Did the NYPD Lead Protesters Onto the Bridge?

Hundreds of participants in an “Occupy Wall St” march over the Brooklyn Bridge appear to have been lead off the pedestrian walkway and onto the roadway by NYPD, and then arrested by the NYPD.

The video appears to be genuine.  During a protest – especially during a march – protesters by and large obey the directions of police officers regarding where they are allowed to walk.  If the NYPD did in fact lure participants onto the bridge only to turn around and arrest them by the hundreds it would raise several important questions:

1. Can protesters trust the NYPD in the future when they are told where and where not to walk?
2. If protesters can no longer trust the NYPD to direct them, what implications would that have for managing large protests within the city?
3. Was this police action pre-meditated, and if so, what was the goal?

The Occupy Wall St movement has already been hit hard with police brutality and a mix of mockery and inattention from the press.  The message this sends the protesters is loud and clear:

We will ignore you.  We will laugh at you.  We will hurt you.  We will arrest you without cause.

 

Selective and Brutal Enforcement

Some thoughts about my last post…  I’ve been on subways where NYPD officers ignore people breaking the law in a number of ways.  They’ve done nothing.  Which leads to a situation of selective, yet brutal, enforcement of laws.

What does that do to citizens, knowing that the police might beat you and arrest you for something you’ve previously seen an officer walk by like it was no big deal?

NYPD Police Brutalize Musician, Threaten Crowd

NYPD, as part of a recent crackdown against musicians, arrested a man playing music illegally in a park in Chinatown.  The man, forced face down on the pavement with officers holding him down, displayed a bloodied face.  As of this time it appears he did not resist.  The crowd did voice their opposition quite loudly.  They were rewarded with threats of being maced and threatening movements made by one of the officers.

The video on youtube has been flagged inappropriate, making it harder for people to see, and artificially driving down its view count.

Gov Chris Christie’s Real Impact

People like Chris Wallace damage whatever credibility they have left when they shill for the likes of Chris Christie:

He loves bullying state and union workers around during town halls while canceling a major tunnel project that would have meant many jobs for NJ. The Teachers Union is in line this time for his authoritarian act. He loved to tell this teacher that if she didn’t like his merit pay idea it she could stop teaching. And the Tea Party loves him because of this.Already the merit pay scheme has been discredited. Education experts say Gov. Christie’s teacher merit pay can do more harm than good for students

…

Christie and NJ are in crisis and he hasn’t fixed a thing there yet except making job cuts and refusing tunnel projects. He’s also didn’t distinguish himself with his latest showing of arrogance when he stayed on a Florida vacation instead of helping NJ when the snow came. Rudy Giuliani blasted him for it.

It gets better, as his budget policies are about to land one of America’s most crime ridden cities a deadly blow: the loss of a significant chunk of its police force.  They mayor is blaming the unions:

Redd blamed the public safety employee cuts on their unions, saying they have not been willing to make job-saving concessions or accept the reality that the state government will no longer bail out the city as it has for the past two generations.

In Redd’s mind (and the incredibly slanted article by Geoff Mulvihill of the AP) it is the fault of the unions, not the state.  But look at the situation these cuts are going to create.  Who is going to want to work in one of the most dangerous, high stress job environments in the country for a fraction of the pay you could enjoy working as a police officer anywhere else in the state, nevermind the country?

It is Governor Christie’s lack of leadership – his inability to let the citizens of New Jersey pay for the essentials of civilization – that is creating these crisis in his state.  It isn’t that he isn’t experienced enough to lead – his radical right wing policies render him unfit to lead this country.

What Police Murder Says About Us

The Police Officer who murdered an innocent man on San Francisco’s public transit system gets a lenient verdict – essentially concluding that the fear of black people is legally defensible.  As Digby notes:

He was just trying to teach the little bastard a lesson by swearing at him and then shooting him full of electricity while he was already on the ground. People have to learn to obey transit police officers unquestioningly and when they curse you out and threaten you out of the blue you have an obligation as a citizen to take whatever they mete out — including death if they accidentally pick up their torture device instead of their killing device. Shit happens.

Its not enough that we live in a police state.  We live in a racist, sadistic police state.  What does that say about us as a country?

Police State USA

Just a few words, before the professor Gates arrest and subsequent arrest of DC lawyer Tuma fades into the memory hole.
We need abuse of authority laws with the same power as hate crime laws. We need to challenge the culture behind our police state.

Police in San Francisco Commit Murder

This is horrifying (Holly at Feministe, emphasis mine):

On New Year’s morning, the San Francisco BART police–yes, transit cops–dragged a bunch of young men off a train, including Oscar Grant. An officer then proceeded to execute Grant of them with a gunshot through the back, while he was restrained and lying face-down on the ground.

I think you should watch the videos, if you think you can handle it. They made me want to throw up, made me feel dizzy and aching, but they’re important. If bystanders hadn’t been leaning out of their trains with cellphone cameras, this incident might have passed largely unnoticed. According to witnesses, the BART police reacted immediately by confiscating cameras and phones in the name of “evidence.” The two videos that have surfaced were apparently taken by people who managed to keep their phones because the train started moving before the cops could get them. You have wonder why some city governments have been pushing in recent years to criminalize recording video in public without a license.

What was Grant doing to encourage such treatment (emphasis mine)?

It’s not entirely clear yet what happened during the incident, and it may never be. He was apparently not one of the initial group dragged off the train–one of the videos shows him unrestrained and standing up, trying to intercede with the police. According to witnesses, he was trying to de-escalate the situation between the cops and his friends.

This reminds me of a question I had when writing about a case in Maryland:

When will it be enough?  When will police abuse of power be recognized as an issue by the candidates, and addressed in a serious and systemic way?

The police have to be held accountable for actions such as these.  Pinning a man to the ground and shooting him in the back is a crime, even if a police officer commits it.  There is no justification for this.  None.  If the man was on the ground face down he could have been handcuffed or knocked unconcious.  Instead he was killed.

As Holly observes, this is a systemic issue:

This is not an isolated incident, not by a long shot. This kind of thing happens all the time: out-of-control police violence in response to non-violent communication. It happens to people of color, and to queer folks too. It happened to me and Jack a little more than a year ago, along with a group of colleagues and friends, for asking the police why they were making an arrest. An officer decided to pepper spray our group, without any real provocation. We’re lucky, and privileged, that it wasn’t a gun.

The officers responsible ought to go to jail for this.  And police departments nation wide need to engage in a serious effort to solve this problem.  As things stand now a police officer could just as equally be an out of control asshole on a life threatening power trip as the source of comfort and protection the police are supposed to represent.

If you are in the San Francisco area, there are protests planned:

There is a protest planned for today from 3-8 PM PST at the Fruitvale BART station, and another one being planned for Saturday.

BART Police have a website here.  Here is their contact info.

There ought to be an investigation immediately.  Not just of the murder, but of the efforts to cover up the crime.

UPDATE: Thanks concerned, I’ve updated the contact info for the correct department.

Police Brutality is a Fact of Life

Its expected.  And as our culture records itself more and more, this sense is only going to increase.  Another beating in NYC.

This leaves us in a very bad place.  Where the men and women we trust with our safety are not men and women we trust.  This mistrust of cops has become a part of our culture.  I feel awful for the majority of cops who are ethical and professional, even if at times it seems an ever slimmer majority.  I hope police departments across the nation realize the long term impact of this communal fear of the police.

Police officers who abuse their power must be punished to the full extent of the law.

UK: Orwell’s Home Becoming Surveillance Society

Between the police going after children’s DNA, to MI5 looking for travel data on citizens, the UK is descending into a state where privacy is a rare luxury indeed.  From across the pond I’m watching the country that created my own with a temperate mix of bemused and alarmed interest.

What will they do next?

Helloooo Copyright Cops

Because if there’s one way to fix America, its by imposing copyright cops on us.

Talk Back, Walk Away: Get Tasered

Free Speech is a mere privilege when at the whim of authoritarian police officers.  If you dare to question an officer, you are asking to be arrested and potentially violently assaulted with a dangerous weapon.

Via Police Brutality Blog:

H/T MediaTakeOut.com who exclusively learned that last night in New Orleans, police officers beat, tasered and arrested R&B singer Tank. New Orleans Police Taser R&B Singer Tank!

MediaTakeOut spoke exclusively with Tank’s business associate Ira Dewitt, the CEO of Notifi Music Group, who witnessed the entire incident. Ira explained, “We were leaving the NBA All Star Game heading to an afterparty at the House Of Blues … we were walking in that direction and the cops came and completely blocked us.” She continued, “They got all in our face and got really belligerent … Apparently there was a shooting in the area. ”

That’s when, according to Ira – all hell broke loose. “Tank was like ‘Why are you gonna be like that’ and we started walking away. But they grabbed Tank and threw him against the wall. [The cops] bent one of his arms up and the other arm back and asked him to do something. Tank told them that he couldn’t and before you knew it there were three cops all over him … and they tased him.”

H/T The MIXX.com and Rhymes With Snitch are reporting on the arrest outside the House of Blues in New Orleans. Stereohyped is also reporting on this story, so is the blog Bossip.

If they can’t handle the responsibility of a deadly weapon like a taser, sub par officers like those that assaulted Tank should not be armed with them.  Given Tank and his friend were walking away when this happened, they clearly posed no threat.  This was done purely out of malice as a reaction to being questioned.  It was an abuse of authority, and the officers involved ought to be investigated and prosecuted.

Police Ignore, Girl Murdered

What part of serve and protect is so hard to understand?  The badge is not a license to kick the shit out of people and waste time collecting traffic taxes for your district.  It is a burden, a sacred trust to protect people.  Police in Florida ignored a young woman’s attempts to get help, including a record of increasingly violent behavior by her ex-boyfriend.  Then in an act everyone but the police saw coming, he murdered her.  Details: (via Jessica, Feministing):

A junior at DeLand High in Florida, Hall was murdered by her ex-boyfriend – Clay Kufner – after an abusive relationship and months of stalking and harassment. Three days before she was killed, Hall was told by police to stop calling them so much (to relay concern about her ex) or she would be arrested.

“The police officer said if you call us one more time on him, I’m going to arrest you both,” Sherry Hall [Natasha’s mother] said. “So, the day she died, she knew she couldn’t talk to police. So, she handled it herself.”Michele Karpowicz said everyone noticed the warning signs before the homicide — except police.

“I was going crazy,” Hall’s best friend said. “He was psycho, jealous and abusive.”

The police response? Chief Deputy Randel Henderson of the DeLand Police Department says that, “Basically we have a very young couple who are experiencing, at least up until last Friday evening, just very normal relationship problems.”

The “normal relationship problems” include nine incidents of harassment and violence which were logged with the local police since November, including one where Kufner hit Hall in the face and another where he tried to drag her out of a store by her hair. Hall’s family also noted that Kufner threatened to burn down their house. You know, “normal” teen romance stuff.

This goes beyond incompetence.  Can you say criminal neglect?

The media are largely missing the impact of this crime:

Even the media seems to be getting in on the normalizing-violence-against-women trend. One article says Hall and Kufner had a “stormy” relationship. Another headline reads: “2 teens shot dead in apparent murder-suicide,” which is pretty damn passive considering this kid killed his ex-girlfriend. But this is my favorite headline: “Teddy Bear May Have Led To Murder-Suicide.” Not violence, not abuse, not the idea that women are less than people. A teddy bear.

Now I’m aware that sensationalist headlines are par for the course. But between the media coverage and the police inaction, I just feel sick. In a society that romanticizes stalking and ignores violence against women, it’s no surprise that Hall couldn’t find protection. But it’s still shameful.

This crime sends a chilling message to victims of domestic violence: Complain and get harassed or imprisoned,  stay silent and be murdered.  And given the propensity for violent abuse of power, getting arresting is no light threat for police to make.

The first people to publicly criticize the police department that let this girl be murdered should be police officers.  This is their profession being dragged through the mud by the vile actions of their peers.

What gets me is, how much of this came about as a result of a generally sexist approach to women by police?  Do they institute this policy elsewhere?  If you or a loved one go to the police with a threat, will they listen, or will they let you be murdered?

Police Reform ought to be on every candidate’s agenda.  And politicians already in office ought to be scrambling to write an effective bill and get it passed.

More Police Brutality

More silence from the candidates.  Hat tip to reader mdking, who writes:

ABC has another. See for yourself.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5sMOLf02YL0

She fell. Police say that’s how Angela Garbarino ended up with two black eyes, two broken teeth, a broken nose, and multiple bruises around her head, neck, and shoulders.

Here is the video:

Note: The video description cites the fair use section of US Copyright law.  It will be interesting to see if youtube removes this video as it has for another recent and controversial piece of evidence of police brutality.

mdking has more:

She was arrested in Shreveport, Louisiana in November of 2007 on suspicion of drunk driving. The video shows her with former Officer Wiley Willis. She is not particularly cooperative. He shuts off the camera. The camera comes back on; she’s on the floor pummeled and in a pool of her own blood.

He was fired. No criminal charges. Well, she’s charged.

While the video is rolling, we clearly see the officer slam her into the wall.  She is then shown hunched over in a chair.  The officer asks “You understand me?” and she replies “Yeah, I understand”.  That’s when he cuts the tape.

Police Abuse: Demand Answers

Is police abuse of authority here to stay?

If we want it to go, we need to be more active in fighting back. Those who support crooked cops aren’t taking time of from this fight (Via Pam):

Man, this bigot is busy. Besides being a racist (x2), homophobe and defender of intelligent design, Utah State Senator Chris Buttars has a solution for the plethora of incidents of taxpaying citizens tased for sh*ts and giggles by law enforcement officers who seem to have forgotten tactics to engage the public that fall somewhere between a civil conversation and unloading their weapon into them. (KUTV):

A new bill proposed at the legislature would allow for police to withhold misconduct reports from the public. Supporters of the bill believe that police misconduct should be kept secret from the public so to not discredit police testimony. Others say that a forthright police unit is essential to the community.

There’s video of the incident that spurred this:

A law to prohibit citizens from accessing evidence recorded using equipment paid for with public dollars, by public employees, who are entrusted with protecting the public. Genius. Republicans ought to be pretty damned ashamed of him. Citizens of all parties and no party, we need to unite in fighting efforts like his.

Pam asks:

People, what will it take to get this under control? In Tampa, Florida, a man paralyzed from the chest down was tossed out of his wheelchair by a law enforcement officer who didn’t believe Brian Sterner was a quadraplegic.

Can you believe this? Here is the video:

What it will take is for us to be relentless. Every time officers arrest us for attempting to record evidence, every time they use excessive force we must fight back.  We must demand our politicians stand up for our rights, and punish harshly those who help crooked officers stand on our necks. If you oppose police transparency and citizen rights, you should not be in office.

We also must challenge the media narrative. This is not a case of individual officers behaving badly. It is a systemic problem. What is at stake is not just the civil rights of the victims, but the civil rights of this entire nation.  The police ought to be a calming and reassuring presence in our neighborhoods, not a cause of fear.  We need to re-establish that trust, and this means rooting out the rotten officers even as we support the upstanding and ethical officers.

This is not just the fight of civilians, but one in which all citizens must join together to help the police return to their trust of serving and protecting the public.

(Picture Via Hot Potato Mash)

Police Abuse: Candidate Silence

When will it be enough?  When will police abuse of power be recognized as an issue by the candidates, and addressed in a serious and systemic way?

Recently there seems to be a spate of such abuse, from the highly disturbing to the infuriating:

In case the YouTube video is removed, download the video file HERE. It can be played with VLC Player.

The best part is when he says, “You got that camera on? If I find myself on…” I can only assume he was going to say YouTube. And what if he had discovered he was being filmed? He probably would have erased the video or “lost” the phone, beaten the kids, and arrested them on trumped up charges. Of course, once they turned 18, their records would be expunged, and they would probably vote liberal/anti-cop the rest of their lives. This authoritarianism often backfires in the long run, and these videos are helping to speed up that process.

This is what a police state looks like.  Will anyone speak up? (Via Pandagon):

Hat tip to The Dark Wraith, who said:

When you’re finished watching the video of the strip search, go ask your favorite candidate of “hope” and “change” and all those other lies just exactly what he or she is going to do to end this rising nightmare of an authoritarian state.No, seriously. Don’t find some reason why your choice for Heir to Empire is not responsible. He or she is. They all want to lead this country? Then let them explain precisely how they plan to lead it away from this mess.

Ask those Democrats and Republicans running for office when enough will be enough. Ask them when they plan to stop spewing their sweet little nothings. Ask them if they will vow to their very God or perhaps even to that piece of paper we call the Constitution of the United States of America to take upon themselves the enormous task of putting every monster of this spreading blackness of sovereign violence—from George W. Bush and Dick V. Cheney all the way down to the very last, badge-wearing jackboot on the beat—into prison to rot.

Its hard watching videos like these, to keep from putting your fist right through the monitor.  At one point the officer-bully scolds his victim, telling the child he is disrespecting the officer’s badge and department.  Any officer of the law, charged with serving and protecting the public, who behaves this way…  That officer is disrespecting his badge, indicting his department and undermining the trust his profession needs to function.  Officer Salvatore Rivieri should have been fired, and his department investigated to determine how such an officer so unfit to serve remained in duty, and how widespread abuse like this was, both in his own service and in his department.

So how about it.  Barack Obama.  Hillary Clinton.  Mike Huckabee.  John McCain.  What is your stance on our Police State?