Police Mass Murder Fact
As
of today, May 1, 2015, 387 people have been killed by police since
January 1, 2015 (that's a total of 120 days.) That's 3.225 people per
day, on average.
http://killedbypolice.net/
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
CANCEL ALL STUDENT DEBT!
Sign the Petition:
http://cancelallstudentdebt.com/?code=kos
Dear President Obama, Senators, and Members of Congress:
Americans
now owe $1.3 trillion in student debt. Eighty-six percent of that money
is owed to the United States government. This is a crushing burden for
more than 40 million Americans and their families.
I urge you to take immediate action to forgive all student debt, public and private.
American Federation of Teachers
Campaign for America's Future
Courage Campaign
Daily Kos
Democracy for America
LeftAction
Project Springboard
RH Reality Check
RootsAction
Student Debt Crisis
The Nation
Working Families
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Bay Area United Against War Newsletter
Table of Contents:
A. EVENTS AND ACTIONS
B. ARTICLES IN FULL
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
A. EVENTS AND ACTIONS
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Save the Date - UNAC National Conference, May 8 - 10, 2015
UNAC
is the major national antiwar coalition in the U.S. today. The
existence of a United National Antiwar Coalition is vital and we need
your financial support to continue our work and to expand.
With
U.S. wars today accelerating and expanding globally in various forms –
from drone attacks on Yemen and Pakistan, never-ending wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, support to neo-fascists in Ukraine, and proliferating
Africom forces to threats of war for regime change in Syria – we have an
obligation to do whatever is possible to educate the public and to take
action to stop the carnage.
The wars abroad are
connected to global warming with most wars fought over energy resources
with the U.S. war machine as the largest polluter.
At
home, we see hugely growing income inequality, a militarized and racist
police force, mass incarceration of Blacks and Latinos, and a massive
police state apparatus that includes global surveillance and laws to
quell dissent.
In spite of the trillions spent by the
U.S. corporate war government and its controlled media propaganda
machine to keep us in check, the people are fighting back. We’ve been
inspired and strengthened by the hundreds of thousands of new activists
taking to the streets of this country to stop police brutality, to build
Occupy encampments, to fight for decent wages, to demand full rights
for immigrants, to win marriage equality, to end global warming, to
demonstrate solidarity with the besieged people of Gaza, and to protest
unending U.S. wars.
UNAC has played an active, often
leadership role, in all of the antiwar and social justice movements of
our time. While most activists are focused on their particular issues,
the most vital role we can play is to connect the issues to their
source. All of the injustices and crimes we protest, stem from the
imperialist insatiable drive for expanding profit and control – and the
U.S. is the largest imperialist power militarily and economically. When
there should be plenty for all, only the obscenely wealthy benefit
while the rest of the 99% struggle just to survive.
Some of our recent major accomplishments:
· Initiated protest against NATO and 15,000 marched in Chicago in 2012.
·
Called for immediate actions against threats of war and coups directed
at Libya, Iran, No. Korea, Africa, Latin America, Ukraine, and
maintaining the U.S. presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.
· Organized a national tour for Afghan leader Malalai Joya.
· Sent representatives to international NATO protests and conferences.
·
Serve on the Board of the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms
to act against Islamophobia , racist attacks on Muslims, and attacks on
our civil liberties.
· Participated in national efforts to organize anti-drone actions.
·
Campaigned to defend victims of government repression who speak out and
expose Washington’s crimes, including Rasmea Odeh, Mumia abu Jamal,
Lynne Stewart, Chelsea Manning, and the Midwest activists targeted by
the FBI.
· Produced national educational
conference calls featuring experts on topics such as U.S. intervention
in Africa, the destruction of Libya, the developing wars in Syria, and
others.
· Built an antiwar contingent in the
massive New York City Climate Change march and built Climate Change
action in other cities around the country.
· Helped organize protests against Israel’s attack on Gaza
·
Helped organize protests against the murder of Blacks by white police
and the militarization of the police forces in the U.S.
UNAC
has a history of bringing hundreds of activists together at large
national conferences to learn about the issues of the day, to discuss
the way forward and to vote on an Action Program for the coming period.
The
UNAC conference next May will bring activists from all the movements in
motion to cross-fertilize these struggles. We are particularly
dedicated to bringing young activists together to support and learn from
each other. For this, we need your help to offer subsidies to leaders
from Ferguson, from the border wars in the southwest, from the Native
Americans who are fighting against the pipelines ruining their lands,
from the Students for Justice in Palestine, and many others.
Please give generously so that we can continue our work to bring harmony and justice to the peoples of this earth.
You
can send a check to UNAC at PO Box 123, Delmar, NY 12054 or click the
button below to contribute on-line with your credit or debit card.
https://www.unacpeace.org/
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Prison refuses Mumia Medical Care
Dear friend,
Mumia
is still in medical danger. He is weak, in the infirmary, and still
needs a wheelchair to come out to visits. In a phone call on Monday his
voice was hesitant and lacked its usual vibrancy.
Yesterday, the PA Department of Corrections notified Mumia’s Attorney Bret Grote (of the Abolitionist Law Center) that it would:
Not allow Mumia to be examined by his own doctor;
Not
allow Mumia to be examined by a endocrinologist (diabetes specialist);
And they denied access for the doctor to communicate with prison medical
staff to assist or direct Mumia’s care; and the Prison has refused to
provide for regular phone calls between Mumia and his doctor. Currently,
Mumia can only use the phone every other day for only 15 minutes, as
the infirmary does not have phone access.
Mumia is
being held in the very infirmary that caused his chronic conditions of
eczema and late-onset diabetes to become life-threatening. The medical
personnel on site were prevented from ordering tests when he was ill in
mid-March, and are under the same prison/corporate restrictions today.
One postive note, at this time Mumia is being allowed to monitor his own
blood sugar multiple times a day, and he is receiving insulin. Since
Mumia was hospitalized in ICU on March 30th with life threatening
complications from chronic conditions we have been advocating for his
treatment. We have to step up our efforts.
Take Action Now!
Demand
that the Department of Corrections permit Mumia to have an examination
by his doctor! Click here to call and fax the Prison and State officials
and state our demands.
http://www.prisonradio.org/sites/default/files/letters/pdf/Eyes%20on%20Mumia_1.pdf
Mumia
needs his own physician specialists! Please donate now to help make
this possible. Please got to the web site below and give as generously
as you can.
Donate at:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mumia-abu-jamal-needs-medical-care-now
and…
Sign the petition
to help save—and free—Mumia.
Go to:
https://www.change.org/p/john-e-wetzel-pa-secretary-of-corrections-tom-wolf-pa-governor-stop-the-medical-execution-of-mumia-abu-jamal-by-neglect-and-malpractice-3
Also,
We need to keep up the pressure
with phone calls:
Let
SCI Mahanoy Superintendent John Kerestes and Secretary of Corrections
John Wetzel know we insist that Mumia have medical specialists of his
own choosing, and that they have daily access rights to examine and
treat him. Also let them know that Mumia’s family needs regular and
frequent visitation rights.
SCI Mahanoy
Superintendent John Kerestes
(570) 773-2158
SCI Mahanoy
Chief Health Care Administrator Steinhardt
(570) 773-2158
Christopher Oppman
Director, PA Department of Corrections Health Care Services
(717) 728-5309
John Wetzel
Secretary, PA Department of Corrections
(717) 728-4109
NO EXECUTION BY MEDICAL NEGLECT!
SAVE MUMIA'S LIFE!
Mumia is Innocent! Free Mumia Now!
This message by:
Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
20 April 2015
Call now to demand freedom and medical care for Mumia:
Often
when we call in, prison and state officials have taken their lines off
the hook. Know that every action matters, even when they don't pick up.
If they don't answer, please leave a voicemail:
John Wetzel, PA Secretary of Corrections: 717-728-4109
Governor Tom Wolf: 717-787-2500
SCI Mahanoy: 570-787-2500
For a full list of addresses and faxes, visit prisonradio.org
Support Prison Radio
$35 to become a member.
$50 to become a member and receive a beautiful tote bag. Or call us to special order a yoga mat bag.
$100 to become a member and receive the DVD "Mumia: Long Distance Revolutionary."
$300 to become a member and bring one essay to the airwaves.
$1,000 (or $88 per month) will make you a member of our Prison Radio Freedom Circle. Thank you!
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Prison
Radio has recorded Mumia and other political prisoners for over 25
years, and we are pulling out all the stops to keep these voices on the
air.
Please donate today to amplify prisoners' voices far and wide beyond the bars:
Support Prison Radio: prisonradio.org/donate
Defeat SB 508: bit.ly/defendfreespeech
Copyright © Prison Radio
www,prisonradio.org 415-706-5222
Our mailing address is:
Prison Radio PO Box 411074, SF CA 94141
http://us10.campaign-archive2.com/?u=247585f092e945ff55b9a1bb2&id=e113d0b6d0&e=0107d76ccd
Donate Now
$35 is the yearly membership.
$50 will get you a beautiful tote bag (you can special order a yoga mat bag, just call us).
$100 will get the DVD "Mumia: Long Distance Revolutionary"
$300 will bring one essay to the airwaves.
$1000 (or $88.83 per month) will make you a member of our Prison Radio Freedom Circle. Take a moment and Support Prison Radio
Luchando por la justicia y la libertad,
Noelle Hanrahan, Director, Prison Radio
PRISON RADIO
P.O. Box 411074 San Francisco, CA 94141
www.prisonradio.org
info@prisonradio.org 415-706-5222
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Campaign to Free Lorenzo Johnson
Lorenzo Speaks Concerning Prosecution's Brief:
JANUARY
1, 2015—The prosecutor has run away from (almost) every issue raised in
my PCRA by begging the Court to dismiss everything as “untimely”. When
they don’t do this, they suggest that me and my lawyers were
“defamatory” towards either my former prosecutor Christopher Abruzzo or
Detective Kevin Duffin, in our claims they withheld, misused or hid
evidence of my Innocence, in order to secure an unjust conviction in
this case. If I charged, a year ago, that about a dozen AGs (attorneys
general) were involved in circulating porno via their office computers,
people would’ve laughed at me, and seen me as crazy.
But,
guess what? During 2014, we learned that this was the truth. How can it
be defamatory to speak the truth? Notice the OAG (Office of Attorney
General), never said the obvious: That AG Abruzzo didn’t inform the
Defense about the relationship between his Motive Witness and his head
detective (Victoria Doubs and Det. Duffin); that Det. Duffin doesn’t
deny Doubs was his god-sister, and that she lived in his family home, or
that he assisted her whenever she got into trouble.
Why
not? Because it is true. How can you defame someone who defames
himself? Mr. Christopher Abruzzo, Esq., when a member of the higher
ranks of the OAG, sent and/or received copious amounts of porno to other
attorneys general and beyond. What does this say about his sense of
judgment? He thought enough about his behavior to resign from his post
in the Governor’s Cabinet. If he thought that his behavior was okay,
he’d still be sitting in the Governor’s cabinet, right? The OAG cannot
honestly oppose anything we’ve argued, but they try by seeking to get
the Court to do their dirty work, how? By denying an Evidentiary Hearing
to prove every point we’ve claimed.
The prosecution is
trying desperately to avoid dealing with the substance of my claims in
Com. v. Lorenzo Johnson. So, they slander my Legal Team and blame them
for defaming the good AG’s and Cops involved with this case. They try to
do what is undeniable, to deny that they hid evidence from the Defense
for years. They blamed me for daring to protest the hidden evidence of
their malfeasance and other acts to sabotage the defense. They claim
that they had an “Open File” policy with my trial counsel. But “Open
File” is more than letting an attorney read something in their office.
If it’s a search for the truth it must include what is turned over to
the attorney, for how do we really know what was shown to her?
They
say it is inconceivable that an attorney would read a file, beginning
on page nine (9), and not ask for the preceding eight (8) pages. Yet, it
is conceivable if trial counsel was ineffective for not demanding the
record of the first eight pages. Pages that identify the State’s only
witness as a “SUSPECT” in the murder for which her client was charged!
How could such an attorney fail to recognize the relevance of such an
issue, barring their sheer Ineffectiveness and frankly, Incompetence.
By
seeking to avoid an evidentiary hearing, the prosecution seeks to avoid
evidence of their wrongdoing being made plain, for all to see. If they
believe I’m wrong, why not prove it? They can’t. So they shout I filed
my appeal untimely, as if there can ever justly be a rule that precludes
an innocent from proving his innocence! Not to mention the fact that
the prosecution has failed to even mention the positive finger prints
that ay my trial they said none existed. Don’t try to hide it with a
lame argument about time. When isn’t there a time for truth? The
prosecution should be ashamed of itself for taking this road. It is
unworthy of an office that claims to seek justice.
After
the trial verdict The Patriot-News (March 18, 1997) reported, “Deputy
Attorney General Christopher Abruzzo admitted there were some serious
concerns about the strength of the evidence against Johnson and praised
the jury for doing a thorough job.” I guess he forgot to mention all of
the evidence he left out to show Innocence.
Now, more than ever, Lorenzo Johnson needs your support.
Publicize his case; bring it to your friends, clubs, religious
and social organizations.
SIGN LORENZO JOHNSON'S FREEDOM PETITION
http://www.freelorenzojohnson.org/sign-the-petition.html
CONTRIBUTE TO LORENZO'S CAMPAIGN FOR FREEDOM!
http://www.freelorenzojohnson.org/how-can-i-help.html
Write: Lorenzo Johnson, DF 1036
SCI Mahanoy
301 Morea Rd.
Frackville, PA 17932
Email: Lorenzo Johnson through JPAY.com code:
Lorenzo Johnson DF 1036 PA DOC
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
Join the Fight to Free Rev. Pinkney!
Click HERE to view in browser
http://www.iacenter.org/prisoners/freepinkney-1-28-15/
On
December 15, 2014 the Rev. Edward Pinkney of Benton Harbor, Michigan
was thrown into prison for 2.5 to 10 years. This 66-year-old leading
African American activist was tried and convicted in front of an
all-white jury and racist white judge and prosecutor for supposedly
altering 5 dates on a recall petition against the mayor of Benton
Harbor.
The prosecutor, with the judge’s approval,
repeatedly told the jury “you don’t need evidence to convict Mr.
Pinkney.” And ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE WAS EVER PRESENTED THAT TIED REV.
PINKNEY TO THE ‘ALTERED’ PETITIONS. Rev. Pinkney was immediately led
away in handcuffs and thrown into Jackson Prison.
This is an outrageous charge. It is an outrageous conviction. It is an even more outrageous sentence! It must be appealed.
With your help supporters need to raise $20,000 for Rev. Pinkney’s appeal.
Checks
can be made out to BANCO (Black Autonomy Network Community
Organization). This is the organization founded by Rev. Pinkney. Mail
them to: Mrs. Dorothy Pinkney, 1940 Union Street, Benton Harbor, MI
49022.
Donations can be accepted on-line at bhbanco.org – press the donate button.
For information on the decade long campaign to destroy Rev. Pinkney go to bhbanco.org and workers.org(search “Pinkney”).
We urge your support to the efforts to Free Rev. Pinkney!Ramsey Clark – Former U.S. attorney general,
Cynthia McKinney – Former member of U.S. Congress,
Lynne Stewart – Former political prisoner and human rights attorney
Ralph Poynter – New Abolitionist Movement,
Abayomi Azikiwe – Editor, Pan-African News Wire<
Larry Holmes – Peoples Power Assembly,
David Sole – Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice
Sara Flounders – International Action Center
MESSAGE FROM REV. PINKNEY
I
am now in Marquette prison over 15 hours from wife and family, sitting
in prison for a crime that was never committed. Judge Schrock and Mike
Sepic both admitted there was no evidence against me but now I sit in
prison facing 30 months. Schrock actually stated that he wanted to make
an example out of me. (to scare Benton Harbor residents even more...)
ONLY IN AMERICA. I now have an army to help fight Berrien County. When I
arrived at Jackson state prison on Dec. 15, I met several hundred
people from Detroit, Flint, Kalamazoo, and Grand Rapids. Some people
recognized me. There was an outstanding amount of support given by the
prison inmates. When I was transported to Marquette Prison it took 2
days. The prisoners knew who I was. One of the guards looked me up on
the internet and said, "who would believe Berrien County is this
racist."
Background to Campaign to free Rev. Pinkney
Michigan
political prisoner the Rev. Edward Pinkney is a victim of racist
injustice. He was sentenced to 30 months to 10 years for supposedly
changing the dates on 5 signatures on a petition to recall Benton Harbor
Mayor James Hightower.
No material or circumstantial
evidence was presented at the trial that would implicate Pinkney in the
purported5 felonies. Many believe that Pinkney, a Berrien County
activist and leader of the Black Autonomy Network Community Organization
(BANCO), is being punished by local authorities for opposing the
corporate plans of Whirlpool Corp, headquartered in Benton Harbor,
Michigan.
In 2012, Pinkney and BANCO led an “Occupy the
PGA [Professional Golfers’ Association of America]” demonstration
against a world-renowned golf tournament held at the newly created Jack
Nicklaus Signature Golf Course on the shoreline of Lake Michigan. The
course was carved out of Jean Klock Park, which had been donated to the
city of Benton Harbor decades ago.
Berrien County
officials were determined to defeat the recall campaign against Mayor
Hightower, who opposed a program that would have taxed local
corporations in order to create jobs and improve conditions in Benton
Harbor, a majority African-American municipality. Like other Michigan
cities, it has been devastated by widespread poverty and unemployment.
The
Benton Harbor corporate power structure has used similar fraudulent
charges to stop past efforts to recall or vote out of office the racist
white officials, from mayor, judges, prosecutors in a majority Black
city. Rev Pinkney who always quotes scripture, as many Christian
ministers do, was even convicted for quoting scripture in a newspaper
column. This outrageous conviction was overturned on appeal. We must do
this again!
To sign the petition in support of the Rev. Edward Pinkney, log on to: tinyurl.com/ps4lwyn.
Contributions for Rev. Pinkney’s defense can be sent to BANCO at Mrs Dorothy Pinkney, 1940 Union St., Benton Harbor, MI 49022
Or you can donate on-line at bhbanco.org.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
COURAGE TO RESIST
http://couragetoresist.org/
New Action- write letters to DoD officials requesting clemency for Chelsea!
November 24, 2014 by the Chelsea Manning Support Network
Secretary of the Army John McHugh
President Obama has delegated review of Chelsea Manning’s clemency appeal to individuals within the Department of Defense.
Please
write them to express your support for heroic WikiLeaks’ whistle-blower
former US Army intelligence analyst PFC Chelsea Manning’s release from
military prison.
It is important that each of these
authorities realize the wide support that Chelsea (formerly Bradley)
Manning enjoys worldwide. They need to be reminded that millions
understand that Manning is a political prisoner, imprisoned for
following her conscience. While it is highly unlikely that any of these
individuals would independently move to release Manning, a reduction in
Manning’s outrageous 35-year prison sentence is a possibility at this
stage.
Take action TODAY – Write letters supporting Chelsea’s clemency petition to the following DoD authorities:
Secretary of the Army John McHugh
101 Army Pentagon
Washington, DC 20310-0101
The Judge Advocate General
2200 Army Pentagon
Washington, DC 20310-2200
Army Clemency and Parole Board
251 18th St, Suite 385
Arlington, VA 22202-3532
Directorate of Inmate Administration
Attn: Boards Branch
U.S. Disciplinary Barracks
1301 N. Warehouse Road
Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027-2304
Suggestions for letters send to DoD officials:
The
letter should focus on your support for Chelsea Manning, and especially
why you believe justice will be served if Chelsea Manning’s sentence is
reduced. The letter should NOT be anti-military as this will be
unlikely to help.
A suggested message: “Chelsea Manning
has been punished enough for violating military regulations in the
course of being true to her conscience. I urge you to use your
authorityto reduce Pvt. Manning’s sentence to time served.” Beyond that
general message, feel free to personalize the details as to why you
believe Chelsea deserves clemency.
Consider composing
your letter on personalized letterhead -you can create this yourself
(here are templates and some tips for doing that).
A comment on this post will NOT be seen by DoD authorities–please send your letters to the addresses above
This
clemency petition is separate from Chelsea Manning’s upcoming appeal
before the US Army Court of Criminal Appeals next year, where Manning’s
new attorney Nancy Hollander will have an opportunity to highlight the
prosecution’s—and the trial judge’s—misconduct during last year’s trial
at Ft. Meade, Maryland.
Help us continue to cover 100% of Chelsea’s legal fees at this critical stage!
Courage to Resist
484 Lake Park Ave. #41
Oakland, CA 94610
510-488-3559
couragetoresist.org
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
B. ARTICLES IN FULL
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Mayor de Blasio Defends Police Response to Freddie Gray Protests in New York
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM and AL BAKER
APRIL 30, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/01/nyregion/new-york-officials-defend-aggressive-response-to-freddie-gray-protests.html?ref=nyregion
2) Baltimore Prosecutor Faces National History of Police Acquittals
By MICHAEL WINES
MAY 2, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/03/us/baltimore-prosecutor-faces-national-history-of-police-acquittals.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=a-lede-package-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
3) Baltimore Braces for More Protests Over Freddie Gray Death
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
MAY 2, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/03/us/baltimore-braces-for-more-protests.html?ref=us
4) Hundreds Protest in Manhattan Against Police Brutality and Income Inequality
By EMMA G. FITZSIMMONS
MAY 1, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/02/nyregion/hundreds-protest-in-manhattan-against-police-brutality-and-income-inequality.html?ref=nyregion
5) Thug’s the New ‘N’-Word
By Michal Ortner
Your Black World
May 3, 2015
http://yourblackworld.net/2015/05/03/where-did-the-word-thug-come-from-and-why-do-politicians-use-it-toward-black-people/
6) Restoring Faith in Justice
By Charles M. Blow
7) Stand Your Ground Makes No Sense
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
1) Mayor de Blasio Defends Police Response to Freddie Gray Protests in New York
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM and AL BAKER
APRIL 30, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/01/nyregion/new-york-officials-defend-aggressive-response-to-freddie-gray-protests.html?ref=nyregion
Mayor
Bill de Blasio, facing an uproar over arrests at a Manhattan rally to
protest strong-armed policing, offered a spirited defense of law
enforcement on Thursday, brushing off concerns that demonstrators had
been mistreated even as he insisted on his own commitment to reform.
Invoking
his own past as a liberal organizer, Mr. de Blasio urged reporters “not
to exaggerate what happened” at the Union Square rally on Wednesday
night, saying the Police Department had acted appropriately in arresting
143 people marching to protest the death of a Baltimore black man,
Freddie Gray, in police custody.
Two of those
protesters were arrested after assaulting officers, one of whom was
struck on the chin with a stick and injured, police officials said.
Police
Commissioner William J. Bratton acknowledged that his department had
staged an “assertive” response to keep demonstrators from blocking
traffic in busy parts of Manhattan.
Mr. de Blasio, a
Democrat, convened a news conference after hearing complaints about the
police response from allies like the Rev. Al Sharpton. “I’ve
participated in plenty of protests, on plenty of issues,” the mayor
said. “I believe deeply in how nonviolent protest has achieved social
change.”
But, he added: “When the police give you instruction, you follow the instruction. It’s not debatable.”
The
arrests on Wednesday, which prompted a protest from liberal groups
outside Police Headquarters in Lower Manhattan, came amid a renewed
debate in New York over aggressive police tactics, including an effort
by the City Council to decriminalize low-level offenses, like public
urination.
But Mr. de Blasio’s attitude was a far cry
from late last year, when he allowed similar demonstrations to spill
into the city’s highways and avenues. That episode, after a Staten
Island grand jury declined to indict an officer in the death of a Eric
Garner, an unarmed black man, contributed to an open law enforcement
rebellion against the mayor.
On Thursday, as in the
past on police issues, Mr. de Blasio seemed to struggle to walk a
tightrope. Even as Mr. Bratton, in a separate news conference,
acknowledged a “much more assertive” approach to handling street
protests, the mayor insisted that “the strategic approach is exactly the
same.”
But the mayor eventually allowed that some
“tactical adjustments” had been made in response to past cases in which
officers had been injured, including a march across the Brooklyn Bridge.
The
result was a strained, and at times testy display by a mayor trying to
balance liberal sympathies with the burdens of overseeing a police force
whose tactics he once criticized.
Mr. de Blasio grew
visibly frustrated at the notion that the police in Union Square had
been too aggressive with protesters, telling reporters, “If you guys
want to sensationalize, if you think that’s your contribution to
society, feel free.”
He lamented that the news media
did not focus on what he cited as his accomplishments in police reform,
like a drop in civilian complaints against the Police Department.
In
a telling shift, Mr. de Blasio rebuked his interlocutors for suggesting
that some of the protesters arrested on Wednesday had done little to
provoke a tough police response. In December, after the Garner protests,
he lashed out at a journalist who suggested that some protesters had
acted violently.
To the city’s liberal advocates — some
of whom had marched alongside Mr. de Blasio during his candidate days —
the mayor’s response was disappointing.
“All I heard
was, ‘Listen to the police, do what the police say,’ ” said Gideon
Oliver, a civil rights lawyer who represents a group that organized the
rally. “If the mayor’s answer to problems of abuse of police discretion
is ‘just listen to what police say,’ that’s obviously a very big
problem.”
Still, Mr. Bratton and police officials were
adamant that they had acted appropriately to rein in a demonstration
that was threatening to become unruly and disrupt the city’s evening
rush.
“Throughout the night we were extremely
flexible,” Chief James P. O’Neill said at the Police Academy in Queens.
“If the protests continue, we will continue to be flexible. It’s not
just one strategy.”
Chief O’Neill added that one
precinct captain, the commander of the 13th Precinct in Manhattan, had
been struck in the head with a stick. “He’s got a nice cut on his jaw,”
he said.
One veteran city supervisor, who was at Union
Square on Wednesday, said he had been told at the onset that the police
might take a more assertive approach than in past protests.
“They
were free to protest on the sidewalk, and follow the law, and we would
certainly let them express their rights,” said the supervisor, who spoke
on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to detail
department policies. “But if they broke the law, went into the street
and stuff like that, we weren’t going to give them much and were going
to start locking people up.”
Aside from the arrests,
the supervisor said, the night went smoothly. “No major fights,” he
said. “No major assaults on cops, or cops doing anything crazy to anyone
else.”
Mr. de Blasio said on Thursday that the city
would not take an “ironclad” approach to future protests, and would
consider each demonstration case by case.
“It’s a big,
complicated city,” the mayor said. “I have confidence, having been a
public servant, having been a protester, that the N.Y.P.D. knows how to
work out every situation.”
A reporter pointed out that
Mr. de Blasio himself had been arrested during his run for mayor, as a
show of civil disobedience to protest the closing of a public hospital
in Brooklyn.
The mayor scoffed and said there was no comparison to what transpired on Wednesday night.
His own arrest, Mr. de Blasio said, “was the most choreographed thing on earth.”
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
2) Baltimore Prosecutor Faces National History of Police Acquittals
By MICHAEL WINES
MAY 2, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/03/us/baltimore-prosecutor-faces-national-history-of-police-acquittals.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=a-lede-package-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
With
an unexpectedly speedy and sweeping announcement on Friday of homicide
and abuse-of-power charges against six police officers in the death of
Freddie Gray, Baltimore’s chief prosecutor sent an unmistakable signal
that the days when police misconduct drew a wrist slap are over.
It
was a bold gesture, experts say — and a risky one. For the pledge may
be an empty gesture unless prosecutors secure convictions in Mr. Gray’s
death.
Both history and the circumstances of the case
unveiled on Friday hint that it will be anything but easy. Brutality
cases against police officers are notoriously difficult to win, and much
about the case, including the evidence against the officers and their
defense, remains unknown.
The state’s attorney for
Baltimore City, Marilyn J. Mosby, is expected to seek an indictment, the
next step toward a trial. Her chronology of Mr. Gray’s arrest on April
12 argued that he had been wrongly arrested, was placed inside a police
van without being properly restrained by a seatbelt and, after suffering
a severe spinal injury during transport, was repeatedly ignored despite
pleading for medical help.
The six Baltimore Police
Department officers face charges ranging from second-degree murder to
manslaughter, assault, false imprisonment and misconduct in office. Ms.
Mosby’s inquiry — “comprehensive, thorough and independent,” she said
Friday — was completed in 18 days, less than a fourth of the time that
Missouri prosecutors spent investigating the death of Michael Brown,
which triggered riots and protests in Ferguson, Mo., last year.
That
speed and confidence belie the difficulty that prosecutors may
encounter in convincing a jury or juries that the six officers broke the
law.
The bar for a manslaughter conviction is
comparatively low; a jury must find that a defendant knew his or her
actions could lead to a death, but recklessly disregarded that risk.
“The
prosecution would simply have to demonstrate that the police were aware
that someone might die because they didn’t properly transport him,”
said Jens D. Ohlin, a criminal law professor at Cornell Law School.
“They don’t have to show that they wanted him to die.”
Second-degree
murder is more serious, implying that a defendant either wanted to
cause a death or intentionally caused an injury that he or she knew
could lead to death. Only one officer — the driver of the van, Officer
Caesar Goodson — was accused of murder. While Ms. Mosby has not
explained the charge, some have speculated that prosecutors will say Mr.
Gray was deliberately given a so-called rough ride that slammed him
against the van’s metal walls.
In Mr. Gray’s case, a
Police Department general order required officers to restrain prisoners
with seatbelts during transport to prevent injuries. But that order, in
effect at least since 1997 and updated nine days before Mr. Gray’s
death, appears to have been loosely followed by Baltimore officers.
While
Ms. Mosby offered a detailed timeline of the events surrounding Mr.
Gray’s death, she did not reveal any of the evidence supporting it. Nor
did she say any of the officers personally caused the spinal injury that
killed him.
But whatever case prosecutors make will
have to overcome the inherent deference to police officers that most
jurors take with them to the courtroom, experts said.
“It’s
always difficult to get a guilty verdict against a police officer
except in the worst and strongest cases,” said David A. Harris, a
University of Pittsburgh professor who is a leading expert on racial
profiling in law enforcement. “A police officer comes into a courtroom
not just presumed to be innocent, but presumed to be the good guy.”
Behavior
that might land some defendants in jail, such as beating or even
shooting another person, are not just permitted for police officers but
are assumed to be part of their work. Jurors are inclined to give them
the benefit of the doubt, Mr. Harris and others said, particularly if
officers can show that they were merely doing their jobs as they always
had.
The prosecutors face other hurdles. The witnesses
and cellphone videos that have clarified a number of recent
police-brutality incidents are absent in Mr. Gray’s case. Much of what
happened to Mr. Gray occurred either in the presence of the officers who
have been charged, or while he was alone in the back of the police
wagon.
The prosecutors’ case would be strengthened
should one or more of the six defendants decide to cooperate, or should
they try to shift blame for the death. In practice, that happens only
infrequently. Mr. Harris said it was even less likely with the police
because of the loyalty among fellow police officers.
And
even prosecutors with seemingly strong cases frequently lose. In 2010,
jurors acquitted a Baltimore officer who had stopped a man he thought
looked suspicious, searched him, then shot him twice in the back after
he broke way and fled. The officer’s lawyer argued, and jurors agreed,
that he had feared for his life because he thought the man was reaching
for a gun as he ran away.
A year later a Baltimore
judge acquitted three officers charged with kidnapping and false
imprisonment after they picked up two teenagers, drove them miles from
their homes and abandoned them, leaving one in another county after
taking his shoes and socks. The judge, who convicted two officers on
lesser misconduct charges, said that even legal police work involves
detaining and threatening suspects.
Both the swiftness
and the scope of the charges brought on Friday carry weight in a city
where, critics say, poor, mostly black neighborhoods have boiled for
years with resentment over police officers’ tactics.
“The
larger message, if there is one, is that ‘we’re moving on these
things,’ ” Mr. Harris said. “ ‘We’re taking them seriously, and there’s
no longer going to be any kind of slowing down and taking it to the
point where people wonder, whatever happened to that?’ ”
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
3) Baltimore Braces for More Protests Over Freddie Gray Death
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
MAY 2, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/03/us/baltimore-braces-for-more-protests.html?ref=us
BALTIMORE
— The city is bracing for more protests this weekend, following a
tumultuous week that included looting and arson, the arrival of National
Guard troops and the filing of criminal charges against six police
officers in the case of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man whose
death in police custody set off the unrest.
Thousands
of people are expected here Saturday for a march organized by Malik
Shabazz, president of the Washington-based Black Lawyers for Justice and
a former chairman of the New Black Panther Party. For nearly two weeks,
ever since Mr. Gray died, city leaders have been warning against
“outside agitators,” an oblique reference to Mr. Shabazz, who is clearly
making them nervous.
“They should be nervous,” Mr.
Shabazz said in an interview Friday night. “The youth went off and had a
rebellion because the established leadership has not represented them
well.”
Protesters are expected to gather late Saturday
morning in two spots: at the Gilmor Homes in northwest Baltimore where
Mr. Gray was arrested, and also at City Hall, where Mr. Shabazz said he
would give a “keynote address” at 3 p.m., as part of a mass rally that
will begin at 2 p.m. and is scheduled to end at 6 p.m.
Mr.
Shabazz, 46, who has led similar protests in cities like Ferguson, Mo.,
and Charleston, S.C., has been labeled “an extremist” by the Southern
Poverty Law Center, which calls him a “racist black nationalist” with a
“well-documented history of violently anti-Semitic remarks and
accusations about the inherent evil of white people” who is
“particularly skilled at orchestrating provocative protests.”
A
march he led here last Saturday turned briefly violent after he urged
protesters at a City Hall rally to “shut it down!” Mr. Shabazz said
afterward that he was calling only for civil disobedience, not violence,
but added that he was not surprised by the riots that tore through
Baltimore earlier this week.
“The rebellion was brewing before I got here, and the rebellion was going to happen whether I got here or not,” he said.
Community
activists and black religious leaders, including the Rev. Jamal Bryant,
pastor of the Empowerment Temple, have said they will stay away from
Saturday’s march; Mr. Bryant is planning his own rally at City Hall on
Sunday. Melech Thomas, a divinity student and youth pastor, also said he
would not attend.
Mr. Thomas said he had no objection
to Mr. Shabazz, though he added, “It would be nice to actually see him
at some of the community meetings we’ve had this week, and I can’t say
that I have.”
With the National Guard still patrolling
the streets, and a 10 p.m. citywide curfew in place, officials expect
that this Saturday will be more peaceful than last. And the city’s mood
shifted dramatically on Friday after Marilyn J. Mosby, the prosecutor
for the city of Baltimore, announced that six police officers would face
charges, including murder and manslaughter.
Ms.
Mosby’s announcement set off a wave of jubilation in some black
neighborhoods, prompting some to predict that Saturday’s events would be
more celebration than protest. “She probably saved the city from a lot
of stress that it didn’t need to go through,” said A. Dwight Pettit, a
lawyer, who represents people accusing the police of misconduct.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
4) Hundreds Protest in Manhattan Against Police Brutality and Income Inequality
By EMMA G. FITZSIMMONS
MAY 1, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/02/nyregion/hundreds-protest-in-manhattan-against-police-brutality-and-income-inequality.html?ref=nyregion
Protesters
marched in the streets of New York City on Friday night to bring
attention to police brutality and income inequality, two days after
dozens of demonstrators were arrested.
Hundreds of
protesters assembled in Union Square in Manhattan, planning to march
east and then south to Foley Square; another group marched along the
southern edge of Central Park. The protests came the same day that
prosecutors in Baltimore charged six police officers in the death of
Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died after being injured while
in police custody.
On Wednesday night, the police
arrested 143 people in Manhattan during protests over Mr. Gray’s death.
Some criticized the aggressive police response, but Mayor Bill de Blasio
and Police Commissioner William J. Bratton defended the arrests.Mr.
Bratton said on Friday that the police would work with demonstrators at
the two permitted marches in the city and give them space to rally. But
he cautioned that protesters had to follow the rules.
“It’s
when they seek to create their own rules,” he said. “Then I’m sorry,
they’re breaking the law. And we will deal with that appropriately and
authoritatively.”
The protests were organized as part
of May Day, an international workers’ holiday. One rally by union groups
against income inequality began outside the home of Alice Walton, an
heir to the Walmart fortune, near 60th Street and Park Avenue. Another
group planned to march from Union Square to Foley Square, near City
Hall.
Earlier in the day, the Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum in Manhattan closed for the day after protesters dropped
thousands of leaflets from the museum’s spiral rotunda.
Edna Ishayik and Al Baker contributed reporting.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
5) Thug’s the New ‘N’-Word
By Michal Ortner
Your Black World
May 3, 2015
http://yourblackworld.net/2015/05/03/where-did-the-word-thug-come-from-and-why-do-politicians-use-it-toward-black-people/
Following
the protests and riots in Baltimore, the use of the word “thug” seemed
to find its way into the mouths of leadership across the country. This
has left many African-Americans angry and offended, believing that the
employment of the word was degrading and racist.
The
death of Freddie Gray that involved Baltimore policemen led hundreds
into the streets for peaceful protesting. But along with these came
rioters who began to loot and vandalize the city.
On
April 25, in a press conference, Mayor Stefanie Rawlings-Blake labeled
the rioters “thugs, who only want to incite violence and destroy our
city.” She also Tweeted, “Too many people have invested in building up
this city to allow thugs to tear it down.”
After the
outcry over her use of the word “thug,” the mayor recanted in another
Tweet, “I want to clarify my comment on ‘thugs.’ When you speak out of
frustration and anger, one can say things in a way that you don’t mean.”
Larry Hogan, governor of Maryland, also incited the
word, calling those involved “a lawless gangs of thugs roaming the
streets, causing damage to property and injuring innocent people.”
The
following day, during President Barack Obama’s address concerning the
riots, he called the rioters “a handful of criminals and thugs who tore
up the place.”
On April 28, The Roots bandmate Questlove tweeted, “Thugs= N*ggers #KnowTheCode.”
Historically,
the earliest record of the word “thug” was when it was a 19th century
Hindi word used to describe a cheater or a swindler. Some documented
“thugs,” or those who practiced “thuggee,” as being murderous bandits
who would steal from travelers.
An 1852 article
written in The New York Times called the thugs of India “a terrible sect
of religionists, whose worship is the most hideous in the whole record
of false ideologies.”
According to Kim Wagner, a
lecturer at Queen Mary University, the British use of the word “thug” in
the 19th century “allowed them to criminalize any kind of indigenous
activity as being something that was inherently irrational and
politically illegitimate, not different from the way it’s used today.
You’re effectively describing them as having no legitimate grievances
and just being hoodlums.”
Michael Jeffries, author of
Thug Life: Race, Gender, and the Meaning of Hip-Hop, refers to the
popularization of the word after it was used in lyrics by rapper Tupac.
“The
label was attached to Black and Brown people, impoverished people,
living in urban communities, regardless of their behavior,” Jeffries
said. “They adopted the word for subversive and oppositional reasons,
and it found its way into the music.”
“It’s not a
coincidence that the rise of this word in the public sphere coincided
with the uptick in the punishment and hyper-incarceration of Black and
Brown people living in late 20th century urban America,” Jeffries added.
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
6) Restoring Faith in Justice
By Charles M. Blow
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
7) Stand Your Ground Makes No Sense
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
8) An Atlas of Upward Mobility Shows Paths Out of Poverty
By
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
9) The Uphill Battle to Better Regulate Formaldehyde
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*
*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*