Shirin-Banou Barghi created this series of graphics dedicated to those killed by police officers. – Click through for more – Source: goodmenproject.com
Month: August 2014
Erick Gelhaus, deputy who shot 13 year old Andy Lopez, returning to patrol
Sonoma County Sheriff’s Deputy Erick Gelhaus will return to patrolling the streets next week, nearly 10 months after he shot and killed 13-year-old Andy Lopez, sparking protests that revealed deep distrust of law enforcement among some residents, especially those in the Latino community.
The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office in July cleared Gelhaus of any criminal wrongdoing for his actions in the fatal Oct. 22 shooting, which ignited an emotional debate about officers’ use of deadly force and the dangers of toy guns made to look like real firearms.
Lopez was shot while walking down a residential street on Santa Rosa’s southwest outskirts carrying an airsoft BB gun made to resemble an AK-47 assault rifle. Gelhaus told investigators he ordered the boy to drop the gun, then opened fire when Lopez turned toward the deputy, partially raising the barrel of the gun.
Gelhaus did not return a call seeking comment about his return to patrol duties. His attorney Terry Leoni said in an email that the veteran deputy welcomed “this assignment, and knows his nearly 25-years in law enforcement will continue to benefit the community.”
“He will continue to proudly serve the people of Sonoma County, as he has always done,” Leoni said.
Gelhaus, a firearms instructor in the Sheriff’s Office, has been back at work since December, largely in administrative assignments within the department. His return to patrol, including a wide range of duties interacting with the public, marks another potent moment in what has been a painful and tumultuous chapter in Sonoma County history.
For those who have continued to protest the deputy’s actions, news of Gelhaus’ return to patrol was met with surprise and a sense that their concerns had gone unheard.
– Click through for more –
Source: www.pressdemocrat.com
respectability politics
Apostles: Booker T. Washington, Don Lemon, Bill Cosby, Barack Obama, Chris Rock in “Niggas vs Black People”.
Glory days: 1895 to 1955, from Booker T. Washington’s Atlanta Compromise to the murder of Emmett Till. Its low point was from 1965 to 1984, from Carmichael to Cosby. It seems to be a reaction to racial nadirs, periods of White racist backlash against anti-racist reforms.
In the US, Whites dehumanize Blacks, partly through stereotypes. Blacks are seen as lazy, unintelligent, violent, criminal, oversexed, etc. Most Whites think the stereotypes are true. They inform not only “realistic” television dramas, but even news reporting, policing, court cases and government policy.
Therefore, says respectability politics, the main thing wrong with Black people is their behaviour. Change the behaviour and Whites will see Black people as human and worthy and therefore do right by them. Stuff like police brutality and high unemployment will melt away.
There are two things wrong with that:
– Click through for more –
Source: abagond.wordpress.com
Palestine’s Letter of Solidarity With Ferguson, Missouri
People of the Third World know very well what it is like to have their voices forcibly suppressed by neo-colonial governments funded and armed by the U.S. and its Western allies.
Source: ushypocrisy.com
Eyewitness to shooting of Mike Brown tells her story
Tiffany Mitchell, eyewitness to the shooting of Michael Brown, tells Lawrence O’Donnell about the night Michael Brown was shot to death by a Ferguson police officer.
Source: www.msnbc.com
Autopsy Shows Michael Brown Was Struck at Least 6 Times
“A private, family-requested autopsy shows that Michael Brown was shot at least six times — twice in the head — with all of the bullets striking him in the front.”
…
“The sheer number of bullets and the way they were scattered all over his body showed this police officer had a brazen disregard for the very people he was supposed to protect in that community,” Mr. Crump said. “We want to make sure people understand what this case is about: This case is about a police officer executing a young unarmed man in broad daylight.”
…
‘You’re not supposed to shoot so many times,’ said Dr. Baden
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HT Xena
Source: www.nytimes.com
Mike Brown EyeWitness Crime Scene Video Ferguson, MO [VIDEO]
This is among the earliest video shot of Mike Brown laying dead on the street after being gunned down.According to the videographer, Brown was gunned down just before filming. Voices on the video highlight that Brown had no weapon, and had his hands in the air when shot.
Residents are heard around the 1:00 mark explaining the chain of events and clearly state that Michael Brown was unarmed and not fighting with police when he was shot.
Note how the Ferguson PD do nothing to give Brown aid or even to secure his body at the scene beyond roping off the general area. Note the nonchalant behavior of the PD as Brown lays dead.
At the 3:00 mark, a man appearing to be either Michael Brown’s father or his uncle runs to the scene but is stopped by the PD.
While this video is only 10 minutes long, eye witnesses and reporters have stated that Brown’s body wasn’t moved for 4 hours. Other video clearly taken after this one show Brown’s still on the ground.
This video along with other facts coming to light disprove the Ferguson PD’s initial claims of Michael Brown being armed as there are no weapons at the scene in this video and no officer is scene doing anything to document evidence, or interview witnesses who are heard throughout the video recounting the events in disbelief. There is no CSI on the scene to examine the body or crime scene.
It’s as if the Ferguson PD on the scene had already made up their minds as to what happened and what story they were going to go with regardless of the facts or the truth.
Source: www.youtube.com
Don’t Shoot
Any cop who is so scared of a large Black man their only recourse is to kill them, is a coward and has no business with a badge and a gun.
Source: jeffwinbush.com
Ousted chief accuses border agency of shooting cover-ups, corruption
James F. Tomsheck, seen in 2009, was chief of internal affairs with U.S. Customs and Border Protection for eight years. He was removed in June.
Credit: Alex Brandon/Associated Press
More than two dozen people have died in violent clashes with U.S. Customs and Border Protection since 2010. Despite public outrage over some of the killings, no agent or officer has faced criminal charges – or public reprimand – to date.
Yet at least a quarter of the 28 deaths were “highly suspect,” said James F. Tomsheck, the agency’s recently removed head of internal affairs. In a sweeping and unauthorized interview with The Center for Investigative Reporting, he said the deaths raised serious questions about whether the use of lethal force was appropriate.
Instead, Tomsheck said, Border Patrol officials have consistently tried to change or distort facts to make fatal shootings by agents appear to be “a good shoot” and cover up any wrongdoing.
“In nearly every instance, there was an effort by Border Patrol leadership to make a case to justify the shooting versus doing a genuine, appropriate review of the information and the facts at hand,” he said.
Those comments and others represent the most scathing public criticism ever lodged against Customs and Border Protection from a high-ranking official at the nation’s largest law enforcement agency. Although Tomsheck was removed from the internal affairs office, he is assigned to the Border Patrol as its executive director for national programs.
Source: beta.cironline.org
Cows Forced to Live in Their Own Waste at Dairy Farm
After a disturbing tip, PETA visited a farm that supplies milk to Kroger-owned supermarket chain Harris Teeter and found emaciated cows in pain trudging through deep manure.
Source: investigations.peta.org
My dad thinks that dairy cows live in fields of green grass.