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Citizen Journalism legitimacy being questioned, grand jury demands video tape of E...
Tim Lewis doesn’t want to be the next member of the U.S. media jailed for defying a court order.
But he says he’d rather be locked up than surrender to Lane County prosecutors a video he shot during a May 30 anti-pesticide rally in downtown Eugene marked by the controversial stun-gun arrest of 18-year-old University of Oregon student Ian Van Ornum.
Lewis, a longtime local videographer and activist, has been ordered to relinquish the tape to a grand jury that will decide if Van Ornum or anyone else attending the Kesey Square rally should be charged with a crime.
Lewis says there’s “no way” he’ll give up the tape.
“I don’t have a whole bunch (on the tape) that would interest them,” he said. “But I can’t set a precedent by giving it to them.”
Lewis, 52, who for years videotaped police activities for public-access shows “Cascadia Alive!” and “CopWatch” and who describes himself as an independent journalist, took his camera with him to the May 30 rally to capture footage for his “Picture Eugene” series of online videos.
Lewis said he tried to begin recording when uniformed officers first approached Van Ornum. But he didn’t realize that he had previously protected the tape in his camera from being recorded over.
Lewis said he wasn’t able to slip in a new tape until after a Eugene officer used a Taser stun gun to subdue Van Ornum. Scenes of the teen laying on the ground while handcuffed are included in footage Lewis posted online on YouTube. Tim Lewis doesn’t want to be the next member of the U.S. media jailed for defying a court order. ... more -
Update: Taser arrest witnesses in Eugene, Oregon want police prosecuted
Three witnesses to the controversial stun-gun arrest of anti-pesticide protester Ian Van Ornum say a pair of Eugene police officers should face assault charges for roughing up the University of Oregon student after breaking up a downtown rally.
Eugene residents Josh Schlossberg, Samantha Chirillo and Amy Pincus Merwin announced Wednesday that they had filed a formal criminal complaint alleging that police Sgt. Bill Solesbee and officer Jud Warden assaulted Van Ornum on May 30 near Kesey Square.
Brian Michaels, a Eugene attorney representing the three residents, said he hopes the complaint spurs investigators toscrutinize the actions of Solesbee and Warden.
“These police officers need to be held accountable,” Michaels said during a news conference held at City Hall to announce the complaint’s filing. “We’re hoping this keeps the light shining on these officers … for assaulting and nearly killing” Van Ornum.
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This started out as a peaceful protest in a free speech square. Its called Kesey square. Three witnesses to the controversial stun-gun arrest of anti-pesticide protester Ian Van Ornum say a pair of Eugene police officers sh... more -
Peaceful protester in Eugene, Oregon tasered, punished and tortured
Quote from Eugene Weekly letter to editor by Rick Gorman, June 19, 2008 Issue.
What happened to a skinny 19-year-old student in Kesey Free Speech Square on May 30, 2008 was nothing short of torture. Anyone who was at the anit-pesticide rally or viewed the video on Youtube knows that Eugene police used unreasonable force on a kid who was already under their control. Even if you believe the "official story" printed in the Register Guard and reported on the evening news that Ian Van Ornum asked the police, "Do you want poison in your face?" he was no longer a threat to them when he was Tased. Van Ornum was lying face down on the sidewalk surrounded by officers when up to 50,000 volts of electricity was shot into his body three separate times.
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Eugene Police has a long history of violence in dealing with protesters. There have been some prosecutions and many Civil Rights lawsuits against the city for the actions of police. Very often the police chief and the city manager have denied through their investigations any wrongdoing by police even though there is video evidence to the contrary. Eugene police now routinely attempt to prevent videotaping of their activities as you can see in the attached video by Picture Eugene.
Look up the case of the police officer from Eugene who was sexually assaulting vulnerable witnesses and petty criminals under the Mayoral ship of Jim Torrey who is now running for re-election as Mayor when he was unseated by Progressive Candidate Kitty Piercy in a runoff election this November. Kitty is fighting to remain Mayor, and Jim Torrey is fighting to reclaim the seat.
Torrey is a supporter of the Bush Administration's policy on torture and he is a Republican who is trying to pain himself an independent Green candidate...what a joke.
The United Nations has declared that Tasers are Torture....what do you think? Quote from Eugene Weekly letter to editor by Rick Gorman, June 19, 2008 Issue. ... more -
2008 Lane County High School Culinary Arts Competition Awards Show
The Lane Education Service District (ESD) announced the winners of the 6th Annual Lane County High School Culinary Competition Monday May 5th at the Lane Community College Center for Meeting and Learning.
Eleven teams of high school students, working with local professional chefs, prepared and presented entrées featuring chicken breast and a dessert featuring chocolate. The chicken was donated by Tyson Foods, produce was donated by Organically Grown Company, and the chocolate was donated by GloryBee Foods. A team of 12 judges, comprised of local celebrities and professionals in the culinary arts field, rated each team in a variety of categories ranging from how they prepared the food to how it tasted.
Over 250 people, including many event sponsors, were present for the awards banquet, with a menu prepared with the same basic ingredients used by student teams in the competition.
“If there is one thing I would like all you students to hear tonight, it is that you are all winners for taking this event on. I want you to feel honored for your dedication, commitment, and quality of your performance throughout this competition.” said awards banquet emcee Mark Wreath of the Lane ESD. The Lane Education Service District (ESD) announced the winners of the 6th Annual Lane County High School Culinary Competition Monday ... more -
Students protesting pesticide use tasered
Tasering is getting to be the norm in our free US society....
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VC2 Outreach @ Open Lens Indie FF in Eugene: Jan 13th
Saturday Jan. 13th, meet VC2 Outreach at the Open Lens Film Festival. We'll be screening pods @ DIVA Media Arts. More details TBD! Saturday Jan. 13th, meet VC2 Outreach at the Open Lens Film Festival. We'll be screening pods @ DIVA Media Arts. More details TBD... more
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