Hurricane Maria & Genocidal Neglect by US Government Killed More Than 1,000 in Puerto Rico, New Study Suggests

From [HERE] For weeks, Donald Trump gleefully boasted about the job his administration had done in helping Puerto Rico weather the monstrous Hurricane Maria, particularly noting that only 16 people had supposedly been killed. "Look at a real catastrophe like Katrina and... you look at what happened here," Trump said of the death toll in New Orleans while visiting San Juan in October. "Sixteen people [dead] versus in the thousands. You can be very proud of all of your people and all of our people working together."

A new academic report, though, suggests that in fact at least a thousand people have died on the island as a result of Maria. The findings echo concerns from reporters and locals in Puerto Rico that the final official death count of 55 fatalities is far too low and that Trump's anemic response to the catastrophe has cost far more lives in the U.S. commonwealth.

"Our findings suggest that the actual mortality burden attributable to Hurricane Maria may be far higher than current official statistics and may exceed the current official death total by a factor of 10 or more," write the authors, Penn State demographer Alexis Santos and epidemiologist Jeffrey Howard.

Their paper, which was first noted by Vox, used a simple methodology: They acquired the total number of deaths reported on the island in September and October by the Puerto Rico Department of Public Safety and compared those figures to the historical averages for those two months over the past seven years.

Their findings were eye-opening: In each month, at least 500 more deaths were recorded than the historic averages for September and October.

"Our estimates suggest that the number of excess deaths in Puerto Rico may actually be closer to 500 for September, and if the pattern held in October, we estimate an additional 500 excess deaths," the researchers write in the paper, which — it's worth noting — hasn't been peer-reviewed yet and relies on informal death reports rather than certified government numbers.

But their findings aren't coming in a vacuum. Observers on the ground in Puerto Rico have said for months that the government's official death toll is laughably small. Vox did its own research last month by simply tallying reported deaths in local media accounts on the island and found closer to 500 fatalities. 

Huge swaths of the island have gone without power or clean water for months. Even today, ten weeks after the storm, at least half the island's residents still don't have power and 10 percent are without drinkable water. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has awarded sweetheart contracts to politically connected, undersized companies that have repeatedly failed to carry out their jobs on the island.

It's no wonder that an estimated 200,000 Puerto Ricans have fled to Florida.

The new study provides the perfect contrast to Trump's glowing quotes on the island in October. If the numbers are even close to accurate, Maria is Trump's Katrina. And the death toll will likely continue to climb.

"He could have lived if [Race Soldiers] had just not kept shooting him again & again & again & again": LA to pay $3.6M for Murdering Black Man Walking Away From Cops

Shot @ 33X in Racist System. "After the 1st Shot He Hit the Ground." From [HERE] Los Angeles County jury awarded $3.6 million to the family of a 28-year-old man who was killed by sheriff’s deputies in a controversial videotaped shooting that drew widespread attention in 2015, attorneys said Wednesday.

The unanimous verdict was returned Monday in federal court in favor of the children of Nicholas Robertson nearly two years after he was shot and killed by deputies in Lynwood, according to a statement released by the Cochran Firm, which represented the family.

Robertson was carrying an unloaded handgun in December 2015 when he was confronted by deputies as he walked toward an Arco gas station near Long Beach Boulevard and Magnolia Avenue. Police have said Robertson ignored commands to drop his weapon prior to the deputies’ decision to open fire.

Footage of the shooting appears to show Robertson walking, and then crawling, away from the deputies as they let off repeated bursts of gunfire. Robertson, a married father of three, died a short time later.

Brian Dunn, an attorney with the Cochran Firm, said in a statement that the deputies fired 33 rounds, striking Robertson more than a dozen times. Only the last two shots proved fatal, he said.

“He could have lived if they had just not kept shooting him again and again and again and again. He could have lived because he suffered 15 non-life-threatening gunshot wounds and only two fatal and they were at the very end,” Dunn said in the statement. “We looked at the sheriff’s training. They are trained to shoot in two or three round bursts and then reassess. They did not do that here.”

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office found that the deputies who opened fire, Richard Ochoa-Garcia and Jasen Tapia, acted in self-defense and declined to prosecute, according to a memorandum made public this year. 

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'Robberies by people wearing police costumes': Baltimore Cops Accused of Robbing Citizens & Manipulating Video Evidence Have Affected 2,500 Cases

From [HERE] The arrests of eight Baltimore police officers on racketeering charges earlier this year may affect more than 2,000 criminal cases, a major increase from previous estimates, according to the public defender's office.

The affected charges stem from the arrest of officers with the Gun Trace Task Force, a specialized force that dealt with investigating firearms offenses.

In March, seven officers from the task force were arrested on federal racketeering charges and were accused of claiming fraudulent overtime, filing false affidavits and stopping residents -- some of whom were not accused of any crimes -- to seize their money. An eighth officer was arrested in August on similar charges.

In one instance, officers stopped a maintenance supervisor at a nursing home and stole $1,500 from him that he was planning to use on rent, according to the indictment.

"These are really robberies by people who are wearing police uniforms," then-Maryland US Attorney Rod Rosenstein said at the time.

More than 2,000 affected cases

The public defender's office counted more than 2,000 cases that can be called into question because they are connected to those eight officers, according to Debbie Katz Levi, the head of the office's Special Litigation Section.

Katz Levi said her office compiled the number of cases involving each of those eight officers going back to the year when the indictment says their alleged corruption began.

"We're not using a secret formula," she said.

About 70 people with affected cases are still in state custody, she told CNN.

However, the Office of the State's Attorney for Baltimore City said that about 846 cases have been or will be impacted by the officers' actions, including 277 cases related to the indicted officers.

A total of 569 other cases may be affected by three separate instances of possible misconduct caught on body-worn camera, according to the State's Attorney. One video, released by the Office of the Public Defender, appeared to show an officer planting drugs at the scene of an arrest in January.

"We will continue to share the progress of this comprehensive review of the impacted cases with the community," State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby said in a statement.

"Public trust is essential to the success of the criminal justice system and our ability to effectively prosecute crime. We will do our part to minimize any erosion to this trust and remain vigilant in our pursuit of justice."

Katz Levi's announcement comes three weeks after Baltimore police Officer Sean Suiter, 43, was shot and killed with his own gun after a struggle with an unknown killer.

Suiter was killed a day before he was scheduled to appear at a federal grand jury to speak to what he knew about a 2010 corruption case.

Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said he was told Suiter was not a target of the investigation and that there was no information connecting his murder to the corruption case. Still, he called on the FBI to investigate his slaying.

"I am growing increasingly uncomfortable that my homicide detectives do not know all of the facts known to the FBI or USAO that could, if revealed to us, assist in furthering this murder investigation," he said.

Feds File New Revenge-Justice Charges Against Non-white Immigrant Acquitted in White Woman's Murder

From [HERE] A federal grand jury has indicted the undocumented immigrant who was acquitted last week of murder and manslaughter charges in the case of Kate Steinle. The Mexican national, Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, will face new immigration and gun charges.

That case drew national attention after then-candidate Donald Trump raised it as a justification for his proposed crackdown on illegal immigration and sanctuary cities.

Garcia Zarate has been indicted on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and for being an illegally present alien on possession of a firearm. Either violation carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Last week a San Francisco jury found Garcia Zarate, 45, not guilty of murdering the 32-year-old Kate Steinle as she was walking along a city pier two years ago. The jury apparently agreed with the defense which argued that a single shot killed Steinle accidentally after it ricocheted off of the ground before striking her in the back. But the jury did convict him of being a felon with a gun. Garcia Zarate's defense attorneys say they will appeal that conviction which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison.

The day after the trial, federal authorities said they would seek to gain custody of Garcia Zarate and eventually deport him.

The new charges appear to signal that federal authorities hope to try, convict and incarcerate the five-time deportee before he is ultimately expelled from the U.S.

In San Francisco, reaction to the not-guilty verdict persists. San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón said the jury's decision was "hard to receive." He also rejected the criticism of Public Defender Jeff Adachi who said that the DA's office over-charged the case. Prosecutors never offered jurors a motive for Steinle's killing.

Gascon also criticized President Trump and conservative pundits for turning the trial into a "political football."

DC Council Puppeticians Want Proof of Residency & Proof of Homelessness Before Sheltering its Large, Mostly Black Homeless Population

Native American Tribes sue President Trash over decision to shrink Bears Ears National Monument by 90%

From [HERE] Five Native American tribes filed suit [complaint, PDF] Monday against US President Donald Trump after he announced his decision to reduce the size of both Utah's Bears Ears National Monument by nearly 90 percent and the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument [proclamations] by nearly 50 percent.

The Hopi, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni and Ute Indian tribes argue that the attempt to revoke a national monument violates the Antiquities Act of 1906 [text, PDF], which provides that, "[t]he President, may ... declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated on land owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be national monuments." The tribes claim that the act does not give the president authority to revoke or abolish monuments, nor does it give the president authority to modify or diminish national monuments.

The tribes are asking for immediate relief to stop the orders from taking effect before the case is heard by the court. Ultimately, they are asking that the proclamation be deemed unconstitutional and not be implemented.

Did White Folks Dial 911 & Get a Funkadelic Album Removed From I-Tunes? ['America Conditions Its Slaves']

According to artist & and media assassin, Vincent Brown shortly after the Washington Post published an article about "the GOP’s fast-moving tax overhaul plan" with the headline "Funkadelic, ‘America Eats Its Young’: The Week In One Song" last week, the Funkadelic album vanished from I-Tunes.  The Post article simply presented a You-Tube video of the instrumental title track from the album with a picture of the album cover. The article contained only one sentence ["The Senate GOP’s fast-moving tax overhaul plan has potentially powerful generational implications"] and the song has no lyrics, however, the album's cover artwork was apparently too much for Apple who removed it from their otherwise complete I-Tunes catalogue of Funkadelic offerings.

Brown mused that it was probably taken down after racist suspect readers of the WashPost complained about it. He observed that it had been previously available on I-Tunes. White folks function as an auxillary police force or a hyper-alert snitch force viligantly watching Black & Brown people and all the things they do with hyper-alertness to report any perceived non-compliance with the operating system of RSW. Glitches are filtered out. Said album was released 40 years ago. But anything that threatens belief in Doggy must go. Anyway, "fair taxes are for unicorns." 

['the hate They have'] Offended White Folks Get White TX School Officials to Pull Popular Teen book about Racism & Unlawful Conduct by Cops

From [HERE] Katy ISD officials touched off a social media firestorm this week after they decided to temporarily pull a popular young adult book about racism and police brutality from the shelves of several junior high and high schools in November. The Katy Independent School District (KISD) is a public school district based in Texas with an enrollment of over 70,000 students.

Angie Thomas, author of "The Hate U Give," tweeted on Nov. 30 that a school district in Texas had banned the book, alluding to Katy ISD.

"I'm saddened to hear that a school district in Texas banned #TheHateUGive, but I'm also empowered - you're basically telling the kids of the Garden Heights of the world that their stories shouldn't be told," Thomas wrote, referring to the gang-ravaged neighborhood where the fictional teenage protagonist lives. "Well, I'm going to tell them even louder. Thanks for igniting the fire."

Katy ISD spokeswoman Maria Corrales DiPetta disputed Thomas' account. The spokeswoman said the book was temporarily removed after a parent complained about its language at a Nov. 6 board meeting, and a preliminary review of the book found "pervasive vulgarity. [MORE]

[Non-Law = an otherwise legitimate law used by racists to affect Black people] Gentrifiers Use D.C. Building Code to Shut Down Liquor Store

According to racist suspects at Popville gentrifiers in DC recently used the D.C. building code to eliminate a liquor store at Georgia Ave. and Kennedy Street NW [above] in an area white invaders now insist on calling Petworth. Apparently, the store attracted undesirable Black men whose presence frightens & intimidates them as they get in & out of their Ubers, jog by or play on their expensive phones. Boo. If the store had sold scones or donuts with bacon bits on them in service of whitey it would have been all good. In 10 years these stupid zombies will probably invade Wheaton, MD looking for culture or charbroiled chicken. [MORE]

Neely Fuller explains that an otherwise fine law or policy becomes a "non-law" when it is used by racists in such a manner as to promote injustice. It is the application of policy or laws by racist citizens, prosecutors, jurors and judges that creates injustice for non-whites.  At any rate, most laws are created and funded by white legislators, administered by white Government workers, enforced by white prosecutors and remedied by white jurors and judges [& their Black & Brown Clones] - the same racist suspects who participate, perpetuate and/or benefit from this system of white domination and control. "Laws in and of themselves will not protect us." 

Anything innocuous, such as a building code or a law banning the possession of alcohol in public in the hands of racists can be used as a tool of white supremacy. The plain meaning of such laws is not racist. For example, "Stand your ground" is a self-defense, defense raised at trial by a criminal defendant that allows for the use of deadly force when it is reasonable for a non-aggressor/victim to do so. In states which have variations of this law a person does not have a legal duty to retreat before using self defense to defend themselves under life threatening conditions that are reasonably apparent to the victim. Most states, including D.C. have a version of the law. [MORE] And what is wrong with defending yourself against someone trying to substantially harm you? Yet racist civilians, judges, jurors, prosecutors and police have used these laws to justify murdering Black people. Similarly, pedestrian laws and traffic codes have been co-opted by cops for years to target Black people everywhere. [MORE] and [MORE]. Changing laws or creating more is no remedy.

Undeceiver Dr. Blynd explains that "law always serve to maintain the interests of those who legislate, uphold, service and execute the law. Law is always erected and imposed by overrulers and their "orderlies" anywhere ignorance of the true nature of Self - reality based truth- widely flourishes. [MORE]

Doggy's operating system (OS) of White supremacy is the cause and effect of white people's genocidal conduct towards non-whites; recent incidents are part of this observable pattern. It is a white over Black system of vast unequal conditions and power. White people practice racism because they have the power to do so. To end or neutralize white supremacy Black people must end or neutralize white power. 

The system of racism/white supremacy can be neutralized, destroyed or replaced with a civilized system of justice only when Black people acquire some power. This can begin as soon as Blacks stop participating in, legitimizing, consenting to and drop out of white people’s fantastic con game.

How President Trash's Administration Is Using Local Cops to Widen Its Non-White Immigration Dragnet & Skin Color Targeting Program

From [HERE] A controversial program that allows state and local law enforcement to partner with federal immigration officials is rapidly expanding under the Trump administration. According to a recent Reuters story, the number of departments participating in so-called 287(g) agreements has doubled within the past 10 months, and 38 more jurisdictions have expressed interest in joining the program. 

The expansion shows that the Department of Homeland Security is increasingly turning to local law enforcement to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants—a strategy previously outlined in a February memo from then-DHS Secretary John Kelly, who called the program a “a highly successful force multiplier” and “critical to an effective enforcement strategy” while directing senior immigration officials to immediately engage with any interested jurisdictions. A Freedom of Information Act request from Reuters revealed that DHS officials have reached out to “scores” of jurisdictions about participating in 287(g).

“It fits right into what Trump wants to do,” says Bill Ong Hing, an immigration law professor at the University of San Francisco. “He promised to establish an army charged with rounding up and deporting undocumented immigrants. [287(g) agreements] are a convenient way for him to expand that deportation force.”

Many of the police departments that have joined or expressed interest in joining 287(g) are located in towns with small populations, and three-quarters of them are located in counties that voted for Trump during the 2016 election, according to Reuters. ICE now has 287(g) agreements with 60 law enforcement agencies in 18 states, with a large share of those agencies in Texas.  

287(g) has had a long and well-documented history of problems, and the ACLU has called it “one of the worst federal immigration enforcement programs.” Expanding it would have a “really chilling effect,” says Shiu-Ming Cheer, a senior staff attorney at the National Immigration Law Center. “Immigrants will start seeing law enforcement as deportation agents. It’s going to create a wider sense of fear.” 

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Liars are In-Credible Witnesses: Number of Cases Dropped by the DA Involving Indicted Baltimore Cops [for robbing residents, falsifying records] Rises to 125

From [HERE] Prosecutors have now dropped or plan to drop a total of 125 criminal cases that rely on the testimony of eight Baltimore police officers indicted this year on federal racketeering charges, they said Monday.

Those include more than 50 adjudicated cases that prosecutors successfully reopened only to drop, in consultation with defense counsel.

More than two dozen such motions are pending, and more than a dozen have been denied, prosecutors said — meaning judges rejected joint requests for closed cases involving the indicted officers to be reopened.

Dozens of additional drug and gun cases remain under review, as prosecutors reassess the involvement of eight members of the police department’s now dismantled Gun Trace Task Force had in them.

Nearly three dozen have been reviewed and deemed valid through the presence of evidence unrelated to the indicted officers, prosecutors said.

The officers are accused of robbing residents, filing false court paperwork and making fraudulent overtime claims. Four have pleaded guilty. Another will do the same this week, his attorney said.

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What Remedy for Nazi-like Movement Restrictions, ID Checks & Searches & Seizures in Baltimore after Cop Shooting? A Town Hall Meeting

[whitenology. Due process- A Meaningless Opportunity to Be Unheard]. After a black cop was killed [apparently by another Baltimore cop], the City turned Harlem Park into a crime scene and the entire neighborhood was cordoned off. For a week, mostly Black residents and persons entering or leaving the area were subject to interrogations, unlawful seizures, stops, pat down searches, ID checks and non-residents have been barred from entering the area. Residents have said they were being required to show identification to get past the police tape to enter their homes. They complained about helicopters flying above their homes, flashing lights from police cars, and being subject to harassment [MORE]

In the kind of climate that exists after a government servant [ruler] is killed anything goes with regard to your alleged rights in this white over Black system.

Such measures were similarly part of the destruction process of the Jews in Nazi Germany. Hitler created an elaborate system of movement restrictions and identification measures that included personal Jew identification cards, passports marked with a J, assignment of names and the outward marking of persons with a yellow star. [MORE] Here, you are targeted by skin color. 

Town Hall Meeting Held After Black Residents' "Freedoms" Put on "Lockdown" in Black Neighborhood in System of Racism/White Supremacy. From [HERE] and [HERE] The narrow topic of the meeting at a Harlem Park church last night, held just a few blocks from where Detective Sean Suiter was murdered, was supposed to be about the neighborhood lockdown that followed.

But the Civilian Review Board town hall gathering ended up serving as a flashpoint for decades of anger towards Baltimore police and fresh rage over the latest revelations:

Not only that Suiter was scheduled to testify, the day after he was shot, in the case of fellow officers indicted on corruption charges, but that one of those officers allegedly placed packets of heroin in a man’s car seven years ago, tricking Suiter into “finding” them.

“They used the detective to plant the drugs in the car and he had no knowledge of that,” Lavonne White said. “Police have been allowed to abuse their authority for years in Baltimore.” 

Racist suspects in positions of "authority" often keep a Black probot at their side. Above probot holds himself like he is praying to his lord & master, the Government. Thank you Bossssussss!

Many derided the recently empaneled review board, saying its lack of power over the police high command or the Fraternal Order of Police union renders it incapable of reforming an agency clouded by allegations of corruption.

“This detective’s murder was an inside job. This is what people think, and many people are not going to come and speak to you. They’re not going to write their names on a piece of paper,” said Nneka Namdi.

“I encourage the review board to do some clandestine investigations,” she said, “because people are really in fear for their lives.”

Board has Limited Power

It was a harsh initiation for new members of the nine-person body, introduced to the audience of about 75 people by Jill P. Carter, director of the city’s Office of Civil Rights.

Appointed by Mayor Catherine Pugh, the all-volunteer review board is tasked with investigating complaints of excessive force, abusive language, harassment, false arrest and false imprisonment by police.

But the board does not have the power to subpoena officers accused of wrongdoing and has extremely limited powers to do much more than make recommendations to the police commissioner.

“I agree with you,” Carter said several times to audience critics, urging them to go to Annapolis to help lobby for changes.

She pointed to a report her office issued with 15 recommendations to make the board more effective.

They include having civilians serve on police discipline trial boards, expanding the scope of complaint types it can review, requiring that officers and agencies to cooperate with the board’s investigations, and granting an annual operating budget.

Carter had called the meeting after the Harlem Park lockdown drew deep concern from residents, activists and civil liberties lawyers.

An area of several blocks was cordoned off by police, and people were required to show identification at police checkpoints in order to enter. People reported being questioned and even patted-down and frisked.

Search and Seizure

Asked if the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland would sue the city, staff attorney David Rocah stopped short of making any commitment, saying his office was still gathering information.

But in his review of the legal questions at play in the Harlem Park lockdown, he indicated last night that he had serious concerns.

Restricting access to a crime scene can be legitimate, Rocah said, “but it is unclear to me why preserving the crime scene required shutting down multiple blocks and barring people from entering.”

A 2008 checkpoint system set up by Washington, D.C., police in the “Trinidad neighborhood” was ruled unconstitutional, Rocah said. What happened in West Baltimore went beyond what took place in Washington, he said, noting that it only involved motorists being stopped.

The stops by Baltimore police of pedestrians and motorists could be considered a violation of the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure, he said.

Another concern is the frisks and pat-downs, which he said are only permitted when a person is suspected of having committed a crime.

“Simply living in Harlem Park, living on one of those blocks,” he said, “is not a reasonable basis for suspecting a person of having committed a crime.”

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Supremes Reject Case: White Prosecutors Struck 10 of 11 Blacks from Jury Pool in White Man's Case - Alabama Now Set to Murder Him

Trial By an Unlawfully Created State Body [a jury]. There are only a few ways that Americans can meaningfully exercise their citizenship; enlisting in the military, running for national office, voting and serving on a jury. Jury service is a basic right of citizenship . As Justice Thurgood Marshall explained, "no one can be expected to perceive himself to be a full participant in our society as a whole, when he is told by a representative of the government that, because of his race, he is too stupid or too biased to serve on a particular jury." [MORE] and [MORE] 

From [HERE] The U.S. Supreme Court, in a ruling issued today, refused to hear the appeal of Alabama Death Row inmate Christopher Anthony Floyd, who says prosecutors struck 10 of 11 blacks from the jury pool at his trial.

Floyd appealed earlier this year to the U.S. Supreme Court after a ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court last year.

The Alabama Supreme Court's decision came despite a previous U.S. Supreme Court order that told the Alabama court to take another look at Floyd's case in light of a similar case in Georgia - Foster v. Chatman. In the 2016 appeal of that case, SCOTUS reversed a conviction for discriminatory jury selection involving prosecutors' striking blacks from the jury pool.

However, the Alabama Supreme Court in November 2016 concluded that the Foster case did not require a change in the outcome of Floyd's case, and again affirmed Floyd's conviction. Floyd then turned again to SCOTUS.

In 2005, Floyd was convicted in Houston County for the murder and robbery of Waylon Crawford. Floyd was sentenced to death or murder by the state. 

In selecting the jury for Floyd's case, the prosecutor and Floyd's lawyers exercised a total of 36 peremptory challenges, according to the state supreme court order. Prosecutors used its 18 challenges to remove 10 of 11 African-American venire members and 12 of 18 female venire members. Floyd's lawyers removed one African-American and seven female venire members. The final jury consisted of six white male jurors, six white female jurors, two alternate white male jurors and one alternate African-American female juror.

Floyd, who is white, did not object to the jury based on Batson v. Kentucky-- a previous U.S. Supreme Court ruling prohibiting racial discrimination in jury selection, court records show.

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Report: White DA Hid DNA Evidence to Get Lower Settlement & Protect White St Louis Cop who Killed Anthony Lamar Smith

From [HERE] A report issued Tuesday by Attorney General Josh Hawley concludes that a lawyer in his predecessor’s office improperly withheld evidence while the state and the family of Anthony Lamar Smith negotiated a wrongful death lawsuit in 2013.

St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley shot and killed Smith following a pursuit in 2011. Stockley was acquitted of first-degree murder charges in September, sparking rounds of ongoing protests throughout the region.

During his trial, prosecutors presented evidence that a revolver investigators recovered from Smith’s car only contained Stockley’s DNA. But in 2013, no such evidence was available to Smith family attorneys as they negotiated a wrongful death settlement with former Attorney General Chris Koster’s office. At the time, the St. Louis Police Department was under state control.

Hawley recently commissioned ex-federal prosecutor Hal A. Goldsmith to investigate.

In an 11-page report released Tuesday, Goldsmith wrote that at least one assistant attorney general and “many agents” of the St. Louis Police Board of Commissioners knew about the DNA evidence, yet did not disclose it to Smith’s family. The St. Louis County Police Department Board of Police Commissioners is a civilian oversight board with five members representing the citizens of St. Louis County. [MORE]

“This type of injustice cannot be permitted,” attorney Albert S. Watkins told the Post-Dispatch on Tuesday, adding the evidence could’ve helped Smith’s family secure a higher settlement. They settled for $900,000 in June 2013.

Watkins said he would seek to reopen the civil case, possibly earning a higher settlement. He also wanted to make sure “this never happens again.”

“I will take methodical and calculated measures to wreak havoc on their lives,” Watkins said of those responsible for withholding the information.

Goldsmith’s report was inconclusive on any motives behind not releasing the information. [motive would be racism/white supremacy. What is white collective power?]

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Review Board says Fatal Shooting of Terrence Sterling by White DC Cop was 'Unjustified’

From [HERE] The 2016 shooting of an unarmed black motorcyclist by a white D.C. police officer has been ruled “unjustified” by a police review board, Police Chief Peter Newsham told WTOP Tuesday.

The department’s Use of Force Review Board determined that Officer Brian Trainer, 27, violated department rules when he fatally shot 31-year-old Terrence Sterling in September 2016, Newsham said. The board recommended that Trainer, a four-year member of the force, be terminated from the department.

Newsham first made the announcement about the board’s determination during an interview on Fox 5 Tuesday morning.

“Whenever you use force, there are a number of policies and procedures that our officers are required to follow,” Newsham told WTOP. “I really don’t want to talk about specifics of the exact violations at this point. But when the whole matter is over, a lot of that information will become available to the public.”

The board’s determination that Trainer violated departmental rules comes several months after the officer was cleared of criminal wrongdoing in the shooting, which came amid concern over police killings of unarmed African-Americans throughout the U.S. and sparked protests in D.C.

White prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. said in August there was not enough evidence to prove that Trainer violated Sterling’s rights or that Trainer had not acted in self-defense when he shot Sterling, a heating and air-conditioning technician from Fort Washington, Maryland.

Police said Sterling was was reportedly driving "erratically."  

According to the court record in a $50 Million wrongful death lawsuit against the District of Columbia, Metropolitan Police Department, and Officer Brian Trainer, police blocked the intersection of 3rd and M Streets, NW in order to prevent Sterling from crossing the intersection. That's when his motorcycle sturck the passenger side door leaving minor damage.  Police allege he "rammed" the cruiser.  Officer Brian Trainer, who was in the passenger seat, then shot Sterling in the neck and back.  He was pronounced dead at 4:54 a.m. onon September 11, 2016.

According to a press release from the law firm representing the Sterling family in the lawsuit:

"The complaint alleges that Metropolitan Police officer Brian Trainer shot Mr. Sterling in the back, killing Mr. Sterling from the safety of a police vehicle despite the fact that Mr. Sterling was unarmed and posed no danger to Officer Trainer or any other person. 

"The complaint alleges that Officer Brian Trainer and his partner violated multiple Metropolitan Police Department General Orders in the moments leading to Mr. Sterling’s death. Specifically, the Complaint alleges that General Order 301.03 prohibits officers from placing themselves in front of an oncoming vehicle where deadly force would be the likely outcome. In spite of this General Order, officers unlawfully placed themselves in front of Mr. Sterling’s oncoming motorcycle.

"Additionally, the complaint alleges that General Order 301.03 also prohibits officers from intentionally causing contact between their police vehicle and a civilian’s vehicle, or attempting to force a civilian vehicle into another object or off the roadway. The officers violated this Order by intentionally blocking Mr. Sterling’s path of travel, causing contact with his motorcycle, and trapping his motorcycle between the police car and the curb. While Mr. Sterling was trapped between the curb and the police car, Officer Trainer unlawfully drew his gun, pointed it at Mr. Sterling, and shot him, using deadly force in violation of General Order 901.7. 

"The complaint alleges that each of these violations independently caused the death of Terrence Sterling."

After prosecutors announced their decision not to file criminal charges against Trainer, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called for the officer’s resignation.

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