"They are Also Destroying American Democracy"

*Research in sociology, political science, and psychology has revealed that those with “conservative” political personality types see the world in binary and simplistic terms, are intolerant of ambiguity, more afraid of social change, highly deferent to authority, and have brains that are more highly attuned to feelings of fear and threat.

Conservative authoritarians are also much more likely to be racist, prejudiced, and xenophobic. "

Conservatives’ political personality traits, media, and a predisposition towards both implicit and explicit bias animus towards non-whites is crystallized in their response to the killing of Michael Brown and other unarmed black people such as Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, and Jordan Davis.

The American Right-wing’s defense of those who kill black people ranges from a barbaric and instinctive impulse towards homicidal ideation (as seen by those who defend Darren Wilson and have donated money to him as a form of bounty or prize for the new age lynching of Michael Brown) to a more mundane and quotidian belief that black people are a race of criminals, and it is best for “public safety” that the police and other representatives of the state treat African-Americans in a prejudicial and unfair way."

More: http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/chaunceydevega/movement-conservatism-and-white-racial-paranoia-killed-michael-brown-they

On October 16, during Game 5 of the National League Championship Series between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals, a group of Giants fans and community members came together outside AT&T Park to protest police brutality. Organizers sought to show solidarity with St. Louis County residents following the shooting of Michael Brown, and to draw connections to the recent San Francisco police killings of Alex Nieto and O’Shaine Evans.

Demonstrators stood below the larger-than-life statue of Willie Mays outside the stadium, holding signs and leading chants inspired by baseball terminology and the Ferguson protests. Organizers also launched a sailboat covered in banners into iconic McCovey Cove, a creek mouth flowing into the bay just beyond right field, where fans often go out in boats hoping to catch Giants home runs, affectionately dubbed “splash hits.”

After the rally, protest organizer Juana Teresa Tello said, “Both cities want our teams to win, but it’s important for both cities to know that no one wins when police brutality happens.”

Video at link: http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/why-san-francisco-giants-fans-are-rallying-against-police-brutality

AURORA, Colo. — An unidentified Colorado man suffered life-threatening injuries Sunday morning when he jumped out of his vehicle to avoid being burnt by a lit cigarette he had dropped down the front of his jacket — and was run over by his own car."

The incident occurred on the 15900 block of East Nassau Drive in Aurora at 6:37 a.m. while the man backed his vehicle out of a driveway.

As the driver jumped out after the cigarette fell, his van kept rolling backwards and he was knocked to the ground. The front driver's side tire rolled over his head.

He was transported to a local hospital and is in critical condition, though police say he will likely survive."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/26/man-jumps-from-car-runs-over-own-head/17966977/

When you get off a train, do you get off ahead of passengers? Or do you get off behind passengers? When you're going on a trip, do you come off as nervous? Or are you an unusually calm traveler? How about if you make a phone call at a station, do you look around? Or do you stare straight ahead?

If you don't know the answers to these questions, you'd better figure them out now. Because unless you get off in stride with other train passengers, live at the elusive intersection between anxiety and tranquility, and close your eyes during phone calls, you're a suspicious person subject to questioning by Amtrak police."


Unusual nervousness of traveler
Unusual calmness or straight ahead stare
Looking around while making telephone call(s)
Position among passengers disembarking (ahead of, or lagging behind passengers)
Carrying little or no luggage
Purchase of tickets in cash
Purchase tickets immediately prior to boarding

*While Amtrak certainly has an interest in keeping its passengers safe, it is using the same heavy-handed, dragnet approach that we've seen in many of the government's other counter-terrorism and drug trafficking prevention efforts. As we have seen with Suspicious Activity Reports and the TSA's SPOT program, reporting based on broad categories of "suspicious" behavior is problematic because it almost always results in racial and religious profiling, as well as the targeting of perfectly innocent activity. Most importantly, building mountains of irrelevant data is ultimately an ineffective law enforcement tactic."

https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security-technology-and-liberty-criminal-law-reform/odds-are-you-are-suspicious

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating one of their own after a complaint of use of excessive force during an arrest, officials said Friday."

*An officer kicked and beat Clinton Alford, 22, as the suspected drug holder was being held down by other officers, the Los Angeles Times reported."

The four officers involved in Alford’s arrest and a sergeant who later arrived at the scene have been relieved of duty with pay during the investigation, according to The Times.

Alford, who suffered “a gash on his ear,” was taken to a hospital, where he received stitches and “a head scan,” the newspaper reported, adding that Alford was booked and released on his own recognizance.

“I was just praying that they wouldn’t kill me. I just closed my eyes and tried to hold on,” Alford told the newspaper."

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/10/24/lapd-investigates-excessive-force-claim-made-during-drug-possession-arrest/

ALABASTER — Officer Joshua Herbinger has been working as a police officer for nine years.

On October 9, 2014 he was charged with sexually abusing a child less than the age of 12. He received four counts of sexual abuse, according to reports.

The child had been attending an elementary school and reported the molestation to the school staff."

According to the child, Officer Herbinger molested the child over a period of two to three years."

Officer Herbinger was never fired, and was granted “administrative duties” with pay.
Officer Herbinger was set free after posting $80,000 bail.

It didn’t take long after his release for Officer Herbinger to be caught again.

This time he has been charged with first-degree rape of a woman"

http://filmingcops.com/cop-kept-his-job-after-child-molestation-charges-now-charged-again-with-first-degree-rape-still-keeps-job/

Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit by Seattle police officers challenging new rules restricting the department's use of force, which they claimed could endanger both them and civilians.

More than 120 officers joined the lawsuit, which sought a complete dismantling of a new use of force policy hammered out between the Seattle Police Department and the U.S. Department of Justice to stem an alleged pattern of excessive force."

*In dismissing the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman, in Seattle, wrote in a opinion entered on Monday that the arguments cited by officers were not supported by the U.S. Constitution or existing case law."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/21/us-usa-washington-police-idUSKCN0IA00J20141021?feedType=RSS&virtualBrandChannel=11563

Superior, WI (NNCNOW.com)--- A Bayfield County Attorney has decided that no charges will be filed against a Superior Police Officer accused of using excessive force during an arrest in January.

The investigation has been nearly nine months long."


In his written decision, Bayfield County District Attorney Fred Bourg criticized Officer Gothner's actions saying "His failure to make any attempt to reasonably assess the situation when coming onto the scene, his aggressive approach, his rude verbal assault on Lancour, and the manner in which he attempted to overcome Lancour's verbal and physical protest, bring disrepute to his police agency."

Bourg went on to say use of force protocols were also not followed, and the public was offended to see a police officer punching a woman in the head as opposed to using other tactics to overcome her resistance.

Bourg says not following protocols, however, is not akin to committing a criminal act but that there was ample evidence that Gothner's actions were rude, in poor taste and unnecessarily violent.

Video at link shows a weather report: http://www.northlandsnewscenter.com/news/local/No-charges-to-be-filed-against-Superior-Police-Officer-accused-of-excessive-force-279788372.html

On the eve of the 19th annual National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation, a defiant new spirit is in the air."

*This year, in big cities and small towns, in the face of police brutality, repression, mass incarceration and the criminalization of youth we say, Let the spirit of Ferguson ignite hearts nationwide with an uncompromising passion for justice!"

The Call for a Month of Resistance to Mass Incarceration, Police Terror, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation declares that this “will not stop unless and until millions of people, of all nationalities, stand up and say NO MORE, in unmistakable terms. The history of this and every other country shows that without struggle, there can be no positive change; but with struggle this kind of change becomes possible.”

October 22nd is a day that people around the nation have mobilized every year since 1996 for a National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation. It is crucial that we bring forward a powerful National Day of Protest in cities and towns across the U.S. to challenge the ongoing violence against the people. This October 22nd, stand with thousands across the country to express our collective outrage, creativity, and resistance in response to the crimes of this system. On October 22nd, WEAR BLACK, FIGHT BACK!"

http://www.october22.org/#call

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/10/19/1337777/-All-Out-For-Oct-22-National-Day-to-Stop-Police-Brutality-Repression-Criminalizing-a-Generation

Following leak suggesting officer Darren Wilson will not be indicted some residents suspect ‘system is protecting its own’"

*The justice system isn’t doing its part,” she said. “They need to indict Darren Wilson. That’s what’s got everyone enraged. They are ducking and diving. We want justice. Even though he’s a cop he should be treated the same as everybody else.”

The man next to her, who give his name as Big Woody, interjected.

“It’s going to get real ugly if they don’t indict him,” he said.

Webb agreed.

“I pray to god this is settled in a human manner,” she said."

*The problem is not only that many people in Ferguson, whether they have been out on the streets demonstrating or not, believe Wilson shot Brown because he was black. They say that if the officer it is not indicted it will be because the authorities have covered for him."

*Confidence in the grand jury has been undermined by repeated delays that are seen as politically motivated. It is not clear when the grand jury will announce its decision about whether Wilson will face charges but the deadline has been extended to 7 January, an unusually long time for consideration of a case of this type.

The credibility of the grand jury process has been further eroded by the refusal of the St Louis county attorney, Bob McCulloch, to recuse himself from the case, despite close family ties to the police and a history of siding with law enforcement."

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/oct/19/ferguson-awaits-grand-jury-decision-michael-brown-killing