War on Racism

More than 100,000 people march in Phoenix for Human Rights

2010-05-31T16:33:00.000-07:00

More than 100,000 people marched in Phoenix, Arizona on May 29th for human rights and to stop laws like SB1070 and HB2281. Media reports been sending out insane low numbers of 10,000??!! This is just a quick hit of RAW video to show what really happened.

J.M. Aragón is a videographer, editor, and producer with Pan left Productions in Tucson Arizona. Pan Left puts media tools into hands of people not equally represented in the mainstream media, provides production services to progressive non-profits, and hosts neighborhood and community events. http://panleft.org/

Source: Alternet

Administration opposes Arizona law that penalizes hiring of illegal immigrants

2010-05-29T14:10:00.001-07:00

By Robert Barnes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 29, 2010

The Obama administration on Friday urged the Supreme Court to review and set aside an Arizona law that sanctions employers who hire illegal immigrants, saying it would disrupt the "careful balance" that Congress struck in federal immigration law.

The act in question is not the strict new Arizona law that President Obama and other members of his administration have criticized. That measure authorizes police to question the immigration status anyone who appears to be in the country illegally.

The law being challenged, the Legal Arizona Workers Act, imposes tougher sanctions than federal law for hiring illegal workers. If the court chooses to hear the case, its ruling could show how receptive the justices would be to arguments that enforcing immigration laws is a federal responsibility that cannot be usurped by the states.

The Arizona act is being challenged by a coalition of organizations that include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic groups and civil libertarians. Business groups want to head off a proliferation of conflicting state laws on employer sanctions, while others worry that the penalties would discourage companies from hiring even those legally in the country.

The administration, in a brief submitted by Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal, said federal law should preempt state efforts.

The Arizona law would "disrupt a careful balance that Congress struck nearly 25 years ago between two interests of the highest importance: ensuring that employers do not undermine enforcement of immigration laws by hiring unauthorized workers, while also ensuring that employers not discriminate against racial and ethnic minorities legally in the country," Katyal wrote.

The court asked the government in November for its view of the case. The response might have been delayed by two factors. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is the state's former governor and was the first defendant when the challenge was filed. And Obama selected Solicitor General Elena Kagan this month as his choice to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.

Separately, Justice Department officials met Friday in Phoenix with Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and aides to Gov. Jan Brewer (R) to express strong reservations about the new law, which goes into effect July 29. The administration fears the law could lead to widespread racial profiling.

The case the court is considering is Chamber of Commerce v. Candelaria.

Source: Washington Post

Kansas City Council Unanimously Opposes Arizona Immigration Law

2010-05-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

By a vote of 13-0 about an hour ago, Kansas City’s City Council called upon the Arizona legislature to repeal it’s controversial immigration law and urged Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. They also opposed Arizona House Bill 2281 which prohibits ethnic studies in state schools. While tons of cities are doing this, the move is fairly significant since Missouri is considering similar legislation and the author of the Arizona bill is a professor at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. Story follows:

By Kevin Kelly
Catholic Key Associate Editor

KANSAS CITY — The Kansas City Council went on record — unanimously — in opposition to an Arizona law that gives local and state police in that state broad authority to detain and demand proof of citizenship from any person suspected of being an undocumented immigrant.

A resolution opposing the measure, sponsored by Fourth District Councilwoman Beth Gottstein and Third District Councilwoman Sandra Sanders Brooks, called on the Arizona legislature to repeal the law, and a second law banning ethnic studies in Arizona schools as a way, in part, to send a message to Missouri lawmakers not to attempt the same measure here.

Jude Huntz, director of the diocesan Human Rights Office which supported the council resolution, said that message was important.

“The Missouri legislature needs to realize that the Arizona legislation is not only flawed, it has no place in our state dynamic,” Huntz said following the council vote on May 27.

“Even if we had the same problems as Arizona, this legislation is not the tool for dealing with these problems,” Huntz said.

Gottstein and Sanders Brooks were the only two council members who spoke during a brief discussion of the resolution, which will now be sent to the Arizona legislature, among a long list of resolutions passed by local lawmakers around the nation.

Gottstein said the law places an “undue burden and unfunded mandate” on local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws while at the same time giving local police a license to discriminate.

She noted that the law says that Arizona local and state police cannot detain people “solely” on the basis of race, but that word in the law gives them the virtual authority to do so.

“If the police action is based 99 percent on race, then that will be OK as long as it is not ‘solely’ on race,” Gottstein said. “It’s a legal way of saying that discrimination is allowed.”

Sanders Brooks said she watched “in horror” as Arizona lawmakers passed the bill and Gov. Janet Brewer signed it into law in April.

“This will further allow racial profiling,” said Sanders Brooks, who also decried the passage of a second Arizona bill outlawing ethnic studies in the state schools.

“These two bills have had a chilling effect on the nation,” she said. “I hope we can send a strong message that we do not condone what the state of Arizona has done.”

Huntz said he hopes Missouri lawmakers get the same message.

“It is important that the (Missouri) state legislature receive a strong message from our cities that this type of legislation will not be helpful, and in fact, will be harmful,” he said.

The Gottstein-Sanders Brooks resolution also called on the U.S. Congress to pass a comprehensive reform of the nation’s immigration system, an action that is also strongly supported by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Source: Catholic Key Blog

Immigration Check Point

2010-05-27T16:51:00.001-07:00

Justice Department Weighing Challenge to Arizona Immigration Law

2010-05-27T16:33:00.000-07:00

Draft Says Arizona Legislature Overstepped Its Authority

By PIERRE THOMAS

May 26, 2010—

A team of Justice Department attorneys has written a recommendation challenging the Arizona immigration law.

The draft recommendation, part of an ongoing Justice Department review, concludes the Arizona legislature exceeded its authority in crafting a law that could impede federal responsibility for enforcing immigration laws.

Some department lawyers are also concerned that the law could lead to abuses based on race.

The review, however, is not yet complete and there are some within the Justice Department who challenge the recommendation's legal analysis. Sources tell ABC News that the ongoing review may take weeks more and that no formal recommendation has been sent to the White House.

The White House will have to give its stamp of approval for the Justice Department to challenge the law because this is a civil case.

The Arizona immigration law passed in late April is set to be implemented on July 29, barring any legal challenges. The controversial law that has attracted international attention and sparked protests around the country essentially gives Arizona law enforcement greater authority to look for and arrest illegal immigrants.

The bill would allow the police to question and arrest people without warrant if there is "reasonable suspicion" about their immigration status, and to charge undocumented citizens with "trespassing."

People would have to carry proof of their immigration status and can be arrested if they don't have proper documents. It would become illegal for people to employ illegal immigrants or to transport them anywhere in the state, even if they are family members.

A number of police chiefs, including those from Phoenix and Tucson, came to the Department of Justice today to meet with Attorney General Eric Holder to discuss their opposition to the new law. The police chiefs told Holder that the law is driving a wedge between them and people in their communities. Other chiefs that attended included those from Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Houston and the Arizona Chiefs Association.

Copyright © 2010 ABC News Internet Ventures

Source: ABC News

Phoenix mayor receiving threats over SB 1070

2010-05-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

Fox 11

Posted on May 26, 2010 at 4:27 PM

Death threats have forced Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon to increase his security detail. The mayor is under round-the-clock surveillance.

He's been vocal about his stance against Arizona's Senate Bill 1070. And he's received some 5,000 threats. Police say one threat claimed Gordon would be killed by sniper fire.

The mayor says he did not request the extra security and is following police department orders.

Source: Fox 11 AZ

ABC - 20/20 What Would You Do / Racism In America

2010-05-23T13:59:00.000-07:00

Part 1:

Part 2:

Stung by Racism Charges, Nativist Leader Pulls Out of Rallies

2010-05-23T11:05:00.001-07:00

William Gheen, the obstreperous head of the nativist group Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, or ALIPAC, has pulled his group out of all June Arizona rallies backing that state’s controversial new illegal immigration law. Gheen said he is doing so because former Colorado Republican congressman Tom Tancredo, one of the country’s most hard-line opponents of illegal immigration, is supporting one event in which racist skinheads and neo-Nazis may be involved.

That rally, scheduled for June 5 in Phoenix, is being organized by Dan Smeriglio, founder of Voice of the People USA, an anti-illegal immigration group based in Pennsylvania. Gheen says it could hurt, not help, the efforts of those supporting SB 1070, the bill signed last month by Gov. Jan Brewer giving police wide latitude to detain anybody they think may be in the country illegally and making failure of non-citizens to carry immigration documents a crime. Critics say the law will subject Latinos, whether citizens or not, to racial profiling and police harassment in a state whose population is 30% Hispanic. President Obama, among others, has criticized the law, and a number of cities around the country have voted to protest it by halting business travel to Arizona and banning contracts with businesses there.

Gheen supports the law and initially favored the June 5 rally. But he notified supporters on Tuesday that ALIPAC won’t be attending or promoting any rallies scheduled next month in Arizona to support SB 1070. “We will have no future dealings with Dan Smeriglio or retired Congressman Tom Tancredo due to the neo-Nazi connections and this disaster they have cooked up in Arizona that puts our issue at risk,” Gheen wrote.

Gheen became concerned after a Philadelphia-based anti-hate group called One People’s Project criticized ALIPAC for associating with Smeriglio, who it said was working with racist skinheads. Gheen checked and concluded that was true. He learned, for example, that among the “friends” that Smeriglio listed on his Facebook page was Steve Smith, a regional coordinator of Keystone United, a Pennsylvania racist skinhead group with several chapters. Smith’s Facebook page also indicated he’s a fan of a Swedish white nationalist singer named Saga, whose ditties have included “Goodbye, David Lane.” Lane, a convicted terrorist who died in 2007 while serving a 190-year prison sentence, remains one of the most revered figures in the white nationalist movement. He came up with the famous “14 Words” slogan: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for White children.”

Smeriglio, 27, lives outside Hazleton, Penn., where he organized an anti-illegal immigration rally six weeks after Mexican immigrant Luis Ramirez was murdered there in 2008. Last November, his Voice of the People USA organized a Tea Party Rally Against Amnesty in Hazleton, a city that has been racially divided since passing harsh anti-immigrant ordinances. Keystone United’s website says that some of its members attended the rally, and Smith appears to have been a prominent participant at the event, bellowing through a bullhorn at passing motorists.

Adding to Gheen’s dismay: Smeriglio claimed he had obtained a permit for the June 5 Phoenix rally, but in fact did not, Gheen says. Somebody did, however — a group protesting SB 1070. The same bizarre scenario unfolded at another, unrelated anti-immigration rally last year in Washington, D.C., Gheen says.

Gheen maintains that he tried to steer people away from the Smeriglio rally in Phoenix by urging anti-illegal immigration leaders to attend a different rally one week later. But he was thwarted, he says, by Tancredo, who urged those same leaders to stick with the June 5 event, even though he had been informed of Smeriglio’s connections. “We do not feel comfortable asking our national network to travel into Arizona at great expense to attend an event that Tom Tancredo is attempting to undermine,” Gheen wrote to his supporters. In a follow-up E-mail on Wednesday, Gheen warned that Tancredo is “making a huge mistake” and “a terrible mistake.”

Tancredo’s incendiary racial attitudes are no secret. He told a Tea Party convention audience in Nashville last February: “People who could not spell the word ‘vote’ or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House — name is Barack Obama.” He complained that Obama was elected because “we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote in this country.” As was widely noted after his remarks were published, Southern states used literacy tests as a means of preventing blacks from voting prior to the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Tancredo did not respond to an E-mail asking for comment on the dust-up with Gheen. Smeriglio could not be located for comment.

The rift between Gheen and Tancredo and Smeriglio is the latest in a series of fratricidal battles among leaders in the nativist movement, especially since the arrest of Minuteman American Defense leader Shawna Forde and two confederates last year on charges of shooting and killing a Latino man and his 9-year-old daughter in Arizona. And it came less than six months after Gheen dropped his support of a possible presidential run by talk radio host Lou Dobbs after the former CNN personality moderated his immigrant-bashing too much for Gheen’s taste. The offending moment came when Dobbs went on a Spanish-language television network and said that “we need the ability to legalize illegal immigrants under certain conditions.” Last month, Dobbs struck back after Gheen made the sexual orientation of South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham an issue. With Gheen on his show, Dobbs urged him to “dump the hate from your heart.”

Nor is the Gheen-Tancredo-Smeriglio imbroglio the first time one nativist leader has leveled charges of racism at another. Last December, Jim Gilchrist, head of the Minuteman Project, one of the first large nativist extremist groups to form in the last few years, said in an E-mail that Gheen and two other anti-immigration leaders — Jeff Schwilk and Chelene Nightingale — are “incurable racists who limit activist participation to only white persons, bigots.” Presumably, it was this kind of criticism that drove Gheen to distance ALIPAC from Smeriglio and company.

And so the fight goes on for anti-illegal immigration activists — with counter-demonstrators, with politicians and with each other.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE:

Tom Tancredo has released a statement saying allegations about Smeriglio’s purported ties to racist skinheads “are not only without merit, they are the worst kind of character assassination that no decent person in politics, left, right or center, should condone.” He said he’s confident that people won’t be deterred from showing their support for Arizona residents and for Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce, the originator of SB 1070. Pearce, it should be noted, appeared side by side in a 2007 photograph with J.T. Ready, a white supremacist who has attended at least one neo-Nazi rally. Pearce said he was unaware of Ready’s background.

Source: SPLCenter

Arizona Immigration Law Violates Constitution, Guarantees Racial Profiling

2010-05-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

By Mary Bauer, SPLC Legal Director

Arizona’s newly adopted immigration law is brazenly unconstitutional and will undoubtedly trample upon the civil rights of residents caught in its path.

By requiring local law enforcement to arrest a person when there is “reasonable suspicion” that the person is in the country illegally, Arizona lawmakers have created a system that guarantees racial profiling. They also have usurped federal authority by attempting to enforce immigration law.

Quite simply, this law is a civil rights disaster and an insult to American values. No one in our country should be required to produce their “papers” on demand to prove their innocence. What kind of country are we becoming?

When Arizona Governor Jan Brewer was asked what an undocumented immigrant looks like, she responded: “I do not know what an illegal immigrant looks like. I can tell you that I think there are people in Arizona who assume that they know what an illegal immigrant looks like."

We all know what the outcome of all this double-talk will be. People with brown skin – regardless of whether they are U.S. citizens or legal residents – will be forced to prove their legal status to law enforcement officers time and again. One-third of Arizona’s population – those who are Latino – will be designated as second-class citizens, making anyone with brown skin a suspect even if their families have called Arizona home for generations.

Given the authors of this law, no one should be surprised about its intended targets. The law was drafted by a lawyer for the legal arm of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), whose founder has warned of a “Latin onslaught” and complained about Latinos’ alleged low “educability.” FAIR has accepted $1.2 million from the Pioneer Fund, a racist foundation that was set up by Nazi sympathizers to fund studies of eugenics, the science of selective breeding to produce a “better” race. The legislation was sponsored by state Senator Russell Pearce, who once e-mailed an anti-Semitic article from the neo-Nazi National Alliance website to supporters.

Making matters worse, lawmakers have allowed citizens to sue local law enforcement agencies that they believe are not adequately enforcing the new law. One can be sure that FAIR and its proxies are salivating at the prospects.

The law is not only unconstitutional, it’s bad public policy and will interfere with effective policing in Arizona’s communities. That’s why the legislation was opposed by the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police. As Latinos grow more fearful of law enforcement, they will be more reluctant to report crimes, and witnesses will be less likely to cooperate with police. Criminals will target the Latino community, confident their victims will keep quiet.

Lawmakers in other states are eager to replicate this ill-advised law. Their frustration with current immigration policy is understandable, but this system must be remedied by our Congress, which should enact fair immigration reform. The federal government must craft a policy that repairs our broken immigration system and, at the same time, protects our most cherished values. States that attempt to follow Arizona’s example will only succeed in sowing fear, discord and intolerance in our communities while undermining law enforcement and inviting costly constitutional challenges.

Source: Southern Poverty Law Center

The irony of Arizona's new immigration law

2010-05-23T10:46:00.000-07:00

Next Step: Arizona to Refuse Birth Certificates?

2010-05-23T10:40:00.000-07:00

Morgan Loew
CBS5 Investigative Reporter

POSTED: 12:32 pm MST May 20, 2010
UPDATED: 10:40 pm MST May 21, 2010
PHOENIX -- E-mails to and from Ariz.state Sen. Russell Pearce reveal the immigration enforcement debate may not stop with SB 1070, the controversial immigration law.

Pearce, R-Mesa, the author of Arizona’s immigration law, has been writing to some of his constituents about what he plans to accomplish next.

In e-mails obtained by CBS 5 News, Pearce said he intends to push for a bill that would enable Arizona to no longer grant citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants born on U.S. soil.

Pearce wrote in one e-mail: "I also intend to push for an Arizona bill that would refuse to accept or issue a birth certificate that recognizes citizenship to those born to illegal aliens, unless one parent is a citizen."

CBS 5 Investigates looked through hundreds of e-mails Pearce had sent to constituents and some of their replies. The e-mails varied from praise to criticism and outlined Pearce’s future plans. Most were about SB 1070, his immigration law.

E-mails from the law’s supporters outnumbered those from critics by seven to one.

One supporter wrote, "I think it is about time we take our state and country back from the Mexicans."

One opponent wrote, "Mr. Pearce, you are a sick, racist bigot..."

Pearce replied to some opponents: "Do you not care about the deaths…maimings…billions in cost to America..."

One of the more remarkable e-mails sent to a list of supporters detailed his next steps. The e-mail, several pages long, includes articles critical of the 14th Amendment, which gives babies born on U.S. soil automatic citizenship.

One of the e-mails written by someone else but forwarded by Pearce reads: "If we are going to have an effect on the anchor baby racket, we need to target the mother. Call it sexist, but that's the way nature made it. Men don't drop anchor babies, illegal alien mothers do."

In response, Pearce sent two e-mails to CBS 5 News that contain some of the reasoning he used to conclude that children of illegal immigrants should not be granted citizenship. He also said he's disappointed when people think he's mean spirited because he stands for America.

Pearce said his new idea is not only legal but it's also constitutional.

“It’s common sense,” Pearce said. “Again -- you can’t break into someone’s country and then expect to be rewarded for that. You can’t do it.”

When Pearce was shown the e-mail referring to “anchor babies” that he forwarded, he said he didn’t find anything wrong with the language.

“It’s somebody’s opinion… What they’re trying to say is it’s wrong, and I agree with them. It’s wrong,” said Pearce.

Source: KPHO

Top Official Says Feds May Not Process Illegals Referred From Arizona

2010-05-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

A top Department of Homeland Security official reportedly said his agency will not necessarily process illegal immigrants referred to them by Arizona authorities.

This article was updated at 4:36 p.m. on May 21. See editor's note at the bottom of the article.

A top Department of Homeland Security official reportedly said his agency will not necessarily process illegal immigrants referred to them by Arizona authorities.

John Morton, assistant secretary of homeland security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, made the comment during a meeting on Wednesday with the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune, the newspaper reports.

"I don't think the Arizona law, or laws like it, are the solution," Morton told the newspaper.

The best way to reduce illegal immigration is through a comprehensive federal approach, he said, and not a patchwork of state laws.

The law, which criminalizes being in the state illegally and requires authorities to check suspects for immigration status, is not "good government," Morton said.

In response to Morton's comments, DHS officials said President Obama has ordered the Department of Justice to examine the civil rights and other implications of the law.

"That review will inform the government's actions going forward," DHS spokesman Matt Chandler told Fox News on Friday.

Fox News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano said ICE is not obligated to process illegal immigrants referred to them by Arizona authorities.

"ICE has the legal discretion to accept or not to accept persons delivered to it by non-federal personnel," Napolitano said. "It also has the discretion to deport or not to deport persons delivered to it by any government agents, even its own."

Read more here: Fox News

Supervisors order Sheriff Joe Arpaio to contempt proceeding

2010-05-23T10:25:00.000-07:00

by Yvonne Wingett, Michael Kiefer and JJ Hensley
- May. 13, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday ordered Sheriff Joe Arpaio to attend a contempt hearing May 24 to explain his refusal to hand over financial documents the board demanded through a subpoena.

The board's unanimous decision to force Arpaio and his chief financial officer, Loretta Barkell, to testify is unprecedented. Never before has the county used its subpoena powers to require another elected county official to appear before the board.

The supervisors believe state statutes allow them to hold Arpaio in contempt if they aren't satisfied with the response.

If the board were to try, however, it would certainly be tested in court.

Arpaio wouldn't comment Wednesday; sheriff's spokeswoman Lisa Allen would say only that the office is "conferring with our attorneys."

The Arizona Republic talked with several legal experts, including attorneys, judges and law professors, to determine how the latest battle between the board and Arpaio could play out.

Question: Why did the board take this approach to get the financial records?

Answer: The board ordered the contempt hearing after sheriff's officials did not respond to attempts by Deputy County Manager Sandi Wilson to get answers to questions she had about possible financial mismanagement.

In a March 30 letter to Chief Deputy Dave Hendershott and Barkell, Wilson said she was concerned that restricted funds may have been misspent. Sheriff's officials did not respond.

The board issued a subpoena April 27 and gave Arpaio until May 7 to turn over documents. The request was for items including detailed credit-card transactions, work assignments and lists of detainees or defendants extradited by the office and all bank accounts dating back to Jan. 1, 2005.

When the sheriff missed that deadline, the board ordered him to a contempt hearing.

Asked why the county didn't submit a public-records request to the Sheriff's Office, county spokeswoman Cari Gerchick said Wilson's memos satisfied the county's internal information request: "It seems silly to have to use the public-records vehicle to get financial data when we're in the midst of budgeting, and this is the normal process for getting budgeting documents," she said.

Q: Why does the board want the files?

A: County officials believe the Sheriff's Office could be mismanaging or misspending public money. Board attorney Tom Irvine and Deputy Budget Director Lee Ann Bohn on Wednesday told the board the records will help them better understand how sheriff's officials have spent money. They believe Arpaio may have misspent or mismanaged restricted detention funds to pay for personnel.

Bohn indicated that Arpaio also kept a "shadow" bank account. Although it's allowed by county policy, she said the details should be made public.

Q: What gives the board the authority to issue subpoenas?

A: As the county's governing board, the five supervisors control almost all county finances.

Arizona Revised Statute 11-218 gives county boards and their chairmen the authority to issue subpoenas, that is, legal orders to produce documents related to county business, or to order witnesses to appear at a hearing.

What makes the board different from a court is that courts have extensive ethical rules and case law defining what judges or lawyers can or can't do regarding conflict of interest.

Two of the supervisors have been investigated by the Sheriff's Office, and the board has a long history of litigation with the sheriff. Such history would conflict a judge or attorney out of trying a case.

Since this type of procedure is untested, legal experts said there may not be precedent that considers conflict of interest in holding a contempt hearing.

Q: Has the board ever issued subpoenas or held contempt hearings?

A: Last year, the Board of Supervisors subpoenaed financial records from County Treasurer Charles "Hos" Hoskins, who immediately turned over the records. But the board has not held a contempt hearing, County Manager David Smith said. "This is already taking it a step further," he said. "I don't know what to expect."

Q: What is Arpaio's potential defense?

A: Arpaio and Barkell could attend the hearing. They also could turn over the records or negotiate a compromise.

Arpaio could file a special action, which is a sort of fast-track appeal, in Superior Court questioning whether the board is acting in excess of its authority. And if they are held in contempt of the board, they also could appeal.

Q: What happens if Arpaio is held in contempt?

A. Some experts said a trial of sorts would have to be held in order to find him in contempt. If that happens, he could be jailed until he agrees to turn over the requested documents. In court parlance, a judge will state that the person held in contempt "holds the keys to his jail cell," meaning that if he complies with the order, he is released.

Short of contempt, the board could narrow the scope of its request for documents, or if dissatisfied, it could take a variety of actions. For example, the board could turn off the county credit cards of certain sheriff's employees, restrict travel, or ask Arpaio to turn over all of his books to an auditor.

Source: AZCentral

Springfield Park: No Hispanics Allowed

2010-05-23T10:15:00.000-07:00

Letter spurs Rick Romley to warn Joe Arpaio

2010-05-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

by Michael Kiefer - May. 20, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Sheriff Joe Arpaio has sent letters to current and former attorneys in the Maricopa County Attorney's Office warning them to watch their words if they speak to investigators looking into possible unethical conduct by former County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

The letter threatens the attorneys with criminal charges if they reveal "confidential" information about the sheriff's inquiries into county Supervisors Don Stapley and Mary Rose Wilcox and Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe.

Interim County Attorney Rick Romley responded with a letter of his own warning Arpaio that he was overstepping the authority of his office.

In late March, Arizona Chief Justice Rebecca White Berch appointed a Colorado attorney to conduct the investigation. John Gleason, who handles such inquests for the Colorado Supreme Court, has been in Phoenix in recent weeks to work on the case. Gleason could not comment because of his own ethical obligations.

On May 3, Arpaio mailed letters to current and former county attorney staffers, saying, "This letter is intended to advise you that I do not consent to you revealing any information provided to you by my office, regardless of any personal incentive to breach the attorney-client privilege."

At the end of the letter, he wrote, "Be advised that should you disclose any information that could harm any pending criminal investigations, I will consider charging you with violations of applicable statutes."

Phil MacDonnell, Thomas' former chief deputy, received one of the letters. "It gave me pause," MacDonnell said.

However, Romley fired off a letter to Arpaio citing case law and informing him that the relationship between the two offices is not attorney and client but law enforcement and prosecutor. Citing case law, Romley said that the County Attorney's Office "does not render legal services to the investigators."

As for the threat to file criminal charges against anyone who testifies to the Bar, Romley wrote, "This threat is not only inappropriate but is a clear abuse of your authority as sheriff of Maricopa County.

Thereby, I shall be forwarding your letter" to the U.S. District Attorney's Office.

Source: AZCentral

Arizona violating treaty ratified by U.S.

2010-05-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

By Chandra Bhatnagar, Special to CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

* Chandra Bhatnagar: Experts say Arizona law will lead to increased racial profiling
* Law violates Constitution as it makes any Latino a potential criminal suspect, he says
* Bhatnagar: It's also a blatant violation of U.N. rights treaty, signed and ratified by the U.S.
* He says it's time for U.S. to extend rights it expects from other nations to its own people

Editor's note: Chandra Bhatnagar is an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's Human Rights Program and principal author of "The Persistence of Racial and Ethnic Profiling in the United States," recently submitted to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

(CNN) -- On the heels of the passage of Arizona's racial profiling law, tens of thousands of people from all over the country have marched in support of human rights and against the legislation.

That law, SB 1070, requires Arizona law enforcement agents to determine the citizenship status of people they stop if the officer has an undefined "reasonable suspicion" that the person is not in this country lawfully.

The ACLU and a coalition of civil rights groups filed a lawsuit this week challenging the unconstitutional law. There is little doubt among experts that the new Arizona law will lead to increased racial profiling.

Civil libertarians have criticized the law as a violation of basic constitutional rights because it transforms Arizona's Latino community and other people of color -- who may be presumed by law enforcement officers to be in the country "unlawfully" -- into potential criminal suspects.

Constitutional scholars have criticized the legislation by invoking the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prevents states from usurping the federal government's authority to regulate immigration.

But what has been largely absent from the public debate about the legality and morality of SB 1070 is Arizona's blatant violation of international human rights law, as underscored by several U.N. experts.

The law flies in the face of Arizona's human rights obligations, particularly the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), which the United States ratified in 1994 and which is binding on all levels of federal, state and local governments, including Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who signed the bill.

ICERD obligates federal, state and local governments to guarantee that laws and policies do not discriminate, in purpose or effect, on the grounds of race, color, descent or national or ethnic origin. Under ICERD, all noncitizens, regardless of their immigration status, are entitled to equal protection and equality before the law. Federal, state and local governments are barred from employing or carrying out racial or ethnic discrimination against individuals or communities.

The treaty states "each state party undertakes to engage in no act or practice of racial discrimination against persons, groups of persons or institutions and to ensure that all public authorities and public institutions, national and local, shall act in conformity with this obligation."

Last summer, the ACLU and the Rights Working Group released a human rights report that compiled data from across the United States. It revealed that law enforcement agencies investigate, stop, frisk or search racial minorities based upon subjective identity-based characteristics, rather than identifiable evidence of illegal activity. The report found that racial profiling remains a pervasive problem around the country.

The report, which was submitted to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), highlighted profiling in 22 states. In Arizona, it showed that African-American and Latino drivers were 2.5 times more likely than white drivers to be searched after being stopped by the highway patrol. Native American drivers were 3.25 times more likely to be searched, even though they were less likely to be found with contraband.

The report also documented the many human rights violations committed by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, under the direction of Joe Arpaio. The office has received national and international attention for its practices of profiling and harassment of Latinos.

In early 2009, Arpaio's actions resulted in a Department of Justice investigation based on "alleged patterns or practices of discriminatory police practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures ... and on allegations of national origin discrimination." So SB 1070 exacerbates an already poor human rights record.

In September, the CERD committee sent a letter to the Obama administration conveying concerns about the lack of progress in addressing racial discrimination and urging it to pass the End Racial Profiling Act and end immigration programs that foster racial profiling.

Since that time, as evidenced by Arizona's law, profiling has actually gotten worse.

Despite the language in the bill cited by proponents as evidence of its design to prevent profiling, there can be no doubt that SB 1070 invites law enforcement agents to stop people on the street based upon how they those people look, as opposed to any verifiable evidence of criminal activity, or, alternatively, to stop them for a legitimate reason and then demand their "papers" based on appearance or race.

It is inevitable that there will be an increase in racial profiling and harassment of minorities. As a party to ICERD, the U.S. and the state of Arizona have a legal and moral obligation to end all programs and policies that disproportionately discriminate against racial or ethnic minorities.

At the state level, Arizona must repeal this discriminatory legislation. At the federal level, the Obama administration should take legal action against Arizona to stop this law from taking effect in its entirety.

It is encouraging that Attorney General Eric Holder is considering all options, including bringing legal action against Arizona or joining lawsuits filed by other parties. Congress must also take action to bring this country into conformity with both the Constitution and international human rights obligations by passing the End Racial Profiling Act. This act would ban the practice of racial profiling by federal law enforcement agencies and provide federal funding to state and local police departments if they adopt policies to prohibit the practice.

Also, the United States should create a concrete program of action for full implementation of the treaty, making sure state governments are protecting and promoting human rights.

A concrete ICERD implementation plan would educate state and local officials, such as Brewer, about their legal obligations under U.S. treaties and international law and serve to educate the public, as well.

President Obama called Arizona's law "misguided" and said that it "threatened to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe."

Recently, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that "Human rights are universal, but their experience is local. This is why we are committed to holding everyone to the same standard, including ourselves." They have it right.

But words are not enough. It is time for the U.S. government to match its human rights rhetoric with action and for our elected leaders to protect and defend the basic human rights of all people.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Chandra Bhatnagar.

Source: CNN

ABC: What would you do: Racism and Illegal immigration

2010-05-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

Federal Indictments Reveal Details of Police Cover-up in Beating Death of Latino Immigrant in Pennsylvania

2009-12-16T18:16:00.000-08:00

At about 11:30 on the night of July 12, 2008, six teenagers brutally assaulted a Latino man in a Shenandoah, Pa., park while yelling “Fucking Spic, “Go Back to Mexico” and “Tell your fucking Mexican friends to get the fuck out of Shenandoah.”

As they gathered at one of their homes after the attack, the mother of assailant Brandon Piekarsky arrived to tell them they needed to “get their stories straight” because she had heard from her boyfriend that the victim might die. Before they left the house that night, they agreed not to tell police that Piekarsky had kicked the man or that they had attacked him because of his ethnicity.

As it turned out, the mother’s boyfriend was Jason Hayes, a Shenandoah patrolman who had stopped several of the attackers as they fled. His connection to Piekarsky is one example of the links between the attackers and three Shenandoah police officers who tried to cover up the teenagers’ involvement in the crime, according to federal indictments unsealed yesterday.

The officers face obstruction of justice and other charges in connection with the beating death of Luis Ramirez, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. In another indictment, Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak, who also took part in the attack, are charged with a federal hate crime that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison; Donchak is also charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and related offenses. The federal indictments, greeted warmly by immigrant rights groups, came seven months after an all-white jury found the men guilty of a misdemeanor assault charge but acquitted them of more serious charges, including ethnic intimidation.

According to the indictment charging the three police officers, Piekarsky’s mother was also friends with Shenandoah Police Chief Matthew Nestor and had vacationed with him. In addition, Lt. William Moyer — who, along with Patrolman Hayes, stopped the attackers after the assault — had a son who played on Shenandoah’s high school football team with the assailants.

The indictment gives the following account: After the assault, Piekarsky accompanied police officers Hayes and Moyer to the park and told them about the attack. While at the crime scene, Piekarsky used his cell phone — which Hayes, his mother’s boyfriend, had given him and paid for — to call Donchak with the news that he had told police about the beating of Ramirez. He then went to Donchak’s home, where the assailants agreed to lie about what had happened that night — a pact they carried out in the days following the attack.

The next morning, Moyer showed up at the house of an assailant who is not named in the indictment and told him to speak with the other attackers so they could all give the same account to police. During the week after the assault, Moyer contacted the parents of a second unnamed participant with the suggestion that they get rid of the sneakers their son wore on the night of the attack. Shortly before July 24, 2008, he went to that participant’s home and, in an attempt to absolve Piekarsky, told the parents that their son “should take full responsibility for the assault.” In another effort to conceal Piekarsky’s involvement, Moyer and Hayes mischaracterized a witness’s account in an official report to make it appear that the second unnamed participant had a greater role in the attack than he actually did.

Moyer also falsely reported that an eyewitness who called 911 from the park that night did not identify any of the attackers and said there was a man wielding a gun. In fact, the 911 caller had identified Piekarsky, Donchak and other attackers to Moyer and Hayes. After stopping the assailants identified by the 911 caller, Moyer and Hayes released them. All three police officers deliberately wrote false reports in connection with the investigation, the indictment said. In addition, when a Shenandoah official recommended that the police department recuse itself from the investigation because of its ties to the suspects, the police chief refused.

Hayes’ lawyer, Frank Nocito of Kingston, Pa., said he does not comment on pending cases. Lawyers for Donchak, Piekarsky, and the police officers named in indictments did not return requests for comment.

According to a separate indictment, the corruption in the Shenandoah Police Department allegedly went beyond the case involving Ramirez’s death. Chief Nestor and his second-in-command, Capt. Jamie Gennarini, were charged with multiple counts of extortion and civil rights violations. In one incident described in the indictment, Nestor and Gennarini drove to the workplace of a local businessman, strode into his office and proclaimed, “This is the way we are going to do business in Shenandoah!” They then drove the businessman to the police station while Gennarini demanded money from him. After placing him in a holding cell, Nestor threatened to formally arrest him unless another individual brought $2,000 in cash for the two police officers. That person, who is not named in the indictment, told Nestor she needed to go to the bank. Nestor told her he would be getting paperwork ready for the businessman’s arrest while she made the trip. He then called her on her cell phone to ask why it was taking “so long,” the indictment said. After accepting the money, Nestor and Gennarini wrote “vague and misleading entries” in the department’s logbook to cover up the businessman’s detention.

Source: Southern Poverty Law Center

Federal agents arrest six in Shenandoah

2009-12-16T17:35:00.000-08:00

According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice released this morning:

WASHINGTON - A federal grand jury has returned multiple indictments arising out of a fatal racially motivated beating and related police corruption in Shenandoah, Pa., the Justice Department announced. The three indictments include federal hate crime, obstruction of justice, conspiracy, official misconduct and extortion charges. The indictments were unsealed today, after being returned under seal on Dec. 10, 2009.

The first indictment charges Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky with a federal hate crime for fatally beating Luis Ramirez, a Latino male, while shouting racial epithets at him. According to the indictment, on July 12, 2008, the defendants, and others, were walking home from a local festival when they encountered Ramirez. The defendants then attacked Ramirez in a public street by striking and kicking him while members of the group yelled racial slurs at him.

Ramirez died two days later from his injuries. The indictment also alleges that, immediately following the beating, Donchak, Piekarsky and others, including members of the Shenandoah Police Department, participated in a scheme to obstruct the investigation of the fatal assault. As a result of this alleged obstruction, Donchak is charged in three additional counts for conspiring to obstruct justice and related offenses.

If convicted, Piekarsky and Donchak face a maximum penalty of life in prison on the hate crime charge. Donchak faces 20 years in prison on each of the obstruction charges and an additional five years in prison for conspiring to obstruct justice.

"Violence motivated by bigotry and hate has no place in America, and yet it remains all too prevalent in many of our communities," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for Department of Justice. "The Civil Rights Division stands ready to bring perpetrators of hate crimes to justice."

A second indictment charges Shenandoah Police Chief Matthew Nestor, Lt. William Moyer and Police Officer Jason Hayes with conspiring to obstruct justice during the investigation into the fatal beating of Ramirez. Moyer has also been charged with witness and evidence tampering, and with lying to the FBI.

If convicted, the defendants face 20 years in prison on each of the obstruction charges and an additional five years in prison for conspiring to obstruct justice. Moyer faces an additional five years in prison for making false statements to the FBI.

A third indictment charges Chief Nestor and his second-in-command, Captain Jamie Gennarini, with multiple counts of extortion and civil rights violations. According to that indictment, from 2004 through 2007, Nestor conspired to extort cash payments from several illegal gambling operations in the Shenandoah area and obstructed the investigation of the extortion scheme. The indictment also alleges that on May 17, 2007, Nestor and Gennarini committed extortion by demanding a $2,000 cash payment from a local businessman and his family in exchange for releasing the businessman from their custody.

"The power granted to law enforcement officers does not place them above the law. We will continue to aggressively enforce the law to combat obstruction and corruption in law enforcement agencies," Assistant Attorney General Perez said. "We thank the FBI for their work in this investigation."

If convicted on these charges, Nestor and Gennarini face maximum penalties of 20 years in prison for each of the extortion counts. Additionally, the defendants face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for the conspiracy to violate civil rights. These cases were investigated by Special Agents Alan Jones and Adam Aichele of the Philadelphia Division of the FBI, and are being prosecuted by Civil Rights Division Trial Attorneys Eric L. Gibson and Myesha Braden.

The FBI wants to hear from anyone who may have information regarding alleged civil rights violations or public corruption in Schuylkill County, Pa. If you feel you have been victimized or have any additional information, please call FBI Special Agents Alan Jones or Anthony Cavallo at the Allentown, Pa., Resident Agency of the FBI at (610) 433-6488.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Source: The Times-Tribune

Two Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, Men and Four Police Officers Indicted for Hate Crime and Related Corruption

2009-12-16T17:32:00.000-08:00

Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Two Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, Men and Four Police Officers Indicted for Hate Crime and Related Corruption

WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury has returned multiple indictments arising out of a fatal racially motivated beating and related police corruption in Shenandoah, Pa., the Justice Department announced. The three indictments include federal hate crime, obstruction of justice, conspiracy, official misconduct and extortion charges. The indictments were unsealed today, after being returned under seal on Dec. 10, 2009.

The first indictment charges Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky with a federal hate crime for fatally beating Luis Ramirez, a Latino male, while shouting racial epithets at him. According to the indictment, on July 12, 2008, the defendants, and others, were walking home from a local festival when they encountered Ramirez. The defendants then attacked Ramirez in a public street by striking and kicking him while members of the group yelled racial slurs at him. Ramirez died two days later from his injuries. The indictment also alleges that, immediately following the beating, Donchak, Piekarsky and others, including members of the Shenandoah Police Department, participated in a scheme to obstruct the investigation of the fatal assault. As a result of this alleged obstruction, Donchak is charged in three additional counts for conspiring to obstruct justice and related offenses.

If convicted, Piekarsky and Donchak face a maximum penalty of life in prison on the hate crime charge. Donchak faces 20 years in prison on each of the obstruction charges and an additional five years in prison for conspiring to obstruct justice.

"Violence motivated by bigotry and hate has no place in America, and yet it remains all too prevalent in many of our communities," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice. "The Civil Rights Division stands ready to bring perpetrators of hate crimes to justice."

A second indictment charges Shenandoah Police Chief Matthew Nestor, Lt. William Moyer and Police Officer Jason Hayes with conspiring to obstruct justice during the investigation into the fatal beating of Ramirez. Moyer has also been charged with witness and evidence tampering, and with lying to the FBI.

If convicted, the defendants face 20 years in prison on each of the obstruction charges and an additional five years in prison for conspiring to obstruct justice. Moyer faces an additional five years in prison for making false statements to the FBI.

A third indictment charges Chief Nestor and his second-in-command, Captain Jamie Gennarini, with multiple counts of extortion and civil rights violations. According to that indictment, from 2004 through 2007, Nestor conspired to extort cash payments from several illegal gambling operations in the Shenandoah area and obstructed the investigation of the extortion scheme. The indictment also alleges that on May 17, 2007, Nestor and Gennarini committed extortion by demanding a $2,000 cash payment from a local businessman and his family in exchange for releasing the businessman from their custody.

"The power granted to law enforcement officers does not place them above the law. We will continue to aggressively enforce the law to combat obstruction and corruption in law enforcement agencies," Assistant Attorney General Perez said. "We thank the FBI for their work in this investigation."

If convicted on these charges, Nestor and Gennarini face maximum penalties of 20 years in prison for each of the extortion counts. Additionally, the defendants face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for the conspiracy to violate civil rights.

These cases were investigated by Special Agents Alan Jones and Adam Aichele of the Philadelphia Division of the FBI, and are being prosecuted by Civil Rights Division Trial Attorneys Eric L. Gibson and Myesha Braden.

The FBI wants to hear from anyone who may have information regarding alleged civil rights violations or public corruption in Schuylkill County, Pa.. If you feel you have been victimized or have any additional information, please call FBI Special Agents Alan Jones or Anthony Cavallo at the Allentown, Pa., Resident Agency of the FBI at (610) 433-6488.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

09-1342

Civil Rights Division

Source: Department of Justice

San Diego Minutemen Leader Ordered to Pay $135,000 for Defaming Woman

2009-05-23T07:59:00.000-07:00

Jeff Schwilk — the hot-tempered leader of the San Diego Minutemen, a nativist extremist organization with a reputation for violent confrontations and crude insults — has been ordered to pay $135,000 to a Korean-American civil rights activist who filed a defamation lawsuit against Schwilk and SDMM founding member and former spokesman Ray Carney in 2007.

Joanne Yoon sued Carney and Schwilk for $1 million after the men circulated photos of her in late 2006 along with comments referring to her as “the Korean anorexic ACLU slut.” Yoon, who was then 24, helped monitor SDMM rallies for the American Civil Liberties Union. The images of her were posted to a Yahoo group titled “Korean Kommie Kunt.” Ever the sensitive soul, Schwilk changed the name of the group to “Joanne Yoon ACLU Goon” after female SDMM activists objected. But that didn’t stop Carney from sending a mass E-mail to SDMM members suggesting that Yoon was interested in protecting the civil rights of Mexican immigrants because of her fondness for “Brown Schlong.”

Schwilk was ordered to pay compensatory damages yesterday after a Superior Court jury decided against him. Punitive damages will be decided May 26. The court also entered a default judgment against Carney, who did not file a response to Yoon’s lawsuit.

Schwilk’s attorney called the decision “an injustice” and vowed to file an appeal.

Source: SPLCenter

Justice reviewing immigrant's beating death in Pa.

2009-05-06T15:36:00.000-07:00

The Associated Press

POTTSVILLE, Pa. - Two Pennsylvania teens acquitted of the most serious state charges in the beating death of a Mexican immigrant could still face federal charges.

Justice Department spokesman Alejandro Miyar says the civil rights division is reviewing evidence surrounding last summer's fatal fight between high school football players in Schuylkill County and 25-year-old Luis Ramirez.

A county jury last week acquitted 17-year-old Brandon Piekarsky of third-degree murder and ethnic intimidation and 19-year-old Derrick Donchak of aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation. Both were convicted of simple assault.

The case has exposed racial tensions in the predominantly white community. Some immigrants have moved to the area in search of farm and factory work.

Source: philly.com

The Most Racist Comments About Mexicans Ever Allowed On-Air

2009-05-04T16:25:00.000-07:00

Some satisfied, others outraged with verdict for immigrant's death

2009-05-03T15:24:00.000-07:00

* Story Highlights
* Teens acquitted of murder, aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation
* Verdict sends "extremely dangerous" precedent, advocacy group says
* Schuylkill County prosecutors alleged the beating was racially motivated
* Incident drew national attention to small town of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania

By Emanuella Grinberg
CNN

Friends and relatives of two teens accused in the beating death of a Mexican immigrant struggled to contain their relief as not-guilty verdicts were announced on the most serious charges against the former high school football stars Friday.

Gasps filled the courtroom and some had to be restrained by sheriff's deputies as they tried to rush the defense table after Derrick Donchak, 19, and Brandon Piekarsky, 17, were acquitted of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and ethnic intimidation for the death of Luis Ramirez.

Piekarsky was also found not guilty of third-degree murder for the death of Ramirez, who died of blunt force injuries after an encounter with the teens last summer.

However, the all-white jury of six men and six women from Schuylkill County jury found Piekarsky and Donchak guilty of simple assault.

The case drew national attention to the small town of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, highlighting race relations and polarizing the community on who was to blame for the incident.

Lawyers for the teens never denied that their clients were involved in a physical altercation with Ramirez on a residential street the night of July 12.

Instead, they tried to cast Ramirez as the aggressor, and suggested that the other teens involved in the tangle of punches and blows were to blame.

"In my mind it was the lack of evidence to tie these kids to the serious charges that they brought," defense lawyer Frederick Fanelli said.

A cast of witnesses provided conflicting accounts regarding who initiated the encounter and who exactly did what, complicating prosecutors' efforts to assign blame.

"If you ask most prosecutors who are dealing with multiple defendants, and in this particular case there were at least four, it is extraordinary difficult to clear the fog of a fight," truTV anchor Ashleigh Banfield said.

The 25-year-old Mexican immigrant had settled in Shenandoah a year before his death with his wife, a lifelong resident of the faltering mining town, and their young children.

He was walking down a residential street with a friend when he encountered the group of teens, who had been drinking earlier in the evening. Donchak was convicted of providing alcohol to the other teens who were involved in the confrontation, including a juvenile co-defendant and another teen who pleaded guilty in federal court for his role in the fight.

Prosecutors alleged that the teens baited the Ramirez into a fight with racial epithets, provoking an exchange of punches and kicks that ended with Ramirez convulsing in the street, foaming from the mouth. He died two days later in a hospital.

Piekarsky was accused of delivering a fatal kick to Ramirez's head after he was knocked to the ground.

As they poured out of courthouse, the teens' supporters shouted "I was right from the start" and "I'm glad the jury listened" at cameras that caught the late-night verdict.

But Gladys Limon, a spokeswoman for the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said the jury had sent a troubling message.

"The jurors here [are] sending the message that you can brutally beat a person, without regard to their life, and get away with it, continue with your life uninterrupted," she said.

"In this case, the message is that a person who may not be popular in society based on their national origin or certain characteristic has less value in our society," she said.

The extent of Ramirez's injuries, which had left his brain oozing from his skull, according to medical testimony, should have sufficed for a conviction other than simple assault, Limon said.

"The acts here were egregious in brutality and it's just outrageous and very difficult to understand how any juror could have had reasonable doubt, especially as to the aggravated assault and the reckless enganderment charges," she said.

Limon said her group intends to press the Department of Justice to file federal charges against the teens.

"Luis Ramirez's family deserves vindication for his death," she said. "This incident has not only disrupted Luis Ramirez's family, but the entire community."

CNN's Brian Rokus contributed to this report.

Source: CNN

WTKK-FM suspends Severin for derogatory comments about Mexicans

2009-05-01T15:34:00.000-07:00

April 30, 2009 08:20 PM

By David Abel, Globe Staff

Jay Severin, the fiery, right-wing radio talk show host on Boston’s WTKK-FM radio station, was suspended today after calling Mexican immigrants "criminaliens," “primitives,” “leeches,” and “women with mustaches and VD,” among other incendiary comments.

Jay Severin

Heidi Raphael, a spokeswoman for the station, said Severin had been suspended indefinitely from his afternoon drive-time show. She declined to say which of his comments – made since an outbreak of swine flu was linked to Mexico in recent days – sparked the suspension.

“I can assure you that the station has not been using the remarks for which he has been suspended in on-air promos,” she said, declining to comment further.

In an email, Severin, a bombastic voice whose views often mirror those of fringe conservatives and who rarely lacks something to say, referred questions to his lawyer. “I am simply not at liberty to discuss it at this time,” he wrote.

George Tobia, his lawyer, said it was not clear how long his client will be suspended. “All we know is it’s indefinite,” he said in a telephone interview. “We’re just learning of it, and we’re dealing with it.”

Severin’s comments sparked deep concern among Mexicans and other Latinos living in the Boston area, prompting what Tobia described as a flood of complaints to the station management in recent days about Severin’s comments about Mexicans and the swine flu.

“It would certainly be unfortunate if someone was suspended because some people didn’t like what he said,” Tobia said.

He did not know Severin’s precise comments.

In one of his broadcasts this week, Severin said: "So now, in addition to venereal disease and the other leading exports of Mexico – women with mustaches and VD – now we have swine flu."

Later, he described Mexicans as “the world's lowest of primitives.”
“When we are the magnet for primitives around the world -- and it’s not the primitives’ fault by the way, I’m not blaming them for being primitives -- I’m merely observing they’re primitive,” he said.

He added Mexicans are destroying schools and hospitals in the United States. He also criticized their hygiene.

"It's millions of leeches from a primitive country come here to leech off you and, with it, they are ruining the schools, the hospitals, and a lot of life in America,” he said.

He added: "We should be, if anything, surprised that Mexico has not visited upon us poxes of more various and serious types already, considering the number of crimaliens already here."

In a previous broadcast this week, Severin argued the Obama administration wasn’t taking sufficient action to seal the border.

"The usual 5,000 criminaliens that come across the Arizona border will probably be 8,000 tonight, and maybe tomorrow it will be 12,000, because even Mexicans are going to be trying to get out of Mexico at a greater rate."

Afterward, while talking to a nurse who called his show to complain about healthcare provided to immigrants, he commiserated with her when she said she was glad she didn't work in an emergency room.

"Yeah, well, that's become essentially condos for Mexicans," he said.

It’s not the first time Severin has faced criticism for derogatory comments about minorities on his weekday program. On a 2004 broadcast, he compared US Muslims to a fifth column, and when a caller suggested the United States should befriend Muslims, Severin responded: "You think we should befriend them; I think we should kill them."

He has called former Vice President Al Gore “Al Whore,” former First Lady and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “a lying [expletive],” and Senator Edward M. Kennedy “a fat piece of lying garbage."

Severin also has been criticized over the years for falsely saying he had won a Pulitzer Prize and that he had earned a master’s degree from Boston University.

Amparo Anguiano , deputy consul of the Consulate General of Mexico in Boston, called Severin’s latest language “hatemongering.”

“All he does is spread hate,” she said. “It’s not the first time immigrants have been denigrated unfoundedly for being dirty, uncivilized, and bringing in diseases. There’s nothing more to say, other than these statements spread unfounded biases, hate, and prejudice.”

Marcela Garcia, editor of El Planeta, a Boston-based publication distributed to Latinos throughout the region, said she shudders when she hears Severin on the radio.

“It’s aggravating, insulting, and disgusting,” she said. “I just can’t listen to him. He doesn’t just show a lack of respect; he shows a lack of knowledge about what immigration means to this country. What he says just fuels the racist dialogue going on about immigration.”
Franklin Soults, a spokesman for Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition, called Severin’s language “dehumanizing.”

“What he said is just patently offensive,” he said. “There has been a huge rise in hate crimes against immigrants, especially Hispanics, and on the show, he doesn’t just talk about Mexicans as criminals, he talks about them as if they were animals and should be quarantined.”

Tobia, Severin's lawyer, said he does not know what’s going to happen, but he ultimately expects Severin back on the airways.

“I think we’re going to sit down with them [station officials] soon and just go forward and put it past us …. I’m confident he’ll be back on the air soon, but I don’t know when or what the particulars are.”

David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com.
Source: boston.com

All-white jury set in Schuylkill racial trial - Men allegedly shouted slurs during beating of illegal Mexican immigrant

2009-04-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

By John J. Moser | Of The Morning Call
April 23, 2009

The trial of two of the three men charged with fatally beating an illegal immigrant in Schuylkill County while shouting racial slurs in July will be heard by an all-white jury.

The six-man, six-woman panel was selected Wednesday to hear the cases of Brandon J. Piekarsky, 18, and Derrick M. Donchak, 19, both of Shenandoah, who are scheduled to be tried starting Monday in the death of Luis Ramirez, 25, a Mexican who had lived in the borough for six years.

Four alternate jurors are scheduled to be chosen today.

Ramirez died two days after a July 12 beating, which police said came after the teens and others, after a night of drinking, encountered Ramirez in a dark borough alley.

Piekarsky and Donchak, both white, also face ethnic intimidation and other counts.

The jury was seated after less than eight hours of questioning by county President Judge William E. Baldwin, prosecutors and defense attorneys.

Nearly a dozen potential jurors were dismissed after they said they couldn't be impartial in a case involving an illegal immigrant.

''If [immigrants] weren't here illegally, it wouldn't have happened,'' one woman told Baldwin.

Another, asked what she knew about the case, told the judge, ''Some boys picked on a Hispanic man and he was accidentally killed. ... I don't think they meant to kill him.''

A man said, ''I feel that anyone who's here illegally doesn't have the same rights as someone who's here legally.''

Schuylkill County's population is 96.6 percent Caucasian, and just 1.1 percent Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Just one of the more than 60 potential jurors was of color. That resident was dismissed because he also said he couldn't be fair in a case involving race.

''I personally had some hatred toward me in the past,'' he told Baldwin. ''I think it'd be hard for me to be fair and impartial.''

Outside the courtroom, the man who declined to give his name or ethnicity said, ''We live in an area that's not ethnically aware.''

District Attorney James P. Goodman declined to comment about the jury's racial makeup or potential jurors' comments.

But attorney Frederick Fanelli, who represents Piekarsky, and Jeffrey Markosky, who represents Donchak, were pleased with the selected jury, Fanelli said.

''The jurors we picked seemed alert, honest and attentive,'' Fanelli said. ''I can't comment on how someone feels or doesn't feel about a particular issue, but I'm glad they were honest and forthright about their personal beliefs.''

The case has generated national interest because of its alleged racial motivation. There were protests at the preliminary hearing last year and court officials expect more for the trial. Baldwin last week barred protests within a quarter-mile of the courthouse to keep them away from jurors. There were no signs of protests Wednesday.

A third man charged in the case, Colin Walsh, 18, of Shenandoah, on Friday had all charges filed against him in Schuylkill County Court dropped after court documents indicated he has pleaded guilty in federal court. Records of the pleas have not been made public, and it's unclear to what charges Walsh has admitted.

The charges withdrawn were third-degree murder, voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, aggravated and simple assault, reckless endangerment and ethnic intimidation in the death.

Piekarsky faces the same charges. Donchak is charged with assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault.

Walsh's name was on a lengthy list of potential witnesses Baldwin read to potential jurors to gauge whether they knew or have had any dealings with them. No potential jurors said they knew him or the other defendants.

Baldwin told the jury pool there may be an argument of self-defense in the case and, ''if that comes up, it will be up to the commonwealth to prove that was not the case.'' He also said the defendants have no burden to prove their innocence and may choose to not testify or present evidence.

Source: mcall.com

Email sparks allegations of racism against Austin Capital Management

2009-04-19T15:22:00.000-07:00

An email sent earlier this week from local hedge fund manager Austin Capital Management Ltd. has raised the eyebrows and ire of at least one Austin group.

The U.S. Hispanic Contractor’s Association de Austin sent a statement out April 16 in reaction to the email, which reads “Tax Reminder...April 15, 2009” and has a picture of four Hispanic males with a caption that reads “Muchas Gracias! 21 million illegal aliens are depending on you!” The email went out to a list of undisclosed recipients.

“The content of the email...is beyond offensive to the Hispanic community,” Frank Fuentes, chairman of the U.S. Hispanic Contractors Association, said in the statement. “Messages, such as the one sent out by [the company] serves to do nothing more than propagate fear and fans the fires of ignorance and hatred toward a group that toils tirelessly, in oftentimes underappreciated crafts, for the good of themselves, their families and for ALL individuals who call America their home.”

A spokesman for Austin Capital Management released a statement saying "we sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by this email. Neither [parent company] KeyCorp nor Austin Capital Management authorized or condones the insensitive content of the email or its distribution. As all employee matters are confidential, we are unable to comment on details of this particular situation. Please be assured we take these matters very seriously, and are taking appropriate action."

Fuentes said Austin Capital Management executives have contacted him, confirmed that the email was sent from the company, apologized and requested a meeting with him.

“The email speaks for itself, and in our opinion, was incredibly racist. We felt like we had to make a statement,” Fuentes said. “Austin Capital Management’s Web site says [the company is] active in the community. They need to know the community they’re working in.”

Austin Capital Management made headlines earlier this spring when two law firms filed a class action lawsuit against the company over its role in the Bernard Madoff debacle.

Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP filed a suit in early April on behalf of investors in Austin Capital hedge funds during the period between Jan. 2, 2005 and Dec. 11, 2008. The suit seeks to recover losses resulting from Austin Capital’s placement of investors’ money into funds managed by confessed Ponzi-scheme organizer Madoff and his firm.

And in February, Philadelphia-based law firm Spector Roseman Kodroff & Willis filed a similar class action suit led by the Pension Fund for Hospital and Health Care Employees — Philadelphia and Vicinity and a group of similar funds.

Source: bizjournals.com

kvue.com

Baptist pastor beaten + tazed by Border patrol - 11 stitches

2009-04-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

I told them I was a US citizen.
I told them I was on a business trip.
I told them I had no drugs or humans in the car.

That wasn't enough. They wanted to search the car, and I invoked my 4th amendment rights.

I DID NOT RESIST OR FIGHT BACK. YET I WAS TAZERED REPEATEDLY AND SHOVED IN BROKEN GLASS REPEATEDLY!

I was IN the United States!!! I had crossed no international border!!!

This occured on the night of April 14/15, 2009

AP IMPACT: Citizens held as illegal immigrants

2009-04-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

By SUZANNE GAMBOA
Associated Press Writer

Pedro Guzman has been an American citizen all his life. Yet in 2007, the 31-year-old Los Angeles native - in jail for a misdemeanor, mentally ill and never able to read or write - signed a waiver agreeing to leave the country without a hearing and was deported to Mexico as an illegal immigrant.

For almost three months, Guzman slept in the streets, bathed in filthy rivers and ate out of trash cans while his mother scoured the city of Tijuana, its hospitals and morgues, clutching his photo in her hand. He was finally found trying to cross the border at Calexico, 100 miles away.

These days, back home in California, "He just changes from one second to another. His brain jumps back to when he was missing," said his brother, Michael Guzman. "We just talk to him and reassure him that everything is fine and nobody is going to hurt him."

In a drive to crack down on illegal immigrants, the United States has locked up or thrown out dozens, probably many more, of its own citizens over the past eight years. A monthslong AP investigation has documented 55 such cases, on the basis of interviews, lawsuits and documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. These citizens are detained for anything from a day to five years. Immigration lawyers say there are actually hundreds of such cases.

It is illegal to deport U.S. citizens or detain them for immigration violations. Yet citizens still end up in detention because the system is overwhelmed, acknowledged Victor Cerda, who left Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2005 after overseeing the system. The number of detentions overall is expected to rise by about 17 percent this year to more than 400,000, putting a severe strain on the enforcement network and legal system.

The result is the detention of citizens with the fewest resources: the mentally ill, minorities, the poor, children and those with outstanding criminal warrants, ranging from unpaid traffic tickets to failure to show up for probation hearings. Most at risk are Hispanics, who made up the majority of the cases the AP found.

"The more the system becomes confused, the more U.S. citizens will be wrongfully detained and wrongfully removed," said Bruce Einhorn, a retired immigration judge who now teaches at Pepperdine Law School. "They are the symptom of a larger problem in the detention system. ... Nothing could be more regrettable than the removal of our fellow citizens."

Jim Hayes, ICE director of detention and removal, said he is aware of only 10 cases of U.S. citizens detained over the past five years. Even if combined with the cases found by the AP, "that's not an epidemic," Hayes said. He refused to identify any cases, citing privacy laws.

He added that agents investigate any claims to U.S. citizenship, but they often turn out to be false. He said U.S. citizens sometimes claim to be foreign-born, and that immigration officials never knowingly hold someone they can "definitively" determine is a citizen.

It's impossible to know exactly how many citizens have been detained or deported because nobody keeps track. Kara Hartzler, an attorney at the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project in Arizona, testified at a U.S. House hearing last year that her group alone sees 40 to 50 jailings a month of people with potentially valid claims to citizenship.

"These cases are surprisingly, painfully common," she said.

The nonprofit Vera Institute for Justice found 322 people with citizenship claims in 13 immigration prisons in 2007, up from 129 the year before. That number does not include possible citizens in the nation's more than 300 other immigration prisons.

What is clear is that immigration detentions - including those of citizens - have soared in recent years. One reason is a heightened concern for security that arose out of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Another is a political climate that encouraged a tough stance on illegal immigration, especially after Congress failed to pass immigration reform legislation almost three years ago.

After 2003, the nation launched several programs to detain more immigrants, including one that called on local police and sheriffs for help. Before 2007, just seven state and local law enforcement agencies worked with immigration. By last November, more than 950 officers from 23 states had attended a four-week program on how to root out and jail suspected illegal immigrants.

A Government Accountability Office investigation has since found that ICE did not ensure local officials properly used their authority and failed to collect data to assess the program. As a result, ICE is rewriting agreements with 67 agencies.

The program came under fire partly because it gives local officers so much leeway to decide who to stop. Almost one in 10 Hispanic adults born in the U.S. report that police or other authorities stopped them and asked about their immigration status in 2007, according to a Pew Hispanic Center survey of more than 2,000 people.

---

It was a local sheriff's office that sent Guzman out of the country.

He was picked up near his home in Lancaster, Calif., on March 31, 2007, by Los Angeles County sheriff's department officers on a misdemeanor trespassing charge. He had tried three times to board a private plane, showing lottery tickets for passage on one attempt, officers said in a report. He had also stolen a car and told officers his mother's car was broken.

A judge gave him three years' probation and three months in jail for vandalism.

At the jail, Guzman told officers he was born in California, a response noted in official records. But a sheriff's employee still got Guzman to sign an agreement to leave the country without a hearing.

On the day he arrived in Mexico, Guzman called a relative to say he didn't know where he was, and asked a passer-by. The answer: Tijuana. Then the phone cut off.

Guzman was finally returned to California legally in August 2007.

Now he can no longer stand the sun because it reminds him of Mexico. His family will not let him talk about the ordeal because it upsets him. He has frequent counseling sessions, but he is shaky, stutters and seems to hear voices, according to his brother.

"He is our brother, somebody's son, that they deported," said Michael Guzman. "California is like the main capital of Latin Americans. It doesn't matter whether you are a citizen or not. If you look Hispanic, they can question you. Deportation can happen to anybody."

Neither the sheriff's office nor immigration officials would discuss the case, citing pending litigation. The family has sued Los Angeles County and the federal government.

"When the whole story is told, people will see and understand what has occurred," said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office.

In the meantime, Guzman's mother, Maria Carbajal, often works the graveyard shift at a Jack in the Box because she is afraid to leave him alone during the day.

---

American citizens also have been caught in the net of increased workplace arrests and jail sweeps.

Workplace arrests rose from 517 in fiscal year 2003 to 6,274 in 2008. Julie Myers, former Homeland Security assistant secretary overseeing ICE, said agents quickly sort out which workers are citizens during raids. She added that federal law, court decisions and search warrants give immigration agents the authority to enter workplaces to question everyone inside, including citizens.

But the raids have already led to several lawsuits.

In 2007, 114 U.S. citizens and permanent residents sued after a raid on Micro Solutions Enterprises, a computer printer equipment recycler in Van Nuys, Calif. They alleged illegal detention and sought $5,000 damage each.

In 2008, the union representing workers at six Swift & Co. meatpacking plants sued on behalf of eight citizens and legal residents caught up in raids.

In one case, three citizens and nine others, all Hispanic, sued after ICE agents raided their New Jersey homes as part of what was dubbed Operation Return To Sender. The lawsuit alleges that an immigration agent pulled a gun on one of the citizens, a 9-year-old boy.

A program to sweep jails and deport immigrants who have committed crimes is more popular. But critics fear the temptation is to deport anyone for anything because they are seen as bad seeds, even if they are American citizens.

---

Rennison Castillo arrived early at the Seattle immigration office on Oct. 28, 1998, to take his citizenship oath. He was dressed in a freshly starched Army uniform and was eager to grab a good seat. He sat in the second row.

Born in Belize, Castillo had lived in the U.S. since he was 7 and had served two years in the Army. But his superiors told him he could not stay in the Army without citizenship. So he took the citizenship test and passed easily, missing only one question, on the name of a locally elected official.

"I felt pretty good. I felt I definitely accomplished something, because having a citizenship to the United States was something that I felt proud of," Castillo said.

Seven years later, the U.S. government locked Castillo in a Tacoma, Wash., immigration jail. He had been picked up at the Pierce County jail, where he had spent eight months for violating a restraining order and for residential burglary.

At the holding cell, an officer asked if he wanted to go home. He thought she meant his home in Lakewood, Wash. "Yes," he answered. "I'd love to go home."

She chained him up and told him he would be deported.

Over and over, Castillo said, he told officers he was a citizen. He pleaded with them to check their computer files.

But officials said nothing in their records confirmed his citizenship or his military service. One officer actually recognized Castillo from their Army days at Fort Lewis, Wash., and mentioned their battalion, but told Castillo he couldn't help.

Then Castillo saw a number posted on the wall for the Northwest Immigration Rights Project. On the group's advice, he contacted a friend who pulled his military document from the trunk of his car.

Nearly eight months after he was transferred to ICE custody, Castillo was released. He discovered that immigration officials had two files on him, with different numbers, and has since filed a lawsuit. ICE declined to comment because the lawsuit is pending.

"I understand that nothing is perfect, nothing will be perfect, but I don't understand how they could make a grave mistake like that," he said. "Because if this happened to me, I'm quite sure it's happened to somebody else. What's going to happen to the next person it happens to?"

---

For Ricardo Martinez, born in McAllen, Texas, it was not being able to get back into his own country.

Even though he was a U.S. citizen, Martinez lived in Mexico between the ages of 5 and 17.

Like many border residents with family on the other side, he made frequent trips to Mexico. When he tried to return to the U.S. after a visit to Mexico in July 1999, he was turned away by border officers at Nogales, Ariz., because two copies of his birth certificate, issued years apart, had different hospital registration dates. Not proficient in English, Martinez said he had never noticed the error.

Told to get his documents in order, he got a U.S. passport and was able to get into the country. But the problem was not over.

In January 2006, he went back to Mexico to be with his dying grandmother. When he tried to cross back at Laredo, Texas, in March, he carried his birth certificates, his birth registration card, his passport and state ID cards from Nebraska, California and Texas, where he had worked.

But by that time border security had become far stricter. Agents looked up Martinez in their database and found the earlier problem at Nogales. They claimed his U.S. passport was fake, he said.

Martinez was taken to an inspection room, forced to remove his shoes, searched, handcuffed to a chair and held for two hours while officers questioned his documents, he said. He was told unless he confessed to fraud, he would be sent to prison for six to eight months, according to a court document filed in Martinez's lawsuit against the government.

"They told me if I didn't say I was from over there, they would put me in jail. I was frightened," Martinez said.

He said he asked to call his mother to help prove his citizenship, but was refused.

Martinez's stepfather, Florentino Mireles, said in a Feb. 27, 2008, affidavit that he called border inspectors to ask why they had taken Martinez's documents. The response, he said: An officer didn't believe Martinez was a U.S. citizen because he didn't speak English.

Afraid of jail, Martinez signed the papers. In an affidavit in his lawsuit, Martinez said he didn't understand that by signing he was admitting to not being born in the U.S.

It took his parents two years to find an affordable attorney. Finally, at a meeting in Hidalgo, attorney Lisa Brodyaga showed border officers a copy of Martinez' birth certificate from his parents that included his footprints and a thumbprint and tax records showing he had worked legally in the U.S. Officials agreed he was a U.S. citizen and allowed him to cross the border.

Lloyd Easterling, spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, declined comment because Martinez has sued. In court filings, the agency said Martinez denied being physically assaulted or subjected to excessive force and never filed a complaint against the officers.

Brodyaga said the cases of U.S. citizens detained or deported show more than bureaucratic bungling.

"I've been doing this for 30 years and I've seen bureaucratic bungling. This is more than that," she said. "This is an atmosphere of suspicion and hostility, particularly for Mexican-Americans on the border."

---

Associated Press staff writers Traci Carl and Peter Prengaman contributed to this report.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.

Source: Associated Press

Press Release: LULAC Applauds New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson For Signing HB 428, Prohibiting Racial Profiling In The State.

2009-04-12T14:19:00.000-07:00

New Mexico will join 23 other states in banning profiling practices by law enforcement officers and agencies.

April 8, 2009

For more information contact:
Lizette Jenness Olmos, (202) 365-4553 mobile

Washington, DC - The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the largest and oldest Hispanic civil rights organization, is pleased that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson signed House Bill 428 into law accompanied by LULAC leadership in Santa Fe yesterday.

“The new law makes it illegal for law enforcement officers to investigate anyone relying solely on the person's race, ethnicity, color or national origin among a list of other things," said LULAC National President Rosa Rosales. "We hope other states will follow in banning racial profiling."

"Forty five years ago the Civil Rights Act was passed yet in America the struggle for equality and justice continues to this day,” said LULAC Vice President for the Southwest Ray Mancera. "Thanks to State Rep. Nathan Cote, sponsor of the bill, and Governor Bill Richardson for signing it into law, New Mexico stands tall for passage of this bill banning bias based profiling!"

"This will send a strong message to communities like Roswell and Chaparral that racial profiling is unacceptable and has no place in the state of New Mexico," said LULAC New Mexico State Director Pablo Martinez. "The Roswell Mayor and Chief of Police have placed the Hispanic community in fear by implementing such egregious policies that not only promote and condone racial profiling, but encourage the victimization of immigrants because most of these immigrants will be discouraged to report crimes in fear of reprisal and deportation. Roswell's current practice is bad policy. With this new law in effect, in communities like Roswell and Chaparral, there will be some light at the end of the tunnel."

"This is a positive step in the right direction by prohibiting discriminatory practices against people of color. We thank Representative Nathan Cote, the New Mexico Legislature and Governor Bill Richardson for making a strong effort to end a practice that has caused poor race relations with law enforcement agencies," said LULAC National President for Youth Jessica I. Martinez."This will set a major milestone not only in the state of New Mexico but throughout the nation. It proves New Mexico is a leader when it comes to promoting positive race relations in the entire country."

The bill also allows for oversight and investigation of profiling complaints by the Attorney General's office.

The League of United Latin American Citizens advances the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, health, housing and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs operating at more than 700 LULAC councils nationwide.

Source: LULAC

Police: 14 killed in N.Y. rampage - Gunman blocks back door, opens fire at immigrant offices in Binghamton

2009-04-03T15:33:00.000-07:00

A law enforcement official checks vehicles in a parking lot behind the American Civic Association in Binghamton, N.Y., where a gunman opened fire Friday, killing 13 people and himself.

NBC News and news services
updated 50 minutes ago

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - A gunman walked into an immigrant services center and opened fire on Friday, killing 13 people before he killed himself, police said. Another four people were in critical condition.

The suspected gunman carried identification with the name of 42-year-old Jiverly Voong of nearby Johnson City, N.Y., a law enforcement official said. But the name is an alias that the man has used in the past, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly and was talking on condition of anonymity.

"It obviously was premeditated," said Binghamton Police Chief Joseph Zikuski, noting the gunman blocked the rear exit with his car. "He made sure nobody could escape."

Earlier, the number of dead had been variously put at 12 to 16 by Gov. David Paterson and law enforcement officials.

At a news conference, Zikuski said a receptionist who was the first person shot survived by pretending she was dead, and was able to call 911. Another receptionist was killed.

The gunman then moved to a room inside the American Civic Association and shot dead 12 people before killing himself, Zikuski said. A man found with ammunition around his neck was believed to be the gunman, he added.

As soon as the shooting started, 26 people hid in the boiler room and by the end of the siege 37 people were safely removed from the building, Zikuski said.

Zikuski said police were still trying to confirm the name of the gunman, but had reason to believe he was "no stranger" to the immigrant services center.

Gov. Paterson said he spoke for all of New York in offering "my prayers for the victims and families of this tragedy," which began when the gunman used his car to block the back door of the services center, walked in the front door and opened fire.

Laid off IBM employee?
Rep. Maurice Hinchey, whose district includes Binghamton, said the gunman appears to have been a man who was recently let go from IBM in Johnson City.

Mayor Matthew Ryan initially said the gunman had a high-powered rifle but law-enforcement sources later told NBC that he had actually used two handguns.

The receptionist who called 911 described the gunman as a man in his 20s between 5 feet, 8 inches, and 6 feet tall, wearing a bright green nylon jacket and dark-rimmed glasses.

Police locked down a nearby high school and advised local business owners to stay inside.

Binghamton, with a population around 45,000, is about 150 miles northwest of New York City. The American Civic Association helps immigrants in the area with naturalization applications, counseling, resettlement, citizenship, family reunification and translators.

Mary Pat Hyland, who teaches classes at the center, told MSNBC that many of the immigrants served there are from Vietnam and Laos. "We have a very diverse ethnic area," she said.

The association’s president, Angela Leach, “is very upset right now,” said Mike Chanecka, a friend who answered a call at her home as Leach wept in the background.

“She doesn’t know anything; she’s as shocked as anyone,” Chanecka said. “For some reason, she had the day off today. And she’s very worried about her secretary.”

Redeemer Lutheran Church in Binghamton planned a prayer vigil on Friday night for those affected by the shooting.

Source: MSNBC

California County Hires Hate Group Founder to do PR for Supervisor

2009-03-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

The founder of a nativist hate group who allowed neo-Nazis to join his anti-illegal immigration rallies has a new job doing public relations work for a government official in Southern California.

Joe Turner was hired Tuesday by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors to serve as a special projects coordinator. Turner’s responsibilities will include writing press releases and newspaper opinion pieces reflecting the views of Supervisor Neil Derry, county spokesman David Wert told Hatewatch. His salary will be $54,995.

Turner’s appointment has provoked an outcry from some community members, who point to his controversial statements and acceptance of open white supremacists at anti-illegal immigration rallies. “I guess David Duke wasn’t available,” quipped Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.

Turner founded and led Save Our State, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated a hate group since it first appeared in late 2004. On Turner’s watch, Save Our State regularly failed to turn away neo-Nazis and racist skinheads, some uniformed and carrying white power-themed flags, who joined its rallies on the streets of Southern California. Later, he led efforts to get the city of San Bernardino to pass an ordinance aimed at penalizing undocumented immigrants. That led to his being hired by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which is also listed as a hate group by SPLC, in late 2006. He left FAIR under unclear circumstances in December 2007.

Save Our State’s online forum also included blatantly racist posts that Turner failed to delete. Turner himself contributed controversial comments to the forum, including one that amounted to a defense of white separatism. “I can make the argument that just because one believes in white separatism, that does not make them a racist,” he wrote in 2005. “I can make the argument that someone who proclaims to be a white nationalist isn’t necessarily a white supremacist. I don’t think that standing up for your ‘kind’ or ‘your race’ makes you a bad person.”

But Turner’s unsavory history didn’t seem to dissuade the San Bernardino supervisors, who voted 4-0 to approve his employment contract. Although neither Derry nor Turner returned calls from Hatewatch, county spokesman Wert defended Turner’s selection. The former Save Our State leader has done nothing to indicate he has neo-Nazi leanings, Wert said, though he was advised to tone down his rhetoric on illegal immigration. “He’s become kind of a lightning rod for those who are supportive of illegal immigration, and we understand that. But Mr. Derry feels he will do a very good job with the duties he’s been assigned to in this position.”

Levin, the California State professor, says the debate surrounding Turner isn’t about immigration. “There are people of goodwill who hold conservative views on immigration. This is someone who has used egregious race-baiting, and that should disqualify him from any position of trust in government, especially in a county that has such a high proportion of Latinos.”

It’s not Turner’s first job with the county. He currently works as an analyst for the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, which “place[s] a high value on strong working alliances with local community groups representing the diverse populations who live in all areas of our large county,” according to its website.

It’s also not the first time Turner has been the focus of controversy. In 2006, a San Bernardino Unified School District union retracted its endorsement of Turner’s school board candidacy after members raised concerns about racism.

Nonetheless, Turner can feel confident he has the support of Save Our State activists, who yesterday wrote laudatory messages on the organization’s web forum. “Congrats Joe,” said one post. “It’s a new day, and your voice is being heard.”

Source: splcenter.org

Toughest Sheriff in America Treats Inmates Guilty Until Proven Innocent

2009-03-22T13:38:00.000-07:00

Maricopa County Jail

The Maricopa County Jail ls the worst jail facility in the Country, which was deemed condemned and unclean, where inmates are starved and neglected.

Getting Medical treatment is often impossible and when a Life Threatening Medical Emergency arises, The Detention Officers often ignore any plead for help from inmates, justifying in their own mind that the "Inmate shouldn't have come to jail." This isn't
a prison, it's a county jail, which means the inmates there are
INNOCENT people who have not yet gone to trial. In fact, only a very small percentage of the inmates there have been convicted and sentenced, which is about 20% and they are housed outside in the smoldering desert heat in tents that have no air and it reaches temperatures in the triple digits. Please be aware, that this small percentage of convicted inmates are serving time for a "MISDEMEANOR" charge, usually traffic violations, driving on a suspended license, failure to pay a fine, failure to appear in court, or trespassing, dog unleashed, littering, or jay-walking, simple misdemeanor charges, meaning petty... non-violent and non dangerous.

Nothing that the people in the community should find threatening. those types of crimes are classified as felonies and therefore have to be served in the State Prison Correctional Facility, NOT in the County Jail. Keep in mind that the county jail is for people awaiting their trial. The State Prison is for convicted felons.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio thinks it is okay to treat non-convicted, un-sentenced, detainees as if they have been found guilty. You will see no difference in the way he treats those who have been convicted of a crime and those who have not. I do not condone the abusive treatment of any inmate, convicted or not... Guilty or Not Guilty,... But I don't think it is fair, nor right that a persons rights can be violated as harshly as they are by the Maricopa County Jail systems employees, without any regard to the person whatsoever. For one thing... deprivation is on a grand scale here in the facility where inmates are denied decent healthy food, and are fed only twice a day, once at 9am and not again until 8pm at night... that is a long time to go without anything to eat, especially for the pregnant inmates and the food that is served in the morning is often spoiled.

The inmates are denied health care on a very high level... and if an inmate has a seizure or a life threatening injury, something that requires immediatemedical attention, it is most likely that the inmate will die first before they get it.

Unfortunate is the praise for the Maricopa County Jail system that the sheriff administers.

Abuse

If it's one thing the Detentions Officer's (D.O's) enjoy, is power. They are all on Power Trips, and just because they can, they will often write up an inmate and send them to the hole for 30 days just for getting up off of their bunk and going to use the restroom. If the inmate tries to challenge this, it often results in the inmate getting tasered and taken down by a mob of over zealous Detention Officer's bored on their shift and will jumpat the chance for some action. The inmate is just trying to explain their reason for being up (i.e, had diarrheal, needed a tampax,) but that is viewed as confrontational and the D.O's will even come down on them harder, and yell out "Stop Resisting!" when in-fact the inmate is doing no such thing... but the D.O's will make it appear that they are and very roughly bend their arms WAY up behind their back, and drag them around by their elbows, the pain is excruciating but they won't stop, despite the inmates pleas, all the yelling and screaming out in pain by the inmate will be made to look like resisting and fighting by the Detention Officer. Several Inmates have Died in this Jail for no good reason at all. Would you want your kid in this jail? even if they were Guilty? A Misdemeanor is not that serious and does not constitute such harsh , inhumane treatment by these over zealous power tripped wannabe sheriff deputy Detention Officers.

Detention Officers

Joe Arpaio's detention officers saw a mentally challenged 19 yr old boy as such a threat, they strapped him into a medieval restraint chair and broke his neck. Detention officers at the Madison Street Jail pulled a hood over his head and slammed him into this medieval-looking restraint chair and left him there to die. Also no other inmates, even an inmate who witnessed this brutality made an attempt to contact any of the other detention officers, MCSO said. But of course that's not an inmates job or responsibility to supervise the D.O's, it is the D.O's job and responsibility to supervise the inmates, not hand out justice as they see fit, and certainly not to kill them.

Arpaio began to serve inmates surplus food (mainly outdated and oxidized green bologna) and limited meals to twice daily. He serves the inmates surplus food like green bologna and limits meals to twice a day and thinks its okay, he tells them , "You shouldn't have come to jail." It seems to me that the current system of housing inmates does not give them the least bit chance to turn their life around, that is , IF they are guilty of anything. Arpaio has been housing inmates in tents for years...He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work for him on county and city projects. He created chain gangs, so the inmates could work on these projects at no cost to the taxpayers. Arpaio believes that inmates should be treated as harshly as legally possible to emphasize the punishment aspect of their incarceration. One of them is to draw state or city legislative districts around large prisons and pretend that the inmates are legitimate constituents. It's despicable, the praise he receives for the Maricopa County jail system and the treatment that they administer. Especially if you are counting on these inmates to police themselves by telling the guards, when they will just be beaten later for snitching. Seriously, the guy has let over 60 inmates die on his watch, not from riots or violence but from treatable health conditions. What next, a girl who was a "diabetic" but ignored for 36 hours without any food, who's blood sugar goes up sky high and she dies too! or who isn't fed but just twice a day at 12 hour intervals. Eating only twice a day will drop your insulin level down, very low and you can die.

In the past the jail had to send away inmates due to overcrowding, but Joe came up with a solution, just pile them up outside in the tents. The County Jail wouldn't BE so crowded if law enforcement weren't so petty and arresting people for the smallest and pettiest of things, like walking your dog without a leash, YES , you cango to jail for that. And not just a couple of days, try a couple of months! Detention Officers at the Madison Street Jail and Guards at the Estrella Jail do not hesitate to abuse inmates physically or verbally. They even enjoy doing it. Why? because there are no repercussions for doing so... they can even get away with murder.

Inmates are constantly being deprived of humane treatment, food, necessities, but also "The failure to transport inmates to their court dates." this dramatically affects the timely resolution of criminal cases and deprives victims of their rights to a speedy trial, making them sit in jail longer, to further endure more massively abusive and neglectful treatment. It's a win-win situation: his toadies get their power and money while executing the most horrific of horrific treatment, while Arpaio gets the exposure that he so craves, the media photo ops and news coverage, where he likes to act tough and show off his bully tactics. He forces inmates to live in deplorable, inhumane conditions and brags about it on TV. But, his denial of even the most basic medical care to inmate at his jail is really inhumane. People are dying here people... Even innocent ones, Wake Up. Many inmates, including those claiming innocence, have actually signed plea bargains just to be transferred to the prison system where at least the treatment and conditions were tolerable, and where they can at least be fed and not be hungry all the time. Eating only twice a day will drop your insulin level down, very low and you can die. He's had more prisoners, men and women and even pregnant women, die on his watch. But, for now I want to speak for the family members and friends of inmates in this jail, convicted or not.

Most people are also not aware that the majority of jail inmates have never been convicted of anything. You can label the inmates at tent city as criminals but most of the people there are not hardened criminals. It shouldn't matter whether the inmate is guilty or not, the fact of the matter is no one should be denied medical attention and food- any human beings basic needs. They are, after all, responsible for all inmates' well being and health care and some that die there in that jail deserve life. He also doesn't allow the inmates to have salt, pepper, sugar or any other condiments. Total and Complete deprivation on a large if not grand scale.

Also, most people are not aware that the vast majority of inmates incarcerated today are mental ill. They need a hospital not a jail cell.

There is more to being Sheriff than serving county inmates green baloney on stale bread, expired milk and housing them in 115 degree weather, or if your lucky enough to be housed indoors you get to share the space with rats and roaches. I have seen where an inmate was suspected of having contraband, the inmate was placed into what is called a dry cell, one without a toilet. and without water.

Some are left there and simply forgotten about. And they become gravely ill. The Detention Officers where notified that an inmate was ill, but they did not respond to the other inmates request for immediate help. As the jail refuses to treat insect bites, other inmates sometimes help inmates squeeze out pus and salt the wounds.

Eat the same slop, sleep in the heat on a metal cot, take showers with all of the other inmates and do manual labor. The permanent states of hunger cause inmates to forage in trashcans and to inflict harm on each other over insignificant amounts of food. We're not saying that drunk drivers shouldn't go to jail, we're arguing over the horrible treatment of inmates. Sheriff Joe continually puts unsentenced inmates in jails deemed condemned by the state health board. I'd rather a few stupid college kids get in accidents than put thousands of essentially innocent people through a process like this.

The mob mentality of the Salem Witch Trials and the fun in public displays of vindictiveness are embodied in Arpio's constant self promotion. If Sheriff Joe's policy with inmates deters anyone who is not in jail from going to jail, then it is worth the effort. Bush appointee, ruled that the MCSO detention system violated legal standards of inmate treatment. Also, I think that those who died from abuse, deserve more respect than that, but I guess at least they are being buried.

TRUTH: Jails and prisons here in Arizona and all over the county feed surplus food that is spoiled rotten to inmates and have done so for many years. When the inmates complain, he tells them, "This isn't the Ritz/Carlton, You shouldn't have come to jail". The Sheriff said it wasn't his problem if the inmates refused to eat it. This one does Joe Arpaio one better, by not only serving bad food, but requiring inmates to pay for it or starve. He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.

Inmates sit in processing tanks for hours unattended by the guards, where they can get beat up on by other inmates and not even get any help from the staff. From time-to-time the inmates may attempt to get an officer's attention by banging on the door or writing help on the fogged up glass. Whether or not the officer responds or even acknowledges them, is a different story.

If you think like Joe Arpaio and say, "Well, they shouldn't have gone to jail"... and you don't think you or someone you love and care about can ever get caught up in Maricopa County's black hole of injustice, think again. Like I warned, you can be taken to jail for simply not having your dog on a leash. And you will be treated with such severe cruelty, you will wish that no one you know or love will ever end up in that place.

As the saying commonly goes,

"Arizona... Come Here On Vacation, Leave On Probation."

Sources:

http://judiciary.house.gov/news/090212.html

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/rights/126986/finally%2C_the_law_goes_after_joe_arpaio_--_the_most_abusive_sheriff_in_america/

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2008-10-23/news/are-joe-arpaio-and-his-mcso-s-fiscally-wasteful-and-inhumane-antics-finally-catching-up-with-him/

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/125767

http://www.november.org/stayinfo/breaking08/Arpaio_Jail_Staff_Abuse.html

http://www.november.org/stayinfo/breaking08/Judge_Rules_Against_Arpaio.html

http://www.november.org/stayinfo/breaking3/SheriffJoeBBC.html

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I am an advocate for human decency and fair treatment no matter who you are. No Human being should ever have to endure such deplorable and harsh treatment by anyone and especially not while in custody of law officials. Sheriff Joe Arpaio hang your head in shame you ought to be brought into your own jail and prosecuted for your crimes against humanity.

Source: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1518885/joe_arpaios_maricopa_county_jail_treats.html?singlepage=true&cat=17

VIDEO: Conyers and Crew on Apraio investigation

2009-03-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

Lawsuit Charging Sheriff Arpaio Illegally Targeted Latinos In Maricopa County Can Go Forward

2009-03-15T08:47:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

PHOENIX – A federal court ruled that a class action lawsuit charging that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio illegally profiled Latinos can proceed.

In July 2008, five individuals and Somos America, a Latino community-based coalition, sued Arpaio, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) and Maricopa County, claiming that they or their members were unlawfully stopped and mistreated by law enforcement agents because they were Latino. The county asked the U.S. District Court in Arizona to dismiss the lawsuit in October, but today's ruling clears the way for the lawsuit to go forward.

The court recognized that Latino appearance is of "little or no use" in determining which individuals should be stopped by law enforcement seeking "illegal aliens," and that reasonable suspicion of a traffic violation does not justify questioning of drivers or passengers about immigration status.

"At stake in this case is a matter of acute public importance. Law enforcement practices that target a group based solely on the color of their skin have no place in America," said Peter Kozinets, an attorney at Steptoe & Johnson LLP in Phoenix who argued the case. "This is a critical step in protecting the rights of all people in this country."

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Arizona, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and lead counsel Steptoe & Johnson LLP are representing the five individuals and Somos America and charge that the policies and practices of Arpaio and the county are discriminatory and unlawfully violate the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Arizona Constitution. The amended lawsuit builds upon an earlier complaint filed in December 2007.

"We're encouraged that the sheriff's office's practice of targeting people simply because of the color of their skin can now be fully examined in a court of law," said ACLU of Arizona Legal Director Dan Pochoda, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs. "Sheriff Arpaio's discriminatory policies have no place in a free country. We do not want to live in a place where you can be stopped for no reason and asked for 'your papers please.'"

Arpaio has launched a series of so-called "crime suppression sweeps" in Maricopa County in Latino neighborhoods and in areas where Latinos work as day laborers. Maricopa County residents and local officials alike have complained that the conduct of the sheriff and his office go well beyond the scope of the MCSO's legal authority and often results in the harassment of Latinos.

"We are very pleased that this important case will be heard," said MALDEF staff attorney Kristina Campbell. "In America we value fairness and equality, but Sheriff Arpaio's sweeps have resulted in the harassment of Latinos and violated their civil rights. There's nothing fair about that."

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon has denounced Sheriff Arpaio and last April, after the MCSO engaged in sweeps in the town of Guadalupe, Gordon formally requested that former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey launch a Justice Department investigation into Sheriff Arpaio's and the MCSO's "discriminatory harassment, improper stops, searches and arrests" of Latino persons in Maricopa County. Gordon has also publicly stated that the sweeps are interfering with the work of undercover city police officers and federal agents.

Lawyers on the case, Ortega Melendres, et al. v. Arpaio, et al., include Mónica Ramírez of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project; Pochoda of the ACLU of Arizona; Campbell and Nancy Ramirez of MALDEF; and Kozinets, David Bodney, Karen Hartman-Tellez and Isaac Hernandez of Steptoe & Johnson LLP.

Today's ruling is online at: http://www.aclu.org/immigrants/gen/38709lgl20090210.html

The complaint is online at: http://www.aclu.org/immigrants/gen/35998lgl20080716.html

The letter from Mayor Gordon to Attorney General Mukasey is online at: http://www.aclu.org/immigrants/gen/35981res20080404.html

More information about the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project is online at: http://www.aclu.org/immigrants/index.html

More information about Steptoe & Johnson LLP is online at: http://www.steptoe.com

Source: aclu.org

Sheriff Joe Arpaio under federal investigation

2009-03-15T08:15:00.001-07:00

HIGH-PROFILE ARIZONA SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT TARGET OF FEDERAL PROBE

PHOENIX — Federal authorities have told a high-profile Arizona sheriff that they will investigate his department over allegations of discriminatory practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures.

The U.S. Justice Department said in a letter delivered Tuesday to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio that the investigation will focus on alleged patterns of discrimination based on a person's national origin.

Arpaio told The Associated Press that he will cooperate with the Justice Department.
Arpaio, who describes himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff" and is best known for feeding jail inmates green bologna sandwiches, clothing them in pink underwear, and making them work on chain gangs, received praise for his anti-immigration efforts from many who believe the federal government isn't doing enough to remove people in the U.S. illegally.

But his raids and sweeps of illegal immigrants in Phoenix and nearby Guadalupe have drawn protests from community leaders and civil liberties advocates. Arpaio, a Republican, has also been criticized for letting thousands of felony warrants go unserved while he chased illegal immigrants.

According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, there are about 59,000 outstanding, unserved felony warrants in the state. The majority are in Maricopa County, the state's most populated county.

Source: foxnews.com

Minutemen Leader Threatens Judge Over Lethal Force Decision

2009-03-15T08:13:00.001-07:00

San Diego Minutemen leader Jeff Schwilk has long taken pleasure in harassing immigrants.

So perhaps it’s no surprise that he wrote a vicious E-mail to supporters threatening a federal judge who ruled in favor of an undocumented immigrant killed by a Border Patrol agent.

“This judge should be immediately dragged out, arrested and sent to Gitmo for crimes against our country!” Schwilk wrote in the E-mail titled “Death Penalty for Rock Throwers.” “Or better yet, tie him to a post near the border fence in Douglas [Ariz.] and attach 10 burritos to him as bait for these innocent little Mexican rock throwers! Put a sign next to him that says, ‘I work for the U.S. Border Patrol.’ He wouldn’t last 10 minutes. B@st@rd!”

Along with his comments, Schwilk forwarded an Associated Press article about the ruling in a civil lawsuit brought by the victim’s family, who was awarded $350,000. According to the AP story, U.S. District Judge Raner Collins decided that the Border Patrol agent used excessive force when he fatally shot an undocumented immigrant, 22-year-old Ricardo Olivares Martinez. The shooting occurred after an agent encountered a group of undocumented immigrants near the Arizona-Mexico border in 2003. Among them was Martinez, who tossed rocks at Agent Cesar Cervantes even after he was ordered to stop. Cervantes said he responded with deadly force because his life was in danger. The judge disagreed, saying the agent “was not in imminent danger from the deceased.”

Schwilk took exception to that finding. “If an illegal alien ever throws a rock (deadly weapon) at me, he’s a dead man! Only lethal force will be used in deadly situations. This is absolutely outrageous!”

Read more here: splcenter.org

Racists at KFI AM 640 Tax Revolt - in HD

2009-03-15T08:02:00.000-07:00

Sheriff Arpaio's Deputies Break Woman's Arm

2009-03-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a woman suspected of being undocumented Thursday night after it was determined that her arm had been broken while she was in MCSO custody.

Maria del Carmen Garcia Martinez was released on her own recognizance, her left arm slung in a cast after she received treatment at St. Joseph's. She had been turned over to ICE earlier in the day by the MCSO. ICE took her to St. Joseph's for medical attention, photographed her injuries and released her with a pending court date around 8 p.m. from its offices on Central Ave.

You may view the latest post at
http://jornaleronews.ndlon.org/?p=278

Minuteman extremist: Mexico was behind 9/11 attacks

2009-02-22T07:33:00.000-08:00

Minuteman attacked by members of the Brown Beret

2009-02-16T15:45:00.000-08:00

House Judiciary Committee Presses Eric Holder, Janet Napolitano to Investigate Sheriff Joe Arpaio

2009-02-15T15:01:00.000-08:00

By Stephen Lemons
Friday, Feb. 13 2009 @ 12:08PM

Dennis Gilman/Adolfo Maldonado
Has Joe finally run into someone he can't flip off?

In what may be a watershed moment in the battle to end Sheriff Joe Arpaio's anti-Hispanic pogroms and his abuse of his federal 287(g) authority, the leadership of the House Judiciary Committee is pressing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security czar Janet Napolitano to investigate Sheriff Joe and to make sure his use of his 287(g) power to enforce immigration law, "is not used to justify the racial profiling of any resident of Arizona."

Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.), along with other members of the House committee that has jurisdiction over both Holder and Napolitano's departments, made the request in a strongly worded letter dated February 12. The letter is highly critical of Arpaio's media stunts, such as the "200 Mexican March," which took place last week, wherein Arpaio brought back the bugbear of racial and ethnic segregation after several decades of it being declared unconstitutional.

The letter also cites Arpaio's sweeps of Latino communities, as well as the recent MALDEF/ACLU lawsuit brought against the MCSO for racial profiling, and notes that "Arpaio's actions have triggered numerous civil rights lawsuits." Yet, the committee states that our corrupt top cop's "repeated course of conduct, which values publicity opportunities over the civil rights of the residents of Arizona, is too disturbing to leave enforcement of the civil rights laws to private litigants."

The correspondence references several federal laws that Arpaio may have run afoul of, such as Section 242 of Title 18 of the U.S.Code, which "prohibits anyone from acting under the color of law to willfully deprive a person of a right or privilege protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States."

As for the 287(g) agreement, under which Arpaio has 160 federally trained thugs ready to do his bidding, the committee indicates that if Napolitano cannot get Arpaio to comply with the dictates of that agreement, then, "We urge that such agreement be terminated..."

The press release issued today announcing the letter is even more forceful in its condemnation of Arpaio's actions.

"Racial profiling and segregation are simply not acceptable." Chairman Conyers is quoted as stating concerning Joe. "Media stunts and braggadocio are no substitute for fair and effective law enforcement."

Immigration Subcommittee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-California) declared that, "The basic premise of our justice system is that people are innocent until proven otherwise...I'm concerned that in Maricopa County that basic premise appears to have been turned upside down and that Latino members of community are considered `undocumented' until proven otherwise. That's not how our Constitution works and it's time for the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to take a closer look."

Constitution Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) didn't hold back either:

"We cannot tolerate vigilantes using the police power to violate the fundamental rights of anyone they can get their hands on. Sheriff Arpaio has consistently abused his office in violation of federal law. It is time for the federal government to step in and uphold the rule of law in this country, even in Maricopa County."

Finally, those in Congress with oversight over the DOJ and DHS have heard the cries of the oppressed in Joe Arpaio's Maricopa County. Now is the time to keep the pressure on to ensure that swift action follows. If Holder and Napolitano do not respond with the appropriate speed and force, then Congress should hold hearings and subpoena Arpaio to testify. It's long since past time for him to be held accountable for his reign of terror and error. There's no elected official in this state with the gonads to challenge him. So only the federal government can finally make him comply with the law or face the consequences

Source: phoenixnewtimes.com

Columnist Ann Coulter Defends White Supremacist Group

2009-02-14T08:04:00.001-08:00

Posted in Extremist Propaganda by Mark Potok on February 13, 2009

Rabid far-right commentator Ann Coulter is known across America for sliming everyone and everything she disagrees with. Al Gore is a “total fag” and another one-time presidential candidate, John Edwards, is the same. Democrats are “gutless traitors” and their convention a “Spawn of Satan” gathering. Muslims are “ragheads” and America should “kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.” Jews are people who need to be “perfected.” The New York Times building and its editorial staff should be bombed. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens should have “rat poisoning” mixed into his food. Princess Diana “ostentatiously [had] sex in front of [her] children.” The Rev. Al Sharpton is “a fat, race-baiting black man.” President Bill Clinton was “a very good rapist,” and North Korea should be “nuked.”

But despite denouncing school desegregation as a “spectacular” failure, Coulter has generally avoided bolstering white supremacist hate groups. Until now, that is.

In her latest foaming-mouth tome — Guilty: Liberal “Victims” and Their Assault on America, released on Jan. 6 — Coulter spends the better part of three pages defending a group called the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), which The New York Times had described as a “thinly veiled white supremacist organization.” Coulter begs to differ. The CCC, Coulter opines, is “a conservative group” that has unfairly been branded as racist “because some of the directors of the CCC had, decades earlier, been leaders of a segregationist group.” “There is no evidence on its Web page that the modern incarnation of the CCC supports segregation,” she says. “Apart from some aggressive reporting on black-on-white crimes — the very crimes that are aggressively hidden by the establishment media — there is little on the CCC website suggesting” that the group is racist. Indeed, its main failing is “containing members who had belonged to a segregationist group thirty years earlier.”

Coulter could hardly be more wrong. And even if she can’t find time to read beyond a page of the CCC’s website, she really ought to know — after all, the organization where she frequently speaks, the Conservative Political Action Committee, has publicly banned the CCC from its annual gathering because it is racist. Also in the late 1990s, Jim Nicholson, then-chairman of the Republican National Committee, asked GOP members to stay away from the CCC because of its “racist and nationalist views.”

How could conservative Republicans be inspired to say such ugly things? Let us count the ways.

The CCC’s columnists have written that black people are “a retrograde species of humanity,” and that non-white immigration is turning the U.S. population into a “slimy brown mass of glop.” Its website has run photographic comparisons of pop singer Michael Jackson and a chimpanzee. It opposes “forced integration” and decries racial intermarriage. It has lambasted black people as “genetically inferior,” complained about “Jewish power brokers,” called gay people “perverted sodomites,” and even named the late Lester Maddox, the baseball bat-wielding, arch-segregationist former governor of Georgia, “Patriot of the Century.”

One day, the CCC ran photos on its home page of accused Beltway snipers John Muhammad and John Malvo, 9/11 conspirator Zacharias Moussaoui and accused shoe-bomber Richard Reed. “Notice a Pattern Here?” asked a caption underneath the four photos. “Is the face of death black after all?” On another occasion, its website featured a photo of Daniel Pearl, the “Jewish Wall Street Journal reporter” who had just been decapitated by Islamic terrorists. In the photo, Pearl was shown with his “mixed-race wife, Marianne.” The headline above the couple’s picture was stunning even for the CCC: “Death by Multiculturalism?” The CCC Arkansas chapter ran an essay waxing nostalgic for the days “when racial separation was the norm.”

But to Ann Coulter, there is “no evidence” on its website that the CCC “supports segregation.” Mostly, she says, the group — which was formed from the debris of the White Citizens Councils that Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall once called “the uptown Klan” — is about “a strong national defense, the right to keep and bear arms, the traditional family, and an ‘America First’ trade policy.” Indeed, she says, The New York Times and other critics of the CCC are simply liberals “who have no principles.”

Source: splcenter.org

Court: Lawsuit accusing Arpaio of racial profiling will proceed

2009-02-12T15:21:00.000-08:00

A class action lawsuit accusing Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio of racial profiling will proceed, a federal court ruled Wednesday.

In July 2008, five individuals and Somos America, a Latino coalition, sued Arpaio, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and Maricopa County, claiming that they or their members were unlawfully stopped and mistreated by law enforcement agents because they are Latino.

Officials from the county asked the U.S. District Court in Arizona to dismiss the lawsuit in October, but the new ruling clears the way for the lawsuit to go forward.

According to a news release, the court recognized that Latino appearance is of "little or no use" in determining which individuals should be stopped by law enforcement seeking undocumented immigrants, and that reasonable suspicion of a traffic violation does not justify questioning of drivers or passengers about immigration status.

Copyright 2009 The E.W. Scripps Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Source: abc15.com

Mexico paper launches voodoo promo against US team

2009-02-10T18:16:00.000-08:00

By PETER ORSI – 4 days ago

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican newspaper began encouraging soccer fans to cast a voodoo hex on the United States ahead of Wednesday's World Cup qualifier in Columbus, Ohio.

Readers of the Record could trade in coupons for voodoo-doll likenesses of U.S. players at Blockbuster video stores in Mexico City on Friday. Fans were instructed to use the doll to wish for a Mexico goal.

"Hold a needle firmly between your thumb and index finger and prick slowly the part of the doll where you want to affect the opponent," the instructions say. The back of the doll's jersey read, "Gringos."

Record calls the dolls Mexico's "secret weapon."

U.S.-based electronics retailer RadioShack dropped out as a distribution partner last week after learning details of the campaign. But Record managed to find U.S.-based Blockbuster as a new co-sponsor.

Record spokesman Daniel Paz said the promotion was a lighthearted attempt at helping Mexico, which hasn't beaten the Americans on U.S. soil since 1999.

"In soccer, training and practice are what determine the results. The best team will win," Paz said. "But without any doubt this little doll can help the good vibes of the Mexican fans to change the history of Mexico and turn things around."

In a Blockbuster to pick up one of the dolls, Mauricio Munoz didn't believe it will have any benefit for Mexico.

"But," he said, "it's a good way to have fun."

Source: google.com

Anti-Immigrant Militants Confronted

2009-02-08T06:50:00.000-08:00

By Humanleague002

This video shows two Americas, one of love and one of hate. Please watch and decide which one you want to be a part of.

The Macehualli Center celebrated its 6th anniversary on 01/31/09 with a peaceful celebration, friendship and multi cultural sharing with Native American Dancers and indigenous ceremony including all people-regardless of nationality. But outside the center was a world of hatred
and prejudice.

These racist militants have been terrorizing The Day Labor Center daily for over a year. They insult and threaten mothers, children and anyone with brown skin they deem as being "Illegal" (whenever they think nobody is watching with a camera).

They harass anyone that may attempt to hire a day laborer. They incite violence, carry guns and have no respect for humanity. What makes this most tragic is they have the support and encouragement of Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Demand an investigation from the Department of Justice!

http://americasvoiceonline.org/page/content/sheriff

Governor Napolitano, Arpaio, 287g and ICE.

2009-02-08T06:41:00.000-08:00

Four Accused Of Hate Crime In Beating

2009-02-07T07:44:00.000-08:00

By BILL LEUKHARDT | The Hartford Courant
February 3, 2009

BERLIN - Four men accused of luring a man into a home Nov. 8 on the pretense of having a party, only to beat him severely and steal $180, face assault, robbery, hate crime and other charges, police said Monday.

"He fought for his life to get away. His words," Lt. James Gosselin said of the victim's escape from his attackers. "He was bloody. As he was escaping in his car, the attackers threw pieces of flagstone at his car windows to stop him."

The victim, 28, is black. The four suspects are white. The hate-crime charges stem from racial slurs allegedly screamed during the attack, Gosselin said. The victim, whose name is being withheld by police, knew at least one of his attackers because they had been co-workers, police said.

Kyle McBriarty, 22, and Paul Russo Jr., 21, both of Berlin, and Adam Howick, 21, of New Britain, were charged on Friday with second-degree robbery, third-degree assault, first-degree criminal mischief, unlawful restraint, second-degree intimidation based on bigotry and bias, disorderly conduct, sixth-degree larceny, falsely reporting an incident, second-degree false statement and conspiracy counts for each of these charges.

A fourth suspect, Colin McBriarty, 19, of Berlin, is in jail pending trial on a separate domestic violence case and will be served with a warrant when he goes to court Feb. 18, charging him with taking part in the November robbery-beating, police said.

Howick is reputed to be a member of Aryan Nations, a white supremacist group, police said.

Kyle McBriarty and Howick were unable to post bail and remain locked up, pending trial. Russo is free after posting $250,000 bail. All three are due back in Superior Court in New Britain on Monday.

Gosselin said the investigation was complicated. The victim fled to New Britain after the attack and called police there to tell of the beating. Meanwhile, the men who were eventually charged called Berlin police to report they had been victims of a home invasion by two Hispanic males. The caller said the two invaders fought inside the home, then fled, Gosselin said.

He said police eventually determined that the home invasion complaint was a lie "to cover what happened."

Source: courant.com

Racists Threaten To Abandon GOP Over Election Of First African-American Party Chairman

2009-02-06T17:16:00.000-08:00

It’s not easy being a white supremacist these days.

Already reeling from Obama’s win in November, believers in white superiority were dealt another blow last week when former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele became the first African-American to head the Republican Party.

Extremists view Steele’s election to the helm of the Republican National Committee as a betrayal by the party that many considered, in their words, “the lesser of two evils.” On blogs and online forums, they excoriated the Republican Party for supposedly pandering to minorities while abandoning what they see as its white base.

No one professed more outrage than David Duke, the ex-Klan boss and former Louisiana state legislator. “GOP traitors appoint Obama Junior as Chairman of the Republican Party,” proclaimed the sub-headline on his website.

Yet ever the optimist, Duke saw a silver lining in Steele’s election, just as he had in Obama’s win. “I am glad these traitorous leaders of the Republican Party appointed this Black racist, affirmative action advocate to the head of the Republican Party because this will lead to a huge revolt among the Republican base,” he wrote. “As a former Republican official, I can tell you that millions of rank-and-file Republicans are mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore! We will either take the Republican Party back over the next four years or we will say, ‘To Hell with the Republican Party!’ And we will take 90 percent of Republicans with us into a New Party that will take its current place!”

Despite such rhetoric, white supremacists seem to be doing more whining than strategic planning. The Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), a white nationalist organization descended from the pro-segregationist White Citizens’ Councils, complained that Steele supports affirmative action, gun control and “more Federal handouts.”

Under the heading “GOP continues shooting bullets into it’s [sic] own corpse,” the CCC wrote: “Meet the new improved GOP. Steele’s supporters actually believe that having a black chairman will cause the media to be nice to them and blacks to leave the Democratic party [sic].”

Vdare.com, an anti-immigration hate website, called the election of Steele a “disaster” and weighed in with a blog post titled “RNC to White Men: — Off” that referred to Steele as a “professional Black” and called white Christians “the new Slave class.”

“Apparently Chairmanship of the Republican National Committee has become another of those positions, like being head of an Ivy League School or Governor of the Federal Reserve, to which white men of Christian heritage Need Not Apply,” fumed the writer of the post, Patrick Cleburne.

James Edwards, host of the white nationalist radio show The Political Cesspool, blogged that the Republicans were trying to “outpander” the Democrats — a strategy he said would fail as more white conservatives stopped going to the polls. “Now they’ve got a black man heading up their party, just like the Democrats do, and the GOP couldn’t be happier. It simply wouldn’t do to have a white chairman. Not with a black man in the White House heading up the Democrats.”

And the League of the South, a neo-confederate hate group, blasted Steele for reaching out to moderates in a blog post titled “New GOP chair to Southerners and conservatives: drop dead.” It concluded: “Remind me again why I should vote Republican?”

Source: splcenter.org

New SPLC Report: Three Leading Anti-Immigration Groups Share Extremist Roots

2009-02-06T17:06:00.000-08:00

Three Washington, D.C., organizations most responsible for blocking comprehensive immigration reform in 2007 are part of a network of groups created by a man who has been at the heart of the white nationalist movement for decades, according to a report issued today by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The Nativist Lobby: Three Faces of Intolerance describes how the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) and NumbersUSA were founded and funded by John Tanton, a retired Michigan ophthalmologist who operates a racist publishing company and has written that to maintain American culture, "a European-American majority" is required.

"These groups have infiltrated the mainstream by presenting themselves as legitimate commentators, when, in reality, they were all conceived by a man who is convinced that non-white immigrants threaten America," said Mark Potok, director of the SPLC's Intelligence Project. "They have never strayed far from their roots."

The report examines how Tanton, who still sits on FAIR's board of directors, founded the racist Social Contract Press and has corresponded with Holocaust deniers, white nationalist intellectuals and Klan lawyers for decades — correspondence documented by his own writings stored at a University of Michigan library.

It also shows that FAIR has been aware of his views and activities for years.

FAIR, whose members have testified frequently before Congress, has hired as key officials men who also joined white supremacist groups. It has promoted racist conspiracy theories. And it has even accepted more than $1 million from the Pioneer Fund, a racist foundation devoted to proving a connection between race and intelligence, the report found.

FAIR has been designated as a hate group by the SPLC.

The report also examines how the Center for Immigration Studies — which bills itself as a scholarly think tank — began its life as a FAIR program and continues to produce dubious studies furthering FAIR's anti-immigration agenda. It's a vision described by Tanton in a 1985 letter in which he wrote that CIS would produce reports "for later passage to FAIR, the activist organization, to remedy."

Similarly, NumbersUSA, a group that has achieved dramatic policy successes, began its life as a Tanton foundation program, the report found. NumbersUSA Executive Director Roy Beck has even been described by Tanton as his "heir apparent." He also edited The Immigration Invasion, a book by Tanton and a colleague that was so raw in its immigrant bashing that Canadian border authorities have banned it as hate literature.

Source: splcenter.org

BART officer, Mehserle Could be Out on Bail by End of Day

2009-01-31T07:42:00.000-08:00

Mehserle Has Not Posted Bail, Still in Jail

Mehserle must pay 10% of $3 million bail amount

NBC Bay Area has learned that Johannes Mehserle has not yet been released from jail and must pay 10 percent of the $3 million bail amount in order to be released.

Protestors took to the streets in frustration the decision. Dozens of armed police and protesters clashed.

The incident has outraged residents and led to protests. Another rally took place on Friday. People began showing up at the courthouse by mid-morning Friday. By early afternoon, dozens of protesters had gathered. They marched in the afternoon hours throughout downtown Oakland, shutting down the intersection at 14th and Broadway. The protesters were peaceful.

Pictures: BART Protestors Tell Their Own Story

Aerial video showed police using canisters of tear gas at one point during one demonstration. At least 80 officers wearing riot gear were on the scene.

BART officials closed one of the stations due to one of the civil disturbances. The BART station at 12th Street near the Oakland City Center was eventually reopened.

Click here to see Mehserle's motion for bail (PDF)

The transit officer who shot and killed an unarmed man may have also mistakenly pulled his service pistol instead of a stun gun, according to documents filed by his lawyer Friday that offer the first glimpse at his defense.

Attorney Michael Rains made the argument Friday in urging a judge to grant bail to 27-year-old Mehserle. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson heard the motion in an afternoon hearing.

"He fired the taser, or so he thought," said Rains. "the taser he had been trained on three weeks earlier for six hours. That was the taser he fired."

Mehserle has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder in the death of 22-year-old Oscar Grant, who was killed early New Year's Day. Cell phone videos of the incident, widely viewed on the Internet, show the officer standing over Grant as he was lying facedown on a train platform and firing one shot into the man's back.

Grant died of the gunshot wound to his torso.

"(Mehserle) chose to use lethal force when it clearly was not called for," said Jacobson.

But in a court filing Friday, Rains said witness accounts indicate that Mehserle meant to draw his Taser, but instead pulled his pistol. The lawyer blamed inexperience by the young officer, who passed his Taser user certification test on Dec. 3.

"The bulk of the discovery, including witness and officer statements, seem to indicate that this young officer, who carried a taser for only a few shifts prior to this event, may have mistakenly deployed his service pistol rather than his taser, thus negating any criminal intent," Rains wrote.

The court documents contain statements from and reports by several officers who were on the platform with Mehserle at the time of the shooting. The officers -- who had just pulled several men, including Grant, from a Bay Area Rapid Transit train after reports of fighting -- described the scene as chaotic and confusing.

According to a statement from Officer Tony Pirone, Mehserle told Grant to stop resisting and put his hands behind his back. Then, according to Pirone's statement, Mehserle said: "I'm going to tase him, I'm going to tase him. I can't get his arms. He won't give me his arms. His hands are going for his waistband."

Mehserle then told Pirone to move, before firing the shot.

Pirone said he didn't know if Grant was armed, but said Mehserle told him he had believed Grant may have been armed.

"Tony, I thought he was going for a gun," Mehserle said, according to Pirone's statement.

Tensions High in and out of Courtroom

Tensions were described as "high" in the courtroom and outside on Friday.

Family members of the man who died, Oscar Grant III, say they will be outraged if Mehserle is released. Here is a portion of the statement that the family released:

"We have received may letters, cards, flowers and contributions to Oscar Grant's daughter, Tatiana Grant. There were many letters from a wonderful range of supporters who have asked, "Where and how to donate to Tatiana's Trust Fund?". Again we say thank you for all the support and contributions. We believe Oscar Grant did not die in vain. This is the beginning of a new day in our communities."

The family asked that information regarding the trust fund be made public. Here it is:

Tatiana Grant Trust Fund
Acct # 3879027641
Wells Fargo Bank, 950 Southland Dr. Hayward 94545

Security had been heightened around the courthouse. Officials restricted access to the hearing to a handful of media and a few of Grant and Mehserle's family and friends. Only seven reporters were granted access to the courtroom.

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums released the following statement about the decision to grant bail to Mehserle:

"This afternoon, Johannes Mehserle posted bail and was released from jail. Under the United States judicial system, bail is almost always granted unless a defendant is viewed to be a flight risk. The judicial system is a separate branch of government from the City of Oakland, and one over which I, as the Mayor, have no control. The important thing to remember is that the wheels of justice are now in motion. Johannes Meslerle was charged with murder. He will receive due process under the law, and this process will run its course. In the meantime, I am calling for peace in our streets. We must treat each other and our city with respect and dignity while the outcome of this case is determined by judge and jury. We are one community, and we must come together to call for justice and act in a nonviolent and respectful manner so our voices may be heard."

On Thursday, BART officials announced the agency is turning over its internal affairs investigation of officers involved in the New Year's Day fatal shooting of Oscar Grant III to an independent third party.

"It's imperative that we determine whether the actions of those officers on the platform violated the policies and practices of the BART Police Department," BART board member Carole Ward Allen, who chairs the new BART police review committee, said in a statement.

Ward Allen said the board hoped "an independent, outside investigation" would reassure the public "that we are transparent and accountable."

The internal affairs investigation is separate from the criminal investigation being conducted by the Alameda County District Attorney's Office on the former BART officer.

In addition to the third-party internal affairs investigation, BART officials said today they were also turning over a "top-to-bottom" review of BART police policies and procedures to third-party experts in the law enforcement field.

BART has not yet determined which groups will conduct those investigations, officials said.

Source: nbcbayarea.com

Sen. McConnell: GOP risks becoming a regional minority party

2009-01-30T16:35:00.000-08:00

Sen. McConnell: GOP risks becoming a regional minority party

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a blunt warning to Republicans Thursday: Their party must regain lost supporters plus blacks, Hispanics and voters on both coasts — or risk becoming a permanent minority party with a limited power base.

“We’re all concerned about the fact that the very wealthy and the very poor, the most and least educated, and a majority of minority voters, seem to have more or less stopped paying attention to us,” McConnell said in a speech at the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting. “And we should be concerned that, as a result of all this, the Republican Party seems to be slipping into a position of being more of a regional party than a national one.”

In stark terms, the Kentucky Republican added: “In politics, there’s a name for a regional party: It’s called a minority party. ... As Republicans, we know that common-sense conservative principles aren’t regional. But I think we have to admit that our sales job has been.

“And in my view, that needs to change,” he said.

McConnell said that, when he was first elected in 1984, there were GOP governors on both coasts, nearly every state had a Republican senator and Ronald Reagan won 49 of 50 states.

“A lot has changed since then,” he said, pointing to “worrisome signs,” including that every member of the House from New England is a Democrat, and that “you can walk from Canada to Mexico and from Maine to Arizona without ever leaving a state with a Democratic governor.”

As he did in a speech at the National Press Club last week, McConnell placed part of the blame on President Bush. In that speech, he outlined his path to a “post-partisan” era and said both sides should reject their party’s extremes and govern from the middle. That talk was designed to some extent to recast his party as eager to solve the country’s problems rather to obstruct the Democrats’ agenda.

But his speech on Thursday injected fresh views into the ongoing debate within the GOP over how to move forward after two disastrous elections. McConnell sought to instill a sense of urgency into his party, but said the situation is “far from irreversible.”

McConnell said Republicans need to sell their core principles to voters who’ve left the party by better explaining their ideas and the “practical benefits they promise for people of every class or race in every corner of the country.” He said the party needs to attract black voters after Democrats pulled in 96 percent of that voting bloc in November, and he called on the GOP to aggressively court Hispanics, who will constitute one-fifth of all voters by 2020.

“The future of campaigns and elections depends, for both parties, on the ability to attract voters from the Hispanic community,” McConnell said. “This is particularly true for us, since Hispanic growth is even more dramatic in regions where we do best.” He said that nearly 80 percent of Hispanic voters oppose abortion, in line with a bedrock GOP position.

McConnell called on the GOP to push back against labels that have hurt the party in the past — anti-immigrant, anti-union and anti-environment — and to regain taxpayers’ trust that they support limited government spending.

“Too often we’ve let others define us,” McConnell said. “And the image they’ve painted isn’t very pretty.”

He also said that “blaming the media isn’t a strategy for success,” likening it to blaming a referee for losing a game. But he said that the party should push back aggressively when “Democrat ideas fall short.”

“We’ll point it out when Democrats attempt to undermine or reverse successful terror-fighting policies that have kept us safe since 9/11,” he said. “We’ll point it out when they try to tax and spend our way to prosperity. We’ll point it out every time they do the bidding of the trial lawyers and Big Labor bosses. And we’ll point it out every time they claim to solve a problem they’ve really only put off — as they did just last week on Guantanamo Bay.”

Source: politico.com

Controversial Sheriff Speaks At Hate Group Function

2009-01-30T15:35:00.000-08:00

A Nashville sheriff who’s been criticized for his crackdown on undocumented immigrants recently spoke at a white supremacist gathering.

Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall addressed the Middle Tennessee chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), a white nationalist hate group, at a dinner meeting last Nov. 22. Descended from the pro-segregationist White Citizens’ Councils (also known as the uptown Klan), the CCC has described blacks as a “retrograde species of humanity” and “genetically inferior,” compared pop singer Michael Jackson to an ape, and condemned “race-mixing.”

Hall’s appearance at the Middle Tennessee CCC meeting was reported in the latest issue of the Citizens Informer, the CCC’s in-house publication. “The meeting drew the largest attendance in 12 years, with many youth in attendance,” the newsletter noted.

Karla Weikal, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office, said the Middle Tennessee CCC asked Hall to talk to the group about his immigration enforcement program. She said Hall often speaks to private groups about issues related to the sheriff’s office and was not aware of the CCC’s racist beliefs. “Those views would certainly not be views that Sheriff Hall would support. Absolutely not,” Weikal said. “He went before that group to provide information about a program that the sheriff’s office participates in. Period. It was not an endorsement of this organization.”

But critics of the sheriff’s handling of immigration enforcement said Hall should have known better. “I am shocked that he would appear before such a group,” said Nashville immigration lawyer Elliott Ozment. “Any claim that he might make that he did not know the nature of this group is really no excuse. He has staff that should be checking out these things.”

Fellow Nashville immigration attorney Mario Ramos agreed. “For Sheriff Hall to be speaking in front of a hate group shows a severe lack of judgment,” he said. “I think the citizens of Nashville will be outraged that he spoke before this kind of group.” As for the sheriff’s professed ignorance of the group’s ideology, Ramos said, “It’s hard to believe [the sheriff’s office] is that naïve or unprofessional. You’d imagine they’d do their homework.”

Indeed, if Hall had merely typed “Council of Conservative Citizens” into the Internet search engine Google, the top result would have been the CCC’s web address and site description, which reads, “Advocating against minorities and racial integration.” The website proclaims that the CCC “oppose[s] all efforts to mix the races of mankind.” Along with ads for white pride T-shirts, the group’s homepage features numerous articles from its “news team” linking blacks to violent crime.

The group has also flirted increasingly with anti-Semitism in recent years; after Pope Benedict XVI provoked an outcry last week by revoking the excommunication of schismatic bishop Richard Williamson — who claimed no more than 300,000 Jews died in the Holocaust, none of them in gas chambers — the CCC asserted on its website that Williamson was not a Holocaust denier: “He has simply stated that the numbers [sic] of Jewish deaths have been exaggerated for political reasons.”

The CCC isn’t fond of non-white immigrants, either. It has accused them of turning America into “a slimy brown mass of glop.”

Hall, who became sheriff in 2002, has drawn fire for his immigration enforcement strategy. Since 2007, the county has participated in 287G, a program that gives local agencies limited authority to enforce federal immigration law. After a drunken driver — who was also an undocumented immigrant with a lengthy criminal history — killed a husband and wife in 2006, Hall wrote a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement asking to take part in the program. Hall said it would allow the county to target undocumented immigrants who are dangerous offenders.

But immigrant rights activists say that hasn’t happened. Instead, of the nearly 3,000 people arrested during the program’s first year, half were nabbed for minor traffic violations such as driving without a license, according to an April 2008 analysis by The Tennessean. Last July, a pregnant woman who had been arrested for careless driving was chained to a hospital bed as she gave birth. Juana Villegas’ story was featured prominently in The New York Times. (The sheriff later announced that pregnant women would no longer be shackled unless they posed a clear risk to themselves or others, The Tennessean reported.)

Sheriff’s office spokeswoman Weikal defended the immigration enforcement program, saying that Nashville police make all the arrests and that the sheriff’s office merely screens those who are foreign-born.

But Ozment, who represents Villegas, said he wasn’t surprised that the CCC wanted to know more about 287G. Both Ozment and Gregg Ramos, a Nashville attorney and civil rights advocate (no relation to Mario Ramos), said the program’s implementation in Davidson County has led to racial profiling of Hispanics. “It is open season on Hispanics in Nashville now,” Ozment said. (Ozment previously served on a council formed to advise the sheriff on 287G, but Hall kicked him off after Ozment said publicly that the council played no meaningful role.)

Added Mario Ramos: “I’m left to wonder where else he [Hall] has spoken. If he feels this is where the audience is for 287G, what a sad comment on 287G.”

Source: splcenter.org

Outrage After Wal-Mart Sells Racist Mexican Comic Books

2009-01-28T16:50:00.000-08:00

A Mexican comic book containing a character that the White House once denounced as an offensive racial stereotype is again at the center of controversy after being sold at Houston-area Wal-Mart stores.

Shoppers are upset that the comics depicting Memin Pinguin, a black cartoon character drawn with exaggerated features, such as thick lips and wide-open eyes, are being sold near the African-American book section, the Houston Chronicle reports.

The cartoon character first made national headlines in 2005, when the Mexican government issued five stamps commemorating the character. His appearance, speech and mannerisms are the subject of kidding by white characters in the comic book.

Those postage stamps prompted then White House press secretary Scott McClellan to take the country to task.

"Racial stereotypes are offensive no matter what their origin," McClellan said in 2005. "The Mexican government needs to take this into account. Images like these have no place in today's world."

Houston shopper Shawnedria McGinty told the Chronicle that she asked a store manager to remove the comics when she saw them over the weekend. He complied.

"I said, wait a minute: Is this a monkey or a little black boy?" McGinty, 34, of Meyerland, Texas, told the paper. "I was so upset. This is 2008."

Another Houston resident, Quanell X, demanded Wal-Mart apologize for selling the books.

"Even Hispanics of conscious minds sense this is racist and that to sell this is totally unacceptable," he told the Chronicle. "It is a disgrace — it's an insult to all African-Americans."

A Wal-Mart spokesman told the paper that the comics were removed from one location, but wouldn't say if they'd be pulled from all stores.

"We will be evaluating the best course of action," said Phillip Keene, a company spokesman, told the paper.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: foxnews.com

Feds Accuse Latino Gang of Hate Crime Spree Against Black Americans

2009-01-28T16:43:00.000-08:00

Federal prosecutors Tuesday accused members of a Latino street gang of a violent campaign to drive African American rivals out of their South Los Angeles area neighborhood, resulting in at least 20 killings in the last three years.

Capping an undercover investigation conducted over that period, authorities issued indictments that charged more than 60 members and associates of the Florencia 13 street gang with a long list of felonies. Prosecutors say the gang was trying to dominate the area’s drug trade as well as extort “rent” from prostitutes, vendors, drug dealers and others.

Much of the violence occurred in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood, a working-class unincorporated community of 60,000 north of Watts that went through a rapid shift in population starting in the 1980s. Once mostly black, the area is now home to many Mexican immigrants.

Officials said Latino gang leaders in recent years had sought to drive the remaining black gangs and their supporters from the neighborhood and had repeatedly ordered members to attack black rivals – in some cases shooting them on sight.

The indictment’s description of sustained, deadly racial gang fighting provides evidence of a type of violence that is often discussed but seldom documented. Homicide statistics indicate that the vast majority of killings take place within racial or ethnic groups.

Florence-Firestone, however, appears to have been a murderous exception. Killings in the neighborhood peaked in 2005, when 41 homicides sparked widespread community outcry. As violence rose, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department sent more than 60 additional deputies to the area and conducted several mass arrests aimed at reducing racial violence. The district attorney’s office devoted a special prosecutor to handle only Florence-Firestone homicides for two years.

Last year, homicides plummeted to 19.

Another piece of the stepped-up law enforcement effort was the undercover investigation. Officials said Tuesday that they had determined that 80 shootings since early 2005 had resulted from the gang violence.

In some cases, African Americans with no gang ties were caught up in the violence, prosecutors said. “In their attempt to intimidate African Americans in the community, they targeted innocent citizens,” said U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O’Brien.

In one instance, an African American couple were robbed at gunpoint by gang members who were trying to send a message, prosecutors say. In another, a man waiting at a Florence Avenue bus stop before work was critically injured in a drive-by shooting by Florencia members who apparently mistook him for a rival gang member, according to the indictments.

The gang would “target African American individuals for assault” and leaders made sure “that all the F13 cliques were participating in the assaults of African American rival gang members,” the indictments say.

Florence-Firestone is a collection of factories, stucco homes and mom-and-pop stores that has gone through dramatic demographic changes every 15 to 20 years since it formed in the early 1930s.

Poor Southern whites, middle-class blacks and poor Southern blacks have all entered Southern California via short stays in Florence-Firestone.

In the late 1980s, the neighborhood was about 80% African American. But most black residents have moved away. Today, the area is 90% Latino – mostly Mexican immigrants.

“The last five years has been the greatest influx” of Latinos, said Pastor Chris LeGrande of the Great Hope Fellowship of Faith on Compton Avenue, one of Florence-Firestone’s largest black churches.

African Americans and Latinos are often separated by language and culture, and frequently compete for the same jobs. The area has two parks: Washington Park is used mostly by blacks; Roosevelt Park to the north by Latinos.

“I think we adults have many problems in sympathizing with the other race,” said Gloria Medina, Spanish-language liaison for the Florence-Firestone Chamber of Commerce. “It’s not just the children; it’s that we’ve taught this to children… . [We] respect each other, but there’s not much closeness.”

Sheriff Lee Baca said Tuesday that Florencia’s violence was notable given the fact that gang violence in Los Angeles in general has been dropping in the last few years. In Los Angeles, homicides overall so far this year are declining to levels not seen since the early 1970s.

Authorities this year have vowed to focus more attention on race-motivated crimes involving gangs. The push started after a 14-year-old black girl was shot and killed last year, allegedly by members of a Latino gang, in the Harbor Gateway section of Los Angeles.

Last year, members of the Latino Avenues gang were convicted in federal court for a series of assaults and killings in the early 1990s targeting blacks in Highland Park.

Researchers who study homicides say, however, that such killings are unusual. A recent study by researchers at UC Irvine used data from the four precincts of the LAPD’s South Bureau on homicides between 2000 and 2006 and found that black offenders were nearly eight times more likely to kill another black person than to kill a Latino, and Latino offenders were nearly twice as likely to kill another Latino.

A Times analysis of crime data earlier this year found that the vast majority of violent crimes in the city of Los Angeles involved assailants and victims of the same race. Last year, there were more than 2,700 black-on-black or Latino-on-Latino incidents, compared with slightly more than 500 interracial attacks.

The indictments unveiled Tuesday charged 61 Florencia gang members and associates with a variety of felonies, including weapons violations, drug sales and conspiracy to commit murder. More than a dozen of the suspects were in custody on earlier charges, and 11 defendants are still at large. Many charges give prosecutors the option to pursue hate-crime charges once the cases go to court, which would allow stiffer penalties.

Despite the gang tensions, many in Florence-Firestone say residents of different races get along for the most part and see a common enemy in the criminals.

But LeGrande, the pastor, said some residents worried that the thugs would widen their war beyond other gangs.

“At one time parents would say, ‘Stay away from the gang and we’ll be OK,” he said. “Now you don’t have to be in a gang.”

ari.bloomekatz@latimes.com

sam.quinones@latimes.com

Source: latimes.com

ACLU files class action lawsuit against Weld Sheriff, DA

2009-01-27T10:18:00.000-08:00

The American Civil Liberties Union has made good on its threat to file a lawsuit against Weld County Sheriff John Cooke and Weld District Attorney Ken Buck, alleging the campaign to arrest illegal immigrants for identity theft violated privacy laws.

In a class action lawsuit filed in state district court on Monday night, the ACLU of Colorado argued that Cooke and Buck are violating the privacy rights of thousands of law-abiding taxpayers by keeping copies of confidential information obtained in an illegal search of Amalia’s Translation and Tax Service in Greeley last fall, according to a prepared release.

“The search violated the privacy rights of thousands of innocent taxpayers who are not suspected of any wrongdoing,” said Mark Silverstein, ACLU legal director, in the release. “If the sheriff and the district attorney can comb through all the many thousands of records of a tax preparer on the theory that some of the clients are doing something wrong, then none of our private information is safe.”

The defendants in the case — who authorities have said used false or stolen Social Security numbers to work in Weld County, then obtained tax returns as illegal immigrants — are slowly being arrested for criminal impersonation or identity theft in the investigation. Buck and Cooke say they have identified roughly 1,300 suspects.

Officials got a search warrant to review tax filings from 2006-07 that contained a special IRS number called an ITIN, which is issued only to non-residents for purposes of filing income taxes.

Silverstein said that search amounted to a fishing expedition, which is prohibited by law. He likened the search to that of a search for any criminal activity in an apartment building, then rummaging through each apartment to find a crime.

For more on this story, see Wednesday's Tribune.

greeleytribune.com

Confessions of a Former Anti-Immigrant Fanatic

2009-01-25T09:39:00.000-08:00

Minuteman tries to "educate" 2 college students but backfires

2009-01-25T08:19:00.000-08:00

What FOX doesn't want to show you about Sheriff Joe Arpaio's new TV show "Smile... You're Under Arrest!"

2009-01-25T07:29:00.000-08:00

Sheriff Joe Arpaio loves his new reality show, "Smile ... You're Under Arrest!" He claims it's "a great merge of entertainment along with law enforcement." … a humorous cross between "Punked" and "Cops."

Perhaps Fox would like to show this really hysterical clip from a recent episode of the real-life Sheriff Joe show.

What could be more entertaining than watching two small children cry as their mother is taken away forever because she has a broken headlight and an un-paid traffic ticket?

What could be funnier than watching them clutch the stuffed animals that sheriff's trade for their mother in an attempt to quite them down?

What could be more humorous than the fear and horror on their faces as they plead to be returned to her?

Come on FOX, this is the real "reality" of Joe Arpaio. This is what goes on day after day for those who are forced to live in Joe's reality.

Show this video to the American public. Let them see the true face of "America's toughest sheriff"

Come on, don't you think they'd be rolling in the aisles over the funny antics of this modern day Bull Connor.

Source: MigraMatters

American Legion Deletes Some Immigrant-Bashing Myths, Repeats Others, In ‘Updated’ Report

2009-01-22T17:37:00.000-08:00

More than eight months after promoting nativist falsehoods in a booklet about illegal immigration, the American Legion has discreetly removed the most egregious inaccuracies from an updated version of its report.

But America’s largest veterans group has failed to publicly acknowledge the errors, which Hatewatch detailed last July. Furthermore, the new edition of the report continues to perpetuate derogatory myths about undocumented immigrants. “The security, economy and social fabric of the United States of America is [sic] seriously threatened by individuals who are illegally in this country,” the booklet states.

The legion first released A Strategy to Address Illegal Immigration in the United States last April 28. Two months later, the legion announced the booklet was “being updated” after two organizations — the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the American GI Forum, a Hispanic veterans group — repeatedly expressed concerns. Nonetheless, in an October 2008 letter to the editor of the Intelligence Report, legion Commander Dave Rehbein dismissed the Intelligence Report’s debunking of factual errors in the booklet, arguing they merely reflected differing “perspectives” on immigration.

But that doesn’t explain why six statements the Intelligence Report identified as false disappeared from the updated booklet, which was released last week on the legion’s website.

For instance, the report no longer contends that “non-citizens make up fully 30% of the American prison population.” (The real number is roughly 6%.) Nor does it falsely claim that undocumented immigrants infected 7,000 people in this country with leprosy during a recent three-year period. (The actual figure of all leprosy cases in the U.S. during that time is about 400, and it’s unknown how many were attributable to immigrants, undocumented or otherwise.) Also gone is the assertion — for which the original report provided no source — that “more Americans are killed by illegal aliens than died in the Iraq War.”

The “updated” report also asserts at the outset that its opposition to illegal immigration is not based on race, religion or nationality.

Despite these changes, the booklet still presents a misleading and defamatory portrait of undocumented immigrants.

For its information, the legion relies heavily on the Federation for American Immigration Reform — which the SPLC lists as a hate group in part because of its ties to white supremacists — and the Center for Immigration Studies, an anti-immigration think tank.

Among other myths, the legion booklet still claims that:

• “By failing to assimilate into our culture [undocumented immigrants] divide America into ethnic enclaves.” In fact, a recent study by the Manhattan Institute found that today’s foreign-born, while currently less assimilated than their counterparts of 100 years ago, are in fact assimilating at a faster rate than those earlier newcomers.

• “Illegals cost Americans jobs.” A 2006 Pew Hispanic Center study found that, overall, large increases in states’ immigrant population did not correspond with more unemployment for their native-born workers. Most scholars have failed to find a link between immigration and job loss.

• Undocumented immigrants cause “an enormous drain on public services.” Actually, undocumented immigrants are barred from receiving most forms of public assistance, besides public school education and emergency medical care. They also pay taxes, including sales taxes, and often, through phony Social Security cards, payroll taxes. In 2005, The New York Times reported that undocumented immigrants contribute some $7 billion a year to the Social Security system they will never be able to claim.

Several of the American Legion’s state chapters and local posts are allied with hardliner nativist groups. The California branch of the American Legion recently joined hate groups and nativist extremist organizations in a coalition that seeks to force “illegal alien birth mothers” to obtain special birth certificates. The coalition, Taxpayer’s Revolution, argues that ending the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of citizenship to anyone born in the United States is “critical toward reducing the crime problem.”

Last August, a Colorado American Legion post hosted a three-day “national security convention” devoted entirely to illegal immigration. The speakers included Glenn Spencer, leader of the hate groups American Patrol and American Border Patrol, who wrote in a 1996 letter to the Los Angeles Times that “Mexican culture is based on deceit” and “Chicanos and Mexicanos lie as a means of survival.”

splcenter.org

White supremacists under the scanner ahead of Obama swearing

2009-01-18T13:05:00.000-08:00

White supremacists across the United States are closely being watched by hate crimes experts and law enforcement officials as Barack Obama prepares to be sworn in as the first Black president of the United States next week.

Washington, Jan 17 : White supremacists across the United States are closely being watched by hate crimes experts and law enforcement officials as Barack Obama prepares to be sworn in as the first Black president of the United States next week.

So far, there is no known organized effort to express opposition to Obama's rise to the presidency -- other than a call by the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for its members to wear black armbands and fly the US flag upside down on Inauguration Day and Obama's first full day in office, the Daily News reported.

"The level of vitriol, I expect, will go up a bit more around inauguration time," said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino.

There "is concern" about White supremacist groups during the inauguration, said Joe Persichini, the assistant FBI director who is helping to oversee security during the inauguration.

The inauguration of the nation's first minority president increases any potential threat, "particularly stemming from individuals on the extremist fringe of the white supremacist movement," said a recent intelligence assessment by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.

But law enforcement has the appropriate resources to respond if needed, Persichini said. "We have seen a lot of chatter. We have seen a lot of discussions," he said.

"We have seen some information via the Internet. But those are discussions. We look at the vulnerabilities and whether or not the groups are taking action. You have freedom of speech," he added.

Anger, violence and interest in racist ideology did increase in the hours and days after Obama was elected president in November, hate groups experts said.

Three New York men were indicted on charges of conspiracy to interfere with voting rights -- accused of targeting and attacking African-Americans in a brutal crime spree soon after Obama was declared the winner on November 4.

Source: andhranews.net

Barack Obama protected by five tons of armour

2009-01-18T13:01:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama will be protected by five tons of "transparent armour" at his swearing-in, amid unprecedented security for a presidential inauguration.

By Alex Spillius
Last Updated: 6:41PM GMT 18 Jan 2009

The bulletproof "glass" is actually a plastic compound that can resist repeated gunfire and grenades, and it will flank the new president when he addresses a vast audience from the steps of the Capitol.

It has been used for his outdoor speeches since winning the election, and most recently in Baltimore on his train ride to the capital.

Though no specific threat has been detected, since the election of the first African-American the "chatter" on white supremacist websites has increased, along with the number of threats that require investigation, according to security officials.

More than 23,000 police and reservist troops will be part of a security cordon that will include armed water patrols, helicopters and fighter jets.

Yesterday he took his first public ride in the new presidential limousine, an armoured Cadillac with the number plate "44" for his numerical ranking in the list of presidents.

He will use the vehicle, nicknamed the Beast, on the 1.7 mile journey from the Capitol along the parade route to the White House. It reportedly has an eight inch thick body, tear-gas cannons and inner Kevlar tyres that keep moving after a burst.

Source: telegraph.co.uk

Threats Against Obama Growing as Inauguration Nears

2009-01-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

With the Tuesday inauguration of Barack Obama drawing nearer by the hour, threats against the first black man to be elected U.S. president are growing more heated.

On Friday, neo-Nazi threatmeister Hal Turner, amplifying on an earlier posting suggesting that it would be a good thing to use an unmanned drone carrying explosives to attack inaugural crowds, said a mass murder of those attending the festivities “would be a public service.” “I won’t say what may happen Tuesday but I will say this,” Turner wrote on his blog. “After Tuesday, the name Hal Turner may live in infamy. Let it be known that I saw what was necessary and decided to do what had to be done. I make no apology to those affected or their families.”

Earlier, on Jan. 11, Turner had posted photos to his blog, under the headline “My Inauguration Dream,” of a small, unmanned aerial drone, an electronic guidance system and sticks of dynamite as he laid out one method of attack. He also discussed the possibility of sending up balloons filled with helium and a “payload” and fitted with fuses that would explode the balloons over the crowds. And he displayed a grainy video that purported to show that method being tested. “Too far fetched?” Turner asks of a possible balloon attack. “It got tested and it worked! … Watch the video and imagine what payload, other than the index cards taped to the outside of the test balloons, might be substituted? HMMMMMM. Might be something messy? Something contagious? Something deadly? Ahhhh, such possibilities!” Then, last Thursday, he posted an update, saying: “All the assets that need to be in-place for next week are now in-place; deep within the security perimeter. Everything is a ‘go.’ We have crossed the Rubicon; let history judge us well.”

Turner, a North Bergen, N.J., man who in years past has been paid as an FBI informant even while making threats over the Internet (a relationship that ended after it was revealed on this blog and harshly criticized by law enforcement experts), said the attacks were deserved because of a whole series of government misdeeds. He added that it would be “a public service” to kill African Americans (“sub-human simians”) and white people (“mentally-ill Whites”) who attend the festivities. “Wouldn’t it be a great day for American and the world to see our federal government dealt with in such a fashion?” Turner asked. “Stay tuned…..”

Also on Friday, federal authorities arrested a Wisconsin man for threatening to assassinate Obama in a posting to an Internet site about UFOs and extraterrestrial aliens. Steven Joseph Christopher, 42, was arrested in Brookhaven, Miss., because of a Jan. 11 posting that read: “Yes, I have decided I will assassinate Barack Obama. It’s really nothing personal about the man. … But I know it’s for the country’s own good that I can do this. Barack Obama, I view more as a sacrificial lamb… .”

Christopher also allegedly posted a note saying, “It’s not because I’m racist that I will kill Barack, it’s because I can no longer allow the Jewish parasites to bully their way into making the American people submit to their evil ways.” It wasn’t clear if Christopher had real links to radical-right groups, but he has posted close to 70 YouTube videos, many of them short rants like the one limited to a single sentence: “**** you, Jew.” Many of them begin with the notation, “Jew Censor Alert.” One says simply, “I’m going to fucking kill you.” And in still another, he showed his familiarity with at least one figure well known on the radical right as he launched into a bitter attack on Alex Jones, a conspiracist radio show host. Christopher has also said that God is ordering “everyone” to move to Florida by Dec. 31, a contention he repeated as he left a Jackson, Miss., courthouse in handcuffs after an initial appearance.

In an unrelated case, state and federal authorities announced the Friday arrests of three white men for allegedly burning down a predominantly black church in Springfield, Mass., hours after Obama’s election. The three — Benjamin Haskell, 22, Michael Jacques, 24, and Thomas Gleason, 21 — were charged with conspiring to deprive the church congregation of their civil rights. Macedonia Church of God in Christ’s almost completed new building was set afire with gasoline before dawn on Nov. 5, just hours after television stations called the election for Obama.

As the details of these cases unfolded Friday, authorities in Washington, D.C., were clamping down security for the inauguration to an unprecedented extent. No white supremacist groups are known to be planning to come to the capital Tuesday, but one gay-bashing hate group, the Westboro Baptist Church (known chiefly for its infamous website, Godhatesfags.com, and rallies at soldiers’ funerals), is reportedly planning to protest along the inaugural parade route. Another group, the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, has asked its member to wear black armbands and hang “yankee flags” upside down on Tuesday and Wednesday. But there was no indication that the Indiana-based group had plans to travel to Washington.

Still, the chatter of Hal Turner’s site was not reassuring, especially given the two alleged white supremacist plots to kill Obama already broken up in Colorado and Tennessee. “Why talk about it?” asked “Reck Less Abandon” in a comment after Turner’s post suggesting ways of attacking the inaugural ceremonies. “JUST FUCKING DO IT.” Another poster, “PragmaticSaxon,” proposed adding an explosive gas to “bubonic plague or anthrax” in the balloons: “The exploding balloons will spread the pathogens and have massive effect on the masses of useless feeders that put that fucking nigger in office,” he wrote.

Source: splcenter.org

Another Major Anti-Latino Hate Attack Makes the News

2009-01-17T12:20:00.001-08:00

Four reputed white supremacist gang members have been arrested in connection with the vicious beating of a Latino man on Nov. 19 in Hemet, Calif. The victim, a 19-year-old whose name police would not release, was knocked unconscious and then repeatedly stomped and kicked in the head. He suffered permanent brain damage and has been placed in a long-term care facility. According to investigators, the attack was random, unprovoked and motivated purely by racial hatred.

Hemet is located in the region of California known as the Inland Empire, which, as the Intelligence Report documented in 2005, has become a hotbed of white supremacist activity during an ongoing phase of rapid demographic shifts.

But the attack is also part of a frightening national pattern of rising anti-Latino violence. Hate crimes targeting Latinos have increased 40% since 2003, according to the most recent FBI statistics, which are known to undercount total hate crimes but nevertheless do indicate real trends. Whatever its exact level, the sharp rise in violence against Latinos has paralleled the spike in anti-immigrant propaganda on both the right-wing extremist margins of society and within the so-called mainstream media.

Last July, for instance, three white teenagers shouting ethnic slurs allegedly beat to death a 25-year-old Mexican immigrant in Shenandoah, Pa. Six weeks later, the nativist extremist group Voice of the People held a “pro-immigration enforcement” rally in Shenandoah, near the site of the murder. The attending crowd of roughly 50 included several members of the Keystone State Skinheads, a Harrisburg, Pa.-based racist skinhead gang.

More recently, in November, seven teens in Patchogue, N.Y., six of them white, decided to “go fight a Mexican” and randomly attacked an Ecuadorean immigrant who died after one of the assailants rushed at him with a knife, authorities said. As The New York Times reported last week: “The attacks were such an established pastime that the youths, who have pleaded not guilty, had a casual and derogatory term for it, ‘beaner hopping.’ One of the youths told the authorities, ‘I don’t go out doing this very often, maybe once a week.’” Times reporters interviewed 11 Latino men in the area who detailed 13 similar — though non-fatal — attacks before the “beaner hopping” finally turned deadly.

The upswing in anti-Latino violence does not seem to be abating. The first documented anti-Latino attack of 2009 occurred on New Year’s Day, when a Vallejo, Calif., motorist was arrested for gunning his vehicle toward a crowd of Latino day laborers. No injuries were reported. Frederick Martin, 31, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and committing a hate crime. Martin told police he was “trying to scare” the workers.

Source: splcenter.org

Glenn Spencer, More Hateful by the Day, Drones On

2009-01-17T12:17:00.001-08:00

Glenn Spencer, who heads the hate groups American Patrol and American Border Patrol, loves showing off the high-tech gizmos he uses to track “illegal aliens.” Last April, Spencer set up remote control Internet cameras controlled from his home along the Mexican border in southeastern Arizona — “Operation Virtual Vigilance,” in the paramilitary parlance Spencer favors. At the time, he promised he would start sending unmanned aerial drones into the air to monitor border fence construction.

On Thursday, Spencer will trot out the results of his drone project, or what he calls Operation B.E.E.F. (Border Enforcement Evaluation First), at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. On his website, he says he’s been sending a drone up every two months along a route stretching “from Texas to the Pacific Ocean, documenting the construction of the border fence.”

Glenn Spencer is no stranger to Hatewatch. For years, he’s peddled a racist conspiracy theory that suggests that the Mexican government is purposely sending undocumented immigrants northward in order to “reconquer” the American Southwest and, ultimately, transform it into a northern Mexican state to be called Aztlan. But in recent months, Spencer has expanded from his usual angry attacks on Latinos to furious, explicitly racist and anti-Semitic tirades that have caught the attention of many longtime Spencer observers. Consider:

• Just before Christmas, Spencer issued a nearly hysterical Web posting entitled “Obama Threatens Nation,” in which he described the incoming Obama Administration as “prepared to make a frontal assault on the sovereignty of the United States.” In fact, he said, “Barack Obama represents the greatest threat to the United States of America since the Civil War. Brainwashed Americans have just voted to commit national suicide.”
• The same month, Spencer wrote an article on his website with another provocative title: “Is Jew-Controlled Hollywood Brainwashing Americans?” In it, he assured readers that he had Jewish friends but added: “I fear, however, that this small handful of patriotic Americans are far outnumbered by liberal Jews who now have total control over our media.” He linked his posting to a report by well-known anti-Semitic theorist Kevin MacDonald, who Spencer has hosted as a guest on his radio show and whose work he recommends.
• Last fall, Spencer lamented the falling birthrate for whites and contrasted that to soaring Latino birth rates. The title of his posting (which was accompanied by the cartoon below): “White America Commits Suicide: The Coming Disunited States of America.”

It’s not like Spencer has been seen as calm and rational in the past. In fact, some of his neighbors and former allies have long been saying he’s out of control. In 2003, he was charged with four felonies after firing his .357 Magnum pistol into a neighbor’s garage because, he told police, he had heard noises that frightened him (later that year, the charges were reduced to a misdemeanor and a $2,500 fine). In 2002, Francis Williams, a director of Spencer’s own American Border Patrol, resigned, describing Spencer as “borderline xenophobic.”

That was hardly a revelation to many who knew Spencer. In a 1996 letter to the Los Angeles Times, Spencer wrote that “Mexican culture is based on deceit” and that “Chicanos and Mexicanos lie as a means of survival.” In 1998, he spoke in Cullman, Ala., at anti-immigrant rally hosted by the Council of Conservative Citizens, a racist group that has called blacks “a retrograde species of humanity.” In 2001, he had Betina McCann, then fiancé of neo-Nazi Steven Barry, hand-deliver copies of his film “Bonds of Our Nation” to every member of Congress (the video largely rehashes his Aztlan conspiracy theory).

None of this has stopped Spencer from being featured in mainstream media venues. He’s appeared twice in recent years on CNN’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight” and last year he debuted his video, “Border Truth USA,” at a three-day American Legion conference on illegal immigration (the Legion had earlier issued a report on illegal immigration rife with falsehoods and defamatory statements). Spencer’s American Patrol (also known as Voice of Citizens Together) has also received at least $11,000 in grants (pdf) since 1994 from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a major nativist group that has angrily rejected the label of “hate group” applied by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Source: splcenter.org

Supremacists Prepare for Inauguration Terrorist Attack

2009-01-17T12:10:00.000-08:00

Ex-officer charged with murder in BART shooting

2009-01-17T12:08:00.000-08:00

(CNN) -- A former transit police officer accused of shooting an unarmed man at a Northern California commuter train station has been arrested and charged with murder, an Alameda County district attorney said Wednesday.
Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff speaks at a press conference announcing murder charges.

Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff speaks at a press conference announcing murder charges.

"What I feel the evidence indicates is an unlawful killing done by an intentional act," district attorney Tom Orloff told reporters at a news conference.

"From the evidence we have there's nothing that would mitigate that to something lower than a murder," he added. "The murder charge was the appropriate charge given the state of the evidence."

Former Bay Area Rapid Transit Officer Johannes Mehserle, 27, was arrested Tuesday evening in Nevada, Orloff said.

He waived extradition and police officers were transporting him back to California on Wednesday.

Orloff said Mehserle's attorney has invoked his client's right to remain silent.

"In terms of an interview at this point in time, our hands are tied," he said. Video Watch Orloff speak about the murder charges »

Mehserle was arrested on a fugitive warrant charging homicide in Nevada.

He is accused of the shooting of Oscar Grant III at an Oakland, California, station on New Year's Day. The incident was captured on video by several witnesses and spurred violent protests in the northern California city.

Mehserle, 27, was taken into custody in Douglas County, Nevada at about 7 p.m., Sgt. Dan Coverly of Douglas County Sheriff's Office told CNN affiliate KGO-TV in San Francisco.

Referring to Mehserle's arrest, BART said, "This comes after the BART Police Department conducted a thorough investigation that involved nine detectives, which BART Police turned over to District Attorney Thomas Orloff on Monday, January 12."

Leads led investigators to Mehserle in Zephyr Cove, Nevada. Contacted through his attorney, Mehserle surrendered.

Jail staff report that Mehserle has cooperated and is in a segregated area and on a precautionary health and welfare watch.

Mehserle resigned from his job as a BART police officer days after the shooting.

Grant, a 22-year-old father, was killed on New Year's Day in a crowded BART train station. Police had been called to the Fruitvale station after passengers complained about fights on a train and took Grant and several other people off the train once they arrived.

Videos from witnesses show Mehserle shooting Grant in the back as another BART officer kneeled on the man. The shooting spawned public outrage and a string of protests that led to more than a hundred riot-related arrests.
advertisement

Police have not said whether Grant had been involved in the fight.

The Oakland Police Department is running its own investigation into the killing, at the request of Mayor Ron Dellums, Officer Jeff Thomason said Wednesday.

Source: cnn.com

Police fatally shoot unarmed man

2009-01-11T19:48:00.000-08:00

Oscar Grant III, fatally shot by an unidentified BART(Oakland,CA) officer early New Year's Day. Oscar Grant was unarmed, laying face down and shot in the back.

REPORT:
OAKLAND, Calif. - Law enforcement officials urged patience while they investigated details surrounding the fatal New Year's Day shooting of a 22-year-old man by a transit agency police officer.

Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Chief Gary Gee said on Sunday that the agency is "committed to completing an unbiased, thorough and detailed investigation" of the shooting death of Oscar Grant.

"This case is not even four days cold. We're in the early stages of the investigation and we will do a very thorough job," he said.

Several unanswered questions remained after BART officers went to Oakland's Fruitvale station to investigate reports of a supposed brawl on a train on which Grant was riding around 2 a.m. Thursday.

A friend of Grant's who was with him on the crowded Oakland train station platform at the time of the shooting said Grant pleaded with officers not to harm him.

"Oscar yelled, 'You shot me! I got a four-year-old daughter,'" said Fernando Anicete. "Oscar was telling us to calm down and we did. We weren't looking for any trouble."

Anicete was among more than 50 people attending a tearful news conference in Oakland on Sunday where Grant's family announced they planned to file a $25 million claim against the Bay Area Rapid Transit agency this week. A claim is the first step in the process of suing the agency.

The family's attorney John Burris said the shooting was intentional, and that he planned to ask Alameda County prosecutors to seek criminal charges against the officer. Burris said Grant, of Hayward, Calif., posed no threat to officers when a bullet entered his back and ricocheted to his lung area, killing him almost instantly.

"The officer leaned (in), was straddling over him and pointed his gun directly into the backside and shot (Grant)," said Burris, adding that Grant was handcuffed - after he was shot. "This was not a deadly force situation."

Gee said BART police are fully cooperating with the district attorney's investigation.

Grant's mother, Wanda Johnson, and Sophina Mesa, his daughter's mother, wept uncontrollably as Burris spoke about Grant. They did not speak, but several said Grant, a butcher at a supermarket near the train station where he was killed, was a loving father showing signs of maturation.

Cephus "Bobby" Johnson, Grant's uncle, said he text messaged his nephew just after midnight Thursday saying, "Happy New Year ... I love you."

Johnson never got a reply.

"I wondered why he didn't text me back," a teary-eyed Johnson said. "And then I found out why."

BART spokesman Jim Allison has said the officer's gun went off while police were trying to restrain Grant and that Grant was not cuffed. The unidentified officer is on paid leave as BART investigates the shooting.

Mario Pangelina, Mesa's brother who was riding on the same train, two cars behind Grant on Thursday morning, said Sunday he saw Grant beg police not to Taser him because of his child.

"He kept saying, 'Please, please don't Tase me,'" Pangelina said. "He was not acting hostile."

Other witnesses said Grant was lying on his stomach on the station's platform when he was shot.

Recordings of the shooting by witnesses have surfaced and Burris said BART had confiscated numerous cell phone images from others he believes contain additional footage.

Services for Grant will be held Wednesday.

Source: examiner.com

BART Police Murders Man at Fruitvale BART Station

2009-01-11T19:05:00.000-08:00

In the early hours of January 1st, BART police shot and killed a 22 year old man, Oscar Grant, on the platform of the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland. Witnesses report that Grant was "lying on his stomach with his hands out in a non-threatening position when he was shot". Police have confirmed Grant was unarmed and have suggested the shooting was an accident. Grant lived in Hayward and leaves behind a 4-year-old daughter.

BART officials have not released the name of the officer who shot Grant. After the shooting, BART police seized several cell phones from people on the platform who said they had used the phones' cameras to record what happened. For the first two days BART officials told the mainstream media that surveillance cameras at the station do not record, but then corrected themselves Friday night saying the cameras did record but didn't show the incident.

Source: indybay.org

3 more White supremacists arrested in Latino beating

2009-01-03T08:31:00.000-08:00

Three more alleged white supremacists were behind bars today on $1 million bail in connection with the November beating in Hemet of a Latino who suffered brain damage.

Crystal Lee McCann, 22, Derek Shane O'Brien, 22 and Darrin Peter Thibault, 24, were arrested between Dec. 19 and Thursday in connection with the Nov. 14 beating of a 19-year-old Latino whose name has not been released.

The teen, beaten at the Jackson Mobile Home Park at 225 Elk St., Hemet, has
been placed in a long-term care facility and his brain damage will likely be permanent, said Hemet police Sgt. Mark Richards.

Thibault, arrested Dec. 19, has been arraigned on charges of attempted murder, membership in a criminal gang and assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm, with gang, serious felony and great bodily injury allegations, according to court records.

McCann, arrested Dec. 26, has pleaded not guilty to attempting to dissuade a witness and gang allegations. She is to be arraigned Tuesday.

O'Brien was arrested Thursday on suspicion of attempted murder, violation of probation and membership in a criminal street gang. He is also to be arraigned Tuesday.

The first person arrested, Justin Tyme Hayes, 21, has been charged with attempted murder and participating in a criminal street gang, with serious felony, great bodily injury and gang activity allegations. He has pleaded not guilty.

All of them reputedly belong to a white supremacist gang, Richards said.

Investigators may charge more people in the near future, the sergeant said.

mydesert.com

Obama Death Wish by Arpaio's Deputy?

2009-01-03T08:19:00.000-08:00

Arpaio arrests activists while Supervisor Kunasek watches

2009-01-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

Men Accused in Obama Plot Plead Not Guilty

2008-11-28T07:20:00.000-08:00

By WOODY BAIRD | Associated Press Writer

JACKSON, Tenn. (AP) - Two white supremacists charged with plotting to kill President-elect Barack Obama and dozens of other black people pleaded not guilty Wednesday to new criminal charges added to an earlier federal indictment.

Daniel Cowart, 20, of rural West Tennessee and Paul Schlesselman, 18, of Helena-West Helena, Ark., entered the pleas on firearms and conspiracy charges. They were originally indicted on Nov. 5, but a new indictment, with three additional charges, was handed up by a federal grand jury on Nov. 20.

Wearing black and white striped jail uniforms with chains around their ankles, the two stood silent before Magistrate Diane Vescovo except to say "Yes, ma'am" when asked if they understood the new charges. Not guilty pleas were entered by lawyers.

Cowart and Schlesselman are being held without bond and no trial date has been set. Their next scheduled court appearance is Dec. 12 in Jackson, about 75 miles north of Memphis. At that hearing lawyers are to discuss a timetable for further court proceedings.

Cowart and Schlesselman are accused of plotting a robbery and killing spree targeting African-Americans that was to culminate with an attack on Obama. A federal affidavit says the two planned to dress up in white tuxedoes and top hats and attack Obama by blasting with firearms from a speeding car.

Joe Byrd, Cowart's lawyer, said outside the courtroom that he has seen no evidence his client could have carried out such attack.

"It tells me we're not dealing with Lee Harvey Oswald," Byrd said.

Prosecutors refused to comment on the case, as did the federal public defenders office which is representing Schlesselman.

Authorities describe Schlesselman and Cowart as white supremacist skinheads. They were initially arrested last month by local authorities investigating reports of a window being shot out at an unoccupied, predominantly black church.

They are accused of possessing a sawed-off shotgun, carrying guns across state lines to commit crimes of violence, planning to rob a licensed firearm dealer and threatening a presidential candidate.

The new indictment includes a charge of conspiring to violate the civil rights of African-Americans and two firearms charges against Cowart related to the church shooting.

Byrd refused comment on the shooting except to say, "There is some point at which there's a gulf separating malice and stupidity."

Cowart is charged with nine criminal offenses while Schlesselman is charged with seven. The charges each carry maximum penalties of five to 20 years in prison plus fines of $250,000.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: memphisdailynews.com

More than 150 protest "KKK" graffiti in Maine

2008-11-28T07:18:00.000-08:00

Article Date: Friday, November 28, 2008

HALLOWELL, Maine (AP) _ People in central Maine are speaking out against "KKK" graffiti that showed up along a popular walking and bicycling trail.

More than 150 people gathered Wednesday on the Kennebec River Rail Trail in Hallowell to speak out against the more than 20 red and black "KKK" markings — shorthand for the Ku Klux Klan white supremacist group — that were found along the trail last weekend.

The protest was organized after the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence was overwhelmed by phone calls.

Steve Wessler, director of the center, said the markings are "messages of hate and terror."

___

Information from: Kennebec Journal, http://www.kjonline.com/

Source: fosters.com

GOP faces disaster unless it can win back Latinos

2008-11-23T13:42:00.000-08:00

By Ruben Navarrette
San Diego Union-Tribune
November 22, 2008 6:00 AM

Some Republicans are saying the party was on a fool's errand trying to win over Latinos.

In this election, most Latinos voted for the Democratic nominee for president, just as they have in every presidential election since they helped elect John Kennedy in 1960. There have been elections where Democrats ran away with the Hispanic vote (i.e., Bill Clinton) and others where they were barely able to gain a majority (i.e., John Kerry).

When it comes to winning over Latinos, Barack Obama is no Bill Clinton. The former Illinois senator received 67 percent of the Hispanic vote, while Clinton got 72 percent in his 1996 re-election bid. Still, it was an impressive showing for the president-elect.

Obama also had the benefit of GOP mistakes. Republicans who second-guess their party's Hispanic outreach efforts have short memories.

The real foolishness occurred earlier, when some decided to pander to nativists at the cost of alienating a community that adds a million people to the voter rolls every four years.

In fact, a lot of the GOP faithful are worried that - given changing demographics - they may never win another presidential election if they don't make peace with Latinos. According to census estimates, Hispanics will make up a quarter of the U.S. population by 2042. Those are likely to be dark days for the Republican Party unless it can find a way to appeal to Hispanic voters.

During a recent appearance on the Hugh Hewitt radio show, neoconservative commentator John Podhoretz described the GOP's anti-immigrant saber-rattling as a "political and demographic disaster" for Republicans.

You're probably thinking the issue isn't immigration but illegal immigration. But that doesn't hold up. Many people like to tell themselves they're opposed only to illegal immigration, but when they list the reasons, it usually boils down to fear of a changing culture. It's not just illegal immigrants who are bringing about those changes. It's also legal residents and U.S.-born Latinos.

And so, the debate has taken on a sweeping anti-Hispanic flavor. When Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado - who, by the way, I am convinced is a secret agent for the Democrats - called Miami a "Third World country," it was Cuban-Americans who took offense.

Think about it. Technically, immigration isn't their fight. The Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 gives Cuban immigrants a red carpet to the United States, provided they make it to shore. But because of the impolitic and imprecise rhetoric surrounding the immigration debate, many Cuban-Americans are jumping into the fray.

Cuban-Americans used to be a solidly Republican constituency. But in this election, Obama made significant inroads, especially with young Cuban-Americans. For that, Obama should remember to thank Tancredo and the other GOP culture warriors.

Podhoretz is right. "Disaster" is a good word for what is lurking around the corner for Republicans if they don't wise up and change their ways.

Every week, I hear from dozens of Latinos who say they don't feel welcome in the Republican Party, and they resent it - even though many of them confess to having doubts about the Democrats. In the end, they find their doubts easier to overcome than their resentments.

I'm often asked by local Republican leaders around the country what the party can do to stop the hemorrhaging. Many assume it would take some sort of extreme makeover and the complete renunciation of everything for which their party stands.

That's ridiculous. It's what the Republicans stand for that represents the GOP's best hope at attracting Latinos. Empowering individuals and promoting values such as personal responsibility work in their favor. So do policies that lower taxes, strengthen the military, make schools more accountable and protect the homeland.

As for the thorny immigration issue, contrary to what many conservatives assume, it's not that Latinos want an open border. They don't. Most Latinos recognize that the United States has the responsibility to protect its sovereignty. They don't like the idea of building more walls and fences, but most of them have no problem with adding more Border Patrol agents and giving them the best equipment to do their jobs. What Latinos object to is the tone of the debate. They've had their fill of ugliness, racism, hypocrisy and falsehoods spread by opportunistic politicians offering nothing more than simplistic solutions and overheated rhetoric.

That sort of thing might have helped the GOP win a few battles here and there. But it ensures Republicans will lose the war.

Contact San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Ruben Navarrette at ruben.navarrette@uniontrib.com.

Source: recordnet.com

NY Hate Crime Suspect Now Charged With Murder

2008-11-23T13:37:00.000-08:00

NY Hate Crime Suspect Now Charged With Murder
Prosecutors say NY teenagers accused of killing immigrant carried out larger crime spree
By FRANK ELTMAN
The Associated Press

RIVERHEAD, N.Y.

Suspects in the stabbing death of Marcello Lucero, inset, are led in shackles at a court hearing. His murder has shed light on what some say is an ongoing problem of anti-Hispanic sentiment in Long Island's Suffolk County.
(WABC)

The killing of an Ecuadorean immigrant by seven high school students was part of a spree in which the teenagers tormented other immigrants while armed with knives and BB guns, prosecutors said.

The teens were indicted Thursday on more serious offenses — including murder as a hate crime for one accused of wielding the knife — than they initially faced when arrested in the Nov. 8 killing of Marcelo Lucero.

About 300 people gathered Thursday in Gualaceo, Ecuador, for a funeral for Lucero, who worked in a Riverhead dry-cleaning store after arriving in the United States 16 years ago. His gray casket was draped with an Ecuadorean flag, and rose petals were tossed on top. Some in the crowd carried signs saying "No to Racism."

Lucero's mother and sister carried his remains in two wooden urns from the church to the cemetery, somberly walking about a half-mile through the quiet town of 18,000 in the Andean foothills.

A priest at Gualaceo's main church, the Rev. Jorge Moreno, called Lucero's death "a product of a feeling of xenophobia that makes some people believe they are worth more than others."

Prosecutors on Long Island said the teenagers had been hanging out with friends when someone suggested they go "beaner jumping," a derogatory term they used as a euphemism for attacking Hispanics. The group drove around Patchogue and encountered a Hispanic man and attempted to rough him up, but the man escaped, prosecutors said.

Shortly before midnight, the group came upon Lucero and a companion walking near the Patchogue train station. The group surrounded their victims, but Lucero's friend managed to flee the scene unharmed, prosecutors said. Lucero tried to fight back, smacking one of the teens with his belt, but was soon overwhelmed by the mob, prosecutors said.

Jeffrey Conroy ended the fight by plunging a knife into Lucero's chest, authorities say. District Attorney Thomas Spota said the other six were unaware that Conroy had stabbed Lucero until he told them as they fled the scene. The prosecutor said that because the other teens did not know about the stabbing until afterward, they were not being charged with murder.

The six suspects were arraigned Thursday on charges including gang assault, conspiracy, attempted assault and attempted gang assault. Lawyers for the six entered not guilty pleas.

Conroy will answer to an upgraded charge of second-degree murder as a hate crime, as well as manslaughter, gang assault and other crimes at a Monday hearing.

Conroy could face 25 years to life in prison and the others could be sentenced to five to 25 years if convicted of the most serious charges. Attorneys for all seven have said their clients are innocent.

Advocates for Hispanics and others have spoken out against the killing, which took place days after Barack Obama was elected as the country's first black president.

"It is tragic that a crime of this nature, a xenophobic lynching, happened just as the United States celebrates a historic step forward in which racial barriers have been overcome," Ecuadorean Ambassador Luis Gallegos said last week.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

Source: ABC News

4 Anti-Obama Hate Crimes Reported In Torrance, California

2008-11-23T09:36:00.001-08:00

Anti-Latino Hate Crimes Rise for Fourth Year in a Row

2008-10-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

By Mark Potok on October 29, 2008

Hate crimes targeting Latinos increased again in 2007, capping a 40% rise in the four years since 2003, according to FBI statistics released earlier this week.

As anti-immigrant propaganda has increased on both the margins and in the mainstream of society — where pundits and politicians have routinely vilified undocumented Latino immigrants with a series of defamatory falsehoods — hate violence has risen against perceived “illegal aliens.” Each year since 2003, the number of FBI-reported anti-Latino hate crime incidents has risen (see table, below), even as a swelling nativist movement has become larger and more vitriolic.

The FBI statistics, which are simply compilations of state statistics as mandated by federal law, are notoriously sketchy. Because of a variety of problems in the voluntary reporting system, including the failure of many victims to report crimes to police, the FBI figures have long been suspected of being far lower than the actual level of such crimes. And that turns out to be true. The FBI has reported national hate crime totals of between about 6,000 and about 10,000 since it began publishing the numbers in 1992, depending on the year (the new report counts 7,264 incidents in 2007). But a definitive 2005 study by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (PDF), based on detailed and highly accurate National Crime Victimization Surveys, found that the real annual level of hate crime in America averaged some 191,000 incidents — in other words, about 20 to 30 times higher than the numbers annually reported by the FBI.

Although the numbers of FBI-reported anti-Latino hate crime attacks are small — from 426 incidents in 2003 to 595 incidents in 2007 — the trend they suggest is almost certainly a real one. California, which does a better job of reporting hate crimes than most states, has also seen a major uptick in anti-Latino violence, and the growth of hate groups has been most dramatic in Southern border states like California, Arizona and Texas, the front lines of the immigration controversy.

At the same time as anti-Latino violence has risen, the Southern Poverty Law Center has reported a major increase in hate groups — from 602 in 2000 to 888 in 2007, a 48% percent jump — and said that the growth has been almost entirely driven by the immigration debate. White supremacist groups that normally target African Americans and Jews have focused heavily for the last several years on the “threat” of Latino immigrants, exploiting the issue successfully in order to recruit more and more members, especially in the border states. That has only begun to change recently, as hate groups increasingly turn their attention to the subprime crisis (which they blame on minorities) and the likely prospect of a black president.

There are other problems in the FBI hate crime statistics, as is reflected in the new report for 2007. Mississippi, for instance, reported zero hate crimes last year, while Alaska reported one and Georgia had three. If there are more than 190,000 hate crimes nationally each year, it is obviously utterly implausible that the number of hate crimes in those states could be so low. A part of the problem has been the reluctance of some police departments and states to report hate crimes (one reason may be fear of bad publicity), along with reporting errors by various local and state officials. The 2005 Department of Justice study also pointed to another huge problem, finding that fully 56% of hate crime victimizations were never reported to police at all. That problem is exacerbated in the undocumented community, whose members are typically afraid to report crimes to police for fear of being deported.

The FBI’s latest report also found, as it has in most years, that schools and colleges were the third largest venue for hate crimes (with 11.3% of the total reported on campuses) after “in or near residences or homes” (30.5%) and “on highways, roads, alleys, or streets” (18.9%). Although many think of campuses as being bastions of open-mindedness, in fact they suffer the same pathologies as the rest of society. They also hold concentrations of young people, who are more crime-prone that other segments of the population.

The definitive 2005 government study also highlighted several other key facts about hate crimes, including that per capita rates of victimization “varied little by race or ethnicity: about 0.9 per 1,000 whites, 0.7 per 1,000 blacks, and 0.9 per 1,000 Hispanics.” Perhaps more importantly, the study concluded that hate crimes were vastly more violent than others — almost 84% of hate crimes included violence ranging from rape to assault, while only 23% of non-hate crimes did.

Source: splcenter.org

ATF: Plot by skinheads to kill Obama is foiled

2008-10-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

Two Neo-Nazis held in Tennessee; allegedly also planned to kill dozens

This undated photo obtained from a MySpace webpage shows Daniel Cowart, 20 of Bells, Tenn. holding a weapon. Federal agents have broken up a plot to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. and shoot or decapitate 102 black people in a Tennessee murder spree, the ATF said Monday Oct. 27, 2008. In court records unsealed Monday, federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school by two neo-Nazi skinheads. The men, Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tenn., and Paul Schlesselman 18, of West Helena, Ark., are being held without bond.

WASHINGTON - Law enforcement agents have broken up a plot by two neo-Nazi skinheads to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 88 black people, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Monday.

In court records unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Tenn., federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school in a murder spree that was to begin in Tennessee. Agents said the skinheads did not identify the school by name.

Jim Cavanaugh, special agent in charge of ATF's Nashville field office, said the two men planned to kill 88 African Americans, including 14 by beheading. The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic in the white supremacist community.

The men also sought to go on a national killing spree after the Tennessee murders, with Obama as its final target, Cavanaugh told The Associated Press.

"They said that would be their last, final act — that they would attempt to kill Sen. Obama," Cavanaugh said. "They didn't believe they would be able to do it, but that they would get killed trying."

No immediate comment
An Obama spokeswoman traveling with the senator in Pennsylvania had no immediate comment.

The men, Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tenn., and Paul Schlesselman 18, of Helena-West Helena, Ark., are being held without bond. Agents seized a rifle, a sawed-off shotgun and three pistols from the men when they were arrested. Authorities alleged the two men were preparing to break into a gun shop to steal more.

The two men were arrested Oct. 22 by the Crockett County, Tenn., Sheriff's Office. "Once we arrested the defendants and suspected they had violated federal law, we immediately contacted federal authorities," said Crockett County Sheriff Troy Klyce.

Cowart and Schlesselman are charged with possessing an unregistered firearm, conspiring to steal firearms from a federally licensed gun dealer, and threatening a candidate for president.

The investigation is continuing, and more charges are possible, Cavanaugh said.

The court records say Cowart and Schlesselman also bought nylon rope and ski masks to use in a robbery or home invasion to fund their spree, during which they allegedly planned to go from state to state and kill people.

Ram vehicle into Obama?
For the Obama plot, the legal documents show, Cowart and Schlesselman "planned to drive their vehicle as fast as they could toward Obama shooting at him from the windows."

"Both individuals stated they would dress in all white tuxedos and wear top hats during the assassination attempt," the court complaint states. "Both individuals further stated they knew they would and were willing to die during this attempt."

Cavanaugh said there's no evidence — so far — that others were willing to assist Cowart and Schlesselman with the plot.

He said authorities took the threats very seriously.

"They seemed determined to do it," Cavanaugh said. "Even if they were just to try it, it would be a trail of tears around the South."

The court documents say the two men met about a month ago on the Internet and found common ground in their shared "white power" and "skinhead" philosophy.

Click for related content
Read more news from across the U.S.

14, 88 are skinhead symbols
The numbers 14 and 88 are symbols in skinhead culture, referring to a 14-word phrase attributed to an imprisoned white supremacist: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children" and to the eighth letter of the alphabet, H. Two "8"s or "H"s stand for "Heil Hitler."

Helena-West Helena, on the Mississippi River in east Arkansas' Delta, is in one of the nation's poorest regions, trailing even parts of Appalachia in its standard of living. Police Chief Fred Fielder said he had never heard of Schlesselman.

However, the reported threat of attacking a school filled with black students worried Fielder. Helena-West Helena, with a population of 12,200, is 66 percent black. "Predominantly black school, take your pick," he said.

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: msnbc.msn.com

Two men convicted in hate crime beating

2008-10-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

Man was attacked after stating he was half-Salvadoran.

By ELLYN PAK
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Two self-proclaimed white supremacists were convicted today of beating a man unconscious after he mentioned his ethnicity, officials said.

Nicholas Tyler Gibbs, 20, of Anaheim, and Ryan Joseph Swanson, 19, of Huntington Beach, were both sentenced to six years in state prison for their involvement in a hate attack against 24-year-old Ryan Honeycutt, according to the District Attorney's Office.

The two men pleaded guilty on felony counts of aggravated assault, unlawful taking of a vehicle and a misdemeanor count of battery with serious bodily injury. They were also charged with a sentencing enhancing for committing a hate crime together and causing great bodily injury.

On May 26, Honeycutt was having drinks at a bar in Seal Beach with a woman prosecutors identified as Amanda L. When they left, they found Honeycutt had a dead battery, and the woman called Swanson and Gibbs for help.

Gibbs and Swanson jump-started the car in the parking lot, and then all four went back to the woman's Seal Beach home after buying beer.

During a conversation, Honeycutt mentioned that he was half-Salvadoran, according to prosecutors. Swanson allegedly said, "You mean you're (expletive) El Salvadorian? You're basically a dirty (expletive) Mexican."

Swanson and Gibbs, who both have white supremacist tattoos, told Honeycutt that they were white supremacists. When Honeycutt began to leave, Swanson and Gibbs attacked him outside – punching him in the head, knocking him unconscious and stomping on him after he had fallen to the ground, prosecutors say.

Honeycutt suffered a broken collarbone, a concussion and cuts to his face. Swanson and Gibbs stole Honeycutt's car, keys, wallet and cell phone. After regaining consciousness, Honeycutt returned to the woman's house. She drove him home, where he called for help. His car was found three days later in a Long Beach parking lot.

Contact the writer: 714-445-6604 or epak@ocregister.com

Source: ocregister.com

Judge Calls Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Jail Conditions Unconstitutional

2008-10-26T07:47:00.000-07:00

Sheriff Arpaio Ordered To Provide Adequate Medical And Mental Health Care And To Ensure Humane Facilities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

PHOENIX - A U.S. district court judge today ruled that the grossly inadequate conditions at the Maricopa County Jail, overseen by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, are unconstitutional and jeopardize the health and safety of prisoners.

In a sweeping rebuff of an attempt by Arpaio to terminate a federal consent decree mandating that he maintain conditions at the Maricopa County Jail that meet constitutional minimums, Judge Neil Wake ordered that jail officials ensure that all detainees receive necessary medical and mental health care, that they be given uninterrupted access to all medicines prescribed by correctional medical staff, that they be given access to toilets, sinks, toilet paper and soap and that they be served food that meets or exceeds the U.S. Department of Agriculture's dietary guidelines.

"Sheriff Arpaio's horrendous treatment of detainees, especially those with severe medical and mental health problems, has caused terrible suffering for years," said Margaret Winter, Associate Director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project. "Judge Wake's decision should serve as a reminder that even a man who brags about being the toughest sheriff in America has to abide by the Constitution."

The ruling comes on the heels of a decision last month by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care to terminate the accreditation of all of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office jails for failing to maintain compliance with national standards and for providing false information to the Commission.

The ACLU went to court last August to argue that deteriorating conditions within each of the jail's five facilities that house pre-trial detainees - people who have been arrested but not yet tried or convicted - necessitate federal court oversight to ensure that Arpaio and other county officials maintain safe and humane conditions and provide the thousands of pre-trial detainees held there basic levels of medical and mental health care.

Arpaio has been attempting for nearly seven years to get out from under the consent decree that governs conditions under which pre-trial detainees are housed and which resulted from nearly two decades of litigation that centered on the jail's horrific conditions. Under a provision of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, the consent decree has been unenforceable since Arpaio filed a motion to have it terminated in September 2001.

According to today's ruling, county officials will be forced to maintain records of their compliance with Wake's orders and provide those records on a quarterly basis to the ACLU.

"Sheriff Arpaio's actions have gone unchecked for too long and this ruling is a significant step toward much needed accountability," said Daniel Pochoda, attorney with the ACLU of Arizona. "It is time that the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and all of the residents of Maricopa County take action to end his abusive practices."

Pre-trial detainees at Maricopa County Jail are regularly given moldy bread, rotten fruit and other contaminated food. Detainees with serious medical, mental health and dental needs receive inadequate care, and they are routinely denied beds or bunks at intake, forcing them to sleep on the floor. Additionally, severe overcrowding in three of the jail's facilities has created extremely dangerous environments by significantly increasing the potential for violence among inmates.

In one recent and particularly galling example, jail officials chose to punish rather than treat the bizarre behavior of a young and severely psychotic African immigrant. Jail officials put him in disciplinary segregation and chose to house him with other inmates, resulting in his being so severely beaten by his cell mates that he had to be taken to the emergency room.

In another case, a young man with cystic fibrosis was routinely denied breathing treatments and other medical treatment despite his repeated requests, resulting in his breathing capacity eroding by nearly 30 percent during the time of his detention.

Attorneys in the case include Winter and Hanh Nguyen of the ACLU, Pochoda of the ACLU of Arizona and Debbie Hill of the Phoenix law firm Osborn and Maledon.

Additional information about the ACLU's National Prison Project can be found online at: http://www.aclu.org/prison/index.html

Additional information about the ACLU of Arizona can be found online at: http://www.acluaz.org

Source: aclu.org

Brian Williams: McCain Campaign Spread 'B' Hoax To Reporters

2008-10-25T11:02:00.000-07:00

by Jed L
Sat Oct 25, 2008 at 10:50:03 AM PDT

So we already know the McCain campaign played some sort of a role in helping get the 'B' hoax off the ground in the first place.

Now, thanks to Brian Williams, we know that once it was off the ground, McCain-land continued spreading the hoax to reporters, fueling the attention it got by publicizing phone calls from both McCain and Palin to the so-called victim.

On Thursday, FOX News Executive VP John Moody wrote:

If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.

The tone of FOX's coverage over the next 10 days will tell us whether or not Mr. Moody actually meant what he said. But no matter what he or his network ends up doing, the words he spoke were the truth.

Source: dailykos.com

McCain Campaign Volunteer Admits Alleged Attack Was a Hoax

2008-10-25T10:05:00.000-07:00

A woman who lied about being attacked because of the McCain bumper sticker on her car will face charges of filing a false report.

Ashley Todd, a 20-year-old volunteer for the McCain campaign, admitted she lied in reporting a politically motivated attack that did not occur, according to police. (College Republicans)

PITTSBURGH -- Police now have the answer to the most important question behind a 20-year-old McCain campaign volunteer's claim that she was attacked by a robber who carved a "B" into her cheek when he saw a McCain bumper sticker on her car.

It was a hoax.

Ashley Todd, 20, of College Station, Tex., confessed to lying, Pittsburgh police said Friday, and she will be charged with filing a false report, a misdemeanor.

But questions remain about why Todd lied, and even she doesn't seem to know how she received the markings on her face.

"She told lie after lie, and the situation compounded to where we are right now," Lt. Kevin Kraus, head of major crimes for the Pittsburgh police, said Friday.

She remained at police headquarters on Friday afternoon, because police "have concern for her well-being," Kraus said. He said officials are trying to determine whether she needs psychiatric evaluation.

"She hasn't really shown any obvious remorse," Kraus said. "She's certainly surprised that it snowballed to where it is today."

Todd, who is white, had told police that on Wednesday night a black man robbed her of $60 at an ATM in Bloomfield, Pa.

She said the robber then noticed the McCain bumper sticker on her car, punched her in the back of her head, knocked her down and beat her, saying "you are going to be a Barack supporter." He pinned her down and scratched the "B" on the right side of her face before fleeing, according to her original story.

On Friday, officials said they had found several "inconsistencies" in Todd's statements. She was brought back to police headquarters, where she finally confessed that she had made the entire story up.

"After a while, she just simply stated that she wanted to tell the truth," said Maurita Bryant, assistant chief for investigations.

Todd confessed to police that she was driving alone, looked in the mirror, saw her black eye and the "B" on her face, and didn't know how they got there.

She assumed she could have done it herself, she said, and then she made up the story about the attacker.

"She saw the 'B' on her face, and she immediately thought about Barack," Bryant said.

Kraus said the "B" was what first led him to suspect Todd's story. He said he was struck by how neatly the letter was etched on her face.

Police had been working on the case since it broke Thursday, Bryant said, and "it's been a huge waste of time and man hours."

Police said Todd did not have a lawyer, and that her none of her family were in Pittsburgh.

Earlier in the day, Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Diane Richard said bank surveillance footage did not show Todd at the Citizens Bank ATM where she claimed the assault took place. Richard told FOX News that Todd had been staying with a male friend who lives down the street from the ATM.

A woman named Liz who answered the door at the residence where Todd arrived after her purported attack told FOXNews.com that her roommate is friends with Todd, and he told Liz not to discuss any details about the incident. A Ford Taurus with a Texas license plate and a McCain-Palin sticker was parked outside.

Richard said Todd later added to her tale, saying she was groped by the robber and lost consciousness during the assault. Neither of those details was in the original report.

Richard said that after a second interview, Todd was not as definitive about the assault or the motives behind it, nor could she say for certain whether the robber took $60 from her, as she initially reported and still maintained was missing.

Todd took a polygraph test late Thursday or early Friday after police heard the inconsistencies, Richard said.

'There were major changes in her story" before and after the polygraph test, Richard said. As for the wound on her cheek, "it's very shallow, it's more of a scratch."

Before Todd's admission, Richard had said the police department was taking the report "very seriously" and considered Todd a "victim" while the investigation was ongoing.

The area at Liberty Avenue and Pearl Street where Todd had said the attack took place is heavily traveled in the daytime, full of traffic, pedestrians, restaurants and stores. On Friday, Pittsburgh detectives canvassed the area looking for witnesses.

Doug Graham, a neighbor of the residence where Todd's friend lives, told FOXNews.com it's unlikely an assault at the bank would go unnoticed.

"There ain't no way nobody saw that," said Graham, whose home -- where he has lived for a decade -- sports a Barack Obama sign. "It's always hopping up there. Something fishy, I knew the first second I saw [her story]. Something fishy."

Ethan Eilon, executive director of the College Republicans National Committee, told FOX News that Todd was volunteering as a field representative through his organization and that she had taken a year off from her studies at Blinn College to work on the campaign.

Todd received a call from the Republican presidential nominee on Thursday night. Barack Obama's local campaign team also issued well-wishes and said it hoped her assailant would be caught and brought to justice.

FOX News' Judson Berger and Carl Cameron and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: foxnews.com

McCain Accidentally Agrees: Western Pennsylvania Is Racist

2008-10-23T15:51:00.000-07:00

Sen. John McCain offered, on Tuesday, what may go down as one of the more awkward moments of this campaign cycle, in which -- speaking in Western Pennsylvania -- he declared he 'couldn't agree more' with the sentiment that some of the people from that region were openly racist.

"You know, I think you may have noticed that Senator Obama's supporters have been saying some pretty nasty things about Western Pennsylvania lately," McCain told the audience in the town of Moon Township. "And you know, I couldn't agree with them more."

Oops. It was, in many ways, a reflection of how tired these candidates have become as this nearly two-year-long campaign hits its final strides. And, to be fair, the crowd eventually got the point; booing at the reference to John Murtha, who said last week that some of his Western Pennsylvania constituents were racist. But there was a stunned silence after the gaffe.

For political humorists it is gold, made even more potent by McCain's botched attempt at a recovery. "I couldn't disagree with you," he declared (referencing what, no one knows). "I couldn't agree with you more than the fact that Western Pennsylvania is the most patriotic, most god-loving, most, most patriotic part of America, and this is a great part of the country."

The line was reminiscent of Sarah Palin touting the pro-America parts of the country. And actually could be just as politically dicey than the inadvertent labeling of Western Pennsylvanians as racists.

Either way, the video is worth a watch... or three.

Source: huffingtonpost.com

Tires slashed during Obama rally

2008-10-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

By Corey G. Johnson
Staff writer

Someone slashed the tires of at least 30 vehicles parked outside the Crown Coliseum on Sunday during a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, authorities said.

Sheriff’s deputies are investigating. The tires were cut while people were inside the Crown Coliseum listening to speeches, said Maj. E. Wright of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

Many of the damaged vehicles were parked on Wilkes Road. Representatives from Obama and Sen. John McCain’s campaigns said they were unaware of the acts.

Susan Lagana, the North Carolina communications director for Obama, said it was extremely disappointing and unfortunate that “people would have to experience something like that.”

Mario Diaz, communications director for McCain, did not respond to a call late Sunday.

Sarah Revis, who lives on Wilkes Road, said the slashed tires left several women, including a single mother and a toddler, stranded and upset. At least four tow trucks were sent to move the vehicles from the Crown, Revis said.

“This is an embarrassment to this city and to me as a citizen,” Revis said. “I’ve seen women out here crying and men cussing. This is a crying shame.”

Lynne Steenstra said she thought that the slashings were scare tactics designed to keep her and others from supporting Obama.

Even though it cost her roughly $120 to get her Dodge Caravan towed and fixed, Steenstra said the act would not intimidate her from voting.

“It hasn’t deterred us one bit,” Steenstra said. “It has only encouraged us more. I just hope whoever did this pays the price.”

Staff writer Corey G. Johnson can be reached at johnsonc@fayobserver.com or 323-4848, ext. 487.

Source: fayobserver.com

NC Early Voters Heckled by McCain Supporters, Tires Slashed

2008-10-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

Early voters in North Carolina, most of whom were black, were heckled and mocked by McCain supporters as they cast their ballots Sunday. According to Washington Times reporter Christina Bellatoni primarily white McCain supporters shouted "terrorist" and complained that "Sundays are for church not voting"

Sen. Barack Obama has set up a massive organization across the country, and especially in North Carolina...An organizer at the rally rattled off the addresses of early vote sites nearby that would be open after the event.

Photographer Joe Eddins and I headed over to the closest one and found a steady line of voters hoping to cast ballots early. Most seemed to be Obama supporters and several had come from the rally. Nearly all the voters were black.

Also at the polling site was a group of loud and angry protesters who shouted and mocked the voters as they walked in. Nearly all were white.

And in Fayettville, NC someone slashed the tires of at least 30 vehicles parked outside the Crown Coliseum on Sunday during a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, authorities said.

Sheriff’s deputies are investigating. The tires were cut while people were inside the Crown Coliseum listening to speeches, said Maj. E. Wright of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. The slashings left women and children stranded as they waited for tow trucks but even though it cost her roughly $120 to get her Dodge Caravan towed and fixed, Obama supporter Lynne Steenstra said :

It hasn’t deterred us one bit. It has only encouraged us more. I just hope whoever did this pays the price.

Source: campaignsilo.firedoglake.com

Muslim For McCain Not Allowed To Talk To CNN

2008-10-21T16:19:00.000-07:00

Daniel Zubairi, a Muslim McCain grassroots organizer who told racist rally attendees in Woodbridge, Virginia that the campaign didn't "endorse that behavior," was for some reason not allowed to talk to CNN about the incident.

Anchor Rick Sanchez said Zubairi was "ready and willing" to talk, but "the McCain camp won't let him do so."

Watch Zubairi confronting intolerant McCain fans at the rally:

Source: huffingtonpost.com

Racist Ohioan Mike Lunsford Hangs Obama Effigy from Noose in Tree

2008-10-18T08:23:00.001-07:00

Racist Obama billboard causes outrage

2008-10-12T08:13:00.000-07:00

A billboard in West Plains showing a caricature of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama wearing a turban and using his middle name -- Hussein -- in quotes has sparked outrage and accusations of racism.

The sign, located south of West Plains on U.S. 63 across from the Dairy Queen, says: "Barack 'Hussein' Obama equals more abortions, same sex marriages, taxes, gun regulations."

Outrage over the sign triggered West Plains resident Becky Estes to write a letter in Monday's edition of the Daily Quill newspaper saying "such a tasteless display merely reinforces the wide-spread belief that Ozarkers are ignorant country bumpkins."

"People don't like it. They're embarrassed by that sign, ashamed by that sign, horrified by that sign and outraged by that sign," Estes told the News-Leader on Thursday.

Estes' letter sparked responses from locals and out-of-state former residents in Wednesday's newspaper. The person who created the sign remains anonymous.

"I can find nothing wrong with this sign/cartoon, which is truthful by Obama's own statements," wrote James E. (Jay) Gentry Jr. of Mountain Grove. "If this is upsetting to Ms. Estes, then she should do some hard thinking about what is forthcoming if he is elected."

Raymond Fine, 74, of West Plains, said the sign is a form of free speech.

"If they can burn a flag, then they can put a sign up like that," Fine told the News-Leader.

Lesa Hall, a Democratic voter from West Plains, said it's not the message she takes issue with -- it's the use of Obama's middle name and the hand-drawn picture of him wearing a white turban.

"My offense was the stereotype and the racism that I felt that the billboard presented," said Hall, a teacher at the Junction Hill Middle School.

A spokeswoman for Obama's Missouri campaign, which has an office in West Plains, dismissed the sign as a distraction.

"Missouri voters aren't going to fall for these kinds of distractions," said spokeswoman Jean Weinberg. "The stakes are too high in this election."

Obama has said he supports a women's right to choose whether to abort an unwanted pregnancy, but opposes same-sex marriage. He does support civil unions to give equal legal rights and privileges to those couples, including access to a partner's health care benefits, property and adoption rights.

Obama's tax proposals call for a tax hike on the richest 5 percent, but tax cuts for all other workers.

On the subject of gun control, the Illinois senator has voted against conceal carry weapons laws, voted to ban certain types of guns used for hunting and supported increasing federal taxes on ammunition, according to his congressional and state senate voting records.

Throughout the presidential campaign, Obama has fought Internet rumors that he's Muslim. Hussein, an Arabic name commonly associated with the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, is Obama's middle name. His Kenyan father was Muslim, but Obama grew up in a Christian family.

Howell County Democrats are upset about the sign.

"Not only is it lying, but it's also in poor taste," said Jim Vokac, president of the Howell County Democrats Club. "It certainly is free speech, but it's poor taste. It does reflect poorly on the area."

Source: news-leader.com

McCain Defends Obama and gets Booed at Xenophobic Rally

2008-10-12T07:52:00.001-07:00

From: HeartofdraknIsAlive

Hatred and Ignorance is burning into the McCain campaign. McCain rallies have become a mixture of Limbaugh, Hannity and O'Reilly ideals and values meaning that is has become racist, xenophobic and comprised only of lies and smears. They have become hate fests and are looking more and more like clan rallies.

Teen jailed after 'racial attack'

2008-10-11T07:49:00.000-07:00

By KEVIN MARTIN, SUN MEDIA
The Calgary Sun

CALGARY -- The suspect in an allegedly race-motivated attack on a Japanese tourist was denied bail yesterday.

Youth court Judge Richard O'Gorman said surveillance video in which an apparent member of the white supremacist group Aryan Guard sprints after the woman was enough to convince him to detain the accused.

"To me the video was quite compelling," said O'Gorman of footage in which a male smashes a beer bottle on the ground before chasing after the victim in a downtown Calgary alley.

The 25-year-old victim was repeatedly kicked in the attack, which was not caught on tape.

Crown prosecutor Karuna Ramakrishnan had sought the teen's detention for what she says is a hate crime.

Ramakrishnan noted the accused's friend, who gave a statement to police, said members of the Aryan Guard target ethnic victims.

"He does indicate that members of the group ... go around beating up minorities and that is certainly the motivation the Crown is alleging," Ramakrishnan said of the friend, who was present during the assault.

Defence lawyer Jim Conway, who asked that his client be released on strict conditions, said the accused's beliefs should not be a factor in deciding bail.

"The young person's character is not at issue," Conway said of his 17-year-old client.

"There's some concern about the young person's beliefs ... but that is not a relevant factor," he said.

"The allegation of facts make no reference to any suggestion there was any motivation behind this incident."

The teen was arrested Sept. 3 in connection with a July 26 attack of a woman who had just left an 8 Ave. S.W. nightclub.

Her assailant had jump-kicked her in the head from behind and then kicked her some more while she was on the ground, leaving her bruised.

The accused is charged with assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon -- steel-toed combat boots were allegedly used in the attack.

At the commencement of the bail hearing last month, lead investigator Const. Ed Perkins testified he arrested the accused wearing steel-toed and soled heavy boots with red laces.

Perkins said Aryan Guard members wear white laces, but don red ones if they've drawn blood or shown a willingness to do so for the cause.

The case returns to court next week.

Source: cnews.canoe.ca

Man Shot 3 Times Claims He Was Gunned Down Over Pro-Obama Shirt

2008-10-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

A British man who was shot three times on a London street claims the gunman was enraged over his Barack Obama T-shirt, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday.

Dube Egwuatu told the Mail he was purchasing a cell phone when a stranger started shouting racial slurs over his shirt featuring the presidential candidate’s face and the word “Believe.”

Egwuatu zipped up his jacket and headed for his car, but as he turned it on, the gunman opened the passenger side door and shot him three times, hitting him in the face, hand and shoulder.

Egwuatu managed to drive off while bleeding and call for help. A piece of metal was removed from his jaw from the attacker’s gas-powered ball-bearing pistol, the Mail reported.

“He was telling me that he was going to kill me,” Egwuatu told the Mail. “I couldn't believe it was happening — and just because I was wearing an Obama T-shirt. He was trying to make me walk somewhere quieter, saying: ‘I've got something for you,’ and ‘I'm going to kill you.’”

Local police are still looking for the gunman.

Source: foxnews.com

New City man charged with attacking 3 people, screaming racial slurs

2008-10-05T07:57:00.000-07:00

NEW CITY - A 22-year-old man has been charged with attacking three younger males while screaming racial slurs at them on South Little Tor Road, Clarkstown police said yesterday.

Police said they weren't sure what precipitated the attack Tuesday afternoon. Sgt. Harry Baumann said Richard Giga, accused in the attack, had been drinking and just had an argument with his mother.
Advertisement

Baumann said Giga also had fought with his former girlfriend, having burned her belongings in the family's outdoor fireplace.

Giga had left the house and was walking when he encountered the three males, police said.

"He didn't know them, as far as we know, and we don't know of any provocation," Baumann said. The attacker "just went off the wall," he said.

The three Nanuet residents - ages 15, 17 and 20 - were walking on South Little Tor Road near Pasta Cuccina at 3 p.m. when the attack occurred, Baumann said.

Giga is accused of first slamming his body into the 20-year-old, then punching the 15-year-old in the head while screaming anti-Hispanic slurs, Baumann said.

He is further accused of forcing all three against a rock wall and demanding their cell phones and personal belongings while still spewing slurs, Baumann said. As the incident escalated, the 17-year-old called police on his cell phone, Baumann said.

Giga is accused of then going after the teen, putting him in a headlock, grabbing the cell phone and breaking it into two pieces, Baumann said. Police found the broken phone in bushes nearby.

The 17-year-old was taken to Nyack Hospital for evaluation, police said. The left side of his head was swollen and discolored, Baumann said. His injuries were not considered serious.

Giga of Birch Lane, New City, was charged with one count of second-degree robbery, two counts of third-degree robbery and two counts of second-degree assault, all felonies; three counts of unlawful imprisonment and one count of third-degree criminal mischief, both misdemeanors; and second-degree harassment, a violation.

Giga was being held yesterday in the county jail with bail set at $25,000, pending a hearing Monday in Clarkstown Town Court.

The incident could go before a county grand jury.

Reach Steve Lieberman at slieberm@lohud.com or 845-578-2443.

Source: lohud.com

Report: Student Attack May Have Been Racial

2008-10-05T07:49:00.000-07:00

ATTLEBORO (WBZ) ― A middle school student was the victim of what appears to be a racial attack while riding the school bus home Friday afternoon, according to a newspaper report.

The Sun Chronicle reported that a seventh grade boy from the Wamsutta Middle School in Attleboro was allegedly held down, kicked and punched by a group of students when he wouldn't move from the back of the bus. The attackers were also uttering racial slurs to the boy, according to the paper.

The father of the young boy sent an e-mail to the school, saying their son was attacked because of the color of his skin, the paper reports.

School Business Manager Marc Furtado told the paper that they are taking the incident seriously "This is something that's not OK under any circumstances," he said.

Furtado told the paper that the incident started when the group of students told the seventh grader to leave the back of the bus, and when he refused, the group sat on him.

Furtado also told the Chronicle that one of the attackers later admitted to using a racial slur.

According to a police report obtained by the paper, the student was the victim of another attack that did not involve a school bus.

The students involved in the bus fight have had their bus privileges taken away.

Source: wbztv.com

Oakland landlady to pay $31,000 in bias case

2008-10-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

(10-02) 12:38 PDT OAKLAND -- An Oakland landlady who allegedly berated an African American tenant with racial slurs and told him that "you're not going to turn this place into a ghetto" must pay the man and his wife $31,000 in damages, a state civil rights agency has ruled.

The remarks - which the landlady has denied making - amounted to racial discrimination in housing, the Fair Employment and Housing Commission said in a ruling last week.

The tenant, Dante Lemons, said he was sitting on the front porch of the Maryland Apartments at 3301 Telegraph Ave. in the spring or early summer of 2005, listening to the radio, when apartment co-owner Marlene O'Neill told him no loitering was allowed. When Lemons pointed out that he lived there, he said, O'Neill, who is white, replied that he shouldn't be outside and was turning the place into a ghetto.

Lemons said he had brushed off the incident at his wife's suggestion. However, O'Neill said the same thing when she saw him on the front steps another time, swore at him and unplugged his radio, Lemons said.

When he saw the landlady arguing with another black tenant in November 2005 and refused her order to return to his apartment, Lemons said, O'Neill asked, "What's wrong with you people?" and used a racial slur.

Lemons and his wife, Chanel Williams, who also complained of abuse by O'Neill, moved out with their young son in December 2005, saying they felt harassed.

O'Neill, who represented herself before the state commission, testified that she had ordered Lemons off the porch but denied calling him names or mistreating him. The commission said, however, that two other tenants with no involvement in the dispute had confirmed Lemons' account.

The damages covered the couple's increased rent at their next apartment, $22,500 for emotional distress and a $5,000 penalty.

O'Neill, who now lives in Florida, repeated her denial of the allegations in an interview this week and said she may appeal the ruling in Superior Court.

"I'd been nothing but nice to this young couple," she said. "He (Lemons) called the race card."

E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page B - 4 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Source: sfgate.com

Teacher Suspended For Racial Slur Directed At Obama

2008-10-05T07:28:00.000-07:00

By TimALoftis

A Florida teacher was suspended after students said he used a racial epithet directed at presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Seventh-grade social studies teacher Greg Howard of Marianna Middle School was given a written reprimand on Wednesday for "racially inappropriate comments" he made in his classroom on Sept. 26, according to a Jackson County School Board news release.

Howard reportedly wrote the word CHANGE as an acronym on the board and wrote an expletive with the letter "N." The phrase he wrote has been reported as "Can You Help A (expletive) Get Elected" and "Come Help A (expletive) Get Elected." School district officials did not return calls seeking comment Thursday, and Howard could not be reached.

Source: propeller.com

Threats bring 45 days in jail

2008-10-05T07:07:00.000-07:00

Raleigh man's e-mail targeted Washington rights groups

Kristin Collins, Staff Writer
RALEIGH - A Raleigh man who made graphic threats against national Hispanic and Islamic advocacy organizations will serve 45 days in federal prison.

Christopher Michael Szaz, 42, also must perform 100 hours of community service with an Islamic or Hispanic group, receive treatment for alcohol addiction and remain under supervision for a year, according to the sentence imposed Wednesday by U.S. Magistrate Judge James E. Gates.

Szaz pleaded guilty Tuesday to two misdemeanor charges of sending threatening e-mail to the National Council of La Raza and the Council of American-Islamic Relations, both based in Washington.

Prosecutors said he sent two e-mail messages on June 8, 2007, threatening to bomb the CAIR office and an e-mail message to La Raza on July 27, 2007, threatening to kill employees.

Janet Murgu'a, president of La Raza, said the e-mail her group received included promises to "splay" their bodies and used derogatory terms to refer to Latinos.

Murgu'a said Wednesday that she hoped Szaz's prosecution would send a message to an increasingly hostile faction of people who oppose illegal immigration.

"I think they sit down at their keyboards and they think they can write anything to anyone," Murgu'a said. "The First Amendment does not protect death threats."

Szaz, a self-employed web designer, testified this week that he had a drinking problem and sent the messages while extremely intoxicated.

Szaz, who lives with his elderly mother, asked for house arrest so he could continue to care for her. The judge declined to forgo jail time, but gave him far less than the maximum one year and allowed him to report to prison on Oct. 20 so he could participate in early voting in the presidential election.

kristin.collins@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4881

Source: newsobserver.com

RI store owner apologizes for asking for ID cards

2008-10-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The owner of a plumbing supply store has signed an apology for asking Spanish-speaking customers for their Social Security numbers.

David Richardson allegedly asked to see Jose Genao's Social Security card in March after listening to Genoa and a friend speak Spanish inside Richardson's store. Genao said Richardson complained that the majority of people who speak Spanish in Rhode Island are illegal immigrants.

Both customers are U.S. citizens. Besides apologizing, Richardson paid $500 to several charities after the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights and the Providence Human Relations Commission found probable cause that he broke city and state law.

Richardson said he apologized to get the case "over and done with" and doesn't agree with the legal findings.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Source: WPRI

Federal judge issues "Operation Stonegarden" immigration injunction in Otero

2008-09-30T15:46:00.000-07:00

by Sito Negron

A federal judge has issued an injunction barring members of the Otero County Sheriff's Department from "unconstitutional stops, searches, seizures and discrimination" in enforcing immigration laws through the controversial Operation Stonegarden.

Posted on September 22, 2008

A federal judge has issued an injunction barring members of the Otero County Sheriff's Department from enforcing immigration laws through the controversial Operation Stonegarden.

The injunction specifically bars the department from "engaging in unlawful discriminatory activities and racial profiling for the purpose of identifying and apprehending undocumented and illegal immigrants pursuant to Operation Stonegarden."

In addition, the order bars the department from "unlawful retaliation, coercion, harassment, threats and intimidation," and tells the department not to conduct "unlawful community-wide raids targeted low-income Latino residents in Otero County."

In the summer of 2007, Otero County sheriffs deputies, using federal grant funds under the program name "Operation Stonegarden," began "a series of increasingly aggressive campaigns aimed at identifying and apprehending undocumented immigrants," claimed the Border Network for Human Rights in a lawsuit aimed at stopping the practice.

Among the allegations, although not specifically part of the lawsuit, were that the actions included stopping people at traffic checkpoints and asking for immigration status. (Click on links below the article to view the lawsuit and response from the government.)

In October, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund filed one lawsuit, and the Border Network for Human Rights, represented by the Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project filed another. Click here for background on the issue.

In May, the ACLU and MALDEF reached an agreement with the Otero sheriff's department regarding policies and procedures. Click here for background on that settlement.

Meanwhile, the other lawsuit resulated in the order signed by U.S. District Judge Martha Vazquez Friday.

In the order, Vazquez referred to claims that sheriff's deputies have been harassing residents of the community since the lawsuit's filing.

Representatives of both the Otero County Sheriff's Department and the Border Network for Human Rights were not immediately available for comment.

View the 11-page order via the link below.

Related Documents:

Source: Newspaper Tree

ACLU Applauds Senators Menendez and Kennedy for Bill to Protect U.S. Citizens from Unlawful Detention and Deportation

2008-09-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

Long-awaited legislation establishes due process standards for immigration detention, raids and deportation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (202) 675-2312 or media@dcaclu.org

WASHINGTON, DC – Last night, Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) introduced legislation to protect U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents from being unlawfully detained and deported by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In the wake of sweeping immigration raids that have devastated communities across the country, the ACLU welcomes this bill, S.3594, The Protect Citizens and Residents from Unlawful Raids and Detention Act, as the first legislation to require DHS to follow due process standards in executing immigration raids.

“The Protect Citizens and Residents from Unlawful Raids and Detention Act is long overdue,” said Joanne Lin, ACLU Legislative Counsel. In recent years, immigration detention and deportation rates have grown exponentially: last year over 300,000 people were deported and over 30,000 people held in immigration detention daily. DHS’s immigration enforcement actions have been so sweeping and untargeted that they have ensnared U.S. citizens. Hundreds of U.S. citizens have been unlawfully detained by DHS, and at least one U.S. citizen was illegally deported to Mexico, a country he had never lived in. According to Lin, “These gross due process violations have occurred because there are no controls or regulations governing DHS’s conduct. This bill is a necessary antidote to DHS’s unchecked and unconstitutional immigration enforcement powers.”

The ACLU has sued DHS for illegal detaining and deporting people including U.S. citizens. One ACLU client, Pedro Guzman, a U.S. citizen born in California, was deported to Mexico in 2007. After he was deported, Mr. Guzman was forced to live on the streets, to bathe in rivers and to eat out of trash bins for several months before he was allowed to reenter his home country, the U.S. The ACLU of Southern California and the law firm of Morrison & Foerster have brought a damages action against DHS on behalf of Mr. Guzman and his mother.

"Local jail officials and federal immigration officers deported the undeportable, a United States citizen, based on appearance, prejudice and reckless failure to apply fair legal procedures," said ACLU of Southern California Legal Director Mark Rosenbaum, an attorney for Pedro Guzman and his mother. “Local law enforcement officials should do the jobs they're trained for, not enforce complicated federal immigration laws. We don't use local officials to audit IRS returns or conduct foreign wars; that's why we have a federal government. The same applies to enforcement of immigration laws.”

In another lawsuit, the ACLU, National Immigration Law Center and the National Lawyers’ Guild sued DHS for systematically denying access to counsel to workers swept up in an immigration raid. In February 2008, ICE agents descended on the premises of a printer supply company in Van Nuys, California, temporarily shutting down operations. The ACLU and other lawyers offered to represent all the arrested workers, but ICE refused to let the workers consult with immigration attorneys, both at the worksite and later at the local ICE field office in the days following the raid. Some of the workers who tried to assert their right to counsel were intimidated by ICE agents into making incriminating statements.

The ACLU, NILC and NLG had no choice but to sue DHS for violating the workers’ right to consult with immigration counsel. In March 2008, DHS settled the case and allowed immigration attorneys to sit in on the workers’ interviews with ICE officers. The workers were represented by Ahilan Arulanantham, director of immigrants’ rights and national security at the ACLU of Southern California. According to Mr. Arulanantham, “ICE enforcement actions repeatedly violated the Constitution and federal law in this case. U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents and others living in this country are entitled to a federal government that follows the law and due process.”

These ACLU lawsuits highlight the urgent need for Congress to pass legislation that curbs ICE’s unconstitutional raids, detention and deportation practices. To this end, this legislation would do the following:

* Create due process protections, such as notification of immigration charges and access to counsel and phones, during immigration enforcement efforts;

* Require DHS to implement regulations to ensure that immigration detainees are treated humanely;

* Promote “alternatives to detention” programs that are more humane and cost-effective than traditional penal-style detention;

* Establish an ICE ombudsman to investigate complaints and to create DHS accountability; and

* Provide labor protections to ensure that ICE worksite raids do not undermine labor or employment law investigations.

Source: ACLU