on June 13 when he heard a loud noise, went outside and found his front door damaged — and three or four people running, police said. He ran outside after them and caught up with Brown after chasing him for several blocks. Brown was hiding in bushes outside a home on Starbrook Road. Brown wore a knee brace so may have been slower than other boys. When Brown did not come out, Laboard grabbed him out of the bushes, and the two got into a physical confrontation. The officer then struggled with the teen and Brown eventually fell unconscious.

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Baltimore Co. Officer Indicted on Manslaughter Charges in Death of Unarmed Black Teen Hiding from Police

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From [HERE] A Baltimore County police officer was indicted Wednesday on manslaughter charges in the death of a teen after a chase and a struggle sparked by youths throwing rocks at his Randallstown home while he was off-duty. A grand jury indicted Officer James Laboard on manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter charges in the death of 17-year-old Christopher Brown. Both charges are felonies, with each carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. County officers facing felony charges are suspended without pay. Laboard was arrested and released on personal recognizance after a court appearance Wednesday, police said.

According to police, Laboard was at home on June 13 when he heard a loud noise, went outside and found his front door damaged — and three or four people running, police said. He ran outside after them and caught up with Brown after chasing him for several blocks. Brown was hiding in bushes outside a home on Starbrook Road. Brown wore a knee brace. When Brown did not come out, Laboard grabbed him out of the bushes, and the two got into a physical confrontation. The officer then struggled with the teen and Brown eventually fell unconscious. Today the Police claimed that Laboard called for help when the teen lost consciousness. No radio run or call was released to the media. Brown was later pronounced dead at a hospital and his death was ruled a homicide by asphyxiation.

Brown’s family is unhappy that Laboard is not facing more-serious charges, according to attorney Russell Neverdon, who represents Brown’s family. Based on neighbors’ accounts of what happened that night, Laboard should have been charged with at least second-degree murder, he said.

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4 DC Police Officers Indicted on Charges Stemming from Assault on Black Man

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From [HERE] Four District of Columbia police officers have been indicted on charges stemming from a brawl outside a downtown nightclub last year during which a man reported losing his eye.

Two of the officers are accused of repeatedly beating and kicking a Black man while off duty outside the Lotus Lounge. A third officer is accused of failing to arrest anyone in the fight, and a fourth is charged with lying to a grand jury that investigated the June 10, 2011, assault. The officers were indicted Wednesday.

The beating victim, Walter Blair II, alleged in a lawsuit filed this month that a brawl was unfolding as he was leaving the club and that he was surrounded and attacked by off-duty officers working as bouncers. The grand jury indictment says two of the officers, Kenneth McRavin and Thaddeus Modlin, Jr., repeatedly beat and kicked Blair even after he fell to the ground and that Keith Goins, another officer, witnessed the assault but did nothing. Detectives who reviewed videotape of the brawl identified the three as members of the department. A fourth officer, Yolanda Lampkin, lied to the grand jury when she said she heard McRavin identify himself as a police officer, prosecutors said.

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File Under Genocide Watch: Bloomberg asks 'Should Cops Give Out Flowers After Finding Guns During Stop And Frisk?'

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Simpleton Mayor does not believe that the 4th Amendment applies to Blacks & Latinos. Similar to the restrictions in Arizona, Bloomberg wants to stop or detain all non-white people because they are non-white. The 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, although only one sentence long, protects people against unjustified detentions by the government. It reads: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Stop & Frisk is Unconstitutional and factually unsupportable. According to the department's own data:

  • The NYPD stopped and questioned 685,724 people in 2011 - a 600 percent increase since Mayor Bloomberg took office.
  • Of the 685,724 stops, only 1.9 percent resulted in the recovery of a weapon.
  • Nine out of 10 people stopped were not charged with any crime or infraction. 
  • 87 percent of people stopped were Black or Hispanic.
  • And while Blacks and Latinos were far more likely to be stopped, whites were almost twice as likely to be found carrying a weapon. [MORE] and [MORE]

From [HERE] A teenager who was caught with a gun during a stop and frisk in the Bronx in 2010 had his conviction overturned by an appeals court, infuriating the Bloomberg administration. Darryl Craig, 14, had been sentenced to 18 months’ probation, but yesterday the appeals court ruled that the cop had no legal grounds for the search. It just so happens that three months after that arrest, Craig allegedly used another gun to shoot a gang rival in Queens. Now NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and his house organ the NY Post are up in arms, as is Mayor Bloomberg, who was asked about the appeals court decision at the McCarren Park Pool ribbon-cutting today.

"It was a loaded gun," Bloomberg incredulously told reporters in response to a question about the appeal. "Are you supposed to give the kid a flower and send him on his way? I don't know what these judges were thinking." Today the Post has two articles on the decision, which is being framed as some sort of emblematic lesson about the virtues of stop and frisk and the recklessness of those who criticize the policy.

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Grand jury Clears Garfield Officers in fatal shooting of Black Teen - Advocates Outraged

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From [HERE] and [HERE] A grand jury has cleared two police officers of wrongdoing in the shooting of a Garfield teen last year. Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli released the "no-bill" decision early Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday's decision brought an end to a seven-month investigation into the incident, and revealed new details that law enforcement officials had not yet disclosed.

The officers involved, Sgt. Jose A. Brito of the Garfield department and Kenneth J. Keenan of the Bergen County police, were pursuing 19-year-old Malik Williams on Dec. 10 after Williams fled Garfield police headquarters, where he was being processed on domestic assault charges. Police claimed Williams ran into a garage and barricaded himself inside of it. When Police forced their way in they said they saw him armed with unspecified tools. The officers responded by firing their guns numerous times, killing Williams. 

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Former Shreveport Police Officer Loses Appeal, returns to jail

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From [HERE] A former Shreveport police officer is headed back to jail after losing his appeal on a perjury conviction.

The Times reports Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeals denied Morgan King's appeal Wednesday, saying he must fulfill the four-year sentence handed down in February.

King was convicted of lying on the witness stand regarding his actions in May 2006 when he left the scene of an officer-involved shooting. A fellow officer was involved in a shootout with a man who was shooting at a woman.

Prosecutors say King lied when called to testify during a hearing for the suspect. King was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison. He's been out on bond awaiting his appeal.

Advocates Demand Probe in Brutal Beating Death of Black Man by North Chicago Police: Darrin Hanna Plead for his Life

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From [HERE] A petition urging federal and state investigations of the North Chicago Police Department has gained an estimated 1,500 signatures since it was first circulated last week. The petition, which is also circulating online at change.org, calls for U.S. Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to conduct investigations “relating to the torture, cover-up and death of Darrin Hanna.

Hanna, 45, died Nov. 13, a week after he was arrested inside his apartment by six North Chicago police officers on a domestic battery charge.  He was beaten and repeatedly shocked with a stun gun by North Chicago police. In police recordings from the scene, an anguished Hanna can be heard pleading, “Put me down, please, I was down,” while an officer tells him, “You are OK ... relax.” Advocates have said the recordings show Hanna was cooperative, still conscious and understandable after being arrested, though he was barely conscious and unintelligible by the time he was carried out of his apartment on a stretcher.

Both unofficial and official autopsy reports showed that physical and Taser “restraint” contributed to Hanna’s death, which caused an outcry that sparked rallies and protests. Hanna’s survivors  filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against the city and its police department on December 13, 2011. 

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Suit Settled for $150,000: Seattle Police Caught on Video Making Racial Taunt, Kicking Latino Man

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From [HERE] A civil-rights lawsuit stemming from a Seattle police officer’s threat to beat the “Mexican piss” out of a Latino man during a robbery investigation in 2010 has been settled for $150,000, the man’s attorney announced at a news conference this morning.

The suit, brought by Martin Monetti Jr., the target of the comment, alleged that Officer Shandy Cobane also kicked him in the head and hand during the incident caught on video. The lawsuit sought unspecified general and punitive damages for alleged civil-rights violations, unreasonable use of force, assault and battery, outrageous conduct, emotional harm and intentional discrimination. Cobane sparked a public outcry when video emerged of the April 17, 2010,  incident in which he was heard telling Monetti he was going to “beat the [expletive] Mexican piss out of you, homey. You feel me?”

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NAACP Seeks Another Federal Investigation into Austin Police; ACLU files lawsuit against Puerto Rico police

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From [HERE] Saying that Austin officers continue to use excessive force disproportionately against minority residents, two community groups have filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, asking federal authorities to reopen their investigation into the Police Department. The Austin chapter of the NAACP and the Texas Civil Rights Project announced Wednesday that they will again ask federal officials to examine whether police are systematically violating residents' civil rights.

The groups say that since the Justice Department closed its investigation last year — an inquiry they called for in 2004 and received in 2007 — stops and searches of minority suspects have risen and two more fatal police shootings of minority suspects have occurred. In late May 2011, saying they could not find evidence that the Austin Police Department was violating the law or the U.S. Constitution, federal officials closed their four-year investigation into the department.

"We're human beings.  Even if we're not respectful, we have rights under the law," said Austin NAACP President Nelson Linder. "Those rights should be protected in every situation.  APD must understand that."

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Parents Demand Arrest of Baltimore County Police Officer for Murder of Black Teen: Unarmed 17 yr Old Choked to Death by Cop

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From The Baltimore Sun 6/26/12 and [HERE] The family of Christopher Brown -- the Randallstown teenager who died 2 weeeks ago after an altercation with an off-duty Baltimore County police officer -- is demanding the officer be charged.  "An arrest needs to be made," Brown's mother, Chris, told reporters Monday afternoon.

She said that even though her 17-year-old son was buried over the weekend, "nothing's been done." Brown, whose death has been ruled a homicide by the state medical examiner's office, was asphyxiated during an altercation with Officer James D. Laboard on June 13, police said. No charges have been filed. Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger said in a statement that his office is investigating the death and warned that such investigations can take time.

Brown had been with a group of teens when one threw a rock at Laboard's house, police said. The officer ran outside after them and caught up with Brown after chasing him for several blocks. Brown was hiding in bushes outside a home on Starbrook Road. Brown wore a knee brace. When Brown did not come out, Laboard grabbed him, and the two got into a physical confrontation, police said. The officer then struggled with the teen after pulling him from the bushes and Brown eventually fell unconscious. The officer has been placed on administrative leave. 

“I think he should have been arrested immediately. If it was a civilian, if it was you or I, we would have gone to jail that night,” said the Rev. Dr. Paris Evans, of the National Action Network.

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Final Rodney King radio interview: 'Police Have No Respect for Blacks'

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From [HERE] In one of the last interviews with Rodney King prior to his death, he talked to KPFK about topics ranging from his tumultuous childhood to the infamous beating to the recent Trayvon Martin shooting. King, 47, was found dead at the bottom of his pool at his home in Rialto on June 17. Coroner’s officials are still investigating his cause of death.  

In the hour-long talk, King said, "the American Negro gets no respect when it come to law enforcement and brutality and his life means nothing," King said in the interview. "Despite all the hard work, despite all the killing that has gone on over the years … we are not where we used to be but we are definitely not where we're supposed to be.”

In vivid detail, King recalled “hearing my bones being broken” during the beating and said it brought back memories of his father whipping him with an extension cord. “After a while, I didn’t even have the strength to protect myself,” King said. “I was beaten within inches of my life.”  

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Lawsuit Accuses Chicago Police Officer of Attacking Non-Threatening Latino Couple

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From [HERE] A Chicago Police officer is being sued for alleged brutality and is under investigation by the Independent Police Review Authority, two years after an incident on the Northwest Side. It has taken two years for Luis Cordero Jr. and his girlfriend, Heather Rzany, to put a name with the face of the off-duty officer whom they claim terrorized them. The incident happened in 2010 outside the Pavilion Apartments, in the 5400 block of North East River Road, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The officer allegedly stormed out of a car with a beer bottle in his hand and pistol-whipped Cordero repeatedly, and then stuck a gun in Rzany’s mouth and ordered her to “shut the f**k up, bitch, or I’ll blow your brains out,” the Sun-Times reported.

Cordero and Rzany said they were asked to leave the apartment complex by a private security guard who was responding to a noise complaint, and were leaving as asked, the Sun-Times reported. But the off-duty officer, now identified by attorneys for the couple as Englewood District Officer Chris Gofron, stumbled out of the security guard’s car, tossed the beer bottle, and flashed a Chicago Police badge in one hand as he assaulted them, the Sun-Times reported.

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Black Teen Files Suit Against Harvey Police: Excessive Force Caused her Miscarriage

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From [HERE] Kwamesha Sharp, 17, said she lost her unborn baby after she was beaten by a police officer in south suburban Harvey, Ill.  Sharp is suing Harvey and the officer. She said the officer used "excessive force" when he arrested her, and that caused her to miscarry. Sharp was at a family friend's house when police were called there for a disturbance. Sharp saidan officer grabbed her and threw her on the ground for no reason. She believes that led to her miscarriage.

In a complaint, Sharp alleges that after a doctor's appointment on December 30, 2011, She walked to the home of a family friend as police were responding to an assault call there. Sharp says as she tried to figure out what was going on the Harvey police officer, referred to as Officer Jones, attacked her. Sharp said even though he was told she was pregnant, the officer grabbed her and put her hand behind her back. "I flip over to my side, instead of being on my stomach, he flipped me around because he felt me moving, and had his knee in my stomach," Sharp said. Handcuffed and thrown in a squad car, Sharp says she asked for medical assistance but was denied.

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