Graphic Video of #PoliceBrutality towards Homeless Man

Seen on Los Angeles Times:

Pinpoint the moment cops killed Kelly Thomas, the defense argued. Prove it wasn’t just near-to-death assault:

“Is there a particular act that actually had the effect?” asked John Barnett, the attorney for Manuel Ramos, one of the two officers charged in the case.

Was it the fists that Officer Manuel Ramos (pictured at left, next to Corporal Jay Cicinelli, right) said “are gonna f*ck you up” when he first swung at Kelly Thomas, R.I.P.? Or the baton from the second cop that put Thomas to the ground? Or the flashlight assault from a third, the taser to the head from a fourth, the knees-on-chest from a fifth, the raw and unfiltered fury from the sixth police officer that a security camera caught on July 5th, 2011?

New video of the death of Kelly Thomas was released today, and the world wide web recoiled in horror. Hit the jump for what is, HUGE WARNING, one of the sickest and most depressing videos I’ve seen in a year that has already been marked by horrendous vigilantism and the kind of heinous police-on-public brutality that is slowly, surely, and seriously eroding any of the miniscule trust we still have in the Boys in Blue.

I’m not bitter. Just incredibly sad. Hit the jump to see the video.

Posted by:

Sam Patton

Houston Police Beat Woman Trying to #FilmThePolice

A mother accused Houston police officers of brutality in January. When she tried to #FilmThePolice on her phone, she said that they bruised and punched her in the face.

Annika Lewis, 26, claims that police officers beat her for trying to record them after she caught them beating on her husband during a routine traffic stop. Lewis told reporters that her injuries came at the hands of three officers.

The African-American community in Houston is in a complete uproar due to the latest events involving the Houston Police Department.

Houston police have yet to comment on the issue, while a spokesman for the police union said “I definitely don’t believe that.”

Jump for the rest of the story and #KnowYourRights:

Posted by:

Terin

#OccupyOakland: this is what Democracy looks like

Explosions, and a body hits the ground. People drop their signs and become their best selves, rushing forward to help. And then a cop throws a (non-lethal is a despicable term) GRENADE into their midst…. cops don’t snitch, but how can we respect the uniform when men with violence in their hearts get to keep wearing it?

Posted by:

Sam Patton

[Police Brutality]: BART Police in San Francisco

In San Francisco, BART police continue to make arrests while protests against them are persistent.

It all started on New Years Day, January 1, 2009 when the BART Police in San Francisco shot and killed unarmed 22-year-old, Oscar Grant. According to CNN, Officer Johannes Mehserle shot Grant fatally in the back after Grant and his friends were pulled from a train car after a report of an altercation.

In more recent news, on July 3rd of this year, BART police shot and killed yet another bystander. According to CNN:

“Police dispatchers got a call about ‘a drunk who was unsteady on his feet and in danger of falling off the platform.’

Two BART officers arrived on the scene at 9:45 p.m. And a minute later, the man — later identified as 45-year-old Charles Hill — was shot after a confrontation with police. The shooting victim was taken by paramedics to a local hospital, and pronounced dead later that night.”

… Continue Reading

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April

Police State

I am asking myself why in the world the nation is not pissed about what is taking place on the streets of Columbus, Ohio. I think I might have just discovered the answer.

In the past month, six black men have been shot by police in Columbus, and three of those gunshot wounds proved to be fatal. While this crushing reality is certainly on the minds and on the Facebook statuses of plenty of Columbus residents, it just isn’t getting the national coverage it would seem to merit. Just as I was beginning to think that America has forgotten about us, I realized that it is not the headline of national news because people around the country are too busy ducking fists and bullets from their local law enforcement to be concerned about what is going on in little old Ohio.

… Continue Reading

Posted by:

Kwesi Low