Rise of the Warrior Cop

[Lord Balto]

There are two types of cops:

1) Psychopathic killers, and
2) Cowards who are afraid to say/do anything about the psychopathic killers.

I blame this on the politicians, who are either too cheap or too stupid to make sure they are hiring sane individuals who have the guts to turn in the few nutjobs who still manage to make it onto the force. And don't tell me about the idiotic written tests. Anybody can look rational on a written test.

[Luther Blissett]

Bumping for Freddie Gray.

Baltimore local government believes that The Wire did irreparable damage to the city. Moreso than systemic corruption.

[82_28]

Baltimore. . .

[Luther Blissett]

[82_28]

What's your call on this, Lord Balto?

[Luther Blissett]

Word from a friend on the street is that high school-aged students are joining in the riots.

And as you can see from what the photo above illustrates in what is probably a bit of propaganda itself, bloods and crips have purportedly joined hands in an effort to stymie police brutality. Real membership in either gang is tiny in the real world, and their presence in Baltimore is minimal as far as I'm aware.

Of course this is treated by law enforcement and popular media as a terroristic stance; an occupation.

[Luther Blissett]

Actor LeVar Burton Explains His Ritual To Prevent Being Shot by Police
July 4, 2014 2:22 am

Most Americans will remember actor and director LeVar Burton for his rolls in Roots, Reading Rainbow and Star Trek The Next Generation. But Burton doesn’t believe that being famous will prevent him from being shot and killed by the police.

That’s why Burton explained to a CNN panel, just how he goes through a “ritual” of sorts every single time he is stopped by police.

LeVar explains that first he removes his hat and sunglasses, then he rolls down his window. Finally, he reaches his hands out the window to let the officer know that he is unarmed.

He doesn’t think he should have to do this, but, he explains, “I do that because I live in America.”

Another panelist, known for his writings on race and privilege in America, Tim Wise told the group about a time when he was 23-years-old, when an officer saw him breaking into his own car. The officer didn’t stop him, nor demand identification even to make sure the car was really his.

Instead, assuming the whole time that Tim was on the up-and-up, he actually informed him that he was “breaking into the car the wrong way” and taught him an easier way to get into the car.

“The cop was trying to help me break in,” Wise stated.

“Now, there is not a black man in this country, 23 years of age, for whom that would have been the reaction. Basically, what my mom told me was, ‘Be nice to cops.’ She didn’t say, ‘Don’t move your hands because you’re going to get shot.’”

The panel then noted that for many in the United States, there is a believe that if police have not abused them, then police must not be abusive to any but criminals. But that is far from the case.

Watch the interview with CNN, where Burton breaks it all down:

All of the panelists except for Tim seemed to have some anecdote about police brutality and abuse. None of their stories surprised one another. It would seem that many officers who might be perfectly kind to an upper class, Caucasian driver, might treat African Americans, Latinos, or poor Caucasians very differently.

[Luther Blissett]

Activists brutalised and arrested by Philly cops after #SayHerName vigil

Five Philly comrades were brutally attacked and arrested by the PPD (22nd district) Thursday evening, 21 May. These comrades had been part of Philly’s #SayHerName vigil on Temple campus in North Philly, where we spoke the names of Black cis and trans women and girls whose lives have been stolen by pigs, as well as the names of Black women and girls and trans people lynched in this country at the turn of the last century.

We spoke their names well into the night, losing count as the sidewalks stretching for blocks were filled with the names of all the victims of deadly police violence. Among those remembered was London Kiki Chanel, a Black trans woman from Philly who was stabbed to death earlier this month. Despite inclement weather, most comrades who turned out for the event stayed until we disbanded late into the night.

As the vigil began to wind down, pigs started showing up to harass us. The pigs were heavily armed, and one pig got out of his vehicle from the very beginning with his baton out and tucked under his arm, ready to strike at any moment against peaceful attendees of the vigil. The pigs began asking canned questions, such as “who is your leader?” (there are no ‘leaders’ in this social movement) and whether or not we had a permit (which we were not legally required to obtain.)

The attitude expressed by demonstrators was militant and uncompromising. “We don’t talk to pigs!” we shouted in frustration, as the pigs clearly had the intention of turning our peaceful demonstration into a stand-off. “Pigs go home!” “No-cop zone!” “All these racist-ass cops we don’t need ’em, need ’em; back up, back up we want freedom, freedom!” were our chants to cops who insisted on disregarding our right to peaceably assemble by harassing us and stepping on the names of the dead despite being asked several times to show their respect. The cops quickly retreated from the sidewalk to the middle of Broad Street where their cruisers were illegally parked.

The trouble started following the demonstration, around 20:00, when pigs up the street started arresting a homeless veteran for not having fare – $2.25 – for the SEPTA bus. It now appears that this was staged to provoke a response from the remaining activists gathered at Broad and Cecil B. Avenue, as 1) there was no emergency called placed by SEPTA to the police, and 2) when activists went to aid the man, enormous numbers of police reinforcements (“nearly a hundred” pigs, according to a PCxRJ press release) pulled up, seemingly out of nowhere.

The pigs, mendacious piss-ants that they are, finally felt safe enough, when surrounded by dozens of their peers, to begin assaulting activists, putting several in choke-holds, yanking women by the hair and beating on comrades with their nightsticks. One comrade, a 61 year-old woman, was viciously tackled to the ground and suffered a broken wrist. Four comrades were arrested during this incident. The three women who were arrested were driven around in the police van for hours, during which the police called them them ‘bitches,’ threatened to rape and assault them, and threatened to mace them in their holding cell if they were noncompliant prisoners.

A solidarity demo was quickly assembled outside the 22nd district headquarters where activists were being held; demonstrators re-enacted the earlier vigil and demanded the release of their imprisoned comrades. It was during this solidarity action that another demonstrators was assaulted by the pigs, who gave her a black eye before locking her up in a men’s holding cell.

Throughout that evening and during the day, yesterday, the coordination of jail solidarity was inspiring. Many comrades worked tirelessly to coordinate those of us who were available to do jail solidarity, spontaneously and efficiently trading information on who was needed at each of the three jails across which five arrested comrade had been spread.

Going forward, the Philadelphia Coalition for Real Justice (PCxRJ) is calling for continued solidarity with their organisation and their jailed members during this time of heightened police repression (these developments come fast on the heels of the arrests of the Philly 10 at a police conference in March. Their trial has been postoponed until 10 June.) We are calling for all charges against those arrested 21 May be dropped.

Thursday night’s police response to our peaceful vigil demonstrated that police are becoming more frustrated, and quicker to anger and calculated violence, as the calls for the transformation of this racist society refuse to die down, and indeed grow stronger and louder.

[seemslikeadream]

Walter Scott Shooting: Grand Jury Returns Murder Indictment Against Cop
by ERIN MCCLAM

A South Carolina grand jury returned a murder indictment on Monday against a former police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man in April.

Officer Michael Slager of the North Charleston police was captured on video firing eight shots at Walter Scott on April 4 as Scott was running away from him.

The indictment was announced by Scarlett Wilson, a state prosecutor. She said that murder was the only charge presented to the grand jury.

Slager had been charged with murder almost immediately.

The officer initially claimed that Scott, 50, grabbed his Taser after a traffic stop. Video captured by a bystander showed a confrontation, then Scott running away, then Slager firing eight times at some distance.

It was the latest in a string of shootings that ignited debate about police tactics, particularly the shooting of unarmed black men. Scott was black; Slager is white.

Wilson said previously that Slager was probably not eligible for the death penalty.

White Cop Pulls Gun on Black Pool Party

[Lord Balto]

This pool party episode clearly started when someone noticed that there were black folks in their white only swimming pool. I love the euphemism "multiple juveniles ... who do not live in the area or have permission to be there ..." Does anyone seriously think that this would have happened if the folks who didn't "live in the area" were white? "Oh my god, there are Norwegians in our pool who don't live here!" Not hardly. "Some guy named Magliosi is swimming in our Anglo only swimming pool!" No, sorry. "Damned Polacks from across the tracks have sneaked into our Lithuanian only swimming pool." Nope, not on your life. One wonders how many pool parties involving Caucasians from outside the neighborhood have been held over the last few years with nary a raised eyebrow.

[chump]

The Greenwood Village SWAT team nabs a shoplifter!

Owner of house blown apart by SWAT says: 'This is an abomination. This is an atrocity'

Phil Tenser, Anne Trujillo, Alan Stedman
5:00 PM, Jun 5, 2015
2:00 AM, Jun 6, 2015

SWAT was trying to flush out shoplifting suspect

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. - "There was one gunman with a handgun and they chose to turn this house into something that resembles Osama Bin Laden's compound."

Leo Lech is more than a little upset, and he is not afraid to express it with colorful language.

After all, the house he purchased for his son now has gaping holes where it once had walls and windows. Past the exposed studs and insulation of the condemned structure, you can see artwork on the wall of a 9-year-old boy's bedroom.

"In any civilized nation ... this is the act of paramilitary thugs," he says he told the chief of the Greenwood Village Police Department.

The chief, Lech said, brushed it off...

I noticed that as President of the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, Chief Jackson was on 60 Minutes last night commenting on the challenges facing Colorado's burgeoning Pot business.

[Lord Balto]

These aren't just a few "bad apples." This is a barrel filled with psychopaths who belong in an institution. For the criminally insane.

[Iamwhomiam]

"excessive force"

The cops must really dislike the owner of the building. It's hard to imagine causing that damage during a search for an armed suspect.

[seemslikeadream]

E. Texas police shut down girls' lemonade stand, demand permit

[Luther Blissett]

The white woman who instigated the fight in McKinney, Tracey-Carver Allbritton, has been placed on administrative leave from her job with Bank of America.

Don't let racists tell you "the real reason for the McKinney pool incident will shock you."