$500 million settlement between the government and Navajo nation over destruction of tribal land due to uranium mining

Abby Martin talks about a $500 million settlement between the government and Navajo nation over destruction of tribal land due to uranium mining and how this amount will do nothing to alleviate the pain and suffering caused by this industry.

Why Didn't Eric Holder Prosecute Bankers for Fraud???

Eric Holder Takes $77 Million Job With JPMorgan Chase 

Just after announcing his resignation as U.S. attorney general, Eric Holder has accepted a top job with Wall Street finance giant JPMorgan Chase.

Starting in early November, Holder will serve as JPMorgan Chase’s chief compliance officer, where his responsibilities will include lobbying Congress on the company’s behalf and ensuring it “gets the best deal possible” from any new proposed financial regulations. Holder will also fetch morning coffee and breakfast orders for CEO Jamie Dimon and board members.

For his efforts, Holder will earn an annual salary of $77 million plus bonuses for a job well done.

In a statement, Holder said taking a job at JPMorgan Chase was the logical next step in his career, given the revolving door between financial companies and the government officials who are supposed to regulate these companies.

“By joining JPMorgan Chase, I’m simply cutting out the middleman -- the U.S. Justice Department -- and going to work directly for the great Jamie Dimon,” he said. “Plus, when Jamie Dimon calls you, or one of his many secretaries calls you, you pick up the phone immediately. Seriously, that’s what we do here in Washington.”

“We are extremely pleased to have Eric Holder, a dear friend and and tireless advocate for the interests of Wall Street, join our prestigious financial services firm where he belongs,” Dimon said in a press release. “Considering the awful s**t we did -- and boy did we do a lot of sleazy, ugly,ethically insidious s**t -- Mr. Holder always stood in our corner and defended us no matter what. Hell, I even got a 74 percent raise out of it!

“We know any of our fellow financial firms would have been happy to have Mr. Holder on staff, yet he chose us. We are sure he will fit right in with our company culture.”

Cowardly Lion of Wall Street

Before President Obama appointed him as attorney general, Holder was a corporate attorney at law firm Covington & Burling, which represented too-big-too-fail banks.

Despite serving as the United States’ top law enforcement official for for six years following the 2007-08 financial crisis and having the budget, Holderfailed to hold anyone accountable and declined to prosecute banking executives who played a role in the meltdown. Instead the banks, including JPMorgan Chase, were bailed out and received miniscule fines that often weren’t collected, while the Justice Department went after the mortgage borrowers.

The news that Holder was resigning as attorney general was met with mixed responses from the public.

Reginald Cousins, a construction worker in Baltimore who lost his job and home after the housing bubble burst through fraudulent lending practices, said he was sorry to see Holder go.

“Eric Holder did what he had to do in order to save this country’s economy,” he said as he rummaged through some trash cans for scrap metal and food.

Johnny Weeks, who lost his house shortly after DOJ agents raised his marijuana dispensary, said Holder was a self-serving hypocrite.

“Oh well. At least he was cool with gay marriage.”

Link : http://dailycurrant.com/2014/09/26/eric-holder-takes-77-million-job-with-jpmorgan-chase/

US stirring chaos in Syria to 'expand Israel’s territorial claims'

Paint Thinner in Children’s Cereal

Nick Brannigan and Vicky LePage return to the Las Vegas Strip to educate people of painter thinner aka trisodium phosphate in children’s cereal with a LIVE FOOD DEMO! Do the tourists and locals on the Strip care? Will they avoid this toxic ingredient in the future? Watch to find out!



Link : http://complete-health-and-happiness.com/paint-thinner-childrens-cereal-exposed/

Ken O'Keefe, lays it out perfectly on dinosaur mainstream media, calling out the fraud. Must see, must share! Brilliant!

News anchor who doesn't realize his mic is on curses, bashes the poor

Briefly forgetting that he was at his job as a news anchor and not at home in his recliner, News 12 the Bronx's Matt Pieper managed to turn a story about crossing guards into a diatribe against the poor.

On Wednesday, Pieper apparently thought they were at commercial and didn't realize his mic was on when he started railing against the need for crossing guards. "Parents should do their f—ing job and walk their little kids to school on their own, and not rely on everyone else," he said. "Kind of like people rely on government assistance for their entire lives."

The on-scene reporter, Amy Yensi, inexplicably replied, "I think I qualify for government assistance." After Pieper told her to "just check that box, girl," she responded, "#EBT!" The complaints quickly started rolling in to the channel's Facebook page, and soon there was a post about a "technical error" during the show. "A personal conversation between an anchor and a reporter was unintentionally placed on air," it read. "News 12 the Bronx deeply regrets that this incident took place. The remarks of these individuals in no way reflect the views of News 12 management or other News 12 personnel."

It would probably serve Pieper well to consider that the borough he covers had an average12.7 percent unemployment rate in 2012, and the percentage of Bronx residents living in poverty rose to 30.4 percent — the highest rate of any county in New York State and the highest of any urban county in the United States. --Catherine Garcia

Link : 

http://theweek.com/speedreads/index/268822/speedreads-news-anchor-who-doesnt-realize-his-mic-is-on-curses-bashes-the-poor?utm_source=links&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=speedreadsfacebook

Place the Black dollar under arrest

                                                
Here’s an intriguing concept:  Arrest the Black dollar.  Say what, Jim?  You read it correctly.  We should arrest our dollars and charge them with neglect. Put them on trial, call the witnesses to testify against them, and convict them of crimes against Black people.  Sentence them to a minimum of five years hard labor with no possibility of parole. That’s right, lock them up and make them work for their keep by producing distribution companies, supermarkets, financial institutions, and entrepreneurs.

Since our dollars are not making sense, we should discipline and punish them by keeping them locked up and making them work until they do start making more sense.  Right now our dollars are “wilding out” in the marketplace, making everyone happy and secure except us.  They are “raining down” at strip clubs; they are beating a path to jewelry stores and exchanging themselves for gaudy trinkets and ornaments; they are hangin’ out at “da club” to pay for expensive vodka, champagne, and other top-shelf liquors. They definitely need to be disciplined. Our dollars are filling the coffers of profiteers who know that all they have to do is make the most ridiculous item in return for them.  Black dollars are strewn at the feet of shyster preachers who “anoint” them by running back and forth on top of them, as they shout, “Money cometh to me!”  At least they are telling the truth about that part. Black dollars are running wild, out of control, in our neighborhoods.  They run as fast as they can to the businesses of everyone other than Black people.  They are jealous as well and are always trying to outspend one another by purchasing a bigger car, a bigger house, the latest gym shoes, clothing, and all the accoutrements of what they believe to be the “good life.”

More than 1 trillion Black dollars are acting inappropriately, committing economic crimes against Black people.  They really need to be controlled and contained before they destroy us.  Our dollars are weak, and are vulnerable to the constant lure of trivial things and dishonest people who are waiting to trap them with their platitudes and false doctrines.  If we put our dollars in labor camps where they could work for us all day long, imagine how quickly we could revive our economic power. Keep in mind though, when we charge our dollars and put them on trial for neglect, we will be charged as willing accomplices and co-conspirators in their criminal acts.

Yes, we are guilty, too; even more guilty than they are. Slothfulness is a crime; poor stewardship is a crime; waste is a crime; and failure on our part to multiply the dollars we have is indeed a crime that carries the penalty of being “cast into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” because, “To whom much ($1 trillion) is given, much is required.” The rich man in Luke 12 who had so much “stuff” that, when he asked himself what to do about it, said, “I will build bigger barns” in which to store my stuff, well, he was called a fool and his life was “required” of him because his dollars made no sense. This graphic illustration of the crimes we commit with and through our undisciplined dollars is played out every day in our homes and neighborhoods, and we deserve the punishment we have received for decades now.

We must now punish our dollars by first arresting them and then making them work for us. Why don’t you start an “Arrest the Black Dollar” campaign?  Look around; they are everywhere.  Arrest your own first, and get others to arrest and charge theirs. Let’s give our dollars the charge to be responsible for taking better care of our children.  Give them the charge to be more accountable to us and our families. Give them the charge to work harder for us.  Give them the charge to act appropriately.  Give them the charge to make some sense for a change. Instead of allowing our dollars to run wild, let’s circulate and recycle them among ourselves as much as possible before they leave us. Instead of handing them over willy-nilly to others for their fried chicken and fish, let’s just grow and cook our own, and sell it to one another and to everyone else. 

Instead of whining every time a supermarket closes, let’s buy our own, bring in the best managers and support it with our consumer dollars.  Rather than decrying what others are doing to us, let’s start doing more for ourselves.  As we charge our dollars with being more responsible, let’s make sure we are taking responsibility in this matter as well. Arrest the Black dollar; it’s wreaking havoc among Black folks.  

Link : http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/Perspectives_1/article_101798.shtml?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Graphic Dashcam Video Shows State Trooper Shoot at Unarmed Man With His Hands Up

SC Trooper Charged with Felony in Shooting of Unarmed Black Man 





COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A former state trooper faces a felony charge in the shooting of an unarmed Black man during a traffic stop in Columbia earlier this month. The State Law Enforcement Division said in a news release that 31-year-old Sean Groubert was charged Wednesday with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Authorities say Groubert stopped the victim for a seatbelt violation on Sept. 4. The victim got out of his car, and investigators say the trooper shot him as he reached back into his vehicle. Groubert was fired last week. Prosecutors released video of the traffic stop that shows the trooper asking the driver for his license, then firing several shots as the man reaches back into his vehicle. The man then screams, “What did I do?” and tells the trooper he was just trying to get his license.

Groubert said he shot the man because he was reaching back into his car.

It wasn’t known if Groubert had a lawyer.

- See more at: http://www.afro.com/sc-trooper-charged-with-felony-in-shooting-of-unarmed-black-man/#sthash.4ybUUcqs.dpuf

Grand Jury Decides Not To Charge two Officers In Ohio Walmart Shooting of John Crawford III

grand jury declined to indict two police officers involved in the fatal shooting of a black man carrying a toy gun at an Ohio Walmart store.

One of the officers shot 22-year-old John Crawford at the store Aug. 5 after a 911 caller reported he was pointing what appeared to be an assault rifle at other shoppers at the Beavercreek retailer.

Grand jurors heard evidence from 18 witnesses Wednesday in the special hearing convened by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who refused to release surveillance video from the incident prior to the hearing.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday afternoon that it would launch an investigation into the fatal shooting.

Police said Crawford refused to drop the air rifle, but his father and the family’s attorney said the video, which they were permitted to view before the grand jury, directly contradicted the official story.

They said the video showed Crawford talking on a cell phone while leaning on the toy rifle like a cane when officers approached from behind.

The family’s attorney said it did not appear that Crawford ever heard their commands to drop the toy weapon before he was “shot on sight.”

Assistant Hamilton County, Ohio, Prosecutor Mark Piepmeier presented the case as a special prosecutor.

He showed portions of the video during a news conference announcing the grand jury decision Wednesday, with audio from the 911 call synchronized with Crawford’s actions inside the store.

Crawford never waved the toy gun or appeared to point the weapon at anyone, but he did walk briefly with the air rifle resting on his shoulder.

He was shot almost immediately after officers spotted him at the end of an aisle, the video shows.

Piepmeier said the 911 caller was “trying to be a good citizen” by reporting the perceived threat, and the prosecutor said Crawford likely became distracted by his own cell phone call and began carrying the gun carelessly.

Dispatchers told officers to expect a man pointing a rifle in a threatening manner, the prosecutor said.

He said both Sgt. David Darkow and Officer Sean Williams underwent department-mandated training on active shooters in July, saying the training required them to immediately “neutralize the threat” in such cases.

The special prosecutor said grand jurors were tasked with determining officers acted reasonably against a perceived threat.

“(Crawford) did not commit a crime that day, he didn’t do anything wrong, but at the same time the police officers have be judged on everything they have,” Piepmeier said. “All I have to say about the situation is that it’s a tragedy.”

He expressed sympathy for Crawford’s family, relatives of a woman who suffered a medical emergency after witnessing the shooting and died, and both officers.

“They took the life of someone that didn’t need to die, that’s all we have to say about this case,” Piepmeier said.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/watch-grand-jury-declines-to-charge-two-officers-involved-in-fatal-walmart-shooting/

Babylon Is Falling......Is Falling!!!

"Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the pride and glory of the Babylonians, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah. She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations; there, no nomads will pitch their tents, there, no shepherds will rest their flocks. But desert creatures will lie there, jackals will fill her houses; there the owls will dwell, and there the wild goats will leap about. Hyenas will inhabit her strongholds, jackals her luxurious palaces. Her time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged." - Isaiah 13:19-22

This is not referring to actual animals. It refers to people with the characteristics of the animals mentioned.

A hyena is a nocturnal wild dog that attacks in packs, and when it is referring to a human being, it is a person who performs dishonest or base deeds as the follower or accomplice of another. This is how America does when they want to wage war on others. They assemble what is euphemistically called a “coalition of the willing” to attack any nation in order to depose any leader who stands in the way of their global ambitions.

Ferguson PD lied about distance from SUV for a very specific reason!!!

I wasn't expecting lies and wasn't aware of how essential this lie actually is. It's EVERYTHING in the legal case.
In that video, the Chief says it was 35 feet from the window of Wilson's car to where Mike Brown was killed. This was a DELIBERATE lie.

An officer is allowed, expected even, to use force, when in danger, when as much as 25-35 feet away. Mike Brown was ONE HUNDRED feet away.

Darren Wilson and the police, fully aware that Mike Brown was well outside of that distance, attempted to make up their own facts.

Following, based on crime scene photos, physical evidence, and people in Ferguson at this very moment we will expose the lie.


Here is Darren Wilson's SUV IMMEDIATELY after the shooting. That's Mike's sandal 15 feet behind it.



Here is the same SUV, it didn't move, from the other angle, showing you Mike Brown's fitted hat next to it.



                    

The police, to protect Darren Wilson, want you to believe that distance between the 2 lines was 35 feet. It's OVER 100 feet.


Here's an OVERHEAD of everything, then I will show you our physical measurement & google maps measurement.



Here we measured the physical distance, in person, at Ferguson. Mike was killed OVER 100 feet away from the SUV.

After An Independent Family Autopsy Utah authorities alter account of Darrien Hunt shooting by police

Darrien Hunt and police just before the shooting. Photograph: Jocelyn Hansen via ABC4

Authorities in Utah have altered their account of how a 22-year-old black man was killed by police, after an attorney for the man’s family alleged that he was shot repeatedly from behind by officers while running away.

The authorities also said that the two police officers involved in the shooting of Darrien Hunt last Wednesday had not yet been interviewed about the incident. The attorney for Hunt’s family described this delay as “almost incomprehensible”.

Hunt died outside a Panda Express restaurant at a strip mall in Saratoga Springs on Wednesday morning following an encounter with two police officers who were responding to a 911 call reporting a man with a samurai-style sword acting suspiciously.

After several days of silence Tim Taylor, the chief deputy attorney for Utah county, said in a statement on Saturday: “When the officers made contact with Mr Hunt, he brandished the sword and lunged toward the officers with the sword, at which time Mr Hunt was shot.”

However, Taylor confirmed to the Guardian on Monday that Hunt was in fact alleged to have lunged at the officers outside a bank several dozen yards away from where he ultimately died. While it was outside the bank that Hunt was first “shot at” by police, Taylor said, it was not clear whether he was struck on that occasion.

Hunt then headed north and was shot several more times before eventually collapsing outside the Panda Express, according to Taylor. He said it was not clear if there were any further threatening moves. “Whether or not the individual lunged again at point two, the other location, I don’t know about that,” Taylor said.

Randall Edwards, an attorney for Hunt’s family, said in an email late on Monday: “This appears to be a major change in the official story”.

Edwards said over the weekend that the family’s private autopsy had found Hunt was shot six times from behind. He was hit once in a shoulder, once in the back, once in an elbow, twice in a leg and once in a hand, according to the attorney.

“The shot that killed Darrien, which was straight in the back, did not have an exit wound,” Edwards told the Guardian. “It raises the question as to how you can lunge at someone and be shot in the back at the same time.” Edwards declined to identify the pathologist who had carried out the autopsy, citing a desire to protect him from media attention.

Hunt’s death follows the high-profile fatal shootings by police in August of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri, and John Crawford III, a 22-year-old black father of two who was carrying a BB rifle through a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio.

Hunt’s mother, Susan, who is white, accused the police of killing the 22-year-old due to his race. The population of Saratoga Springs is about 93% white and 0.5% black, according to the 2010 census.

“They killed my son because he’s black. No white boy with a little sword would they shoot while he’s running away,” Mrs Hunt told the Deseret News. Taylor said there was “no indication that race played any role”. Hunt’s family have not been able to explain why he was carrying the sword, which they called a souvenir from a gift shop.

Darrien Hunt in a family photograph. Photograph: Courtesy ABC4

The new account confirmed by Taylor on Monday appears to potentially match with remarks made by a witness to local media shortly after the shooting.

Jocelyn Hansen, who was filling her car at a gas station opposite the bank, has said that seconds beforehand she saw Hunt and the officers in conversation. She said that after taking a photograph of the scene, which showed Hunt smiling and with his hands at his sides, she got into her car in order to leave and then heard gunfire.

“I looked up. There were shots and there was a chase,” she told ABC 4 Utah. “He turned and was running away from the police officers,” Hansen added. She could not be reached on Monday.

The altered official account also follows an angry response by the Saratoga Springs police department to media reports of claims that Hunt may have been shot while running away.

“Everyone should remember that the news outlets have ratings they need to gain. They don’t report facts. They use innuendo, opinion and rumor and then report it as fact,” said the unsigned statement, which was published on the department’s Facebook page but has since been removed.

“The real facts are being determined by an independent investigation, and not in a rushed or haphazard manner,” it went on. “When those facts are gathered and analyzed they will be reviewed by independent legal authorities.”

The two officers involved in the incident have not been identified by Saratoga Springs police department. They have been placed on paid administrative leave. An investigation is being carried out by the county’s “officer-involved shooting protocol team”, which includes officers from several different forces and agencies, according to Taylor, who said the county attorney’s office would “review these findings and issue a statement”.

“We haven’t even interviewed the officers yet,” said Taylor. “We’ve talked briefly with them just to kind of get an idea of what the scene was at the time.” He said officers were typically interviewed within 48-72 hours of a shooting. One is now scheduled to be interviewed on Tuesday and the other on Thursday, more than a week after the shooting, he said.

“I’m stunned. I find that almost incomprehensible,” Edwards, the attorney for Hunt’s family, said after being informed of this by the Guardian. “You want to speak with the officers almost immediately afterwards, when their memories are fresh and before they have had a chance to corroborate their stories.”

Taylor said the county attorney’s report would not be complete until his office received the findings of an autopsy that had completed by a state medical examiner’s office in Salt Lake county. He said that he expected this to take between six and seven weeks.

Edwards, the attorney for the family, said it was not clear whether the inquiry would be satisfactory. “Do we trust the police to do a thorough investigation to find any kind of wrongdoing, and to ultimately punish the wrongdoer? I think the jury is still out on this one.”

The attorney said he and the Hunt family would wait until the report before deciding their next move. “If it appears that there was some sort of criminal activity on the part of the officer, obviously we would like to have that followed through with,” he said.

Link : http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/16/darrien-hunt-shot-in-the-back-by-utah-police-says-family-attorney

Gaza In Ruins, Israel’s Ban on Dignity, More Illegal Settlements & Decades to Rebuild

UK man wins court case against BBC for 911 cover up

Tony Rooke refused to pay a TV license fee because the BBC intentionally misrepresented facts about the 9/11 attacks, he alleged. It is widely known that the BBC reported the collapse of World

Trade Center Building 7 over 20 minutes before it occurred. WTC 7 was a 47-story skyscraper that was not hit by a plane on 9/11 but collapsed at free-fall speed later that day.

So Rooke said the BBC had to have had prior knowledge to a terror attack making them complicit in the attack. He presented the BBC footage to the judge along with a slew of other evidence, and the judge agreed that Rooke had a reasonable case to protest. Rooke was found not guilty and he was not fined for failure to pay the licensing fee.

Below is the broadcast where the BBC announced the collapse of WTC 7 while it was still standing behind the reporter.




Link : http://topinfopost.com/2013/04/28/uk-man-wins-court-case-against-bbc-for-911-cover-up

NYC Watches WTC Building #7 Controlled Demolition Again This 9/11/14

MASSIVE 45-FOOT BUILDING 7 VIDEO-BILLBOARD INSTALLED IN TIMES SQUARE BY 9/11 TRUTH MOVEMENT

Times Square in New York City is now the site of the largest 9/11 video presentation since 2001. It is hosting a 45-foot Building #7 video-billboard created by the Architects and Engineers for 9/11 TRUTH until October 5th.

The billboard has been installed at the corner of 42nd Street and 8th Avenue in Times Square, Manhattan. This 9/11 TRUTH video-billboard has been quite strategically located within very close proximity to the New York Times Building. In fact many Times employees will be able to view the video as they walk by it on their way to and from work.

What is particularly significant is that the NYT has persisted in ignoring the facts surrounding the 9/11 event. The Grey Lady and national newspaper of record, as it is universally known, has all but refused to cover with any credibility the greatest terrorist attack in US history; one that occurred in its own backyard?!

The video shown below will repeat the following statements and the 15-second spot will air every two minutes for four straight weeks.

“5:20 PM ON 9/11, WTC7 CAME DOWN IN A CLASSIC CONTROLLED DEMOLITION. THE GOVERNMENT SAYS FIRE BROUGHT IT DOWN, BUT ANYONE WHO WATCHES THE VIDEO CAN SEE OTHERWISE”

9/11 Truth Goes Prime Time

“An estimated 105,000 people a day will see the video. The same group ran a similar ad earlier this year in Toronto’s subway system.

Some 2,250 architects and engineers have now signed a petition (here) that calls for a new investigation into the destruction of all three World Trade Center buildings on September 11, 2001.

                                     

Oddly, the building’s collapse was never mentioned in the 9/11 Commission Report.

Polls have shown that a third of New Yorkers and half of all Americans are still unaware that WTC building 7, aka the Salomon Brothers Building, was even destroyed on 9/11.[1]

Building #7 Controlled Demolition: The Real Achilles Heal of the 9/11 Commission Report

It is only the American public that seems to be unaware of the seriousness of the planned and purposeful takedown of World Trade Center Building #7. That’s all about to change as the worldwide 9/11 TRUTH Movement gears up the greatest 9/11 truth campaign since the false flag operation was executed on September 11, 2001.

There was one other quite extraordinary occurrence on that fateful day which occurred on a BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) broadcast.  The news announcer actually reported the collapse of Building #7 BEFORE it actually occurred in New York City.  As follows:

“Of those who are aware of its destruction, many are still wondering how BBC News correspondent Jane Standley was magically able to report live on the WTC7ss collapse a full 15 minutes before it actually happened in real life while the building was clearly still standing behind her, as seen below.”[1]

Here’s an incontestable video documenting what is perhaps the most ‘mysterious’ (read incriminating) journalistic event of the new millennium.

Read more: http://www.storyleak.com/nyc-watches-wtc-building-7-come-down-again-this-91114/#ixzz3DL6QmjKt

It seems that there is now a HUGE problem for the real perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on NYC and DC. Let’s see how they attempt to wiggle out of this one — when there is absolutely no wiggle room … and no where for them to go.

Read more: http://www.storyleak.com/nyc-watches-wtc-building-7-come-down-again-this-91114/#ixzz3DL7SkyYe

NFL Player Adrian Peterson Indicted for Child Abuse After Beating Son With A Switch

This is the worst week ever for the NFL.

Earlier today, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was deactivated from Sunday’s game, after he was indicted for child abuse in North Montgomery County, TX.  The charges stem from injuries that his 4-year-old son obtained after Adrian whipped him with a switch for bad behavior.

Now, before you say, ‘A switch??? My grandma would have been put under the jail if that was the case,’ the bruising was pretty bad.

When the child returned home to his mother, she noticed his injuries right away and scheduled a doctor’s appointment.  A short time later, the doctor contacted authorities in Texas to report Adrian.

According to CBS Local in Houston:

The “whooping” – as Peterson put it when interviewed by police – occurred in Spring, Texas, in May. Peterson’s son had pushed another one of Peterson’s children off of a motorbike video game. As punishment, Peterson grabbed a tree branch – which he consistently referred to as a “switch” – removed the leaves and struck the child repeatedly.

The beating allegedly resulted in numerous injuries to the child, including cuts and bruises to the child’s back, buttocks, ankles, legs and scrotum, along with defensive wounds to the child’s hands. Peterson then texted the boy’s mother, saying that one wound in particular would make her “mad at me about his leg. I got kinda good wit the tail end of the switch.”

Peterson also allegedly said via text message to the child’s mother that he “felt bad after the fact when I notice the switch was wrapping around hitting I (sic) thigh” and also acknowledged the injury to the child’s scrotum in a text message, saying, “Got him in nuts once I noticed. But I felt so bad, n I’m all tearing that butt up when needed! I start putting them in timeout. N save the whooping for needed memories!”

In further text messages, Peterson allegedly said, “Never do I go overboard! But all my kids will know, hey daddy has the biggie heart but don’t play no games when it comes to acting right.”

According to the police report, the child’s story was a little different:

[He told authorities] “Daddy Peterson hit me on my face.” The child also expressed worry that Peterson would punch him in the face if the child reported the incident to authorities. He also said that he had been hit by a belt and that “there are a lot of belts in Daddy’s closet.” He added that Peterson put leaves in his mouth when he was being hit with the switch while his pants were down. The child told his mother that Peterson “likes belts and switches” and “has a whooping room.”

Peterson, when contacted by police, admitted that he had “whooped” his son on the backside with a switch as a form of punishment, and then, in fact, produced a switch similar to the one with which he hit the child. Peterson also admitted that he administered two different “whoopings” to his son during the visit to Texas, the other being a punishment for the 4-year-old scratching the face of a 5-year-old.

In an interview with Houston police, Peterson was very matter-of-fact and calm about the incident, appearing to believe he had done nothing wrong and reiterating how much he cared about his son and only used “whoopings” or “spankings” as a last resort. He offered up information that the police didn’t have and was incredulous when asked if some of the numerous wounds and marks on the child were from an extension cord, saying, “Oh, no, I’d never hit my child with an extension cord. I remember how it feels to get whooped with an extension cord. I’d never do that.”

Peterson also said, “Anytime I spank my kids, I talk to them before, let them know what they did, and of course after.” Peterson also expressed regret that his son did not cry – because then, Peterson said, he would have known that the switch was doing more damage than intended. He didn’t realize the “tip of the switch and the ridges of the switch were wrapping around [the child’s] legs.” Peterson also acknowledged that this was administered directly to the child’s skin and with the child’s pants pulled down.

Peterson later told police that the marks on his son’s buttocks were similar to the marks any of his other children get when he “spanks them with a switch,” but that the mark on the child’s leg from when the switch “wrapped around his thigh” was more severe than anything he had ever done in the past.

Peterson said he knew that his son had a doctor’s appointment scheduled for when he returned home and that the doctor would discover the injuries. Peterson added that if he felt like he was “really wrong for what I did, or had any ill intent, there’s no way I would have let him get on that plane.” He went on to say, “I have nothing to hide, but I also understand when a child has marks like that on his leg, they have to report that.”

When Peterson was asked how he felt about the incident, he said, “To be honest with you, I feel very confident with my actions because I know my intent.” He also described the incident as a “normal whooping” in regards to the “welps” on the child’s buttocks, but that he felt bad immediately when he saw the injuries on the child’s legs. Peterson estimated he “swatted” his son “10 to 15” times, but he’s not sure because he doesn’t “ever count how many pops I give my kids.”

Peterson went on to reiterate again how much he loves all his kids, and only “whoops” them because he wants them to do right. Toward the end of the interview, Peterson said he would reconsider using switches in the future, but said he would never “eliminate whooping my kids . . . because I know how being spanked has helped me in my life.”

The irony is that Adrian Peterson’s 2-year-old son died last year and the child’s mother’s boyfriend was charged with felony counts of aggravated battery of an infant and aggravated assault.

An open letter to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch regarding the juvenile records of Michael Brown, Jr.

‘BURN WHITE JESUS’ CHALLENGE SWEEPS THE INTERNET

There’s a new social media challenge sweeping the Internet called #BurnWhiteJesus, or the White Jesus Picture challenge.

The movement calls on people to post videos of themselves online burning pictures of Jesus, according to Inquistr.

The reason behind the challenge is racism, according to the religious education website Patheos.com, who says the common portrayal of Jesus as a white man “is used to advance white supremacy around the world.”

“Mr. Savannah Black” posted his video which shows him explaining the challenge and then burning two pictures of Jesus.

“This will be the hardest challenge for most black folks to do,” he said. “In order for you to free your mind you must get rid of this image from your subconscious, in order to have real liberation of the self.”

Watch two of the YouTube videos here — Caution: Strong language!

Link : http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2014/09/burn-white-jesus-challenge-sweeps-the-internet.html

13 More 'Michael Brown' Police Killings We've Learned About In The Month Since His Death

 

It has been exactly one month since Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. The unarmed black teen's death drew national attention to a number of issues about policing and equal treatment under the law that havelong been of concern to the African-American community. How did a fatal confrontation sprout, when initial reports suggest that Brown was simply walking in the street? Why did Officer Darren Wilson fire six shots into Brown's body, including two to the head? Were Brown's hands in the air at the time the fatal shot was fired? Was such lethal force really necessary, even if investigators end up concluding Wilson's actions were justified? And if Wilson's actions were criminal, will Brown's family actually find justice?

While much has been said about the role race played in the Brown case and in similar incidents of unarmed black men being controversially and forcefully targeted by police around the country, the events that unfolded in Ferguson on Aug. 9 and in the response to subsequent protests undoubtedly speak more broadly to a disturbing pattern of behavior by law enforcement. Around the nation, people of every race, age, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation are being treated questionably and aggressively by police officers, in a manner that often leads to suspects being killed or injured, seemingly without proper cause. To make matters more concerning, we have no idea just how many people police kill each year, whether justified or not.

The assorted cases below -- all of which have either taken place or come to light in the past month -- all touch upon many of the core issues at play in the Brown case. Not all of the victims were black males, and the regional context is unique in each case, but they all raise the same questions: How frequently are police too quick or undiscerning in their use of excessive, often lethal force? And are these cases adequately investigated and prosecuted by the other law enforcement officials tasked with making these determinations?

Here's what some of the most controversial police violence looked like in the past month alone:

Aug. 10

On the evening of Aug. 10, an off-duty Dallas police officer confronted Andrew Scott Gaynier, an unarmed 26-year-old who was reportedly pacing up and down the street and making lewd comments to a number of women. Police say Gaynier didn't comply when an officer ordered him to show his hands shortly after attempting to enter a passing family's vehicle. A video shows that Gaynier then charged toward the officer, leading him to open fire on the suspect. Unnamed witnesses claim Gaynier shouted "shoot me" and screamed before rushing toward the officer. A witness also claimed the officer fired four shots, including three to the chest.

An investigation into the incident has been launched and the video of the shooting was turned over to a special investigative unit.

Aug. 11, case 1

Veteran officers with the Los Angeles Police Department stopped Ezell Ford, a 25-year-old mentally ill man, about a block from the street he grew up on in the South Los Angeles’ Florence neighborhood on the evening of Aug. 11. Little is known about why the officers stopped Ford, but police say during that stop a scuffle ensued with Ford during which Ford reached for the officer’s gun. The partner officer then opened fire upon Ford. The police say Ford was rushed to a nearby hospital, and later succumbed to his wounds. However, eyewitnesses tell a much different story. They say that Ford was unarmed and was being compliant with the officers, lying on the ground when three bullets were unloaded into him by the police. Members of Ford’s community and family say that it was well known, even by police officers, that Ford was mentally ill.

Attorney Steven Lerman, who also represented Rodney King -- the man whose videotaped beating by LAPD officers following a high-speed car chase in 1991 sparked outrage around the nation -- took on the Ford case and has said that he intends to file a federal civil rights lawsuit over the shooting, which he described as an “execution.”

The LAPD recently released the names of the officers involved in the shooting, but has maintained an “investigative hold” on the Ford autopsy report. The LAPD’s Force Investigative Division and Robbery Homicide Division investigations into the shooting are ongoing.

Protestors gather in front of Police Headquarters in Los Angeles on Aug. 17 to demonstrate against the fatal police shooting of Ezell Ford.

Aug. 11, case 2

Salt Lake City police officers were responding to reports of a man brandishing a handgun when they confronted 20-year-old Dillon Taylor outside a 7-Eleven store. Taylor was unarmed at the time, witnesses say, but some reports suggest that he may have reached toward his waistband before being shot by a police officer. Taylor's brother, who was with the 20-year-old when he was killed, said Taylor was wearing headphones at the time, so may not have heard the officers' command for him to put his hands in the air and get on the ground. Taylor died at the scene.

The South Salt Lake Police Department is investigating the incident, but has so far not released a ruling as to whether the officer was justified in firing the fatal shots. The officers at the scene were wearing body cameras during the confrontation, and investigators say the footage will be released when when the investigation concludes.

Aug. 12

On Aug. 12 in Victorville, California, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputiesattempted to take Dante Parker, a 36-year-old father of five, into custody. Parker, who was biking at the time of the confrontation, was a suspect in a burglary, police said. When officers confronted him, they say he became "uncooperative and combative," and acted as if he was under the influence of an unknown substance. Officers deployed Tasers on him repeatedly, according to police officials, and Parker was later transported to a local hospital where he died. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's department is conducting an investigation into Parker's death, but the results have not yet been released.

Aug. 14, case 1

On Aug. 14, the family of Omar Abrego, a 37-year-old father from Los Angeles, came forward to KTLA, claiming that Abrego had been beaten to death by police following a confrontation. The LAPD claims police attempted to pull over Abrego because he was driving erratically and almost hit a pedestrian. Officers say he attempted to flee, first in his vehicle, then on foot, before eventually being caught. In the altercation that ensued, police officials say Abrego suffered a laceration. Witnesses claim to have seen officers striking him on his head and face, however, with one saying the beating lasted 10 minutes. A cell phone video appears to show a motionless Abrego with a bloodied face, lying on the ground. An ambulance was called to the scene, and 12 hours later, Abrego was dead.

The LAPD says the two sergeants involved in the incident were injured as a result of the arrest and that the department has mounted an investigation into the incident.

Aug. 14, case 2

Police in Greeley, Colorado say they were responding to a 911 call reporting an intoxicated man armed with "two or three guns" on the morning of Aug. 14 when they encountered 21-year-old Jacinto Zavala. The military veteran reportedly had a brief encounter with police, officials say, during which he refused their commands to drop a weapon and instead pointed it at officers, leading them to shoot and kill Zavala. While police maintain that Zavala was brandishing an AR-15, his family has claimed he was armed only with a BB gun, and that he never raised it at the officers. The source of the 911 call, who claimed the suspect had PTSD, is also unclear. Zavala's family alleges that he didn't suffer from the disorder, but that officers should have behaved differently if they believed they were responding to a mentally unstable individual.

The Weld County District Attorney's Office is currently investigating the case, though details about incident have not yet been released.

Aug. 14, case 3

On the morning that Diana Showman, a 19-year-old woman with severe bipolar disorder, was shot to death by police officers in San Jose, California, she called 911 reportedly telling dispatchers that she had a gun and was going to shoot her family. However, no one else was at home with Showman. When Showman later approached officers outside of her home with a large black object in her hand, the officers ordered her to drop it, but when she disobeyed the order, police say, an officer fired one fatal round. It was later discovered that the large object was a black cordless drill.

Showman’s parents, as well as local police, are demanding a thorough investigation of the shooting.

The drill Showman was carrying at the time of her death.

Aug. 14, case 4

On the same afternoon, a veteran officer from the Phoenix Police Department arrived at 50-year-old Michelle Cusseaux’s apartment in order to transport her to an in-patient mental-health facility. Police say Cusseaux -- who was said to have serious mental illness which included schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression -- met the officer at her front door with a hammer in her hand when she was shot dead.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety will conduct a criminal investigation into the shooting after Cusseaux’s mother asked that the city use an independent agency to look into the incident.

Aug. 17

On Aug. 17, Joshua Paul, a 31-year-old from Carpentersville, Illinois, was pulled over by police for a traffic violation. What happened next still isn't clear, but the officers informed Paul that he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest due to prior traffic violations, and attempted to take him into custody. Police reported a "brief physical struggle," which left Paul with a laceration under his chin that required on-scene medical attention from paramedics. The extent of his injuries was reportedly more substantially, because he was eventually taken to the hospital in an ambulance, where he died a few hours later. The cause of Paul's death and extent of his injuries have still not been released by officials, and the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Unit has launched an investigation into the incident.

Aug. 19

On Aug. 19 in Orlando, several people called 911 to report a man with a gun outside of a downtown nightclub, but that he hadn’t fired it yet. According to a police affidavit, police ordered Kody Roach, the gunman, to get on the ground, but when he started to back up toward the club again, witnesses say that policed fired as many as a half-dozen shots. Police say that during a police confrontation with the gunman, 22-year-old Maria Godinez was killed by a stray bullet fired by an officer. Roach survived the shooting and now faces a murder charge for the killing of Godinez.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has launched an investigation into the shooting.

A photo of Godinez, via WKMG.

Aug. 24

Police in Ottawa, Kansas, say they responded to calls about unusual behavior from 18-year-old Joseph Jennings and reports that he may have had a gun. Officers said that when they arrived in the parking lot of a local hardware store on the afternoon of Aug. 24, Jennings ignored police commands. That’s when police fired upon Jennings. But witnesses say Jennings may not have had a gun at all, and that police may have fired more than 15 rounds at the teen who had left a psychiatric hospital just hours before. Family members also said that police were aware of Jennings' mental state and had made several recent trips to his home because the young man had been having suicidal thoughts brought on by what his family described as painful seizures.

The case has been taken over by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

Aug. 28

Police say they received 911 calls on the morning of Aug. 28 describing a man walking down a street wielding a pipe and bashing in windows. A witness described the man as homeless, and he was later identified as 36-year-old Guillermo Canas. St. Paul Police Chief Tom Smith said that the man was attacking officers with rocks and had also apparently attacked a school bus with a metal pipe. Witnesses say that when police arrived, the man was throwing rocks and trying to punch police officers just before he finally charged at one of the officers and was fatally shot.

Sept. 3

Earlier this month, the family of Marlon Horton filed a civil rights lawsuit over the fatal shooting of the 28-year-old man by an undercover Chicago police officer the year before. Horton was reportedly attempting to visit his girlfriend on the morning of Sept. 7, 2013, but a lawsuit claims that his cell phone battery had died, leaving him unable to call his girlfriend to get into her building. Horton then asked two building security guards, one who turned out to be an off-duty Chicago police officer, to let him into the building. When the pair of guards refused to let him in and asked him to leave, Horton allegedly began to urinate near the police officer’s car and a scuffle began. It ended with Horton being shot as he moved toward the off-duty police officer.

Transcripts from 911 calls allegedly reveal a dispatcher instructing the off-duty officer to give Horton medical assistance after Horton had been shot, but security video from the scene of the shooting shows no assistance was given, according to a lawsuit launched by the family.

The family’s attorneys say that had Horton been white, he would not have been shot and killed. The Chicago Independent Police Review Authority is investigating the incident.

_______________________

Not every target of police violence that emerged in the past month met such a tragic end. In late August, Chris Lollie, a 28-year-old father of four from St. Paul, Minnesotareleased video of a January encounter that led to him getting hit with a Taser twice by police before being arrested.

Lollie claims he was sitting in a public skyway-level lounge area when a security guard told him to leave. Believing he was in a public space, Lollie declined, and the guard called police to the scene. When officers arrived, Lollie had left the area to go pick his children up from daycare. They approached him in another section of the skyway and asked him to identify himself; Lollie was filming the confrontation on his cell phone. When he refused to identify himself, officers attempted to take him into custody. Lollie claims an officer placed his phone on a ledge, and audio of the incident shows there was a brief struggle before an officer deployed a Taser on him, allegedly in front of his daughter's day care classmates.

The charges -- for misdemeanor trespassing, disorderly conduct and obstructing the legal process -- were eventually dropped in July, but Lollie is now filing a federal lawsuit, claiming he was a victim of unlawful search and seizure, motivated by racial bias. Lollie luckily wasn't killed or seriously injured in the incident, but as some of the previous stories demonstrate, many similar incidents have had more tragic ends.

Lollie's situation also garnered national attention due to a video, but there is no doubt there are many similarly questionable confrontations we don't hear about. In many of these cases, unnecessary or at least potentially controversial use of force goes unnoticed by the public and unquestioned by police officials. It's only when someone actually dies -- an outcome that officers often have little control over if a Taser or other "non-lethal" weapon is used -- that the story emerges and the nation again is forced to see the parallels to the case of Michael Brown.

Link : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/09/police-killings-since-michael-brown_n_5788412.html#