tagged w/ Police Violence
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On Wednesday, a victim of police brutality filed a lawsuit against a Chicago police officer as well as the city of Chicago. According to Courthouse News Service, in Apr. 2011, Chicago police appeared at Rita King’s door after a domestic disturbance complaint. King was approached by a police officer with a taser, arrested and then taken to the police station. She remained handcuffed to a table while she was questioned. Then, allegedly, she refused to be fingerprinted until someone
explained why she was under arrest. A police officer responded: “We know somebody who can get your fingerprints.”
In entered police commander Glenn Evans who pressed his fist into King’s nose for three to five minutes, repeatedly saying, “I’m going to push your nose through your brain.” King bled profusely, was fingerprinted and was finally released from the station. She attempted to walk home, but lost consciousness after one block. When she woke up 30 minutes later, she managed to call a friend who brought her to the hospital where it was determined she suffered a facial fracture.
Evans has faced at least five other lawsuits as a Chicago police officer in the past. According to SJ&A attorneys, in 2006, an employee of Chicago’s Water Department named Rennie Simmons knocked on Evans door to deliver a notice for an overdue bill. Evans beat up Simmons, and preceded to choke him. Evans relented only after Simmons screamed that he was a stroke patient. Simmons went back to his car, called 911 and was shocked when he was arrested, not Evans.
In 2008, a college student named Cordell Simmons was brought into the station for a drug-related arrest. When Evans felt he wasn’t cooperating with police, he had Cordell stripped and held down while he tasered his groin.
Both of these lawsuits settled before reaching trial.
Despite all this, Evans was promoted to from lieutenant to commander in August 2012.
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/cop-fractures-womans-face-says-im-going-push-your-nose-through-your-brainOn Wednesday, a victim of police brutality filed a lawsuit against a Chicago police... more
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VIDEO WARNING: Two women have brought forth a lawsuit after they were subjected to a roadside cavity search by a Texas DPS Trooper. The raw video of the search, released by their lawyers, contains explicit language and the content of the video may be disturbing to some viewers.
The female Texas trooper who performed a roadside cavity search on two Irving women will be terminated according to the Department of Public Safety.
The two women from Irving are suing Trooper David Farrell, Trooper Kelley Helleson and the director of the Department of Public Safety for what they call an unconstitutional search without probable cause.
On Tuesday DPS spokesman Tom Vinger released the following statement: "The Director of DPS has made a preliminary determination to terminate Kelly Helleson. By policy, she will be given the opportunity to meet with the Director before the decision is finalized."
Helleson was suspended with pay on Dec. 19. Farrell was suspended with pay effective Dec. 21 pending the outcome of an investigation into the incident.VIDEO WARNING: Two women have brought forth a lawsuit after they were subjected to a... more
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This is totally unexceptable!
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Seattle Police Punch, Choke Man; Dash cam video of Beating
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Hassan
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6 months ago
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October 23, 2012 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- A former Chicago police officer convicted of beating a female bartender says he never asked fellow officers to help him out of trouble for that 2007 incident.
Anthony Abbate was back on the stand Tuesday in the civil trial filed by that bartender.
The beating of bartender Karolina Obrycka was captured by surveillance cameras. Obrycka claims Abbate's fellow officers agreed to a code of silence in an effort to protect him.
Abbate told jurors he was so intoxicated after consuming several mixed drinks, shots and painkillers that he doesn't remember the beating, nor does he remember several phone conversations afterwards.
Obrycka's attorney says Abbate is lying.
Abbate says he doesn't remember much about the February 2007 night he was caught on videotape beating up bartender Obrycka. In the civil trial against the fired Chicago cop, Abbate testified that was "on a mission to get totally inebriated" because he was upset his dog had just been diagnosed with cancer.
Obrycka accuses Abbate and the Chicago Police Department of trying to cover up and downplay the beating.
"A police report was generated, he was arrested, he was charged with a felony," said Abbate attorney Michael Malatesta. "He was fired from his job. The videotape was in existence and provided for everyone to see, so, no, I don't believe he engaged in a cover-up."
But, it took more than a month before Abbate was charged with battery.
Obrycka's attorney Terry Ekl says the alleged cover-up was evident by the more than 110 phone calls Abbate made within 24 hours after the beating.
"Phone records are going to reveal that Abbate called a number of Chicago police officers in an attempt to get help on this case," said Ekl. "We're going to be unraveling those phone calls as the trial goes on."
While Abbate told jurors he remembers very little of those phone conversations, he did remember that he "didn't tell anybody to do anything."
Abbate said the calls were nothing more than "drunk dialing."
"He is all over the lot in terms of trying to explain. At times he wants to say, 'I don't remember any calls,' and then wants to tell you that he didn't do certain things," Ekl said.
Full Story: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8856718
http://youtu.be/4R9sas7mVNIOctober 23, 2012 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- A former Chicago police officer convicted of... more
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two phenomena that might account for prejudice in the police: selection (the processes through which intolerant individuals are attracted to intolerant institutions or vice-versa) and group socialization (the processes through which membership in a group causes individuals to adapt the group’s norms and attitudes).two phenomena that might account for prejudice in the police: selection (the processes... more
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Two Texan police officers are being sued for using a Taser to shock a man who was having a seizure, causing the 50-year-old to suffer a heart attack and permanent brain damage.
Scott Sheeley filed a federal complaint last week in Austin, TX, requesting a jury trial against two police officer who shocked him with a Taser. In May, Sheeley unsuccessfully asked for a settlement of at least $1.5 million to cover the costs of medical fees, attorneys and emotional damages.
The case involves a police response to a 911 phone call last November. Police responded to a request for medical assistance for Sheeley, who was suffering a seizure at his home in Austin. When officers Chard Norman and Kevin Sederquest arrived at the man’s house, they allegedly used violence to restrict him from movement, constrained his ability to breathe and repeatedly shocked him with a Taser gun.
The officers controlled the man by “pushing a knee on his back while he was in handcuffs, causing his head to be pressed against the back cushion of the chair, all while he was still convulsing,” the brother of the victim, Dustin Sheeley wrote in a complaint against the state.
Police continued to Taser the man, even after the brother told them not to, and even after the convulsing man was handcuffed. The 50-year-old was left with wounds on his shoulder, back and under his left armpit.
When paramedics arrived, Sheeley was injected with Haldol and Ativan – drugs which are used to control psychotic disorders and anxiety and which can also cause seizures and sudden death, the plaintiff said. The victim then had a heart attack.
“As a result of being improperly restrained, in particular after concurrently having received Ativan and Haldol, the plaintiff suffered respiratory arrest and ceased breathing… As a result of the respiratory arrest, plaintiff suffered cardiac arrest,” reads the formal complaint against the officers.
It took paramedics 11 minutes to revive the man and bring back his pulse.
Sheeley says he suffers and continues to suffer from respiratory arrest, cardiac arrest, loss of heartbeat, loss of oxygen, Taser wounds to the torso, abrasions to knees and elbows, brain injury, loss of vision, headaches, broken ribs, physical pain, continued seizure and severe emotional anguish....
Continued at:
https://rt.com/usa/news/man-seizure-police-sheeley-049/Two Texan police officers are being sued for using a Taser to shock a man who was... more
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Dagum
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7 months ago
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Another case of police brutality: in Houston police shot and killed a ‘threatening’ wheelchair-bound man who was mentally ill and missing an arm and leg.
The officers arrived at Brian Claunch’s special care home early Saturday morning after getting a phone call that he was threatening his caretaker.
Protests are scheduled over the shooting and the FBI is reportedly going to investigate the incident.
According to ABC the man was cornered in a room when the police opened fire and shot him in the head.
The man was unarmed and holding only a pen when shot....
Continued at:
http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/09/27/police-kill-pen-wielding-wheelchair-bound-double-amputee-190151/Another case of police brutality: in Houston police shot and killed a... more
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Dagum
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7 months ago
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Guy walks across the street and then it's all down hill from there.
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Hassan
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8 months ago
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Philadelphia male cop drops poor woman with a punch.
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8 months ago
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Nine activists have committed themselves to blockading construction by TransCanada of the Keystone XL pipeline project through Texas to the Gulf of Mexico. The activists have established a position in trees that TransCanada must cut down in order to build the pipeline. They have decided to engage in nonviolent direct action to stop TransCanada from destroying land for the tar sands pipeline.
The resistance is getting under the skin of TransCanada. Just yesterday, as Jane Hamsher detailed, TransCanada encouraged law enforcement to use torture tactics on blockaders. Now, three days into the blockade, TransCanada’s machinery for cutting down trees is twenty feet away from blockaders, a violation of federal safety regulations. The corporation is refusing to turn off their machinery and leave.
I spoke with Ron Seifert, a spokesperson for the Tar Sands Blockade. He recounted what happened to blockaders yesterday and then explained why activists find it critical to be out resisting construction of the tar sands pipeline.
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KEVIN GOSZTOLA, The Dissenter: To start off, how long has the Tar Sands Blockade been engaging in action?
RON SEIFERT, spokesperson for the Tar Sands Blockade: The Tar Sands Blockade campaign launched in mid-August, however, the sustained tree blockade is now in its third day.
GOSZTOLA: How is the blockade being mounted? How are you blockading the Keystone XL pipeline project?
SEIFERT: There’s two different tactics being employed. There is a tree village. There are platforms and a full tree house, two-story tree condo, if you will, that are all connected via zip lines and traverses throughout an old oak forest. Altogether, there are over a dozen trees that span the entire pathway of the Keystone pipeline. Additionally, there is a scaffolding—a structural wall made of timber—and built along the top of that wall is a catwalk, an additional platform supporting blockaders as well. Between the timber wall and the tree blockade, there are nine different blockaders all dedicated to maintaining their positions and holding out as long as it takes to stop the Keystone XL pipeline once and for all.
GOSZTOLA: These structures were put in before construction was to begin?
SEIFERT: That is correct. Unfortunately, the massive project is ongoing at multiple locations, every day simultaneously. As much as the blockade wants to stop and protect every piece of land that is being destroyed and permanently scarred by construction as we speak, we understand that we have to hold basically one place and really dig in and this is a great opportunity to draw a line in the sand and let the world know that we are rising up to defend home. We are going to fight for a future with out the tar sands pipeline.
GOSZTOLA: I understand that some of the members, who have participated in the blockade, have been arrested. What can you say about the arrests?
SEIFERT: To date, there have been fourteen blockaders arrested at various construction sites for shutting down construction and protecting Texas land and Texas homes from construction. Yesterday was the most abusive confrontation with TransCanada and law enforcement. TransCanada supervisors encouraged law enforcement to use escalated pain compliance techniques on our blockaders. They stood by and watched while blockaders were effectively tortured. They were handcuffed into stress positions. While they were pepper sprayed and tasered, they were put into chokeholds. They were physically abused all while TransCanada supervisors watched and, when blockaders were removed from the scene and arrested, TransCanada supervisors thanked law enforcement and commended them on a job well done.
GOSZTOLA: So this is an escalation? In the days before, you didn’t see this sort of conduct?
SEIFERT: No, for the most part all of our interactions with law enforcement have been relatively civil. There was one encounter where a blockader was contorted into an uncomfortable position, but this is the first time that non-lethal weapons were used on blockaders and it is also the first time that they were handcuffed and physically restrained. Basically, law enforcement handcuffed blockaders to the equipment so they could not move, immobilized them, and then proceeded to use non-lethal weapons on them.
GOSZTOLA: Were the people arrested released? Were any of them injured by the use of weapons or torture tactics? Did they return to take positions in the blockade again?
SEIFERT: They do have bruises and emotional scarring from the incident. Of course, they were in overwhelming pain for periods of time for doing nothing more than peacefully protesting. There was absolutely nothing violent or not even one word uttered by the blockaders. It came from reports on site that it was at TransCanada’s discretion that these pain-inducing tactics were utilized.
As far as the blockader’ health, they are surprisingly in good spirits. They want to encourage folks across the country to not let these brutal tactics stand behind them and their conviction, that the only way we can stop this pipeline is to collectively rise up and show this multinational corporation that their brutality will not deter our resistance.
They are out of jail. They were released last night on bond. They were $2000 bails. They are with friends and family right now recovering.
GOSZTOLA: Finally, what is at stake here? What does it mean that a multinational corporation, TransCanada, is recruiting law enforcement to suppress people who are resisting their construction?
SEIFERT: Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that TransCanada is recruiting the state to do its dirty work because they’ve already co-opted the state power of eminent domain, which is an extraordinary ability for a third party to seize unilaterally private property which is intended for a public good or a public use. In the case of the Keystone XL pipeline, this multinational corporation has been granted the ability to seize private property for their own private good, private gain. So, it’s an egregious overreach that is resulting in the transference of thousands of acres of private property in Texas to this multinational corporation so they can further enrich themselves.
To do this, this is all predicated on tar sands exploitation. Tar sands exploitation in Alberta [in Canada] is the most ecologically devastating project right now on planet Earth. And I know that sounds a bit hyperbolic but it truly is the case. Industry has earmarked over 53,000 square miles of boreal forest for clear-cut and strip-mining, forest area the size of New York state that will be permanently destroyed and permanently lifeless.
The amount of carbon that exists in the tar sands formation is enough to put Earth over the edge. Our global climate would never recover if every drop of tar sands is allowed to be mined, processed and burned. We simply don’t have the carbon budget for it, and, accordingly stopping the Keystone XL pipeline, which will open the floodgates to this type of exploitation, is a necessary condition for protecting a viable future on this planet. If we do not do this, it really is game over for future generations. This is something that must be stopped. It’s dangerous. It affects us all. And for those directly impacted that are in the lines of the pipeline itself, these are folks whose water and land are threatened and folks in most cases wanted nothing to do with this pipeline and were forced into harm’s way by TransCanada.
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More at the linkNine activists have committed themselves to blockading construction by TransCanada of... more
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On May 5 at around 9:30 a.m., several teams of Pima County, Ariz., police officers from at least four different police agencies armed with SWAT gear and an armored personnel carrier raided at least four homes as part of what at the time was described as an investigation into alleged marijuana trafficking. One of those homes belonged to 26-year-old Jose Guerena and his wife, Vanessa Guerena. The couple's 4-year-old son was also in the house at the time. Their 6-year-old son was at school.
As the SWAT team forced its way into his home, Guerena, a former Marine who served two tours of duty in Iraq, armed himself with his AR-15 rifle and told his wife and son to hide in a closet. As the officers entered, Guerena confronted them from the far end of a long, dark hallway. The police opened fire, releasing more than 70 rounds in about 7 seconds, at least 60 of which struck Guerena. He was pronounced dead a little over an hour later.On May 5 at around 9:30 a.m., several teams of Pima County, Ariz., police officers... more
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In a very strange case of deferring responsibility to the survivors of a massacre, the South African justice system have charged the striking miners with the murder of their colleagues by police forces.
http://rt.com/news/south-africa-miners-charged-979/In a very strange case of deferring responsibility to the survivors of a massacre, the... more
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles Police Department commanding officer has been removed amid an internal investigation into a videotaped beating in which officers tackled a handcuffed registered nurse to the ground, police Chief Charlie Beck said Wednesday.
Beck said previously that he had "serious concerns" about the use of force against Michelle Jordan, 34, who was arrested in the Tujunga area on Aug. 21 after being stopped for talking on a cellphone while driving, police said.
Jordan got out of the car and cursed the two officers who stopped her, witnesses and Jordan's husband told KNBC-TV.
Fast-food restaurant surveillance video obtained by the TV station (bit.ly/NVptHP ) showed officers taking her to the ground. After she is handcuffed and walked to a police car, the 5-foot-4 woman is tackled a second time by an officer who lands on top of her.
"She made some unwise moves," her attorney, Sy Nazif, told the station. "But certainly nothing that warranted a physical assault from the LAPD."
Photos show scrapes on Jordan's face, shoulders and chest.
The officers involved in the incident have been removed from patrol duty until an LAPD investigation is complete. One is a 22-year veteran and the other is a probationary officer with 10 months on the force.
Beck said at a news conference Wednesday that Capt. Joseph Hitner of the department's Foothill Division was "severely deficient in his response," Beck said.
http://news.yahoo.com/lapd-commander-removed-probe-rough-arrest-054751139.htmlLOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles Police Department commanding officer has been... more
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KSirys
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Police Terrorism?
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Hassan
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Published on Aug 2, 2012 by ReasonTV
In October 2011, the police-related shooting death of unarmed man, Michael Nida, 31, raised serious questions about the state of policing in the city of Downey, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.
Why did it raise questions? The father of four who worked in construction wasn't shot with a handgun by one of the Downey Police Department's officers. He was shot with an MP5 submachine gun, the same gun used by the Navy Seals.
"Why would he have a machine gun?" asks Jean Thaxton, one of Nida's guardians since birth. "We're not in a war zone, I didn't think. I didn't think this was a war zone."
"An ordinary patrolman isn't going to be carrying something like a submachine gun," says Timothy Lynch, the director of the Project on Criminal Justice at the CATO Institute. Lynch says that even if they have those types of weapons, they should only be using them in rare circumstances, such as when they are confronting a heavily armed suspect.
But for decades police have been arming themselves with military equipment like M16s, grenade launchers, and armored personnel carriers.
"At first when they got it, the idea was, yeah, this is extraordinary weaponry, we'll have it just in case we'll ever need it." But as decades went by, police started to use them to enforce drug warrants and then started carrying them on routine calls.Published on Aug 2, 2012 by ReasonTV
In October 2011, the police-related shooting... more
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Recently a chain of police violence has broken out on the streets of Anaheim, California. After police officers shot at an unarmed man on Saturday, non-violent protests erupted and women and children were targeted by the cops. Police were filmed abusing their power again, letting a dog loose on a woman with a baby and attacking other unarmed civilians with rubber bullets. On Sunday, the Anaheim PD executed their second person in only two days. By Tuesday afternoon, the Southern California city was preparing to see it's fourth straight day of protests. RT's Ramon Galindo brings the latest from the ground.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gcONy1EbNqwRecently a chain of police violence has broken out on the streets of Anaheim,... more
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