The Dogs are for You Brother! "Chewing, ripping... devastating": Suit Claims White Lakewood Cop Turned k-9 Loose on Mauled Latino Man

"The Dog is a white man's best friend" - Malcolm X 

From [HERE] Noel Saldana was brutally mauled by a Lakewood Police dog on the night of June 27, 2010, suffering wounds so severe that he was confined to a hospital for 11 days. Saldana said that doctors told him they might need to amputate his left leg.

Saldana said the K-9's attack was completely unexpected, as he said he complied with a police officer's order to get on the ground. "It was a boom, it was so fast, I never been attacked by a dog," said Saldana. "The noise was like a chewing, ripping... devastating."

The dog that attacked Saldana was Astor, handled by Lakewood Officer James Syler. Syler's side of the story differs from Saldana's. According to Syler’s police report, he gave a loud verbal warning saying, “Police Department, this area is being searched by a police dog. If there is anyone in this area come out and identify yourself or the dog will find you and he will bite you.” 

Syler said Saldana was trying to hide under bushes and Astor was appropriately used to find him. Saldana's injuries were the result of trying to fight off the dog, Syler said.

Saldana was never charged with a crime. Permanently disabled by Astor's bites, he is now suing the City of Lakewood and Syler. Saldana said the white cop purposefully turned the dog loose on him. The officer commanded the K-9, "Get 'em boy!."

The incident involving Saldana raises questions about how Lakewood Police enforce guidelines governing the use of K-9s, and it highlights how police dogs are every bit as capable of causing serious injury as the firearms, tasers and batons carried by officers.

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Prosecutors say White Memphis Overseers (Officers) Still Under Investigation: Cops Fatally Shot Black Man Sleeping in his Car

From [HERE]  Two white Memphis police officers who shot and killed a Black man found sleeping in his car outside an apartment complex may be charged after all. Two weeks ago, Officers Ned Aufdenkamp and Matthew Dyess were put back on the job. Memphis police said the district attorney completed her investigation and found them free of any wrongdoing, but Wednesday we found out that’s not the case.

Both officers were called to an apartment complex January 13,2013. When they arrived,  they said they saw a Black man slumped over the wheel in his car and they went to check on the man. According to Memphis police Sgt. Alyssa Macon-Moore, the man then pulled out a gun. Officers immediately opened fire, killing him.

“That statement says we’ve done our job and the district attorney has done her job and you don’t need to worry about these two officers. We are putting them back on the force,” said Attorney Howard Manis, who represents Steven Askew’s family who plans to file suit against the City.

The Memphis Police Department issued a press release February 15th, stating in bold letters, “All information surrounding this case was presented to the Attorney General’s Office and it was determined that no criminal charges will be filed.”

“I can’t speak to why they issued the press statement,” said District Attorney Amy Weirich.

Weirich says the case is not closed, “The bottom line is this file is in our office and is being reviewed by our office.” It means Officers Aufdenkamp and Dyess could still be held responsible for shooting and killing 24-year-old Askew.

“He was waiting for his girlfriend, minding his own business, sleeping in his car, and now he is dead,” said Manis. The family’s attorney believes MPD sent out the press statement to justify its reinstatement of the officers. “It’s horrible,” said Manis.  “These officers, especially for the officer with the checkered past to immediately be reinstated.”

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"Floor was Covered in Blood": Video shows White Chattanooga Police in Graphic beating of Unarmed Black Man

Police Chief Sought FBI & Criminal Charges against Outlaw Cops. From [HERE] and [HERE] Surveillance video released Wednesday afternoon shows two white Chattanooga police officers savagely beating a Black federal inmate last summer at the Salvation Army on McCallie Avenue.

The lobby floor of the Salvation Army — where former federal inmates are housed — was mostly covered in blood. "That floor was covered," said Robin Flores, who filed a $50 million lawsuit on behalf of a 37-year-old Chattanooga man beaten by police. "It was like someone took a ketchup bottle and shook it around and sprayed it. "It makes Rodney King look tame. It's bad."[MORE]

The lawsuit filed in Hamilton County Circuit Court names two former Chattanooga police officers, three current police officers, 11 unidentified police officers, the city and Erlanger Health Systems. Flores released the video Wednesday night after obtaining the footage through discovery after he filed a motion for post-conviction relief. The media has only released the above photo. 

Officers had responded to a disorder at the facility where Tatum was reportedly kicking a door of the office and had a knife. Flores said former Officers Adam Cooley and Sean Emmer (in photo) along with other officers on the scene and hospital staff did nothing to help Tatum once he was injured and in custody.

As a result of the incident, Cooley and Emmer were fired. James Smith, one of the first responding officers, was not disciplined. Federal authorities have opened an investigation into Emmer and Cooley's actions. Tatum remains incarcerated at Silverdale Correctional Facility. He uses a cane to walk, Flores said.

Police said at the time Tatum kept fighting and claimed he had a knife. They said they used Mace and a stun gun on Tatum, but neither seemed to affect him. They continued to strike Tatum until he stopped fighting, they said in earlier newspaper stories.

However, the video shows Tatum on the floor much of the time, pleading with officers to stop striking him. Tatum suffered six fractures to his right leg and two fractures to his left leg, including a compound fracture.

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Don't Hold Your Breath in Derek Williams Case. Expect More Racism: White Cops who Watched Black Man Die for 15 Minutes "Might" Face Maximum Penalty of 9 Months in Jail

 From [HERE] A year and a half after Derek Williams' death in Milwaukee police custody, the justice system's involvement in the case is just beginning. An inquest jury's ruling Thursday that three police officers should be charged with misdemeanors in connection with Williams' death marks the first formal decision in what could be a very long process. The case could take many more months - or even years - to wind its way through the courts: state and federal, criminal and civil. It marked the first time an inquest jury in Milwaukee County has recommended charges against a police officer in at least 25 years.

Inquest verdicts are advisory. It will be up to special prosecutor John Franke, perhaps in cooperation with the state Department of Justice, to decide whether to issue the charges. Franke left court without comment after the verdict was announced.

Williams suffocated to death while handcuffed, naked from a strip search, in the back of a police car. He repeatedly told white police officers he couldn't breathe for at least 15 minutes between the time of his arrest and his death. They repeatedly ignore him as he suffocated to death. It is captured on graphic video which was released in September. (graphic video, no sound for first minute) [MORE]

Three of the officers involved in the arrest of Williams, who died after gasping for air in the back of a squad car, should be charged with failure to render aid by a law enforcement officer, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of nine months in jail, jurors concluded. (about 2 weeks in jail for every minute they ignored his pleas for help. -BW)

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Victims of White Supremacy Call for Accountability in Chicago Police Involved Shootings (keep waiting)

In photo, Flint Farmer who was gunned down by Officer Gildardo Sierra while holding his cellphone. The officer admitted to drinking “multiple” beers before his shift. But don't blame the alcohol - or the gun. 

From [HERE] There has been a lot of outcry about murders in Chicago, but not enough for those who die at the hands of police, said an organizer of "A Peoples Hearing on Police Crimes" Saturday.

More than 100 community members and relatives of those affected by police-involved shootings and police brutality attended the forum at the University of Chicago.

"Politicians are flapping like a flock of wild geese about gun control and stopping killings like that of Hadiya Pendleton," said Frank Chapman, of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression. "They say nothing about police killing... We have come today to break this silence."

Chapman said the group doesn't oppose police when they serve and protect the public. But the group takes issue when they see instances of police abusing their power.

"We must separate the good officers from the bad officers. That's what we're here to do," Jeff Baker, a member of the steering committee for a group called Stop Police Crimes.

Earlier this month, the city settled a case with the family of Flint Farmer, who was shot and killed in 2011 by a police officer who thought Farmer was armed. He was not. That officer, Gildardo Sierra, had been drinking prior to his shift, and was responsible for two other shooting deaths.

In January, the city paid $33 million to other victims of police misconduct. Alton Logan spent 26 years in prison after being tortured by infamous police Cmdr. Jon Burge to get a confession. And Christina Eilman, a mentally ill California woman, was sexually assaulted and thrown from a high-rise in 2006 after police released her from custody near the now-demolished Robert Taylor Homes.

Speakers called for the creation of an Civilian Police Accountability Council, whose members would be democratically elected, to oversee cases of alleged police misconduct. The current oversight committee, the Independent Police Review Authority, is staffed by civilians, and its chief administrator is appointed by the mayor.

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Victims of White Supremacy protest against 'border brutality' (powerless people cannot make demands)

From [HERE] Some local families are banding together, demanding justice for loved ones they say were killed by Border Patrol agents or Customs Officers. The relatives held a protest Saturday at the San Ysidro Port of Entry against what they call "border brutality."

"What do we need to do for you to stop?" said Valentin Tachiquin. (Replace White Supremacy/Racism with Justice [theCode]

Tachiquin's emotional outcry at the San Ysidro Port of Entry caught the attention of everyone, including people who were simply walking by. "Nine shots to kill my daughter!" he shouted.

Tachiquin's daughter, Valeria Munique was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent on a Chula Vista street back in September. Investigators say the mother of five was trying to leave the scene of an apparent criminal search and had used her car as a weapon. Witnesses contradict this account. 

Her father says "We are tired -- it's just too much. He went above and beyond of police brutality," he said. Tachiquin is one of several people who shared stories about losing a loved one at the hands of Border Patrol agents.

Reyna Guerrero's nephew, Carlos was just 19 years old when he was killed at the Arizona-Mexico border in March of 2011, after he allegedly ran from police.

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FBI says Former warden, other top Allegheny County Jail officers helped cover up abuse, Beating of Black Man

From [HERE] A former warden and other top officers in the Allegheny County Jail helped cover up the 2010 brutal beating of an inmate, the FBI says in a secret file the Tribune-Review obtained.

Ex-Maj. James Donis, 50, was sentenced last week to eight months in a halfway house, plus five years' probation, for falsifying reports to hide how he physically abused Gary Barbour, 31, after the inmate's bungled April 6, 2010, prison escape.

The internal FBI file, containing more than 1,000 pages and photos, reveals that officers other than Donis sanitized incident reports; failed to investigate when alerted to the abuse; lied repeatedly to investigators; and allegedly retaliated against a guard suspected of telling on Donis, the fourth highest-ranking official in the jail.

U.S. Attorney David Hickton on Monday defended focusing prosecution on Donis but wouldn't say why the office did not prosecute others.

“The protection of civil rights is a top priority — this includes the civil rights of incarcerated prisoners who are protected under the law from beating and excessive force by prison guards,” Hickton said in a written statement to the Trib. “Mr. Donis was a major in the prison system and, as such, occupied a position of leadership and trust. The decision to prosecute him was based upon the law and the facts. He pled guilty. While we asked for a prison sentence, we respect the decision of the court, and justice was done.”

Hickton declined to comment on another explosive revelation that the file contains: A jail officer became FBI Confidential Source S-00032885, wearing a wire that recorded Donis and others inside the prison on two occasions.

To protect the informant's safety, the Tribune-Review won't disclose the name. Barbour, the inmate who was beaten, filed a federal civil suit seeking $1.2 million in damages for his physical and mental injuries allegedly resulting from his abuse at the jail.

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Oakland Pays Family of Unarmed Black barbershop owner shot to death by OPD officers

From [HERE] Oakland has agreed to pay $225,000 to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by the parents and daughter of an East Oakland Black barbershop owner killed by police officers who said they mistook a scale he was carrying for a gun.

Derrick Jones, 37, was killed Nov. 8, 2010, on Trask Street, a block from his store, by Officers Eriberto Perez-Angeles and Omar Daza-Quiroz. The officers used excessive force against an unarmed Black man, said a suit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco by Jones' parents, Nellie and Frank Jones, and his young daughter. The City Council voted in closed session last week to approve the payout. A lawsuit filed by the slain man's widow, Lanell Monique Jones, is still pending.

The officers were dispatched to a 911 call from a woman who said Derrick Jones, a parolee, had choked and beaten her near his Bancroft Avenue barnbershop. Jones' relatives said the woman had harassed him after he spurned her romantically and had armed herself with a knife during the encounter. Jones ran when the officers arrived and he reached for his waistband when they caught up to him, police said. Perez-Angeles fired two shots, and Daza-Quiroz fired seven, authorities said.

The officers said they thought Jones had been reaching for a gun, but he actually had a small silver-colored scale, officers said. Police also said he had marijuana in a jar in his pocket and was legally drunk. None of said information was revealed after the shooting. [MORE] The officers, who were involved in a previous fatal shooting, were cleared of criminal liability by Alameda County prosecutors.

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North Chicago Police Brochure on how to testify Peppered with Destructive Images of Black Men

From [HERE] On one page, comedian Dave Chappelle appears as Tyrone Biggums, the stumbling junkie with crack residue around his month. On other pages of an official North Chicago police handout, one smiling African American is handcuffed in an orange prison jumpsuit and another is portrayed as bug-eyed and slack-jawed in a mugshot. The handout — given to participants of the new North Chicago Citizen Police Academy last week — was intended to illustrate trial procedures. It had a much different effect.

Waukegan activist Ralph Peterson called the handout “outrageous.” NAACP Lake County Branch President Jennifer Witherspoon said the handout reinforces “every negative stereotype blacks as a people have been fighting against.”

Also in the brochure: Bumbling TV cop Barney Fife, Judge Judy and Lindsay Lohan. On the cover: Lake County State’s Attorney Mike Nerheim opposite Tom Cruise as a military defense attorney from “A Few Good Men.” Nerheim called the handout “incredibly disturbing.”

Apparently the purpose of the brochure is designed to teach officers on how to testify in criminal trials against defendants,  who are disproportionately non-white. The white supremacist material mocks the criminal justice system. To these outlaw cops, the best liar wins in court. At best they view their participation in the process like a game show contestant, matching wits with defense attorneys - at worst they simply practice racism (deception) in court. Their goal no doubt is the greater confinement of non-whites. Prosecutors who do not see this reality are in a bullshit utopia.  

Cops in Court - Lying isn’t the exception, it’s the rule.

In the context of futile attempts to suppress evidence obtained unlawfully by police in court, criminal defense attorney Kevin Mahoney, who is white, explained the following, [HERE], 

"Police recruits are not taught to lie at the Police Academy, and while there is no shortage of unethical prosecutors, I believe only a minority of prosecutors directly instruct police officers to lie. Prosecutors encourage the practice all the same by doing little or nothing to discourage testilying, or, worse, by asking leading questions with winks and nods. Rather than directly and formally encouraging these recruits and officers to commit perjury, these academies and prosecutors teach the upstarts to view defense counsel as lying scoundrels. Cross-examination is a contest, and the outcome is presentation determinative—in other words, the best liar wins. 

The real training is done off the official police grid. More experienced officers teach the newly minted officers how “real” police work is done, how order is maintained on the front lines and how to keep the bad guys off the street. To the experienced officers, perjury is no different from any other tool available to them—whether it be their firearm, their cruiser, or their badge—to combat crime. While no one has admitted as much, at least not to me, I’m convinced that before a hearing on a motion to suppress on an important case with “problems,” the police witnesses meet to map out their testimonies.

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NOPD Sees What it Wants to See in Videotaped Attack on Black Teens by Gang of White Cops

From [HERE] Video of the incident on Conti Street in the French Quarter has outraged many and prompted calls for the FBI and the City Council to investigate the actions of plain clothes law enforcement as they took down two young Black teens on February 10th. FOX 8 obtained a copy of the police report, written by Detective Bret Mathes of the NOPD. Mathes was the only NOPD officer who was part of the plain clothes detail, which included eight undercover State Troopers.

According to the police report, one of the State Troopers observed the two young men in the 700 block of Conti and they appeared to be in violation of the city's curfew laws. 

It says the officers displayed their law badges and verbally announced themselves as police officers as they approached the two subjects. Detectives Mathes states that one of the subjects attempted to flee. Only a racist/white supremacist suspect could believe such nonsense (when you hear the sound of hooves do you think of horses or unicorns?). 

The video speaks for itself. The officers approach quickly as the boys appear to have their backs turned to the white men.  All the officers are wearing jeans and other casual attire - one has on a backwards baseball cap, another has beads around his neck. Why would such violent force be used simply to investigate a non-violent offense? [white supremacy]

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