info
TW: Police brutality - Judge tosses indictment in Ramarley Graham case, says grand jury was misled
May 15, 2013
A judge has thrown out the indictment against an NYPD officer charged in the fatal shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old in his Bronx home last year, but said prosecutors can present the case again, NBC 4 New York has learned.
Officer Richard Haste, 31, had been indicted on manslaughter charges in the February 2012 shooting death of Ramarley Graham and faced up to 25 years in prison.
On Wednesday, a judge dismissed the indictment on a technicality, siding with defense lawyers who had argued prosecutors gave flawed instructions to the grand jury that indicted Haste.
The Bronx district attorney’s office couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Graham’s family left the courtroom after the judge’s decision, cursing and calling the officer a “murderer.”
Graham was shot to death in the bathroom of his home on East 229th Street after police chased him inside.
Security video showed Graham entering his home, and police running after him. Police at the time said officers witnessed a drug deal and pursued Graham, believing he had a gun.
They went in and found him in the second-floor bathroom, and shot him in the chest. He died shortly afterward.
Police said later that Graham was not found with a gun.
“This is an outrageous miscarriage of justice and an insult to the family and supporters of Ramarley Graham. We demand that a new Grand Jury is convened immediately and that the case is re-presented.” - Rev. Al Sharpton
Pictured: Ramarley’s parents, Franclot Graham & Constance Malcolm
Genevieve Huizar’s protest was planned for 9:30 a.m. Thursday in front of the central courthouse in Santa Ana. It comes a day after officials decided not to press charges against Anaheim Police Officer Nick Bennallack.
Manuel Diaz, 25, was unarmed when he was shot last July. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in its findings that officers recognized Diaz as a gang member who went by the nickname “Stomper.” He and two other men started running when they saw officers approach. Investigators said Diaz ignored commands to stop and appeared to reach into his waistband as though grabbing for a weapon.
Bennallack said he feared for his life and the life of his partner and fired his weapon. Authorities say Diaz was shot twice, including once in the head. It was later determined Diaz was not armed. His cellphone was found nearby.
OCDA investigators interviewed nearly 50 witnesses. After examining all of the evidence, investigators found Bennallack’s actions were justified and he acted in self-defense.
The People’s Record News Update: This week in the fight to decriminalize across the United States!
March 20, 2013
- In Maryland, the Maryland Senate votes to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana, while a House committee considers legalizing as much as an ounce. The marijuana debate has expanded beyond medical uses to recreational ones. The Maryland Senate approved a bill that reduces small amounts of marijuana from criminal possession to a civil fine Tuesday. A bill in the House goes even further.
The bill legalizes the sale of marijuana to adults 21 and older. It removes all penalties for possession of up to one ounce and allows adults to grow up to three plants. The prospects of any of the marijuana bills making it through both chambers and to the governor’s desk for his signature remain uncertain. A Senate bill decriminalizing marijuana up to 10 grams now moves to the House. Source
- In Dallas, members of NORML, the nation’s largest group that advocates the legalization of marijuana protested along Greenville Avenue near the Old Town Shopping center in Dallas this weekend. It was estimated that about 100 members are here at the Dallas St. Patrick’s Parade and Festival. The group was denied a permit to march in be parade. Source
- In Atlanta, marijuana activists gathered in Midtown at this weekend’s Southern Cannabis Reform Conference to unite and discuss how to reform antiquated marijuana laws. Several pro-marijuana groups gathered at the Spring4th Center in Midtown to promote the idea of drug decriminalization and discuss ways to improve community outreach. The two-day summit was organized by Peachtree National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Georgia Campaign for Access, Reform and Education (CARE), the American Cannabis Coalition, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and Georgia NORML, among others. Source
- In New Hampshire, advocates of medical marijuana won overwhelming support Wednesday in the House for a bill that would sanction five marijuana dispensaries and allow patients or caregivers to grow up to three plants for medical use.
The bipartisan vote of 286-64 marked the fourth time in six years such a medical marijuana bill has won House approval. Two previous measures were vetoed by then-Gov. John Lynch; a third was killed in the Senate. Source
- In New York City, a new report released today by the Drug Policy Alliance and the Marijuana Arrest Research Project documents the astonishing number of hours the New York City Police Department has spent arresting and processing hundreds of thousands of people for low-level misdemeanor marijuana possession arrests over the last 11 years. The report finds that NYPD used approximately 1,000,000 hours of police officer time making marijuana possession arrests during Mayor Bloomberg’s tenure. These are hours that police officers might have otherwise have spent investigating rape or wall street banker’s or conducting internal investigations regarding the NYPDs habitual racism & brutality. Source
- In Florida, two top Democratic fundraisers have committed to providing the money and know-how to get the question of legalizing medical marijuana on the state ballot in 2014. Just a few months ago, the initiative to legalize could barely afford to photocopy the petition. Now, it has commissioned a poll and plans to hire a company to manage a $10 million campaign. Source
There will be an open assembly on Wednesday, March 20th @ 7pm and a ‘mass march’ next Sunday in East Flatbush to protest the killing of Kimani Gray.
Oakland is also having a march in solidarity with NYC on Thursday. For more info, visit their event page on Facebook.
BE THERE. REBLOG. DEMAND JUSTICE.
Woman Missing! Police and Business refuse to help but YOU can!
(Info from statement of Leslie Miller)
March 16,2013
Victoria Darling, went missing Thursday March 14, 2013. She is about 5 and a half feet tall, Italian brunette with olive eyes and we care about her very much. She may well be in very real danger. She left for a liqueur store and never made it there. She was last seen at a Marathon gas station at 3200 W Warren Ave, Detroit, MI 48208. She was seen leaving with an older man whom she did not know. There is video surveillance footage of her and the man she left with. The workers at the Marathon gas station refuse to cooperate or release the security footage that can tell exactly when she was there and may be able to identify the man she left with. The police can’t help without this footage and the Marathon gas station will not cooperate in any way. When the only people who can help rescue someone refuse to cooperate you have to wonder why. Every minute is precious and the longer this takes, the less likely she will ever be found. The Detroit police and Marathon gas station are well aware of this. Occupiers and activists to do what we do best: spread this like a viral video and give ‘em hell. Demand that they cooperate and help find our fellow and ally, my good friend. Please help in every way you can.
Make a phone call
Call the Marathon Petroleum Business Integrity Helpline: 877-713-8314 Tell them that their store at 3200 West Warren Ave in Detroit, MI has refused to give vital footage to the police in the disappearance of Victoria Darling.
Call the Detroit Police department 313-267-4600 and ask them why they haven’t gotten a warrant to get the tape from Hamze Fuel in the disappearance of Victoria Darling
Source Posted 3:20pm CST hours ago.
Today was very hard… I had to choose the color of the casket that I wanted.
Carol Gray, mother of 16-year-old Kimani Gray who was shot seven times & killed by the NYPD on March 9.
His murder has sparked unrest & large protests in Flatbush, which of course have been met with mass arrests, brutality & even more violence by the NYPD. Gray’s younger sister was one of the people arrested earlier this week.
(Source: colorlines.com)
This video was taken an hour ago (10:45) at the Brooklyn protests against the police killing of Kimani Gray. Police are seen arrested a young black woman, bending her arms behind her back and pressing her head against the concrete with their knees as she screams. I saw police do much worse earlier today. Please spread this video so the world can know how the NYPD is treating the people who are protesting the police murder of a black 16 year old boy.
Watch & reblog.
Dear educators and allies,
Thank you for being incredible advocates for undocumented youth. As you may know, the NYS Youth Leadership Council is an undocumented youth-led organization built to fight for the rights of undocumented youth. For the past three years, we have been working on advocating for the New York Dream, a bill that would allow undocumented youth to access financial aid for their college education. One of the key people who can make the New York DREAM Act a reality is Governor Cuomo, who can include the bill in his executive budget which is being finalized next week. Right now, it seems that he is not convinced that including the NY DREAM Act in his budget is the right thing to do, so we need to be united and strong in our demand that he do the right thing and allow young, promising people in NY State to access financial aid.
We believe that the best way to get his attention is by holding a human chain around his midtown New York City office (633 Third Avenue) this Tuesday, March 19, 2013 from 1:00-1:30pm. A human chain is a safe and effective way to show Governor Cuomo that we are united as advocates who believe that all people, regardless of their immigration status, have the right to go to college and realize their full potential. We know that this is very short notice, however there is still time to act to convince Governor Cuomo that this is the right thing to do. Passing the NY DREAM Act would change the lives of thousands of young, promising people in NY who dream of going to college. Please forward this on to your networks.
Let’s work together to pass the NY Dream Act!!!
Sincerely,
Dominique Hernandez
Field Organizer
P | 646-484-8537
—
From Dominique Hernandez <dominique@nysylc.org> at YLC - please pass along to your networks and be in touch with her if you can hard confirm.
![Protests erupt over NYPD murder of Kimani Gray in FlatbushMarch 12, 2013
A candlelight vigil to mourn a 16-year-old boy who was fatally shot by police turned violent Monday evening, as frustrated attendees threw bottles at cops, broke shop windows and looted a Rite Aid, officials and sources said.
The 7 p.m. vigil started with heartfelt remembrances of Kimani Gray — who was shot and killed by two police officers in East Flatbush Saturday night after he allegedly pointed a .38 caliber pistol at them — but soon some of the teens at the vigil grew violent and began throwing trash cans, people who attended the event said.
By 8:30 p.m., “a large, disorderly group [began] throwing bottles at police” at Church Avenue and East 48th Street, a few blocks from the vigil, an NYPD source said.
As riot police filled the streets, the crowd also surged into the Rite Aid on Church Avenue near Albany Street and trashed it about 9:15 p.m., pulling items off the shelves and attacking the store manager, clerks and security guard, the FDNY said. The group stole some items from the store and cash from the register, sources said.
One man who had been assaulted and was bleeding from the head was rushed to Kings County Hospital in unknown condition, the FDNY said.
Some surrounding shop windows were smashed, sources said, as were the windows of a B35 bus, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said, adding that no one connected with the bus was hurt.
Sandra Mitchelin, 42, a community member who helped organize the vigil and said Gray was “like my son,” said the teens grew violent because they were disappointed that no elected officials initially attended the vigil.
“The kids, they retaliate because they want their voice to be heard,” Mitchelin said. “They’re frustrated. Not even the police commissioner or the mayor. Nobody came out… And he was a baby!”
After the violence broke out Monday night, City Councilman Jumaane Williams raced to the scene to try to calm the crowd.
“I’m in the middle of the riot action at Church and Snyder in my district,” Williams tweeted. “Right now, things are tense. Young people have expressed anger.”
Williams estimated the crowd at 60 to 100 people and said he was “trying to defuse the tension.”
“Tonight was a peaceful vigil [for Gray] that devolved into a riot,” Williams added. “The youth in this community have no outlets for their anger, no community center.”
One person was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, an NYPD spokeswoman said. No police officers were injured, the spokeswoman added.
Gray, of Crown Heights, was with a group of teens on East 52nd Street near Snyder Avenue about 11:25 p.m. Saturday when two anti-crime patrol officers approached in an unmarked car, the NYPD said.
The officers noticed that Gray was acting strangely and fidgeting with his waistband, police said. (Note: Witnesses say he was buckling his belt) When they got out of their car and tried to speak to Gray, he turned on them and pointed a pistol at them, police said. Both officers fired, striking Gray in the legs and torso, the NYPD said.
Gray was rushed to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“The whole community is fed up,” said Mitchelin, who has a 14-year-old daughter who went to school with Gray. “They come out and attack these kids like they’re gang bangers…. These were 13, 14, 15-year-olds at a party. It never deserved to go down how it went down.”
“We need to have an investigation,” Mitchelin added. “We need somebody to say something.”
On Monday night, the violence just a few blocks away from where Gray was shot had ended by about 10:15 p.m., but the crowd remained for at least another hour, until organizers announced that the protest was over for the evening and would resume the following day.
The next demonstration is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Tuesday at East 55th Street and Church Avenue.
(“Riot” seems to be media hype. This community is outraged that this is a reoccurring incident.)
Source
Be there. Demand justice for victims of police murder & brutality.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/6d0e1972585bbc3959599c2a2dc77e6b/tumblr_mjk9d2jb7C1r6m2leo1_500.jpg)
Protests erupt over NYPD murder of Kimani Gray in Flatbush
March 12, 2013
A candlelight vigil to mourn a 16-year-old boy who was fatally shot by police turned violent Monday evening, as frustrated attendees threw bottles at cops, broke shop windows and looted a Rite Aid, officials and sources said.
The 7 p.m. vigil started with heartfelt remembrances of Kimani Gray — who was shot and killed by two police officers in East Flatbush Saturday night after he allegedly pointed a .38 caliber pistol at them — but soon some of the teens at the vigil grew violent and began throwing trash cans, people who attended the event said.
By 8:30 p.m., “a large, disorderly group [began] throwing bottles at police” at Church Avenue and East 48th Street, a few blocks from the vigil, an NYPD source said.
As riot police filled the streets, the crowd also surged into the Rite Aid on Church Avenue near Albany Street and trashed it about 9:15 p.m., pulling items off the shelves and attacking the store manager, clerks and security guard, the FDNY said. The group stole some items from the store and cash from the register, sources said.
One man who had been assaulted and was bleeding from the head was rushed to Kings County Hospital in unknown condition, the FDNY said.
Some surrounding shop windows were smashed, sources said, as were the windows of a B35 bus, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said, adding that no one connected with the bus was hurt.
Sandra Mitchelin, 42, a community member who helped organize the vigil and said Gray was “like my son,” said the teens grew violent because they were disappointed that no elected officials initially attended the vigil.
“The kids, they retaliate because they want their voice to be heard,” Mitchelin said. “They’re frustrated. Not even the police commissioner or the mayor. Nobody came out… And he was a baby!”
After the violence broke out Monday night, City Councilman Jumaane Williams raced to the scene to try to calm the crowd.
“I’m in the middle of the riot action at Church and Snyder in my district,” Williams tweeted. “Right now, things are tense. Young people have expressed anger.”
Williams estimated the crowd at 60 to 100 people and said he was “trying to defuse the tension.”
“Tonight was a peaceful vigil [for Gray] that devolved into a riot,” Williams added. “The youth in this community have no outlets for their anger, no community center.”
One person was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, an NYPD spokeswoman said. No police officers were injured, the spokeswoman added.
Gray, of Crown Heights, was with a group of teens on East 52nd Street near Snyder Avenue about 11:25 p.m. Saturday when two anti-crime patrol officers approached in an unmarked car, the NYPD said.
The officers noticed that Gray was acting strangely and fidgeting with his waistband, police said. (Note: Witnesses say he was buckling his belt) When they got out of their car and tried to speak to Gray, he turned on them and pointed a pistol at them, police said. Both officers fired, striking Gray in the legs and torso, the NYPD said.
Gray was rushed to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“The whole community is fed up,” said Mitchelin, who has a 14-year-old daughter who went to school with Gray. “They come out and attack these kids like they’re gang bangers…. These were 13, 14, 15-year-olds at a party. It never deserved to go down how it went down.”
“We need to have an investigation,” Mitchelin added. “We need somebody to say something.”
On Monday night, the violence just a few blocks away from where Gray was shot had ended by about 10:15 p.m., but the crowd remained for at least another hour, until organizers announced that the protest was over for the evening and would resume the following day.
The next demonstration is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Tuesday at East 55th Street and Church Avenue.
(“Riot” seems to be media hype. This community is outraged that this is a reoccurring incident.)
Be there. Demand justice for victims of police murder & brutality.
NYPD Kill 16-Year-Old Black Kid
Two plainclothes police officers shot and killed a teenage boy late Saturday night on a Brooklyn street, after he pointed a handgun at the officers, the police said.
The police said the officers, patrolling in an unmarked car in East Flatbush, came upon the teenager, identified as Kimani Gray, 16, in a group of men just before 11:30 p.m. The teenager separated himself from the group and adjusted his waistband in what the police described as a suspicious manner.
As officers got out of the car to question him, Mr. Gray turned and pointed a .38-caliber Rohm revolver at them, the police said; two officers fired, hitting the teenager. He was pronounced dead a short time later at Kings County Hospital Center.
Mr. Gray did not fire the handgun, which was recovered at the scene. Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the Police Department, said the six-shot revolver was loaded with four live rounds.
“After the anti-crime sergeant and police officer told the suspect to show his hands, which was heard by witnesses, Gray produced a revolver and pointed it at the officers, who fired a total of 11 rounds, striking Gray several times,” Mr. Browne said.
Mr. Gray’s sister, Mahnefah Gray, 19, said that a witness to the shooting told her that her brother had been fixing his belt when he was shot. She, among others who knew Mr. Gray, said they had never known him to have a gun. Even if he had one on Saturday night, he would not have pointed it at police officers, Ms. Gray said.
“He has common sense,” she said.
A woman who lives across the street from the shooting scene said that after the shots were fired, she saw two men, whom she believed to be plainclothes officers, standing over Mr. Gray, who was prone on the sidewalk, clutching his stomach.
“He said, ‘Please don’t let me die,’ ” said the woman, 46, who gave her name only as Vanessa. One of the officers, she said, replied: “Stay down, or we’ll shoot you again.”
(Source: so-treu)
Police Beat Woman, Shackle Her to Hospital Bed for 17 Days
March 11, 2013
A landlord from Brooklyn was beaten and then shackled to a hospital bed by New York Police Department officers after cops swarmed her building, according to an account published by the New York Post.
42-year-old Karen Brim, the owner of a building in the Flatbush neighborhood, was shackled to a hospital bed for 17 days after police officers allegedly fractured her leg. The NYPD officers, according to Brim, threw her to the ground and fractured her leg after she questioned the officers as to why they were there. She was charged with assault, resisting arrest and more, and her criminal case is pending. Brim, a single mother, needed multiple surgeries and plates to fix her condition, and is now suing the NYPD over the alleged brutality.
“She was hand- and ankle-cuffed to her hospital bed,” her lawyer, Marshall Bluth, told the New York Post. “They would not allow family or friends to enter. She wasn’t presented before a judicial hearing officer for 17 days. It was pretty egregious.” To enforce their rules, one NYPD officer was posted outside her hospital room. That was possible because the “24-hour standard for arraignment in criminal cases doesn’t apply when defendants are hospitalized,” the Post reports.
The alleged police abuse occurred on April 30, 2012, when four members of the NYPD chased a group of teenagers into Brim’s building as the landlord was mopping. The teenagers were arrested but the charges against them were eventually dropped. Brim says that the police immediately began to get physical, though the cops say Brim was the violent one at first, swinging a broom at one officer. But Brim disputes the police officers’ story.
“She’s mopping the common areas, as she does once every two weeks or so, and suddenly police officers descend from the roof into her building and proceed to beat her up, basically,” her lawyer told the Post. “No one really knows for sure why they did this. They basically stormed her building.”
Brim’s lawsuit “is seeking unspecified damages in her lawsuit, which accuses the officers of using ‘unnecessary and unreasonable’ force, false arrest, falsifying evidence and violating her constitutional rights,” the New York Post reports.
The officer who Brim says beat her up was named Timothy Reilly. Last year, Reilly allegedly “forcibly dragged” another Brooklyn resident out of a restaurant. The man who was dragged out, Samuel Semple, suffered injuries from Reilly’s actions. Semple sued the city and received $10,000 in January, according to the Post.
New York man dies in police custody, family suspects he was killed
March 1, 2013
The family of a Western New York man who died after being stun with a Taser gun while in police custody plans to sue over the ideal.
The estate of Richard Metcalf tells WIVB News that they have filed a notice of claim against Erie County and the Depew, New York Police Department. Metcalf, 35, died in November after suffering a massive heart attack while in the custody of the Erie County Sheriff’s jail division.
“I want to get to the bottom of it. I want to know the truth. I want to know what happened. I think his mother and I deserve to know what happened,” the victim’s father, Richard Metcalf, Sr., tells WIVB.
The younger Metcalf was in police custody at the time of his death because he had been arrested days earlier by a Depew police officer called to respond to a burglary in progress. He was shot with a Taser during the ordeal and taken to the Erie County Medical Center shortly after due to an elevated heart rate, but was then transported to a holding center. Once back in a cell, police say he started acting erratically.
“He was spitting blood at the officers as they were trying to de-escalate the situation,” Holding Center Superintendent Thomas Diina told WIVB. “It was reported that he was poking himself with a fork, raking his face across the bars in front of his cell in order to get his mouth bloody so that he could spit at the officers.”
Metcalf’s family disputes that claim, though, and suspects foul play.
“My personal opinion is that he was severely beaten. There’s no other explanation. There’s no other logical explanation for that. If you can imagine your child like that after you just saw him,” his father told the network last year while holding back tears.
After officers in the holding cell composed Metcalf, he was taken once again to the medical center where he died shortly after.
Sexist cannibal NYPD cop was ‘dying to taste some girl meat’
February 27, 2013
Cheerful written exchanges between a police officer and women from his past appeared in a sinister new light when an FBI agent described at the officer’s criminal trial how he talked on the Internet about killing and eating the women.
“I’m dying to taste some girl meat,” Agent Corey Walsh testified Tuesday that New York Police Officer Gilberto Valle told one of the online friends he met who shared an appetite for human flesh.
The testimony came on the second day of testimony in federal court in Manhattan for the 28-year-old Queens resident charged with conspiring to kidnap women and illegally accessing a government database to research potential victims. If convicted, he could face life in prison.
To prove the plots involved real women and to counter defense claims that it was all fantasy, the government summoned several women to testify about their dealings with Valle before prosecutors say he wrote about them as potential targets and, in two cases, potential meals.
These people are entrusted with bizarre & supreme powers - they have the trigger, the ability to say ‘your life ends now’ & all they have to do is say ‘I thought he might have had a deadly weapon’ even & especially when the victims of the police don’t have any weapons on them.
And this is who they recruit to their force for the positions of ultimate authority - sexist cannibals with malevolent master plans. You couldn’t make this stuff up if you wanted to.
New manifesto from another former LAPD officer - former LAPD Officer Joe Jones posted the following to his Facebook with this picture:
I know most of you who personally who me are in disbelief of the partial story I will tell today. A story that has been suppressed for about 18 years, But lives strong everyday of my life.
I without hesitation would like to send my condolences to the Victims who were lost and their families during this tragic situation. I would also like to send my condolences and well wishes to the many former and current Officers, as well as Citizen’s and their families who lost the lives and souls of loved one’s to the injustices of Police Corruption, Scandal, Lies, Deception and Brutality.
Unlike Former Officer Dorner, I fear dying; But I also fear living in a society where Innocent people are dying for no reason. A society where pain so great can be afflicted to people who have to desire to live right and treat people right and then be punished for doing right.
They say we all look alike. In very few cases this of course is true. But in most cases it is not. I feel a resemblance to Dorner, (See Photos) However several people who have no resemblance to Dorner have been shot due to the fear of what is taking place. I DO NOT WANT TO BE SHOT FOR CRIMES I DID NOT COMMIT!. Neither does anyone else.
To preface my story I will say this: Just like former Officer Christopher Dorner I used to smile a lot. I loved everyone. I was voted Friendliest Senior of my Sr. Class in High School. I always believed in the system and never got into any trouble. I loved hard and gave to all I could. After Joining the LAPD in 1989 I quickly found out that the world and society had major flaws. I had flaws as well for ever believing that our system of government was obligated to do the right thing. his is what I believed as a young Officer. Without going into major detail, I need you to first assume that I would not surface 16 years later with lies about a situation that has me with PTSD to this very day. The pain forces me to speak as I have yet to shake the Ill’s of my experience as an LAPD Officer. Of course I have moved on physically. But mentally and emotionally I still live with flaws.
I can’t go into re-living the emotions of what I went through so I will say this. I had my home viciously attacked by a gunman with my family and myself inside the house. No arrests were made and my family and I Received very little support. I had my Civil Rights violated on several occasions. I was falsely arrested at gunpoint by the Sheriffs as an Officer who ID’d himself and was conspired against by both LAPD and the Sheriffs when my Civil case went to Trial. I was falsely accused on more than one occasion and simply placed in a position that the trust was so compromised that I could no longer wear the Uniform. Also know there were many more episodes. All of these issues are well documented and I present them not to be a Whistle blower, However to hope that one would not assume that all of what is being said is Lies as presented by Dorner. I don’t know him, But I know me. I will say from my experience, If a person knows they were wrong it is easier to move on without anger. Seems that Dorner obviously could not move on… Could I just be content and move on with my life and not say anything? Yes…Then I would feel that I for once had my chance to speak on something that hurts me to this day and I did nothing to arouse thought or provoke reform. This is what I hope comes from this whole situation:
1. Families that lost someone to this tragedy find the peace that only God can give at this terrible time.
2. Citizens of Los Angeles be mindful of this fearful time to be an Officer and comply vigorously so that you are not the victim of an Officer on high alert.
3. Government and Politicians please be diligent in the responsibility of creating Laws that protect those who could be the victim of a conspiracy. Never allow the door to be shut on the Truth.
4. Honest and Fair LAPD & All Agencies: Keep doing what you are doing to protect citizens and be safe while you are doing so. We need you and I would hope that you do not allow the Bureaucratic drama and Stress to kill your morale as I know it can.
5. Unethical LAPD & all Agencies: Whatever is was that lead you down this path, Pray to somebody’s God to forgive you and begin to remove unethical methods to your policing style. Always think what if it were you, How would you feel?..How would you like if you were falsely accused and your life, lively-hood and career was taken from you? How would you like if someone was beating on you just because they felt they could get away with it? You are no better the criminals you took and oath to arrest when you do what you do!
6. Chistopher Dorner. The 1st thing I would say to him is, I feel your pains!…But you are going about this the wrong way. To take innocent lives could never be the answer to anything. I say this as a Man who experienced the same pain, betrayal, anger, suffering, litigation and agony that you did in many ways, Only I didn’t get Fired. I just choose to go a different route. My heart still suffered that same shock, I was still left to try and put the pieces back together. The disbelief that people could conspire and cause you to loose something you loved so dearly was still there. I lost my Career, I lost my Family, I lost my Dignity, I lost my Trust…But I am here now to hopefully one day see change…Bro, Don’t kill anymore Innocent people. Your point has been made. Clearly. They know you mean business, The whole world knows. Refrain from any further wrong doing and do what you must to salvage your Soul. Whatever that means to you. Just remember that God is a forgiving God.
In conclusion I say to people who knew none of this about me that one day I will have to reflect on when was the time to speak. When I see the potential for innocent lives to be lost…The time is Now!…JJ
A year after Ramarley Graham’s murder, a movement against police brutality grows
February 6, 2013
On February 1, 2012, 18-year-old Ramarley Graham was gunned down in his own home by New York City police in front of his grandmother and 6-year-old brother. The unarmed black teenager was killed with a bullet to the chest by officer Richard Haste after police broke into his family’s apartment claiming Graham had a gun.
On Friday, the one year anniversary of Graham’s murder, his family filed a suit against Haste, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and other officers for use of the discriminatory stop-and-frisk tactic and for allegedly covering up evidence from the day their son was murdered.
Unlike many other cases surrounding police violence, Haste faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison on first and second degree murder charges; he is the first NYPD officer to face criminal charges for a fatal shooting since 2007 when three officers were indicted for the murder of Sean Bell, another black victim who was shot 50 times.
Police violence hits communities of color
Graham’s murder is a familiar nightmare to many communities across the United States terrorized by police violence. From Harlem to Oakland, youth are subjected to legalized racial profiling, known as stop-and-frisk, which disproportionately targets 87 percent black and Latino people. Harassment and violence from area police forces have been a reality for communities of color for decades.
But families rarely see justice for their slain loved ones; officers typically receive what amounts to a slap on the wrist with paid leave. One such instance was the murder of black Oakland teenager Alan Blueford, who was shot three times by Oakland police and left dead in the street for four hours in May 2012, weeks before Blueford was set to graduate from high school.
Another was the shooting of Anaheim resident Manuel Diaz in July 2012. During a chase, police shot Diaz once in the leg and another time in the back of his head. Two days later, Anaheim police shot and killed Joel Acevedo during a car chase. Community members were outraged at the killings and demanded justice. According to Orange County DA records, there were 40 shootings by Anaheim police from 2003 to February 2011. Not one officer has been charged.
In New York City, incidents like these without reprimand occur all too often. Last June, NYPD narcotics detective Phillip Atkins shot 23-year-old Shantel Davis in the chest as the unarmed woman held her arms up crying out, “Don’t shoot me.” In September, NYPD officers opened fire and killed 20-year-old Reynaldo Cuevas as his Bronx bodega was being robbed. A month later, Noel Polanco was shot point blank after he was pulled over in his neighborhood in Queens.
The NYPD has led the way in police violence, paying a staggering $550 million to settle 8,882 lawsuits in 2011 alone. At the beginning of this year, a Manhattan Federal Court judge ruled that the tactic of stop-and-frisk was unconstitutional outside private residential buildings. However, shortly after, another judge lifted the ban on stops and searches of “suspicious looking people,” allowing stop-and-frisk to continue until the case goes to trial in March.
Families organize for justice
Families afflicted by police violence have responded by brewing up a social justice movement to put an end to unwarranted searches, frisks and shootings. Communities are organizing, storming courtrooms and police precincts to demand accountability and justice for the brutal acts. Organizations like All Things Harlem, Stop Police Brutality and NYCresistance are developing tactics to counter and prevent these attacks in their neighborhoods.
Activist Joseph “Jazz” Hayden of All Things Harlem has created a network of resistance by documenting police interactions and has been a strong voice against NYPD racial profiling and violence. Although he has directly been targeted by police for filming arrests and harassment in his neighborhood, Hayden continues to share incriminating videos of officers in an attempt to hold police responsible for civil liberties violations.
“Police violence in our black and brown communities isn’t anything new. They have tried to incriminate our youth, but we aren’t backing down,” Hayden said. “We have to continue to fight for our futures.”
Baltimore civil rights activist Reverend Annie Chambers has been a leading anti-police brutality advocate, organizing community members and families ever since her great grandson was murdered near her home in a case of mistaken identity.
“You look outside my window and see police cars at any time of the day,” Chambers said. “I have seen them with their brutality over and over again. Young people are now at the part where they won’t take it anymore.”
And now, family members of the slain are increasingly taking the justice system into their own hands. Ramarley Graham’s parents continue, one year on, to lead marches to police precincts reminiscent of the Civil Rights era, not only in remembrance of their son but for all those who have died at the hands of uniformed officers.
Alan Blueford’s parents have created Justice 4 Alan Blueford and hold weekly meetings to end racial profiling and police violence in the Bay Area.
Their case, and similar ones, are now pushing law enforcement officers into the national discussion about gun control and violence, spurring a new form of resistance by communities and neighborhoods long terrorized by unaccountable police brutality.
- Graciela
for Occupy.com
