‘Ghetto Culture’ Gets Black 9-Year-Olds On Pot Says Ghetto Expert Bill O...

"In a segment Monday night on The O’Reilly Factor, host Bill O’Reilly claimed the left supported marijuana legalization because children “in certain ghetto neighborhoods” were using the drug.

The Fox News host was responding to the New York Times’ call for the legalization of marijuana.

Joined by anti-legalization advocate Kevin Sabet, O’Reilly said that “the left” has claimed that marijuana is harmless and that they are concerned that “the blacks” are being trapped by drug laws."* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down.

Man Hospitalized After Encounter With Ecorse Police

NYPD Cop Stomp On Subdued Man's Head During Arrest

Black Pregnant Woman Gets Put In Chokehold By NYPD

Via NY Daily News reports:

Police are investigating whether a cop put a seven-months-pregnant woman in a chokehold while busting her for illegal grilling in Brooklyn — an incident caught on film.

Photos released Monday by an East New York advocacy group show Rosan Miller, 27, struggling with a cop who appears to have his arm around her neck.

The NYPD prohibits the use of chokeholds.

Officers went to the home over the weekend because Miller was grilling on a public sidewalk in violation of local law, cops said. But a melee broke out that ended with her, her brother and husband all in handcuffs.

The brother, John Miller, was charged with harassment and obstruction of justice. Her husband, Moses Miller, 34, was charged with resisting arrest and obstruction. Rosan Miller got a summons for disorderly conduct.

When former city councilman Charles Barron heard, he called cops to complain and “expedite” the Millers’ release, he said. “This was all over a grill,” Barron said. “This is about grilling in front of her house.”

The advocacy group, People Organizing and Working for Empowerment and Respect, released the photos.

Barron pointed out that the woman’s daughter can be seen in the photo watching her mother being arrested.

Barron said one of the cops, a lieutenant, went to the building at 594 Bradford St. Thursday about a domestic incident involving another resident, returned on Saturday and encountered the grilling.

A case in which a man died while in an apparent chokehold has led to outcry in the city recently. Eric Garner, 43, of Staten Island, died July 17 after a confrontation with cops who were arresting him for selling loose cigarettes.

- See more at: http://bossip.com/1006340/911-is-a-joke-black-pregnant-woman-gets-put-in-chokehold-by-shady-nypd-cop-for-grilling-on-sidewalk/#sthash.g1R6zhao.dpuf

MALCOLM X: The KKK has changed in their sheets for police uniforms

Petersburg Police Assault Citizens For Recording Them Making An Arrest

Eric Garner Laid To Rest While The Family Still Demands Answers And Justice

NYPD Exposed Choking Out Another Man While Punching Him In The Face

Caught on Camera: Man Told NYPD Eight Times That He Couldn’t Breathe While in Chokehold…and Then He Went Limp

“I can't breathe. I can't breathe.”

That’s what Eric Garner struggled to say as one New York Police Department officer held him by the neck from behind while others found the hands of the 43-year-old father of six, cuffing them behind his back.

“I didn't do nothing,” Garner initially argued with a plain clothes officer on Staten Island Thursday afternoon.

“I didn't sell anything,” he added a moment later.

The New York Daily News reported that the police said Garner has a history of selling untaxed cigarettes and has been arrested for doing so before. The New York Post reported that Garner had 30 arrests on his record for selling the cigarettes illegally. This is what police said they saw Garner doing Thursday, sparking the altercation.

“I’m tired of it. Every time you see me you want to mess with me. This stops today,” Garner said. ”Everybody standing there will tell you that I didn’t do nothing. I didn’t sell nothing. …I’m minding my business, officer. I’m minding my business. Please just leave me alone.”

In that moment, one of the plain clothes officers engaging with Garner put his hands on him. Garner struggled and almost half a dozen other officers quickly descended upon him, bringing him down to the ground, one holding him in a chokehold and later pressing his face into the pavement.

“Once again, police beating up on people,” Ramsey Orta, who filmed video of the incident and provided it to the Daily News, said. “All he did was break up a fight. And this is what happens for breaking up a fight. This s*** is crazy.”

It was difficult to see what else happened to Garner later in the footage with several police officers standing around him and others demanding that Orta back up.

“They jumped him and they were choking him. He was foaming at the mouth,” Orta told the Daily News. “And that’s it, he was done. The cops were saying, ‘No, he’s OK, he’s OK.’ He wasn’t OK.”

Garner could be heard telling police he couldn’t breathe at least eight times.

The NYPD would only tell the Daily News that Garner was “placed in custody, went into cardiac arrest and died” at the hospital where he was transported.

Garner’s wife, Esaw, isn’t buying it though.

“They’re covering their asses. He was breaking up a fight,” Esaw Garner told the Daily News. “They harassed and harassed my husband until they killed him.”

A man who only wanted to go on the record with the Daily News with his first name, Douglas, described Garner as an “intimidating” man because of his size but said he was really “just a big teddy bear.”

“He’s the nicest guy. I can’t believe what I saw. That’s no way to do an arrest,” Douglas told the newspaper.

The site Photography Is Not a Crime, which advocates for the legal right to film officers performing public duties, said “the video speaks for itself. He was killed by the NYPD.”

VIDEO of incident at: 

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/07/18/caught-on-camera-man-told-nypd-eight-times-that-he-couldnt-breathe-while-in-chokeholdand-then-he-went-limp/

Lynx bus stop stabbing suspect tells judge he doesn't want black public defender

Lynx bus stop stabbing suspect tells judge he doesn't want public defender: Lynx bus stop stabbing suspect tells judge he doesn't want public defender

2 Fruitland Park Cops Exposed By FBI As Members Of The KKK

Report says FBI's flawed forensics put over 60 inmates on death row

In the US, an FBI report has uncovered that some flawed forensic work were used in the convictions of some 60 death-row inmates 17 years ago.

At least three of the inmates have since been executed. The problems were spotted by the FBI's inspector general's office, which in a 1997 report, found serious irregularities in the work of 13 examiners. Still, the US Justice Department failed to notify justice officials that suspect testimony and flawed evidence were used to secure some capital convictions. 

The report said the management failures allowed the rogue examiners to practice for years. The review also showed that the time lag to resolve the problem caused irreversible harm for some inmates.

Black Father Wrongfully Held By Cops At Gunpoint With 11-Year- Old Son For “Stealing” His Own Car Sues NYPD

This man AND his 11-year-old son were held at gunpoint while riding in their own car. Racial profiling doesn’t get much worse than this…

A black father from Brooklyn is taking on the NYPD after he and his 11-year-old son were held at gunpoint by police officers who wrongfully accused him of stealing his own car.

via AOL News

The Brooklyn native and MTA conductor was driving to his home in Queens when suddenly, at the intersection of Linden Boulevard and the Van Wyck service road in Queens, Pittman was stopped by undercover officers from Nassau County and uniformed cops from the NYPD.

In the last two weeks, Pittman filed a nine-page federal complaint against the city recalling the frightening events from that night.

On Monday afternoon, the 37-year-old spoke about the incident for the first time in a PIX 11 News exclusive.

“I look to my left, there is a gun pointed right at my face by another officer,” he said. “I glance to my right, there is a officer at the passenger side of the car with a gun pointed at my son.”

Unsure as to why he and his then 11-year-old son had guns pointed at them by police, Pittman had no time to ask questions because he was “forcibly pulled out of the car,” as he described. Then he was placed, “across the hood of the car.”

Several minutes went by, according to Pittman, before “one of the officers asked me, with his gun still pointed at me, ‘What are you doing? Whose car is this?’”  Pittman said it was his.

The NYPD’s response: “Well, why is this car on our stolen car list if you’re telling me the truth?”

Pittman then said, “Well you tell me, and I actually asked the officer, would you like to see my license and registration? Because at no point up to now have I been asked for any form identification or for any proof of ownership for the car.”

Pittman is now suing the NYPD for negligence because they failed to take his car off the list of stolen vehicles after he picked it up from them three months earlier.

- See more at: http://bossip.com/999016/fawk-you-pay-me-black-man-wrongfully-arrested-at-gunpoint-for-stealing-his-own-car-sues-nypd/#sthash.UCUELAVT.dpuf

A new study shows Black men haven’t progressed much in almost half a century…

Study Shows Black Men Haven’t Made A Lot Of Progress

In recent years, the U.S. has celebrated the 50th anniversaries of the March on Washington, the Civil Rights Act and a number of other landmark accomplishments considered pivotal in making the U.S. a better place for African Americans.

Via TIME Magazine reports:

But despite a deep reverence for those accomplishments, a new study suggests that African-American men today face such high levels of unemployment and incarceration that they are in little better position when compared with white men than a half-century ago.

The working paper, by University of Chicago researchers Derek Neal and Armin Rick, is based on preliminary findings and has not yet been peer-reviewed.

The growth of incarceration rates among black men in recent decades combined with the sharp drop in black employment rates during the Great Recession have left most black men in a position relative to white men that is really no better than the position they occupied only a few years after the Civil Rights Act,” the study reads.

The study uses census data to show that more than 10% of black men in their 30s will be incarcerated at some point during a calendar year. This number was around 2% for white males of the same age group.

The study attributes the corrosive impact of incarceration on the African-American community, at least in part, to the institution of more punitive criminal-justice policies.

African-American men also appear to face a more difficult employment situation. More than a third of African-American men between the ages of 25 and 49 lacked employment in 2010.

“The Great Recession period of 2008–2010 was quite bleak for black men,” the study reads. “Recent levels of labor market inequality between black and white prime-age men are likely not materially different than those observed in 1970.”

Why are Black men struggling? Discuss…

- See more at: http://bossip.com/998937/race-matters-new-study-shows-black-men-are-just-as-uneducated-unemployed-and-incarcerated-as-they-were-in-1970/#sthash.4QdfLMG0.dpuf

Video Shows Cops Execute 4 Men On The Ground Surrendered! Then They Steal From Their Bodies!

The Miami-Dade police department is now facing questions about a botched sting operation that left four men dead, including an informant. Rev. Al Sharpton talks to NBC 6’s Tony Pipitone.

Michelle Alexander: Is Mass Incarceration the New Jim Crow?

View the entire video at: http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/

Activist Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, argues at Zócalo that legal discrimination against felons is little different from the racial caste system of old.

Is There Racial Bias In Our Criminal Justice System?

Michelle Alexander, associate professor of law at the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University, talks about how U.S. law enforcement targets people of color, why it's difficult to prove racial discrimination and what it will take to end racial bias in our criminal justice system.

Is There Racial Bias In Our Criminal Justice System?

Michelle Alexander, associate professor of law at the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University, talks about how U.S. law enforcement targets people of color, why it's difficult to prove racial discrimination and what it will take to end racial bias in our criminal justice system.

Racial Inequality in the Criminal Justice System

Fewer than 1 out of 100 Americans are imprisoned in the United States. But nearly one fourth of young black men are incarcerated in U.S. state and federal prisons. In fact, a young black man is more likely to be in jail than to get married or go to college. 

Minorities are grossly overrepresented in U.S. prisons, and Prof. Daniel D'Amico argues that the root of the problem may lie with the criminal justice system itself. Laws about drug prohibition, for example, are supposed to be color blind. But people with different levels of wealth face different costs and benefits to participating in the drug trade. Prof. D'Amico says it's time to admit that radical changes to the criminal justice system might be necessary and preferable to the status quo.

Learn More!

A series of charts about the implications of racial inequality in America's justice system:

http://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.econ.brown.edu%2Ffac%2FGlenn_Loury%2Flouryhomepage%2Fteaching%2FEc%2520137%2FEc%2520137%2520spring07%2FMass%2520Incarceration%2520and%2520American%2520Values.ppt&redir_token=i7zflpcN7wRYKI2FQzCr_sS-A8h8MTQwNTU2ODM5NkAxNDA1NDgxOTk2

Political cartoon comparing slavery to the prison industrial complex: http://sfbayview.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/War-on-Drugs-cartoon-by-Khalil-Bendib.jpg

Econtalk podcast episode about how the racial disparity we see in prison statistics might be even worse than D'Amico suggests: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/12/pettit_on_the_p.html

Huffington Post piece on "the racism and hypocrisy in our nation's war on drugs": http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-boyce-watkins/jesse-jackson-black-leade_b_883721.html

Sir Richard Branson argues that the War on Drugs "represents racial discrimination and targeting disguised as drug policy": http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/06/opinion/branson-end-war-on-drugs/index.html

A social justice perspective on the racist character of the war on drugs: http://reimaginerpe.org/20years/alexander

US prison system 'racist in nature from beginning to end': Analyst

The prison system in the United States is "horrific" and "racist in nature from beginning to end," says Daniel Patrick Welch, a political commentator.

"It's a horrific thing and it is hidden even from most members of the US citizenry that there is not only the highest percentage in the world but the highest absolute number of the incarcerated people in the world," Welch told Press TV on Tuesday.

He made the remarks when asked about a report, which shows thousands of prisons across the US are struggling to cope with mentally ill inmates. According to the report, many of the 3,300 jails across the country have seen a rise in the number of inmates with serious mental illnesses, most arrested for non-violent crimes.

Welch said the report highlights only a part of the US prison system and that "the larger issue is quite frightening."

He said the report shows "the incidents of mentally ill inmates crowding into jails increased sharply in the 70s," but he added, "the other unspoken part of that is the inherent racist nature of the US prison system from beginning to end and the incarceration of black citizens specially black men increased also precipitously after the 70s after the end of the American apartheid in legal terms."

He went on to say that there is no way to talk about the American prison system unless there is a full awareness of how it works.

"It's absolutely impossible to have a full discussion about this without looking at how the prison system treats these people. And usually when Americans talk about it, they speak about it from a kind of an apartheid-based knowledge, if you haven't been on the wrong side of the law in the United States or the wrong side of the state power, you have no idea how it treats people ... you don't really have much of an idea of what the American democracy or so-called freedom really is," he added.

The report shows the number of inmates with serious mental illnesses surpasses 20 percent in some jails.

Police Beat Old Woman Caught On Cop Body Camera

Sheila Chester, 59, of Evansville, IN, was sitting in her car when another driver sideswiped her. In what should've been a simple case of an exchange of insurance information when the officer arrived quickly escalated into a case of police brutality on Chester's behalf.

Chester allegedly provided an outdated insurance card to the officer and recited the name that she goes by rather than the name that's on her driver's license. When she attempted to give the officer multiple other documents -- that still didn't include a current insurance card -- the officer yelled at her to return to her vehicle while he wrote her a ticket. Chester questioned the ticket -- rather loudly -- and things went downhill.

The officer opened his door, hitting Chester in the mouth. He pushed her, tasered her, and tried to cuff her. Four more officers arrived on the scene.

The officer also threw Chester onto the ground and knelt on her neck. Another officer wiped mud on her back.

Witnesses say the officer tasered Chester up to six times. Chester was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting law enforcement. Police claim justifiable force based on the body cam video.

Man Killed By Off-duty Cop In Restaurant Parking Lot

One person is dead after a shooting in the parking lot of a Duncanville Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, according to Dallas sheriff's deputies.

An off-duty Arlington police officer was involved in the shooting, according to Dallas sheriff's deputies.

The victim was taken to Methodist Charlton Medical Center, but later died.

It happened at the restaurant on E. Highway 67 near Cockrell Hill Road early Sunday morning.

Duncanville police and Dallas sheriff's deputies are investigating.

Police Killing of Denzel Curnell

Charleston Police Department released an incident report today for the shooting death of 19-year-old Denzel "JaBa" Curnell, who died of a gunshot wound he received Friday night at the Bridgeview Village apartment complex.

Witnesses from the neighborhood have said that Curnell was shot by a police officer while kneeling, but the incident report does not state who fired the shots. According to the report, on Fri. June 20 at 10:32 p.m., Officer R.P. Marotta was on patrol in the area of King and Huger streets when Officer J. Medlin requested assistance in reference to shots fired. The report states that Medlin was working a uniformed off-duty assignment at the Bridgeview apartments at the time of the incident.

"Officer Medlin advised that shots had been fired and that a subject was down near building 127 N. Romney St.," the report states. "Officer Medlin further advised that a large crowd was gathering and he needed additional units for crowd control."

Upon arriving at the scene, Officer Marotta writes that Officer Medlin was seen standing on the left side of his police cruiser with an unknown black male lying face down and unresponsive in the street in front of the cruiser. The report notes that a firearm was taken from the scene as evidence, but the report does not say whose gun it was, and the make and model have been redacted.

According to the Post and Courier, CPD officers began collecting forensic evidence at the scene after the shooting rather than calling in agents from the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED). A spokesman for the state agency said that calling in SLED would have been "a fairly standard practice" for an officer-involved shooting, according to the P&C.

Mother and 4 children terrified during late night police raid on wrong apartment

Jessica Walker’s splintered door. (Source: KERO)

BAKERSFIELD, CA — An innocent family was terrified when their home was invaded by militarized police officers who had targeted the wrong apartment.  After the door was splintered with a battering ram, 4 young children were forced forced to watch as their half-naked mother was helplessly bound on the floor by armed strangers.

The fright came late in the evening on Saturday, April 19th.  After Jessica Walker put her four children to bed, she prepared to take a bath around 11:00 p.m.

“I was in there getting undressed in the tub when my dog started to bark,” said the young mother.

That’s when crashing sounds were heard from the front door of the apartment.   An unidentified hostile force ripped off the barred steel security door and then used a battering ram to breach through the wooden entrance door.

Ms. Walker was half-nude when she was confronted by the armed home-invaders.  Shocked and frightened, she tried to cover her bare chest with her hands.  Even that attempt at dignity was not tolerated by the strange men.

“They were right there telling me, ‘Come down with your hands up, get down!’ and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, what’s going on.’ My, uh, area was out,” explained Walker.

Jessica Walker describes how she tried to cover herself but was then told to "put her hands up."  

(Source: KERO) 

She was then forced to the ground in submission and handcuffed.  

Her children, awakened by the commotion, saw their mother being bound while half-naked on the floor.

“They were screaming. They were screaming, ‘No, mom, no!’ And they were afraid,” Walker told ABC affiliate KERO.

Finally it was evident that the men, who were from the Bakersfield Police Department, had not found what they were looking for. 

They showed Ms. Walker a photograph and asked her if she recognized the man.  She identified him as a man who lived in a neighboring apartment.

Cops hadn’t misread the warrant, the warrant itself was flawed. The address that was printed on the document and approved by the judge belonged to Walker and her family — not the suspect.  An innocent family was traumatized and endangered because of poor planning and faulty intelligence.

Bakersfield Officer M. Malley (Badge #1046) signed the warrant and swore to its accuracy.  Not only did he request to raid the the wrong address, he made a point to request that it be done at night.

Ms. Walker says she is “very angry” and says that her children are having nightmares because of the incident, and may need therapy.

No-knock raids are performed thousands of times per year in the United States.  These tactics are designed to make the entrance of police officers to be a surprise and indiscernible from a criminal home invasion.  When a confused homeowner makes the mistake of trying to defend his family, tragedy often results.  Given the fact that police raid homes over non-violent offenses and frequently get the address wrong, it is fair to say that all Americans have something to fear with these overused, irresponsible police tactics.

Police use battering ram to break into innocent grandmother’s apartment as she slept

75-year-old Rita Hunter 

(Source: WTVR)

HENRICO, VA — A 75-year-old grandmother was terrified when she awoke to armed intruders beating down her door with a battering ram. The men then claimed to be police and started interrogating her about drugs, telling her that she was under arrest. Despite going to the wrong address, the grandmother says she was never given an apology, nor has the department offered to replace her busted door.

“I thought someone was breaking in to rob or kill me,” said Rita Hunter to WTVR, who endured the wrong-door raid.

The septuagenarian was jolted awake in the early hours of April 10th when she heard repeated ramming against her front door with a blunt object.

It was not until after her door had been breached that she realized that she was being visited by police officers — Virginia State Police. They rushed into her bedroom and accosted her while she was still lying in bed.

Police used a battering ram to beat down an innocent grandmother's door.  

(Source: WTVR) 

The raiders “took my hands with a tie-thing and said ‘You’re under arrest’ and started asking questions,” she recalled.

Mrs. Hunter was questioned about possessing drugs. She grew insulted when they accused her granddaughter of being a criminal. She said that in her 75 years she has never broken the law.

“The more I told them I didn’t know these people [the suspects], the more he continued,” Hunter said.

Police searched through her belongings but ultimately recovered no evidence of any crime. It was finally determined that the police had gone to the wrong apartment; confusing Apartment “E” with Apartment “G.”

The cops moved two apartments down and performed another aggressive raid over drugs.

“I’m very irritated and angry,” said Mrs. Hunter. “[Police] never said I’m sorry, never apologized for having the wrong house…he said you got to get someone to fix that door.”

Mrs. Hunter said that the incident shook her so badly that she’s packing up and moving somewhere else. It is unclear to where she might flee in order to avoid belligerent SWAT teams who are willing to break down doors over non-violent crimes; often invading the wrong homes because they can’t seem to read the targeted addresses properly.

Click to read more stories of Wrong-Address Raids.

Louisville officers fired/demoted for exposing a wrongful conviction

Detective Baron Morgan discovered an innocent woman behind bars.  

(Source: WLKY)

LOUISVILLE, KY — When an esteemed police detective discovered that an innocent woman had spent years in prison for a murder she didn’t commit, he notified his supervisors and tried to make the tragic error known.  Instead of seeing that the new evidence came to light, police brass demoted the whistleblower and kicked out of his unit.  Another veteran officer stood up for the whistleblower, earning him termination from the department after decades of service.  The Louisville Metropolitan Police Department has taken nefarious steps to hide a dark secret.

Wrongfully Convicted

Detective Baron Morgan of the LMPD stumbled upon the wrongful conviction during a routine interview with a suspect in 2012.  

During that interview, the suspect confessed to a shooting a man and dumping his body into the Kentucky River in 1998.  This posed a big problem, since the person sitting in prison for that murder was a woman named Susan Jean King.

Susan King spent 5.5 years in prison for a crime she didn't commit.   

Susan King had been arrested for the crime in 2007, after the murder case had gone unsolved for 8 years.  The victim, Kyle Breedon, was King’s ex-boyfriend.  When prosecutors threatened her with life in prison due to circumstantial evidence, she entered an “Alford Plea” on a lesser charge.  A defendant who gives this type of plea does not admit guilt of the crime, but accepts the consequences, since battling the prosecution would likely lead to worse results.  As such, King accepted a 10-year sentence for manslaughter to avoid the prosecutors’ threats of life in prison.  But all along, they had been threatening the wrong person.

The King conviction had already been under scrutiny by the Innocence Project when they learned that King was only 97-lbs and had only one leg.  It would have been physically impossible for her to have launched Kyle Breedon’s body over the bridge into the river.

Detective Morgan was an 18-year veteran of the force.  When he found out that Susan King was innocent, he spoke out as any moral person would.  He notified his supervisors and contacted the Innocence Project of the new confession.  The suspect, Richard Thomas Jarrell Jr., had revealed all sorts of intimate details about the murder, and revealed that he pulled the trigger just to feel what it was like to kill a man.

LMPD brass evidently didn’t appreciate the embarrassment of having a wrongful conviction exposed, so they punished Morgan, stripped him of his Detective rank, and removed him from his unit.  

He was placed back at the bottom of the department — patrolling the street, working the third shift.   The ranking members of LMPD did not act on Morgan’s evidence regarding Susan King’s wrongful conviction.   Morgan’s integrity was unwelcome as a detective.

Lt. Rich Pearson was fired when he stood up for whistleblower.  (Source: WLKY) 

Things got more scandalous when another officer stood up for Morgan, and received punishment as well.  Lieutenant Rich Pearson had over 20 years of experience as an officer, but when he stuck his neck out for Detective Morgan and Susan King, he was nailed by Police Chief Steve Conrad with trumped up allegations of misconduct and fired.

“The actions the chief has taken against him are nothing short of appalling,” said attorney Thomas Clay, who represents both Morgan and Pearson in court.  Both men filed lawsuits over their mistreatment, which Mr. Clay characterized as a violation of the state’s law protecting whistleblowers.

“This was something that pretty much dropped into Baron Morgan’s lap. He wasn’t out there looking for anything that would cause embarrassment to the Kentucky State Police,” said Mr. Clay to WLKY. “I really can’t explain the hostility that was displayed to Baron Morgan from his own department as a result of doing the right thing.”

Justice Served?

When the Innocence Project entered a motion for a new trial for Susan King, the judge denied it, saying she entered her Alford Plea voluntarily and was not owed a further trial.  She was finally released — not based on the exculpatory evidence, but her eventual parole.

Baron Morgan’s case almost went to trial, but the Louisville Metro Government instead opted to give the detective a settlement of $450,000 at the last minute.  The government insisted that the settlement was not an admission of culpability. Rich Pearson’s lawsuit remains pending.

While taxpayers have given reparations to Mr. Morgan, a great injustice was done to Susan King which has never been officially recognized.  Furthermore, those responsible for of the aforementioned acts have been allowed to remain in positions of power over the citizens of Kentucky.  Has justice been served?

TSA ejects mute, disabled woman from flight because she couldn't speak

Heidi Wright was humiliated by the TSA for lacking the ability to speak. 

(Source: KABC)

LOS ANGELES, CA –  Federal checkpoint agents refused to let a woman board her flight when they interpreted her disabilities and inability to speak as a sign of terrorism.

The TSA's eagle adorned arm patch. 

(Source: David McNew / Getty Images) 

Sherry Wright and her sister Heidi were scheduled to fly from Los Angeles International Airport to Phoenix.  Things started to go badly for the pair when TSA agents asked to see their papers.

Heidi, 58, had a driver’s license that was expired.   This was because she had not driven in years due to an injury a decade ago that left her wheelchair-bound and suffering from strokes.  The condition had left her unable to speak.

The blue-shirted agents became hostile.  Sherry helped her disabled sister show the TSA her “ID, her social and her DMV papers” — all the things the agency claimed the woman needed in an earlier phone call.  But these items were still not enough; the TSA wanted Heidi to speak.

“I was shocked. I was just standing there, tears were coming out and I was like, ‘Are you serious? We can’t get her to talk.’”

Sherry tried to explain her disability, but that did not satisfy them.  

The agents continued to insist that she speak until both women were in tears.

“He just wanted me to make my sister talk, and I couldn’t believe it. I was like, ‘Wow, we’re going to make a miracle right now,’” Sherry said to KABC.  “I was shocked. I was just standing there, tears were coming out and I was like, ‘Are you serious? We can’t get her to talk.’”

No resolution was met.  The Wright sisters were barred from entering their flight because the TSA evidently viewed them as a terrorist threat.  Their plane took off without them.  What should have been an easy flight turned into an arduous 375-mile bus ride.

The TSA is known for preying on the most vulnerable travelers — babies, the elderly, the disabled, and tube-fed children.   But most offensive of all is its callous disregard for the Bill of Rights — an endemic part of the republic’s descent into a police state.

Minister prevented from feeding homeless without permit from Health Department

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Homeless people will have to go hungry if the government has its way in Birmingham. Without expensive permits and abiding by onerous regulations, simple acts of charity are prohibited, and police are standing ready to enforce these restrictions.

A new city ordinance is forcing people like Rick Wood to shut down his weekly homeless ministry unless he pays the government hundreds of dollars and abides by the onerous regulations of the city.

Wood, a Christian minister, was recently shut down by Birmingham Police for serving the homeless in Linn Park.  They demanded that he show them a permit or leave.

“That makes me so mad,” Wood said to ABC3340 News. “These people are hungry. They’re starving. They need help from people. They can’t afford to buy something from a food truck.”

Mr. Wood has been ministering to the homeless for about six years, he said.  He drives in his van to places where he knows the city’s homeless camp out.   One spot he regularly visits is under a bridge where several camping tents are set up.

“I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was naked, I was sick and in prison,” Wood said, quoting Jesus from the Bible. “When you do to them, you do to me.”

But nothing could be less compassionate than the force of government.

The new permits were passed off as “health regulations” but are actually a mechanism to stifle competition in the food industry and protect politically-connected businesses.

“These people are hungry. They’re starving. They need help from people. They can’t afford to buy something from a food truck.”

To abide by the regulations, Rick Wood would have to pay $300 for a “general permit” and apply for a permit to operate a “food truck.”  He would have to abide by extensive red tape.  His hours of operation would be limited.   He would be unable to feed anyone within 150 feet of a brick-and-mortar food establishment.

Feeding the homeless in the city center would be even more regulated.  The “premier permit” would cost $500.

The new rules have been tough on entrepreneurs as well, who have called the ordinance “restrictive and oppressive.”

Wood says he’s going to continue serving the homeless from his church, The Church of the Reconciler in downtown Birmingham.

Sadly, this phenomenon is common in cities across the country.  Police State USA recently covered a story about a group of church volunteers who were threatened by the police for feeding homeless people biscuits and coffee in Raleigh, NC.  There are numerous other incidents that have garnered national attention as of late.  It is unclear why the government feels so threatened by volunteerism and charity.

Man arrested after drinking iced tea in public must take deal or go to trial

A man in plain clothes comes over and starts demanding to see the can of iced tea. 

(Source: YouTube)

FAYETTEVILLE, NC — A man drinking canned iced tea in a parking lot was accosted by a plainclothes beverage cop who demanded to inspect his drink.  He was placed in handcuffs and arrested.   Even though the man was innocent and was only drinking tea, prosecutors are still trying to set him up with probation and community service.

The incident took place on the evening of April 27th, 2013.  Two men were standing by their vehicle waiting for friends to arrive in the parking lot of a state-owned ABC Liquor Store.

One man, Christopher Lamont Beatty, was holding a canned beverage, while his friend, Tino Brown, was recording video using his cell phone.  That’s when the two were interrupted by a man who was interested in the man’s choice of refreshments.

A beverage cop's rage begins to surface.  (Source: YouTube) 

Beatty, who also goes by the name “Xstravagant” or “Xstrav” as his rapping persona, began receiving harassment about the can he was holding.  A man in plainclothes, claiming to be “the police”, insisted that he turn over his beverage for an inspection.  Beatty refused the stranger’s requests, but pointed out that it was only an AriZona-brand drink, “Half-and-Half” iced tea and pink lemonade — not alcohol.

Brown and Beatty pointed out that they didn’t know the identity of the nosy man and that Beatty had committed no crime.   Still, the man demanded to examine his beverage and would not take no for an answer.

The stranger then claimed that Mr. Beatty was under arrest.  He became grabby and ended up putting Beatty in a choke-hold as he took him down to the ground.

The stranger places a choke-hold on Mr. Beatty. 

(Source: YouTube)

(Source: YouTube) 

(Source: YouTube)

The bully, who turned out to be Alcohol & Beverage Control Law Enforcer Rick Libero, forced Mr. Beatty face-down onto the concrete and placed him in handcuffs.

Tino Brown had been recording the whole incident and documented the labeling on the can, showing that it was a non-alcoholic drink.

Beatty was arrested and taken to jail.  He was charged with two crimes; second degree trespass and resisting a public officer.  

Months have gone by and the prosecution has offered a deal.

The assailant starts sizing up his next potential victim.  

(Source: YouTube) 

The government requests that Beatty “submit to a year of probation, do 24 hours of community service, have a mental health assessment, and submit to drug testing and warrantless searches,” reported the Fayetteville Observer.

“It would get it dismissed at the end, but I would still have to take responsibility for my actions, and I felt like I did nothing wrong,” Beatty said.

Beatty could also potentially take this to trial, in which a jury of his peers would have the opportunity to vindicate him of an unjust charge.

Innocent mother shot dead answering door for police

Yvette Smith and her son. 

(Source: family photo)

BASTROP COUNTY, TX — A 47-year-old mother was shot to death in her home after opening her front door for police officers.  

Officers made transparent attempts to justify the shooting by alleging that she threatened them with a gun, even though no evidence corroborates that story, and nobody can imagine the woman holding a gun to anyone.

Just after midnight on February 16th, 2014, two sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a domestic disturbance at the home of Willie Thomas and his live-in girlfriend, Yvette Smith, 47.   The 9-1-1 caller had alleged that two males were arguing in the presence of a gun.

Bastrop County Deputy Daniel Willis 

Deputies claimed in their official incident report that they arrived at the home and saw one person — Willie Thomas — already outside.  They issued verbal commands for the occupants to to exit.   It alleges that when Ms. Smith finally opened the door, she had a firearm, and “disregarded the deputy’s commands.”  Deputy Daniel Willis, 28, opened fire with his .223 caliber rifle.

But that account doesn’t match with any witness or any evidence.

A neighbor, Joe Acosta, says he was awake when deputies arrived.  

“When I was overhearing it, I heard cooperation going on,” he said.

Besides Willie Thomas and Yvette Smith, who live at the address, the home contained Thomas’s son, his wife, and their three children.   Witnesses say the argument between father and son was about money, not a gun, according to KXAN.

When Thomas, who was standing by the patrol cars, overheard a dispatcher say that they believed a gun was inside, he attempted to inform deputies that was not true.  But then Smith opened the door, and shots echoed through the neighborhood.

“This is a big tragedy for everybody, because, I mean, we feel unsafe now. I mean, an officer shot somebody without the person being armed.”

“She didn’t have the chance to get out the door,” Thomas said to the Austin Statesman.

Thomas says rifle rounds struck Smith in the abdomen and head.  She died at the hospital.

No witness corroborates the story about Smith being armed. 

Family members say she would not have been comfortable holding a gun.

The department contradicted itself by issuing a second statement later in the day.  “We cannot confirm at this time that the female victim was armed with any type of firearm or other weapon at the time of the incident or that she intentionally disregarded any type of officer commands,” it said.   This draws questions about the integrity of the officer(s) who issued the first report.

“This is a big tragedy for everybody, because, I mean, we feel unsafe now. I mean, an officer shot somebody without the person being armed,” said another neighbor, Joe Martinez, to KVUE. “It just hurts, because now you can’t trust an officer here.”

Yvette Smith (Courtesy: Adriana Vela) 

Anthony Bell, the victim’s son, was heartbroken when he heard of his mother’s death.  He says she has been a wonderful mother and never run afoul of the law.  He was informed 6 hours after the shooting.

“I answered the door and there were two investigators there, and they said your mom’s been involved in an accident,” Bell said.  “I thought a car wreck and he said, no, she was shot by an officer and she died. I just lost it then.”

The department seems to have unwittingly admitted the shooting was unjustified by characterizing the shooting as an “accident.” Officials have remained tight-lipped about details to the media.

Sheriff’s officials report that the deputy’s training records have been tampered with by a supervisor, following the shooting.  It seems that supervisor Joey Dzianowski pulled Willis’ records and signed off on training that had not previously received valid signatures.  Two supervisors received demotions and suspensions for the records tampering.

“She was just a loving, caring, genuine person,” Bell told KXAN. “You got a mother of two gone. The woman beat cancer, just got out of knee surgery and was battling diabetes. She was 5-foot-5, 135 pounds, and if you find that aggressive then you need to turn your badge in.

The repercussions for the shooting and record tampering remain to be seen.  Willis, who became a deputy last May, is on paid administrative leave.  The Texas Rangers are investigating the incident.

Answering the door for police is becoming an increasingly dangerous proposition.  This shooting took place within days of a Georgia teenager being shot answering the door for police, while allegedly holding a video game controller.

UPDATE: Bastrop County Deputy Daniel Willis has been indicted for the murder of Yvette Smith. A grand jury reviewed the evidence and deemed that charges were appropriate. The fact that police initially claimed that she had a gun and then retracted the statement surely did not help the officer’s credibility.

View KXAN’s coverage of the shooting here:

Prisoner freed after serving 15 years for baggie of marijuana seeds

By Barry Cooper

Activists, pro bono super lawyers and a federal prosecutor joined forces to free a 57 year old man after serving 15 years of a 30 year prison sentence for possessing a baggie of marijuana seeds. Last year, after exhausting all legal appeals, Dalton Wilson, a model prisoner who earned a psychology degree while behind bars, contacted the NeverGetBusted Free A Prisoner Program who published, “We Taught That Ni&&er A Lesson.” The NeverGetBusted exclusive detailed the story of how Wilson was arrested in 1996 by federal agents in Texas and unfairly convicted by a racist jury.

Leaving his three sons behind, ages seven, nine and eleven, to spend a life behind bars will leave a permanent pained look in the family’s eyes forever.  While the eldest son, Shomari, manages the recordings, Husani, now age twenty-six, became a popular recording artist with lyrics like, “I watched my mama cry for me and broke…my dad in the fed pen jump suit I use to watch the front door and hope my daddy come through.”   This portion of the song can be heard at the closing of the video of Wilson’s first interview that is attached to this story.

The youngest son, Adisa, now age twenty-four, is described by close family friends as a non-stop advocate for his father’s freedom.  

As he has done for years, he continues carrying a backpack containing over ten pounds of legal documents pertaining to his father’s incarceration. It was Adisa who contacted NeverGetBusted after numerous lawyers and appeals failed to free his father. 

During a prison visitation, Adisa received a copy of an article from Maxim Magazine that featured NeverGetBusted.  

Wilson instructed his son to contact the organization and ask for help.

Dalton’s son endlessly carried a “Ninja Turtle” bag containing over 10 pounds of legal documents pertaining to his father’s incarceration.

In January 2013, the NeverGetBusted Freedom Program published Wilson’s story requesting legal assistance and asking the audience to telephone Judge Junell’s office with pleas to release the prisoner of the failed drug war. Nationally famous lawyer and NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) Board of Directors, Attorney Jeff Steinborn, answered the publication’s request and agreed to review the mound of legal documents at no charge.

In March 2013, Steinborn contacted the person in charge of Dalton’s case,  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Miller, who agreed Wilson’s sentence was drastic.  Miller collaborated with Steinborn and together they outlined a legal strategy to free the seed prisoner.

In September 2013, Mr. Steinborn’s wife fell ill so Texas lawyer and President of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Bobby Mims, was tapped on the shoulder to travel to West Texas for Mr. Wilson’s hearing.  Although Mr. Mims agreed to work for no charge, travel expenses needed to be covered. NeverGetBusted fans were asked to fund Mim’s travel by purchasing a five-hundred-dollar NeverGetBusted Lifetime Arrest Insurance  at the reduced rate of twenty-five dollars.  Within hours, seven-hundred and fifty dollars was raised and forwarded to Mr. Mims who purchased an airplane ticket to West Texas.

Washington attorney, Brandon Rains, legal expert, Tracee Tomich and famous lawyer, Jeff Steinborn, donated their services to free 

In October 2013, federal judge, Robert Junell, signed the order for Wilson to be released on December 9, 2013.   Coincidentally, Wilson is the second drug war prisoner who was the focus of a NeverGetBusted investigation that Judge Junell has released. In 2009, Junell was made famous for releasing a West Texas mother of two, Yolanda Madden, after NeverGetBusted lured drug agents into raiding a fake marijuana grow room.

In November 2013, Wilson was released from prison and placed in the custody of U.S. Immigration.  Sometimes prisoners remain in immigration holding for long periods of time so immigration lawyer, Doug Grannan, donated his craft which resulted in the speedy deportation of Mr. Wilson.

On December 2013, after fifteen years of isolation from the world…after fifteen years of not holding a loved one or touching the fur of an animal…after fifteen years of no private toilet and shower time…after fifteen years of demeaning strip searches…after fifteen years of not interacting with children…Wilson stepped off the airplane in Jamaica and into his mother’s arms a free man. 

Attorney Jeff Steinborn Attorney Jeff Steinborn states, “We were able to help Mr. Wilson despite the fact that the law offered no real remedies. We examined all the possible arguments as to why justice had been frustrated and why Wilson’s case should be revisited by the court.  We had the good fortune to encounter a United States Attorney who agreed with us and wanted to help. Sadly, there are thousands out there whose cases are as shocking as Mr. Wilson’s, and many of their cases are even more difficult to solve.”

Attorney Bobby Mims Attorney Bobby Mims explains, “Dalton Wilson is now a middle aged man with a gentle disposition. He bears no hard feelings and appears to be at peace.  The Assistant US Attorney Jay Miller and Judge Junell did the right thing by granting Dalton an early release from his harsh sentence.  Dalton’s case is just one of thousands that needs to be addressed as it is very clear the Americans no longer want to see people criminalized for possessing a plant.  Hopefully, the government will review more cases like Dalton Wilson’s and free the non-violent human beings that have been incarcerated far beyond what is necessary to address their crimes.”

Since Wilson’s release, According to the New York Times, the Obama administration, in its effort to decrease the embarrassing number of citizens in U.S. prison camps, is taking the unprecedented step of releasing crack cocaine offenders.  Obama is encouraging defense lawyers and prison guards to provide a list of low-level, non-violent inmates whom the president might let out of prison early.  The clemency drive is the administration’s effort to reduce the largest prison population on the planet. Currently, the United States has 5 percent of the world’s population but houses 25 percent of the world’s prisoners, over two million in number.

Testifying on Capitol Hill recently, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said the Bureau of Prisons now eats up 30 percent of the Justice Department’s budget, which strains the department’s ability to do other law enforcement missions.  The real question Americans should be asking is, “Who is receiving 30 percent of the budget to cage millions of non violent Americans?” Since prison stock is now traded based on the number of inmates, I’m sure the shareholders are living lavish while millions suffer the torture of being locked away from their families.

In the past, American presidents, Republican and Democratic, have strongly supported the caging of millions of Americans turning the drug war into what some consider a slow motion holocaust.  Fortunately, and because of activists, pro bono super lawyers and a compassionate federal prosecutor, Americans now have one less prisoner of war to free.

To help Mr. Wilson rebuild his life and to fund the freeing of more prisoners, purchase a “Coughee Pipe,” handmade in Jamaica by the man who spent 15 years in prison for marijuana seeds.  The bottom of each “Coughee Pipe” is personally engraved with Wilson’s name and inmate number. Only 500 available.  Get more details here.