ARRESTED

[Soul Rebel]

I didnt know if i should stick this under politics or chit-chat, but i figured politics because this has been in the spotlight for a bit.

So last night at 1 in the morning i receive a phone call- my brother has been searched, handcuffed, and threatened to be arrested. Crime- none, except for broken tail light. Police motive- Hispanic male.

Ok, so my brother had just left our friends apartment in. He takes his car across the street to pump gas. Before he can even get out of his car the police show up and yell at him to not get out of his car. Before my brother can figure out what is happening and before he can react, the police open his car doors and begin taking everything out. The two white cops begin doing a thorough search of the car, without reason or consent. My brother asks why they are doing this and they do not respond, just give a nasty look. Well, my brother is bugging at this point- becoming very mad. What happens next? White male cop questions my brother about the broken tail light and then precedes to tell my brother "Put your hands abover your head and loosen your fingers." Boom, my brother is now handcuffed. They continue searching the car and then move onto searching my brother. In the process they begin looking up his info. and begin questioning him about robberies in the area!!! So this continues for a while. Finally, they let my brother call home, then they tow his car away.

After watching these cops look through his stuff, cuff him, etc. my brother comes home. Today he is picking up his car with both my parents. He has called his lawyer to file a complaint.

This pisses me off. We live in an all white town and happen to be one of the very few minority families in the area. Because of our physical features and last name we are constantly at risk for harassment. This is not the first time we have had a run in with the law. I have been stopped and searched myself for no reason many of times. This is also like the 4th time this has happened to my brother.

Its fucking unbelievable--- the stuff that goes on around here, in this country. How can we have these people protecting us when they dont even like us? And then im told to show respect for authority? where the hell is my respect?

Final word--- you know what else they did? They took my brother's rage against the machine cds. The cops said they were taking them because ratm is anti-american and hate the police!!! No joke--- they seriously did and said this.

What do you all think?


(Edited by SenoraChe at 12:27 am on April 27, 2003)

[Hampton]

Here in New Jersey there is a thing called DWB or "driving while black". It's used to describe racial profiling done by State Police and pretty much everyday cops also. A couple of years ago it was made into a big deal and then everyone forgot about it, I guess acting like it doesn’t go on anymore, but, I think you would pretty hard pressed to find a "minority" in the area to say that they haven't been stopped at least once for no reason, had their car searched, frisked, and just generally harassed.

It gets even worse when you're in the car with one or more of your friends who happens to be black.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

Good luck with the prosecution, comrade.

[Soul Rebel]

Yeah, DWB. Heard of that many times. I also have heard of what many black parents teach their children when they first start driving--- always keep your hands on the wheel. Its not done for safety, but for when a cop pulls you over. Its sad to think that "minority" families have to put up with this, that they already expect to be pulled over. Its not "if" they get pulled over and harassed, but "when" they do.

Victorcommie--- thanks for the support!!! :)

I'll keep y'all up to date on what happens.

[Larissa]

SeñoraChe, realmente lamento mucho lo que le sucedió a tu hermano. Es la policía fascista del régimen de ya sabemos quién. La caza de brujas ha comenzado de nuevo bajo esta nueva administración del gobierno yanqui. Es increíble, pero en este siglo y en ese país que se jacta de sus derechos humanos, siguen ocurriendo cosas así a diario y tu testimonio lo comprueba. Te deseo la mejor de las suertes y lo mismo a tu hermano y a tu comunidad. Un abrazo de una compañera latinoamericana. Lara.

[Soul Rebel]

Lara--- muchas gracias. Tienes mucha razon: la caza de brujas ha comenzado. Aqui, las brujas ahora son los hispanos. Estamos sufriendo mucho por culpa de este regimen y por culpa de la mentalidad de la gente de este pais. Estamos viviendo en un pais muy fascista y la gente de aqui no lo ve. Ellos creen que todo esta muy bien, pero no lo esta. Y lo que duele mas es que no creo que vaya a cambiar.

A mi lo que me da mas pena son mis padres. Ellos vivieron en el tiempo de Franco. Se fueron de espana para tener una vida mejor y ahora mira que les pasa. Otra vez tienen que vivir en un pais fascista. Les duele mucho lo que paso. Ellos, como los demas, pensaban que los estados unidos era un pais libre--- pero no lo es.

Otra vez, gracias Larissa.

[Sabocat]

SenoraChe. You should talk to an ACLU attourney. It's sounds to me like this was an obvious case of racial profiling and an illegal search and siezure. They had no right to take his RATM albums, I don't care if on the albums it constantly repeated "go kill a cop". Since when do cops get to decide whats unamerican and anti-cop? Who the hell do they think they are? They had no right to tow his car. This is unbelievable...friggin' police state.

I think an ACLU guy would have a field day with this.

(Edited by Disgustapated at 4:22 pm on April 15, 2003)

[Dhul Fiqar]

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

FUCK THE POLICE!!!

[Nickademus]

I completely understand your brother's situation and your anger...not because i've ever had a problem with it personally (i'm a white woman and usually get speeding tickets written off instead of getting searched etc.) However, many of my ex-boyfriends and good friends who are First Nations have had many similar problems. Canada may appear to be a warm loving country where everyone is accepted......but we accept everyone EXCEPT Aboriginal peoples....recently (about 2 years ago maybe) in saskatchewan (the provine with the highest number of aboriginal peoples and correspondingly the highest amount of racism against Aboriginal peoples) two aboriginal men were take, by cops, after being found drunk, to the outskirts of the city. their socks ad shoes were taken from them and they were left there.....in the middle of winter (and just for those of you who don't know.....saskatchewan in the winter gets to about -40 (Celsius and Farenheit). not surprisingly one of the men died trying to make it back home.

Its horrible that racism and racial profiling still continues to this day. we ALL have to do our part to speak out against this ALL THE TIME!

[Soul Rebel]

Quote: from Disgustapated on 11:17 am on April 15, 2003
SenoraChe. You should talk to an ACLU attourney. It's sounds to me like this was an obvious case of racial profiling and an illegal search and siezure. They had no right to take his RATM albums, I don't care if on the albums it constantly repeated "go kill a cop". Since when do cops get to decide whats unamerican and anti-cop? Who the hell do they think they are? They had no right to tow his car. This is unbelievable...friggin' police state.

I think an ACLU guy would have a field day with this.

(Edited by Disgustapated at 4:22 pm on April 15, 2003)


Digustapated- thank you, we are going to look into it. My brother is going to his lawyer tomorrow and I am going to contact ACLU to see what they think. Its obviously a case of racial profiling and illegal search and siezure, they had no motive for what they did. My brother was just an innocent man getting gas. My family definitely plans on filing complaints and taking it to court if possible. We are very fed up with this, not because it has happened to us so many times, but because it happens to too many people. This shouldn't be happening, race should not determine who gets stopped or not. Hopefully something good comes out of this because i (as well as everyone here) don't want to see this continue.

[Politrickian]

Suddenly a song by anti-flag comes walking into my head.

Police State In The U.S.A
It's Facism with a friendly face!

Good luck with all that. It pisses me off to see that shit. They call themselves the civilized world...

[praxis1966]

While you're at it, go file a complaint against the two porkers who did it for petty theft. There's no law against owning any kind of CDs (although there probably ought to be one against all those "Ra, Ra, America" country songs floating around). Chances are, if the DA in your area actually processes the complaint, they'll cop (no pun intended) a plea. Wouldn't it be great to see a couple of pigs on the side of the road picking up trash with the rest of the petty criminals?

Anyway, just for the record, I'd like to say this:

Who got the power?
This be my question
The mass of the few
In this torn nation
The priest, the book, or the congregation?
Polatriks, who rob and hold down your zone
Or those who give the thieves the keys to their homes?
The pig who's free to murder one, shucklack
Or survivors who make a move and murder one back?

[Urban Rubble]

Wait, let me get this straight, the cop towed his car for a broken tail light ? He actually took his CD's ? That's about the most airtight case against some cops that I've ever heard. Prosecute these fuckers and if they try to settle DO NOT DO IT. This type of shit happens all time and they need to be stopped.

[Soul Rebel]

Oh i know (that it happens all the time). Unfortunately that is how this society is run and many people do not see anything wrong with it. My brother ended up seeing his lawyer and he was told that the cops had performed a so-called "control" search. Sadly, it was two cops that did, not just one. Im gonna keep searching around to see what can be done, cuz something does need to be done.

[Beccie]

Quote: from SenoraChe on 4:31 pm on April 14, 2003
How can we have these people protecting us when they dont even like us?

Unfortunately the police are not there for your protection. As workers of the Capitalist state, in which racism is necessary, the main job of the police is to protect private property. This disgusts me.

I wish your brother luck, comrade.

[Ze]

www.aclu.org

FUCK THE PIGS!

I live in Elizabeth, NJ and the only white anglo-saxon people I see in this city are cops. They're arrogant and ignorant at that.

Also, a friend of mine is an NYPD cop (hispanic) and we have been pulled over arbitrarily in NYC late at night for simply being 3 hispanics and a black in Manhattan! Other minority cops have had similar experiences where the white cops pulling them over would simply say "Oh shit" when they pull out their badges. The white cops always have a backup story such as "no seatbelts" or "your plate came up as stolen, my mistake."

(Edited by Ze at 2:10 pm on April 18, 2003)

[Lardlad95]

Quote: from SenoraChe on 4:31 pm on April 14, 2003
I didnt know if i should stick this under politics or chit-chat, but i figured politics because this has been in the spotlight for a bit.

So last night at 1 in the morning i receive a phone call- my brother has been searched, handcuffed, and threatened to be arrested. Crime- none, except for broken tail light. Police motive- Hispanic male.

Ok, so my brother had just left our friends apartment in New Haven (which is in Connecticut, U$A; has dealth with police racism and brutality many of times). He takes his car across the street to pump gas. Before he can even get out of his car the police show up and yell at him to not get out of his car. Before my brother can figure out what is happening and before he can react, the police open his car doors and begin taking everything out. The two white cops begin doing a thorough search of the car, without reason or consent. My brother asks why they are doing this and they do not respond, just give a nasty look. Well, my brother is bugging at this point- becoming very mad. What happens next? White male cop questions my brother about the broken tail light and then precedes to tell my brother "Put your hands abover your head and loosen your fingers." Boom, my brother is now handcuffed. They continue searching the car and then move onto searching my brother. In the process they begin looking up his info. and begin questioning him about robberies in the area!!! So this continues for a while. Finally, they let my brother call home, then they tow his car away.

After watching these cops look through his stuff, cuff him, etc. my brother comes home. Today he is picking up his car with both my parents. He has called his lawyer to file a complaint.

This pisses me off. We live in an all white town and happen to be one of the very few minority families in the area. Because of our physical features and last name (Sanchez-Garcia) we are constantly at risk for harassment. This is not the first time we have had a run in with the law. I have been stopped and searched myself for no reason many of times. This is also like the 4th time this has happened to my brother.

Its fucking unbelievable--- the stuff that goes on around here, in this country. How can we have these people protecting us when they dont even like us? And then im told to show respect for authority? where the hell is my respect?

Final word--- you know what else they did? They took my brother's rage against the machine cds. The cops said they were taking them because ratm is anti-american and hate the police!!! No joke--- they seriously did and said this.

What do you all think?


I know how you feel I'm a black/puerto rican socialist with a afro and I wear a black hoodie everywhere

I'm like a magnet to be followed in stores and by police





Sorry about your brother man