Posts Tagged ‘police state’

U.S. preparing to sue Ferguson police over charges of racial bias: CNN

Posted: February 19, 2015 by gamegetterII in Uncategorized
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice is preparing to sue the Ferguson, Missouri, police department over allegations of racially discriminatory practices unless the police force agrees to make changes, CNN reported on Wednesday.

The network, citing sources, said the Justice Department would not charge the white Ferguson police officer involved in the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown last August but was expected to outline allegations of discriminatory Ferguson police tactics.

The department would file suit if Ferguson police did not agree to review and change those tactics, CNN reported.

The shooting of Brown last August by officer Darren Wilson led to months of sometimes violent protests in Ferguson and galvanized critics of the treatment by police and the U.S. criminal justice system of blacks and other minority groups.

A St. Louis County grand jury decided last year not to prosecute Wilson, who has since left the Ferguson police force. The Justice Department has been conducting probes of the shooting and the operations of the Ferguson police force.

Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr declined to comment on the CNN report.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who is preparing to leave office, said earlier this month he hoped to complete the civil rights investigation of the shooting before he steps down.

CNN said the potential Justice Department lawsuit could include allegations that police targeted minorities in issuing minor traffic infractions and then jailed them if they could not pay the fines.

It reported the agency would seek court supervision of changes taken by Ferguson police to improve its dealings with minorities.

(Reporting by Peter Cooney; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

.gov inc. is Huntin ‘Em Down One at a Time…Missouri man charged with arson during Ferguson unrest

Posted: February 14, 2015 by gamegetterII in Ferguson
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(Reuters) – A Missouri man has been charged with attempting to burn a grocery store after a grand jury in November decided not to indict a white Ferguson police officer who fatally shot unarmed black 18-year-old Michael Brown, prosecutors said on Friday.

Antonio Whiteside, 26, of St. Louis County, is charged with one count of attempting to destroy the Ferguson Supermarket by means of fire or explosives on Nov. 24, the office of U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan in St. Louis said in a statement.

Whiteside was indicted on Wednesday and taken into custody late on Thursday, the statement said. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

The alleged arson occurred after St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch announced that a grand jury had declined to indict officer Darren Wilson for killing Brown on Aug. 9.

Buildings were set on fire, stores were looted and protesters clashed with police as violence erupted in and around Ferguson after the announcement. St. Louis County and federal bomb and arson officers have been jointly investigating since the riots.

“This indictment is but one result of that collaboration, which is an ongoing effort and I expect will produce additional indictments at both the state and federal level,” Callahan said.

Whiteside was the first person indicted through the efforts of the local and federal investigative team, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office said. But many arrests were made on the night of the Nov. 24 riots, including a man charged with knowingly causing fire or explosions, arrest records show.

Authorities have offered rewards of up to $10,000 for turning in arsonists responsible for the burning of buildings on Nov. 24.

(Reporting by Kevin Murphy in Kansas City, Missouri; Additional reporting by Carey Gillam in Kansas City; Editing by Will Dunham and Mohammad Zargham)

New York Times anti-gun agenda not limited to editorial page

Posted: February 13, 2015 by gamegetterII in anti-gun asshattery
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Via David Codrea..

The Wednesday ruling that the federal ban on interstate handgun transfers is unconstitutional, and that Attorney General Eric Holder and ATF Director B. Todd Jones have been enjoined from enforcing that provision of the Gun Control Act of 1968, is unquestionably huge news. While no one knows at this point what an appeal will result in, the “strict scrutiny” standard employed by U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor and his definitive opinion that the ban “is unconstitutional on its face” is sending shock waves through the citizen disarmament community, trying its best to downplay the significance of this setback to their goals.

Case in point: Here’s the Everytown Twitter feed. Do you see any mention of the Feb. 11 ruling? Ditto, not a word on their Facebook page. And here’s Everytown’s “In the News” web page. How about there?

It’s almost like they don’t want people to know something in order to protect an agenda.

Guess which “Gray Lady” that reminds me of?

In fairness, the online edition of The New York Times did post a Reuters filing on Feb. 11, but nothing from The Times’ staff. Funny thing though. I just got back from my hometown library, where they have a subscription to the national edition of The Times, and I couldn’t find the story in their print edition. I looked through copies from Wednesday, Thursday and today.

I found their editorial where they were Mugwort VPC-Steaming each other over the chances of being murdered by a “concealed carry killer” notching up a thousandth of a percentage point over lightning strikes. I even found something about such a lightning strike, that North Carolina nutjob all the “progressives” are glossing over an SPLC connection on (so no mention of that, of course). There was a feature on the “American Sniper” trial, and another on an “Only One” from Colorado who shot a skateboarder in the back, and even a front page feature today memorializing a dead, drug-abusing Times employee swearing he’d done a lot of bad things in his day, but carrying a [GASP!] gun isn’t one of them (until he was contradicted by witnesses who remembered it).

But a landmark decision that could nullify a major piece of “gun control” the antis have been counting on infringing with for almost half a century? If it’s in there, it managed to elude my old eyes. Of course, it could be a new feature, a “find the article” game for those no good at snobbishly obscure crossword puzzles, and in fairness, I didn’t look in the “Food” section.

What did I say a couple paragraphs back?

It’s almost like they don’t want people to know something in order to protect an agenda.

Then again, maybe I’m not being fair. Maybe, just like when Fast and Furious could have brought down an administration had the “legitimate news media” been doing its job instead of running interference for criminal government activity, this just isn’t their scoop.

Yeah, because after all, they’re “the newspaper of record.” That must be it.

http://www.examiner.com/article/new-york-times-anti-gun-agenda-not-limited-to-editorial-page?CID=examiner_alerts_article

Florida lawyer sparks debate about rights at DUI checkpoints

Posted: February 11, 2015 by gamegetterII in Police state USSA
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MIAMI (AP) — Drivers at drunken-driving checkpoints don’t have to speak to police or even roll down their windows. They just have to place their license and registration on the glass, along with a note saying they have no comment, won’t permit a search and want a lawyer. At least, that’s the view of a South Florida attorney.

Warren Redlich contends the commonly-used checkpoints violate drivers’ constitutional rights. He and an associate have created a website detailing their tactics. They’ve even made videos, one viewed more than 2 million times on the Internet, of their refusals to interact with police.

Doubts over the legality — and wisdom — of the tactics have been expressed by legal experts and local authorities.

Redlich, of Boca Raton, said his goal is not to protect drunken drivers, but to protect the innocent. He says some of his clients who passed breath-alcohol tests still faced DUI charges because the officer said he detected an odor of alcohol or the person had slurred speech.

“The point of the card is, you are affirmatively asserting your rights without having to speak to the police and without opening your window,” he said.

Not surprisingly, this does not sit well with law enforcement officials who insist drivers must speak in order to make the checkpoints work. And, they point out the U.S. Supreme Court in 1990 upheld the use of random DUI checkpoints, concluding they don’t violate constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

View gallery

In this Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015 photo, Miami police …

In this Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015 photo, Miami police officer Luis Ortiz looks at a driver’s licen …

“They wouldn’t be allowed out of that checkpoint until they talk to us. We have a legitimate right to do it,” said Sheriff David Shoar of St. Johns County, president of the Florida Sheriffs Association. “If I was out there, I wouldn’t wave them through. I want to talk to that person more now.”

The widely viewed video was shot Dec. 31 at a checkpoint in Levy County, Florida, by Redlich’s associate Jeff Gray. In it, Gray approaches the officers with the flyer, his license, registration and insurance card in a plastic bag dangling outside the slightly open car window. The officers briefly examine it with a flashlight and then allow him to continue.

In bold type, the flyer states: “I remain silent. No searches. I want my lawyer.”

Police across Florida have seen the video. A spokeswoman for a large metro police agency says Gray’s experience at the checkpoint doesn’t mean the no-talk tactic is legitimate.

“He was allowed to proceed because he clearly was not driving while intoxicated,” said Veda Coleman-Wright, spokeswoman for the Broward Sheriff’s Office. “If those officers had reasonable suspicion to believe that the driver was impaired, they would have investigated further.”

View gallery

In this Friday, Jan. 30, 2015 photo, attorney Warren …

In this Friday, Jan. 30, 2015 photo, attorney Warren Redlich holds up a flyer he designed during an  …

There have been other incidents of motorists refusing to speak at DUI checkpoints around the country. In the Southwest, some drivers resist cooperating at Border Patrol checkpoints miles from the Mexican border that are aimed at finding immigrants in the country illegally.

Based on differences in DUI laws, Redlich has created versions of his flyer for 10 states with more on the way.

Read the rest @

http://news.yahoo.com/florida-lawyer-sparks-debate-rights-dui-checkpoints-172407203.html

New York City Officer Is Said to Be Indicted in Shooting Death of Akai Gurley

Posted: February 10, 2015 by gamegetterII in Police state USSA
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The police officer who fired the shot that killed an unarmed man in a Brooklyn housing project in November has been indicted, according to three people familiar with the grand jury proceedings.
Peter Liang, 27, who had been on the force for less than 18 months, was patrolling a darkened stairwell at the Louis H. Pink Houses in East New York when he shot and killed Akai Gurley, 28. Less than 12 hours after the shooting, Police Commissioner William J. Bratton acknowledged that the shooting had been a grave error.
A formal announcement by the district attorney’s office was expected on Wednesday afternoon, but whether the indictment against Officer Liang includes any homicide counts, such as manslaughter, could not be immediately determined.
When Officer Liang and his partner entered an eighth-floor stairwell in the building, he had his gun drawn, according to the police. At nearly the same moment, Mr. Gurley and his girlfriend entered the seventh-floor stairwell, 14 steps below.
The charges, reported by NY1 on Tuesday afternoon, come two months after a grand jury on Staten Island declined to bring criminal charges against Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner, who died after an encounter with the police.
It came at a time of heightened tension between the police and minority communities and was one of several cases that advocates for police reform cited as evidence of overly aggressive police tactics.

Officer Peter Liang, 27, was patrolling a darkened stairwell at the Louis H. Pink Houses in East New York, Brooklyn, when he shot and killed Mr. Gurley. Robert Stolarik for The New York Times 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/11/nyregion/akai-gurley-shooting-death-officer-indicted.html?_r=0

Two Philadelphia police officers charged in beating of motor scooter rider

Posted: February 5, 2015 by gamegetterII in Police state USSA
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PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – A grand jury has criminally charged two Philadelphia police officers with knocking a man from his motor scooter, beating him and then falsely accusing him of assault, in the latest case of alleged police misconduct in the United States.

Officers Sean McKnight, 30, and Kevin Robinson, 26, were charged with aggravated assault and related offenses in the May 2013 incident which occurred after a traffic stop in a gritty section of north Philadelphia, said Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams.

The victim, Najee Rivera, said he fled in fear on his scooter after officers exited their vehicle with their batons extended. That, according to Williams, enraged the pursuing officers.

One of them hit Rivera in the head with a baton as their patrol car knocked him off his scooter, prosecutors said.

Rivera was hospitalized with a fractured orbital bone and numerous lacerations to the head. But McKnight and Robinson filed paperwork claiming Rivera attacked them.

Rivera’s girlfriend, however, had canvassed the area of the beating, and turned up surveillance video of the beating.

“The video undermined every aspect of the officers’ account,” Williams told reporters at a news conference on Thursday. “None of it was true except for the blows inflicted on Najee Rivera.”

http://news.yahoo.com/two-philadelphia-police-officers-charged-brutality-motorist-162556151.html

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Then we’ll shoot you,tase you,pepper spray you,strike you with a baton, and throw you to the ground anyways…

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

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