Monthly Archives: July 2016

Access to Justice, Police

Two Years After Eric Garner’s Death, Ramsey Orta, Who Filmed Police, Is Only One Heading to Jail

Two years ago this week, Eric Garner died in Staten Island after officers wrestled him to the ground, pinned him down and applied a fatal chokehold. The man who filmed the police killing of Eric Garner, Ramsey Orta, is now heading to jail for four years on unrelated charges—making him the only person at the scene of Garner’s killing who will serve jail time. Last week Orta took a plea deal on weapons and drug charges. He says he has been repeatedly arrested and harassed by cops since he filmed the fatal police chokehold nearly two years ago. We speak to Eric Garner’s daughter, Erica Garner, and Matt Taibbi, award-winning journalist with Rolling Stone magazine. He’s working on a book on Eric Garner’s case.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: Video made by Laron Murray and The Fortune Society media team featuring the final words of Eric Garner over John Coltrane’s "Alabama." This isDemocracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, we turn now to another police killing, this one here in New York. Two years ago this week, Eric Garner died in Staten Island after officers wrestled him to the ground, pinned him down and applied a fatal chokehold.

POLICE OFFICER 1: Put your hand behind your head!

ERIC GARNER: I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!

RAMSEY ORTA: Once again, police beating up on people.

POLICE OFFICER 2: Back up. Back up and get on those steps.

RAMSEY ORTA: OK.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: The man who filmed the police killing of Eric Garner, Ramsey Orta, is now heading to jail for four years on unrelated charges—making him the only person at the scene of Garner’s killing who will serve jail time. Last week, Orta took a plea deal on weapons and drug charges. He says he has been repeatedly arrested and harassed by cops since he filmed the fatal police chokehold nearly two years ago.

AMY GOODMAN: Eric Garner’s death spurred protests over New York Police Department’s use of excessive force, its policy of cracking down on low-level offenses. Eric Garner’s family reached a $5.9 million settlement with New York City last July.

To talk more about where the case stands today and the fact that Ramsey Orta will be going to jail, and also Bernie Sanders’ concession to Hillary Clinton—Eric Garner’s daughter, Erica Garner, who joins us today, campaigned with Bernie Sanders. He had a TV campaign ad centered on her story. We’re also joined by Matt Taibbi, the award-winning journalist with Rolling Stone magazine, working on a book on Eric Garner’s case, the author of a number of books, including The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now! I’m so sorry, Erica, as you sit here to see video after video of police killing culminating right now, and once again seeing the video of your father gasping and saying, "I can’t breathe." But you have been speaking out publicly about this for almost the full two years. You haven’t stopped.

ERICA GARNER: Yes. I’ve protested. I’ve spoke on panels. I traveled across this nation. I exhaust all avenues. I even endorsed Bernie Sanders to get my message out. And it’s like we keep having a conversation I exhausted for two years. And, you know, how much talking do we need to have? The Black Lives Matter movement been very compassionate, patient, and basically begging the nation. You know, we are under attack as black people. We are being gunned down every day. And these officers are not being held accountable. And no charges, from Tamir Rice to my dad to Freddie Gray, you know, has been.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And your reaction when, obviously, the events last week—two more incidents, two more deaths, caught on video, and yet nothing seems to be happening?

ERICA GARNER: No. All I’m hearing is conversation. We need legislation put into place. We need a special prosecutor. They’re just now using the special crimes prosecutor for a guy last week named [Delrawn Small]. And that was the undercover police officer who shot a black man.

AMY GOODMAN: Wayne Isaacs was the off-duty police officer who shot Delrawn Small.

ERICA GARNER: Yes. And it’s like, you know, we need some type of legislation put into place. We need a special prosecutor. Governor Cuomo put that as an executive order temporarily after my father passed away, and no one is talking about it. You know, no one is trying to make it permanent.

AMY GOODMAN: The reason we know exactly what happened in your father’s death is because of that videotape. The man who filmed the police killing of your father, Eric Garner, Ramsey Orta, is now headed to jail for four years on unrelated charges—making him the only person at the scene of Garner’s killing who will serve jail time. So, last week, Ramsey Orta took a plea deal on weapons and drug charges. He has said he’s been repeatedly arrested and harassed by police. Earlier this year, Ramsey Orta came to Democracy Now!, and we talked to him.

RAMSEY ORTA: Clearly, when they jumped out on me, that was the first thing that came out his mouth: "You filmed us, so now we’re filming you," because I asked, "Why do you have your cameras out?" When they jumped out on me, they had their phones in their hand, instead of a gun or anything, from my knowledge, was supposed to be in their hand. So I asked him: Why is he filming me? And he said, "Because you filmed us."

AMY GOODMAN: So that is Ramsey Orta speaking on Democracy Now! The significance of what he did? Soon after your dad was killed, at a memorial service that was held, there’s actual applause during the service for one man, for Ramsey Orta, who was sitting in the audience.

ERICA GARNER: Yes, it showed the courage to do it, and also he told the whole world, like he showed the whole world, you know, what exactly went on. If there wasn’t no video, you know, we wouldn’t know, like, he was killed. And we don’t have that from the police department. We don’t have transparency. I knew body cameras would be a bad idea if it wasn’t a federal legislation or some type of thing that says if you mess with this camera, if you turn it off or if anything goes wrong with this camera, you know, you will be held accountable. And now you’re hearing cases like the camera fell off, like in Alton Sterling case, or, you know, it’s basically our word against theirs.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Matt Taibbi, I wanted to bring you in. You’ve been doing research specifically on the Eric Garner case and trying to look at this whole issue of police killings. This whole issue of, as we’ve seen, of the—in the Alton Sterling case, where somebody does do independent filming, and they’re confiscated; meanwhile, the police cameras fall off—the importance of these cameras and the battle over cameras?

MATT TAIBBI: I mean, it’s critically important that citizens make these recordings. I think the Eric Garner case is a classic example of why this is necessary, because reports later surfaced that the official police report later that evening left out the fact that a chokehold had been used. And so, had there been no film of what happened, we might never have heard of this case. It would have gone down probably as an accident that took place, where a person who was in bad health simply gave out in the middle of a routine arrest. But we—you know, because we have that video, we saw exactly what happened. So it’s critically important that people make these videos. And I think what’s going on now is that everybody has cellphones, and for the first time people are seeing how common this is.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk, Erica Garner, about what’s happening now with the federal investigation? I mean, the police officer in the case was not charged. You did have a lawsuit, the family had a lawsuit, that was settled for $5.9 million. But the federal investigation, what is that? And this is two years now.

ERICA GARNER: Yes. It’s like the DOJ is dragging their feet. A couple of months ago, I sat in a civil liberties panel with representatives from the DOJ. And I kindly asked them, you know, face to face, as we was on the panel, you know, "What is taking so long? How come my family didn’t get no answers, any type of updates on my father’s case?" And they told me, you know, they will answer my question soon. Here we are almost to the two-year anniversary, and I hear—I see an article out about, you know, how two federal prosecutors from the DA in Brooklyn and two prosecutors from Washington is fighting over whether or not it’s enough evidence to go on. You know, the Brooklyn side is saying, "Well, we don’t have enough evidence," but the people from Washington are saying, "Well, we do. We want to push forward." And it’s up to Loretta Lynch to make that decision.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And even some of the basic information, two years later, is not out. For instance, the past record of the officer involved, Pantaleo, in terms of his excessive force decisions in—previously. What’s happened with that?

ERICA GARNER: No. I put in countless FOIA requests. Matt Taibbi helped me with some of the letters. And the response I got was letters stuck underneath my door or in my mailbox from the NYPD telling me I have to ask Daniel Pantaleo for permission to look at his records and that what I’m asking for is unwarranted. What can be more warranted than his daughter asking, just simply asking about what complaints was made against this man?

AMY GOODMAN: And, Matt Taibbi, if you could talk more about this and this major piece the Times did about how—this battle that’s going on within the Justice Department about whether to even continue with this investigation into the Eric Garner death?

MATT TAIBBI: Yeah, if I could just follow up quickly, though, on this issue of the personnel records with—of Daniel Pantaleo. This has been a fight that’s been going on for two years. The Legal Aid Society last year filed suit and actually got a judge to order the Civilian Complaint Review Board to disclose very limited information about basically just how many substantiated abuse complaints there were in Pantaleo’s file. And the city at that point could have just released the information, but they chose to appeal, and they’re fighting this basically to the death. It’s now two years. It’s probably going to be three years before this is resolved. And the law is really not on the civilian side. It actually says that you need the express written permission of the police officer to obtain personnel records. There’s Section 50-a of the New York Civil Rights Code. It provides extraordinary protections to police officers. So, it’s extremely difficult for somebody, you know, even a family member of a victim, to get to those records. It’s almost impossible. And that’s one of the things that’s played out in this case.

AMY GOODMAN: Erica Garner, I wanted to get your response to Bernie Sanders now conceding that Hillary Clinton is the Democratic presumptive presidential nominee. You campaigned with Bernie Sanders. He made a TV commercial with you as the subject, taking on the issue of police brutality. What are your thoughts today, how your story, what happened to your dad, the issues you care about—are you also throwing your support to Hillary Clinton?

ERICA GARNER: I’ll throw my support towards any nominee, presidential nominee, that’s going to show me what the DOJ will look like, what they’re going to do about the crisis that’s going on in America right now, and that’s going to stand behind the chokehold bill. Letitia James has been putting that bill in for a while. She hasn’t gotten any support from anyone and—any other elected—

AMY GOODMAN: The Manhattan borough president.

ERICA GARNER: —any elected officials. And it’s like, you know, right now, every elected official in the House right now is up for election. And, you know, I say we refuse our vote until they hear our issues and fight for our issues.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And by chokehold bill, for those who are not aware, could you explain?

ERICA GARNER: This chokehold bill will make it illegal, all the way illegal, to—for the police officers to choke anyone. It’s in the policies of the New York Police Department policies, but it’s not actually a law.

AMY GOODMAN: According to The New York Times, the last time the federal government brought a deadly force case against an officer in New York was 1998, almost 20 years ago, when Francis Livoti stood trial, eventually was convicted of charges of choking to death a young Bronx man named Anthony Baez. I want to thank you both for being us. Erica Garner, even on this second anniversary of your father’s death, our condolences to you and your family. And thanks so much, Matt Taibbi, for being with us and pursuing this case for Rolling Stone and for your book.

That does it for our broadcast. After the conventions—we’ll be broadcasting two-hour specials every day from Cleveland next week and then the Democratic convention in Philadelphia—I’ll be doing a convention wrap-up at Provincetown Town Hall on the 29th of July and Martha’s Vineyard on the 30th.

Republished with permission under license by Democracy Now.

Police, Protest

Dallas Police Memorial

Thousands of law enforcement officials and political leaders attended a memorial service at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center for the five police officers killed in last week's shootings. President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush spoke.

Dallas Police Chief, David Brown, gave a moving speech using the lyrics of Stevie Wonder's song "As" before introducing President Obama. President Obama then delivered great, poignant speech like he always does, that not only brought out the humanity of the police officers killed, but touch on the killings of of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile that led to the protest that was going on when the shooting occurred. President Obama's speech starts at about 5:01 in the timeline.

Former President George Bush, spoke at the Dallas Police Memorial.

The Full Interfaith Memorial Service including choir selections and speakers is below.

Stevie Wonder's "As" (with lyrics), from the Album, "Songs in the Key of Life".

Criminal Law, Race

We Need Black Prosecutors

The prosecutor is the most powerful figure in the American criminal justice system.  This is particularly so because, as the Supreme Court has recognized, the criminal justice system in the United States today “is, for the most part, a system of pleas, not a system of trials.”  In the state courts where over ninety percent of criminal cases are prosecuted, ninety-four percent of the convictions are the result of guilty pleas, and ninety-seven percent of federal convictions are the result of guilty pleas.  In this system of pleas, prosecutors have enormous advantages and often dictate not only the crimes defendants are convicted of, but the sentences that are imposed.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch addressed the National Black Prosecutors Association who are in St. Louis participating in a weeklong convention about the criminal justice system. Melba Pearson, the group's president, said the organization’s annual conference is being held in St. Louis because of the heightened focus on policing in light of the fatal 2014 shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer.

The City of St. Louis is a majority black city. However, the police and prosecutor, two institutions that have the most devastating effect on the lives of black folk are headed by white men. As I read the Post article, I couldn't help but consider the irony that McCulloch, the poster child of prosecutorial misconduct, was explaining to a group of Black prosecutors the  “lousy job” that prosecutors do. Sadly, McCulloch on several occasions has appeared bias towards police and racist in some of his actions.

Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson (Center) has sought to use prosecutorial discretion to fight racial gaps in justice.

St. Louis is roughly 48% black and 47% white according to the most recent census data, but the prosecutors of both the circuit and municipal court levels are white. In the State of Missouri, county prosecutors are 99% white. There is only one black elected county prosecutor in the entire state; Shane Farrow in Moniteau County Missouri. Unfortunately, Mr. Farrow is being prosecuted himself for an accident that occurred, ironically in Columbia, MO, which recently gain national attention for racial discrimination.

Recent incidents in Ferguson, New York, Baltimore, Columbia and most recently Baton Rouge & Minnesota demonstrate the racial bias and divide that exist within our society. White police officers are quicker to stop and arrest black people and white prosecutors are quicker to  bring charges against black suspects, especially when the evidence may not be compelling. The said reality is that many low-income defendants, even those that are innocent, may plead guilty to avoid the possibility of longer sentences. See the Kansas City Star article, "Study finds that Missouri and Kansas prosecutors are overwhelmingly white". 

The primary election for St. Louis City Prosecutor is on August 2, 2016. It is my hope that a strong black candidate whose sole motivation is not to punish, but to rehabilitate, will be elected. However, as Phillip Agnew with Dream Defenders mentioned;

"It's not just a matter of having a representative that's on the city counsel, or in the mayor's office or on the police force that looks like you; they've gotta come from the community, know the issues of the community and then it's folks in the community that remind them everyday that we pay your bills and watching every single day to ensure that the platform on which we elected you with is followed and also defend you when those people who seek to calibrate the system and right the system as it's been built, seek to come at you for that office."

Unfortunately, I don't know any of the candidates well enough to make a recommendation. The Ethical Society of Police, a minority organization of about 215 St. Louis city officers who are almost all black, voted at their February 25 meeting to endorse Patrick Hamacher, a white candidate, in the race for St. Louis circuit attorney. I was surprised that they had not endorsed Steve Harmon, a former police officer and the son of former Police Chief Clarence Harmon. See the Atlantic article, "Most States Elect No Black Prosecutors".

I don't know much about Mr. Hamacher and he might be a great candidate. However, he and the other white candidate, Mary Pat Carl, currently work as prosecutors under Jennifer Joyce. In fact, Ms. Carl was endorsed by Joyce. 

The St. Louis Prosecutor's office appears to be a corrupt system. In corrupt systems, decent people end up with three options: get out, conform or be crushed. There are always good, moral people who look at what's happening around them and decide that they can't live with themselves if they go along with it. However, such people are almost always bullied, marginalized and destroyed. In bad systems, the decent person is the freak, the oddball, the awkward crank who is not a team player, not one of us. Both Hamacher and Carl were promoted while working for Joyce and seemed to have flourished, which by default means they conformed. I understand that most people do, but it doesn't earn my vote.

Regardless of who you support, if you're registered, you need to vote! If you're not registered to vote, you need to get registered, however, it's too late for the August 2nd primary. If you don't vote, don't complain, you got exactly what you're efforts earned.

Police, Race

Was Dallas Police Ambush a Conspiracy against BLM?

Johnetta Elzie, a St. Louis native who emerged as a Black Lives Matter leader during the Ferguson protests has proposed that the Dallas police ambush was a conspiracy designed to make the Black Lives Matter movement look bad.

On Friday, July 8th, Ms. Elzie made the following tweets:

"From my experience, whenever public opinion shifts to strongly support the movement an act of violence against the police happens." … "It happened in Ferguson last year, and like many Ferguson protesters have pointed out today, a random black person becomes the shooter." …  "I will not let go of the fact that i know cointelpro exist."

Elzie is reportedly a co-founder of Mappingpoliceviolence.org.

Ms. Elzie's suspicions are not without precedent. During President Kennedy's administration the Joint Chiefs of Staff proposed a false flag operation, where many innocent civilians would be killed and blamed on Cuba to justify going to war with them. The term false flag describes covert operations that are designed to deceive in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by entities, groups, or nations other than those who actually planned and executed them.

President Kennedy rejected the Joint Chiefs false flag plan, but the fact that the plan was submitted suggest that similiar plans had been executed in the past or might later be approved. Any chess player knows that you willingly sacrafice pawns to win the game or protect the king. Were Dallas police officers pawns in a high stakes chess game?

The Gulf of Tonkin Incident occurred in 1964 whereby the CIA conducted operations reported by the NSA as North Vietnamese aggression towards the United States. The incident was used as a pretext for the United States to escalate Vietnam War efforts. During the operations on August 2nd, 1964 USS Maddox provoked the North Vietnamese by entering restricted waters. Then, on August 4th, 1964, it was reported that North Vietnam attacked two US ships, USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy. The claim that the ships were attacked was later discovered to be false and in 2005 declassified documents revealed that both the CIA and NSA were involved in the manufacture of the incidents that led to US air strikes on August 7th, 1964.

If Ms. Elzie's theory is correct it may take decades for any information to become public and the world may never know the truth. Her suspicions will most likely go down in the annals of crazy conspiracy theory, but it might be wise to see if the pattern continues. 

Also consider the fact that there has been a serious propaganda campaign to smear Muslims. After Muhammad Ali  died, tribute was paid to the world's most famous Muslim. Ali's memorial service, which had shown the Muslim faith in a very positive light, was attended by heads of state and celebrities. In less than two days after Ali's funeral, in Orlando, a random Muslim man committed the worst single person mass shooting in U.S. history; just food for thought.

For additional information about conspiracy, see our page, "None Dare Call It Conspiracy".

Police

Don’t move may not be a valid command when someone is tased

Last night, I was speaking with a close friend of mine. My friend is a CPA and he was telling me about his encounter a few days ago with a police officer who treated him aggressively during a traffic stop despite the fact that he was dressed in a suit. 

During our conversation, we spoke about the Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and Dallas shootings and my friend mentioned something that really struck a nerve; "when a person gets tazed, they can't help but move and cops know that". 

One excuse some police officers state for using deadly force is that even after being tazed, the person wouldn't stop moving. Below is a Taser promotional video. A statement is made that the taser gun highjacks a person's central nervous system, which means after being tased some movements are involuntary and can't be helped. The narrator of the video further states, "It's immediate, it's overwhelming and it instantly stops violent situations".

The guy being tazed in the video is clearly subdued but even after he falls to the ground still makes some involuntary movements because of the electrical current from the taser gun. Certainly, police officers are tazed and may even have experienced being tazed and should know that movement is not necessarily a threat but a reaction to the taze.

Civil Rights, Criminal Law, Massacre, Police, Race

Don’t allow Dallas to become an excuse to stop fighting for our rights

Twelve police officers were shot, five are dead and two civilians were also injured in an ambush during a peaceful protest of recent lynchings by police. Our condolences go out to all the victims and their families.

Hundreds of people of all races were marching down Lamar St. between Commerce and Main, mere blocks from Dealey Plaza where President Kennedy was assassinated, when gunfire erupted around 9 p.m. last night from the top floor of a parking garage.

The ambush was a cowardly act and the wrong type of response to recent lynchings by police of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. 

One suspect was killed and police have several suspects in custody. Dallas Police Chief, David Brown, said the following about the dead suspect; “he was upset about Black Lives Matter, he said he was upset about the recent police shootings. The suspect said he was upset at white people. The suspect stated he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers. The suspect stated he was not affiliated with any groups, and he stated that he did it alone.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown was absolutely correct, police do need and should expect our support, however, support should not only run in one direction. When police officers murder innocent people or even suspects, other officers need to stop protecting them. When good police remain silent about the deeds of bad cops or when those deeds are covered up, they increase the likelihood that this type of response will eventually take place by someone mentally ill and angry. 

Innocent man originally identified as a suspect

Mark Hughes, the brother of the Dallas protest organizer, was exercising his second amendment right to open carry, similar to Oath Keepers during the Ferguson Protests. Hughes was named in the media as a suspect because he was seen earlier with an AR15 rifle strapped over his shoulder. The police do not want us to jump to conclusions because of videos, but they jumped to conclusions and placed a man's life in jeopardy, simply for exercising his constitutional right to bear arms.

I don't believe assault weapons should be authorized for civilians, but the open carry law should apply equally to everyone. Original gun restrictions and the first modern gun laws were intended to keep guns out of the hands of black people. See video on our "Armed and Black" post.

Mark Hughes speaks to the media after the Dallas Police Department erroneously announced him as a suspect involved in the fatal shooting of several officers during a protest on Thursday.

Double standards must stop

The video above demonstrates the type of double standard that must change in this country. During the Ferguson Protests, none of the multiple white guys carrying assault rifles who called themselves the Oath Keepers were ever named as suspects when shootings occurred during those protests.

A person identified as Changa, an organizer with the Dallas Action Coalition told a reporter from The Daily Beast; “If you don’t give the people justice after a certain amount of time they get hopeless and seek other means of justice.” In his 20 years of activism, Changa said, he could not get any response from the local Dallas community. “So it’s sad, but it’s ironic.”

Changa's expression is similar to those expressed by Frederick Douglass 130 years ago; “Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe” 

The shooting in Dallas is the result of a disease that if left untreated will most likely be repeated. The symptoms of racism, poverty, oppression, and injustice when combined results in anger, hopelessness, mental illness and retaliation. We have seen these symptoms take the lives of black men and women in urban areas all across America for years. Some young black men, especially those who believe they have nothing to lose, are starting to focus their anger on targets other than themselves.

Trevor Noah from the Daily Show give a great critique of the double standard in this country during a discussion about the fatal shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.

Role Reversal

Prior to the shooting in Dallas, the following headline appeared on the St. Louis Post Dispatch's website; "Police experts urge restraint in reaching conclusions about latest shooting controversies". The videos of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile speak volumes. I don't need an investigation or analysis to explain what is clear to anyone looking at those videos.

The video footage of the Dallas shooting is equally clear, however, I don't expect anyone would dare suggest that we should use restraint before reaching to conclusions. Five police officers were murder, end of conclusion! Two black men were lynched by police, end of conclusion!

If video exists of a suspect shooting one of those officers, no one would suggest sending that suspect home with pay until an investigation is finished a year later. No, I expect that suspect to be immediately arrested if possible. It would be an insult to those officers who gave their lives in the line of duty to suggest anything less. However, when a police officer clearly committed murder on video and is sent to the comfort of his home and taxpayers are forced to continue providing the murderer with a paycheck, that is an insult as well. The ultimate insult occurs when no charges are brought against the officer. 

The killing of those five police officers was senseless and tragic. The killings of Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, Freddie Gray, Walter Scott, Tamir Rice, Akai Gurley, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Eric Harris, Mansur Ball-Bey, Laquan McDonald, Samuel Dubose and many others were also senseless and tragic. 

While we pray for the families of the twelve officers injured and killed, let's not forget the twelve victims name above and all the others who were killed by police "for no apparent reason". That's why these protests all over the country are taking place because police for all intents and purposes are above the law. There is no equal treatment under the law as long as police officers can abuse, humiliate and murder innocent people with impunity and suffer no consequences. 

Black police officers

A black female Cleveland Police officer, Nakia Jones, recently acknowledge that fact in a stirring and moving video she made in response to the Alton Sterling lynching.

Officer Jones isn't the only Black police officer complaining about racism in the ranks. Below is a video of three Black St. Louis Police Officers discussing their negative experiences with white officers.

Ironically, just yesterday, the St. Louis Black Police Union called for the resignation of Sam Dotson, the current police chief, because of racism, discrimination, cronyism and even crime within the department.

The media's attention will certainly be focused on Dallas and rightfully so. The police chief, mayors, governors and other public officials and leaders will argue it's time to stop protesting and fully support the police. That would be a false narrative.

I am pro-police, but I am anti-brutality. I don't want to live in an area where I can't call and rely on help from the police. But that's the whole point! I shouldn't fear encounters with police, especially during times when I need them the most; but that is the reality. To stop protesting obvious injustice with certain police encounters would be a monumental mistake and would only embolden and invite continued brutality and murders by rogue officers. 

Potential dangers of rogue police

When police lose respect for the people in a community or when a community fears its police force, there's a sort of unspoken invitation for corruption. Police are public servants and as Officer Jones so eloquently stated, they take a vow to protect and serve. 

Years ago, I heard rumors that the white police chief, who has long since retired, was the head of a local drug cartel. I originally dismissed those claims as an urban legend, and I am not now saying those rumors are true, but over time I seriously began to wonder if they were true. A close family friend called to report what she suspected was drug activity on her block. There was no action taken against the suspected drug house, but housing inspectors showed up to her house the next day resulting in citations costing thousands of dollars and had to mortgage her home to make the repairs.

A relative, who had gone to jail on drug charges and has since passed away, upon mention of calling the police, stated how the then police chief controls drug activity in St. Louis. He said police officers harass, arrest, shakedown and even kill drug dealers competing with drug dealers who are a part of the police network. I know of people making anonymous calls to police to report drug activity who were later retaliate against by the same drug dealers. After hearing about these sort of incidents and others over the years it became increasing difficult to not consider the possibility that the rumors might be true.

Regardless, it's time to take back control of our communities, public officials and require them to serve us properly or get out of the way so we can find others who will. One of the major issues with St. Louis City Police Officers is that they are not required to live in the city in which they serve. That doesn't make any sense to me. Every other city employee is required to live in the City of St. Louis within 120 days of employment. Most city employees are required to maintain residency to keep their jobs, but police officers are allowed to move after seven years, as we stated, police are above the law.

As Jessie Williams recently stated, "The burden of the brutalized is not to comfort the bystander. That’s not our job, all right, stop with all that. If you have a critique for the resistance, for our resistance, then you better have an established record of critique of our oppression. If you have no interest in equal rights for black people then do not make suggestions to those who do. Sit down."

Criminal Law, Massacre, Police, Race

Another Police Lynching Occurred Yesterday

lynched by police

Another black man, Philando Castile was lynched yesterday. The lynching happened late Wednesday during a traffic stop after being pulled over for a "busted tail light" in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights. Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, who was in the car when Castile was shot, live streamed video after the shooting. 

According to his girlfriend, Mr. Castile notified the police officer that shot him, that he was licensed to conceal and carry and that he had a firearm on him. The officer asked for his license and registration. He explained that he was about to reach for his wallet to comply and that's when the officer fired. 

In earlier post days ago, "Black and Armed", we mentioned how gun laws are being applied unevenly and last year we mentioned how gun possession is being used as a mass incarceration tool.

I was just finishing making boycott comments concerning Alton Sterling when I learned about this incident involving Philando Castile. As a community, we have to do more than just march. We must respond differently to make this stop. We need to withhold our support as consumers from companies that are no speaking up on our behalf and use our dollars as weapons.

These police killings are senseless, I cried like a baby after watching these videos. I don't want to hear any more about how the police fear black men, how a particular officer feared for his life or how I don't understand the stress police officers go through. If certain cops are that fearful or the job is that stressful, those officers how can't handle the pressure need to seek other careers. I couldn't help but think, my god, this could have so easily have been one of my children.

During a news conference Thursday morning, Diamond Reynolds accused the St. Anthony, Minnesota police of murdering her boyfriend, Philando Castile, right before her eyes. "They took his life for no reason," …. "He took his last breath in front of us."

Reynolds accused the St. Anthony police of racism and poor treatment of her and her young daughter, who was also in the car at the time of the shooting. "They took me to jail. They didn't feed us. They didn't give us water," she said. "They put me in a room and separated me from my child. They treated me like a prisoner." 

She wants the police officer who shot her boyfriend arrested and charged with murder. "He should not be home with his family. He should be in jail in handcuffs." … "He didn't do anything; he did exactly as the police asked," … "I want justice."

During a televised CNN interview, Philando Castile's mom stated, 'We are being hunted'

Boycott, Police, Race

Protest minus disruption or violence equals failure

After I posted about boycotting the beverage industry, the question was posed; "What does Coca-Cola or Seven-Up have to do with police killings". Nothing and everything.

Pepsi was one of the companies that spoke out in opposition to a North Carolina law that would have restricted a person to using the bathroom designated for the sex they were born, rather than the sex they identified with. I was shocked at the corporate response to such a relatively new issue.

Since the 1600s, there has been a long history of police brutality and police have abused and suppressed the rights of black people. In the 1960s, Malcolm X addressed police brutality conditions that still exist today and the Black Panther Party was created in response to police brutality. Two days ago, Alton Sterling became one of the latest victims of police brutality that was captured on video. How many more incidents  of brutality exists for each one captured by video?

Over my 50-year life span, I have probably spent tens of thousands of dollars on beverages purchased from grocery stores, restaurants, vending machines, amusement parks, and other venues. If Pepsi felt the need to speak up about bathroom rights, shouldn't it also feel the need to speak up when people are being murdered! What's more important, the right to use a particular bathroom or the right to live? 

"History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people."  – Martin Luther King, Jr.

I thought about simply boycotting just Pepsi, but then I'd be giving Coca-Cola and all the other beverage companies a pass. Collectively, black people spend billions each year on beverages. I can't ever remember any company speaking out for us the way several corporations spoke out for bathroom rights. I'm not hating on the LGBT community, but I do demand that Pepsi and other companies pay us the same respect and speak up for us as well.

I don't expect a mass movement to happen because of my post, but consider if just one percent (1%) of black people in the country gave up soft drinks. There are about 46 million black people in the U.S., one percent equals 460,000 people. Let us assume on average each of those people spends five dollars per week on soft drinks; that's $2,300,000 dollars per week, $9,959,000 per month or $119,508,000 per year. Now imagine two, five or even ten percent of African American boycotting soft drinks; do you imagine they might take a stand against police brutality?

History favors disruption

"Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue." – MLK, Letter from Birmingham Jail 

Historically, the only effective protests have been disruptive or violent. There are not many examples of successful peaceful revolutions. For example, the Occupy Wall Street Movement gain national attention and support, but what did it ultimately accomplish? Nothing. The Occupiers were so peaceful, they didn't even block the entrance to banks or the streets leading to them. Had the Occupy Wall Street leaders simply suggested opening credit union accounts instead of using the major banks, that would have caused disruption on Wall Street and some changes might have occurred.

During the Montgomery bus boycott; the City of Montgomery, AL didn't integrate buses because they suddenly felt guilty about Rosa Parks' arrest, the revenue of downtown merchants and the bus company were negatively impacted (disrupted) and that led to a change in policy.

The peaceful civil rights demonstrations of the 1960's gained attention, but it took violence; four little girls killed in church and scenes of dogs and water hoses used against women and children in Birmingham, AL, the murders of three civil rights workers Chaney, Goodman, Schwerner, beatings on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL,  beatings and killings of countless others before public sentiment rose high enough to pass the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts.

In 1963, Jefferson Bank operations were disrupted by protesters for about a month. Jefferson bank had previously been located in an African-American neighborhood but moved south. After the move, the two black tellers that had previously worked there were gone. By the end of the protest, Jefferson Bank had hired at least six black employees.

In 1964, Percy Green and Richard Daly climbed the construction rigging of the Arch and stayed there for five hours halting construction. The Arch protest prodded officials of the National Park Service into pressuring construction companies to hire more African-American workers and contractors for the Arch project.

In 1999, protesters in St. Louis shut down highway 70 in both directions because of a lack of minority contractors and construction workers on the repair of I-70 through North St. Louis. That shutdown and threats of future shutdowns resulted in more training of minority youth for construction trade jobs and more contracts to minority contractors.

The Ferguson protest resulted in rapid change because of the high policing and property damage cost and the threat of protests in other areas such as Clayton, MO. Even though the peaceful marchers gained national and international attention, it took burned buildings and the threat of continued disruptions for meaningful changes to occur in St. Louis area courts and policing. 

The peaceful Mizzou protest might have been ineffective if the football team hadn't threatened to boycott a game which would have inflicted serious economic harm. 

The obvious initial response to disruption from those in power or with influence will be negative. No one likes disruption, but disruption is necessary if anything is to ever change.

"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." – Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am and admirer of Dr. Martin Luther King who preached and stood for non-violence, but just as nations have diplomats for peaceful resolutions and armies to apply force when neccesary; I believe true freedom will call for both violent and nonviolent methods.

Although, I have no doubt about Dr. King's belief and committment to nonviolence, some speeches he gave as he neared the end of his life indicated that he might have had a change of heart or at least was open minded about different strategies.

MLK – "My Dream Has Turned Into a Nightmare"

Dr. King, "I'm Black and proud"

Also, see Dr. King's statement about Federal Subsidies for White Land Owners on our reparations page.

The root of racism is money!

Slavery didn't occur because of hate, slavery was profitable and fueled the wealth and independence of the United States. Hate was a by-product of the economics of slavery. Even during slavery, it was commonly understood that no one wants to be a slave. But the profits were so great and the institution continued and tried to justify itself by spreading lies that slaves were happy and were better off. 

Jim Crow created a new system, very similar to slavery, that was also profitable. In urban areas, racism continues to ensure that whole groups of people are economically depressed ensuring an available workforce to fill what others may consider undesirable jobs. Those same groups are then targeted by predatory institutions such as payday loans and rent to own outlets because it's profitable!

There are some who may try to argue, slavery and Jim Crow was a long time ago, forget it and move on. The legacy of those institutions, crimes, lack of education, poverty, self-hatred, prison systems, and broken homes are still with us today. 

"It's foolish to let your oppressor tell you that you should forget about the oppression that they inflicted upon you."

Boycott, Police, Race

A man was lynched by police yesterday – so I’m going to boycott!

lynched by police

Yesterday, Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man was shot and killed as two police officers had him pinned on the ground. The video clearly shows Mr. Sterling was subdued and could not have possibly caused any threat to those officers that justified deadly force. 

A week ago, Jessie Williams delivered a remarkable acceptance speech during the BET Awards that emphasized racial injustice, police brutality, and cultural appropriation. During that speech Williams stated:

"police somehow manage to de-escalate, disarm and not kill white people every day. So what’s going to happen is we are going to have equal rights and justice in our own country or we will restructure their function and ours."

Restructure your function and stop being a consumer!

A few months ago, Corporations in defense of LGBT rights threatened to boycott the states of North Carolina, Georgia and others. If a corporation can take a stand for people to use the bathroom of their choice, it's time for the companies black folks support to take a similar stand for us in defense of our lives!

According to BlackDemographics.com, in 2015 the US Census Bureau estimated 46,282,080 African Americans in the United States meaning that 14.3% of the total American population of 321.4 Million is Black. This includes those who identify as ‘Black Only’ and as ‘Black in combination with another race’. The ‘Black Only’ category by itself totaled 42.6 million African Americans or 13.3% of the total population.

Black buying power is expected to reach $1.2 trillion this year, and $1.4 trillion by 2020, according to the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth.  That is so much combined spending power that it would make Black America the 15th largest economy in the world in terms of Gross Domestic Product, the size of Mexico based on World Bank data. 

Unless some of the Industries and major corporations we collectively support such as Pepsi, McDonalds, WalMart and others speak out and use their influence to speak out against the senseless killing of black people by police, I will stop spending my dollars with them. I hope others will join me, however, if you do, you must contact those companies thru their websites and let them know why you won't be purchasing their products; see sample letter below.

You don't need to wait for an organized effort or protest. The only protest that will make a difference is one that negatively affects those with the power of influence or change. Individually, you can decide to stop your support of businesses that remain silent while oppression and injustice are openly committed against us.

Beverage Boycott

Starting today, until they speak out, I will not purchase any beverage purchases including Pepsi, Coke, Arizona, Seven-Up, and others and instead will drink water, which is better for me anyway. Those companies need to pressure the mayors and governors of the cities and states they do business in to bring charges against officers when they clearly have abused their authority.

Next month, I will not make fast food purchases from any national chain such as Burger King, McDonalds, KFC, Churches, Taco Bell, SubWay, ect., until they speak out. I will flip my own burger, fry my own chicken, make my own taco or quesadilla. and make my own sandwich.

The month after that, maybe WalMart. Don't wait until it's your child, relative or friend that becomes the next victim. 

Sample Boycott Letter:

I have purchased and enjoyed your product (name the product) for years (or whatever time period applies), however, I will no longer purchase your product until you break your silence about the police brutality and oppression and is negatively affecting the black community, a community that has supported your company for decades.

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." – Desmond Tutu

I will periodically check your website to see if you have made some gesture or statement in support of justice. Please feel free to send me a link to any article or web page that demonstrates your support.

If you don't want my money, simply remain silent and I will spend it elsewhere!

Sincerely,

Your name

Major Beverage Websites:

Coca-Cola | Pepsi | Dr. Pepper Snapple Group – Seven up | Top 100 Beverage Companies List |

Uncategorized

From Captive to Captor: A Journalist’s Journey from Prisoner to Prison Guard

by Joaquin Sapien

Mother Jones reporter Shane Bauer has spent much of his career reporting on criminal justice. For years he’d been frustrated by the secretive nature of the American private prison industry. Tired of old-fashioned document-hunting, he tried an unconventional approach. He went undercover, spending four months as a prison guard at Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana.

His 35,000-word story provides a rare, harrowing look at the closed world of private prisons — a system that holds 131,000 people nationwide. What he saw still haunts him: men stabbing each other with handmade knives as guards looked on; officers in tactical gear storming the prison’s dormitories; an assault victim writhing in panic as he pleaded for protection from a predatory inmate; a prisoner whose gangrene went untreated so long he had to have his legs amputated.

But of all the alarming things Bauer experienced, perhaps the most frightening was the transformation he noticed within himself. He entered the system intent on being a passive observer— a diligent reporter disguised as a laid-back, upstanding guard. But in time, he became aggressive, even vindictive, toward the prisoners. He squabbled with the men and sought reasons to punish them. His anger and paranoia metastasized and scared him.

“I wonder who I am becoming,” he wrote in the piece. “I feel ashamed of my lack of self-control, my growing thirst for punishment and vengeance. I’m getting afraid of the expanding distance between the person I am at home and the one behind the wire.”

Bauer had once been a prisoner himself. He was held captive in an Iranian prison for some 26 months during his time as a freelance correspondent in Syria in 2009. He spent four of those months in solitary confinement. But as a guard, he had to send men to what was known as “the dungeon” — Winn Correctional’s dreaded segregation unit.

Today, more than a year after his stint as a guard, he joins the ProPublica podcast and speaks candidly about his prison life. Here are some highlights from our conversation:

Sapien: It seems clear that you enter the prison at a time of crisis. What precipitated that and how did it influence the job?

Bauer: While I was in training, there was an escape. A man just, in the middle of the day, climbed over the fence in view of the guard towers and ran into the woods. Nobody saw him, partially because there's no guards in the towers anymore. The company had removed those posts. They replaced them with cameras, presumably to save money. People didn't even know that he escaped for a few hours. That drew a lot of attention from the state. There were also a lot of stabbings. I witness stabbings myself, saw people get beaten. There were weeks that had multiple stabbings just in one week. It had the sense of getting out of control. The prison was locked down several times when I was there, which always raised the frustration level of the prisoners because they would just be stuck in their dorms. There was one time that they had been on lock down after a rash of stabbings for over a week, for 11 days, I think, and the prisoners in my unit threatened to riot.

Sapien: One thing that I think many investigative journalists struggle with is that some of the horrific things that we see make for great stories. The revelations are powerful, but at the same time, they're profoundly depressing. You must've felt that in an even more acute way considering that you'd experienced some of it yourself as a former prisoner. Can you walk us through what was happening for you internally over the course of these 4 months?

Bauer: Yeah, it was hard for me, really, to see the extent of it until I left. I was aware of how I was changing in the prison and how I was relating to prisoners differently and how I was turning off emotionally in order to cope with the situation. My wife came a couple of times for extended visits in Louisiana, and on her second time down, she told me, "You're changing." I was having nightmares at night. I was making sounds in my sleep. That was really apparent to her and also to my colleague, James West, who came down to shoot video. I was really aware that I could not really ever relax. I would try to decompress when I got off, but there was never enough time to do that. I noticed myself start drinking more. The kind of things that is really common for guards, in general. I noticed myself sometimes wishing that somebody would spark a fight with me so I could just get out some of that pent-up aggression.

Sapien: What is the key takeaway that you want people to take away from reading this?

Bauer: My experience at Winn, in so many ways, made clear how conditions were affected by the profit motive of this private prison company. They basically have to deal with this contradiction where they are required to provide care and safety, security to prisoners, but they also are obligated to turn a profit. Their stocks are traded on Wall Street. There is always going to be a tension there. One of the main ways that CCA saves money is in staffing. Sixty percent of the cost of running their prisons is in staffing, so they pay much lower than the state paid its guards. They also didn't fill their positions, even to the bare minimum of what the contract required. That has a serious impact. I saw the ways that impacted conditions in the prison in terms of safety, in terms of medical care, in terms of mental health care. Also, safety of the surrounding community. Somebody escaped while I was there. There's 131,000 people in private prisons right now in the United States, so this is not an issue that's limited to this one prison.

Listen to this podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud or Stitcher For more, read Bauer's piece "My Four Months as a Private Prison Guard."

Re-published with permission under license from ProPublica