Month: November 2015

#BlackLivesMatter #Justice4Jamar Tweets 11.24
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#BlackLivesMatter #Justice4Jamar Tweets 11.24

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Mercutio Southall

http://columbuscameragroup.com/nikon24mmpc/ Mercutio Southall (c. 1985- ), a Black Lives Matter protester, was beat up at a Donald Trump rally in Birmingham, Alabama on November 21st 2015.

 

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Sourced through Scoop.it from: abagond.wordpress.com

#BlackLivesMatter Tweets 11.23
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#BlackLivesMatter Tweets 11.23

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Family Gets $4.9M After Cops Beat Mentally Ill Son to Death on Video and Walked Free

Cops murder with impunity and the taxpayer is held responsible – and they call this ‘justice.’

Sourced through Scoop.it from: thefreethoughtproject.com

#KellyThomas

#SayHisName

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An open letter to President Obama

 

In the wake of the Paris attack that killed 129, four former US Air Force drone operators wrote an open letter to the US president, his secretary of defence and the CIA director:

President Barack Obama
The White House
Washington, D.C.

Secretary Ashton B. Carter
Department of Defense

Director John O. Brennan
Central Intelligence Agency

Dear President Obama, Secretary Carter and Director Brennan:

We are former Air Force service members. We joined the Air Force to protect American lives and to protect our Constitution. We came to the realization that the innocent civilians we were killing only fueled the feelings of hatred that ignited terrorism and groups like ISIS, while also serving as a fundamental recruitment tool similar to Guantanamo Bay. This administration and its predecessors have built a drone program that is one of the most devastating driving forces for terrorism and destabilization around the world.

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Sourced through Scoop.it from: abagond.wordpress.com

Democracy Now interviewed these men.
Exclusive: Air Force Whistleblowers Risk Prosecution to Warn Drone War Kills Civilians, Fuels Terror

 

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HBO to Debut Jordan Davis Documentary “3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets” on November 23

“I remember the first day we brought Jordan home from the hospital a miracle child. For nine months, I fought to give this special child life. I remember asking God to keep him safe and out of harm’s way. I have said many prayers that he would be highly favored before God and man. I asked God that he would give him wisdom to navigate a world filled with uncertainty and danger.” – Lucia McBath
On November 23rd of 2012,  Michael Dunn approached a red Dodge Durango and fired 10 shots at four black teenage boys. Their music too loud, skin too dark, and voices too opinionated. That same night, Jordan Davis drew his last breath and Lucia McBath lost her firstborn child. Now, just three years later, HBO will air 3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets, an in-depth documentary chronicling the details of the murder of Davis.

 

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Sourced through Scoop.it from: goodblacknews.org

#JordanDavis

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DC Agrees to $16.65M Settlement with Donald Gates, Wrongly Imprisoned for 27 Years

The District of Columbia agreed Thursday to pay $16.65 million to a man who spent 27 years in prison for a rape and murder he didn’t commit.
The amount is about $617,000 for every year Donald Eugene Gates spent in prison. Gates was freed in 2009 after DNA evidence cleared him in the 1981 rape and murder of 21-year-old Georgetown University student Catherine Schilling. A federal jury on Wednesday found that two city police officers fabricated and withheld evidence in the case, and city officials agreed to a settlement Thursday as the jury was getting ready to decide damages in the case.
According to court records, former homicide detectives Ronald S. Taylor and Norman Brooks, both now retired, fed information to an unreliable informant. The informant claimed Gates confessed to him while in jail and that he was tied to DNA evidence. This led to a D.C. Superior court finding Gates guilty and he was sentenced to life in prison. During this time, Gates maintained his innocence and suffered until 2009. It was then that he was cleared based on DNA evidence and the real culprit was identified. Because of the conduct of the officers and his wrongful imprisonment, Gates was earlier awarded $1.4 million under a law that gives $50K per year of imprisonment of innocent people who waive their rights to sue the US government.
In response to the jury verdict, Gates is quoted as saying, “It feels like the God of the King James Bible is real, and he answered my prayers.” Gates, who lives in Knoxville, Tenn., added as he left the courtroom, “Justice is on the way to being fulfilled. . . . It’s one of the happiest days of my life.”

Sourced through Scoop.it from: goodblacknews.org