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
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Toughest Sheriff in America Treats Inmates Guilty Until Proven Innocent
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
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
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Lawsuit Charging Sheriff Arpaio Illegally Targeted Latinos In Maricopa County Can Go Forward
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
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
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
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
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
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
Sheriff Arpaio's Deputies Break Woman's Arm
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
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
House Judiciary Committee Presses Eric Holder, Janet Napolitano to Investigate Sheriff Joe Arpaio
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
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
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Columnist Ann Coulter Defends White Supremacist Group
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
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
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Court: Lawsuit accusing Arpaio of racial profiling will proceed
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
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Mexico paper launches voodoo promo against US team
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
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
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Anti-Immigrant Militants Confronted
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
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Four Accused Of Hate Crime In Beating
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
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
Friday, February 06, 2009
Racists Threaten To Abandon GOP Over Election Of First African-American Party Chairman
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
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
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
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
Saturday, January 31, 2009
BART officer, Mehserle Could be Out on Bail by End of Day
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
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
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