Monday, April 20, 2015

Sunday Globe Special: Dead Zone

It all began with Officer Dodd in Maine as the A1 lead....

"100 join rally, march to protest police killings of people of color" by Evan Allen Globe staff  April 19, 2015

The rally and march, organized by the recently formed Mass Action Against Police Brutality, was peaceful, and there were no arrests. Boston police officers on bicycles and in cruisers cleared traffic ahead of the march.

Looks like controlled opposition to me!

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After about a half-hour of speeches, the march began, led by a truck mounted with signs and speakers playing “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy. 

Oooh, that's inciteful!

Marchers carried signs with slogans, including “Freedom Spring,” “Jail Killer Cops,” and “The whole damn system is guilty as hell.”

Hey now!

As the demonstrators moved slowly down the streets, passing motorists honked their vehicle horns.

As the marchers chanted “Hands up, don’t shoot,” some passersby raised their arms in solidarity.

The protest ended in Grove Hall about 4:30 with more speeches, a call for further organizing, and a passionate exhortation by one speaker: “Viva la revolución!”

Gee, some can call for that and it's approved. Others are damn near terrorists when they say such things, and then have to have their protests cleared.

“We support this group’s right to demonstrate peacefully, and we’re glad that they have a venue to voice their concerns and opinions,” said Officer Rachel McGuire, a Police Department spokeswoman. “We’re happy that they got the opportunity to do so today.”

What did they have to say?

“We’re just very disappointed in the justice system, but we’re not surprised,” said Leondra Hawkesworth. “The system never wants to protect any people of color. Never. The system needs to go.”

Woa!

Two women whose sons were killed by Boston police also spoke at the rally and called for change....

They cited “D.J.” Henry, but there is no justice there.


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The Globe must have been looking to protect the FBI by cutting it from the print version:

"FBI says examiners overstated forensic hair matches in criminal trials" by Spencer S. Hsu Washington Post  April 19, 2015

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department and FBI have formally acknowledged that nearly every examiner in an elite FBI forensic unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period before 2000.

OMG! All the people falsely convicted or worse! And anyone convicted must be released. But believe in the FBI when they frame, 'er, instigate, 'er, bust a terror plot!

Of 28 examiners with the FBI Laboratory’s microscopic hair comparison unit, 26 overstated forensic matches in ways that favored prosecutors in more than 95 percent of the 268 trials reviewed so far, according to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the Innocence Project, which are assisting the government with the country’s largest post- conviction review of questioned forensic evidence.

Oh, what a shock!

The cases include those of 32 defendants sentenced to death. Of those, 14 have been executed or died in prison, the groups said under an agreement with the government to release results after the review of the first 200 convictions.

The FBI errors alone do not mean there was not other evidence of a convict’s guilt.

Yeah, this system is fine -- as the Blackwater and Tsarnaev trials have proven, yup.

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The admissions mark a watershed in one of the country’s largest forensic scandals, highlighting the failure of the courts for decades to keep bogus scientific information from juries, legal analysts said.

No, not from the government!

The question now, they said, is how state authorities and the courts will respond to findings that confirm long-suspected problems with subjective, pattern-based forensic techniques — like hair and bite-mark comparisons — that have contributed to wrongful convictions in more than one-quarter of 329 DNA-exoneration cases since 1989.

In a statement, the FBI and Justice Department vowed to continue to devote resources to address all cases and said they ‘‘are committed to ensuring that affected defendants are notified of past errors and that justice is done in every instance. The Department and the FBI are also committed to ensuring the accuracy of future hair analysis, as well as the application of all disciplines of forensic science.’’

Actually, they have worse troubles now.

‘‘The FBI’s three-decade use of microscopic hair analysis to incriminate defendants was a complete disaster,’’ said Peter Neufeld, cofounder of the Innocence Project. ‘‘We need an exhaustive investigation that looks at how the FBI, state governments that relied on examiners trained by the FBI, and the courts allowed this to happen and why it wasn’t stopped much sooner.”

I think we know the self-serving reasons as to why it wasn't stopped.

Norman Reimer, the NACDL’s executive director, said, ‘‘Hopefully, this project establishes a precedent so that in future situations it will not take years to remediate the injustice.’’

While unnamed federal officials previously acknowledged widespread problems, the FBI until now has withheld comment because findings might not be representative.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat and former prosecutor, called on the FBI and Justice Department to notify defendants in all 2,500 targeted cases involving an FBI hair match about the problem even if their case has not been completed, and to redouble efforts in the three-year-old review to retrieve information on each case.

‘‘These findings are appalling and chilling in their indictment of our criminal justice system, not only for potentially innocent defendants who have been wrongly imprisoned and even executed, but for prosecutors who have relied on fabricated and false evidence despite their intentions to faithfully enforce the law,’’ Blumenthal said.

Then it's murder, and mass murder at that. And then they based wars and torture off it.

The FBI is waiting to complete all reviews to assess causes but has acknowledged that until 2012 hair examiners lacked written standards defining scientifically appropriate and erroneous ways to explain results in court....

Dismissed!

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No wonder people are arming themselves these days.

"Three men were shot and injured Saturday night at a cookout on the Delaware State University campus, officials said. The shooting occurred about 8 p.m. at a university-sanctioned fraternity and sorority event, university spokesman Carlos Holmes said. University president Harry L. Williams said, ‘‘The safety of our students continues to be paramount and our police will aggressively continue their investigation until an arrest or arrests are made.’’ 

That is the problem right there.

"Police opened a criminal investigation Sunday into the death of a man injured in their custody, and the mayor vowed to ensure the city would hold ‘‘the right people accountable.’’ Freddie Gray, 25, of Baltimore, died Sunday at a hospital, a week after he was hurt after an arrest. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and police officials promised accountability and transparency Sunday at a news conference at City Hall."

‘‘His spine was 80 percent severed at his neck?’’ 

Looks like some cops got carried away with the choke hold, huh?

Don't they have blueprints for those kinds of things?

Time to bury this post.

Time to resurrect these things in the form of an Next Day Update:

"Expert witness says officer wrong to fire final shots in 2 suspects’ killing" by Mark Gillispie Associated Press  April 21, 2015

CLEVELAND — In Baltimore on Monday, police released videos showing the arrest of a man who died of a severe spinal injury that was sustained in police custody. Six officers have been suspended, but investigators say they still don’t know how it happened.

Another stinking cover-up, and it's btw placement in this story indicates a true event and cover-up.

A week after the arrest of Freddie Gray, police said don’t have any videos or other evidence explaining what happened to cause the ‘‘medical emergency’’ that an arresting officer said Gray suffered while being taken to the police station, Deputy Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez said.

Autopsy results, which were revealed Monday, show that Gray suffered “a significant spinal injury that led to his death,’’ Rodriguez said. ‘‘What we don’t know is how he suffered that injury.’’

Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said he is ordering that police review and rewrite ‘‘effective immediately’’ its policies on moving prisoners and providing them with medical attention.

That will make everything better. Well, almost.... on to other things.

A Cleveland police officer put his and other officers’ lives in danger when he got on top of a police cruiser then the hood of a car and fired into its windshield during the fatal shooting of two suspects after a high-speed chase, an expert witness on the use of force testified Monday.

The witness said patrol officer Michael Brelo, 31, put himself at risk of being shot by the suspects or by police gunfire and possibly created more danger to those who would have come to his rescue, the expert testified.

After an exhaustive search afterward, investigators concluded that the two people killed, Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, were not armed the night of Nov. 29, 2012.

Brelo is on trial on two counts of voluntary manslaughter in their deaths. The two were killed in a 137-shot barrage by 13 officers.

Good show!

The judge will render a verdict. If convicted on both counts, Brelo faces a maximum of 25 years in prison.

The trial headed into its third week Monday.

Honestly, the lack of coverage here indicates a real event.

The expert, Kenneth Katsaris, a longtime officer and police trainer, said all the officers could reasonably believe that Russell and Williams had shot at officers in a suburban school parking lot because of reports that they were armed.

Forget all the money spent training for such things, blah, blah. If you believe, then blam-blam!

The 22-mile chase began after an officer standing outside police headquarters in downtown Cleveland mistakenly thought that someone had fired a gun when it sped by. Experts later concluded Russell’s car had backfired.

All based on a mistake, huh? No crime committed?

Brelo was the only officer charged criminally because prosecutors said he fired after the car had stopped, other officers had stopped firing and Russell and Williams no longer posed a threat. Katsaris testified that police officers are trained to neutralize threats, not to necessarily eliminate them.

The courtroom then erupted in laughter.

‘‘Once they’re contained, surrounded, you take cover and give commands,’’ Katsaris said. ‘‘You’re not looking to eliminate the individuals by any means.’’

Where have you been?

A defense lawyer asked Katsaris how Brelo could have ordered Russell and Williams to surrender while shots were being fired and cruiser sirens were blaring.

Yeah, you just join in!

Katsaris said Brelo was just 6 feet away. However, he acknowledged during questioning that other officers also left their cars and positions of cover and fired their weapons at Russell’s car.

Katsaris wrote in his report for prosecutors that officers should have ‘‘aggressively’’ pursued Russell’s Malibu after hearing what was believed to be gunfire and that all of the officers, including Brelo, were justified in firing at the car after it nearly struck an officer standing outside his cruiser.

What was he doing jumping on the hood if he thought they were armed, and the car didn't actually hit anyone?

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Ohio is almost as bad as Oklahoma:

"Tulsa sheriff apologizes to family of man killed by volunteer, but defends training" by Richard Pérez-Peña New York Times  April 21, 2015

NEW YORK — An Oklahoma sheriff apologized Monday to the family of an unarmed man who was shot and killed by a volunteer reserve deputy but continued to defend the reserve program and his department generally.

Yeah, we're sorry, BUT! That isn't good enough anymore!

Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz played down perhaps the most damaging claim made since the shooting: that training records showing that the volunteer, Robert C. Bates, was qualified for law enforcement work had been falsified by sheriff’s officials.

(Blog editor's chin slumps to chest)

Glanz said his office was not looking into that claim, suggesting that there would have been no point in falsifying any records. “I could have waived all of those requirements if I felt like it,” he said.

So all this rigamarole surrounding the training, blah, blah, means NOTHING, huh? Anybody can be a cop if the sheriff gives you a badge, especially over-the-hill wannabes. 

And NO POINT looking into GOVERNMENT FALSITIES or LIES, huh?

Glanz said Bates was properly trained, but he stopped short of saying Bates was qualified to use the gun with which he shot Eric C. Harris to death on April 2.

“I want to speak directly to the Harris family,” said Monday. “We are sorry Eric was taken from you. I am sorry we were involved, and my sympathy goes out to that family.”

He's sorry he's having to hold a news conference to address this.

Referring to the manslaughter prosecution, he said, “I agree with what the district attorney has done.”

But when pressed as to whether Bates should have been working as a reserve deputy, the sheriff said, “Yes, he should have been,” and he called the reserve program vital to the office. He repeatedly said that the incident did not point to any broader problem in the sheriff’s office.

“Very rarely has the press ever covered the professionalism of this agency,” he said. “There’s been a lot of things said about the sheriff’s office that are untrue.”

Did he just attack the veracity of the pre$$ like some "conspiracy theorist?"

The sheriff’s office has drawn national attention over the shooting, which was captured on video. Harris, 44, had run away from deputies who were trying to arrest him for an illegal gun sale.

Deputies had caught Harris and pinned him to the ground when Bates, a 73-year-old volunteer and friend of the sheriff’s, fired the fatal shot, apparently by accident, mistaking his pistol for a Taser.

OMG, this shit sheriff is covering up for his old fart friend!!!! 

And WHY the NEED to TASER when he has already been caught and pinned?

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Bates, a reserve deputy since 2008, also apologized to the Harris family, in an appearance Friday on the “Today” show, adding, “I rate this as No. 1 on my list of things in my life that I regret.”

Now I'm starting to think staged and scripted event complete with crisis actors!!

Bates was a Tulsa city police officer for a short time more than 50 years ago, and his lawyer has said that until about a decade ago, he served as a reserve deputy for several years while living in Florida.

Glanz said that the Oklahoma office of the FBI had looked into the incident and found no wrongdoing by the department. An FBI official said the department would make a comment later, but if the sheriff’s statement was correct, it was not clear whether the FBI inquiry was limited to the shooting itself or included the claim of falsified records.

The sheriff’s office has 128 reserve deputies, who work on a volunteer basis and are allowed to carry firearms.

Kind of like a.... gulp.... militia, huh?

Glanz described them as being essential to keeping the force at full strength, doing everything from crowd control at fairs to investigating cold cases.

Guys get to PLAY COP!

Hundreds of law enforcement agencies have such reserve or auxiliary forces, but they vary in the kind of work those officers can do. 

Print ended there.

Bates was in the highest of three tiers of reserves within the sheriff’s office, meaning that he could perform nearly all the duties of a full-time deputy, including making arrests. He was not involved in the undercover sting that snared Harris but was one of several deputies who formed a backup force for that operation.

This guy is now dead because of entrapment?!!??

Members of the Harris family and their lawyer, Daniel Smolen, have criticized the way deputies treated Harris after he was shot, yelling at him to stop complaining.

Oh, okay.

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"A man accused of killing three men as they slept outside and a woman walking to her car near Atlanta initially set out to rob people but was driven by a bloodlust after killing his first victim, according to a court filing. Aeman Presley, 34, moved into a homeless shelter in Atlanta and took odd jobs at a restaurant and catering company to make money. But as his money began to run out, he sought other ways to earn a living, the statement says. He bought a gun ‘‘from someone on the street’’ and took a bus to DeKalb County intending to find someone to rob, the statement says."

Bought a gun from "someone," huh?

Not the worst thing to ever happen in Fulton County.

Also seeGunning For Georgia

Related:

"A 13-year-old boy armed with a crossbow and a machete killed a substitute teacher and wounded four other people at his school in Barcelona on Monday, police said. The unidentified student was detained by police as a suspect in the attack, which also injured two other teachers and two students. Authorities said the boy, who was undergoing a psychiatric examination, will not face criminal charges because he is under the age of 14. The attack, which took place around 9.30 a.m., sowed terror in the high school in a working class neighborhood of Spain’s second-largest city."

Spain's version of the staged and scripted Sandy Hook hoax?  Sure smells like it.

What a gem that would be, huh? 

This also has the stench of a staged and scripted psyop fiction as well:

"Police say man by BMC helipad had guns, drugs" by Travis Andersen Globe Staff  April 21, 2015

A New Hampshire man found allegedly armed and wearing body armor near a Boston Medical Center helicopter pad on Saturday told police he was “just enjoying my civil liberties” before struggling with officers, according to an incident report.

Pfffft! 

Brad Clarke, 41, of Pelham, N.H., had parked his Toyota Tacoma near the helipad gate and was standing with his back to a wall holding binoculars when a Boston University special officer approached him around 3:50 p.m., authorities said.

According to the report, the officer asked Clarke, “How is it going? Can I help you?” and Clarke responded, “Just enjoying my civil liberties.”

Soon after, more officers arrived and Clarke repeated that he was enjoying his civil liberties, as the officers saw a bulge under his jacket that resembled the outline of a ballistics vest, according to the report.

The officers saw a second ballistics vest in Clarke’s vehicle and told him they would conduct a pat-frisk for safety purposes. He said “you don’t wanna do that,” the report said.

He was placed in handcuffs after a brief struggle, and officers seized a loaded handgun and ammunition from his coat pocket, as well as the vest that he wore, a second vest inside his vehicle, and another handgun in the Tacoma, according to the report.

Officers seized additional items from the vehicle including goggles, nunchucks, a water filtration system, and smart phone-controlled drone, as well as three plastic bags of marijuana, the report said.

That is where the story started reeking of complete bullshit.

Boston police took Clarke into custody and charged him with several offenses including trespassing; unlawful possession of a firearm, second offense; carrying a firearm on university grounds; and possession with intent to distribute class D drugs, records show.

Clarke remained in custody Monday and is expected to be arraigned Tuesday in Boston Municipal Court, officials said.

He tried unsuccessfully to purchase a rifle in Pelham, N.H., last week, the report said.

Just thought he would hang out at the helicopter pad during Marathon weekend, huh?

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