Posts tagged Police Brutality

fracturedrefuge:

[IMAGE SNIPPED: A picture of Jordan Miles, an 18-year-old Black male.  He lays in a hospital bed, with a cervical collar around his neck.  He has been severely beaten, as is evidenced by entensive cuts, bruises and swelling on his face.]  

anarcho-queer:

Predominantly White Jury Clears Three White Officers Of Charges After Beating Black Teen

A federal court jury found three white Pittsburgh police officers did not maliciously prosecute a young black man who was arrested for prowling and fighting with police, but was unable to come to a verdict on whether officers used excessive force and falsely arrested him.

The verdict Wednesday came after five days of deliberations. It means the jury of five men and three women, all white except for the black male foreman, could not award damages to Jordan Miles who maintains he was stopped without cause – likely because he was a young black man walking in his high-crime neighborhood – then wrongly arrested and beaten before and after he was handcuffed on a frigid, snowy night.

“It’s a good win for us,” said James Wymard, the attorney for Officer David Sisak who wasn’t in the courtroom because he’s vacationing with his family.

Miles, now 20, his mother and sister declined comment, but his attorneys promised to continue the legal battle.

“There will be a new trial on the most important issue: Was there excessive force?” said Tim O’Brien, one of Miles’ attorneys.

The officers had always maintained they did nothing wrong and that they stopped Miles only because he appeared to be lurking near a neighbor’s home and had a bulge in his coat pocket which they took for a gun before finding only a soda bottle about 11 p.m. on Jan. 12, 2010. Miles has denied having even the bottle. He said he was merely walking about a block to his grandmother’s house, where he routinely spent the night, when the plainclothes officers rolled up to him asking for money, drugs and a gun – a tactic the police denied using, but which Miles’ attorneys said is used to put suspected drug dealers on the defensive.

Miles, then an 18-year-old senior at Pittsburgh’s performing arts high school with no criminal record, was charged with assaulting police, loitering and prowling at night, resisting arrest and escape. Miles said he ran away and struggled with police only, but only because they didn’t identify themselves as police and he feared being robbed.

Saldutte’s veteran police union lawyer, Bryan Campbell, said the verdict shows the jury believed the officers. “The jury had to decide which story they wanted to believe,” Campbell said.

Miles’ malicious prosecution claim alleged the officers filed the criminal charges without justification, possibly out of spite or to justify the force used to arrest Miles. The wrongful arrest claim, though similar, must be retried and dealt specifically with whether the officers had reasonable suspicion, on the spot, to arrest Miles.

Also to be retried is Miles’ claim that police used excessive force – choking him and hitting him in the head with a hard object after he was handcuffed, among other alleged abuse – that left him with post-traumatic stress disorder and short-term memory problems that will keep him from completing a college education and realizing his full personal and earning potential.

A district justice dismissed the criminal charges against Miles two months later when the woman who lived in the house where police contend they saw Miles lurking testified she never told police she didn’t know who he was and was never asked, as officers claimed in a criminal complaint, whether he had permission to be there.

O’Brien said he’s hopeful a new jury will see the case differently – especially if the judge can be persuaded to allow some evidence in the retrial which was barred from this trial, including a police commander’s testimony that Saldutte and Ewing had made up claims to support similar arrests in the past.

Well, at least I can sleep tonight knowing the one police officer wasn’t unduly burdened with the pressures of a trial and was able to get away for a little vacation with his family…

/sarcasm

fuck the fucking police

I just… ugh.

Every day.  Every fucking day this happens.

sapphiremysteries:

Given the situation that occurred yesterday at Occupy Oakland, my sister and I made an agreement that we would find a way to get down to Occupy Louisville and have our voices as Americans be heard.

My ex (who is in the US Army) sent me this message via facebook and I think it would be a great help for everyone in the event of heinous riot acts by the police.

I support your right as an American to gather and to have your voice heard, just make sure your doing things legal so the police have no reason to brutalize you.

but here are a few helpful tips in case you happen to be targeted anyway.

bring milk - it can be used to wash out mace from your eyes and shortens the duration of the burn.

if pepper spray is burning your skin use a solution of 1 part chlorine bleach to 5 parts water. DO NOT USE FOR EYES.

bring a hospital mask and vinegar(apple cider vinegar or lemon juice) - douse the mask with it and breathe through it. It helps cancel out riot gas, although you may have to re douse it occasionally.

swim goggles with a tight seal can help protect the eyes.

bring a solution of water and 5% sodium bisulfate to decontaminate yourself from tear gas.

wear clothing that clover as much of your body as possible and sinch the cuffs closed. if you find yourself in tear gas your first instinct will to be to panic. you will cough, throw up, have burning vision, and possibly a 3 foot trail of snot gushing out your nose.
Do Not Run, as you cannot see and will most likley run into something big and painful.

Breathing will be labored. the effects usually last 7 - 15 minutes. If you have a respiratory problem bring your meds/inhalers. do not touch your face or any other part of your body as the roit agent will spread. bring an extra change of clothes to change into. tear gas crystallizes so it will be in your clothes until washed.


Just some helpful tips from some one who has to go into a tear gas chamber every year. Be safe.

We are Americans and we are strong, we are also backed by the UDHR that the United Nations abides by.

Stay safe. Stay strong. Even if we don’t know each other, I love you all.

(Source: complexication, via stfuconservatives)

abaldwin360:

300 riot police surrounding protestors

#occupyboston ground footage

veteran being removed by police

From livefeed: all the items in the park are being gathered and thrown in a dump truck by the police.

Some photos of the arrests

more photos

(via sanityscraps)