"New Mexico police in shootings got union checks" Associated Press, March 24, 2012
ALBUQUERQUE - Albuquerque police officers involved in a rash of fatal shootings over the past two years were paid up to $500 under a union program that some have likened to a bounty system in a department with a culture that critics have long contended promotes brutality.
Maybe someone should call the NFL commissioner.
Mayor Richard Berry called Friday for an immediate halt to the practice, which was first reported in the Albuquerque Journal during a week in which Albuquerque police shot and killed two men....
Although the union said the payments were intended to help the officers decompress from a stressful situation, one victim’s father and a criminologist said it sounded more like a reward program....
Law enforcement officials called speculation of a bounty system ridiculous, but acknowledged the payments could be poorly perceived.
“Frankly, it’s insulting and very insensitive that somebody would believe that a police officer would factor in a payment for such a difficult decision,’’ said Joe Clure, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association.
Yeah, they don't need extra pay to blow people away here in AmeriKa.
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"New Mexico town elects mayor who called Obama evil" Associated Press, March 08, 2012
CLOVIS, N.M. - A former New Mexico mayor, who called President Obama “the carnal manifestation of evil’’ and said Obama’s election was part of a CIA conspiracy, has been elected to his former job, according to unofficial results.
He may not be far off there.
The Clovis News Journal reports that David Lansford, the former Clovis mayor, won his old job back Tuesday by defeating Mayor Gayla Brumfield with nearly 63 percent of the vote.
Lansford, 53, recently gained national attention after the newspaper reported his ties to a fringe religious and political group, ATLAH Media Network in New York. After threatening to withdraw from the race, Lansford later changed his mind and stayed in but said he felt disclosing his activities was unfair and would prompt others to label him “a whack job.’’
Lansford participated in ATLAH’s mock treason trial of Obama and wrote articles for its online publication, calling Obama an illegitimate president under the Constitution and “the carnal manifestation of evil,’’ claiming Obama’s election was part of a CIA conspiracy.
Both parties are guilty of that.
Lansford later told KOB-TV that he did not believe Obama had the legal right to be president because Lansford thinks he is not a natural born citizen.
It's not that; it is that his real father isn't who they have told us.
ATLAH Media Network has come under fire from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which posted details of the group’s trial on the center’s “Hatewatch’’ blog.’’ On various YouTube videos, ATLAH’s leader, James David Manning, also has blasted Obama for wanting to turn America into an “Islamic Caliphate’’ and has compared him to a pimp.
Related: Is the SPLC An American Arm of the Mossad?
With "right-wing" provocateurs playing their role.
“I think everybody in this country has their opinions,’’ Lansford said Tuesday night after winning his race. “And I think the great thing in America is where you can freely express your opinions.’’
For now.
Brumfield said she was surprised that someone with Lansford’s extreme views of the president managed such a large margin of votes. “I guess the city made their choice,’’ she said.
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Related: Santorum Takes Shots at Obama
"Missing 4-year-old’s body found in hole" Associated Press March 06, 2012
CARLSBAD, N.M. - Crews pulled the body of a 4-year-old boy from a narrow, 30-foot-deep hole in Carlsbad Monday, nearly two days after he disappeared while playing outside his home next door, state and local authorities said.
Crews reached the boy about 7 a.m. Monday and police spokesman Robert McDonald confirmed the body was that of Samuel Jones.
He lived in the house next door with his parents and two older siblings, a boy and girl ages 6 and 7, said Lieutenant Jennifer Moyers, a spokeswoman for the Carlsbad Police Department.
Some young cousins were at the house Saturday when Samuel was last seen playing in the yard.
The rural neighborhood is a mix of homes and vacant lots. A 4-foot-high chain link fence separates the boy’s home from his neighbor’s, where the hole is located in the backyard.
It is possible Samuel could have climbed the fence and simply fallen into the hole, which was dry, Moyers said.
Samuel was reported missing Saturday evening, prompting authorities to launch a search and issue an Amber Alert.
Family friend Gabriela Morrison said that moments before he disappeared, Samuel’s mother said he was playing with toys outside.
“She said he may have thrown them over the fence and went over to get them,’’ said Morrison. “She went in for a minute and when she came out, he was gone.’’ Police were called within a half-hour, she said.
A renewed house-to-house search had just started shortly after daybreak Sunday morning when a detective found the 14-inch-wide hole, Moyers said.
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Related: Missing hiker found alive in forest with cat
