Archive for the ‘Police state USSA’ Category

New York policeman charged with assault

Posted: February 4, 2015 by gamegetterII in Police state USSA
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New York (AFP) – A New York police officer was charged with assault in Brooklyn on Tuesday after allegedly stomping on the head of a suspect lying on the ground, officials said.

The indictment against a serving officer follows protests across the United States demanding legal reforms after a series of police killings of unarmed black men passed without censure.

Joel Edouard, 37, was charged with one count of third-degree assault, one count of third-degree attempted assault and one count of official misconduct in connection with the July 23 incident.

He is the third policeman indicted in three months by prosecutors in Brooklyn who are investigating at least six other cases of police brutality, officials confirmed.

Cell phone video shows the black officer briefly pointing his gun at suspect Jahmiel Cuffee, 32, who is also black, then stomping on his head while he was being handcuffed by other officers.

Cuffee resisted arrest and tussled with officers. He was stopped for allegedly drinking on the sidewalk — illegal in New York.

Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson said the assault was “unacceptable for a police officer” but praised the “vast majority of police officers who perform their duties honorably.”

Edouard faces up to one year in jail if convicted.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/york-policeman-charged-assault-224325120.html;_ylt=AwrBEiEEetFU1SoADhLQtDMD

Judge expresses doubt about constitutionality of no-fly list

Posted: January 31, 2015 by gamegetterII in Police state USSA
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A federal judge expressed skepticism Friday about the constitutionality of the government’s no-fly list, suggesting that those who find themselves on it ought to be allowed a meaningful opportunity to clear their names.

http://news.yahoo.com/judge-hear-arguments-constitutionality-no-fly-list-094428655.html

As of now-there is no meaningful appeal for anyone placed on the no fly list,just like there’s no relief from weapons disability at the fed level for those who made a mistake 10,15,20,30years ago to get their second amendment rights restored-which should never have been taken away in most cases.

This case will hopefully be decided for the appellant,and the courts will stop this massive overreach by the federal government.

No way in hell is the no-fly list Constitutional-it’s a secret government list of “enemies”,in the past young children have been placed on the list,and the late Sen. Kennedy was placed on the list at one time.

The list is a clear violation of the fourth amendment-among the many other things that are wrong with the list.

Supreme Court’s Erosion of the Fourth Amendment

Posted: January 30, 2015 by gamegetterII in Police state USSA
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Since 2000, the court has decided 13 cases that significantly weaken the Fourth Amendment’s guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures:

– Illinois v. Wardlow (2000) – Flight in a high-crime neighborhood may constitute reasonable suspicion for a warrantless stop.

– Board of Education v. Pottawatomie (2002) – Public schools can randomly drug test students who engage in extracurricular activities.

– Maryland v. Pringle (2003) – When drugs are found in a car, all occupants may be arrested even without particularized evidence connecting them to the drugs.

– Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada (2004) – A state can compel someone stopped by police to identify himself.

– Illinois v. Caballes (2005) – Police can use a drug dog to sniff around a car even without prior probable cause or reasonable suspicion that drugs are present.

– Samson v. California (2006) – Parolees can be searched without a warrant even if there is no reasonable suspicion or probable cause of criminal activity.

– Hudson v. Michigan (2006) – No suppression of evidence for violation of the knock and announce requirement.

– Herring v. US (2009) – Police can rely on information received from another law enforcement agency that there is a warrant out for the arrest of a person, even though the information is erroneous, which raises the bar for exclusion of illegally obtained evidence.

– Kentucky v. King (2011) – Police can search without a warrant under the exigent circumstances exception even if the police themselves created the exigency.

– Arizona v. US (2012) – Police can ask about immigration status if they have reasonable suspicion the person is not lawfully present in the United States, even though “reasonable suspicion” is based on racial profiling.

– Florida v. Harris (2013) – Alert by a drug-detection dog can constitute probable cause for search even without a showing that the dog is reliable.

– Maryland v. King (2013) – Arrestees can be forced to provide DNA samples even if they are not convicted of a crime.

– Fernandez v. California (2014) – Police can conduct warrantless searches under the consent exception even if a co-tenant objects to the search.

BREAKING: New NYPD Policy To Patrol Protests With Machine Guns

Posted: January 30, 2015 by gamegetterII in Police state USSA
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2014_07_bratton10a.jpg

(ANTIMEDIA) NEW YORK, NY- NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton announced Thursday that 350 heavily armed NYPD officers, called the “Strategic Response Group,” will soon be patrolling protests and the city at large.

He said the new strain of hyper-armed police will be

“…equipped and trained in ways that our normal patrol officers are not. They’ll be equipped with all the extra heavy protective gear, with the long rifles and machine guns — unfortunately sometimes necessary in these instances.”

Bratton announced  their purpose is specifically

“…designed for dealing with events like our recent protests, or incidents like Mumbai or what just happened in Paris.”

Lumping protesters in with terrorists, he said the permanent force will deal with “disorder control and counterterrorism protection capabilities.” It will allegedly assist on crime scenes and help with “crowd control and other large-scale events.”

It is not unusual for authorities to ramp up “security” efforts following attacks (such as the ax attack against officers in October), but the idea of machine-gun clad officers is disturbing, especially considering past NYPD abuses of protesters and other residents.

The federal government, which has attempted to feign concern with police brutality, is partially funding the militarized venture. The Department of Homeland Security is supplying resources, as is the city of New York. The Pentagon has previously provided machine guns, ammuniton, and other military gear to New York police and other local cops around the country.

The program is set to begin with two precincts in Queens and two in Manhattan, though Bratton did not specify when. During the announcement at a Police Foundation breakfast at the Mandarin Hotel, Bratton also said his plan was backed by both Mayor Bill de Blasio (who came under fire from cops last year) and the city council.

He said the effort is intended to improve police relations with communities since “regular” police will no longer be called from their local precincts to deal with protests and alleged security threats:

“For years we’ve been asking our officers to engage in the community, but we’ve never given them time to do it, or the training.”

Such “crises” will now be handled by the machine gunning cops (machine guns are banned for private citizens). Bratton has also previously asked the city for more tasers to “improve relations” by reducing fatal shootings.

In his Thursday announcement, Bratton additionally called on the MTA to install cameras on all subways-for safety, of course.

Unsurprisingly, there is outrage against the proposed plan. Priscilla Gonzalez, Organizing Director of Communities United for Police Reform, said Bratton’s

“…demands for less oversight of the NYPD and a more militarized police force that would use counter-terrorism tactics against protesters are deeply misguided and frankly offensive. We need an NYPD that is more accountable to New Yorkers and that stops criminalizing our communities, especially when people are taking to the streets to voice legitimate concerns about discriminatory and abusive policing. Despite growing evidence that discriminatory broken windows is a failed and harmful policing strategy, Commissioner Bratton stubbornly continues to defend and expand it.”

The move comes as crime has dropped in New York and the police ticket-writing boycott in protest of Mayor de Blasio led to no increase in conflict.

BREAKING: New NYPD Policy To Patrol Protests With Machine Guns

Sharyl Attkisson’s Free Press Statement to Senate Judiciary Committee

Posted: January 30, 2015 by gamegetterII in Police state USSA
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Facets of federal government have isolated themselves from the public they serve. They covet and withhold public information that we, as citizens, own. They bully and threaten access of journalists who do their jobs, news organizations that publish stories they don’t like and whistleblowers who dare to tell the truth.

When I reported on factual contradictions in the administration’s accounts regarding Fast and Furious, pushback included a frenzied campaign with White House officials trying to chill the reporting by calling and emailing my superiors and colleagues, and using surrogate bloggers to advance false claims. One White House official got so mad, he angrily cussed me out.

The Justice Department used its authority over building security to handpick reporters allowed to attend a Fast and Furious briefing, refusing to clear me into the public Justice Department building.

Advocates had to file a lawsuit to obtain public information about Fast and Furious improperly withheld under executive privilege. Documents recently released show emails in which taxpayer paid White House and Justice Department press officials complained that I was “out of control,” and vowed to call my bosses to try to stop my reporting.

Let me emphasize that my reporting was factually indisputable. Government officials weren’t angry because I was doing my job poorly. They were panicked because I was doing my job well.

Many journalists have provided their own accounts.

The White House made good on its threat to punish C-SPAN afterC-SPAN dared to defy a White House demand to delay airing a potentially embarrassing interview with the President.

Fifty news organizations, including CBS and the Washington Post wrote the White House objecting to unprecedented restrictions on the press that raise constitutional concerns.

A New York Times photographer likened White House practices to the Soviet news agency Tass.

Former Washington Post executive editor Len Downie called the Obama War on Leaks “by far the most aggressive” he’s seen since Nixon.

David Sanger of the New York Times called this “the most closed, control freak administration” he’s ever covered.

New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan said it’s “the administration of unprecedented secrecy and unprecedented attacks on a free press.”

ABC News correspondent Ann Compton calledObama “the least transparent of the seven presidents” she’s covered.

Months before we knew the Justice Department had secretly seized AP phone records and surveilled FOX News’ James Rosen, before Director of National Intelligence James Clapper incorrectly testified under oath that Americans weren’t subject to mass data collection… I was tipped off that the government was likely secretly monitoring me due to my reporting.

http://sharylattkisson.com/attkissons-free-press-statement-to-senate-judiciary-committee/

Denver police shoot, kill young woman

Posted: January 27, 2015 by gamegetterII in Police state USSA
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DENVER (Reuters) – A young woman suspected of driving a stolen car filled with teenage passengers was shot dead by Denver police on Monday after she struck an officer with the vehicle as he approached on foot, authorities said.

Denver Police Chief Robert White told reporters that there were five very young people inside the car when the shooting occurred, and the person who was fatally shot “appeared to be a teenager.”

Her name and age were not immediately released.

White said the incident began when an officer responded to reports of a suspicious vehicle in an alley in the city’s Park Hill neighborhood.

The first officer on scene ran the plates on the car and was told it was stolen and called for back-up, White said. A second officer then arrived and when the pair approached the vehicle, the driver hit one of the officers with the car.

“Both officers fired several shots” at the driver, White said, and the person who was shot was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. The chief said the officer who was struck suffered a possible broken leg and was expected to recover.

http://news.yahoo.com/denver-police-shoot-kill-young-woman-struck-officer-224221994.html

USA!USA!USA!

officer-safety-pew-pew-pew-complete-power

Michigan is an open carry state… but only if you are white.

Posted: January 21, 2015 by gamegetterII in Police state USSA
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ht/wirecutter / wisco Dave

Michigan is routinely classified as an open carry state; however, it’s  discretionary if you are not white. If you are not white and the police officer (Detroit Police Officer James Taylor in this case) decides that non whites shouldn’t have guns, then you get arrested for concealed carry and the prosecutor and judge can play along and even bar the attorney’s from mentioning that open carry is legal during the trial.

No, this case was not argued in the Central Court of North Korea in Pyongyang, this case was argued in Detroit, Michigan. Although it is hard to tell the difference after hearing about this case.

Fortunately,  two attorney’s came to the victim’s defense. Here is the synopsis from one of the attorneys.

Synopsis by Jim Makowski, Esq.

PEOPLE v. WOODY AAR

On September 13, 2014, Elijah Woody, Jr., a 24 y.o., African-American male, was hanging out chatting with 4-5 friends on the sidewalk of an inner city neighborhood in Detroit. WOODY was open carrying a Glock 23 in a Blackhawk SERPA OWB holster and wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and a light jacket buttoned all the way up.

At approximately 7:50p, a car containing three officers from the Detroit Police Department’s Tactical Response Unit, rounded the corner and approached the group. The TRU officers dress in BDUs and typically act in a paramilitary fashion.

As everyone in Detroit knows but most of us from the suburbs do not, it is common for DPD officers to stop, frisk, demand identification and conduct illegal, unconstitutional searches of any group of black males on public property. If they find anything illegal or questionable they will then lie as to how they learned of the offense.

True to form, the officers stopped the car, jumped out and demanded everyone produce ID. Officer James Taylor went straight to WOODY and asked him “you got some bullshit on you there,” referring to the Glock. WOODY is immediately disarmed, cuffed and placed in the back of the squad car. The officers did not inquire whether he had a CPL until after transporting him to the Detroit Detention Facility, and charging him with the five-year felony of Carrying a Concealed Weapon.

When the police wrote their report they had to come up with a story to justify their encounter with WOODY. The officers claimed they observed the group drinking from red Solo cups and, as they drove up they “smelled the strong odor of burning marijuana” from a moving car about 15’ away (must be some bloodhound genes there). Officer Taylor claimed that when WOODY noticed their approach he “bladed” his body to limit their ability to see his right hip and started “backpedaling.” Taylor claimed that WOODY then turned full face on, lifted the right side of his jacket and exposed the Glock hidden under his jacket, stating he was “open carrying.”

Shortly after the arrest I was contacted and advised about this gross abuse of WOODY’s rights. I reached out to my good friend Terry Johnson, a fellow 2A defense lawyer, to see if he was interested in jointly defending WOODY. He agreed so we took the case.

http://www.miopencarry.org/new/2015/01/michigan-is-an-open-carry-state-if-you-are-white

The flashbang menace

Posted: January 19, 2015 by gamegetterII in Police state USSA
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ProPublica has just published a long investigation of the use of flashbang grenades, an issue I’ve written about quite a bit, including here at The Watch.

These are the incendiary devices intended to temporarily stun, blind and deafen everyone within range. They have some limited appropriate uses, such as when police are confronting someone who is in the process of committing a violent crime. But they’re used far more often than that, and there’s a long trail of people injured and even killed.

[I]n Little Rock, Ark., the police department is still using flashbangs on nearly every raid, according to ProPublica’s analysis. Police department records obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union, as part of its nationwide survey of police militarization, showed that between 2011 and 2013, Little Rock police tossed flashbangs into homes on 112 occasions, or 84 percent of raids — nearly all of them in predominantly black neighborhoods.

Little Rock Police Department spokesman Sidney Allen defended the practice, saying, “You may see a large number of flashbang deployments, but what we see is a large service of warrants without gunfire.” But no weapons were found at three-quarters of the homes during this period, according to department records obtained by ProPublica. Most searches yielded drug paraphernalia such as small baggies of marijuana and glass pipes. Others just turned up bottles of beer.

One Sunday afternoon in 2012, Sharon Kay Harris, a diminutive 54-year-old grandmother, was still in her church clothes getting a soda out of the fridge when police officers threw a flashbang into her kitchen. “It was very scary,” Harris said. “It’s real loud, it sounds like a gun going off.” Other officers broke down her front door with a battering ram and threw a flashbang into the living room, igniting a pile of clothing. A few weeks earlier, Harris had sold a plate of food and six cans of beer without a license, a misdemeanor in Arkansas, to an undercover officer. The officer returned on a second occasion to catch Harris in another offense: selling liquor on a Sunday. During their raid on Harris’ house, the police confiscated several cases of beer, which she freely admitted to selling along with hot dogs, nachos and fajitas . . .

Little Rock Police Department spokesman Allen said he does not consider the force used on Harris’ home to be excessive. “If she hadn’t been selling illegal items out of the home, no warrant would have been served,” he said. “What you call extreme, we call safe.”

officer-safety-pew-pew-pew-complete-power

Even when deployed properly, it’s important to remember that these devices, by design, inflict pain and punishment on people. That’s perhaps a justifiable use of force when it’s necessary to apprehend someone who is putting others at imminent risk of injury or death. But flashbangs today are primarily used in raids to serve warrants on people still merely suspected of nonviolent, consensual drug crimes. Not only are these suspects not putting anyone at imminent risk, but they have yet to even be charged with a crime. Another way to put it: Police are using premeditated violence as an investigative tool. And that’s merely the problem with using these devices against suspects. Let’s not forget the bystanders who may be inside, or the possibility of police mistakenly targeting the wrong house, a not uncommon problem in drug investigations.

Officer safety is important. But the ubiquity of flashbangs shows that in too many police agencies today, officer safety has become a higher priority than the safety of the citizens the officers serve.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2015/01/14/the-flashbang-menace/

Albuquerque police officer shot by fellow officer during drug bust

Posted: January 11, 2015 by gamegetterII in Police state USSA
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That’s what happens when the local police have all kinds of tacticool shit and no effin clue how to use it. There’s a huge lack of training for SWAT teams all over the USA-that’s why they do dumb assed shit like raid the wrong house,shoot a 5# dog because it was “acting aggressive” towards them,or shoot-often killing- innocent people in their own homes-innocent people who have committed no crime.

They get shot,the stormtroopers kill their Labradoodle,or toy poodle,or mini schnauzer, because it was being so mean to them that they were in fear for their life.

We need to ban these special snowflake SWAT teams,and these stormtroopers need to be held accountable when they raid the wrong home,shoot innocent people at said wrong home,and when they kill the family dog at the wrong home. When they shoot each other-who cares-one less stormtrooper to shoot your wife,your kid,and your dog,kick in your door,break windows to toss flashbangs in the hole where the glass used to be, toss a flashbang into the baby’s crib,break doors all through your home,ruin your carpeting,and tear all your belongings up and toss them all over the floors.

And cops wonder why so many people despise them??????

Here’s what the guys with the tacticool gear and no clue how to use it did this time…

“ALBUQUERQUE (Reuters) – An Albuquerque police officer shot and critically wounded a fellow officer during an undercover narcotics bust at a fast food franchise parking lot at around mid-day on Friday, police said.

Police would not release additional details of the shooting or of the nature of the officer’s injuries.

“Both officers involved were working in a plain clothes, undercover capacity and have been with the department for many years,” said Albuquerque Police Department spokeswoman Celina Espinoza said, adding that two suspects were arrested.

The incident comes after a federal investigation concluded the police department in the mid-sized U.S. city in New Mexico used excessive, even deadly, force against passive civilians.

In October of last year, Albuquerque and the U.S. Justice Department announced an agreement for the city’s police department to undergo reform and be monitored for use of excessive force.

Another police officer was shot during a traffic stop on Jan. 3. On Dec. 15, an Albuquerque police officer accidentally shot a bystander when his weapon discharged as he climbed through a window during a burglary investigation.

The officer in Friday’s underwent surgery at University of New Mexico Hospital, Espinoza said. A second undercover officer was treated and released from the hospital with minor injuries. She said she did not know the cause of the injuries.

Wallace Anderson, who was inside the restaurant at the time of the shooting, told broadcaster KOB 4 he saw two unmarked cars pull up.

“They surrounded this vehicle so it couldn’t back up and escape. At that point, the shots happened and a guy was dragged to the pavement,” Anderson said.”

http://news.yahoo.com/albuquerque-police-officer-shot-fellow-officer-during-drug-055419976.html

NYPD: 2 officers shot in the Bronx

Posted: January 6, 2015 by gamegetterII in Police state USSA
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Two police officers were shot in the Bronx Monday night, the New York Police Department confirmed.

Police officials told the Associated Press the two cops’ injuries were not life-threatening. Several local news outlets reported the officers were shot while responding to a robbery.

 WNBC in New York reported one officer was shot in the back, but is believed to have been wearing a bullet proof vest that may have saved his life while the second officer suffered a graze wound to the elbow.

The Daily News two robbery suspects fled on foot and that responding officers recovered a revolver at the scene.

Both WNBC and the New York Post reported one robbery suspect first fled in a car and crashed, then fled on foot. No suspects have been taken into custody.

The shootings come just weeks after NYPD police officers Wenjian Liu and Raphael Ramos were fatally shot in Brooklyn on Dec. 20 by a man believed to be seeking revenge for the police-involved deaths of Ferguson teen Michael Brown and Eric Garner of Staten Island.

Earlier Monday New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton held a press conference to announce a dip in crime in the city. Bratton also addressed reports of an intentional work slowdown by NYPD cops angry at the mayor’s support of recent anti-cop protests in NYC.

“At this time, I would not use the term slowdown,” Bratton said, adding if he discovers organized effort on the part of police, “we will deal with it very forcefully.”

http://news.yahoo.com/nypd–2-officers-shot-in-the-bronx-042649723.html

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