Black Teen Testifies that Chicago Police Officer Struck him Repeatedly while Handcuffed

From [HERE] Gregory Jeffries says his face was left swollen and bloodied after a Chicago police sergeant struck him four times in 2010 without provocation. "I felt pain," Gregory Jeffries testified Thursday during the first day of the trial of Sgt. Edward Howard Jr. on charges of aggravated battery and official misconduct.

Jeffries was 19 and handcuffed when the alleged beating took place in a South Side parking lot. The incident was captured on a surveillance camera. The lawsuit claims Gregory Jeffries was stopped by police Oct. 11 as he and a friend were leaving the King Gyro carry out at 79th Street and Vincennes Avenue. During the stop, Jeffries was handcuffed with his hands behind his back and was hit several times by an unnamed sergeant, causing Jeffries to spit blood onto the ground, according to the complaint.

Jeffries was charged with trespassing, but the charge was dropped in December, according to the complaint filed in federal court in Chicago.  Jeffries said he never received medical treatment for his injuries but still sought "justice" for the attack. He gave mostly brief answers to questions and didn't show any emotion from the witness stand.

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LAPD Attack and Arrest LA Residents for Using Chalk on Sidewalk

From [HERE] A scuffle between Los Angeles Police and local residents erupted Thursday night after police alleged that citizens were vandalizing public property by, no joke, writing on the pavement with chalk. As tensions heightened, police fired rubber bullets into the crowd and arrested eleven individuals, primarily for chalk-related offenses.

Members of Occupy Los Angeles planned an artistic demonstration to coincide with downtown’s monthly Art Walk event. In recent weeks, twelve affiliates of Occupy have been arrested for writing on public streets and sidewalks with chalk. Feeling that their First Amendment rights were being stifled and that they were being targeted for a harmless offense, Occupiers distributed chalk to passersby in order to illustrate that chalking should not be considered a crime.

Police arrived on the scene and began arresting those who used chalk. They contend that the situation became violent when Occupiers threw bottles and rocks at them. However, Occupiers argue that the situation escalated when the crowd watched a young girl forcefully shoved to the ground and arrested for writing with chalk. They cite that the agitators who threw the bottles were not Occupiers, but unaffiliated community members who were fed up with the police’s tactics, and that most Occupiers had left the scene by the time violence occurred.

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Mass. Police Officer focus of probe in Red Sox slur

From [HERE] A Massachusetts police officer is under investigation after allegations that he directed a racial slur at Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford last week. Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella said the patrolman is on vacation and will be put on desk duty when he returns next week.

The mayor said Friday that he expects the city's inquiry to conclude by Tuesday at the latest, and that officials are hoping to interview Crawford as part of the probe. Mazzarella said the city's police chief is conducting the investigation, and the chief would make a recommendation to him about any potential discipline if the allegation is sustained. The mayor would then decide on any sanctions, which he said could include anything from suspension to termination.

Mazzarella, a life-long Red Sox fan, wouldn't name the officer who's involved since the allegation hasn't been proved. But he said the officer is a 5-year force veteran and white, with no prior disciplinary issues. The mayor said that even while off-duty, police officers should be held to a higher standard of conduct than other people when it comes to free speech.

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Witness Testifies to Grand Jury: Border Patrol Beat Hogtied, Handcuffed Latino Man to Death

From [HERE] A man who saw an undocumented immigrant from Mexico get shot with a stun gun by U.S. border authorities said he testified Thursday to a federal grand jury amid signs that prosecutors are considering criminal charges in the immigrant's death after more than two years of silence on the politically charged case. Humberto Navarrete said that he testified for about 90 minutes at a San Diego courthouse and told the grand jury he thought the border officials' actions were excessive. The grand jury questioned Navarrete about what he saw and viewed a grainy video that he took on his cellphone.

Navarrete's video, which he released immediately after the May 2010 incident at San Diego's San Ysidro port of entry, captured audio of a man believed to be Anastasio Hernandez pleading for help and passers-by asking border authorities to leave him alone. "He was lying face-down on the ground, surrounded by agents," Navarrete, a 26-year-old San Diego resident, said he told the grand jury. The U.S. Justice Department's civil rights division has been presenting evidence to the grand jury on Hernandez's death, family attorney Eugene Iredale told the AP.

Hernández was caught trying to enter the United States from Mexico near San Diego. He had previously lived in the United States for 25 years and was the father of five U.S.-born children. But instead of deportation, Hernández-Rojas’s detention ended in his death. A number of border officers were seen beating him, before one tasered him at least five times. He died shortly afterward. The agents say they confronted Hernández-Rojas because he became hostile and resisted arrest. But previously undisclosed videos recorded by eyewitnesses on their cellphones show a different story. "All eyewitnesses that we spoke to basically tell the same story of a man hogtied and handcuffed behind his back, not resisting, being beaten repeatedly by batons, by kicks, by punches, by the use of a taser, for almost 30 minutes until he died," says reporter John Carlos Frey as part of a joint investigation by the PBS broadcast, "Need to Know," and the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute. [MORE] 

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Scotland Neck (NC) Police Officer Faces Manslaughter Charge in Taser Death of Unarmed Black Man, Unlawfully Stopped & Assaulted

From [HERE] and [HERE] Scotland Neck (NC) police officer has been indicted in connection to the November death of Roger Anthony. A grand jury in Halifax County indicted John Turner, 26, on the charge of involuntary manslaughter, in the Nov. 21 death of Roger Anthony, 61, who died after Turner shot him with a stun gun. Turner is free on bond and is due in court Aug. 6. Turner resigned from the Scotland Neck Police Department after Anthony’s death.

CBS Affiliate WRAL reports officers had responded to a 911 call about a man who had fallen off his bicycle in the parking lot of a bank. The caller told dispatchers that the man appeared drunk and may have hurt himself.

When Police Officer John Turner arrived, he saw Roger Anthony pedaling along 10th Street and followed in his patrol car. Turner put on his sirens and lights and yelled for him to stop, but Anthony continued to ride away, police said. Anthony was not under arrest and not suspected of committing a crime so apparently there was no lawful basis for police to stop him. 

Scotland Neck Police Chief Joe Williams said Turner saw Anthony take something out his pocket and put it into his mouth. Turner got out of the car and yelled for Anthony to stop. When Anthony didn't, the officer used a stun gun on him, causing him to fall off of his bike. Anthony was transported to Pitt County Memorial Hospital, where he was declared brain dead, his sister Gladys Freeman said. She said her brother had trouble hearing.

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Pasadena Cops accused of Kidnapping, Beating Black Witness to Induce False Confession

From [HERE] In a court declaration filed Thursday a man claims he was kidnapped and beaten by three Pasadena police detectives working a homicide case. Jeremi Carr, 24, identified the detectives as Kevin Okamoto, Keith Gomez and William Broghamer. None of the three officers could be reached for comment. Pasadena Police Chief Phillip Sanchez said his office is "evaluating" Carr's claim. The new allegations filed by Attorney Michael Kraut claim the officers beat Carr in an effort to coerce him into making false statements in an 2007 murder investigation into the slaying of Shawn Baptiste in Pasadena.

According to Carr, Okamoto, Gomez and Broghamer stormed a Pasadena home in December 2007, grabbed Carr and took him against his will to Pasadena Police Department headquarters. There, Carr alleges, they attempted to beat him into agreeing with untrue statements related to the Baptiste murder investigation.

In his claim, Carr, a Pasadena resident, alleges he suffered injuries to his ribs, shoulder lower back and face as a result of the beating. He was not arrested or charged, alleges he was taken to police headquarters where the trio of officers initially handcuffed him to the wall. Carr alleges Okamoto told him to give false statements that would implicate another person in the Baptiste case, which he refused to do.

He said he asked police for access to a lawyer 10 times, but his request was denied; Carr alleges that at one point Broghamer said, "I don't want to hear any of this lawyer (expletive)." A beating followed, Carr said. He alleged that Broghamer assaulted him while Carr's arms were handcuffed behind his back.

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Genocide Watch: Like NYC/Arizona 4th Amendment Rights of Blacks & Latinos Vanishing in Philadelphia

From [HERE] This NY Times article is about the stop and frisk policy in Philadelphia, which is racist. Nevertheless, this article is written with a sympathetic tone towards police and justifies the racist idea that Blacks & Latinos are inherently dangerous persons who are not entitled to the full protection of the Constitution or dependening on where you are, a Brown person's Constitutional rights can be somehow comprromised and balanced against racist fear. As with Arizona, when the police can stop, detain & put there hands on persons based on nothing but skin color, a pre-condition of genocide exists. Mr. Messing, the civil rights lawyer, said the problem was that as the number of stops escalated, the number of complaints he received grew even faster. “We were seeing huge numbers of stops being made without legal cause,” he said, adding that very few arrests were made and that guns were seized in about only 1 in 1,000 stops.

Mahari Bailey, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, said that when he returned to Philadelphia after graduating from Georgetown University’s law school, he was repeatedly stopped by officers who often behaved aggressively. “It just became too much,” Mr. Bailey said.

In one instance, Mr. Bailey said, he was standing with friends outside a house in West Philadelphia when an unmarked car screeched up and two men in plain clothes jumped out, guns drawn, and told them to put up their hands. “We thought we were being robbed,” he said.

Two other cars arrived. Mr. Bailey was handcuffed and placed spread-eagle against a police car. When Mr. Bailey said he was a lawyer and asked why he had been stopped, he got no answer, he said. But the officers threatened to call his employer “and say I was hanging with drug dealers.”

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Officer Fired in Wake of Hanna Case: Unarmed Black Man Murdered by North Chicago Police

From [HERE] A second police officer has been fired in the wake of numerous allegations of police brutality against certain members of the North Chicago Police Department. William Bogdala, 33, an eight-year veteran of the force, was terminated effective June 29, according to City Attorney Chuck Smith, who said Bogdala will likely appeal through the Fraternal Order of Police grievance process. Six-year veteran Brandon Yost was fired in April for his role in the Nov. 6 arrest and police beating death of Darrin Hanna, which sparked a public outcry.

Hanna, 45, died Nov. 13, a week after he was arrested inside his apartment by six North Chicago police officers on a domestic battery charge.  He was beaten and repeatedly shocked with a stun gun by North Chicago police. In police recordings from the scene, an anguished Hanna can be heard pleading, “Put me down, please, I was down,” while an officer tells him, “You are OK ... relax.” Advocates have said the recordings show Hanna was cooperative, still conscious and understandable after being arrested, though he was barely conscious and unintelligible by the time he was carried out of his apartment on a stretcher.

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DC Police Officer Investigated Over Alleged Death Threat Remark about First Lady

From [HERE] and [HERE] Authorities were investigating a Washington police officer on Thursday over a possibly threatening remark he allegedly made about first lady Michelle Obama, reports said.

The unidentified officer assigned to a motorcade detail was speaking with colleagues on Wednesday about potential threats against the Obamas and allegedly made a comment about shooting Mrs. Obama, The Washington Post reported, citing police sources. The Huffington Post reported that the unnamed officer showed off a picture of a gun on his cellphone during morning roll call on Wednesday, July 11, 2012. He allegedly claimed he would use that gun to shoot Michelle Obama. The Secret Service has been notified of the alleged incident, and the incident is under investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department Internal Affairs Division.

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Federal Probe Demanded in Firing Squad Shooting by Saginaw Police: Unarmed, Homeless Black Man Shot 30 Times by Officers

From [HERE] and [HERE] A City Council member today called for a federal probe of a Saginaw police shooting that killed a homeless black man on July 2.  The shooting about 85 miles northwest of Detroit is being investigated by Michigan State Police.

Councilman Norman C. Braddock said he’s not satisfied with the ongoing state probe examining the shooting of Milton S. Hall, a 49-year-old man who police say was acting aggressively with a knife in a plaza parking lot on July 1. Witnesses tell a different story. 

Mechelle Evans was at the Riverview Plaza on Sunday with her kids. Her son walked out a door before her and told her there were police outside. When she walked out, Evans said she saw several Saginaw Police officers and a man standing in front of them. "When I came out their guns were drawn. The dogs were out and the man was standing right by the wooded plant stand area in the front of the parking lot. "They were yelling 'get down, drop your weapon!' There was so much commotion," she said. Evans froze. Her kids stood still. She said the man was frozen, too."The man was not moving. He was just standing there looking. I think he was scared of the dogs and the yelling," she said. 

Evans said she didn't witness the man go after police. "They opened fire and unloaded on him," she said. "When they opened fire it sounded like a bomb went off. We ran back in the store and it had to be maybe 20 or 30 shots, well at least that is what it sounded like."

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