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ausetkmt · 2 years

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The “1-800 Happy Birthday” digital voice mail project is transformed into an exhibition in Brooklyn, and welcomes visitors.

A phone booth dedicated to Tony Robinson, in the “1-800 Happy Birthday” exhibition in Brooklyn.Credit...Lila Barth for The New York Times

Sept. 23, 2022

If Oscar Grant III could celebrate his birthday, his mother, the Rev. Wanda Johnson, said, he’d welcome the entire neighborhood from his Hayward, Calif., block and serve platters of gumbo, his Nana’s tacos and barbecue chicken. But Johnson now honors his birthday without him, as do other mothers whose children were killed by the police.

“On their birthdays, their chair is empty,” Johnson said in an interview, “where it didn’t have to be.”

Grant was killed in 2009, shot in the back while lying down by a transit officer on New Year’s Day in Oakland, Calif. He was 22.

His mother throws birthday bashes, and has participated in a voice-mail-message art project with a similar aim: to celebrate the lives of people killed by the police or while in police custody. An extension of that project is opening on Friday in a building near the border of Bushwick and East Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The original edition of the work, “1-800 Happy Birthday,” started online in 2020, to allow people to listen to and share celebratory messages for Latino and Black people killed by the police. It was a move, Mohammad Gorjestani, a filmmaker behind the project, said, to flip “the reference point emotionally from death to life.”

In the central space of the exhibition, 12 pay phones, one for each person being honored, are arranged in a circle. Each one, adorned with family photos and flowers, forms a shrine of sorts, where visitors can listen in to the voice mail messages that have been left.

Also in the exhibition, designed to reflect an urban community, a wall mural, created by the artist Kenya Lawton, a.k.a. Art1 Airbrush, stretches across from a translucent brownstone and a bodega. Visitors can buy birthday cards, balloons, prayer candles and flowers at the bodega, to pay tribute to the lives being honored. (All proceeds will be directed to the 1-800 Happy Birthday Family Fund, which will distribute donations equally to causes of a family’s choosing.) Behind the brownstone’s exterior is a family living room. There, visitors can use phones to leave voice mail messages for any of the 12 people, or peruse resource materials on social justice and trauma healing. (Those who can’t make it to the exhibition in person can leave messages via the website 1800HappyBirthday.com.)

For this art exhibition, Gorjestani, the filmmaker who conceived of the project with the studio Even/Odd, which he founded, has teamed up with the nonprofit Worthless Studios and the family members of victims. He said the intent is to create “a mirror for people to reflect in a new way.”

The 12 people the exhibition focuses on are Grant, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, Dujuan Armstrong, Stephon Clark, Fred Cox, Xzavier Hill, Donovon Lynch, Sean Monterrosa, Tony Robinson and Mario Woods.

They are referred to as “celebrants,” and the exhibition uses communal spaces like the living room to emphasize family memoriesand personal aspirations. It also incorporates airbrush and typeface styles that are popular in communities of color.

“Don’t think about this as someone you saw in a headline that died, think about this as someone that was living,” Gorjestani said.

A Worthless Studios curator, Klaudia Ofwona Draber, who also leads a residency, KODA, that explores social justice art, worked closely with the family members and friends of all 12 celebrants, and called the experience emotional but rewarding. Among the mementos Ofwona Draber collected for the exhibition included the high school graduation cap of Hill, an 18-year-old who was killed by Virginia State Police troopers in 2021. The hat reads, “not a statistic,” and has a chain-link design bordering the rim. The showcase is a new way of communicating about police brutality, she said, and she hopes the families will be proud of the end result.

“What we’re doing or aiming to do at this exhibition is to, yes, raise awareness but also to inspire action or to work with people wherever they are in their healing journeys,” Ofwona Draber said. The exhibition runs through Jan. 16 at the Worthless Studios space.

The studios’ executive director, Marcia Santoni, said she’s anticipating a visceral reaction as visitors listen to the voice mails. “This, for some people, will be an education and awakening,” she said.

A series of panel discussions will be held on Saturday in conjunction with the exhibition, moderated by Johnson, with other mothers and family members of celebrants who will share memories, resources and healing approaches.

Throughout the project, Johnson said, listening to the voice mail messages from family members reflecting on old memories and strangers singing happy birthday has been a reminder that her son’s life mattered.

“Shouting Oscar’s name 13 years later still reminds us and lets us know that people’s lives are valued,” she said. “They need to be valued.”

1-800 Happy Birthday

7 Knickerbocker Avenue, Brooklyn; through Jan. 16; worthlessstudios.org.

#Birthday Messages to Celebrate Lives #Not Mourn Police Killings

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michaelcosio · 3 months

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Ofc. JARED E. ROBINET 0520 - @SacramentoPoliceDepartment1849

Aug 2, 2022

STORY:

Officer JARED E. ROBINET, 0520 is one of two Sacramento Police officers who shot & killed 22 year old Stephon Clark & then denied him any first aid because they claimed he had a gun.

Later they said he didn't actually have a gun, but a crowbar…THEN they finally admitted that it wasn't a gun, or a crowbar, but HIS WHITE COLORED CELLPHONE.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the two officers took the time to ask how the other was doing. “Are you hit?” one asked. “No, I’m good,” the other responded…as Clark lay motionless on his grandmother’s patio.

The Officers next concern was to reload their guns, even though they had already fired a total of 20 shots, and could visibly see Stephon was motionless down on the ground.

Police officers continued to shout at Clark’s lifeless body that they would not administer aid to him until he “got rid of his weapon.” (his white colored cell phone)

The officers did not attempt to render any medical aid, and when they did approach Stephon, they put him in handcuffs while he continued to bleed out laying face down on the ground.

Once the shooting scene was secured, Officers TERRENCE MERCADAL & JARED ROBINET were released from further duties at the crime scene and their body worn cameras were muted. Several officers approached ROBINET & MERCADAL while at the scene but these conversations were not fully captured because THE OFFICERS MUTED THEIR MICROPHONES AT VARIOUS POINTS.

After the shooting, it was found that some of the 20 bullets that were shot at Stephon, went through the walls and almost hit his little sister who was inside their grandmother's house.

Both Officers were put on PAID administrative leave and eventually allowed to return to work for the same Department, in the same neighborhoods.

The Sacramento County District Attorney refused to press charges against the officers, claiming they did not break the law.

Both officers were eventually cleared to return to work, and Officer TERRENCE MERCADAL and Officer JARED ROBINET are still currently working with the Sacramento Police Department, patrolling the same neighborhoods, showing absolutely no remorse for the life he took.

Both officers involved haven't so much as even issued an apology to the Clark Family.

Contact the Sacramento Police Department today and voice your concerns about these K I L L E R C O P S they continue to let patrol our streets.

Tell them we want these M U R D E R E R S out of our communities!

Contact the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office and voice your concerns about her incompetent lack of action in this case.

Tell them WE WANT JUSTICE FOR STEPHON CLARK.

We want Officers JARED ROBINET and TERRENCE MERCADAL to be charged for the wrongful death of Stephon Clark, and let a jury or their peers decide.

#firejaredrobinet

#fireterrencemercadal

#justiceforstephonclark

Contact the Sacramento Police Department and the Sacramento County District Attorney and voice your concerns. Make sure to blast this video all over their social media accounts too.

SACRAMENTO POLICE DEPARTMENT:

Phone: (916) 808-0800

Facebook:

/ sacramentopolicedepartment

Twitter:

/ sacpolice

SACRAMENTO COUNTY DA:

Phone: (916) 874-6218

Facebook:

/ saccountyda

Twitter:

/ saccountyda

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reasoningdaily · 1 year

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In a number of police brutality cases, the actions of a police officer are justified if the person is holding or reaching for a firearm, even when it is found later that the cop made a mistake. Recently, a Missouri Prosecutor has decided not to criminally charge two Independence Police Department officers who shot and killed 39-year-old Tyrea Pryor after a car crash after mistaking him for holding a gun.

The Carjacking Cops Of Memphis

Pryor’s case is one of many examples of police brutality but here are seven examples of cops pulling the “they had a gun” card.

1. Tyrea M. Pryor

Dash camera footage from the March 11 incident shows officers approached a totaled white vehicle with Tyrea Pryor and a female passenger inside. They ordered the woman to exit the car and spoke with Pryor, who was disabled and groaning in pain. “He’s got a gun,” the officer said and immediately 15 shots rained toward Pryor. Authorities say they opened fire after seeing a “floating gun” when in reality, Pryor was unarmed, per The Kansas City Star. Moments after the shooting, another officer is heard saying, “I don’t see a pistol.”

2. Jayland Walker

Before Pryor’s killing, 25-year-old Jayland Walker was shot and killed by Akron police in a hail of over 40 bullets. Authorities say before the shooting, they saw Walker fire a shot at them while being followed in a high-speed chase. The firearm they say was found in the back of his vehicle has been speculated to be planted there.

3. Frederick Cox

In 2020, Frederick Cox was shot and killed by High Point police outside a funeral after “being seen with a gun.” Reports say the medical examiner didn’t find any gun residue on Cox’s hand and the deputy who suggested the false notion faced no charges in the death.

4. Donovan Lewis

Lewis was in bed when a group of Ohio police officers showed up at his door to serve an arrest warrant, per CBS News. The officers detained the other men in the house and unleashed a K-9 to find Lewis. When within seconds of opening his bedroom door, one officer shot at Lewis as he raised his arms with a vape pen in hand. No firearm was recovered from the scene.

5. Stephon Clark

In 2018, Clark was shot and killed in the backyard of his grandmother’s house by Sacramento officers who mistook his cellphone for a firearm. None of the officers involved were criminally charged.

6. Sean Bell

Bell was out at a bachelor party the night before his wedding when he was shot and killed by plainclothes NYPD officers. The cops claimed they overheard one of Bell’s friends ordering him to get a gun. However, witnesses say the officer came up by his car brandishing a firearm resulting in Bell trying to speed off. The officers fired over 50 rounds at Bell’s vehicle and not were convicted in his death.

7. Aiyana Mo’Nay Stanley-Jones

The 7-year-old was shot in the head while asleep in her grandmother’s living room. Officers from Detroit’s Special Response Team raided the apartment, threw a flash-bang grenade and fired within seconds. They claimed they saw her grandmother reaching for one of their guns but she was on the other side of the room, according to Mother Jones.

Attorney Weighs In on Police Accountability

The Jackson County prosecutor deciding not to criminally charge the officers who shot Tyrea Pryor comes as no surprise given the exhaustive list of police killings we see in the news. Though, the absence of a guilty conviction suggests the police these life-threatening mistakes are on their job applications.

Civil rights attorney Harry Daniels, who is representing Pryor’s family, told The Root what needs to be done to keep these tragedies from happening again is letting the law enforcement know they themselves are not above the law.

“It’s accountability, charges, arrest, convictions, prison sentences - They unlawfully killed a man so they should be reviewed and presented to the grand jury for further charges unless they include murder If you shoot a person who is unarmed ‘accidentally’ or whatever you want to call it, then you know then you should be reviewed as to whether you committed murder or sometimes voluntary manslaughter,” Daniels said.

The accountability people want to see is police officers being prosecuted as if they were citizens for committing these egregious crimes.

#7 Black People Killed After Cops Falsely Discover a Gun That was Never There #memphis #mpd #white lies

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crliny1-b1 · 1 year

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Doesn't justify what happened to him, but this is definitely a bad look! We saw the same thing with Stephon Clarke! He was on social media talking about "What about Black on Black crime?" In defense of police brutality! "Pull your pants up and don't resist and you won't get shot by the police!" He was one of those Negros! He sent also posted ANTI BLACK Woman H8tred! Don't be OFF CODE and then your family wants support from the very same Black community he expressed animosity towards! Ijs. https://www.instagram.com/p/CoWkeh9uvIeb9kBWrZU8NOYvkeuyyC3AWbKIYc0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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h2shonotes · 1 year

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As we commemorate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. this weekend, I renew attention to David Byrne's American Utopia. The central idea is that the world depends on our individual, inner transformation of mind and heart, which we cannot accomplish alone. Our true selves are linked to one another through relationships.

Byrne covers Janelle Monae’s “Hell You Talmbout” to name African-American victims of American law enforcement and the systemic racism that continues to perpetuate this ongoing legal form of genocide.

Say their names.

Eric Garner, John Crawford III, Michael Brown, Ezell Ford, Dante Parker, Michelle Cusseaux, Laquan McDonald, George Mann, Tanisha Anderson, Akai Gurley, Tamir Rice, Rumain Brisbon, Jerame Reid, Matthew Ajibade, Frank Smart, Natasha McKenna, Tony Robinson, Anthony Hill, Mya Hall, Phillip White, Eric Harris, Walter Scott, William Chapman II, Alexia Christian, Brendon Glenn, Victor Manuel Larosa, Jonathan Sanders, Freddie Blue, Joseph Mann, Salvado Ellswood, Sandra Bland, Albert Joseph Davis, Darrius Stewart, Billy Ray Davis, Samuel Dubose, Michael Sabbie, Brian Keith Day, Christian Taylor, Troy Robinson, Asshams Pharoah Manley, Felix Kumi, Keith Harrison McLeod, Junior Prosper, Lamontez Jones, Paterson Brown, Dominic Hutchinson, Anthony Ashford, Alonzo Smith, Tyree Crawford, India Kager, La’vante Biggs, Michael Lee Marshall, Jamar Clark, Richard Perkins, Nathaniel Harris Pickett, Benni Lee Tignor, Miguel Espinal, Michael Noel, Kevin Matthews, Bettie Jones, Quintonio Legrier, Keith Childress Jr., Janet Wilson, Randy Nelson, Antronie Scott, Wendell Celestine, David Joseph, Calin Roquemore, Dyzhawn Perkins, Christopher Davis, Marco Loud, Peter Gaines, Torrey Robinson, Darius Robinson, Kevin Hicks, Mary Truxillo, Demarcus Semer, Willie Tillman, Terrill Thomas, Sylville Smith, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Terence Crutcher, Paul O’Neal, Alteria Woods, Jordan Edwards, Aaron Bailey, Ronell Foster, Stephon Clark, Antwon Rose II, Botham Jean, Pamela Turner, Dominique Clayton, Atatiana Jefferson, Christopher Whitfield, Christopher Mccorvey, Eric Reason, Michael Lorenzo Dean, Breonna Taylor.

This non-comprehensive list of Black people in the United States killed by police since July 2014 was compiled by National Public Radio’s Code Switch as part of an episode entitled “A Decade of Watching Black People Die.”

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meowmaids · 1 year

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Jesus fucking Christ, Elon in a now deleted tweet defended the Police murder of Michael Brown.

I had absolutely no respect for Elon before I just want Micheal’s family to be safe and hold Elon accountable for such a heinous actions. Michael Brown’s family has gone through so much and deserve nothing but peace, love, support and for the man that murdered their son to face legitimate consequences.

Black Lives still Matter!!! Michael should still be with his family and friends today! As should Breonna Taylor, George Flyod, Trayvon Martin, Atatianna Jefferson, Freddie Greek, Daunte Wright, Jamisha Fontville, Aura Rosser, Marcella Byrd, Manuel Ellis, Darnell Brooks, Daniel Prude, Stephon Clark, Botham Jean, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, Eric Garner, Michelle Cusseaux, Akai Gurley, Gaberilla Navarez, Tamir Rice, Tanisha Anderson, Elijah McClain, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many more black, brown and indigenous individuals

#tw police execution #tw police violence #tw police murder #tw police brutality #tw murder #tw antiblack racism #tw antiblack violence #tw death #tw racism #tw antiblackness

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notesfromtheunderground1312 · 1 year

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The Emerald Triangle

Introduction:

In August of 2014, the US, experienced an unparalleled rebellion over the murder of Michael Brown, a Black man, by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. Like many cities, we had looted and rioted for weeks on end, searching for the limits of our revolutionary capabilities, which turned out to be a lack of imagination in the end. The same old tools, produced the same results, the talking heads “representing” the people gained a seat at the negotiating table of power, to produce several more black people being killed by the police over the next few years (Tamir Rice 2014,Eric Harris 2015,Walter Scott 2015,Freddie Gray 2015, Philando Castile 2016, Stephon Clark 2018, Breonna Taylor 2020, George Floyd 2020) without any significant consequence. This is one story among many that was never supposed to be told. It is about an exploration into the unknown, to build capacity for militant struggle against the US government.

Lex, Jessie, and Bronson aimed to leave town at 10:00am. Jessie borrowed a plain white van from a friend. Jessie was supposed to pick up Lex and Bronson who had gathered all the necessary tools: bullet proof vests, guns, bolt cutters, crow bars, drills etc. When Jessie finally arrived the two had stepped off the curb becoming more aware of the heavy weight of the bags, and got into the van. Jessie sat in the drivers seat, he was to take the first shift driving the 4 hours to the Emerald Triangle ( the US’s largest cannabis producer located in Northern California)

As the crew drove to the outskirts of the busy city, Jessie nervously chain smoked cigarettes with the window down, his hat which was covering his balding head, was fluttering with the turbulence of the incoming freeway air. While on the drive Jessie and Bronson debated philosophy as a way to pass the time, and to get to know each other, this was the longest amount of time the 3 of them would spend together. Bronson, had spent his teenage years in and out of incarceration, and had become an avid reader. He argued against any universal statements, proclaimed the fiction of race and gender as social constructs. Jessie didn’t really believe one way or the other, he was just driving, fascinated by the conversation.

Bronson and Lex were essentially hired thugs and tacticians for this operation. The two of them had worked together in the streets, organizing black bloc demonstrations, occupations, looting, rioting, and getting into street fights with the police. They where seasoned anarchists.

Jessie was a pot farmer, who had been cut out of a $100,000 grow operation. The season for harvesting weed in CA is in October, in early August the owner of the pot farm had let Jessie go, claiming the operation didn’t need him anymore. Jessie had managed the farm from start to finish, and was expecting around $50k when all the weed was sold. Instead the owner gave him $8k and cut him loose.

Jessie and Bronson had met at a party during the height of the Ferguson Uprising. Every major city in the US was on fire, and many seasoned street fighters had reached the peak of their skill sets. The horizon of the struggle was simply out of reach. It was in this moment as Jessie explained the debacle with his boss, that Bronson plotted on a simple experiment. If armed struggle was to become the next step, revolutionaries would need practice, what better than a relatively low stakes robbery, a dress rehearsal for larger expropriations. The weed farmers wouldn’t call the police, they might try an armed defense of the farm, but by being caught off guard they didn’t have much of a chance. The same organizing attention to detail and security could be used to plan the heist.

So there the 3 of them where, hurling down the freeway. The philosophical banter continued, “There is a kind of inherent, although unintentional, anti-authoritarian nature to oral histories” explained Bronson to the van of would be thieves. Lex jumped in to hammer the point home

“ Without a definitive reference point, social regulation becomes like a game of telephone, it’s harder to concentrate power, cause no one really knows exactly what the rule was, or how it should be interpreted. Hammurabi’s code was probably the first solidified reference for law, literally written in stone…”

the van began to slow as they approached the exit, the conversation fell to a silence as the gravity of the situation was beginning to be felt, and they awaited to stop exactly where they had planned.

The road off the exit turned to dirt, and continued toward the mountains. They winded through the steep alpine forest for what seemed like hours, taking deep breaths of the fresh air to calm the nerves . Finally the van stopped at an unused campsite a few miles from the entrance to the farm. So much planning and discreet meetings, the emotional preparation to possibly get into a gun fight, to shoot someone, or to be shot, in the backdrop of a looming revolution in the US.

They slide open the old van door and began ruffling through the large bags, found the bullet proof vests and began to put them on. Bronson was realizing that he had never put a bullet proof vest on before, it was a lot heavier than he thought. They began to load the ghost guns, clearly none of them had much experience, fumbling the bullets around before finding a rhythm of putting them into the magazines, they checked the tools, the last touch to make their fantasy into a reality was to dawn the black mask. The plan was to climb the mountain, a 6 mile walk along the ridge following the electrical lines that lead to the house, to avoid walking up the only road to the farm. This particular date was chosen by following the “Boss” on Facebook which indicated that they wold be on vacation during this time. No one in the crew could know for sure, so it was agreed that during the robbery if the “Boss” came up the dirt road they’d have no choice but take the “Boss” hostage to ensure a clean get away.

As they hiked, the sweat poured into Bonson’s face forcing him to stop every so often to wipe his eyes as they went up the dirt hill with 100 lbs of equipment and a loaded gun. The ideological reasons for being there didn’t exist in that moment, only the immediate physical reality was present, the sweat under the bullet proof vest soaking his shirt underneath, the slightest need to pee, the discomfort of his shoes. Jessie was getting further and further ahead, not only because he knew the route but also because he carried the least amount of equipment. He saw Lex and Bronson lagging behind, the plan needed to be altered, it didn’t meet the physical needs of the terrain. Jessie waited near one of the electrical towers sprinkled along the ridge line, as Lex and Bronson struggled to keep up the the sun started to go down. Jessie signaled for them to come in closer, he whispered “ I’m going to run up ahead and scout to see if anyone is there, you two keep coming, we are getting close. Just keep following the electrical line and stop at the tree line before the farm.” Lex and Bronson looked at each other panting and simply nodded their heads trying to catch their breath. Jessie had worked on the farm a year ago and knew where they might be storing all the weed, he was the best person to go ahead and scout it out.

As Lex and Bronson finally approached the tree line of the farm the sun had just began to set on the valley where the small house was located. Jessie snaked his way to the tree line to meet them he knelt closer “ I need you guys to aim the guns at the front door while I look in the windows to make sure no one is here before we crack open the storage unit.” Eye contact between Lex and Bronson was made and a quick nod, they carefully set down the tools in the darkness of the forest and crept up to the house to take their positions aiming at the door just in case anyone saw Jessie in the window and tried to come out. Jessie had started at the window closest to the door and worked around the building in a clockwise rotation. He slowly peeked his head up above the window sill like a cartoon bear trying to steal a freshly baked pie. As he ended his search he returned to the other two’s firing positions. “There is no one fucking here!” The excitement of the three of them noticeably lit up their faces even under the black ski masks. After retrieving the tools, they still moved cautiously together, guns drawn moving in a column towards the shed where the loot was hidden.

As they approached the door Lex and Bronson assessed the security of the door and the tools needed to open it. The door was held shut with a thick padlock on your basic barn door hinge. Bronson had always been amused at the logic of locks, even the strongest lock in the world can’t make a weak hinge stronger. The bolt cutters where taken out of the large black bag, and Lex and Bronson simply cut the hinge the lock was attached to in two cuts. The thieves swung the door wide open, the room was full of bags and two refrigerators. Jessie quickly rummaged thru the bags to make sure it contained what they where looking for. He stuck his head in and deeply inhaled, his eyes through his mask looked like he had reunited with an old friend. He simply said “ That’s it” Everyone readjusted their equipment and picked up two bags each. The bags themselves contained 20 lbs of weed each. They hauled them to the side of dirt road, Jessie again volunteered to run down the road to retrieve the van and drive it back up to gather them and the loot. Lex brought up the fact that the “Boss” could up the road at anytime and that we needed a plan on what to do if they did. Bronson took the radios out handed one to Jessie, “ At this point if the Boss comes up that road you need to fire a warning shot at them and radio us, we’ll take them hostage until we are done, and leave them tied up in the woods somewhere.” The risk was assessed by the group and the plan went ahead. Immediately after Jessie took a radio and a hand gun and began sprinting down the hill, leaving everything with the other two.

Lex and Bronson waited on the side of the dirt road for Jessie to return with the van. No words where exchanged between them, just the silence of the woods. Suddenly some lights came up the road, firing positions where taken until the vehicle could be recognized. It was Jessie, he found a place to turn the van around and the three quickly loaded all the equipment and the loot into the back of the van. All three got in the car and made their way down the dirt road, hoping that this wouldn’t be the moment that someone came up the road. The job wasn’t done until they made it home, they where now traveling with 120 lbs of weed which could still land them all felonies.

The trio made their way to a nearby hotel to check in and hold tight until morning. Jessie had moved weight before but not this much, the standard operating procedure was to travel with a “tail,” a separate vehicle that would trail the carrying car in case police tried to pull it over. They rented a box truck, and flipped a coin on who would drive the truck holding all the loot. Lex got the short end of the stick while Jessie and Bronson would follow in the tail van, now only carrying the weapons.

As the months went up by after the robbery the three had made an impressive selling operation. Weed sales in CA don’t yield as much profit as out of state sales, plus anyone who happened to sell the weed to the “boss” or their clientele could lead them back to the trio. Jessie knew real estate agents on the East Coast who could be hired to receive their mailed weed packages at empty homes they where selling, and could mail back the money disguised in coloring books with the pages cut out. Over a course of a few months the plan unfolded, and the trio made a good profit around $20k each. Lex and Bronson had agreed to use a certain percentage of the money for political causes to up the capacity for militant organizing. But what was specifically done with the money is a different story all together….

#expropriation #weed #anarchy #ferguson #crime #stories

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getkeyspecs · 2 years

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Sacramento To Pay $1.7 Million To Parents Of Stephon Clark, Unarmed Man Killed By Cops Read more 👉 https://homedecortipsfood.blogspot.com/2022/08/sacramento-to-pay-17-million-to-parents.html #Sacramento | #Million | #Parents | #Stephon https://www.instagram.com/p/ChN1w7jhO9G/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#sacramento #million #parents #stephon

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mrbubbles511-2 · 2 years

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Its been 10 years since Trayvon Martin was murdered.

Its been 8 years since Tamir Rice and Michael Brown were murdered.

Its been 7 years since Freddie Gray was murdered.

Its been 6 years since Terence Crutcher was murdered.

Its been 5 years since Heather Heyer was murdered.

Its been 4 years since Stephon Clarke was murdered.

Its been 2 years since George Floyd and Breonna Taylor were murdered.

103 black men were killed by police last year in the US.

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michaelcosio · 4 months

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youtube

Stephon Clark: why weren't the officers charged?

Mar 4, 2019

In this video we are going to explain why the Sacramento district attorney didn't charge the two SPD officers criminally. To make this video I read the entire 61 page report and picked out the key pieces.

from Donut Operator

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reasoningdaily · 1 year

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if anybody thought police would be deterred by that apparent exception to the rule of holding police accountable for killing Black people, they should think again as it has been a quick resumption of law enforcement normalcy with continued shootings of Black men and boys with impunity since Chauvin’s murder conviction.

Case in point, Alaunte Scott was shot and killed by U.S. Marshals as he was taking the garbage out of his home on Tuesday afternoon in southeast Washington, D.C., the Washington Post reported. Scott’s mother said the Marsdhs claimed they were trying to execute an arrest for a parole violation before shooting her son in the back because they allegedly saw the 22-year-old holding a gun.

None of the Marshals were wearing body cameras.

Scott’s name joins a long list of too many other Black men and boys killed by the police, including people who have become household names for all the wrong reasons like Jayland Walker, Patrick Lyoya, Tamir Rice, Botham Jean, E.J. Bradford, and Michael Brown. But there are plenty of others whose police killings never went “viral,” including people like Michael Dean, a 28-year-old father who police shot in the head on Dec. 3, 2019, and Jamee Johnson, a 22-year-old HBCU student who police shot to death after a questionable traffic stop on Dec. 14, 2019.

One of the most distressing parts of this seemingly nonstop string of police killings of Black people is the fact that more times than not, the officer involved in the shooting can hide behind the claim that they feared for their lives — even if the victim was shot in the back, as has become the case for so many deadly episodes involving law enforcement. In a handful of those cases — such as Antwon Rose, a 13-year-old boy killed in Pittsburgh, and Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old killed in Sacramento, both of whom were unarmed — the officers either avoided being criminally charged altogether or were acquitted despite damning evidence that the cops’ lives were not threatened and there was no cause for them to resort to lethal force or any violence for that matter.

Crump, who has been retained in so many of these cases, described the above scenarios in his book, “Open Season,” as the “genocide” of Black people.

As NewsOne continues covering these shootings that so often go ignored by mainstream media, the below running list (in no certain order) of Black men and boys who have been shot and killed by police under suspicious circumstances can serve as a tragic reminder of the dangers Black and brown citizens face upon being born into a world of hate that has branded them as suspects since birth.

Scroll down to learn more about the Black men and boys who have lost their lives to police violence.

1. Gershun Freeman

Gershun Freeman, 33, died Oct. 5, 2022, inside Shelby County Jail after an encounter with his jailers in Memphis.

A 13-minute-long edited video released by the Nashville District Attorney’s Office shows officers handing out meals to inmates. When officers get to Freeman’s cell, the video shows Freeman lunging at officers and nearly a dozen officers trying to subdue him. In the video, Freeman can be seen getting kicked, punched and paper sprayed repeatedly by officers.

According to the autopsy summary, Freeman suffered cardiac arrest while he was restrained and his death has been classified as a homicide.

2. Darryl Tyree Williams

On Jan 17, Darryl Tyree Williams, 32, was violently arrested by Raleigh Police in North Carolina. During his arrest, he warned officers about a heart condition fearful that the arrest could complicate his condition. But officers didn’t heed his warning and repeatedly tasered him before he lost consciousness. Williams would later die in the hospital.

According to Yahoo, Williams was in the driver’s seat of a vehicle when officers conducting a proactive patrol approached the Black man. The incident obtained by AP states that officers noticed an open container of alcohol and marijuana in the car and asked the occupants to step out.

The report also says that an officer decided to arrest Willians after finding a dollar bill with a “white powdery substance consistent with the appearance of cocaine” during a strip search. But the bodycam video, which was released by police, tells a different story.

In the video, Williams can be seen telling officers about his heart condition, then asking “Why are you all doing this to me?”

3. Alonzo Bagley

Alonzo Bagley, 43, was shot in the chest by Shreveport officer Alexander Tyler after police responded to an alleged domestic disturbance call.

After receiving the complaint, officer Tyler and his partner arrived at Villa Norte Apartment Complex around 11 p.m. to investigate the call. When the officers encountered Bagley, he allegedly jumped from a balcony, trying to escape on foot.

Authorities then say that’s when officer Tyler saw Bagley round the corner of a building. Tyler then fired one shot, hitting the unarmed Black man in the chest. Bagley was given CPR and then taken to a hospital where he later died.

Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col. Lamar Davis told the public during a recent press conference that the incident was recorded on police body camera, and will be made public, though his timetable for the release was vague. Davis has asked the public to “remain patient as we continue to conduct a very thorough investigation.”

A spokesperson for the family told KSLA, that the incident started when a neighbor called the police because the music was too loud in Bagley’s apartment. He went on to say that Bagley and his wife were both inside the apartment when police came and at some point, Bagley did run from the police before he was shot.

The family has also hired attorney Ron Haley, whose clients include the family of Ronald Greene, a Black motorist killed in 2019 by Louisiana state police.

4. Anthony Lowe

Anthony Lowe, 36, died in late January after officers from the Huntington Park Police Department chased him while he fled on the stumps of his legs, video footage recorded by a bystander shows.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Lowe was “holding a long-bladed knife” during the slow chase last Thursday. The rate at which Lowe was fleeing did not appear to be fast enough to elude officers. Still, they opted for lethal force after they claim the deployment of a Taser was “ineffective.”

A 30-second long clip posted on social media showed Lowe scurrying away from a wheelchair as the police pointed guns at him. While the footage does show Lowe motion as if he was about to throw the knife — and the officers do flinch — it never appeared as though the officers’ lives were under a direct threat.

Police said in a press release that Lowe was shot in the “upper torso” and pronounced dead on the scene.

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department’s homicide unit is investigating the shooting.

Huntington Park Police Department officers are not equipped with body-worn cameras, so the bystander’s video is crucial to the investigation.

Police claim officers responded to a call reporting a stabbing by a man in a wheelchair.

5. Tyre Nichols

On Jan. 7, Tyre Nichols was violently arrested after Memphis PD suspected him of reckless driving.

According to MPD, “a confrontation occurred” after officers approached Nichols, who “fled on foot.” A second unspecified “confrontation” occurred when MPD tried to take Nichols into custody, police said.

“Afterward, the suspect complained of having a shortness of breath, at which time an ambulance was called to the scene. The suspect was transported to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition,” MPD said of Nichols, who died Jan. 10 at the age of 29.

Police body camera footage, which is expected to be released this week has been called “disgusting and “damaging.” Some city officials believed the video is so bad that police officers involved should prepare to face criminal charges.

On Friday, the Memphis Police Department (MPD) fired the five officers involved stemming from their roles Jan. 7 when, according to the law enforcement narrative, Nichols was suspected of reckless driving. MPD said “a confrontation occurred” after officers approached Nichols, who “fled on foot.” A second unspecified “confrontation” occurred when MPD tried to take Nichols into custody, police said.

Three fire department employees were fired and 13 police officers have been disciplined after the death of Tyre Nichols. Five former police officers have been charged with murder.

6. Takar Smith

On Jan. 2, Takar Smith, 45, was shot and killed by two LAPD officers after he raised a 10-inch (25-centimeter) butcher-style knife above his head during an altercation with officers. Before using lethal force, police also used a stun gun and pepper spray.

According to AP, Smith’s wife called the police to enforce a restraining order against him but warned officers that her husband had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and had not been taking his medication. She also warned of his aggressive nature telling the dispatcher, “He’s not in his right mind.”

Instead of calling for a specially trained mental health team, LAPD took an aggressive approach and approached Smith with their weapon drawn. After a 15-minute altercation with police, Smith became increasingly manic and incoherent, grabbing a knife from the kitchen counter. Officers yelled at Smith to “drop the knife,” pepper spraying then tasing him until he fell to his knees pleading with officers to “get away!”

Smith then picked the knife up he a dropped after being stunned and lifted it above his head. Two officers then fired seven shots, killing Smith on the scene.

7. Keenan Anderson

On Jan. 3, Keenan Anderson was tased and killed by Los Angeles Police after a traffic accident led to a police altercation.

According to the LAPD, when officers arrived on the scene, Anderson was acting erratically and was running in the middle of the street. The officer began to talk with Anderson and called for backup to conduct a DUI investigation.

Officials said once more units arrived, Anderson started to get nervous and began to flee the scene.

That’s when, “officers struggled with Anderson for several minutes, utilizing a TASER, bodyweight, firm grips, and joint locks to overcome resistance,” the LAPD said in a written press release.

But body camera footage, which was released this week, paints a picture of a scared Black man pleading for help as officers overwhelm him from all angles.

Video from the arrest shows officers struggling to detain Anderson and tasing him for more than 30 seconds straight before an officer pauses and then tases him again for five more seconds.

Once Anderson was detained and arrested, he was transported to a local hospital where he went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead.

Anderson, who is the cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, was a dedicated high school teacher and father. His tragic death has sparked outrage in the community as family and friends demand justice and accountability for his death.

“My cousin was asking for help, and he didn’t receive it. He was killed,” Cullors told the Guardian after watching LAPD’s footage. “Nobody deserves to die in fear, panicking and scared for their life. My cousin was scared for his life. He spent the last 10 years witnessing a movement challenging the killing of Black people. He knew what was at stake and he was trying to protect himself. Nobody was willing to protect him.”

8. Derrick Kittling

A local police officer shot and killed a Black male driver who was allegedly unarmed for reasons that were not immediately disclosed. Video footage recorded at the scene includes one account that claimed the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s deputy behind the shooting in the city of Alexandria shot the driver “in the head.”

The driver was ultimately identified as Derrick Kittling, 45, whose brother is a high-ranking official in the Louisiana State Police department, which is the law enforcement agency tasked with investigating the shooting.

Kittling was shot and killed on Sunday afternoon, but details beyond that are unclear.

Local media reported a narrative provided by law enforcement that described Kittling as the aggressor.

The graphic footage showed an apparently lifeless body lying on a street as the still-unidentified police officer who shot him rummages through the trunk of his cruiser. The officer then goes over to the body and begins putting on handcuffs, according to bystanders who could be heard speaking on the video.

“He ain’t have no gun or nothing,” a voice can be heard saying as the camera pans across the scene. “He just shot that man in the head.”

9. Jaheim McMillan

Jaheim McMillan died on Oct. 8, 2022, after being taken off life support more than two days after a police officer gunned down the 15-year-old over suspicions he was armed, according to the law enforcement narrative. McMillan was one of five young teens in a car that was reported to have threatened drivers by waving guns when police arrived outside of a local Family Dollar store on Thursday. The police presence prompted two people in the car to flee, leaving behind McMillan and two others.

During a press briefing, Gulfport Police Chief Adam Cooper said “McMillan was armed” and did not comply with orders to drop a gun.

“McMillan turned both his body and his weapon toward the officer,” Cooper continued. “The officer fired at McMillan,” striking the teenager.

Eyewitnesses have said McMillan did not have a gun and complied before he was shot once in his head.

10. Ali Osman

Police in Phoenix, Arizona, killed 34-year-old Ali Osman while he was in the throes of a mental health crisis on Sept. 24, 2022. The killing sparked outrage from the city’s Somali community, according to the Phoenix New Times.

Police said Osman was throwing rocks at officers’ cars.

“Commands were given for the man to stop. He did not; that’s when the officer involved shooting occurred,” Phoenix police said in a statement.

It was later determined that Osman was not armed with any weapons.

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#144 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police

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