Stand with Colin Kaepernick [Black Lives Matter]

[ckaihatsu]

Chris, did you see this? Re: Stand with Colin Kaepernick


Courage Campaign


Chris--

From pro athletes to military veterans to President Obama, Colin Kaepernick’s powerful protest against police violence against black people is winning new backers every day. Click here to join 35,000 other Courage Campaign members who’ve sent a message of support to Colin Kaepernick and his bosses in the NFL. (http://act.couragecampaign.org/sign/stand-colin-kaepernick?t=1&akid=3275.2053337.53rEG8)

The backlash against Kaepernick is also growing. NFL executives called Kaepernick “the most hated player” in the league since Rae Carruth -- who murdered his girlfriend. Hordes of racists are using social media to attack Kaepernick with vile insults and racial epithets. And the conservative noise machine is feeding the hate by misrepresenting his message and smearing him as unpatriotic.

To show that regular people of all stripes support Kaepernick, we’re going to fly a banner over the 49ers’ game on Monday Night Football, and want to make the biggest impression possible. Click here to join 35,000 other Courage Campaign members who’ve sent a message of support to Colin Kaepernick and his bosses in the NFL. (http://act.couragecampaign.org/sign/stand-colin-kaepernick?t=2&akid=3275.2053337.53rEG8)

Read the message we sent you last week below for more information about Kaepernick’s protest.

Thanks,

William

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.couragecampaign.org/images/cc_colin_fb_3.png

Chris,

Black Americans and their allies around the country are protesting persistent mistreatment by police. Now one famous athlete -- Colin Kaepernick, quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers -- is standing up for black lives by kneeling during the national anthem.(1)

Kaepernick's action shows real courage, and it has been powerfully effective. But it's also made him a target of racist hate and conservatives in the media who have the audacity to question his patriotism.

When a famous basketball player engaged in a similar protest in 1996, it ended his career.(2) Colin Kaepernick’s actions represent the best of California -- we can't let the same thing happen to him! Will you speak out now to show the NFL, the sports media, and Kaepernick himself that the public supports his brave protest?

Click here to publicly thank Colin Kaepernick for standing up for black lives! (http://act.couragecampaign.org/sign/stand-colin-kaepernick/?source=20160902_org_em_p_KaepernickCourage&t=4&akid=3275.2053337.53rEG8)

Kaepernick just joined a long line of athletes who used their iconic status to stand up to systemic racism. Boxing great Muhammad Ali went to prison for his principles. Runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in protest of America’s treatment of black people during the 1968 Olympics. And Jackie Robinson, who desegregated professional baseball and famously fought for civil rights, wrote in his 1972 autobiography that he could no longer sing the national anthem or salute the flag in good conscience.(3)

While much has changed in America over the years, one thing has not -- black Americans are still disproportionately stopped by police and subjected to police violence. Black Lives Matter, and the larger Movement for Black Lives, have emerged in response to this reality that black people still live with every day, even in 2016. When superstars like Colin Kaepernick take a public stand for black lives, it magnifies the cultural force of the larger movement -- forcing those who might otherwise ignore the impact police violence has on black communities to think about it.

Just last night two more NFL athletes joined Kaepernick in his protest.(4) It’s important that we stand with Kaepernick now because we want other athletes and celebrities to know the public has their back when they choose to follow his example!

Click here to publicly thank Colin Kaepernick for standing up for black lives! (http://act.couragecampaign.org/sign/stand-colin-kaepernick/?source=20160902_org_em_p_KaepernickCourage&t=5&akid=3275.2053337.53rEG8)

Kaepernick is the target of hate and anger around the country. On Twitter, vengeful trolls are directing racial slurs and epithets to Kaepernick and his supporters.(5) Conservative commentators are openly questioning Kaepernick’s patriotism, when the right to protest is as American as apple pie. And conservatives are sharing menacing videos on the Internet in which they burn Kaepernick’s jersey while the national anthem plays in the background.(6)

In the face of this response, it’s especially important that we send messages of support to Colin Kaepernick, as well as to his bosses in the NFL. Professional athletic leagues tend to punish players for causing controversy. In 1994, when extremely talented basketball player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf engaged in a similar protest it ended his NBA career.(7) And when NFL punter Chris Kluwe spoke out for gay rights in 2014, he was pushed out of the league.(8)

Just last night, Colin Kaepernick continued his protest in a battle between the San Francisco 49ers and the San Diego Chargers, two California football legacies. As scrutiny on Kaepernick rises, there is no better time to support his bold actions.

Click here to show your support for Colin Kaepernick’s powerful protest today! (http://act.couragecampaign.org/sign/stand-colin-kaepernick/?source=20160902_org_em_p_KaepernickCourage&t=6&akid=3275.2053337.53rEG8)

Thank you for having the courage to stand with Colin Kaepernick,

William, along with Annie, Caitlin, Emma, Eddie, Ernesto, Katie, Kelsey, Lindsay, Moonyoung, Scottie, and Tim (the Courage team)

1. http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/08/colin-kaepernick-49ers-national-anthem-sit-explains
2. http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/29/sport/colin-kaepernick-flag-protest-has-history-trnd/
3. http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2016/08/jackie-robinson-colin-kaepernick-star-bangled-banner/
4. http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/17444691/colin-kaepernick-san-francisco-49ers-sits-again-national-anthem
5. http://blacksportsonline.com/home/2016/08/kaepernick-asks-for-better-treatment-for-blacks-so-his-social-media-flooded-with-ngger-comments/
6. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/08/28/some-fans-burn-kaepernick-jerseys/
7. http://theundefeated.com/features/abdul-rauf-doesnt-regret-sitting-out-national-anthem/
8. http://deadspin.com/i-was-an-nfl-player-until-i-was-fired-by-two-cowards-an-1493208214


Like what we do? Chip in to help fund the fight for a more progressive nation. Or find us on Facebook or Twitter.

Donate Today Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter
Courage Campaign fights for a more progressive California and country. We are an online community powered by more than 1.3 million members. The Courage Campaign Institute is the educational arm of the Courage Campaign family of organizations. Our mission is to defend and extend human rights through innovative leadership development, training, strategic research, and public education.

Courage Campaign Institute is a 501c(3) non-profit organization. Contributions or gifts to Courage Campaign Institute are tax deductible within IRS guidelines.

http://institute.couragecampaign.org?akid=3275.2053337.53 rEG8


You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time.

[ckaihatsu]

Retaliation for documenting police abuse


Protect those who document police misconduct.
View this email in your browser (http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=0809b771ad9123934911c8d9b&id=91b3aa79de&e=42bef1e59a)

Chris,

Since the killing by police of Michael Brown in Ferguson nearly two years ago, protesters, witnesses, and victims of police brutality have increasingly taken to their phones to monitor and record police behavior.

In the two recent deadly police shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in St. Paul, bystanders documented the events and immediately made their videos public. In both of these cases, the individuals documenting the events allege that police later harassed them in retaliation.

Stand with PEN America, People Demanding Action, and the ACLU in demanding that the U.S. Department of Justice investigate this troubling trend of alleged police retaliation against witnesses of possible misconduct. (http://pen.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0809b771ad9123934911c8d9b&id=d2b0dd1d49&e=42bef1e59a)

https://gallery.mailchimp.com/0809b771ad9123934911c8d9b/images/f735d9ac-92b6-40d2-b37e-8002383a3d41.jpg

Just 24 hours after posting video of officers fatally shooting Alton Sterling, Chris LeDay was arrested at his place of work and told he fit the description of a suspect wanted for assault. His arrest warrant referenced only old traffic tickets.

Lavish “Diamond” Reynolds, the fiancée of Philando Castile who recorded their deadly encounter with police, was handcuffed and taken away for questioning immediately after recording her husband-to-be’s death at the hands of an officer. Reynolds told reporters that police confiscated her phone and that she was denied water and food during a long night in detention.

Bystanders who filmed the arrests and deaths of Freddie Gray and Eric Garner have described similar police harassment and abuse, sometimes continuing for months after the incident.

These allegations strongly suggest that some police officers are retaliating against those who document police brutality. According to the U.S Department of Justice, the First Amendment prohibits government officials from “punish[ing] the dissemination of information relating to alleged governmental misconduct.” (http://pen.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0809b771ad9123934911c8d9b&id=5bb48a4f08&e=42bef1e59a)

While the police may have legitimate business with individuals involved in documenting cases of alleged police abuse, utmost care must be taken to avoid both the reality and the appearance of retaliation.

Acts of journalism are not limited to official members of the press. In the age of camera phones and social media, police must be trained on the rights of citizen journalists, and these rights must be guaranteed to all.

Sign the petition today. Tell U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to investigate police retaliation against people who record the police and to guarantee their First Amendment rights. (http://pen.us1.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=0809b771ad9123934911c8d9b&id=9c4f8143fb&e=42bef1e59a)

My best,


Suzanne Nossel
Executive Director
PEN America



Share this email with a friend.




Get More News, Events, and Original Literature from PEN America ›

You are receiving this e-mail because you opted in at PEN.org or a PEN-sponsored event.

manage subscriptions | unsubscribe | contact us

Copyright © 2016 PEN America | 588 Broadway Suite 303, New York, NY 10012 USA

[ckaihatsu]

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/09/20/foot-s20.html

[ckaihatsu]

Indict officer who killed Terence Crutcher


Officer Betty Shelby shot and killed Terence Crutcher.

Indict Officer Betty Shelby.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.colorofchange.org/images/bettyshelbygraphiclarge.png

Indict Now!

TAKE ACTION! (http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/terence-crutcher-justice/?t=2&akid=6301.872082.nwtuQA)


Dear Chris,

Terence Crutcher was on his way home from class when his truck stalled in the middle of the road in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Four police officers responded to this call with guns drawn. A helicopter hovered over him and his car as he walked with his hands up. Seconds later Terence was shot and killed by officer Betty Shelby.1 His crime was being a large Black man.

Officer Shelby shot and killed Terence because she saw him not only as a threat due to his Blackness, but as a disposable being. She saw her racist projection of a big, Black “bad dude”.2

Demand Officer Shelby be indicted for her barbaric “shoot first” tactics. There’s no room for officers who see Black bodies as threats! (http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/terence-crutcher-justice/?t=3&akid=6301.872082.nwtuQA)

This is a story that went “unnoticed” in the media until the extremely disturbing video footage was released and it showed Terence clearly cooperating and officers blatantly racially profiling him to death. It’s clear that the image of a big Black man with his hands raised was a threat for Officer Shelby, a threat that informed her it was ok to shoot and kill Terence. Shelby didn’t see Terence’s humanity, she didn’t allow him the benefit of being a person in need of help.

Officer Betty Shelby needs to be indicted immediately for the killing of Terence Crutcher. (http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/terence-crutcher-justice/?t=4&akid=6301.872082.nwtuQA)

Terence was one of many Black folks killed by police last week including 13-year-old Ty’re King in Columbus, OH.3 It’s heartbreaking and traumatic to experience this reality so frequently with no justice or accountability. Officer Shelby’s fatal reaction to a Black body is something that seems to be ingrained into the psyche of most officers across the country. We must hold officers like Betty Shelby accountable if we are going to change the violent and racist culture of policing.

Paid leave is not justice for Terence or any of us! Indict Officer Shelby NOW! (http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/terence-crutcher-justice/?t=5&akid=6301.872082.nwtuQA)

Until justice is real,

Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Scott, Malaya, Enchanta, and the rest of the Color Of Change team


References:

“Tulsa Police shooting investigaed by Justice Depatment,” CNN, 09.20.2016. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/6709?t=7&akid=6301.872082.nwtuQA

“Terence Crutcher's twin sister: 'that big bad dude was my brother',” The Griot, 09.20.2016 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/6710?t=9&akid=6301.872082.nwtuQA

“Ty're King likely running away at time of shooting, according to Forensic Pathologist,” Walton+ Brown, 09.19.2016. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/6710?t=11&akid=6301.872082.nwtuQA


Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.

If you're absolutely sure you don't want to hear from Color Of Change again, click here to unsubscribe.

[ckaihatsu]

FRSO: Police killings must stop, fight for community control of police

By staff

San Jose, CA - After the police killing of two more Black men in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sept. 21, Masao Suzuki, chair of the Joint Nationalities Commission of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, condemned the epidemic of police crimes and urged people to build the movement.

“The killing of Terrance Crutchner by a white police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma is just the latest example of police shooting first, not calling for medical aid, and then making up stories to justify their crimes,” said Suzuki. “In Charlotte, North Carolina, the uprising after the police shot and killed Keith Scott shows that the community is on edge. This should come as no surprise given that a white Charlotte police officer went free after shooting an unarmed Black man ten times and then handcuffing him before he died in 2013.”

Suzuki called for people to continue to build the movement against police killings. “In addition to responding to each and every police crime, the FRSO supports the demand for community control of the police. This institutional change, as seen in the Chicago, Illinois push for a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC), is needed to fight the racism among police that is part of a long history of national oppression against African Americans and other oppressed nationalities such as Chicanos and Native Americans.”

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

All out in Solidarity with Charlotte - Sat., Sept 24 1pm

https://gallery.mailchimp.com/80b6d7af133e1b55b3257d12d/images/01e67502-b334-46f2-99ec-c735ed78dd59.jpg
All Out in Solidarity with Charlotte Uprising Against Police Terror!
*READ* Moorehead/Lilly campaign solidarity statement with Charlotte uprising!

SHOW UP IN CHARLOTTE!
A call to mobilize 1,000s against police violence
Saturday, September 24th | 1pm
March starting from Marshall Park in Uptown Charlotte | 800 East 3rd St.

All ages, rain or shine
Invitation from The Tribe CLT and Charlotte Trans and Queer People of Color Collective

Come to Charlotte this Saturday to stand with us and gather together.

On Tuesday, our brother and neighbor Keith Lamont Scott was killed by Charlotte police. He was sitting in his car, reading a book, and waiting for his son to come home on the school bus. We believe he was profiled and killed by police, and that CMPD is not telling the truth about his murder.

Tuesday night, Charlotte police attacked a grieving community with riot police and tear gas. Wednesday night, Charlotte police fired into a crowd, seriously injuring a protestor and inflaming our grief.

Today, our city is occupied by the National Guard and we are in a State of Emergency!

Charlotte, the latest city to be wrecked by police violence against Black people and violence against Black people, is a national crisis. We need to end this epidemic now! Let’s show the nation that we stand against police violence that targets Black people and our communities. Let’s show that Charlotte, and the nation, will no longer tolerate the routine murders of Black people by an unaccountable system of policing.
Come to Charlotte to make a historic stand and to demand dignity and respect for Black lives.

We are: Charlotte Tribe, Charlotte Trans and Queer People of Color Collective, Charlotte SURJ, Ignite NC, Black Youth Project-Durham Chapter, Beloved Community Center, Youth Organizing Institute , Southern Vision Alliance, Durham Solidarity Center, Workers World Party, Queer People Of Color Collective GSO, NC TROUBLMakers, Million Hoodies, Black University.



--
This message was sent to [email protected]

You are subscribed to IAC Solidarity Center action alerts.
Our mailing address is:
IAC Solidarity Center
147 W 24th St
2nd FL
New York, NY 10011

Add us to your address book @solidarityweb.com

Unsubscribe from this list

powered by phpList

[ckaihatsu]

Charlotte is on fire.


A new NC law could mean we will never see the footage of Keith Scott's murder.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.colorofchange.org/images/charlotteprotestssmall.jpg

Demand the Department of Justice take action against North Carolina's blue wall of silence.

TAKE ACTION! (http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/nc-bodycams-keith-scott/?t=2&akid=6324.872082.spsMHt)

Chris,

Charlotte is on fire. And Black people are in pain yet again as the news of Keith Lamont Scott’s killing hit less than 24 hours after news outlets plastered the video of Terence Crutcher’s murder on tv screens across the country.1

According to his family, Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old disabled man, was sitting in his car reading a book and waiting to pick his son up from school when he was shot and killed by Charlotte police. Yes, a book. They say he didn’t have a gun. And in a live video immediately after the incident, Keith’s daughter yelled at investigators not to plant a gun in his car. “Because that’s what the f**k y’all do,” she said.2

Charlotte police had no regard for Keith's life and are telling a completely different tale of events leading to Keith’s killing. But a new North Carolina law could mean the public will never see the body cam footage.

North Carolina just passed a law, HB 972, that prohibits body and dash cam footage from being released to the public.3 And while the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief, Kerr Putney, has the authority to release the footage of Keith Lamont Scott’s death before the law goes into effect in October--he won’t. But the good news is that the Department of Justice has the authority to push them to do the right thing, and hit Charlotte police where it hurts--their pockets. Soon, the Justice Department will be announcing winners of their federal grant programs. If the DOJ refuses to award any new grants to North Carolina while this law is in place, they could force the state to reverse it. Will you sign the petition?

Tell the DOJ: Don’t reward North Carolina police with new grants until it overturns HB 972. (http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/nc-bodycams-keith-scott/?t=3&akid=6324.872082.spsMHt)

Police rolled up on Keith in plain clothes and were attempting to serve an arrest warrant for someone else. They had the wrong person. But in step with the dangerous police culture of hyper-violence and a “shoot first” mentality, Charlotte police acted in complete disregard for his life, shot and killed him. Now his children are without a father and a family is seeking answers--but Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are refusing to release the footage that could provide some.

Too often police have been caught lying. And the cases of Walter Scott, Terence Crutcher, Tamir Rice. Sandra Bland, LaQuan McDonald, and Sam Dubose show us the importance of having access to the video footage.4 North Carolina launched its universal body-cam program last year--yet they’ve barely gotten any good use out of it. Since May, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have shot and killed four people--and body cameras were turned on in only one.5 Still, lawmakers passed HB 972, a law that would prohibit the public from ever seeing body cam footage, unless they obtained a court order. It’s a slap in the face to any calls for transparency and accountability and defeats the entire purpose of even having body-cameras.

But even if local officials won’t use their power to release the video footage, the Department of Justice can. When North Carolina lawmakers passed a terribly transphobic law, HB 2, that allowed discrimination against transgender folks, the Justice Department threatened to sue the state--and even got them to back down from a counter-lawsuit.6 On Wednesday, Attorney General Lynch gave a speech noting the “sorrow, anger and uncertainty” people are feeling right now after dealing with the trauma of Black people being killed again, and again, and again.7 But the best way her office can assure accountability and transparency in Keith Lamont Scott’s murder is to take action against North Carolina’s terrible blue wall of silence. Keith’s family deserves justice and full transparency.

Demand the Department of Justice take action against the law allowing Charlotte police to protect their own by hiding the truth. (http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/nc-bodycams-keith-scott/?t=4&akid=6324.872082.spsMHt)

Until justice is real,

Arisha, Rashad, Scott, Clarise, Anay, and the rest of the Color Of Change team


References:

"Keith Lamont Scott: 5 Fast Facts You Should Know," Heavy, September 20, 2016

"Keith Scott shooting: Charlotte police say they warned him to drop handgun," The Guardian, September 22, 2016

"New North Carolina law might prevent Keith Lamont Scott body cam footage from release," New York Daily News, September 21, 2016
"Caught on Tape, Caught in a Lie: 5 Times Video Proved Police Were Lying," The Root, February 22, 2016
"Charlotte's top cop claims he can't show you videos that prove Keith Scott's killing was justified," ThinkProgress, September 21, 2016
"North Carolina Governor Drops 'Bathroom Bill' Lawsuit Against U.S.," NPR, September 19, 2016
"Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch Delivers Remarks at the International Bar Association's 2016 Annual Conference," The United States Department of Justice, September 21, 2016

Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.

If you're absolutely sure you don't want to hear from Color Of Change again, click here to unsubscribe.

[ckaihatsu]

The Movement for Black Lives platform


Dear MoveOn member,

This week, footage was released of a man named Terence Crutcher being gunned down by Oklahoma police—once again forcing the crisis of police violence against Black Americans into sharp focus.1

In the video footage, Crutcher, whose car had broken down on the highway, appears to be cooperating with police—in fact, he even has his hands raised above his head—when he is stunned with a taser gun before being shot to death. The officer who killed Crutcher has now been charged with first-degree manslaughter—after days of outrage and an outpouring of attention and grief from across the country.2

At the same time, in North Carolina, the Charlotte community is reeling from the death of Keith Lamont Scott, also at the hands of police, who have not yet released their video of the killing.3

Already this year, at least 194 Black people have been killed by police.4

As America grapples with these deaths, there are real steps we, as a nation, could take to address systemic racism, mass incarceration, and the individuals and institutions that use racial division to propagate economic inequality. A number of innovative solutions were put forward in a recently published paper called "A Vision for Black Lives"—a detailed policy platform released by more than 50 organizations from across the country who are fueling the powerful grassroots movement that's responding to police violence, among other injustices.

This is much longer than a tweet or a quick graphic you can share, but it's an important read. Will you take a moment to read the Movement for Black Lives platform now, and then urge your friends to read it too? (https://act.moveon.org/go/5886?t=1&akid=170266.7761820.9hBdVT)

If enough of us take a few minutes to read and share this, we can help fuel the national discussion about concrete solutions.

The Movement for Black Lives platform addresses criminal justice, reparations, investment and divestment, economic justice, community control, and political power. It's an important step toward finding real solutions that can address the many complicated factors that lead to police violence, such as the violence that ended Terence Crutcher's and Keith Lamont Scott's lives this week.

Without a countervailing vision, the systems that work against racial justice and equality only become more entrenched.

It's a long document, and not everyone will agree with every proposal or phrase. But reading it, discussing it, sharing it with our neighbors, and demanding that our candidates react to it could move us forward in a concrete way. And it will take all of us—of every race and with every nuanced and intersecting identity we bring—to work together to develop solutions.

Please, take a moment to read and share the Movement for Black Lives platform now (https://act.moveon.org/go/5886?t=2&akid=170266.7761820.9hBdVT), and let’s get to work.

Thanks for all you do.

—Corinne, Mark, Scott, Anna, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Video shows unarmed black man Terence Crutcher shot by Tulsa officer," USA Today, September 20, 2016
http://act.moveon.org/go/5887?t=4&akid=170266.7761820.9hBdVT

2. "Tulsa police officer charged with manslaughter," CNN, September 23, 2016
http://act.moveon.org/go/5888?t=6&akid=170266.7761820.9hBdVT

3. "Charlotte Police Chief: Video Doesn't Show "Definitive" Proof Keith Scott Pointed a Gun at Cops," Slate, September 22, 2016
http://act.moveon.org/go/5889?t=8&akid=170266.7761820.9hBdVT

4. " The Counted: People killed by police in the US," The Guardian, accessed September 23, 2016
https://act.moveon.org/go/5890?t=10&akid=170266.7761820.9hBdVT



Want to support our work? MoveOn member contributions have powered our work together for more than 17 years. Hundreds of thousands of people chip in each year—which is why we're able to be fiercely independent, answering to no individual, corporation, politician, or political party. You can become a monthly donor by clicking here (https://act.moveon.org/donate/civ-donation?donation_type=recurring&akid=170266.7761820.9hBdVT&mailing_id=170266&source=mailing-footer), or chip in a one-time gift here (https://act.moveon.org/donate/civ-donation?akid=170266.7761820.9hBdVT&mailing_id=170266&source=mailing-footer).


Contributions to MoveOn.org Civic Action are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. This email was sent to Chris Kaihatsu on September 23rd, 2016. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

- - - Updated - - -

Charlotte uprising demands justice for Keith Lamont Scott

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/NCriseup.JPG

By Noah Killough

Charlotte, NC - On the night of Sept. 21 protesters gathered in uptown Charlotte for the second night of militant protests after the murder of Keith Lamont Scott by Charlotte police (CMPD). Protesters called for the arrest of the officers involved and an end to police crimes in the city.

Protesters first pushed up Elizabeth Avenue after a short demonstration in front of the CMPD headquarters. They then occupied the Epicentre shopping and entertainment complex. The protesters reached as far as the Omni Hotel until an African American man was shot in front of riot police. Some protesters at the scene say they saw the police shoot the man. When the shot was fired the only guns visible were in police hands.

“They won’t stop killing us!” a protester shouted shortly after.

Then riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets to continue to push the protesters back down Elizabeth Avenue. People then spread out across the city and some briefly occupied a portion of Interstate 277.

Throughout the night the police escalated the situation, taking advantage of calm breaks in the protest to shoot tear gas and rubber bullets. Before the end of the night, police arrested 44 protesters.

Despite the deployment of North Carolina National Guard troops to Charlotte, protests will continue until there is justice for Keith Lamont Scott.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/09/22/tulsa-officer-who-fatally-shot-terrence-crutcher-charged-with-first-degree-manslaughter/?utm_term=.b57c9888324c


White Tulsa officer charged in death of unarmed black man, freed on bond

By Peter Holley and Katie Zezima September 23 at 10:29 AM

Officer charged in Terence Crutcher's death


Copy Play Video1:33
If convicted, Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby could face a minimum of four years in prison. (Gillian Brockell/The Washington Post)
A white police officer in Tulsa who was shown on video fatally shooting an unarmed black man has been charged with first-degree manslaughter, authorities said on Thursday.

Tulsa District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler filed a “heat-of-passion” manslaughter charge against officer Betty Shelby, nearly a week after cameras filmed her shooting 40-year-old Terence Crutcher as he stood beside his stalled SUV.

Shelby “reacted unreasonably” and became “emotionally involved to the point that she overreacted,” the prosecutor’s office said in an affidavit.

She was formally arrested and booked into the Tulsa Jail at 1 a.m. Friday, according to county records. She posted a $50,000 bond and was released from jail 20 minutes after she was booked.

Moments before they captured footage of Crutcher’s death, police cameras recorded the father of four walking toward his car with his hands above his head while several officers followed closely behind with weapons raised. He lingered at his vehicle’s driver’s side window, his body facing the SUV, before slumping to the ground a second later.

“Shots fired!” a female voice can be heard yelling in video footage released Monday, three days after the deadly encounter.

Tulsa police say Crutcher did not have a gun on him or in his vehicle.

The footage does not offer a clear view of when Shelby fired the shot that killed Crutcher. Her attorney, Scott Wood, has said Crutcher was not following police commands and that Shelby opened fire when the man began to reach through his window.

Wood told the Tulsa World that Shelby opened fire and that another officer used a stun gun when Crutcher’s “left hand goes through the car window.”

Shelby is one of only a few female officers to be charged in a fatal shooting in the past decade. If convicted, she could face a minimum of four years in prison.

[‘He was my compassionate son,’ Terence Crutcher’s mother says after fatal shooting in Tulsa]

In a statement, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) said she hopes the decision “provides some peace” to the Crutcher family and urged people to be patient as the case unfolds.


“No matter how you feel about the prosecutors’ decision in this case, I hope Oklahomans will respect the views of your friends and neighbors because we still have to live peacefully together as we try to make sense of the circumstances that led to Mr. Crutcher’s death,” Fallin said.

The fatal Sept. 16 shooting, already one of the nation’s dominant news stories, gained an even higher profile after police shot and killed a black man in Charlotte Tuesday afternoon, sparking violent protests.

Crutcher and Scott are two of at least 707 people — 164 of them black men — who have been fatally shot by police officers this year, according to a Washington Post database tracking police shootings.

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said the two shootings — four days and 1,000 miles apart — again laid bare friction between law enforcement officials and the communities they police.

“These tragic incidents have once again left Americans with feelings of sorrow, anger and uncertainty,” Lynch said Wednesday. “They have once again highlighted — in the most vivid and painful terms — the real divisions that still persist in this nation between law enforcement and communities of color.”

The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into Crutcher’s death.

[Release the video or not? Cities wrestle with approaches after police shootings.]

Shelby thought Crutcher was behaving like someone under the possible influence of the drug phencyclidine (PCP), Wood told the World, noting that Crutcher ignored the officer’s commands to stop reaching into his pockets. Shelby feared Crutcher might have a gun, he said. A police official told the World that PCP was found in Crutcher’s vehicle; an attorney for Crutcher’s family has said reports linking Crutcher to drugs were attempts to “intellectually justify” his death.

“Make no mistake, it was clear from the beginning that charges were necessary in this case. The officer responsible for the death of Terence Crutcher had to be brought to justice to be held accountable for her actions,” Crutcher family attorney Benjamin Crump said in a statement Thursday. “We remain optimistic that the State Attorney will now do his job, and vigorously prosecute the officer to the fullest extent of the law, bringing some form of justice to the Crutcher family.”

Does the helicopter video prove Crutcher's window was closed? Play Video1:13

An attorney for Terence Crutcher's family says enhanced footage of the traffic stop on Sept. 16 proves the car's window was closed at the time Crutcher was shot by a Tulsa police officer. Here is that footage. (Gillian Brockell/The Washington Post)
Shelby is a five-year veteran of the Tulsa Police Department. Wood, who did not return a request for comment, told the World that Shelby is “very distraught” over the shooting and that she has received death threats.

According to reports, Shelby is married to fellow officer David Shelby, who was in a helicopter that recorded the fatal shooting and was recorded talking with a fellow officer about how they believed Crutcher should be shot with a stun gun. One of them said he looked “like a bad dude.”


“He was my compassionate son,” the slain man’s mother, Leanna Crutcher, said in an interview with CNN. “No one could ever do anything that would turn him away from being their friend. He loved people.”

“That big, bad dude mattered,” his twin sister Tiffany said.

[She started the night drinking at home — and ended it being pepper-sprayed in a restraint chair]

Betty Shelby worked at the Tulsa Sheriff’s Department from June 2007 to November 2011, according to Deputy Justin Green, a department spokesman. Shelby was involved in a use-of-force incident at the department for “firearms presentation,” Green said. Shelby and other officers entered a home with their firearms drawn as they were trying to serve warrants.

According to her 2007 application to the sheriff’s office, Shelby said she had been married twice before and was on track to receive a biology degree from Northeastern State University in Broken Arrow, Okla. She had previously worked as a convenience store manager, teacher assistant and trainee in the Oklahoma Air National Guard. Shelby wrote that she sprained her knee during basic training and that the Guard did not want to “take care of my rehabilitation,” so she was discharged.

On the application, which was obtained by NBC affiliate KJRH, Shelby answered “yes” to questions about whether she had used drugs and whether she had a victim protection order filed against her. Shelby said she had used marijuana twice as an 18-year-old.

The scene after an unarmed black man was fatally shot by a Tulsa police officer

https://js.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_982w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2016/09/21/National-Enterprise/Images/2016-09-21T190939Z_01_SHN106_RTRIDSP_3_USA-POLICE.jpg
The man was fatally shot by a white police officer responding to a stalled vehicle.

In an expanded answer, Shelby wrote that in 1993, she and a boyfriend had an argument where they ended their relationship. She said the boyfriend hit her car with a shovel and that she did the same to his vehicle. The two filed orders against each other and asked a judge to dismiss them, she wrote.

In 2000, Shelby and an ex-husband were in a custody battle that was appealed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. In 2002, she wrote that her ex-husband’s wife filed a protective order against Shelby, alleging she made harassing phone calls. Shelby wrote the order was denied.

In 2004, Shelby spoke at a rally attended by about 6,000 people, including members of Congress and Tulsa’s mayor, that showed support for deployed U.S. troops. David Shelby was stationed overseas with the Army; according to the World he was a reservist who volunteered for duty.

“I knew there was always a possibility he was going to be deployed sometime,” Betty Shelby said at the rally. “He knows this is his duty, and he’s proud to serve his country.”

In a Facebook posting from Aug. 28, Shelby is pictured standing with a black couple and holding a bouquet of flowers. The couple, identified as the Joneses, were robbed, and Shelby found their property and returned it to them.

“Well done, Officer Shelby and thanks to the Joneses for making her day,” the post read.

This article, originally published on Sept. 22, has been updated.

MORE READING:

Charlotte police won’t make shooting video public; chief says footage is not ‘definitive’

More police shootings are being caught on camera — but many of those videos aren’t released to the public

1.9k Comments
Share on FacebookShare
Share on TwitterTweet
Share via Email

Peter Holley is a general assignment reporter at The Washington Post. He can be reached at [email protected]hpost.com. Follow @peterjholley
Katie Zezima is a national political correspondent covering the 2016 presidential election. She previously served as a White House correspondent for The Post. Follow @katiezez

© 1996-2016 The Washington Post

[ckaihatsu]

RE: Charlotte police killed him.


Chris,

BREAKING: Charlotte Police Chief, Kerr Putney, just made a partial release of dash cam and body cam footage of Keith Lamont Scott's murder.1 And it's devastating to watch.

Keith slowly exits his car, and turns around with his hands at his sides, and within seconds police shoot him down. Neither of the videos show definitive evidence of Keith Scott holding a gun as police have claimed--and after police shot and killed Keith Scott, they handcuffed his lifeless body. To make matters worse, Putney has still refused to release the full video, claiming it is not relevant to the shooting. A partial video release is not enough, but if this killing happened a week from today, even this would be impossible.

A new North Carolina law goes into effect on October 1st, and will prohibit any body-cam or dash-cam footage from being released to the public. It's infuriating and a slap in the face to Black people who've been in the streets demanding transparency and reform.

In just a few hours, you and over 33,000 Color of Change members signed a petition calling on the Department of Justice to take action against this law. Now more than ever, we need as many people as possible to sign so the Justice Department will take notice--will you share this petition on Facebook? (https://act.colorofchange.org/go/6870?t=1&akid=6332.872082.ElZRhQ)

We have to make sure North Carolina police can't hide behind a blue wall of silence any longer.

-Arisha

P.S. Here's the email we sent this morning:



A new NC law could mean we will never see the footage of Keith Scott's murder.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.colorofchange.org/images/keithscott.jpg

Demand the Department of Justice take action against North Carolina's blue wall of silence.

TAKE ACTION! (http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/nc-bodycams-keith-scott/?t=3&akid=6332.872082.ElZRhQ)


Chris,

Charlotte is on fire. And Black people are in pain yet again as the news of Keith Lamont Scott’s killing hit less than 24 hours after news outlets plastered the video of Terence Crutcher’s murder on tv screens across the country.2

According to his family, Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old disabled man, was sitting in his car reading a book and waiting to pick his son up from school when he was shot and killed by Charlotte police. Yes, a book. They say he didn’t have a gun. And in a live video immediately after the incident, Keith’s daughter yelled at investigators not to plant a gun in his car. “Because that’s what the f**k y’all do,” she said.3

Charlotte police had no regard for Keith's life and are telling a completely different tale of events leading to Keith’s killing. But a new North Carolina law could mean the public will never see the body cam footage.

North Carolina just passed a law, HB 972, that prohibits body and dash cam footage from being released to the public.4 And while the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief, Kerr Putney, has the authority to release the footage of Keith Lamont Scott’s death before the law goes into effect in October--he won’t. But the good news is that the Department of Justice has the authority to push them to do the right thing, and hit Charlotte police where it hurts--their pockets. Soon, the Justice Department will be announcing winners of their federal grant programs. If the DOJ refuses to award any new grants to North Carolina while this law is in place, they could force the state to reverse it. Will you sign the petition?

Tell the DOJ: Don’t reward North Carolina police with new grants until it overturns HB 972. (http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/nc-bodycams-keith-scott/?t=4&akid=6332.872082.ElZRhQ)

Police rolled up on Keith in plain clothes and were attempting to serve an arrest warrant for someone else. They had the wrong person. But in step with the dangerous police culture of hyper-violence and a “shoot first” mentality, Charlotte police acted in complete disregard for his life, shot and killed him. Now his children are without a father and a family is seeking answers--but Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are refusing to release the footage that could provide some.

Too often police have been caught lying. And the cases of Walter Scott, Terence Crutcher, Tamir Rice. Sandra Bland, LaQuan McDonald, and Sam Dubose show us the importance of having access to the video footage.5 North Carolina launched its universal body-cam program last year--yet they’ve barely gotten any good use out of it. Since May, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have shot and killed four people--and body cameras were turned on in only one.6 Still, lawmakers passed HB 972, a law that would prohibit the public from ever seeing body cam footage, unless they obtained a court order. It’s a slap in the face to any calls for transparency and accountability and defeats the entire purpose of even having body-cameras.

But even if local officials won’t use their power to release the video footage, the Department of Justice can. When North Carolina lawmakers passed a terribly transphobic law, HB 2, that allowed discrimination against transgender folks, the Justice Department threatened to sue the state--and even got them to back down from a counter-lawsuit.7 On Wednesday, Attorney General Lynch gave a speech noting the “sorrow, anger and uncertainty” people are feeling right now after dealing with the trauma of Black people being killed again, and again, and again.8 But the best way her office can assure accountability and transparency in Keith Lamont Scott’s murder is to take action against North Carolina’s terrible blue wall of silence. Keith’s family deserves justice and full transparency.

Demand the Department of Justice take action against the law allowing Charlotte police to protect their own by hiding the truth. (http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/nc-bodycams-keith-scott/?t=5&akid=6332.872082.ElZRhQ)

Until justice is real,

Arisha, Rashad, Scott, Clarise, Anay, and the rest of the Color Of Change team


References:

"Charlotte shooting: Police release video and photo evidence," CNN, September 24, 2016
"Keith Lamont Scott: 5 Fast Facts You Should Know," Heavy, September 20, 2016
"Keith Scott shooting: Charlotte police say they warned him to drop handgun," The Guardian, September 22, 2016
"New North Carolina law might prevent Keith Lamont Scott body cam footage from release," New York Daily News, September 21, 2016
"Caught on Tape, Caught in a Lie: 5 Times Video Proved Police Were Lying," The Root, February 22, 2016
"Charlotte's top cop claims he can't show you videos that prove Keith Scott's killing was justified," ThinkProgress, September 21, 2016
"North Carolina Governor Drops 'Bathroom Bill' Lawsuit Against U.S.," NPR, September 19, 2016
"Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch Delivers Remarks at the International Bar Association's 2016 Annual Conference," The United States Department of Justice, September 21, 2016

Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.

If you're absolutely sure you don't want to hear from Color Of Change again, click here to unsubscribe.

[ckaihatsu]

Black Lives Matter protest in Houston's Third Ward

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/TXblmsept.jpg

By Fabian Van Onzin

Houston, TX - Over 100 people marched through Houston's Third Ward, Sept. 24, to protest police brutality and demand justice for victims of police killings. The march began with a few speeches in front of the Martin Luther King statue in MacGregor Park, located near the University of Houston. After dozens of people had gathered, they began to march in the streets.

The protesters marched into the street chanting “Black lives matter!” and defied police orders to take up only one lane. Dozens of cops appeared, but the protesters kept marching through the streets. They marched through the University of Houston, and students from all over the campus joined in.

After rallying on the campus, they marched to Spur 5, which is a large highway. Hundreds of cops formed a barrier but the protesters kept marching. Protesters were shouted at the cops, "We ain't scared," and "You don't protect us, so we won't do what you tell us!" Even when the cops were threatening to arrest everyone, the crowd remained unified and more people joined in. Because of the unity and determination of the crowd, the cops were unable to break up the protest. After rallying over 100 people, mostly African American, and some children even, the protesters marched through Third Ward, a historically African American neighborhood. Police started to show up on horses with batons, making threats and trying to scare the protesters, to which they chanted, "Whose streets, our streets!”

At the intersection of Wheeler and Scott Street, which connects the University of Houston and Texas Southern University, the protesters occupied the square. The cops surrounded them, but they remained, absolutely fearless and unafraid of the batons, the guns, and the police-wagons. Ignoring the cops, they gave a few speeches in the intersection and shut down traffic. Then they marched to Texas Southern University, where they were met by dozens of students.

TSU is a historically African American university and was a major site of activism during the Civil Rights Movement in Houston. Therefore, it was symbolically connecting the current struggle against police brutality to the struggle of the African American people in the Black Belt South.

A student from TSU stated, “The turnout today demonstrates that Black people have had enough of the racist killer cops in this country. We are no longer afraid and we will take our community back. Their batons and guns are a tool to oppress us, and we will resist this oppression until we win the liberation of all Black people.”

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

Are Police Necessary? / from TSJ teach-in / Labor Beat on YouTube



Are Police Necessary?

On YouTube at: https://youtu.be/SnVbympEFUQ

SnVbympEFUQ

Chicago’s Teachers for Social Justice held a teach-in on Sept. 24, 2016 on the topic of “Are Police Necessary?”, in part to prepare for and promote their upcoming Curriculum Fair on Nov. 19, focusing on the goals of de-funding policing and funding schools and communities.

The teach-in critically examined the corrosive effects on school environments created by the knee-jerk response by the City of Chicago to turn to more policing in the schools as the solution to the crisis in education, a crisis created by a decaying political and economic system. Each day $4 million is spent on the Chicago police instead of on services which could reduce violence in the communities, such as mental health clinics and substance abuse treatment. There are more police in the public schools than librarians, social workers and counselors combined. Excerpts and interviews. Length: 8:30

http://s17.postimg.org/j87mchypb/160924_Are_Police_Necessary_teach_in_Labor_Beat.jp g (http://postimg.org/image/5rantmodn/)
The Sept. 24 Teachers for Social Justice teach-in. Photo: Labor Beat


Contribute today to the Labor Beat (Committee for Labor Access) fund drive. Info at:
http://goo.gl/xV4ojb

Produced by Labor Beat. Labor Beat is a CAN TV Community Partner. Labor Beat is a non-profit 501(c)(3) member of IBEW 1220. Views are those of the producer Labor Beat. For info: [email protected], www.laborbeat.org. 312-226-3330. For other Labor Beat videos, visit YouTube and search "Labor Beat". On Chicago CAN TV Channel 19, Thursdays 9:30 pm; Fridays 4:30 pm. Labor Beat has regular cable slots in Chicago, Evanston, Rockford, Urbana, IL; Philadelphia, PA; Princeton, NJ; and Rochester, NY.

[ckaihatsu]

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/09/28/anth-s28.html


US national anthem protests at sporting events continue to spread

By Alan Gilman

28 September 2016

Since San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem before National Football League (NFL) preseason games began in August, in protest of racial injustice and police brutality, his actions have continued to gain support throughout the first three weeks of the NFL’s regular season.

Protests have spread throughout the league as well as to college and high school football fields, and to other sports throughout the country. The recent police killings of Terence Crutcher in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte, North Carolina, have contributed to the expansion of the protests.

Last Sunday, protests at NFL games involved more than 40 players representing the Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Rams, Houston Texans, Philadelphia Eagles, San Diego Chargers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Carolina Panthers, Washington Redskins, and San Francisco 49ers.

In Sunday’s game in Seattle, Kaepernick was joined by seven other San Francisco teammates who either kneeled or stood with raised fists, up from five players the previous week. Their opponent, the Seattle Seahawks, for the third straight game linked arms together and stood as a demonstration of unity during the national anthem.

In Charlotte, North Carolina, the Carolina Panthers hosted the Minnesota Vikings in the city where angry protests had been taking place in response to the police killing of Keith Lamont Scott.

Carolina Panther star quarterback Cam Newton took the field during pregame warm-ups wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with the Martin Luther King, Jr. quote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Earlier in the week Newton stated that Scott’s fatal shooting touched upon a “state of oppression in our community.”

Last Sunday also saw Washington Redskins players for the first time protesting during the national anthem when four players raised their right fists before their game against the New York Giants.

In the Indianapolis Colts game against the San Diego Chargers, Antonio Cromartie became the first Colts player to kneel during the anthem, while five Chargers stood with raised fists, up from two players the week before.

In Jacksonville for the first time, four Jaguars players raised their fists during the national anthem, and their opponent the Tennessee Titans saw two more of their players joining three other teammates in raising their fists.

At the Monday night game between the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints, after the anthem was played, players and coaches from both teams walked to the center of the field and formed a unity circle by holding hands.

In the days leading up to the Monday night game, many players had expressed their intention of an anthem protest in response to the killings in Tulsa and Charlotte. The NFL, fearing such a protest during its nationally televised game, which took place during the Presidential Debate, orchestrated the show of “unity” in an attempt to diffuse the issue.

Last weekend also saw college and high school football players and students following Kaepernick’s lead by engaging in a variety of symbolic protests during the playing of the national anthem.

In most college games, the national anthem is played before the teams take the field. The Big Ten Conference, however, requires their teams to be present during the anthem.

Consequently, players at several Big Ten schools engaged in anthem protests. At East Lansing, Michigan, Michigan State players Delton Williams, Kenney Lyke and Gabe Sherrod held up their right fists during the anthem before their game against Wisconsin.

Several University of Michigan players also had their fists up before facing Penn State in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Among them were Khalid Hill, Mike McCray, Devin Bush, Elysee Mbem-Bosse and Jourdan Lewis.

At Nebraska, players Michael Rose-Ivey, Daishon Neal and Mohamed Barry also kneeled before the Cornhuskers’ game at Northwestern.

Even when players were absent during the anthem, students themselves engaged in protests. Before the University of North Carolina game against the University of Pittsburgh, at Chapel Hill, about 100 black and white students wearing black shirts remained seated with fists raised during the anthem and were joined as at least two UNC band members took a knee, one while raising a fist. Chapel Hill is about 140 miles northeast of Charlotte.

At Baylor, some students in the stands kneeled during the anthem before the game against Oklahoma State.

Earlier at Eastern Michigan University, chanting students marched on the field after last Friday’s night game against Wyoming. The students were protesting racist graffiti on the campus earlier in the week.

High school players throughout the country, as well as entire teams (Seattle’s Garfield High School) have also participated in similar anthem protests.

Many high school players have been threatened with suspension for such protests, but for the most part, authorities have had to back down.

Junior quarterback Michael Oppong at Doherty Memorial High School in Worcester, Massachusetts, said on Twitter that he was told he would be suspended for one game after announcing he would kneel during the anthem before a recent game. It was a decision district officials quickly reversed.

“(Oppong) did not violate any school rule when he peacefully and silently protested during the national anthem,” Worcester Superintendent Maureen Binienda said in a statement. “He exercised his constitutional rights.”

Virtually all coaches and players at Wilson High, a public school in Camden, New Jersey, took a knee during the national anthem. Camden is a predominantly African-American community and one of New Jersey’s poorest.

Wilson High coach Preston Brown said he did not ask his team to join him ahead of time, but all but two of his players did so. Afterward, Brown said that he wanted to call attention to social injustices and economic disparities.

“I grew up in poverty, a lot of these kids are growing up in poverty,” Brown said. “There’s a lot of social injustices and economic disparities. There’s issues right here in our own community.”

To prevent such protests from spreading to Camden’s Catholic Schools, the Catholic Schools Diocese of Camden issued a statement declaring, “We are not public institutions and free speech in all of its demonstrations, including protests, is not a guaranteed right,” and players who failed to “demonstrate appropriate respect” by choosing not to stand for the national anthem could face game and team suspensions.

Similar protests by high school football players have taken place in hundreds of schools throughout the country.

In women’s professional basketball, a number of players have also participated in anthem protests. New York Liberty guard Brittany Boyd sat on the bench with her head bowed in prayer during the national anthem before Saturday’s playoff game against the Phoenix Mercury.

“I don’t want to stand up. I choose not to stand up and I sit down and pray,” the second-year guard said. “Colin [Kaepernick] and his message about social injustice going on in this country today is something I believe needs change.”

Two Phoenix Mercury players who had previously declined to stand, Mistie Bass and Kelsey Bone, knelt through the anthem. Earlier last week, Bass and Bone had drawn national attention for their display before a playoff game against the Indiana Fever, while the entire Fever team also knelt, with the players locking arms.

The willingness of athletes, professional and amateur, to defy the tradition of standing during the national anthem in order to protest police killings, is an expression of an increasing political opposition that is permeating masses of people. While these protests are limited by a racial view of police violence, a problem that effects the entire working class regardless of race or ethnicity, they serve as a healthy example of challenging and questioning the authority of the state.

[ckaihatsu]

URGENT Action Needed to Stop Ongoing Repression of Protestors in Charlotte, NC


S O L I D A R I T Y C E N T E R

CharlotteUprising.com 9/29/2016

* * * URGENT ACTION NEEDED * * *
We demand an immediate end to
repression of demonstrators in Charlotte!

Call/Email CMPD, Mecklenburg County Sheriff,
Mayor Roberts, Attorney General Roy Cooper,
& Governor Pat McCrory

Jail Liaison - Karla Gary
Office phone: 980-314-5550
email: [email protected]

Public Information Manager - Anjanette Flowers Grube
Office phone: 980-314-5170
Cell phone: 704-634-5072
email: [email protected]

Mayor Jennifer Roberts
Phone: 704-336-2241
email: [email protected]

Governor Pat McCrory
Phone: 919-814-2000
Phone: 919-733-4240
email: [email protected]

Attorney General Roy Cooper
Phone: 919-716-6400
[email protected]

Since demonstrations began against the police murder of Keith Lamont Scott, police in Charlotte have been mass arresting protesters & legal observers, using chemical weapons, and violating their most basic rights.

Jamil Gill (aka King Mills), who many around the country and the world know for his on the ground livestreams from the first nights of protest, has been a particular target of police repression ever since the protests began. He was arrested and issued an outrageous bond of $320,000, which the movement fought and reduced to a still obscene amount of $162,000.

He was bonded out early in the day on September 28, and subsequently REARRESTED by police as he ate lunch! This is
a clear attempt to intimidate and harass Gill, and an attempt
by the state to silence and have a chilling effect on the rest of the movement.

During demonstrations on September 21, police attacked the protests and killed 26-year-old Black man Justin Carr. Continuing their targeting Black and Brown people and a total lack of transparency by the CMPD, they are falsely accusing Raquan Borum for Justin's death.

The police have continued to violate arrestees' legal rights by:

Instructing the National Guard and police to blockade the jail (at least three times since the uprising began) to prevent the release of arrestees whose bond was paid

Using bogus excuses like fire drills, 'suspicious packages,' and even characterizing our jail solidarity team gathering at the jail as a 'protest' to lock down the jail for hours

Intentionally delaying the release of arrestees

Not published arrestees' names online, impeding our ability to provide them legal support

We need you to call and email the jail, Charlotte and state officials and demand that they stop violating arrestees' rights!

Script for call or email:


“Hello _______________.

My name is _______________ and I am a resident of

__________________. Can I speak to (See list above)

I am calling to demand that you stop the repression of demonstrators in Charlotte.


We demand an end to the attacks on Jamil Gill! Stop the arrests of all protesters!
We demand that an independent investigation of the killing of Keith L. Scott and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Dept!
We demand that you stop purposefully obstructing the release of arrestees!
We demand that all the charges against those who have been arrested are dropped!

Hands off #CharlotteUprising!

The whole world is watching, and we won't stop until
our demands are met and the people get justice!

http://solidarityweb.com/uploads/Charlotte.jpg

___________________
This message was sent to [email protected]

You are subscribed to IAC Solidarity Center action alerts.
Our mailing address is:
IAC Solidarity Center
147 W 24th St., 2nd FL
New York, NY 10011

Add us to your address book @solidarityweb.com

Unsubscribe from this list

powered by phpList

[ckaihatsu]

Mother of Jesse Romero demands justice; video exposes LAPD lies

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/LAmomwantsjustice.jpg

By staff

Los Angeles, CA - In front of media cameras and surrounded by family and supporters, Teresa Dominguez, the mother of Jesse Romero, demanded justice for her son. The Oct. 6 press conference announced the filing of a government claim against the City of Los Angeles and the LAPD for the killing of Romero. Lawyer Humberto Guizar pointed out that recently released videos contradict the police version of the killing. He blasted the LAPD for lying, saying that were was no way the police version can be truthful.

Jesse Romero, 14 years old, was killed by officers of the LAPD Hollenbeck station on Aug. 9 under the pretext that he was writing on a wall. After chasing him, the cops falsely claimed that he pointed a gun and that they had to shoot to kill him. Videos released by LA Weekly, Democracy Now and others shown on social media contradict the LAPD version of the shooting. The videos show Jesse down on a side walk bleeding and dying and the alleged gun far way on other side of a metal wrought iron fence. A witness states that Jesse ran and threw away the old gun over the fence and was shot and killed moments later. The mother is demanding justice for Jesse Romero, and this claim is the initial step toward a formal lawsuit.

Four other young men have been killed in Boyle Heights by LAPD since Feb. 6 and one other by ELA sheriffs.

Chicano activist Carlos Montes, of Centro CSO, introduced the speakers, who included Black Lives Matter member Michael Williams, who expressed solidarity and called for the firing of Chief Beck. Josefina Rizo, the mother of Jose Mendez, 16 years old and killed by LAPD Feb. 6, expressed support for Teresa Dominguez and called for justice for all the families and prosecution of the LAPD.

fSol Marquez, representing Centro CSO spoke about many other police killings of young Chicanos and the demand to District Attorney Jackie Lacey to prosecute the killer cops. She pointed out that Centro CSO and the families organized a call in day to D.A. Lacey demanding that she prosecutes the police.

Damian Ramirez with Young Survivors spoke about the epidemic of killings nationwide of Black and Brown youth across the U.S. and the need to unite to stop police killings. Also present was Obdulio Olivas father of Carlos, 19, killed by LA sheriffs in East LA in 2013 and Blanca Valdez, whose son Arturo was killed by LAPD in April in Boyle Heights.

Jesse Romero attended local schools in Boyle heights. He graduated from 2nd Street School, attended Hollenbeck Middle School, and Mendez High School. Jesse is the latest police killing of Chicano youth in Boyle Heights.

Also present and supporting the event were Maria Banda, whose son was shot 14 times by LAPD in Boyle Heights and sent to jail for 15 years; Black Lives Matter LA; Centro CSO; Young Survivors-Carmelo Castaneda, and students from ELAC Mecha.

Centro CSO invites everyone to attend their upcoming meeting on Oct. 19, at 6:30 at the Benjamin Franklin Library in Boyle Heights.
Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/10/11/pers-o11.html

[ckaihatsu]

http://www.revleft.com/vb/threads/196145-Tell-Stonegate-quot-Don-t-Host-Hate-quot

[ckaihatsu]

Parents threatened with arrest after children protest anthem


These students took a knee to protest violence against Black youth. Now they’re being punished.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.colorofchange.org/images/Beaumont_email.png
Colin Kaepernick kneeling in protest.

Demand the executive board revoke it’s unjust punishment of these children, their parents, and coaches.

TAKE ACTION (http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/black-children-punished-anthem-protests/?t=2&akid=6476.872082.lkvzvy)


Dear Chris,

The young 11 and 12-year-boys of the Beaumont Bulls football team have been harshly punished for silently protesting the national anthem.1

After these kids knelt during the anthem to protest police violence against Black youth, their local executive board canceled their entire football season, suspended the coaching staff, and threatened to arrest their parents if they attended any future games, practices or events.

This is the most disturbing punishment of a national anthem protest yet. Canceling these kids’ entire season and threatening to have their parents arrested is a gross response to a silent protest asking for basic rights and dignity.The executive board that handed down this punishment and threatened these families with police violence for attending their children’s football events must be held accountable.

Demand the executive board immediately reinstate the Beaumont Bulls coaching staff, apologize to the boys and their parents, and allow them to finish their season. (http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/black-children-punished-anthem-protests/?t=3&akid=6476.872082.lkvzvy)

Police brutality, wrongful arrests and racial violence plague these children in their town of Beaumont, Texas. Within days of Colin Kaepernick’s protest, the team’s coaching staff, privately discussed the possibility of them taking a knee before their next game, before ultimately deciding against it. The coaches didn't want to impose anything on the players. To their surprise, though, the young boys came to them and told them they wanted to take a knee. The shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of police just two months prior had deeply bothered the young students.

For these young Black kids the plight of injustice in America is their own. Instead of supporting the boys and their protests, their executive board and league officials abandoned them. The board has decided to strip these kids of the team that they love to punish them for asking for basic rights and dignities. This is about the board reinforcing that police violence in our communities doesn’t matter, that our issues aren’t important and that speaking on them makes you subject to punishment.

For these kids, playing on a football team together is likely one of the few places they can step away from the racial injustices they face everyday and just be themselves. But now, that has been unjustly taken away from them in an attempt to deprive them of their dignity and humanity.

These kids are brave for refusing to give in to the executive board and for standing against injustice. We need to support the fight of these children and show them that their protest is heard.

Demand the executive board immediately reinstate the Beaumont Bulls coaching staff, apologize to the boys and their parents, and allow them to finish their season. (http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/black-children-punished-anthem-protests/?t=4&akid=6476.872082.lkvzvy)

Until justice is real,

--Brandi, Rashad, Arisha, Anika, Evan, Bernard, Jade, Corina and the rest of the Color Of Change team.

References:

1. "KING: After taking a knee, young boys saw their football coach suspended then their whole season canceled," RawStory, 10-17-2016
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/6959?t=6&akid=6476.872082.lkvzvy


Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.

If you're absolutely sure you don't want to hear from Color Of Change again, click here to unsubscribe.

[ckaihatsu]

Ben & Jerry's: Do Palestinian human rights matter?



Vermonters for a Just Peace
in Palestine/Israel

Ben & Jerry's: Do Palestinian human rights matter?


Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel commends Ben & Jerry's for taking the brave step of aligning the company with the Black Lives Matter movement in a statement (http://t.ymlp98.com/uemsaxaejhqwataquqakaesuw/click.php) posted October 6th 2016. But the company continues to miss opportunities to take specific actions to show that it respects the lives of Palestinian refugees and Palestinians living under occupation.

The statement continues: "We’ve come to understand that to be silent about the violence and threats to the lives and well-being of Black people is to be complicit in that violence and those threats." Meanwhile we’ve been saying to Ben & Jerry's for 4 years now - that to be silent about the occupation of Palestine, which daily humiliates and brutalizes 4 million Palestinians, is to be complicit in those crimes. And sales of Ben & Jerry's in settlements actively support the occupation.

http://www.vtjp.org/images/SeeThem2.jpg

Many activists in the 'Black Lives Matter' movement identify their struggle with the struggle for human rights of Palestinians who are denied basic freedoms by the Israeli occupation (When I see them I see us) (http://t.ymlp98.com/uemuakaejhqwavaquqafaesuw/click.php). Ben & Jerry's statement says "we have a moral obligation to take a stand now for justice and for Black lives." And yet by failing to speak out against the occupation they have shown little interest in justice for Palestinians. The company continues to sell ice cream in illegal Jewish-only settlements and to send ice cream treats to Israeli soldiers of the occupation forces.

Ben & Jerry's statement says "All lives do matter. But all lives will not matter until Black lives matter." As the Black Lives Matter movement has made perfectly clear, all lives include oppressed Palestinians as well as oppressed people of color in the US.

http://www.vtjp.org/images/SeeThem1.jpg

Ben & Jerry’s could take immediate constructive steps by speaking out against the occupation and by stopping sales of their ice cream in the settlements. But Palestinians' lives apparently do not matter enough.

What to do: Write an email ([email protected],[email protected] r.com,[email protected],[email protected], [email protected]) to Ben & Jerry's Global Director of Social Mission Rob Michalak, CEO Jostein Solheim, Board Chair Jeff Furman and Ben and Jerry asking them to put Ben & Jerry's on record: "We will not do business in a country that denies Palestinians their basic human rights.

Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel [email protected]
Unsubscribe / Change Profile
Powered by YMLP

[ckaihatsu]

Progressive Congress Condemns Incident in which African-American Student in Mississippi Had Noose Put Around His Neck

Website: www.progressivecongress.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ProgressiveCongress

Twitter: www.twitter.com/ProgCongress

Dear Chris,

We wanted to share our statement with our supporters regarding the horrific incident that took place at Stone High School in Mississippi.

Our full statement is included below.

-- Olivia Alperstein
Policy and Communications Associate
Progressive Congress

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

Press Contact

Olivia Alperstein

[email protected]

October 26, 2016


Progressive Congress Condemns Incident in which African-American Student in Mississippi Had Noose Put Around His Neck

Progressive Congress was appalled to learn that on October 13, an African-American student at Stone High School in Mississippi had a noose placed and then tightened around his neck by a group of white students. Mississippi has a fraught history of racism and mistreatment of black people that has continues to affect its educational institutions today. Progressive Congress joins the president of the Mississippi N.A.A.C.P. in urging federal authorities to fully investigate this heinous incident. This is not the only school in Mississippi that has dealt with recent incidents that harken back to a dark and dangerous time in the state’s past. Progressive Congress urges school officials to use the context of an educational setting to make this teachable moment for all students and educators alike. Tolerance and acceptance, like racism, can be taught, and high school is a critical time for young adults learning to navigate an adult world.

“Today’s political environment has created a climate of hatred that exacerbates incidents like this,” stated Dr. Gabriela Lemus, President of Progressive Congress. “How is it that an African-American high school student can be attacked by his peers who wrap a noose tightly around his neck and there is little response from school officials? How is it that the Stone County Sheriff's Department told the youth’s parents that it is better to not seek charges? We must ask ourselves what lessons we are teaching young people and what role educators can play to address bigotry in all its forms. I urge federal investigators to look into this challenging situation and help this divided community dialogue and heal.”

The symbolism of a noose and the act of mock lynching serve as a painful reminder that Mississippi still has not escaped its past, as a former slave state, a supporter of the Confederacy, and as a state in which government officials joined with white supremacists in suppressing the rights of black people. Decades ago during the Civil Rights Movement, white government officials enabled and even participated in a reign of terror to suppress the right of free black people to be treated as human beings, to attend the same schools, restaurants, and other public spaces as white people, and to vote. Mississippi’s history includes James Meredith, the first black person to successfully integrate an all-white university, as well as Emmett Till, who was lynched at only fourteen years old, supposedly for flirting with a white woman. Mississippi still contends with this complex history today, where it is the only state to still include the Confederate flag as part of the official state flag. Tightening a noose around a student’s neck is an act of racism that must be dealt with in the context of this history, but also in the context of shaping a better future for all of Mississippi’s residents.

School officials and the Mississippi government have the opportunity to condemn such acts and teach students the value of tolerance and acceptance rather than hate.

###






----------------------------------------------------------------------------


This email was delivered to you by Progressive Congress.

Click here to unsubscribe.

If you unsubscribe from Progressive Congress we will not send you further emails, per our permission-based email policy. The best way to contact Progressive Congress is by using the Contact Us form on our website, by phone at 202-449-9495 or at our physical address, 600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Suite 340, Washington DC 20003.

If you received this email from a friend or colleague and would like to sign up for email alerts, please click here to subscribe.

Progressive Congress is a 501(c)3 organization that amplifies and strengthens connections between change makers in the grassroots Progressive community and lawmakers in Congress. We provide access to innovative, forward-thinking ideas and serve as the vital linkage between message makers on and off the Hill as we shape a progressive agenda.

empowered by Salsa

[ckaihatsu]

http://fair.org/home/our-identity-is-often-whats-triggering-surveillance/


[LaborTech] ‘Our Identity Is Often What’s Triggering Surveillance’


Nov 1 2016

‘Our Identity Is Often What’s Triggering Surveillance’

CounterSpin interview with Brandi Collins on Black Lives surveillance

By Janine Jackson

Janine Jackson interviewed Brandi Collins about surveillance of the Movement for Black Lives for the October 28, 2016, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript.

http://fair.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/BrandiCollins2.jpg

Brandi Collins: “This line between mass and targeted surveillance is being erased, particularly as it pertains to communities of color.”

1. CounterSpin Brandi Collins Interview

00:00PlayStoppop out

DOWNLOAD MP3

MP3 Link (http://www.fair.org/audio/counterspin/CounterSpin161028Collins.mp3)

Janine Jackson: The civil rights director of the Oregon state Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against his employer. It seems the department got a new computer program that lets them search social media, and to test it out, they looked for hash tags related to Black Lives Matter and activism against police violence, turning up a tweet by Erious Johnson, which led his colleagues to start compiling a report on him without his knowledge. Johnson’s lawsuit claims racial discrimination and a hostile work environment for engaging in protected activity.

Well, the vivid irony at the core of this story might be that it all began because one of Johnson’s tweets included the logo of the group Public Enemy, and one of his white colleagues mistook the black man in crosshairs as a police officer, and wrote to his supervisor that Johnson might be a threat to police.

But it’s also a good illustration of how the targeted use of surveillance technology can be a threat both to civil rights generally and to black people exercising civil rights in particular. Joining us now to talk more about the issue is Brandi Collins. She’s the campaign director for media and economic justice at Color of Change, the online racial justice organization. She joins us by phone. Brandi Collins, thanks so much for joining us on CounterSpin.

Brandi Collins: Thank you for having me.

JJ: Color of Change, along with the Center for Constitutional Rights, has just filed a lawsuit against the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security about surveillance of Movement for Black Lives organizers, but it certainly has broader repercussions as well. What, first of all, do we know about what kinds of surveillance there’s been? What are we talking about here?

BC: You know, I think the kind of scary thing about it is that we don’t know the full extent of it. Most of what we have right now is anecdotal stories. So part of the reason why we started engaging in this work is not only because us at Color of Change and some of our colleagues had had different experiences that they weren’t certain—OK, is this surveillance or not?—but also, directly, things that we were hearing from people in the field, on the ground.

So we were hearing stories of activists being followed around grocery stores and being referred to by the police by their social media handle, not their name. We heard of movement leaders being preemptively identified and arrested before events, hoping to chill the atmosphere of the event. And we’ve heard of multiple attempts—of the police blocking attempts to livestream aggressive police behavior, through use of technology like StingRay, and also working hand in hand with Silicon Valley companies like Facebook to pull down livestreams.

We’ve heard of people being stopped at airports, and I’ve even experienced this myself, my bags being searched through literally every time I’m traveling to DC, in a manner that can’t be random. And then, also, we were hearing stories of people’s phones being tampered with after they were being arrested, often for pretty low-level crimes, like maybe jaywalking or something at a protest, and their phone was confiscated and tampered with and then returned to them.

And so we were hearing all of these things happening across the country, in a way that didn’t feel particularly accidental. So we started investigating both the activities of the police department, but also putting in these FOI requests to see what Department of Homeland Security could find, what the FBI could find, under the FOI Act, and would often hear from them—we’ve had a number of FOI requests that have either been rejected, or they’ve said, we can’t disclose this information, because this person may still be being investigated—about actual activists. So after being blocked at every turn, we finally decided that it was time to file a lawsuit.

JJ: Yeah. And the contentions of the suit include what you’ve just touched on, the idea that this kind of surveillance—some people I’ve heard say, well, it’s not exactly illegal. But it does broach the law, in terms of your First Amendment rights, and also Fourth Amendment rights, and it just seems that there are a number of points that might be made. But what does the suit itself—what are you saying the problems are, legally?

http://fair.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Stingray-768x461.jpg
The StingRay device allows police to spy on cell phone calls.

BC: Some of it, as people said, they may think is not illegal per se, but we maintain that some of it is. So, for example, one of the things that we put a FOI request in is on use of StingRay devices. And for those who may not be familiar, StingRay devices are—it’s a device about the size of a suitcase the police are using nowadays, that can vacuum up all the data on your phone. So sites you’ve gone to, your emails, people you’ve called, all of this information. And every time it’s deployed, it can sweep up all of that information off of 10,000 devices at one time, all without a warrant.

And we found that in places like Baltimore, it had been deployed like 4,300 times since 2007, and that it was being disproportionately deployed in black communities. And so to us, one of the things that we’ve maintained is that this is, first of all, this is digital stop and frisk. It’s more scary. So it’s already running into constitutional issues, not just chilling First Amendment rights, which is also important.

But also we believe use of those devices violates the Communications Act. And one reason why is because there’s a study out there that says that every time this is deployed, it actually blocks 911 calls. So that people are not able to call for help, which we think it means that this should be monitored at a higher level.

So not only do we have these FOI requests in, but we also have a notice in with the Federal Communications Commission where we are calling on them to take action as well.

JJ: Right. Well, some of this, I know, is based on some work that was done by George Joseph for the Guardian and The Intercept that talked about the monitoring. And it was interesting, because—we often talk about there’s the law, and then there’s enforcement. And one of the things that was revealed was that it wasn’t monitoring just Black Lives Matters protests, for example, but also a breast cancer walk and also candlelight vigils, but only in predominantly African-American neighborhoods.

I want to ask you, what about the role of Facebook and Twitter themselves? Part of what we’re talking about is the monitoring of social media. But social media companies have some role in that, and what has that been?

BC: Right. It’s so funny, because we actually have a number of campaigns right now that are running—which folks can find at ColorOfChange.org—around Facebook and Twitter and their relationship with these companies. One of the things that’s recently been turned up by ACLU Northern California, who we’ve been working with, is that Twitter has had a partnership with Geofeedia. We also—one of our FOI requests that came in found that they reaffirmed that they have a relationship with Media Solar. But these are companies that market themselves as being able to target, track and give police, law enforcement, information about activists based on their social media accounts, and touting the relationship that they have with Twitter and Facebook.

And so it never ceases to fascinate me how we have kind of leaders, in Mark Zuckerberg and in Jack Dorsey, who constantly go out and talk about how much they care about the Movement for Black Lives. We know that this 21st century movement has in some ways been powered by these platforms, and they know that as well. And so they continue to benefit off of black pain, as one would say, without actually doing anything to prevent black folks from being targeted by law enforcement, in fact having a relationship to make that easier. Or doing anything about, for example, the online bullying that many of these activists also endure, which is another issue we’ve been working on.

JJ: It wasn’t a coincidence that the lawsuit that Color of Change and CCR filed about FBI and Homeland Security surveillance, that that came on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party. There are certainly analogs, of course, between the Panthers and the Movement for Black Lives, but there’s also this thing called COINTELPRO, and it seems as though it’s almost an unbroken legacy. I wonder what would you tell listeners, or have listeners know, about the connections between history and today?

BC: Interestingly, I’ve been reading this book News for All the People, written by Juan Gonzalez and Joe Torres, and one of the things they talk about in the book was that when Fred Hampton was being assassinated—and a lot of research has shown now that the police and the FBI were working hand in hand to target him, and that it was in fact an assassination by the government against a leader in the Black Panther movement—they actually worked with AT&T to cut off all the phone lines, so that nobody was able to call in or out of the house before they went in. And, in fact, that became a moment which led to the discovery of COINTELPRO as it exists. And once the government was called out and publicly shamed about this, they, quote unquote, “dismantled” the program.

But I feel like what we’re seeing right now in the level of surveillance, how that’s being used, some of the technology—so for example, facial recognition technology is another thing that we FOIed and looked into. And it turns out that 80 percent of the people in the FBI facial recognition database don’t even have a criminal record or any interaction with the law. It’s disproportionately targeted and used and deployed in black communities, and it also is not good enough technology to accurately identify black folks, so they misidentify black folks at a significantly higher rate than other groups.

And so when you look at all of this, and you see all the ways in which technology is coming together, and this line between mass and targeted surveillance is being erased, particularly as it pertains to communities of color, what you see is actually scarier than what was happening in COINTELPRO. There’s a clear through-line in how the government continues to act and chill movements for justice, but I think where we’re heading now is something that could be even worse than what was experienced 50 years ago. And so we filed the lawsuit at this time, not just to remind people of where we were, but also what could be coming on the horizon if we don’t act now.

JJ: It’s very important to say, when you look at the documents, you see law enforcement referring to activists as “threat actors,” and these terms that are very much associated with terrorism. And, you know, when it’s Martin Luther King Day, everyone talks about protests, and it’s this American value, your ability to protest and to speak your mind. When people actually do it, we get a different kind of vibe. And what we’re seeing, it seems, is this equation or conflation of protest—legal, peaceful protest—with crime and with terrorism. And we can see that from law enforcement, but I worry when we also see that in the public conversation, the idea that it’s OK to monitor protests because they are somehow threatening, inherently. And that seems to me like this core conflict about, what do we really value? Everyone says they love the First Amendment; just don’t try to exercise it, it seems.

http://fair.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/IHaveADream.jpg
The head of the FBI’s domestic intelligence division called Martin Luther King “the most dangerous Negro of the future in this nation.”

BC: Right. It’s fascinating, right? Because even when we talk about—it’s so interesting to hear people talk about MLK today with this level of reverence, and they say things like, well, if Martin Luther King was alive today, he would never stand for this. And conveniently forget that when Martin Luther King, Jr., was alive, he was called by the FBI the most dangerous man in America, or one of the biggest threats to our country, and that’s how he was treated. And he had a huge file on him—as did Cesar Chavez, as did a number of people in the environmental justice movement and the second wave of feminism.

And so what we’ve seen throughout history is the role that the media has played, when convenient, in forwarding a police PR narrative that reinforces the need for surveillance in our community, and conflates safety with surveillance in ways that I think everybody should find alarming.

And so you take a movement—now, the Movement for Black Lives has been very clear that they are for freedom, that what they are talking about has nothing to do with killing police or terrorizing our community. And yet the fact that police officers across the country are being trained to see these activists as terrorist threats speaks volumes.

JJ: And then just, finally, we keep saying, well, it’s chilling, it’s chilling. And I think it’s important sometimes to spell out what that means. There are people who will tell you they might protest, they feel strongly about police violence, for example, or war or, frankly, anything. But they are concerned that if they go out into the street that that will mean that basically a file will be opened on them, and maybe that will impact their ability to get a job or get a mortgage or things like that, and they’re not really off base to think that. So when we say “chilling,” it really comes down to an individual level.

BC: It does and it doesn’t. I think the thing to remember about it is that, again, that line between mass and targeted surveillance is extremely blurred, particularly when it comes to black and brown folks in low-income communities. So, for example, the majority of the buses across the country are equipped with audio and visual surveillance technology. And we know from stats about public transportation that, overwhelmingly, the majority of the people that take public transportation are people of color from low-income communities. So they’re coming under the microscope.

If you’re in a black school or low-income community, there’s chances that there are school employees or security guards that are walking around wearing body cameras. And some of our work, by our partners at Muslim Advocates, have shown that a dizzying level of surveillance takes place in mosques. And we know, in looking back historically, that a lot of surveillance during the civil rights movement took place in churches, where a lot of organizing was happening.

And so this false narrative that our actions trigger surveillance, when in the reality our identity is often what’s triggering surveillance, I think is the thing to keep in mind.

And it doesn’t have to be that way, is the other thing, too. I think what we’re fighting for, and part of the reason why we do the work that we do, is because we believe another world is possible. I have a friend that often says, once upon a time people smoked on planes, and it never seemed like there would ever be a day where you couldn’t smoke everywhere. And some of that changed because we saw that it was a danger to our public health.

And I think that’s the same case that we’re trying to make around the way surveillance technology is being deployed in our communities, and that we do believe that there is another option on the other end if we act now.

JJ: We’ve been speaking with Brandi Collins. She’s campaign director for media and economic justice for the group Color of Change. You can find them online at ColorOfChange.org. Brandi Collins, thank you so much for joining us this week on CounterSpin.

BC: Thank you for having me.

******

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

Related
Brandi Collins on Black Lives Surveillance
October 28, 2016
In "CounterSpin"

'The Tendency Is to Just Publish the Police Blotter'
December 22, 2015
In "Transcript"

'We Are Criminalizing Transparency to Protect Illegitimate Uses of Power'
September 13, 2016
In "Transcript"

FILED UNDER: TRANSCRIPT, ZHOME, ZMAIL, ZSLIDER TAGGED WITH: BLACK LIVES MATTER, SOCIAL MEDIA, SURVEILLANCE

Comments

John Ellis says:

November 1, 2016 at 10:12 pm

Upper-half of society owns all the land, wealth and political power. Whereas, the lower-half of society gets all the surveillance, all the jail time, all the prison time and all the killing by police that is being done.

REPLY
Speak Your Mind




Name *


Email *


Website



− 2 = 3

POST COMMENT

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.


Search

Get FAIR updates via email!


[email protected]
All posts
Weekly alerts

Subscribe





This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

[ckaihatsu]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/11/30/charlotte-police-officer-wont-be-charged-for-fatal-shooting-that-set-off-days-of-unrest-prosecutor-says/?utm_term=.7a562fec6ebb


Charlotte police officer who fatally shot Keith Scott ‘acted lawfully,’ won’t be charged

By Mark Berman November 30 at 1:15 PM

https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_960w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2016/09/23/National-Enterprise/Images/Charlotte_Police_Fatal_Shooting-5a13e.jpg&w=1484
Protesters raise their arms during a march in Charlotte prompted by the fatal shooting of Keith Scott. (Jeff Siner/The Charlotte Observer via AP)

Prosecutors said that the officer who fatally shot a Charlotte man in September will not be charged for the shooting, concluding that the man was armed and that the officer acted lawfully during the encounter.

“It’s a justified shooting based on the totality of the circumstances,” R. Andrew Murray, district attorney for Mecklenburg County, said during a news conference Wednesday morning.

The shooting of Keith Lamont Scott on Sept. 20 set off days of heated, sometimes violent protests in Charlotte, some of the most intense demonstrations seen nationwide amid an increased focus on how police use deadly force.

Murray said that the recommendation from 15 career prosecutors in this case was unanimous. He said that he informed Scott’s family of the decision earlier Wednesday.

“It was a difficult decision,” Murray said during a briefing Wednesday morning. “However, the family was extremely gracious.”

Scott’s family said they were “profoundly disappointed” in the announcement Wednesday. They also thanked Murray and investigators for sharing information about how the probe unfolded and concluded.

Police have said that Scott raised a gun at officers before Brentley Vinson, a black plainclothes officer in Charlotte, fired the fatal shots.

Scott’s family has disputed that he pointed a gun at the officer and whether he had a gun. After the shooting, police released photos of a gun and ankle holster, and authorities said that gun was loaded and had Scott’s fingerprints and DNA.

During the news conference, Murray pored over details from the day of the shooting, ultimately saying he had no doubt that Scott had a gun during the encounter. He also said the gun — a Colt. 380 semi automatic — was loaded, the safety was off and a bullet was in the chamber.

“There’s been some speculation in the community regarding whether Mr. Scott was armed,” Murray said. “All of the credible and available evidence suggests that he was, in fact, armed.”

In a letter to Bob Schurmeier, head of the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation, and Kerr Putney, chief of the Charlotte Mecklenburg police force, Murray said that evidence included DNA on the gun’s grip and slide, officers discussing seeing the gun on the radio before the shooting and a person admitting they illegally sold Scott the same gun found at the shooting scene.

Police had previously released a photo of a “blunt” from the scene. Authorities said officers in an unmarked car in the apartment complex where the shooting occurred were conducting surveillance in an unrelated case when they saw Scott, in his own car, rolling the blunt with marijuana.

Murray said Wednesday that while police said they were not going to act on the marijuana, they decided to move on Scott when they saw him raise a gun while sitting in his car.

https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_960w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2016/09/25/National-Politics/Images/2016-09-25T000118Z_01_TOR105_RTRIDSP_3_USA-POLICE.jpg&w=1484
A still image from a video the Charlotte police released showing Keith Scott looking at officers with hands by his sides just before he was shot. (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department via Reuters)

Vinson was not wearing a recording device at the time of the shooting, police said, but the department released other videos from the scene after intense pressure. Murray said Wednesday that none of the videos showed Scott with the gun in his hand when he got out of his car, something all four officers at the scene reported seeing.

However, Murray said that videos did appear to show that Scott’s pant leg was pulled up above where police said they recovered the ankle holster. During the briefing, Murray also showed surveillance video footage from the same day showing a bulge in Scott’s ankle that he said was consistent with a holster and a gun.

In a recording of the shooting taken by Scott’s wife, Rakeyia, she can be heard yelling at the officers that her husband was unarmed while pleading with them not to fire.

“Don’t shoot him,” she says in the video. “Don’t shoot him. He has no weapon. He has no weapon. Don’t shoot him.”

In his report on the shooting, Murray said that officers called on Scott to drop his gun 10 times before he got out of his SUV and continued saying it after he was out of the car.

Vinson told authorities that he felt Scott was “an imminent threat” to him and the other officers. During an interview with a Charlotte detective conducted a day after the shooting, Vinson said he fired because Scott was looking at the officers like he was “trying to decide who he wanted to shoot first.”

“I felt like if I didn’t do anything right then at that point it’s like he…he was gonna shoot me or he’s gonna shoot one a my buddies, um, and it was gonna happen right now,” Vinson said during the interview, according to a transcript released by Murray’s office.

Footage from a body camera worn by another officer at the scene captured part of the encounter, but it lacked audio because the officer did not activate it until after the shooting. Investigators and the public were therefore unable to learn some key details about what happened before the shots were fired.

An autopsy showed that Scott had four gunshot wounds, including one to his back.

According to Murray, investigators spoke to a number of people who said they saw the shooting, but some of them gave conflicting statements. Three of these people had said on social media or told reporters they thought Scott was unarmed, but investiagtors determined they never saw the shooting, Murray said.

The State Bureau of Investigation put 63 agents on this probe, and they spend more than 2,300 hours on the case, Murray said.

While initial accounts said that Scott was reading a book when he encountered police, state investigators found no evidence he had a book with him when he was shot.

<iframe width='480' height='290' scrolling='no' src='//www.washingtonpost.com/video/c/embed/b00e43f2-8296-11e6-9578-558cc125c7ba' frameborder='0' webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
Police in Charlotte, N.C., released video from one body camera and one dashboard camera on Sept. 24th of the fatal Keith Scott shooting. (Editor's note: This video contains graphic content.) (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department)

Scott’s family, as well as attorneys representing them, called on anyone who protests the decision to do so peacefully.

“While we understand that many in the Charlotte area share our frustration and pain, we ask that everyone work together to fix the system that allowed this tragedy to happen in the first place,” the Scott family said in a statement released through their attorneys. “All our family wanted was justice and for these members of law enforcement to understand that what they did was wrong.”

Charles Monnett, an attorney for the family, suggested during a news conference that Scott’s relatives may still seek a civil lawsuit against the police department or the city for the shooting, adding: “We look forward to someday obtaining justice for Keith and his family.”

At least one group of activists in Charlotte said they planned to gather outside the police department headquarters on Wednesday evening to protest the decision.

“We recognize that for some members of our community, this news will be met with different reactions,” the city of Charlotte said in a statement Wednesday. “No matter where you stand on the issue, the events surrounding the Scott shooting have forever changed our community, and we intend to learn from and build a stronger Charlotte because of it.”

The unrest set off by Scott’s death left the city reeling and struggling to return to normal. Some small protests continued after the demonstrations that garnered national media coverage, while downtown streets remained unsettled in the aftermath of peaceful protests that had descended into chaos.

“The lives of both the Scott and Vinson families have been changed forever,” the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department said in a statement Wednesday. “One of our officers’ had to make the difficult but split second decision to use their service weapon and as a result a life was lost. In these circumstances, it is important that we remain focused on our sworn duty and unwavering commitment to protecting our community along with serving it.”

Vinson was placed on administrative leave after the shooting. A police spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding his status after Murray’s announcement.

Scott is one of 875 people fatally shot by police officers so far this year, according to a Washington Post database tracking such shootings.

Charges against officers who fatally shoot people are rare, but this number has increased recently after waves of protests prompted by high profile deaths involving police in New York, Baltimore, Cleveland and Baton Rouge.

Earlier this month, prosecutors in Minnesota said they were charging an officer with manslaughter for fatally shooting man during an encounter partially streamed on Facebook.

This story, first published at 11:28 a.m., will be updated through the day.

<iframe width='480' height='700' scrolling='no' src='http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/the-scene-in-charlotte-after-a-man-was-fatally-shot-by-police/2016/09/21/4ae7b84a-7fea-11e6-8d0c-fb6c00c90481_gallery.html?_template=gallery-embed' frameborder='0' webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
In September 2016, authorities faced some of the most intense reactions seen in more than two years of protests over policing nationwide vowed a strong law enforcement response to the unrest.
Sept. 25, 2016 People gather outside the football stadium as the Carolina Panthers host the Minnesota Vikings, to protest the police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, in Charlotte. Mike Blake/Reuters

Further reading:

Amid pressure, Charlotte police release videos in shooting of Keith Lamont Scott

Charlotte struggles in the aftermath of the shooting and protests

Autopsy shows Keith Lamont Scott had four gunshot wounds — including one in the back

Mark Berman covers national news for The Washington Post and anchors Post Nation, a destination for breaking news and stories from around the country.  Follow @markberman

[ckaihatsu]

[LaborTech] Petition to Facebook: Don't Censor Human Rights Documentation


Petition to Facebook: Don't Censor Human Rights Documentation

http://petitions.signforgood.com/FBCensorship?code=kos&link_id=0&can_id=d0bae3fc3ce4b2b40316912c994e657f&source=email-firstname-default-friend-facebook-is-cooperating-with-police-to-censor-activists-please-read-2&email_referrer=firstname-default-friend-facebook-is-cooperating-with-police-to-censor-activists-please-read-2&email_subject=firstname-default-friend-facebook-is-cooperating-with-police-to-censor-activists-please-read

Facebook, a platform increasingly used to document human rights abuses, has censored human rights documentation, including content that depicts police violence.

This includes but is not limited to: the deactivation of Korryn Gaines' account, the removal of iconic war photographs, reports of suppression of indigenous resistance, continued reports of Black activists’ content being removed, and the disabling of Palestinian journalists’ accounts following Mark Zuckerberg's meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister.

A number of organizations (see below) have joined together for this petition and written a letter urging Facebook to end this practice and create rules that protect users from censorship of protected speech.

Sign the petition to Mark Zuckerberg: Don't censor human rights documentation, especially content that depicts police brutality.

Dear Mark Zuckerberg,

When Facebook unilaterally censors user content that depicts police brutality at the request of the authorities, it sets a dangerous precedent that further hurts and silences marginalized communities, particularly communities of color.

With the safety check-in feature, profile solidarity filters, and in countless speeches, you present Facebook’s value of human life at the center of its public-facing image.

However, Facebook’s repeated silencing of marginalized communities that attempt to make their stories and struggles known proves otherwise. That is why we request that Facebook clarify its policy on removing video and other content, especially human rights documentation, at the request of government actors.

Specifically, we urge Facebook to:

• Make policies about how Facebook makes decisions to censor content clear and accessible to the public.

• Create a public appeals platform where users can appeal content censored by Facebook.

• Undergo an external audit on the equity and human rights outcomes of your Facebook Live and content censorship and data sharing policies. Then institute a task force for implementing the recommendations of the audit.

• Refuse to disclose customer content and data to third party agencies unless required to by law.


18MillionRising
CREDO
Center for Media Justice
Corporate Accountability International
Courage Campaign
Daily Kos
Demand Progress
Free Press
People Demanding Action
People's Action
Presente.org
SierraRise


A larger coalition of 77 organizations has signed onto a public sign-on letter to Facebook, as well. You can find that letter here.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "LaborTech" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]
To post to this group, send email to [email protected]
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/labortech.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[ckaihatsu]

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/06/17/cast-j17.html


Officer who fatally shot Philando Castile in Minnesota acquitted on all charges

By Anthony Bertolt

17 June 2017

Jeronimo Yanez, the police officer who brutally shot and killed Philando Castile last year during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, has been found not guilty on all counts.

Yanez was charged with second degree manslaughter and two counts of discharging a deadly weapon. The trial, which began on May 30, ended after five days of deliberation by the jury. Immediately following the decision, protesters gathered all over the Twin Cities, including 1,500 at the state capitol.

Castile was killed after Yanez fired seven shots into his vehicle on July 6, 2016, during a traffic stop from a broken tail light. His girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and 4-year-old daughter were also in the car at the time.

Yanez said that Castile matched the description of a robbery suspect, telling another officer before the shooting that he had a “wide-set nose” and a broken taillight. Yanez also claimed in court that he feared for his life and thought that Castile as reaching for a gun—even after Castile told the police officer that he had a permit for a weapon and had one in his possession, as is required by gun safety procedures.

Reynolds broadcast a Facebook live video immediately after the shooting, in which she questioned the officer and managed to capture Castile’s last words.

Castile’s mother responded to the murder with outrage. “My son loved this city, and this city killed my son. And a murderer gets away. Are you kidding me right now?”

Castile’s killing occurred around the same time as the murder of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which was also caught on video. Their murders sparked mass protests around demands to punish the officers responsible and end police violence.

Many in the media presented the trial of Yanez as a step towards ending police violence. In fact, if Reynolds had not recorded the aftermath of the killing, the case would likely never have gone to trial. Police kill more than 1,000 people every year in the United States. Only on the rarest of occasions is a police officer prosecuted, and convictions almost never result.

Yanez’s acquittal is part of a broader trend—from Darren Wilson, the officer who murdered 18-year-old Michael Brown, to Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who strangled Eric Garner to death.

This was the norm during the Obama administration, which oversaw the rise in police murder of working class people throughout the country. The Trump administration has made a point of insisting that even the most minimal restraints on police violence will be removed, and therefore, police murders will continue.

Copyright © 1998-2017 World Socialist Web Site - All rights reserved

[ckaihatsu]

Sign the petition: Philando Castile's killer shouldn't be paid off


Officer Jeronimo Yanez could PROFIT from killing Philando Castile

https://d11gn0ip9m46ig.cloudfront.net/images/CoC-Profile-Filter-Philando.jpg (https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/no-severance-jeronimo-yanez/?t=3&akid=7599.872082.SrpF38)


Tell the City of St. Anthony: No severance package for Jeronimo Yanez.

TAKE ACTION (https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/no-severance-jeronimo-yanez/?t=4&akid=7599.872082.SrpF38)


Chris, nothing can describe the rage Black people are feeling right now.

The officer who killed Philando Castile, Jeronimo Yanez, was found not guilty on all counts by a mostly-white jury after 5 days of deliberation.1

And as I write this, my hands tremble on the keyboard, because the pain is unbearable. I knew the verdict was coming and had no faith the police would be held accountable. But it never hurts less. Because once again, we sit and watch a mother scream in pain because the person who murdered their loved one got away with it.

Even more enraging is that Yanez stands to actually PROFIT from the pain and suffering he's caused. As soon as the verdict came down, the City of St. Anthony fired Yanez from the department--hoping to stop people from heading to the streets in rightful protest. They announced the city will begin negotiating a "separation agreement" to help Yanez "transition into a new career."2

So Yanez has been on a paid vacation for almost a year and now the department is offering him to walk away with a wad of cash? Hell no. Ain't no way we can allow him to profit from the murder of Philando Castile--by any means.

Tell the City of St. Anthony: No justice. No pay. Stop all severance negotiations with Yanez immediately. (https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/no-severance-jeronimo-yanez/?t=5&akid=7599.872082.SrpF38)

This was a clear cut case. Philando Castile did nothing wrong and was killed for no reason other than the color of his skin. He followed the officer's every order and immediately alerted him that he was carrying a legal weapon. On a live video, we watched as his girlfriend Diamond Reynolds had to stay as calm and docile as humanly possible to avoid being killed herself--ending every sentence with "sir."3 But none of that mattered. A courtroom of white jurors was still able to find a way to determine that Yanez killing Philando with seven shots was okay. They were still able to determine that having a police badge means having a license to kill Black people with impunity.

Philando should be here. He should be alive. And though the system keeps trying to tell us that they don't, Black Lives DO Matter.

Sign the petition demanding Yanez gets fired without severance. (https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/no-severance-jeronimo-yanez/?t=6&akid=7599.872082.SrpF38)

Philando Castile was pulled over more than 31 times for traffic stops before his death--and faced over 63 misdemeanor traffic charges.4 He was being pulled over for driving while Black and dealing with anti-Black state violence so much that it almost guaranteed he might eventually have a fatal encounter. He owed thousands of dollars in fines to the city--a clear example of the state extracting wealth from the Black community. The words of Valerie Castile couldn't have been truer after the verdict came down, "My son loved this city, and this city killed my son."5

Now, the City of St. Anthony is coming to the aid of a killer instead of coming to the aid of a family in mourning--and it's sickening.

There is no magical thinking, special technology, research report or legal tactic that will stop this from happening. All I can say is that we must continue to organize our people, expand the base, leverage smart strategy to change the written and unwritten rules. Along the way we have to use and change the law, amplify smart research and tech and believe that change is possible -- but most of all we must build power. Convictions of police for violence and misconduct don't change the system alone but when we are able to hold police accountable it sends a powerful message.

Yanez got away without a conviction, but we can't let him get away with profiting off the murder of a Black man. (https://act.colorofchange.org/sign/no-severance-jeronimo-yanez/?t=7&akid=7599.872082.SrpF38)

Until justice is real,

-- Arisha, Rashad, Scott, Clarise, Anay, Malaya, Enchanta, Katrese, and the rest of the Color Of Change team.

References:

1. "Minn. Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez Found Not Guilty on All Charges in the Shooting Death of Philando Castile," The Root, 06-16-2017
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/8051?t=9&akid=7599.872082.SrpF38

2. "City of St. Anthony fires Yanez," Star Tribune, 06-16-2017
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/8052?t=11&akid=7599.872082.SrpF38

3. "Woman Live-Streams After Police Fatally Shoot Boyfriend,' ABC News, 07-06-2017
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/8053?t=13&akid=7599.872082.SrpF38

4. "EXCLUSIVE: Black Man whose shooting death by police was livestreamed by girlfriend had been pulled over AT LEAST 31 times and hit with 63 traffic charges," DailyMail, 07-08-2016
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/8054?t=15&akid=7599.872082.SrpF38

5. "Philando Castile's Mom: 'I'm Mad As Hell Right Now, Yes I Am!,'" Colorlines, 06-16-2017,
https://act.colorofchange.org/go/8055?t=17&akid=7599.872082.SrpF38


Color Of Change (http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3829?t=1&akid=7599.872082.SrpF38) is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong. (https://act.colorofchange.org/go/7581?t=2&akid=7599.872082.SrpF38)

If you're absolutely sure you don't want to hear from Color Of Change again, click here to unsubscribe.

[ckaihatsu]

https://news.google.com


http://www.postbulletin.com/news/state/yanez-verdict-widens-divide-between-police-community/article_077a989c-0a86-588c-bb16-6c6978ddaa94.html


Yanez verdict widens divide between police, community

Chao Xiong and Randy Furst, Star Tribune Jun 19, 2017 Updated 2 hrs ago (2)

https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/postbulletin.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/40/f403bd7a-367f-5279-a2d5-114d354b98a5/5947e2ff5cb0c.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C846 (http://www.postbulletin.com/content/tncms/live/#1)
Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune

Protesters gather at Silver Lake Village Shopping Center during a demonstration, Sunday in St. Anthony. The protesters marched against the acquittal of Officer Jeronimo Yanez, was found not guilty of manslaughter for shooting Philando Castile during a traffic stop.

MINNEAPOLIS — For black Minnesotans, Friday's acquittal of Jeronimo Yanez in the fatal shooting of Philando Castile was the latest sign of a criminal justice system that often delivers heartbreak.

"The first thing I thought is the system is a joke," said Lewis McCaleb, 19, of Minneapolis, who just graduated from the High School for Recording Arts in St. Paul. "It puts fear in my heart and of all young black males. We feel we cant be protected by these people who are supposed to patrol the cities."

For police officers, the not-guilty verdict also brought a sense of foreboding, with their relationships with the black community already rocky at best and officers feeling that the scrutiny they operate under is higher than ever.


They feel like defendants, said Minneapolis attorney Fred Bruno, who frequently represents officers in criminal cases.

The Ramsey County jury's decision to clear Yanez of felony manslaughter for Castile's shooting last July reverberated nationally, becoming the latest in a string of cases from Terence Crutcher in Tulsa, Okla., to Freddie Gray in Baltimore to illustrate how difficult it is to hold officers criminally responsible for killing civilians. In 15 recent high-profile cases of black men who were killed by police or who died in police custody, just two resulted in convictions.

The Yanez case, like the others, seems to have only hardened divisions and distrust on all sides. The only agreement seems to rest in the idea that it could be a long time before relations improve.

"The feeling is deep anger, a sense of betrayal," said Ron Edwards, a civil rights activist and former president of the Minneapolis Urban League. "Today, I'm afraid were at an abyss. It will take an extreme effort to get this generation to understand that change is possible."

Former Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner sees the strain.

"Every aspect of the case has been difficult for all sides," Gaertner said. "It would be naive to think that the acquittal won't impact police-community relations to some extent.

Thinking twice

After a weeklong trial, jurors needed 29 hours of deliberation to acquit Yanez, 29, of felony manslaughter and reckless discharge of a firearm for killing Castile, 32, last July 6 in Falcon Heights. Yanez had also been accused of endangering Castile's passengers, Diamond Reynolds and her daughter, then 4.

Reynolds' Facebook Live video of the moments after Castile's death captured worldwide attention, and Yanez became the first Minnesota police officer in modern history to be charged with the shooting death of a civilian. Castile's killing came eight months after the death of Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old black man fatally shot during a scuffle with two Minneapolis police officers. Those officers were not charged and Clark's death had provoked weeks of protest in north Minneapolis.

Prosecutors in the Yanez case thought they had solid evidence of an officer acting rashly and with excessive force, but what some outsiders saw as an open-and-shut case became a grueling deliberation of the jury of five women and seven men, including two black jurors. Their discussions ultimately focused on the legal definition of culpable negligence, which is required for a manslaughter conviction. Under Minnesota law, it occurs when a person creates an unreasonable risk, and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another.

Faced with the choice of deciding that Yanez consciously chose to create unreasonable risk or that he had acted out of fear, instinct and confusion, the jury found that Yanez had acted within the law.

On its face, the verdict could be seen as reassuring for police, but several former officers said they believe the trial could instead have a chilling effect. From whether police cooperate when they become the target of an investigation to how they deal with the public, the Yanez case further complicates policing in several ways, they said. It's becoming more common for officers to refuse to cooperate when they are targets of an investigation, Bruno said.

"I'm concerned about (officers) evoking their Fifth Amendment rights in these cases, and what that does to undermine trust in the system," said recently retired Police Chief Paul Schnell, who spent four years at Maplewood and 22 years with St. Paul and Hastings police and the Carver County Sheriffs Office. "The implication is it erodes community trust."

Although officers have a right to exercise their Fifth Amendment rights, they customarily have submitted to questioning, Bruno said. That's changing as they worry that their words will be used against them. At Yanez's manslaughter trial, prosecutors highlighted statements in a one-hour interview he gave Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) investigators as proof of his guilt.

"It's just getting more and more antagonistic," Bruno said. "Prosecutors, they're all looking for their trophy cop to bag so they can tell the public that they're evenhanded."

Dustin Reichert, a former Anoka County sheriffs deputy who shot and killed a man who raised a weapon at him in 2003, watched much of the Yanez trial. Reichert said the mere fact that Yanez was charged will change how officers do their jobs.

Cops depend on prosecutors to bring charges for their cases. But Ramsey County's charges against Yanez, Reichert said, have destroyed the trust between that office and police.

A cop might also think twice about doing a routine traffic stop, Reichert said.

If you do proactive policing, you increase the risk of getting hurt by the public, or getting prosecuted if you defend yourself, he said.

That might make officers less willing to be visible in the community, identify suspects, and try to stop fights and crimes.

What do we do now?

In the wake of the verdict, Castiles mother, Valerie Castile, called the decision proof of a dysfunctional criminal justice system.

"There has always been a systemic problem in the state of Minnesota, and me thinking with my common sense, that we would get justice in this case," she said. "But nevertheless, it never seems to fail us, the system continues to fail black people and it will continue to fail you all. This happened to Philando, and when they get done with us, they're coming for you, and you, and you and all your interracial children."

Her words resonated with protesters, who gathered at the Capitol and marched toward Interstate 94, blocking the freeway for three hours in the early morning hours Saturday.

Al Flowers, one of two black candidates for Minneapolis mayor and a longtime activist, said it's going to be difficult to talk to young people about the police after the Yanez verdict. He said he's used to major setbacks, but younger people felt that given the dashcam video of the shooting, a conviction was warranted.

"I have young people calling me saying, 'What do we do now?' It is devastating for us, but more so for them, he said. It makes our work that much harder."

The same sentiment was expressed by Damario Williams, 28, a youth basketball coach at Ascension Catholic School in Minneapolis.

"I feel hopeless," Williams said. "The shooting was on tape and on camera and he still walked away."

Gaertner acknowledged the massive attention the Yanez case received and questioned whether hopes about what it would produce were too lofty.

It seems as the community at large was looking at this prosecution to effect major social change, eradicate racism, restore communities of colors' trust in the criminal justice system, a lot of things a single verdict in either direction would not accomplish," she said.

McCaleb said the acquittal was all that he and his friends were talking about Saturday.

"Why did he kill him?" they asked. "Why did he have to shoot him? Why didn't he get convicted?"

© Copyright 2017 Post-Bulletin Company, LLC, 18 First Ave. S.E. Rochester, MN | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

[ckaihatsu]

RiseUp! June 19-21 eNewsletter


Chris --


RiseUp! Stop Mass Incarceration Network eNewsletter

In the Name of Humanity, We REFUSE to Accept a Fascist America!
Drive Out the Trump/Pence Regime!

In this issue...

▪ Carl Dix: System Puts Its Stamp of Approval on Police Murder of Philando Castile!
▪ Chicago: Thunderclap for Revolution Summer Chicago!
▪ Stonewall 4 -- Tuesday, June 20 9:00am – PACK THE COURT!

- FLASH! Another Police Killing: Charleena Lyles murdered by Seattle PD


***


We Must Take Our Rage at this Outrageous Verdict to the Streets!

System Puts Its Stamp of Approval on Police Murder of Philando Castile!

by Carl Dix | June 17, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us (http://www.stoppoliceterror.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.revcom.us%2F&e=4160b7d4c80bd7ff2829463c3b9e0a03&utm_source=riseupoctober&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=june_19_21&n=1)

Minnesota goddamn! No, Amerikkka goddamn! This system just let another killer cop walk out of a courtroom scot free, putting its stamp of approval on another official murder of a Black man. This time it was the murderer of Philando Castile, and the courtroom was in Minnesota. Last month the pig who murdered Terence Crutcher walked free out of a courtroom in Oklahoma. Before that it was the cops in Baltimore who murdered Freddie Gray; the cop in Chicago who murdered Rekia Boyd; the cop in Detroit who murdered seven-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones; and I could go on and on. And most of the time cops who murder Black and Brown people don't even get put on trial.

https://cascade.madmimi.com/promotion_images/1718/5745/original/CD_Bio_Panel.PNG?1493242604

It didn't matter in this case that Diamond Reynolds, Philando Castile's girlfriend, had bravely recorded a Facebook post of the murdering pig right after he had shot Castile. Or that we saw that murdering pig pointing his gun at Reynolds, threatening to shoot her too. Or that we heard Reynolds' four-year-old daughter telling her mother “It's all right. I'm here with you,” even though we knew it wasn't all right because this little girl had just watched this pig blow Philando Castile away.

None of this mattered because all the murdering pig had to do was get on the witness stand and oink that he was afraid for his life to get a not guilty verdict. That's all the murdering pigs who patrol Black and Latino neighborhoods like occupying armies ever have to say to walk free when they murder someone.

As Bob Avakian, the leader of the RCP, says in BAsics: “The role of the police is not to serve and protect the people. It is to serve and protect the system that rules over the people. To enforce the relations of exploitation and oppression, the conditions of poverty, misery and degradation into which the system has cast people and is determined to keep people in. The law and order the police are about, with all of their brutality and murder, is the law and the order that enforces all this oppression and madness.”

Police getting away with murder is unacceptable. And now the fascist Trump-Pence regime is vowing to “take the gloves off the police,” which will mean that police terrorizing and murdering Black and Brown people would intensify. We must act to STOP this horror now! Not try to get the capitalist rulers to ease off on unleashing their front line enforcers to terrorize and murder people, but to STOP this from going down. We must take our righteous rage and refusal to sit by while this goes down into the streets. And we must do this as part of getting ready and in position for an actual revolution, one that overthrows this system because that's the only way to end this horror, and all the other horrors this system enforces on people around the world and in this country.

For further background, photos and videos, go here (http://www.stoppoliceterror.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Frevcom.us%2Fa%2F495%2Fpig-who-murdered-philando-castile-walks-free-en.html&e=4160b7d4c80bd7ff2829463c3b9e0a03&utm_source=riseupoctober&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=june_19_21&n=2).


***


Thunderclap for Revolution Summer Chicago!

https://cascade.madmimi.com/promotion_images/1860/1497/original/Thunderclap_3.jpg?1497927878

ThunderCLAP for #RevolutionSummer Chicago! at http://thndr.me/6HeFKA

To support #RevolutionSummer! Chicago fundraising efforts, the Revolution Club Chicago is launching a Thunderclap campaign to bring thousands to donate to the Revolution Summer! Chicago Fund. As Carl Dix says, “so many of our young people are caught up in killing each other. This has got to STOP and the revolution declares that it’s gonna stop it this summer by giving our young people something that is worth living for and fighting for.”

Over the next days, up to June 23, we need your help to get the message out on Facebook to many more potential supporters, calling on them to sign up for the Thunderclap. Thunderclap is a new crowdspeaking platform that helps people be heard through all saying the same message at the same time. The single message can be mass-shared, flash-mob style, and has the potential to make the message heard by millions of people. All you do is pledge a tweet, Facebook post, or Tumblr post and Thunderclap will post a single, one-time message on your behalf on your social media feed—and it takes 5 seconds to join.

Share this and Sign up now for the Revolution Summer! Thunderclap here! (http://www.stoppoliceterror.org/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thunderclap.it%2Fprojects%2F 58388-revolution-summer-chicago-fund&e=4160b7d4c80bd7ff2829463c3b9e0a03&utm_source=riseupoctober&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=june_19_21&n=4)


***


Stonewall 4 -- Tuesday, June 20 9:00am – PACK THE COURT! 100 Centre Street Manhattan Criminal Court

It's essential that we show our support for those who are attacked by this regime. We need to bring even more people forward to defend all who stand up against fascism. Supporters in the court during the hearing can make a real difference. The prosecution, the judge, and higher authorities have to take into consideration that people know about these defendants, support them and want the charges dropped. This Tuesday be there to show that together we REFUSE to accept a fascist America. Not just for ourselves, but in the name of humanity.

The Stonewall 4 were arrested while at the LGBTQ Solidarity with Muslims rally at the Stonewall Inn on February 4, 2017 to oppose the first Muslim Ban. After being harassed by hostile Trump supporters they were unjustly arrested by NYPD.
This is an early example of a disturbing and growing pattern where fanatical Trump supporters, increasingly organized, harass people who are exercising their right to protest and oppose this fascist regime. The Trump supporters try to provoke an incident to create a pretext for police to come in and arrest people.

This Tuesday, June 20 at 9:00 a.m., the Stonewall 4 are scheduled to appear in court, when the Judge is supposed to rule on motions to dismiss the case. We’re calling on everyone to stand up in support and demand that all the unjust charges against them be dropped, and that the NYPD cease colluding with Trump supporters to intimidate and target people.


***


FLASH! Another Police Killing: Charleena Lyles murdered by Seattle PD

From Black Lives Matter NYC:
"Charleena Lyles was murdered by Seattle PD on the morning of Sunday, June 18, 2017 after calling them for help, after her home was broken into. Her children were in the home with her when this assault happened – ages 11, 4, and 1. We also know that she was 3 months pregnant. Her family has shared that she suffered from mental illness as well. The assault on Black lives – including Black women – is a continued declaration of state sanctioned violence against our existence. Again, and again, and again the system refuses to allow us to be human, to be safe, to thrive, to flourish.

We haven't even processed the fact that #PhilandoCastile will not be getting justice, yet we mourn another life lost at the hands of systemic racism and racist police terror."

See Facebook event page here (http://www.stoppoliceterror.org/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fevents%2F4772 62352615535%2F%3Fti%3Dicl&e=4160b7d4c80bd7ff2829463c3b9e0a03&utm_source=riseupoctober&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=june_19_21&n=5).



Stop Mass Incarceration Network
http://www.stoppoliceterror.org/ (http://www.stoppoliceterror.org/?e=4160b7d4c80bd7ff2829463c3b9e0a03&utm_source=riseupoctober&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=june_19_21&n=6)

Stop Mass Incarceration Network · Box 941 Knickerbocker Station, New York , NY 10002, United States
This email was sent to [email protected] To stop receiving emails, click here.
You can also keep up with Stop Mass Incarceration Network on Twitter (http://www.stoppoliceterror.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FStopMassIncNet&e=4160b7d4c80bd7ff2829463c3b9e0a03&utm_source=riseupoctober&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=june_19_21&n=8) or Facebook (http://www.stoppoliceterror.org/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fstopmassincar cerationnetwork%2F&e=4160b7d4c80bd7ff2829463c3b9e0a03&utm_source=riseupoctober&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=june_19_21&n=9).

Created with NationBuilder, software for leaders.