The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[Valmy]

Hey I live in Williamson County 

Oh I watched Outcry recently - that Williamson County?

That is the place! Leander is just a short distance from where I live.

[Valmy]

Hey I live in Williamson County 

Pro tip: remain white.

I used to have my run-ins with the wannabe bad asses in Williamson County when I was younger. Anybody under 30 is a thug needing to be put in line according to them (and that was even more true in the 1990s than today).

But on Christmas Eve 2018 we stopped to take a picture by the local public Christmas tree. There was nobody on the streets and so we just parked our car for a second at the side of the road and rushed out to take a picture of the kids by the tree. Now keep in mind my wife, in her well justified paranoia about the asshole-ish reputation of our local cops, was very hestitant to do so but me and my mother-in-law convinced her it would just be for a second and surely not even the Williamson County Cops are out looking for trouble makers like us late on Christmas Eve.

But no a cop soon pulled up and threw the most melodramatic tantrum about how we were all thugs and criminals and endangering lives because of all the drunk drivers out on Christmas Eve and we had to scurry away. I mean there was nobody on the road and it wasn't even a tow-away zone or anything. It was just not a parking place.

Anyway I am sure he felt like a certified badass after that. It is just the culture of law enforcement out here.

[Valmy]

The elected judges here used to be so notorious as well that there used to be a joke that if you commit a crime in Williamson County make sure you move the evidence into one of the neighboring counties. But this area is now an Austin suburb and not a rural cowboy type area like it used to be so the culture is mellowing a bit, but just a bit.

[Syt]

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/doj-designates-new-york-city-as-an-anarchist-jurisdiction/2627588/

DOJ Designates New York City [+ Seattle and Portland] as an 'Anarchist Jurisdiction'

The designation comes after a memo from President Trump earlier this month threatening to cut off federal funds for cities

The Justice Department designated NYC, Portland and Seattle as "anarchist jurisdictions" under guidelines issued by President Trump earlier this month

Trump's Sept. 2 memo directs federal agencies to minimize funding for designated cities

Federal grants account for billions of dollars of NYC's annual budget, and the city has threatened to sue over any move to defund it

New York City is one of three places that "have permitted violence and destruction of property to persist and have refused to undertake reasonable measures to counteract criminal activities," leading to its designation as an "anarchist jurisdiction," the Justice Department said Monday.

Rather than idle words, the designation has potential financial consequences. President Trump issued a memo earlier this month directing the DOJ to identify jurisdictions that, in its view, were not enforcing the law appropriately. Designated cities could lose their federal funding.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo minced no words in responding to the DOJ assessment.

"I understand the politics, but when you try to manipulate and distort government agencies to play politics, which is what the Trump administration has done from day one ... this is more of the same," Cuomo said on a conference call with reporters. "The president can't supersede the law and say I'm going to make those funds basically discretionary funds, which is what he would have to do."

"If they actually do this, we will challenge it legally, and they will lose once again," he added.

Trump's Sept. 2 order gives the director of the Office of Management and Budget 30 days to issue guidance to federal agencies on restricting eligibility for federal grants for the cities on the DOJ list. Such grants make up a huge portion of NYC's already strapped annual budget -- more than $7 billion in fiscal 2021 alone, or 7.5% of the city's projected total revenue.

In justifying its decision, the DOJ cited New York City's rising gun violence, cuts to the NYPD's budget, and moves by various district attorneys not to prosecute charges related to protests earlier this summer. Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington were also hit with the same designation.

"We cannot allow federal tax dollars to be wasted when the safety of the citizenry hangs in the balance. It is my hope that the cities identified by the Department of Justice today will reverse course and become serious about performing the basic function of government and start protecting their own citizens," Attorney General William Barr said in a statement.

Both the city and the state have previously threatened to sue the federal government over the possible DOJ classification, which Mayor Bill de Blasio reiterated Monday.

"I was out in Elmhurst Queens this morning, I saw peace, tranquility, I saw people going about their business, people excited that it's the first day of school – I saw anything but anarchy. This is just another one of President Trump's games," De Blasio said at his daily news conference. "It's insulting to the people of New York City and his effort to withhold our funding is unconstitutional."

[HVC]

Snake Plissken's on the case

[Syt]

https://news.yahoo.com/wisconsin-black-man-falsely-arrested-194757484.html

Wisconsin Black man falsely arrested at his own home sues city

The young man, Keonte Furdge, was arrested and held at gunpoint in his home by two officers

On June 2, a young Black man was arrested in his home with guns pointed at him, but police are now calling the incident a mistake.

As reported by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Keonte Furdge was arrested in his home after a neighbor called the police because he was sitting on the patio. Two police officers entered the house with their guns drawn and handcuffed Furdge, 23.

The home belonged to Furdge's coach who was allowing him and another team mate to stay in the house after his mother who previously lived in the home had passed away. When officers Jared Wedig and Luke Wunsch discovered they made a mistake they apologized saying "sorry to ruffle your feathers this morning." They added the neighbor was probably alarmed and called the police because the boys are "two big Black guys."

But the lawsuit against the Monona police department and the two officers says sorry just doesn't cut it. The lawsuit was filed in Madison federal court last week.

"This lawsuit seeks to establish that this was more than a misunderstanding...It seeks to vindicate the violation of Keonte Furdge's constitutional rights," the filing states.

It adds, "it seeks to effect change through punitive damages by punishing the Defendants for their egregious conduct with the hope that the punishment is significant enough to prevent this from happening again in the future, so that a person can move into a formerly vacant house in the City of Monona and sit on his front porch without having to fear that the police will break in and shoot him."

The officers in this incident were wearing body cameras and officer Wunsch can be overheard.

"I am glad it was you and I recognized you versus somebody who I didn't know, but, ah, that is still not, nobody wants that interaction," Wunsch says.

This incident comes on the heels of the shooting of Jacob Blake. As reported by theGrio, Blake was a Black man who was shot in the back in front of his children by police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The suit mentions that a neighbor called the police because they saw "a suspicious African American next door."

The suit also disputes, "false arrest, excessive force and failure to  intervene, and to hold the city liable for Wedig's and Wunsch's actions. It seeks unspecified damages for bodily injury, pain, suffering, mental distress, humiliation, loss of liberty and related expenses."

Video:

https://youtu.be/stPxB9tYkbE?t=1167

TBF, the cops seem as annoyed by the whole thing.

[The Larch]

Breonna Taylor killing: Kentucky grand jury indicts one officer on criminal charges
Brett Hankison indicted on charges of wanton endangerment
Crowds begin marching amid anger that only one officer was charged

Anger erupted on Wednesday afternoon when it was announced that only one police officer would face criminal charges out of three involved in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, earlier this year.

Crowds in Louisville, where Taylor was shot at home in March, began marching and many cried moments after the announcement by a judge that a grand jury had decided to indict only Brett Hankison, on three charges of wanton endangerment.

Those are regarded as relatively lowly charges. They were related to the fact that Hankison fired his gun while he was still outside Taylor's apartment and therefore endangered people living in other nearby apartments.

Hankison was not charged for shooting Taylor, and the other two officers present, who also fired multiple times at Taylor in her apartment, were not charged.

The lawyer Ben Crump said on behalf of Taylor's family that the grand jury's decision was "outrageous and offensive".

Crowds gathered in a park in downtown Louisville, where there have been protests every day for months, were largely stunned into silence as the decision reached them and the mood was one of sorrow underpinned with a simmering anger.

Moments later, someone screamed out in anguish and people wept, before they began to march.

"I'm more saddened than angry," Monique Lathon, 33, who was there with her young daughter, told the Guardian.

David Mour, 59, a lawyer who represents many activists, stood solemnly as the crowd took in the news.

"I have had clients indicted for way less," he said.

The civil rights leader Al Sharpton said the charges were "grossly insufficient", in an interview on MSNBC.

The other two officers with Hankison on the night the police broke into Taylor's apartment as part of an investigation, Jonathan Mattingly and Miles Cosgrove, fired their weapons inside Taylor's apartment after her boyfriend fired one shot at the officers as they entered.

Louisville had been on edge earlier as it waited for the grand jury's conclusions on whether there would be charges against the three police officers involved in the killing.

Taylor's case has become a rallying cry against police brutality and racism across the US and the world.

Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician, who was Black, was killed on 13 March by white police officers in Louisville serving a so-called "no-knock warrant" that allowed them to charge into her apartment without warning as part of an investigation into an ex-boyfriend.

Taylor was at her apartment with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, and asleep when police barged in. Walker, who said officers did not announce themselves, fired a single shot from his gun, believing the police were intruders. One officer was shot in the leg and police fired in return.

The attorney general of Kentucky, Daniel Cameron, said in a press conference in the state capital, Frankfort, on Wednesday afternoon "there is no doubt this is a gut-wrenching" outcome of the case for many.

Downtown streets in Louisville, about 50 miles from Frankfort, have been closed off all week as the city awaited the announcement.

Dozens of people who had gathered there waiting for the announcement on Wednesday burst into tears when it became clear that only one officer would be indicted, and with a more minor charge than many had expected.

They began marching and chanting as Cameron was still talking, explaining how six police bullets struck Taylor after Mattingly fired six shots, Cosgrove fired 16 shots and Hankison fired 10 shots after entering Taylor's apartment. Cosgrove is believed to have fired the fatal shot, Cameron said.

The officers opened fire after, Mattingly told investigators, they burst into the apartment and saw a man and a woman at the end of the hallway, following which Walker fired one shot that hit Mattingly in the thigh. The police officers then opened fire. Hankison fired from outside the bedroom where Taylor died.

Cameron said the loss of Taylor's life was a tragedy.

"I know that not everyone will be satisfied by the charges today," Cameron said.

He added: "I understand as a Black man how painful this is ... my heart breaks for the loss of Miss Taylor."

Louisville was placed under a state of emergency Tuesday as city officials closed down a more than 25-block perimeter to traffic. Most city administrative buildings and other businesses were boarded up in anticipation of the decision.

Protests in Louisville related to Taylor's death in March have been taking place for more than 100 consecutive days and have been overwhelmingly peaceful.

A state of emergency was declared in Louisville in anticipation of protests following the grand jury decision.

Last week the city of Louisville reached a $12m settlement with Taylor's family in a civil suit stemming from the shooting. The city has also agreed to policing reforms including a requirement that commanders approve all search warrants before they go to a judge.

The California senator and Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris has called for the Department of Justice to investigate Taylor's killing.

Former Washington, DC, and Philadelphia police chief Charles Ramsey told CNN he did not think it was a surprise that the two officers who were not indicted had not been charged.

"Charges are filed on the basis of evidence, not to appease people," he said.

[viper37]

It's a tough case to make.

Yes, people are indicted for less than that.  But they ain't police.

11 witnesses said they didn't hear the cops knocking 3 times and shouting "Police".  1 witness says he heard them shout "Police" once.

Cops said they had no camera, but we can see at least one of them wearing one.  Since they had no obligation to have it on as they are not patrollers (and even then, I'm not sure about Louisville), you can't hold it against them if it's SOP.

They had a mandate, and the mandate authorized them for not knocking, even if the intervention was changed to a "knock&enter" just before, again, it's hard to charge them for a crime here.

As they knocked/entered, they were shot at and they responded.  Again, not a crime.

Bad police procedure in the execution.  Warrant obtained with misrepresented info (the whole post office thing), possibly, I can't see a lot of info about that.  But murder/attempted murder... The threshold to obtain a conviction against the police officer seems way too high.  Most of these cases result in acquital of the officer/s, and it's either charge them with the higher offence and lose it all, or go for a lower offence and fire them from the police force.

It's way more than just accusing some officer and saying they've cleared the bad apples.
they should never have gotten a mandate to beging with, they had no evidence a crime was being committed in her appt.  and that whole gun culture where you shoot first and ask questions later...

[Caliga]

Everyone is texting me today to ask if I am 'staying safe' and if my 'neighborhood is on fire'.

[Eddie Teach]

People think you're a poor. 

[merithyn]

Portland this weekend is supposed to be a shit-show. About 1000 armed Proud Boys/right-wing Trumpers threatening violence at one park.  (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/23/oregon-portland-pro-trump-protests-violence-texts) Something like 3000-5000 BLMs protesters at another park three miles away.

What could possibly go wrong?

[katmai]

I'm gonna get me a shotgun and kill all the whities I see,
I'm gonna get me a shotgun and kill all the whities I see.
When I kill all the whities I see, then whitey he won't bother me,
I'm gonna get me a shotgun and kill all the whities I see.

[Caliga]

People think you're a poor. 

It's more like they think Louisville is a tiny dot on a map, rather than a sprawling metropolitan area with a million residents.

[alfred russel]

People think you're a poor. 

It's more like they think Louisville is a tiny dot on a map, rather than a sprawling metropolitan area with a million residents.

It looks small from 36,000 feet.

[grumbler]

From another thread:

After the killing of George Floyd in May, they had a long and emotive conversation about Black Lives Matter. Peter asked Anthony to make sure he had his mobile phone ready if the police stopped them.

"As a black man I have 10 seconds to explain who I am to the police before it potentially escalates," Peter says.

"I always say to Anthony, 'if the police stop me, please pull up the phone and record right away.' Because I know he's my only witness, you know? And I have 10 seconds to save my life."

"I think he gets it. He knows that because we're in America and I look different to him, I'm going to be treated differently.

"This kind of tension and suspicion is not something a white parent faces when they adopt a black child."

https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-54238642

that, in a nutshell, is what drives me crazy about these "Back the Blue" and "All lives matter" types:  they simply are ignoring the enormous damage that our fucked-up olice recruiting and training methods are doing to the entire social fabric of our country... and we are PAYING TO HAVE IT FUCKED UP!

Yes, the injustice is grating.  Yes, the fact that the thugs are using our devolved authority to freely commit their thuggery is infuriating.  But the blindness to the direct effect of this racist bullshit, that it demotivates the very people we as a society should most want motivated, is the real thing that sticks in my craw.  Here is a guy far more saintly than me, and he is forced to live with the knowledge that his saintly choices mean that he is daily ten seconds from death because "all lives matter" except his.