Ongoing U.S Police Brutality and Corruption Discussion Thread

From another article: The knife was described as a black-handled kitchen knife with an approximate 4-inch blade.

...

I know lots of people who lived in Ann Arbor and have never heard anything but awful horror stories about Ann Arbor cops being horrible and usually incredibly racist guys who often came from places like Howell which had a pretty strong KKK presence.

"Roughed up" -- just a little tussle!

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/02/indian_citizen_stopped_by_madi.html

Madison police last week roughed up a 57-year-old Indian citizen who was walking on the sidewalk outside his son's home, leaving the older man temporarily paralyzed and hospitalized with fused vertebrae.

"He was just walking on the sidewalk as he does all the time," said his son, Chirag Patel, this morning. "They put him to the ground."

No crime had been committed. Madison Police on Monday issued a statement saying the department had suspended the officer and were investigating the use of force in this case. The police statement wished the man a "speedy recovery."

http://www.kmov.com/news/crime/Officer-allegedly-shoots-unarmed-suspect-does-not-report-incident-291785451.html

After the shot was fired, the suspect allegedly fell, got back up and took off. Simmons maintains the suspect was unarmed and was not posing a threat.

When asked by officials, the policeman said his gun went off accidentally and that he just didn't think about reporting it. The suspect was not hit by the officer's bullet, according to authorities.

don't worry guys, that whole thing about cops being racist is just a myth:
"Cops are being beaten up, literally, from coast to coast by unruly demonstrators destroying property and injuring police officers. To perpetuate the myth that racism is a systemic problem in police department's throughout the Unites States is wrong and untrue." - Gaqry Delagnes, former union president who is now a consultant for the POA, in an e-mail sent to an SF Supervisor

http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/police-union-strong-arms-board-of-supervisors-over-controversial-resolution-on-police-brutality-protests/Content?oid=2920037

whole thing is a tempest in a teapot but that line made me so angry

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/2015/02/12/2d48052c-b270-11e4-854b-a38d13486ba1_story.html

Lane’s family said the teen did not own a BB gun. They also said that the video appeared to show police tossing an object toward Briscoe’s body where part of a gun was recovered. Police were gloved, and there were no fingerprints on the gun.

Such tactical units are known among some residents in high-crime city neighborhoods as “jump-outs,” initiating confrontational encounters similar to such practices as New York’s scaled-back “stop-and-frisk” policy.

The four members of Leo’s team testified that in a typical encounter, they were in plainclothes and patrolling in a roving, unmarked car when they pulled up to Briscoe and asked him whether he was armed, because he was “walking quick” and “looking around.” When he did not answer and walked, then ran, away, they chased him.

Critics say such encounters — so intrusive that Leo and other officers acknowledged that residents, when they see officers approaching, lift up their shirts to show that they are unarmed— are unlawful because officers lack reasonable suspicion to stop a citizen and are a form of racial profiling that disproportionately incarcerates minorities for low-level offenses.

Very popular Police Chief Cathy Lanier continues to maintain that jump out squads do not exist.

"Roughed up" -- just a little tussle!

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/02/indian_citizen_stopped_by_madi.html

Madison police last week roughed up a 57-year-old Indian citizen who was walking on the sidewalk outside his son's home, leaving the older man temporarily paralyzed and hospitalized with fused vertebrae.
"He was just walking on the sidewalk as he does all the time," said his son, Chirag Patel, this morning. "They put him to the ground."

No crime had been committed. Madison Police on Monday issued a statement saying the department had suspended the officer and were investigating the use of force in this case. The police statement wished the man a "speedy recovery."

― Andy K, Wednesday, February 11, 2015 8:59 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/12/us/alabama-police-beating/index.html

Video

It's also on the chicago politics thread but i thought might garner some discussion here: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/24/chicago-police-detain-americans-black-site

completely bonkers

how are there not ACLU lawsuits about this already.../

yeah, i'm kind of poleaxed by that. read it a few hours ago and couldn't think of anything to say in response. how is it that this story was broken by a non-US source? the major chicago papers must have known about the situation for quite some time, years even. put aside "how could it happen?" handwringing -- how could something like this go unreported for so long? and did it? i quickly dug around for older reporting, but couldn't find anything more than a few hours old. is the guardian report exaggerated or misleading? wtf, basically.

yeah I'm kind of skeptical, it's not like there aren't liberal news sources/groups in Chicago that would make it their business to raise alarms about this kind of thing

the major chicago papers must have known about the situation for quite some time, years even.

Not necessarily. The Trib is pretty much gutted, and the Sun-Times is a joke; they wouldn't even think about tackling a story like this.

but, but...that toddlin' town

lol newspapers that's not really what I was referring to

how is it that this story was broken by a non-US source?

They don't have to worry about repercussions as much as the local media, and as Tarfumes says, most of it is pretty weak.

The other thing is -- something like this doesn't get attention without outrage. Obviously it hasn't had any coverage so that's part of the problem, but there is a sizable portion of the Chicago population (and the USA as a whole, of course) who don't really see this as much of a big deal, and probably support it to a certain extent.

I mean, the wholesale slaughter of black youth has been ongoing for years and no one has really done squat.

true, but people do speak out, the stories make the rounds, especially in activist media circles. surprised that hasn't happened here, esp since chicago is a hub for such.

Guardian US operates out of NY fwiw

got a birds eye view up there in maine huh xp

stories make the rounds, especially in activist media circles. surprised that hasn't happened here, esp since chicago is a hub for such.

^^^this is what I was thinking, yes

Guardian has done a lot of reporting on crimes that might get hushed over by local media - see the unsolved 'suicide' in the Carolinas (can't remember if it was South or North) where the shoes they found the kid wearing didn't even match his foot size

It's the state of America right now where we rely on British newspapers to break these stories

um kinda some orders of magnitude of difference there

stories make the rounds, especially in activist media circles. surprised that hasn't happened here, esp since chicago is a hub for such.

^^^this is what I was thinking, yes

― Οὖτις, Wednesday, February 25, 2015 12:01 AM (46 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Activists have--rightly or wrongly--largely distanced themselves from the NATO 3 as its become apparent, and most of this story hinges on the testimony of one of them. A lot of Chicago anarchists have been talking about this since 2012, but not a lot of people pay attention to Chicago anarchists. He said ruefully.

distanced themselves from the NATO 3 as its become apparent

..that they were remarkably dumb in the course of being entrapped...

..and most of this story hinges on the testimony of one of them.

thx for that, Hoos

yeah, nice to have some informed perspective

executive director of the chicago justice project on local press's failure to cover this story:

There was knowledge in the police-accountability community. We knew exactly where it was, but we couldn’t get the press in Chicago to cover the story. We think it started during [former Chicago Police Department Superintendent] Phil Cline’s time around 2006 or 2007 until about 2011 when the city had roving special units [that worked out of Homan Square.]

I think that many crime reporters in Chicago have political views that are right in line with the police. They tend to agree about the tactics needed by the police. They tend to have by one extent or the other the same racist views of the police—a lot of urban police (not all of them by any stretch, but a lot of them) embody racism.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/02/behind-the-disappeared-of-chicagos-homan-square/385964/

meanwhile, both the tribune and the sun-times are running CPD's denial w/ apparently no followup reporting

i would expect nothing more, disgusting as it is.

In terms of the police adopting military tactics, this is way more horrifying to me than a bunch of suburban cops dressing up in camo and riding around in an armored vehicle.

the guardian's reporting on this story came about as a followup on a story about a CPD torturer who ended up working at guantanamo bay. militarization of US police forces is definitely a problem, but i think it's important to point out, as many black commentators did after the murder of michael brown in ferguson, that framing this as an example of police adopting military tactics ignores the history of brutal racist policing in the US. i've posted about this on this thread before but CPD tortured 200+ mostly black people over a span of 20 years pretty much w/ impunity and the city of chicago has spent $20 million defending against related lawsuits while refusing to even contemplate reparations for the victims of said torture
http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/29269-a-message-in-motion-reparations-now

for "the city of chicago" in that last sentence perhaps read "rahm emanuel" since a majority of the city council supports the reparations ordinance

one of those aforementioned chicago friends:

https://twitter.com/plussone/status/570608060541960193

That @plussone account links to this report from 2012:

http://my.firedoglake.com/tarheeldem/2012/06/07/report-from-chicago-spring-thank-you-for-returning-my-shoelaces-and-belt-now-can-you-please-find-my-drivers-license-and-computer-my-experience-being-detained-prior-to-the-nato-summit/#.VO4mQd5Pt8Y.twitter

and yesterday I found this dinky 2013 story about the John Hubbard death hat uses the phrase "secret interrogation room at Homan Square" in the headline:

http://truenewsusa.blogspot.com/2013/02/44-year-old-john-hubbard-male-black.html

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/02/26/exclusive-chicago-black-site-detainee-speaks/

9 years ago!

learned this morning that an old friend of mine was swept up in the same raid the 3 were picked up in, and held at holman. i had no idea--she'd never spoken about it. she was on DN this morning:

http://www.democracynow.org/2015/2/26/a_black_site_in_chicago_police

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/03/05/3630128/cops-assaulted-teen-video/

gee I wonder if those cops will be charged with assault with a deadly weapon

Flores said that the injury police blamed Rosario for was caused by another cop. “This officer swung his nightstick and missed, hit another police officer across the head,” Flores said.

gee I wonder if those cops keystone kops will be charged with assault with a deadly weapon

The Oakland police department's history of brutality is detailed in this Politico article .

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/03/07/us/ap-us-killings-by-police-madison.html?_r=2

There've been widespread protests in Madison after the police killing of Tony Robinson, an unarmed 19-year-old.

A message from MIchael Johnson, CEO of the Madison Boys and Girls Club:

"Message to Chief Koval, My Fellow Madisonians and Madison Police Department.

First, let me say my deepest sympathy and prayers go out to the friends and family of Tony Robinson, Jr., in this very difficult time as they grieve his loss. My thoughts are also with the hundreds of police officers who serve and protect our streets, and the citizens of Madison. Our police chief, Mike Koval, has certainly earned my vote of confidence and I appreciate how he is handling the aftermath so far.

I have been meeting with Chief Koval and offering advice and counsel, as he will undoubtedly face some tough conversations and decisions in the months ahead. He will surely need the community’s support and prayers, as our city will be challenged as a result of this tragic incident. Further, as a leader in the community, many African American boys are in my care and it’s important that I do what I can to ensure a similar incident doesn’t happen again.

Over the last few days, I have watched Chief Koval and the Madison Police Department handle protestors with respect and dignity. His personal outreach to our communities of color has not gone unnoticed. I believe he understands the anger and distrust.

On the night of the shooting, I called Chief Koval around 1 o’clock in the morning and asked him to join me and another community leader on a visit to the family of Tony Robinson, Jr. Without hesitation, he jumped in my car en route to the other side of town. He agreed that, as the Chief of Police, his immediate communication with the family was important.

When we reached the home, Tony’s grandparents were quite vocal, extremely concerned and understandably angry. Chief Koval apologized, and shortly thereafter they all prayed together. Tony’s grandfather pleaded with the chief, asking him to “please do the right thing.” Chief Koval responded by saying, "I will." That was a powerful and humbling moment.

Ultimately, a thorough investigation will be conducted by the state's Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Dane County District Attorney will then review that investigation. In spite of the divisiveness that currently exists in our community, I know that Chief Koval, along with his department, is committed to helping this great city of ours as we travel the road to healing. As long as our community keeps the lines of communication open, we can collectively begin to make sure that Anthony (Tony) Robinson, Jr.'s death is not in vain.

Shortly before he was killed, Robert Kennedy shared these wise words of counsel in response to the loss of Martin Luther King, Jr.: “What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.”

I am calling on all young people, elected officials, the faith based community, law enforcement officials, YGB and others to join us tonight at the candle light vigil."

Chief Koval apologized, and shortly thereafter they all prayed together.

Vomitous.

Yeah that's not helpful and it's completely disrespectful of a family that just lost a child.

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2015/03/8563947/edits-wikipedia-pages-bell-garner-diallo-traced-1-police-plaza

NYPD attempt to sanitize past, have never heard of proxy server ,etc

seems the best thread for this, feds and all

Members of an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force tracked the time and location of a Black Lives Matter protest last December at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, email obtained by The Intercept shows.

The email from David S. Langfellow, a St. Paul police officer and member of an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, informs a fellow task force member from the Bloomington police that “CHS just confirmed the MOA protest I was taking to you about today, for the 20th of DEC @ 1400 hours.” CHS is a law enforcement acronym for “confidential human source.”

Jeffrey VanNest, an FBI special agent and Joint Terrorism Task Force supervisor at the FBI’s Minneapolis office, was CC’d on the email. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces are based in 104 U.S. cities and are made up of approximately 4,000 federal, state and local law enforcement officials. The FBI characterizes them as “our nation’s front line on terrorism.”

Activists had planned the protest at the mall to call attention to police brutality against African Americans. “Our system disproportionately targets, profiles and kills black men and women, that’s what we are here talking about,” organizer Michael McDowell told a reporter at the time. “We wanted to show people who have the everyday luxury of just living their lives that they need to be aware of this, too.”

According to an FBI spokesman, Langfellow’s Confidential Human Source was “a tipster with whom Mr. Langfellow is familiar” who contacted him “after the tipster had discovered some information while on Facebook” that “some individuals may engage in vandalism” at the Mall of America protest. Upon receiving the email, Bloomington police officer and task force member Benjamin Mansur forwarded it to Bloomington’s then-deputy police chief Rick Hart, adding “Looks like it’s going to be the 20th…” It was then forwarded to all Bloomington police command staff. There is no mention of potential vandalism anywhere in the email chain, and no vandalism occurred at the Mall of America protest.

The FBI spokesman emphasized that “As for any ‘FBI interest’ in the Black Lives Matter campaign, the FBI had (has) none,” and “makes certain its operational mandates do not interfere with activities protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.” The spokesman acknowledged that vandalism does not fall under the Memorandum of Understanding establishing the parameters under which local police officers are detailed to Joint Terrorism Task Forces and the task force mission of “prevention, preemption, deference and investigation of terrorist acts.” Asked why VanNest, the Joint Terrorism Task Force supervisor, was CC’d on Langfellow’s email, the spokesman responded “I don’t know” but speculated it was “as a matter of courtesy.”

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/03/12/fbi-appeared-use-informant-track-black-lives-matter-protest/

of course they did

ugh

Middle aged dad beaten to death by cops in Oklahoma

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/horror-five-cops-beat-innocent-unarmed-father-death-outside-cinemas

That was a while back, but yeah.

Just fucking heart breaking.

OK only saw that today. So fuckin upsetting.