Posts Tagged ‘police brutality’
Teen Girl Attacked by Police Speaks Out
9:25 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Justice|New York City|race|Women|youth · 1 Comment
4 Mar 2009One comment here was curious to hear what the teen at the center of this horrific example of police brutality had to say. While there is no sound for the painful to watch, more painful to have lived, video, Malika Calhoun spoke to CBS the other day. The video of the attack is violent so feel free to listen and not watch.
Amiga BFP makes the important point that women of color are often not thought of as victims of police brutality and yet we are not just beaten but also suffer sexual assaults at the hands of those allegedly here to protect us.
Two police officers have been assigned to desk
duty while prosecutors and the police investigate
a complaint that at least one of them raped an
intoxicated woman after they escorted her into
her apartment in the East Village three months ago, the police said on Sunday.
Then when I write on how difficult it is for me to teach my 11 year old about interactions with the police, there is little listening and much attacking.
Police can be a danger to our lives.
Is a Teen Kicking a Shoe Deserving of Getting Punched?
9:00 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Women|youth · 5 Comments
2 Mar 2009Above is a video of Deputy Paul Schene of King County, Washington kicking and punching a 15 year old teenager arrested for stealing a car last November. The girl can be seen kicking her show towards the officer which provoked a violent attack. The deputy, facing excessive force charges has declared himself not guilty. Defense attorneys are claiming that since the video has no sound it doesn’t tell the whole story. What on earth could this young woman have said to justify Schene’s actions?
Womanist Musings has a post up related to this horrible attack and gives a recent accounting of how black woman are impacted by police brutality.
Via / Pam’s House Blend
Alleged Police Brutality Case Rocks San Francisco Bay Area
7:27 am By Maegan La Mala · Controversia|media justice|San Francisco · Comments Off
5 Jan 2009
As New Year’s Eve revellers crammed into the trains of BART — the San Francisco Bay Area’s local rail system — at around 2 a.m. on January 1st, little did they know they would witness one of their fellow passengers be shot down by the gun of a BART police officer and not make it home to his family that morning.
22 year-old Oscar Grant of Oakland was reportedly shot and killed by an unidentified BART officer, after officers broke up a fight on the train platform:
Video footage taken by passengers, first shown by KTVU television, shows officers forcing Grant to the ground and trying to hold him down. The officer who shot Grant appears to try to put cuffs on him before drawing his weapon and firing. In the video, Grant appears to struggle with the officers, though it is unclear exactly what he was doing.Burris said a single bullet went through Grant’s lower back, hit the ground and ricocheted through his upper body. Grant died at Highland Hospital in Oakland several hours later.
Among other things, BART police are looking into the possibility that the officer who shot Grant thought he was pulling the trigger of a Taser stun gun, according to a person familiar with the investigation.
A way that Latin@s are targeted
3:19 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Immigration · 2 Comments
11 Dec 2008
The idea that Latin@s are being targeted for arrest (and deportation) under public-intoxication laws–it’s just almost too much to bear. Nothing like playing up the stereotype of the drunken Mexican to better get rid of us all.
Amid the swirling controversy over the San Jose Police Department’s practice of arresting large numbers of people — especially Latinos — under the state public-intoxication law, the department is damaging its reputation by choosing secrecy over transparency.
Before the city council hearing on Nov. 18, the American Civil Liberties Union submitted a formal request that these arrest reports be made public under the state open-records law. But days after the mayor and council said they wanted “broad-based community input” on the issue, the police department refused to publicly release the arrest records.
The council has directed the city manager to form a task force of community stakeholders to address this issue. But how will the task force members accurately identify the scope and nature of the problem if they are denied access to the most important records documenting it?
Indeed. Either way, however, I’m glad to see that the community is confronting this together and that they have the support of the media in doing so.
Update : Outcome of Court for Educator Amaris Mesa Arrested at Religious event in the Bronx
10:03 am By Maegan La Mala · Justice|New York City|Religion · Comments Off
1 Oct 2008
Last night, we wrote about how a religious event in the Bronx, NY ended with community members harassed and arrested. This is how the powers that be treat even the most sacred things in our lives : with suspicion and ultimately, violence and repression.
Those expecting justice in the court system come out with a mixed bag.
Last evening about 15 members of the community gathered in court to await Amari’s arraignment. The Judge, District Attorneys and Court Officers were not happy. As Amaris was released on here own recognizance on multiple misdemeanor charges and her supporters walked out of the courtroom, court officers grabed Mujahid, a member of Taino Survivalists.
A face off between community people and court officers ensued in which we were told that Mujahid was arrested for disorderly conduct. When asked what had he done , we were told that “Constitution had been suspended by officer James badge # 3726. This was then echoed by officer Jack # 6788.All supporters were then ordered out of the Court Building. About 1/2 hour later Mujahid was released without charges.
They just need to remind us who is in charge.
Via / Personal Email
Mental Health Crisis Leads To Taser Death
11:35 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Health · Comments Off
25 Sep 2008ABC is reporting the story of Iman Morales, a man who was experiencing a mental health crisis and was tasered to death rather than helped. Apparently his mother called the police for help after he wandered naked out onto a fire escape. The police showed up and after Morales ‘poked’ one of the police officers with a florescent light bulb, they tasered him. Unfortunately, after an hour of trying to convince the man to come down, the police had ‘forgotten’ to put precautionary inflatable foam or netting down to break Morales’s fall. Morales suffered extreme head trauma from landing on the sidewalk and died.
NYPD Attacked Father Taking His Daughter to School and Now He Faces Charges
9:36 am By Maegan La Mala · Activism|crime|Dominicans|Family|Justice|New York City|Politics · 4 Comments
17 Sep 2008
Imagine you are walking your daughter to school. It’s a common scene. The last thing you expect is to be attacked. The last thing you expect is to be attacked by the New York City Police Department. Yet, that’s exactly what happened to Jesus Bracero.
In May 2007, 56-year-old Jesus Bracero was attacked in Washington Heights by NYPD officers while dropping his 15-year-old daughter off at school. The catalyst? Bracero not complying immediately when asked for id. This is where people will say to themselves, why did he not just follow the police order? The answer is simple. In the words of Bracero: “I had not done anything illegal.” This was enough to unleash the NYPD choking and beating him.
They dragged Bracero out of his car with a chokehold on his neck. Bracero says he was assaulted by many police, who handcuffed him and repeatedly banged his head on the ground.
Should Media Report on Police Brutality
4:50 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · RNC08 · 3 Comments
3 Sep 2008
The back of 17-year-old Keith Smith-Tourville after the police were finished with him.
In spite my best intentions, I have wound up liking resident Vivir Latino Troll, EYE OF TEXAS. Don’t ask me why, maybe it’s the name. I always did like all caps in a name. Announcing your presence with authority! Anyway, Eye makes an interesting argument in VL’s post on Amy Goodman’s arrest. S/he says:
There were also protesters and incidents at the DNC, but the leftist media chose not to cover it because of the bad image it would have given the squeaky clean Demoncraps. Go figure.
Now, seeing as VL did cover incidents of police brutality at the DNC, and really complicated the very privileged space of the convention to begin with, I know that EYE is not talking about VL. But s/he does point to an intriguing idea. Republicans are positive that the media didn’t report on the violence at the DNC while reporting nonstop on violence at the RNC–and Democrats are fairly certain of the same thing.
My question, should it matter where this violence happens? Why does it matter? Shouldn’t the most important thing be that no citizen, no human being, should ever be treated like the young man above was by the people put in place to protect us? Should media report on the type of brutality that causes the the bruises and scrapes shown in the picture? Does it matter if members of the government are ‘being protected’ from 17-year-old kids by gun wielding cops that like to leave boot prints embedded on skin?
What do you think?
Police Brutality in Denver
7:22 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · DNC|US Presidential Race 2008 · 2 Comments
26 Aug 2008Just saw this video of a cop in Denver slamming a woman to the ground with his police baton. Then, after the woman starts talking to the press, the police come over and arrest her. In light of all the analysis about how horrible China was in regards to human rights, I have to wonder where all the analysis is about this incident?
Feds Probe “Alleged” Yonkers Police Brutality
11:52 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · crime|Justice|New York|Women · 2 Comments
29 Jun 2008
I love when a woman can show up looking as she does in the picture and people can still say that something “allegedly” went down. Pictured is Irma Marquez, who was shown on a surveillance videotape, being bodyslammed, facedown, by Yonkers, NY police officer Wayne Simoes.
“Several officers stated that, based on their training and experience, Simoes’ use of force against Marquez was unreasonable and excessive,” FBI Agent Kristina Norris wrote in a criminal complaint against Simoes filed in U.S. District Court in White Plains.
Federal prosecutors yesterday charged Simoes, 38, of Yonkers, with criminally violating the civil rights of Marquez in the March 3, 2007, arrest at La Fonda Restaurant. Simoes, an eight-year veteran of the Police Department who was paid $126,604 last year, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
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