A 7 year old girl was killed by a Detroit cop at 12:40 am last Sunday. That's a fact. Some of what follows is spin and conjecture. Spin one:

Detroit Police shoot 7-year-old girl in house search

[...]
The shooting happened at 12:40 a.m., when the Special Response Team executed a no-knock search warrant on the duplex in the 4000 block of Lillibridge. Officers rushed in after throwing a stun grenade through the glass of a front window.

Family members said they were told by police the gun discharged when Mertilla Jones, 46, attempted to wrestle away the officer's weapon.

Knowing that wasn't going to work the cops walked it back:

Sunday, police spokesman John Roach said the weapon may have fired simply because Jones and the officer collided.

So we've gone to 'wrestled with' to merely 'collided'.

It didn't stop her grandmother from being hauled off to jail.

Mertilla Jones was held until Sunday afternoon, and it remained unclear if she will face charges. Police said she spent several hours hospitalized with what police described as medical issues.

Well of course she had 'medical issues' you shot her granddaughter in cold blood and then you arrested her!

It just gets worse:[Deputy Police Chief] Godbee said, calling Sunday "probably the worst day of my career."F**k you and your career, a 7 year old child died!

And there's more:

Godbee would not comment on reports that neighbors told officers that there were children in the house, and pointed out toys in the front yard.

Godbee didn't say if the suspect in Blake's slaying was arrested in the downstairs or upstairs apartment. Godbee said, "The suspect was within the scope of our search warrant." He added that the warrant allowed police to search both units.

As it turns out, the suspect did not live there, they killed a little girl and have already lied about it multiple times.

And it gets worse, maybe spin, but it was allegedly caught on tape that we haven't seen:

Lawyer: Video proves murder of 7-year-old by Detroit police was ‘not an accident’

An attorney for the family of a 7-year-old girl who was killed by a police officer's bullet during a weekend raid at their home said Monday that he saw video of the raid that contradicts the police department's version of what happened.

Attorney Geoffrey Fieger said he watched three or four minutes of video that showed police fired into the home after lobbing a flash grenade through the window.

So maybe we can find out the truth, partially because the pro-cop reality TV show 48 Hours were following these cops for their shoot.

Did the fact that 48 Hours was shooting affect the Detroit shooting?

While national experts say flash-bang grenades are useful tools in high-risk situations, Detroit police told the Free Press the devices are rarely used.

"In my entire career, we've only used these in barricaded-gunmen situations as a diversionary tactic," one police officer said, adding he was involved in hundreds of high-risk arrests and raids.

I've only quoted small parts of the articles, under fair use copyright.

But here's my take from reading all of them: The cops were showboating in front of cameras. Instead of waiting waiting for the alleged murderer to exit the UPSTAIRS apartment, they decided to toss a flash/bang grenade thru the window of the downstairs apartment which landed on a 7 year old girl and her grandmother. It set the little girl on fire and her grandma thought this was a bad thing. ergo, little girl dies, granma is hauled to jail, a guy upstairs in a different apartment is arrested, who might be the shooter from a couple of days before.

The cops claim they had the right to no-knock, flashbang, invade both apartments. If that is true, then the judge who signed the warrants needs to be charged with conspiracy to murder, just like the cops (yes, it's plural, just like felony murder) need to have a fair trial, and then be sentenced to LWOP.

But that's just MHO.

There'll be dancing in the streets

Former LAPD Chief Daryl Gates died last week.

Not to speak ill of the dead, but after living thru part of his corrupt, violent, regime of systematic abuse of police powers and Constitutional violations for which the citizens of LA paid financially over and over, where I was personally subjected to abuse from his thugs, and seeing his theories being institutionalized in abusive police practices across the country, all I really have to say is a paraphrase of another Hollywood icon:You should never say bad things about the dead, you should only say good . . . Daryl Gates is dead. Good.

I'm sure there will be many people who mourn his passing, maybe even his son.

I Shot the Sheriff

Bump & update below

Sheriff Joe is at it again: July 18th

Apology ordered in court paper flap

A Maricopa County Sheriff's detention officer has been ordered to apologize to a public defender for taking a document from files on her desk during a sentencing in Superior Court.

Judge Gary Donahoe said Officer Adam Stoddard must issue his apology at a news conference on the north plaza of the Central Court Building on or before Nov. 30 or face jail for contempt of court.

Stoddard was pictured on courtroom video Oct. 19 taking a piece of paper from the courtroom desk of Public Defense Joanne Cuccia.
[...]
Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Wednesday [...] "Superior Court judges do not order my officers to hold press conferences," Arpaio said in a statement. "I decide who holds press conferences and when they are held regarding this Sheriff's Office."

I've excerpted this article not to cherry pick quotes but to fall in the guidelines of copyright protection. The whole article is much more damning.

The defense counsel, the prosecutor and ALL cops are officers of the court. To have a sheriff's deputy steal defense records, copy them and send them to the government's side is not only theft it's against federal law and a violation of the Constitution.

The cop is lucky he was only found in civil contempt. He should go down! (By 'down' I meant to the corner and apologize.) Personally, I think the Feds should prosecute him & Sheriff Joe et al for Federal crimes, (no way that the County Atty will prosecute the theft that was involved), because they think that cops run the gov't.

But wait, there's more:

MCSO officer files motion to delay judge's ruling

[...]
Video footage shows Stoddard glancing at the documents during a sentencing hearing for Antonio Solis Lozano, 26. He's then shown removing the handwritten notes and having them copied.

INAL, but as I understand it there is no recourse when a judge sentences you for civil contempt. Criminal contempt, yes, civil, no.

Justice might be served if Arpaio & Lozano were sentenced to live in tents and made to wear pink panties.

Gosh, I bet they'd never flout the law again! Like Bull Connor never did.[/sarcasm]

Sheriff Joe has got to go. He's not just a criminal, he runs a criminal enterprise.

Mother of mercy, can this be the end of RICO?*

*Under RICO, a person who is a member of an enterprise that has committed any two of 35 crimes—27 federal crimes and 8 state crimes—within a 10-year period can be charged with racketeering. Those found guilty of racketeering can be fined up to $250,000 and/or sentenced to 20 years in prison per racketeering count. In addition, the racketeer must forfeit all ill-gotten gains and interest in any business gained through a pattern of "racketeering activity." RICO also permits a private individual harmed by the actions of such an enterprise to file a civil suit; if successful, the individual can collect treble damages.

When the U.S. Attorney decides to indict someone under RICO, he or she has the option of seeking a pre-trial restraining order or injunction to temporarily seize a defendant's assets and prevent the transfer of potentially forfeitable property, as well as require the defendant to put up a performance bond.

Update: A commenter thought I was over the top by suggesting RICO charges against Sheriff Joe. In a twist of irony, Joe has filed a lawsuit alleging RICO charges be applied to the Superior Court Judge Donahoe & county Supervisors.

Alleging widespread conspiracy, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio filed a civil suit in U.S. District Court on Tuesday against county administrators, elected officials, judges and attorneys. Those defendants, they say, are violating federal racketeering laws by hindering criminal investigations and depriving their offices of resources.

And speaking of "depriving their offices of resources" check this out:

Now, with Sheriff Arpaio's support, officers who protect the Superior Court where Judge Donahoe works are calling in sick in sufficient numbers to shut down business. The courthouse was also evacuated when a bomb threat against public defenders was phoned in (Cuccia is a public defender).

AZ is the new Alabama! Great job Alazonians! [/snark]

Notice he files the lawsuit in civil court. Not state criminal, not Federal criminal, but civil. Why? Because civil courts have a much lower standard of proof than criminal courts. It's still not gonna work.

He's cost Maricopa County taxpayers more money in lost Fed & state lawsuits against him and his thugs than any illegal alien has. But he doesn't care because the good citizens of the county pay for it. The good citizens of Maricopa county are also paying for him to sue ... wait for it ... wait for it ... Maricopa County!

Sher'f Joe has got to go.


Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Shock the Monkey

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!?

Officer Shocks Girl, 10

An Ozark police officer used a stun gun on a 10-year-old girl Thursday, an action the child's father has publicly spoken against.

Officer Dustin Bradshaw used a stun gun to subdue the girl, whose mother had called police in response to her daughter misbehaving at the woman's residence, according to an Ozark police report.
[...]
Bradshaw said the child's mother attempted to place the girl in the shower to get her ready for bed.

"I witnessed (the child) screaming, kicking and resisting every time her mother tried to touch her," Bradshaw stated. "Her mother told me to Tase her if I needed to."

Bradshaw said he and the mother carried the child to the shower, but the child refused to cooperate.

Bradshaw said after realizing there would not be a "peaceful resolution," he moved the child to the living room and told her he was going to place her under arrest, according to the report.

"She was jerking her arms away from me violently while I was trying to cuff her and thrashing about wildly," Bradshaw stated. "While she was violently kicking and verbally combative, (she) struck me with her legs and feet in the groin."

Bradshaw said because he had difficulty placing handcuffs on the girl, he administered a brief drive stun to the child's back with his stun gun, the report states.

"She immediately stopped resisting and was placed into handcuffs," Bradshaw stated. "She would not [ED: could not, FIFY cop] walk on her own and I had to carry her to my police car."

There's more:

[Ozark's Police Chief Jim Noggle] said the officer properly used his discretion when he fired his Taser at the girl.

OMG, where to start? The Mom is a bad parent and should have custody taken away from her. No responsible person calls the cops on a 10 year old for having a tantrum. And especially not for encouraging a cop to taze their child.

The cop should go to jail for child abuse. This a$$hole managed to carry her into the shower and into a squad car (given, she was incapacitated by 50 thousand volts in the latter instance), yet he can't subdue a 10 year old girl without a potentially lethal weapon?

The police chief needs to be fired and never have another job in a supervisory position, and be sued personally. Who the hell sticks up for a cop that does this?

Addendum: Ozark police argued that had the officer grabbed the girl, he could have hurt her. "If you grab somebody, you can slip an arm out of joint," the police chief added. "They can slip from you and fall on the ground."

Yeah, like adults who are Tazed don't have spastic contractions of their muscles, dislocate their joints, and/or die. TASERs are less lethal than hand guns, not less than lethal.

What a brave and fierce thin blue line we have to protect us from ... 10 year old girls.

Let this be a lesson to you kids; the monster isn't under your bed, he's not in your closet, he's your Mom and Officer Friendly. And if you don't take your shower you'll be Tazed and sent to Juvie.




Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Ain't no smilin' faces, Lyin' to the races

Bumped and updated:

Officer who sent 'jungle-monkey' e-mail: 'I am not a racist'

The Boston police officer who sent a mass e-mail in which he compared Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. to a "banana-eating jungle monkey" has apologized, saying he's not a racist.

Hey, some of his best friends are "banana-eating jungle monkey[s]."

And just because he cried when he offered his non-apology apology i.e. "I am not a racist. I did not intend any racial bigotry, harm or prejudice in my words. I sincerely apologize that these words have been received as such."

That's no reason to think he's a racist! After all, it's all the "banana-eating jungle monkey"[s] who are practicing reverse-racism that have caused this problem.

He cried because he might lose his job, health insurance and retirement. Dude, man up! You said what you think, own the words. That's what free speech is all about.

But free speech also means that citizens don't have to pay your bigoted, racist, stupid, stupid, (did I mention stupid), salary, or your retirement, or your health care.

Gosh, if Congress enacts health care reform you and your family will still have health care.

And then you can holler your bigoted screed from whatever street corner you want to.

And you and your family will still have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

BTW, I know a place:




Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Celebrate Good Times

The Chicago PD is planning to celebrate their 41st anniversary of their police riot during the 1968 Democratic Convention.

In addition to their proud moments of gassing and beating non-violent protesters they should celebrate beating barmaids, torturing people, beating handcuffed people in wheelchairs, [ED: his fellow cops, who did nothing to stop the beating, not only go free, but complain about his sentence.] and it's not like they don't have a history of such acts.

These cops were out of control in 1968, previous to 1968, and 41 years later they are still out of control.

The only 2 places I have ever been solicited for a bribe were Mexican border guards and CPD. I paid both times. It's really hard to argue with a man with a gun in his hand.

So go ahead CPD, celebrate your torture, your beatings, your trashing of laws and the constitution.

And may you all be sentenced to LWOP with your worst nightmare as a cellmate.



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

But a footnote to a 2005 memo made it clear that the rules were not always followed. Waterboarding was used "with far greater frequency than initially indicated" and with "large volumes of water" rather than the small quantities in the rules, one memo says, citing a 2004 report by the C.I.A.'s inspector general.

Officials Say U.S. Wiretaps Exceeded Law

The National Security Agency intercepted private e-mail messages and phone calls of Americans in recent months on a scale that went beyond the broad legal limits established by Congress last year, government officials said in recent interviews.

F.B.I. and States Vastly Expand DNA Databases

Law enforcement officials are vastly expanding their collection of DNA to include millions more people who have been arrested or detained but not yet convicted.

Gee, government agencies have actually exceeded the incredibly unconstitutional powers that were granted them without our knowledge ... and then they were granted them ex post facto!?

Wow, no one could have predicted ...



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

The Just Us System

Convictions Reversed in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's highest court on Thursday overturned hundreds of juvenile convictions issued by a corrupt judge who took millions of dollars in kickbacks from youth detention centers.
[...]
In one of the most egregious cases of judicial corruption ever seen, federal prosecutors charged Ciavarella and another Luzerne County judge, Michael Conahan, with taking $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in privately owned lockups.
[...]
Prosecutors have described a scheme in which Conahan, the former president judge of Luzerne County, shut down the county-owned juvenile detention center in 2002 and signed an agreement with PA Child Care LLC to send youth offenders to its new facility outside Wilkes-Barre.
[...]
The Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center asked the Supreme Court to intervene in Luzerne County last year, citing statistics that Ciavarella was opting for detention in far high numbers than would be expected. The justices rejected the request without comment in early January, then changed their mind after Conahan and Ciavarella were charged.

Yet another example of why inherent government functions shouldn't be privatized. Just like cops and the DEA shouldn't have a profit motive to bust people, (i.e. civil forfeiture laws), and mercenaries & private contractors (i.e. Blackwater & KBR) shouldn't have a role in a combat theater. It always leads to corruption worse than any gov't corruption.

And note the State Supreme Court ignored it completely, until the judge & co were charged with crimes.
*************
Next up:

Missouri retracts police memo which labeled activists as 'militia'

The Missouri Department of Public Safety has retracted a controversial profiling memo which linked libertarian activists, Christians, constitutionalists, supporters of Congressman Ron Paul and other traditionally conservative groups to underground militias.

It also specifically cautioned police to be on the lookout for bumper stickers advertising third party candidates, or people with copies of the United States Constitution.

Well, dog nose the US Constitution is a powerful weapon, and everyone who reads or carries a copy, especially the 4th amendment, should be looked upon with suspicion![/snark]

Not to make light of the growing problem with militias and hate groups who want to kill the president and overthrow the country, but shouldn't the cops be looking for violent groups and not peaceful folks? And one would think they should be looking at the Constitution themselves instead of looking for people holding it. It sounds like they think having a copy is probable cause. (hint to cops: It's easy to tell the violent ones; they have assault rifles and explosives. The peaceful ones vote and hold protests.)
*************

States consider drug tests for welfare recipients

Lawmakers in at least eight states want recipients of food stamps, unemployment benefits or welfare to submit to random drug testing.
[...]
Those in favor of the drug tests say they are motivated out of a concern for their constituents' health and ability to put themselves on more solid financial footing once the economy rebounds. But proponents concede they also want to send a message: you don't get something for nothing.

"Nobody's being forced into these assistance programs," said Craig Blair, a Republican in the West Virginia Legislature
[...]
[Christine Nelson, a program manager with the National Conference of State Legislatures said] They also cost less than the $400 or so needed for tests that can catch a sufficient range of illegal drugs, and rule out false positive results with a follow-up test.

Jeebus, where do I start!? It's not 'something for nothing' these are programs that people have paid into for years, it's called FICA, the Federal Insurance Contributions Act!

And this stupidity burns so bad "Nobody's being forced into these assistance programs", uh, yes they are! Jobs shipped overseas, economic meltdown, homes foreclosed due to regulatory malfeasance and removal. Can anyone else tell that that was a republican who said that!?

And if you want to save money, spending $400 per just the 12.5 million unemployed folks in this country is 5 TRILLION dollars! (Somebody check my math.)

And that doesn't include welfare or foodstamp recipients, nor the retesting for false positives!

Not to mention they're searching for drugs without probable cause and that different drugs stay in the system for various amounts of time. Is it really fair to conclude someone wasn't 'able, ready or willing to work' because they smoked a joint 2 weeks ago!?

I have a counter proposal: Test every elected or appointed politician randomly for drugs. Test them everyday they are legislating for alcohol. These folks are behind the wheel of our cities, states and country. They too get our tax dollars, and they can obviously do more harm to more citizens that any drunk driver.
*************

And last but not least:

NJ girl, 14, arrested after posting nude pics

A 14-year-old New Jersey girl has been accused of child pornography after posting nearly 30 explicit nude pictures of herself on MySpace.com — charges that could force her to register as a sex offender if convicted.

The case comes as prosecutors nationwide pursue child pornography cases resulting from kids sending nude photos to one another over cell phones and e-mail. Legal experts, though, could not recall another case of a child porn charge resulting from a teen's posting to a social networking site.
[...]
The teen, whose name has not been released because of her age, was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography.
[...]
Prosecutors in states including Pennsylvania, Connecticut, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin have tried stop it by charging teens who send and receive the pictures.

In northeastern Pennsylvania, a prosecutor recently threatened to file child porn charges against three teenage girls who authorities say took racy cell-phone pictures that ended up on classmates' cell phones.

In the last case the girls sent OMG!!1! 'racy pictures!' (jeebus, get a grip! (No not there;-)

OMG, OMG, the sky is falling!!!1!

But seriously folks, can you actually charge a child for 'child porn' for sending or posting pictures of herself to an equally underage boyfriend? And how was this reported to the cops?

BTW, even the mothers of these last children, and the mother of Megan, of Megan's Law fame, object to this persecution.

Hmmm, anyone else think the prosecutors might be up for re-election?



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Does anyone else see the irony here?

Bump & Update:

Police to get training after head-scarf wearer's arrest

The Douglasville Police Department said Monday its officers will undergo "sensitivity and cultural diversity training" after a Muslim woman who refused to remove her head scarf at a courthouse was jailed.

"We never want this to happen again. It's not our intent to embarrass anybody," Police Chief Joe Whisenant said at a news conference.

The judge who had the woman jailed briefly for contempt of court will also take part in the training, Whisenant said.

Original post:

Ga. judge jails Muslim woman over head scarf

A Muslim woman arrested for refusing to take off her head scarf at a courthouse security checkpoint said Wednesday that she felt her human and civil rights were violated. A judge ordered Lisa Valentine, 40, to serve 10 days in jail for contempt of court, said police in Douglasville, a city of about 20,000 people on Atlanta's west suburban outskirts.
[...]
Kelley Jackson, a spokeswoman for Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, said state law doesn't permit or prohibit head scarfs.
[...]
Valentine's husband, Omar Hall, said his wife was accompanying her nephew to a traffic citation hearing when officials stopped her at the metal detector and told her she would not be allowed in the courtroom with the head scarf, known as a hijab.

Hall said Valentine, an insurance underwriter, told the bailiff that she had been in courtrooms before with the scarf on and that removing it would be a religious violation. When she turned to leave and uttered an expletive, Hall said a bailiff handcuffed her and took her before the judge.

Hmm, I guess you can wear a scarf in his courtroom!



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Bad Cops, Bad Cops, Whatcha gonna do?

Cop gets 4.5 years for lying after fatal drug raid

WTF!? The prosecutor never heard of 'felony murder'!?

If someone dies during the commission of a felony, any death that occurs during that crime can be 'felony murder.' It can be from a heart attack, or any other cause.

So even tho this officer didn't pull the trigger he was involved in a cover up of the murder. He helped plant drugs, he lied to investigators, he lied to the FBI, and he was convicted of multiple felonies. That's felony murder.

IMHO, the dirty cops who conducted the raid, the judge who signed off on their specious no-knock warrant, the police department officials that encouraged these actions, should all be on trial for conspiracy, and felony murder.

I emailed an Atlanta reporter who covered this story and asked him why the cop wasn't charged for felony murder. Here is his reply:

Simply put: the politics in this case are rife.

What the DA does or doesn't do, what the U.S. Attorney does or doesn't do, are decision hugely influenced by the political climate in this city.

In related news:

Board overseeing Atlanta police faces slow start
Created after illegal shooting of Kathryn Johnston

5-16-08 People in the police oversight community told her that no one in Atlanta — not residents, not city officials, not the media — would be sympathetic to delays in getting the city's Citizen Review Board up and running.

But it's been more than a year since the board was created in response to the Atlanta Police Department's illegal shooting of Kathryn Johnston, and even Shields admits that she expected to be investigating complaints about the city's law enforcement officers by now.

Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Black Robes Trump White Coats

A judge can do this?

Summit judge orders 'Taser' removed from autopsies

A judge ruled today that the Summit County Medical Examiner must change her autopsy findings to remove all references to the Taser stun gun as a contributing cause of death in the cases of three men who died during encounters with law enforcement officers.
[...]
Schneiderman's decision could have an effect on the criminal cases against five Summit County sheriff's deputies charged in the August 2006 death of 28-year-old jail inmate Mark D. McCullaugh Jr., because the ruling orders Kohler to change the manner of death from homicide to ''undetermined.''

Schneiderman, quoting passages from Kohler's autopsy report on McCullaugh, stated that his death ''shall be ruled undetermined and any reference to death by 'asphyxia due to the combined effects of chemical, mechanical and electrical restraint,' as well as any reference to 'homicide' due to 'multiple restraint mechanisms with beating and anal penetration' shall be deleted from both the death certificate and the Report of Autopsy.''

Someone should check this judge's bank accounts for a recent infusion of $$.

But wait, there's more!

Taser maintains that its guns have not caused a death or serious injury. Officials say company-funded and independent medical studies show the stun guns are safe.

More than two dozen medical examiners across the country have found the stun gun at least partly responsible in the deaths of suspects.

Since 1999, more than 300 people have died in North America following police Taser shocks.

Of course none of those people died because they were TASERed, they died from “excited delirium”, a condition that doesn't appear in any medical books and only exists in the minds of cops and politicians anxious to avoid lawsuits.

And if you act now you receive this special set of UN opinions:

Tasers a form of torture, says UN

TASER electronic stun guns are a form of torture that can kill, a UN committee has declared after several recent deaths in North America.

"The use of these weapons causes acute pain, constituting a form of torture,'' the UN's Committee against Torture said.

"In certain cases, they can even cause death, as has been shown by reliable studies and recent real-life events,'' the committee of 10 experts said.
[...]
The UN committee made its comments in recommendations to Portugal, which has bought the newest Taser X26 stun gun for use by police.

Portugal "should consider giving up the use of the Taser X26,'' as its use can have a grave physical and mental impact on those targeted, which violates the UN's Convention against Torture, the experts said.

Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!

$40,000 for Man Tasered on YouTube

About two months went by after Jared Massey was tasered by a highway cop in Utah before he turned to YouTube.
[...]
Like other YouTube tasings, waves of outrage over excessive force followed — fire the cop, ban Tasers — and the police started an investigation a week and a half later. But the initial results were discouraging for the critics: The cop was cleared of wrongdoing; Mr. Massey paid the speeding ticket that he protested before being shocked twice.
[...]
The deal was announced a week after a Utah prosecutor ruled the Mr. Massey did not commit any crimes in the traffic stop, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. His civil case focused on the fact proven in the video — that the officer did not seek to arrest him before drawing and firing the Taser.

But wait, there's more!

The man who videotaped a St. George police officer's tirade against him last year, and put it online labeled "Cop Gone Wild," filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Monday over the incident.
[...]
The confrontation happened about 2 a.m. Sept. 7 in a commuter parking lot in
south St. Louis County at Spokane and Reavis Barracks roads. Darrow, who runs
his own painting business by day and attends community college at night, told a
reporter last fall that he was there to meet a friend.

He also said that he installed a video camera in his Nissan Maxima after
previous run-ins with police.
[...]
But [police Sgt. James Kuehnlein], who has since been fired, approached his car and began questioning him.

Darrow responded with queries of his own about the justification for the stop.
He also asserted his Fourth Amendment rights to privacy.
[...]
Kuehnlein had Darrow step out of the car, pinned him against
Darrow's car, then got in Darrow's face and shouted, "You wanna try me tonight?
You think you've had a bad night? I will ruin your (expletive) night."

Darrow said no. Kuehnlein then suggests he could make up reasons to detain or arrest Darrow, the suit says. "Do you want to go to jail for some (expletive) reason I come up with?"
[...]
Darrow was released after about 18 minutes, the suit says, and never arrested.
[...]
Although Kuehnlein also claimed to be taping the encounter with his dash-mounted video camera, the tape has since been lost or destroyed.

Nothing pisses off a cop more than standing up for your rights, just make sure you get it on tape.

If you act now you get a special bonus track!

Rights of Protesters Violated, Judge Rules

The Bush administration violated the public’s right to free speech by keeping protesters far removed from the 2005 inaugural parade, a judge ruled yesterday.

U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman found that the National Park Service violated its own regulations by giving the inauguration’s private organizers preferential treatment and extraordinary control over access to Pennsylvania Avenue. The Presidential Inaugural Committee roped off most of the parade route and allowed only those with tickets inside: largely a crowd of Bush administration donors, supporters and friends coming to celebrate the start of President Bush’s second term.

Protesters were limited to small, specific areas, leading to a lawsuit by antiwar activists.

“The inauguration is not a private event,” Friedman said in his ruling. “The National Park Service, on behalf of the PIC, cannot reserve all of Pennsylvania Avenue for itself, leaving only the Ellipse and the northern part of John Marshall Park to protesters.”
[...]
Friedman said the Park Service allowed the Presidential Inaugural Committee to apply almost a year ahead of anyone else for a permit, contrary to its usual regulations. It then granted the committee exclusive use of nearly all of the parade route from the Capitol to the White House and allowed the group to use the area for five months before Inauguration Day, instead of the typical three weeks.

See you can stand up for your rights, all it takes is lots of money and lots of time. Oh, and get it on tape.



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

I'm a queen on the street and a king at the station, It's a secret of mine, not a sign I'm gonna make that right

Multiple choice question: What would you say if I told you somebody cut me off in traffic, I followed them into a parking lot, pulled a gun and fired several rounds thru their windshield wounding the 20 something mom driver and her 8 year old child?

Should I;
a) go to jail, directly to jail, do not pass go, do not get bail?
b) go to jail, directly to jail, do not pass go, but have a high bail I can afford?
c) get an expense paid vacation?

If you answered 'c' you were correct:

California Officer On Leave After Shooting Mom, Son

Oceanside police are investigating what sparked an apparent road rage incident in a busy parking lot that ended with a woman and her son being shot by an off-duty San Diego police officer.
[...]
Police have not said who they think was the aggressor in the incident, but they believe it started after one of the parties committed some sort of right-of-way violation in front of the parking lot. When it was over, the officer had fired two bullets through the windshield of a Honda. Inside were a woman and a child.

"We understand that there were several rounds fired from the off-duty police officer and that the occupants of the car, an adult female and a male juvenile, were injured as a result of the gunfire," said Sgt. Kelan Poorman of the Oceanside Police Department.

Both were flown to Sharp Memorial Hospital and Children's Hospital.
[...]
"Right now, we've got statement from the son at this time.

The mother and child had to be MediVaced by chopper. The shooter gets a paid vacation, (sorry if my LEO friends disagree, but when my employer pays me while I'm taking time off, that's a vacation.)

And the fact they flew the wounded child to a different hospital than his mother, then interrogated the wounded child without a parent, LG or lawyer present is disgusting and maybe against the law.

INAL, and I don't have all the facts, but I would like to point out that every news story said the victims had to be MediVaced. To 2 different hospitals. So I have a couple of questions.

Q1) Was it in the same helicopter that made 2 stops or were their wounds serious enough that 2 simultaneous MediVacs had to be performed?

Q2) If this mom and her 8 year old boy's wounds were serious enough to require MediVacs to different hospitals then why, after being shot on Saturday night were :

The woman and child remained hospitalized Monday, but authorities said their injuries were not life threatening.

Well, golly, thanks to these unnamed 'authorities' for giving us their medical opinion!

Q3) Did anyone administer a BAC on this cop before he went on vacation?

BTW

The other driver, a white female in her 20's, was not armed

and the spin is in:

[Oceanside police Sgt. Kelan Poorman] said he did not know whether White [...] White acted in self-defense.

"I think that's probably why the shots were fired, but I'd be speculating," Poorman said.

Yeah, that it, that's the ticket, it was self-defense ... against an unarmed Mom and her 8 year old.

But wait, there's more!

Police: Woman in Oceanside shooting refusing to talk

A woman shot Saturday by an off-duty San Diego police officer during an alleged road rage incident has refused to speak with investigators, police said Tuesday.
[...]
Poorman said investigators don't have the authority to make the woman submit to an interview. [...]
Three days after the incident, investigators have yet to release key details about how the traffic dispute escalated into gunfire.

"They (investigators) don't want to try this in the court of public opinion," Poorman said.

So they don't have the authority to make her submit, but they can interrogate her son!? And if they didn't want to "try this in the court of public opinion" why are they releasing statements saying the cop fired in self-defense and the woman refuses to talk?

Wanna know why she refused to talk? Her lawyer told her not to.

I just know someone is going to ask 'if she didn't do anything wrong, why not talk to the cops?' And my reply would be 'what the hell is wrong with you!?' The cops shot her. The cops shot her son. The same cops are saying the officer fired in self-defense. The same cops interrogated her 8 year old son in the hospital without parental permission.

Of course you hire a lawyer, and when you hire a lawyer you should listen to their advice.

Then the poor, poor, Poorman also said White had already talked to investigators. Yeah, when White wasn't in a hospital bed and when White was interviewed at the Oceanside police station Saturday night with his attorney and peer support officers from the San Diego Police Department present.

This story stinks of cover-up and of the cops banding together, as always, to protect their own at the expense of the innocent civilians who pay their salaries.

If I lived in Oceanside I'd want my money back.