Chicago Man Shot 28 Times By Cops Sentenced To 40 Years In Prison

huffingtonpost.com
April 5, 2012

A 61-year-old Chicago man who was shot 28 times by Chicago police officers in 2005 — and lived to tell his side of the story — was sentenced Thursday to serve 40 years in prison, essentially a life sentence.

Howard Morgan, himself a former Chicago police officer, was sentenced on an attempted murder charge Thursday, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

NBC Chicago’s Michelle Relerford tweeted from the sentencing that Morgan said, “I am in God’s hands” as he awaited Judge Clayton J. Crane’s decision. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, according to Relerford, was also on hand at the scene.

Read more

 

Michigan Father Killed in Marijuana Child Removal Incident

Phillip Smith
stopthedrugwar.org
March 24, 2012

A prosecutor in northern Michigan has cleared the police officer who shot and killed a Grayling man as police and Child Protective Services (CPS) employees attempted to seize his three-year-old. The attempted removal of the minor child came after a police officer who came to the scene on a call earlier that same day reported that he smelled marijuana and reported the incident to CPS authorities, who decided the child needed to be removed. The dead man, William Reddie, 32, becomes the 17th person killed in US domestic drug law enforcement operations so far this year.

[Editor’s Note: This case illustrates the difficulties that arise in determining which deaths qualify as being a direct result of drug law enforcement. Police here were enforcing child protections laws, not drug laws, but the only reason CPS was called in was because of the allegation of marijuana use. There was no allegation of crazed behavior due to marijuana use; only the allegation of use. For Michigan CPS authorities, that was enough to remove the child. Bottom line: This guy died because the state tried to take his kid because he was accused of smoking pot, so he merits inclusion. That doesn’t mean his own actions didn’t contribute to his death.]

Reddie’s killing took place on February 3, but we only became aware of it when news broke this week that prosecutors had decided that the police officer’s use of deadly force in the incident was justified.

According to the Crawford County Avalanche, Grayling police Officer Alan Somero was called to Reddie’s apartment for an alleged domestic disturbance. Somero made no arrests, but believed he smelled marijuana and reported it to CPS. Two CPS employees went to Reddie’s apartment to check on the situation. They then got a court order to remove Reddie’s 3-year-old son, Cameron, and asked police to escort them to the apartment to serve the court order.

The Gaylord Herald-Times, which obtained the CPS removal order, added more detail. It reported that Reddie had been accused of smoking marijuana in front of his son, and that Reddie had become “agitated” and threatened police when confronted by that accusation earlier in the day.

The court order gave the following reason for removing the child: “There are reasonable grounds for this court to remove the child(ren) from the parent … because conditions or surroundings of the child(ren), and is contrary to the welfare of the child(ren) to remain in the home because: It is alleged that the father used marijuana in the home in the presence of the child. In addition, there is concern for the safety of the child due to a domestic disturbance and threats made toward law enforcement by the father.”

Returning to the Avalanche’s narrative, when police and CPS workers arrived to seize the child, Reddie then reportedly displayed a pocketknife and lunged at them. Crawford County Deputy John Klepadlo shot and killed him. Police had been deploying Tasers, but holstered them and grabbed their guns when Reddie displayed the knife.

Crawford County Sheriff Kirk Wakefield then asked the Michigan State Police to investigate his deputy’s use of deadly force. The Michigan Attorney General’s Office referred the case to the neighboring Roscommon County Prosecutor’s Office. After receiving a report from the State Police, Roscommon County DA Mark Jernigan determined that the use of deadly force was justified and that Klepadlo would not be charged with any crime.

“The deceased was in possession of an edged weapon,” Jernigan said. “The deceased pulled a knife and hid it behind his back. At the point where he pulls his hand forward and lunges at the officer, he is in such close proximity, and presents a clear danger of deadly force, the officer is left with no option other than to use deadly force to protect himself, the other officer and the three civilians that were present. The use of deadly force is completely justified and therefore, the homicide was justified.”

Toxicology reports, which were included in the final investigation, showed there was no marijuana or alcohol in Reddie’s system when he was killed.

Reddie had been seeking permanent custody of his son and was due in court for a hearing on that matter three days after he was killed.

“They took the only thing he ever loved,” Reddie’s mother, Michelle VanBuren, told the Avalanche after the prosecutor’s announcement.

VanBuren said she was baffled by the conduct of authorities, especially since no evidence or alcohol or marijuana use was found. She said she had been in contact with her son throughout that day.

“I was on the phone with my son all day, and that cop was bullying him and harassing him so badly,” she said. “Where was protect and serve?” VanBuren asked. “The officers always have to stick together and for them to do this is just totally uncalled for.”

VanBuren said the family would continue to fight to ensure that CPS and law enforcement are held accountable for their actions. “They need to be held accountable and they will be held accountable believe you me,” she said.

Reddie’s family is not alone in questioning police and CPS actions. “I can’t believe they (police) could not subdue Will without killing him, and over what, marijuana,” said Joanne Michal, who knew Reddie for half of his life. “Why didn’t police just arrest him or cite him for marijuana instead of removing his child?” she told the Herald-Times.

“It is particularly sad that Will was shot to death right in front of his son,” Michal continued. “Why not use a Taser? Even if he (Will) had a knife and lunged at police, they didn’t have to kill him. Instead of using a Taser, you shoot him in front of his child. It is just totally unjustified. They didn’t have to kill him. I think it’s very sad that his life was taken during the removal of his son. And the smell of marijuana shouldn’t have been a reason for an emergency order. Just a few days before he was killed, Will was visiting, and he was so excited because a hearing was coming up for custody. And it seemed to give him hope of getting permanent custody. His son was everything to him.”

Crawford County Clerk Sandra Moore said she also knew Reddie. “It’s truly a shame,”Moore said. “He was a good guy and very fond of his son. He had been very excited just days before” about gaining permanent custody.

Cameron Reddie is now in foster care. His father’s family is seeking visitation rights.

Meanwhile, Deputy Klepadlo, who had been on administrative leave after the shooting, is back on the job.

Grayling, MI

United States

Man Arrested, Charged With Assault For Pointing Finger At Cops

Disrespecting a police officer is now a crime

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Tuesday, March 27, 2012

A Fredericksburg man faces two counts of assault for allegedly pointing his finger at police officers, another example of how any behavior except complete subservience to law enforcement is now being treated as a crime.

David Loveless, who has no criminal record, was arrested and handcuffed last week after he allegedly made a hand gesture at police who had testified against his son in a robbery case.

He now faces two counts of assault on a law enforcement officer by way of intimidation and two counts of obstruction of justice.

Police spokesperson Natatia Bledsoe claimed Loveless made a gun gesture at police officers, but Loveless denies making any kind of gesture at all.

“I don’t see how I was pointing my finger,” Loveless told ABC7. ” If anything I was reaching into my pocket to get a pack of cigarettes. If that’s what they saw, they have a vivid imagination.”

As we have previously highlighted, almost weekly there is a new case of someone being arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer merely for speaking out, making a gesture, or attempting to protect themselves.

Indeed, in some cases a person who is brutally beaten by cops is subsequently charged with assaulting a police officer.

Last year we reported on a case in which Dayton police tasered, pepper-sprayed and beat a mentally handicapped teen and then charged him with assault because the officers took the boy’s speech impediment as “a sign of disrespect”.

17-year-old Jesse Kersey was charged with “assault on a peace officer, resisting arrest, and obstructing official business,” after he became confused when police started asking him questions. Kersey was tased and punched as cops threatened to arrest neighbors who tried to tell them the boy was mentally handicapped.

Not showing complete fealty to cops is now treated as “disrespect” and punishable by a beat down. Having your head smashed in by cops also now qualifies as you assaulting them.

Similar to how cops think filming them is against the law, many are also under the assumption that not groveling and obeying their every order is also an arrestable offense.

Last month, a city council had to pay a Nevada man $158,500 dollars after police beat him up for “resisting arrest” when in reality he was having a seizure as a result of a diabetic shock.

Take a Bite Out of Crime: Abolish the Local Police

William Grigg
LRC Blog
March 12, 2012

Mount Sterling, Ohio — population 1,800 — recently disbanded its entire police force following an incident in which a police officer assaulted a child with a deadly weapon.

Officer Scott O’Neil was called to deal with a 9-year-old who refused to go to school. According to the Columbus Dispatch, “the situation somehow escalated” — apparently the child did something to make the valiant officer fear for his life — and O’Neill “used a Taser on the boy.”

A woman who spoke with the victim’s mother said that the child appeared to have suffered a total of six burns on his back from multiple Taser strikes. Details of the incident aren’t available because Village Administrator Joe Johnson, in violation of the Ohio open records law, has refused to release the official report. The Village Council learned of the assault from another police department, because Police Chief Mike McCoy initially withheld information about it from Mayor Charlie Neff.

At the time of its dissolution, Mount Sterling’s police force consisted of five part-time officers. Seven months ago, the village was compelled to lay off its entire full-time police force for budgetary reasons. A group of civic-minded donors took it upon themselves to nullify that blessing by raising money to hire the part-time cops – because, after all, no city should be deprived of the valuable service provided by cretins in body armor who are trained to make small children “ride the Taser.”

If Covington, Texas (pop. 250) is fortunate, its police force will soon be consigned to oblivion. Last Friday (March 9), the City Council fired Wade Laurence following his arrest by the Texas Rangers on charges of using a fraudulent prescription to obtain controlled substances, a third degree felony.

Several Covington residents, including former police officers, have accused Laurence of dealing prescription drugs to schoolchildren, and illegally diverting confiscated marijuana out-of-state. The accusers include former Chief Dowell Missildine — who founded the department about a decade ago, and was forced out by Laurence roughly a year ago in what amounted to a putsch.

Laurence is free on $20,000 bail, and many residents of the tiny town are terrified.

“They are scared to death now,” City Council member Martha Smith told Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA. “They lock their doors, they lock their car doors because they are scared of the police.” Smith, who has publicly criticized Laurence’s management of the department, was threatened with arrest after she went to City Hall to collect minutes of City Council meetings. A few days prior to Laurence’s arrest, Smith — whose home had been under constant police surveillance – found that the rear windshield of her SUV had been vandalized.

Another transparent act of retaliation took place in a Council meeting last December that was called to examine the dismissal of Officer Kayla Richardson, a whistleblower who had told former Chief Missildine that she feared for her life. During the meeting, Richardson’s fiancé, Clifton Shelby, was arrested on a patently bogus assault charge arising from an incident several weeks earlier: While passing Chief Laurence’s Corvette on a wet road, Shelby’s truck briefly swerved into the other lane, but the vehicles never collided.

(For additional details about the reign of terror in Covington, go here.)

If the charges against Chief Laurence are true, he wouldn’t be the only small-town Texas police leader who played both sides of the “War on Drugs”: As City Marshal of Tenaha (population 1,125), Constable Fred Walker allegedly ordered the illegal bugging of municipal officials  who had been his partners in a multi-million-dollar drug asset forfeiture scam. The charges against Walker were made in an affidavit filed by Roderette McClure, who was arrested last fall for breaking into the offices at Walker’s direction.

For several years, the criminal clique in charge of Tenaha’s village government would conduct traffic stops targeting out-of-state motorists who met the “profile” of drug couriers. Anything of value found during the stop — including the vehicle itself — was stolen as “forfeited” proceeds of narcotics dealing, and the motorists were presented with an ultimatum: Relinquish their property, or face prosecution for “money laundering.” Rather than facing the prospect of a long, expensive legal entanglement, many of the victims simply gave up. On the other hand, actual drug dealers were often permitted to go free in exchange for surrendering their contraband.

McClure, who on February 14 pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, told FBI investigators that Constable Walker “had him install surveillance cameras disguised as smoke detectors and hidden voice-activated digital recording equipment in the offices of Tenaha Mayor George Boyers and deputy city marshal Barry Washington,” reported the AP. “Walker said he wanted to `cover’ himself over the traffic stops, most of which were conducted by Washington….”

According to McClure’s affidavit, he and Walker ran a drug trafficking ring when Walker was City Marshal. They eventually embezzled roughly 500 pounds in contraband — including marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy and hydrocone — from the Tenaha City Marshal’s office evidence room. In November 2010, the pair received an extortion threat from someone identifying himself as “Jack Frost” who said he was aware that Walker and McClure were stealing confiscated drugs and selling them. This led them to “stage a burglary as a cover for the missing drugs” — and then to install the listening devices in city office buildings in order to find out who was aware the City Marshal was moonlighting as a drug lord.

Police don’t get much more “local” than they are in hamlets and villages like Mount Sterling, Covington, and Tenaha (or, in another bizarre case, Sunriver, Oregon, a resort enclave with a permanent population of less than 1,000 people). In “towns” of that size, police — rather than protecting liberty and property — are usually the single greatest threat to both.

 

No justice for Florida woman tasered to brain death

Press TV
February 22, 2012

A Florida police officer who tasered a 20-year-old US woman until she was brain dead has been cleared of wrongdoing.

The Florida Highway Police says the officer was trying to prevent the woman from fleeing and cleared the officer of any wrongdoing this week.

Danielle Maudsley went into a coma in September after Florida Highway Police Trooper Daniel Cole tasered her in the back as she tried to escape from the police while handcuffed.

Maudsley had been detained and taken to a Florida Highway Patrol Station after being suspected of involvement in a hit-and-run accident.

Footage from a police cruiser dashboard camera shows the officer firing Taser electric waves into her back. She then spun, fell backwards, and smacked her head on the ground.

Doctors have expressed concern that the victim will most likely never wake up from the coma.

The Florida Highway Police says the officer was trying to prevent the woman from fleeing and cleared the officer of any wrongdoing this week.

“Tell me that’s not excessive force. I’m not saying she was an angel, but she didn’t deserve that,” Cheryl Maudsley, the victim’s mother, said, adding that she was suing the police.

“He couldn’t reach out and grab her? He was an arm’s length away. My daughter is dead because of this. She won’t come back,” she stated.

Experts have excoriated the policeman for his inappropriate use of the Taser, noting that he could have easily apprehended her.

The UK-based human rights group Amnesty International has called on US police and law enforcement agencies to limit the use of Tasers, which have killed at least 500 people in the United States since 2001.

“At least 500 people in the US have died since 2001 after being shocked with Tasers, either during their arrest or while in jail,” Amnesty International said in a report issued this month.

Researchers, citing documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, have pointed to dozens of cases of police use of Tasers that suggest deviations from government guidelines.

MAB/HGL

 

Cop Shoots 54 Year Old Sunday School Teacher to Death

Infowars.com
February 18, 2012

Her crime? She rolled up the car window.

 

US Marine killed by the police, unarmed – and in front of his children

LA Times
February 14, 2012

A veteran Orange County sheriff’s deputy (claims/lied that) he feared for the safety of two young girls sitting in a parked car when he shot and killed a Marine sergeant in a dark parking lot near San Clemente High School, authorities said Friday.

Sgt. Manuel Loggins Jr. was shot early Tuesday as he started to get into the SUV where his two daughters — 9 and 14 — were sitting, authorities said. Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the department, said the deputy was fearful that Loggins — who he said (supposedly) appeared to be acting irrationally — was about to drive off with the girls.

“The real threat that was perceived was the safety of the children,” Amormino said.

“The deputy formed an opinion that he had a deep concern for the children, that he would not allow Mr. Loggins to drive away with the kids,” Amormino said.

Read full article here

 

West Point Grad, Iraqi War Vet Attacked & Arrested for Photographing Police

Infowars Nightly News
January 7, 2012

West Point graduate and Iraqi war veteran Antonio Buehler appears to discuss his harrowing treatment & arrest on New Year’s Eve in Austin, TX after he simply recorded video of what he considered to be police mistreatment of a woman being arrested at a gas station. Buehler gives his take on why he was arrested for ‘harassment of a public servant’ — a third degree felony after police claimed he was interfering with the DUI suspect already in the process of being arrested. He is currently gathering witnesses of the event– including those who recorded video– to build his case.

Antonio Buehler, 34, was stopping for gas on his way home early Sunday morning when he and his friend heard a woman scream. “We look over, and we see the cop violently yanking the female out of the car,” Buehler told KVUE. As seen on the video — taken by a cell phone from across the street — the woman had her hands pulled straight out behind her back. Buehler said, “It just looked extremely painful.”

Buehler began taking pictures of the scene, which caught the attention of the officers. Officer Oborski approached Buehler and accused him of interfering with the investigation before pushing him into the white truck seen on the video. Buehler was then taken to the BAT (Breath Alcohol Test) bus and asked to take a breathalyzer. Buehler was the designated driver that morning and had not been drinking.

According to APD spokesman, Corp. Anthony Hipolito, it was likely Oborski took Buehler to the BAT bus in order to complete paperwork on the DWI arrest. However, when Hipolito was asked to provide the reason Buehler was requested to take a breathalyzer he responded with, “I don’t know.”

Police Accused Of Confiscating Yet Another Camera After Homeless Beating

Carlos Miller
Pixiq.com
September 6, 2011

Another citizen is claiming that Fullerton police confiscated her camera in the wake of the Kelly Thomas beating death.

This makes at least three cameras seized from citizens whose content has yet to see the light of day.

And that’s not counting the city-owned surveillance camera that prosecutors refuse to release on the basis that it could taint witness testimony – never mind the fact that they’re already interviewed all the witnesses.

However, Kelly Thomas’ dad, the retired Orange County Sheriff’s deputy, has filed a claim that he intends to file a lawsuit, which would give him legal access to the video considering it is “evidence.”

And he’s been one of the main proponents of seeing that video released.

Meanwhile, Friends of Fullerton continue to provide the newest info on this case, including the two videos included with this story.

The top video is an interview with a witness to the incident that claimed a police officer intimidated into handing over the film from her camera.

The second video is an interview with another witness who said that police had sat Thomas on a curb for about 20 minutes and when they moved in to arrest him, he jumped up and tried to run away.

The officers quickly pounced on him and began beating him.

 

Police officer seeks criminal charges against woman who videotaped police beating

Eric W. Dolan
Raw Story
Aug 12, 2011

A police officer from Springfield, Massachusetts has filed an application for a criminal complaint against a woman who recorded his fellow officer beating a black suspect while he stood by, according to The Republican.

In November 2009, Tyrisha Greene made a 20-minute recording of now-retired Springfield patrolman Jeffrey M. Asher repeatedly beating Melvin Jones III with a flashlight during a traffic stop. The recording shows a group of other officers standing around Jones without intervening.

Jones was partially blinded in one eye from the attack, and had bones all over his face broken. The officers claimed that Jones grabbed one of their guns as they tried to arrest him and that Asher struck Jones with his flashlight in order to “disorientate him.”

But a grand jury rejected that claim, finding no evidence that Jones behaved aggressively towards them.

Michael Sedergren was one of the four officers disciplined for the incident. He was suspended for 45 days. Sedergren claims Greene violated the state’s wiretapping laws by recording him without his consent.

Watch an excerpt of Green’s video below:

http://video-embed.masslive.com/services/player/bcpid634584505001?bctid=605857696001