Police Brutality, Insensitivity and Militarism/Robotism is all the Rage Now!

[David Guyatt]

Not beatings or murder, just corruption this time.

My primary admiration is reserved for ACMC (Assistant Chief Money Counter - judged by the Indy's sly picture anyway?) Sweeney Todd the Demon Accountant of Hillsborough, for featuring in all three investigations.

Nice one Guv!

Greater Manchester Police faces corruption storm after whistleblower goes to IPCC, forcing deputy head of Hillsborough investigation to step down






JONATHAN BROWN

Tuesday 18 March 2014

The deputy head of the criminal investigation into the Hillsborough disaster has stepped down from his role following the launch of a corruption inquiry and claims that a high-ranking detective allowed an unauthorised bugging operation at England's second largest police force.

Assistant Chief Constable Terry Sweeney is the most senior figure from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to be investigated as a result of whistleblower claims of "cronyism" among top officers and the alleged failure to follow correct procedures or investigate complaints properly.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said it had launched three inquiries into the actions of a number of GMP staff including the suggestion the force misled the families of victims of serial killer Harold Shipman as well as the public over the secret disposal of human tissue samples.
The second probe will examine the activities of an unnamed Detective Chief Inspector who it is claimed ordered the bugging of one of the force's offices as well as allegations that the officer's actions may have put public safety at risk.
The police watchdog is also investigating claims made by a serving officer that sex abuse allegations were poorly handled and that alleged failings by GMP were covered up.
It is understood ACC Sweeney, a former head of GMP's Professional Standards Branch, will feature as part of all three IPCC inquiries.
One of the force's most respected officers, he was a senior figure in the still ongoing inquiry into the suspected poisoning deaths at Stepping Hill hospital as well as being charged with examining reports that GMP officers attended demonstrations organised by the British National Party.
ACC Sweeney also acted as a spokesman during Operation Windermere, one of the largest ever inquiries into alleged child sexual exploitation.
The IPCC announcement comes just two weeks after Home Secretary Theresa May ordered a major inquiry into undercover policing following the publication of a report that found Scotland Yard spied on the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence.
Assistant Commissioner Jon Stoddart, who is leading Operation Resolve, which was launched following the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel's damning report in 2012, said the allegations related to ACC Sweeney's role at GMP and that he had now returned to his role at the force.
"I have taken steps to inform the Hillsborough families and other interested parties of recent developments. I and my team remain absolutely committed to supporting the forthcoming Inquests into the deaths of 96 Liverpool supporters at Hillsborough Stadium on 15th April 1989," he said in a statement.
Operation Resolve is tasked with helping the coroner to decide whether the deaths of the football fans were unlawful. The inquest is due to begin at the end of this month.
IPCC Commissioner Jan Williams said: "These are serious allegations and the gravity and nature of the allegations, and the fact that they are made against senior officers within the force, means they must be investigated independently."
The first inquiry by the police watchdog will focus on human tissue believed to include organs taken from the exhumed bodies of 12 of Harold Shipman's victims and retained for more than a decade by police in case of an appeal by the killer or his family before being secretly destroyed.
GMP Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy said the decision had been taken to spare the families who had lost loved ones further anguish. Sir Peter said decisions surrounding the Shipman investigation were "complex and sensitive".
He said AC Sweeney had voluntarily decided to step down from his work with Operation Resolve. "This is a personal decision made as he does not want the matter to distract from the operation's important work," he added.
It is believed the other two IPCC inquiries relate to events which happened within the past five years. Police have confirmed that the unauthorised bugging of a GMP office took place, the watchdog said.

[David Guyatt]

The Albuquerque shooting - watch and weep.

For me it's just plain old fashioned murder.

[Anthony Thorne]

I watched the first few seconds of the video clip, then clicked through to the TYT discussion afterwards without watching the fatal shot. I just can't stomach seeing innocent people killed like this any more - it's heartbreaking.

Dylan Avery (of LOOSE CHANGE history) is now making a new feature film on police violence within the US called BLACK AND BLUE. He started recording interviews with people - many of them victims, or family members or same - across the country a couple of weeks ago. If nothing else it will contribute to a debate which clearly the US really needs to have.

[David Guyatt]

The following can still be easily investigated and the officers interviewed as to why officers were removed from the case.

But will it be?

I get sick of all the BS. Follow normal criminal procedures, interview those involved, narrow down the possible culprits and soon you will probably have the perpetrators to prosecute. It's not rocket science for gawd's sake.

Exclusive: More evidence of police corruption relating to Daniel Morgan case - Britain's most notorious unsolved murder - mysteriously missing'



Leaked files show how documents relating to notorious unsolved murder of potential whistleblower disappeared from Scotland Yard

TOM HARPER

INVESTIGATIONS REPORTER

Saturday 05 April 2014

Evidence of police corruption relating to Britain's most notorious unsolved murder mysteriously "disappeared" from Scotland Yard during the initial investigation, according to a leaked file. A police statement taken from an officer on the first inquiry into the brutal death of Daniel Morgan suggests the victim was about to blow the whistle on a case of "major police corruption" but internal police documents detailing the claim were removed from the incident room.

Detective Constable Kinley Davies also claimed that he and two of his colleagues tried to investigate the emerging allegations of Metropolitan Police malpractice but were "suddenly removed from the squad" by senior officers.
The claims are contained in a witness statement submitted to Hampshire Police, an outside force brought in to investigate police corruption in the murder of Mr Morgan, who was found in a south London car park with an axe embedded in his skull in 1987.
They reveal for the first time how early the inquiry into the private investigator's death appears to have been compromised and raise new questions over the extent of criminality in Scotland Yard.
The destruction of embarrassing evidence in the Daniel Morgan murder echoes the "mass-shredding" of Operation Othona, a top-secret anti-corruption inquiry during the Nineties, which was uncovered last month by a review of the Stephen Lawrence murder another deeply uncomfortable chapter in the modern history of the Met. The statement by the anonymous officer from Hampshire Police details an interview he conducted with DC Kinley Davies.
DC Davies paid a visit to the home of one of the suspects called Mr X for legal reasons on the night of the murder.
He said: "When Mr X opened the front door his face was like wax and he was starting to get beads of sweat across his brow, even though it was a winter's night. There was no doubt that he was expecting a visit from the police."
The officer then cryptically says he would have arrested Mr X "then and there" had another detective inspector "not been in charge".
When Mr X was finally arrested, the officer recalls him "dropping names of senior officers and solicitors" throughout his interview.
However, the most shocking disclosure is yet more claims of the destruction of embarrassing police corruption files. DC Davies told Hampshire Police that he had been to interview a witness, who cannot be named for legal reasons. The witness told them "Morgan had uncovered major police corruption and he was going to sell it to the national newspapers".
"DC Davies had fed this into the incident room but the document had disappeared and was not actioned."
The statement continues: "Nevertheless, DC Davies [and two other officers] continued to investigate the corruption allegations but were suddenly removed from the squad without any reason given by the SIO [senior investigating officer]. It concludes: "This was particularly strange."
Mr Davies, 61, who spent 28 years as a Met detective on the anti-corruption, organised crime and terrorist financing divisions, refused to speak when contacted by The Independent. However, a friend said: "There were a number of things from that time that Kinley and his colleagues found unsavoury. There were other things going on that seemed to overlap with the Morgan murder."
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: "I am concerned that in this important investigation vital evidence may have been lost. The Commissioner rightly promised a ruthless pursuit of truth in issues of corruption and ministers have always made it clear that they will have zero tolerance of it. The Committee will be questioning the Home Secretary on these issues when she comes before us on Tuesday."
When Roy Clark, the police chief in charge of Operation Othona, was recently told about the disposal of the highly sensitive intelligence, he said: "There would be no good reason to get rid of it… It was gold dust stuff."
Meanwhile, Daniel's brother Alastair, who has led a 27-year campaign for justice, hit out last night at Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe after the Met Commissioner told MPs last week that he was considering reopening an investigation into the murder.
READ MORE: SECRET SECOND METROPOLITAN POLICE CORRUPTION PROBE REVEALED
SHREDDED POLICE CORRUPTION INQUIRY COST TAXPAYERS £8M
NEW EVIDENCE LINKS THE MURDERS OF STEPHEN LAWRENCE AND A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR

Mr Morgan said: "I am very worried about this because the Met's handling of this case has been so appalling. It needs public scrutiny; it does not need the Met to put its hands on this case."
Asked if he thought that was a "device" by the Met to "take hold" of the case, Mr Morgan said: "It could be. We have written to him [Sir Bernard] and we have had no reply to our letters. We want independent scrutiny."
Last May, the Home Secretary Theresa May granted the Morgan family an independent judge-led panel to investigate the Daniel Morgan case following years of pressure from the family. But progress has been painfully slow.
Sir Stanley Burnton, the judge appointed to lead the panel, stepped down for "personal reasons" in November and, five months on, has yet to be replaced.
The scale of its task was brought into sharp focus last week when Craig Mackey, the Deputy Commissioner of the Met, revealed there were one million pieces of paper relating to the Morgan case in Scotland Yard's vaults.
Last month almost one year since the Home Secretary announced the panel ministers revealed it had obtained just 700 documents relating to its inquiries 0.0007 per cent of the total.
The Daniel Morgan Panel is modelled on the Hillsborough Independent Panel, the inquiry into the deaths of 96 football fans at Sheffield Wednesday stadium in 1989.
The Hillsborough inquiry was appointed in 2010 and reported in 2012. Asked whether some in the Met were still trying to cover up the corruption from 27 years ago, Mr Morgan said: "I believe that is the case… I believe certain aspects of what happened to do with my brother's murder are still being covered up… They will put their reputation before the public interest."
A Home Office spokesperson said: "The panel continues to carry out its work and the Home Secretary is planning to appoint a new chairman as soon as possible."
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: "The MPS continues to review this case and is currently co-operating fully with the independent panel established by the Home Secretary, Theresa May, to review the Met's handling of the Daniel Morgan murder investigation."
In evidence: Investigating officer's statement
Statement taken from DC Kinley Davies by Hampshire Police, 23 June 1989
On confronting the murder suspect: "When Mr X opened the front door his face was like wax and he was starting to get beads of sweat across his brow, even though it was a winter's night.
"There was no doubt that he was expecting a visit from the police."
On peculiarities that emerged during the original murder investigation: "Morgan had uncovered major police corruption and he was going to sell it to the national newspapers. DC Davies had fed this into the incident room but the document had disappeared and was not actioned.
Nevertheless, DC Davies (and two other officers) continued to investigate the corruption allegations but were suddenly removed from the squad without any reason given by the SIO (senior investigating officer). This was particularly strange."
Daniel Morgan: A case dogged by claims of police corruption
Scotland Yard has spent more than £50m on its four investigations into the murder of Daniel Morgan, a private investigator who was killed in 1987.
The unsolved case has been plagued from the outset with devastating claims of police corruption and repeated alleged attempts to cover-up historic malpractice by a Metropolitan Police force too embarrassed to admit to its own failings.
Suspects have been charged with the murder twice but prosecutions have collapsed before the trial and evidence have been heard in open court.
Scotland Yard and the Crown Prosecution Service blame their failures on incompetence.
The family claim they were ignored by several police commissioners and successive Labour Home Secretaries.
The acute sensitivities around the case emerged again last month when a review of the Stephen Lawrence murder which happened a few miles from where Daniel Morgan was found with an axe in his head found evidence that allegedly corrupt police officers bridge both cases.
The Met continued to deny this to Mark Ellison QC despite its own intelligence. The review also found that a "lorry-load" of sensitive material from Operation Othona that may have been relevant to both cases had been inexplicably destroyed in 2001 when Lord Stevens was Commissioner.
In his conclusions, Mark Ellison QC, who led the inquiry on behalf of Home Secretary Theresa May, also cast doubt on current Met assurances that the Lawrence and Morgan cases were not linked, raising fresh questions over whether Scotland Yard can ever be trusted in investigations over either murder.

[David Guyatt]

Re post No. 12 above.

How do the City get to "justifiable self defence"? He was shot in the back for goodness sake. One man with a knife many yards distant from the closest cop, who was turning and walking away, versus several cops armed with weapons including assault rifles.

The spin used these days has become bizarre in the extreme.

it was police state murder pure and simple.

Shooting dead of homeless camper sparks outrage against Albuquerque police - the department that kills more people than the NYPD



The latest shocking death at the hands of Albuquerque's Police Department has sparked protests

DAVID USBORNE

US EDITOR

Tuesday 01 April 2014

Captured by a video camera on one of the officer's helmets, the slaying by Albuquerque police of a homeless camper in the foothills outside the city two weeks ago apparently leaves room for interpretation. The city says it was justifiable self-defence. To others it looked like extra-judicial execution.

The grisly clip, which is still viewable for anyone with a strong stomach, has an awful power all of its own. But it has also become the tragic totem of a wave of civic anger directed at the city's heavily militarised police department that on Sunday erupted into hours of unrest across the downtown area, leading to serial arrests and a plea for calm from the city's mayor who said his streets had turned to "mayhem".
For James Boyd, the fury comes too late. With a long history of mental problems and episodes of violence, he was challenged by three officers on 16 March for camping in an unauthorised area near the city limits. They woke him from sleeping. A three-hour stand-off ensued until, at dusk, he is heard telling the officers he is done arguing and was "going to walk" with them. That is where the episode might have ended.

Instead, as Mr Boyd gathers up his things, one of the officers shouts "Do it". A flash-bang device is fired at his feet. A startled Mr Boyd drops his bags and seems to take out a knife. He turns away from the officers, two of whom shoot multiple live rounds into his back. Mr Boyd falls, a dog is loosed to check he has been immobilised, the officers approach and cuff his wrists.
He was pronounced dead later in a city hospital.
The killing of Mr Boyd, who was 38, prompted more than the usual handwringing because it seemed less an isolated incident than a confirmation of a pattern.
Since 2010, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) has been involved in 37 shootings, 23 of them fatal. According to the group ProgressNow, its officers shot more people than the NYPD over the same period did in New York a city 16 times larger.
While Police Chief Gorden Eden said in a later press conference that the actions of the three officers had been justified because Mr Boyd had represented a "direct threat" to their safety, the killing is now being officially investigated by the FBI.
Even before the slaying, the US Justice Department had, for over a year, been investigating wider claims of human rights and other abuses by the APD. Neither probe is yet complete.
The Boyd slaying appears simply to have been one too many.
Or maybe it has had such an impact because it can so easily be viewed. But the city might have guessed at the trouble that was coming when a YouTube video emerged vowing retaliation for the homeless man's death. Taking credit for the threat was Anonymous, the underground collective that hacks into and debilitates the web sites of those it opposes.
Sure enough, the APD confirmed early Sunday that its website had been broken into and crippled for hours. At about the same time, the protesters, several hundred of them, were gathering in the centre of Albuquerque, New Mexico's largest city. Through the daylight hours they repeatedly marched through downtown, blocking traffic, chanting and brandishing banners demanding that the APD be cleaned out and Chief Eden be forced to resign. For the most part, the marches were peaceful if disruptive.
But by Sunday evening, the mood had changed.
Witnesses reported hours of clashes between the protesters and police in riot gear, some on horseback. News video shows tear gas canisters being repeatedly released into the crowds. In one of the more serious encounters, protesters trapped a squad car and tried to smash its windows with bricks and rocks.
"It has reached a boiling point, and people just can't take it any more," said Alexander Siderits, 23, who was among those marching on Sunday, adding that many of the city's residents were just "fed up" with the police and their record of fatal shootings.
Justin Elder, who followed the march in the safety of his car, held a sign reading, "APD: Dressed To Kill". He explained: "That's what this police force is about."
While the city was reported to be calm yesterday, on Sunday Mayor Richard Berry said its downtown area had been reduced to "mayhem", blaming outside elements for exploiting the situation.
"We respected their rights to protest obviously," he said, "but what it appears we have at this time is individuals who weren't connected necessarily with the original protest. They've taken it far beyond a normal protest."
Still unanswered is why two of the officers used lethal firearms to take Mr Boyd down instead of stunning him with the taser guns they were also reportedly carrying. They have been placed on paid administrative leave.
The broader debate is about the APD navigating the thin line between reasonable and unreasonable force to maintain order, and the apparent unwillingness of the city's leaders to make sure it isn't crossed.
"I was a police officer for a decade," says Patrick Davis, executive director of ProgressNow New Mexico. "The over-militarized approach to law enforcement is having a very real effect on people's lives here in New Mexico and our leaders who should be taking real action seem to be taking it all in stride."

[Keith Millea]

Published on Saturday, April 12, 2014 by Common Dreams

DOJ Investigation Confirms: Albuquerque Police 'Executing' Citizens

Following release of report, rights groups calling for removal of mayor and police chief

- Lauren McCauley, staff writer



Protesting against systemic abuse by the Albuquerque Police Department on Sunday April 6, demonstrators encountered officers in riot gear. (Photo: Cole L. Howard)

Residents of Albuquerque, New Mexico are marching on the police department Saturday to demand retribution against the city's mayor and police chief for their role in the police force's documented "execution" of citizens.

The march comes after the Department of Justice slammed the Albuquerque Police Department for their frequent use of excessive and lethal force in a damning report released on Thursday.

Though, according to advocates, abuse by local law enforcement has been systemic for years, calls for increased scrutiny of the APD were amplified following the police shooting death of James Boyd, a homeless man suffering from mental illness, on March 16.

Advocates welcomed the DOJ's findings, saying the report was "spot on" in terms of identifying the root causes of this behavior, such as the "aggressive culture of the department" and the way in which "force is prioritized in training."

However, according to David Correia, an organizer with the Task Force for Public Safety who has been working with families of victims of APD violence, the DOJ's inclusion of Mayor Richard J. Berry and police chief Gorden Eden in the negotiations for the consent decree, which will dictate how those recommendations will be implemented, is a "non-starter" for the community groups.

The systemic deficiencies identified by the DOJ are "all produced and reinforced through leadership," Correia told Common Dreams. "To say those people should be involved to us is 'no go.' We don't want them to be a part of it."

Further, Correia noted that the report did not go so far as to address some of the larger issues including laws around homelessness, access for people suffering from mental illness and access for veterans, which he says are also major contributors to the police violence in the city.

The Saturday evening protest will begin at 5 PM MST at Civic Plaza from where demonstrators will march to the APD. During another recent protest against the department, police assaulted demonstrators with tear gas.

Activists are calling for the removal of those officials, including Berry and Eden, who oversaw the frequent "execution" of citizens and for a federal monitor to be appointed. Correia said that they need to "interrupt the idea that this is somehow resolved," now that the DOJ has released their report.

"Our fear is that people will now think that the sheriff has come down in his white hat and we can all sit back and relax," Correia continued.

The Justice Department investigation, launched in November 2012, found:

APD officers too frequently use deadly force against people who pose a minimal threat and in situations where the conduct of the officers heightens the danger and contributes to the need to use force;
APD officers use less lethal force, including electronic controlled weapons, on people who are passively resisting, non-threatening, observably unable to comply with orders or pose only a minimal threat to the officers; and
Encounters between APD officers and persons with mental illness and in crisis too frequently result in a use of force or a higher level of force than necessary.

The DOJ also cited "systemic deficiencies" which contribute to these patterns which include deficient policies, failed accountability, inadequate training and supervision, ineffective systems of investigation and adjudication, the absence of a culture of community policing and a lack of sufficient civilian oversight.

This leaked video taken from a police helmet camera depicts APD officers killing unarmed homeless man, James Boyd:

[Peter Lemkin]

VIDEO: Cops gun down homeless man for illegally camping in shocking helmet-cam footage

An Albuquerque police standoff with James Boyd, a 38-year-old with a history of violence and mental illness, ended in Boyd's death after he allegedly threatened a K-9 officer.

BY Lee Moran





Police helmet cam: Camper turning from officers when shot


APD helmet camera video footage of a fatal police standoff in the Sandia Foothills on Sunday March 16, 2014. The illegal camper shot by Albuquerque police this week...











Shocking footage from a cop's helmet cam shows the moment a homeless man was shot dead in New Mexico after police tried to detain him for illegal camping.
James Boyd was reportedly gunned down in the Sandia Foothills outside Albuquerque at 7:30 p.m. last Sunday after being confronted by officers for sleeping in an unauthorized area.
Harrowing video shows the 38-year-old finally agreeing to give himself up after a three hour stand-off and turning around to retrieve his belongings. But then an officer fires a flash-bang device into his path, and two other officers fire multiple shots into his body and he falls to the ground.
Boyd was pronounced dead soon after.
The killing has sparked outrage, with many critics calling it murder. Albuquerque Police Department, however, has said its agents were justified. It says Boyd, who repeatedly threatened officers, was pulling knives from his bag when officers used non-lethal force first.
KRQE News 13 reports that the incident began earlier Sunday afternoon.
A camera in an officer's helmet shows police trained on the homeless man who was illegally camping in the Sandia foothills outside Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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savyfide via YouTube
As they tried to frisk the suspect who has a history of mental health problems and a 20-year violent criminal history he reportedly said he was a government agent and issued threats.
"I'm almost going to kill you right now," he allegedly said, before adding: "Don't give me another directive. Don't attempt to give me, the Department of Defense, another directive."
With Boyd refusing to move, more officers were called to the scene.
"In a private world, if you were down at a bar or a bus stop, I would have the right to kill you right now because you're trying to take me over," Boyd continued. "Don't get stupid with me," he added.
Eventually, with officers' guns drawn, Boyd agreed to walk down the mountain and said: "Don't change up the agreement. I'm going to try to walk with you."
savyfide via YouTube Shocking video shows police shooting James Boyd to death after he allegedly reached for knives from his bag.
But, as he turned around to pick up his bags, an officer fired the flash-bang device. Then, as a K-9 ran over and appeared to bite Boyd's hand, Officers Dominque Perez and Keith Sandy fired three bullets each from department issued rifles, causing Boyd to fall down.
Critics have slammed the shooting, saying that Boyd no longer posed a threat.
But Albuquerque Police Department Chief Gorden Eden said it was "justified."

Don't believe the police - look with your own eyes! Talk about excessive use of deadly force! Nice way to deal with the homeless!

[Peter Lemkin]

Police: 93-year-old Texas woman fatally shot by officer

• The Associated Press
  
• Posted May 8, 2014 at 12:59 p.m.
  

HEARNE, Texas A 93-year-old Central Texas woman was fatally shot at her home by a police officer when after she allegedly brandished a gun, the Hearne Police Department said Wednesday.
Pearlie Golden, a longtime resident of Hearne who was affectionately known to her neighbors as Ms. Sully, was shot Tuesday night by officer Steven Stem, Robertson County District Attorney Coty Siegert said. Stem was responding to a 911 call about a disturbance involving a woman with a gun.
The Hearne Police Department said in a written statement that Golden "brandished a firearm" when Stem encountered her. He then shot her multiple times.
A revolver believed to be the weapon Golden had at the time of the shooting was found at the scene by officers, the statement said. She was taken to a hospital in nearby Bryan where she died from the injuries.
The investigation is being handled by the Texas Rangers.
"She did have a gun. ... Now, what she was doing with it, that is the ultimate question," said Siegert.
City attorney Bryan Russ Jr. said the officer has been put on paid administrative leave as is standard protocol when an officer is involved in a shooting. "What we believe is that she was instructed to drop the weapon, that is my understanding," Russ said.
He could not comment any further because the investigation is ongoing.
Hearne is a town of about 4,500 people that's about 140 miles south of Dallas.

[Peter Lemkin]

San Jose, CA: Anatomy of a Police Murder and Cover Up

By / May 10th, 2014

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By Justice For Josiah

On February 21, 2014, the San Jose State University Police Department (UPD) murdered a community member, an undocumented Mexican immigrant. UPD Sgt. Michael "Mike" Santos shot him in the back, twice, in broad daylight, in the middle of the day, just off campus in a residential area, directly in front of the SJSU childcare center while still full of children. A stray bullet from his gunfire went through the 2nd floor window of a sorority into a bedroom full of young female SJSU students.

Since that time, the UPD in direct collusion with the SJPD, Campus Administration and elements of the media have proceeded to concoct a story around the slaying of Antonio Lopez Guzman, 38. In a campus wide and public statement, University President Mohammad Qayoumi then proceeded in media outlets and to the students directly to congratulate the officers for their rapid response and heroic actions, swiftly moving to support his department and validate "their" story. Collectively they have attempted to distort the truth, silence and/or harass witnesses into altering and changing their stories to match their concocted version, and have begun a broad based cover up at every level of the department, campus, city and county. These aren't just allegations, we can actually PROVE THIS, witnesses have come forward.
The truth of what happened however, is this…

Antonio & The Local PD

Antonio Lopez Guzman was a 38 year old, sometimes transient, undocumented day laborer, a father of a four year old son (Josiah), and stepfather to a 10 year old daughter (Angelique) whom he had raised since the age of three. Antonio spoke extremely limited English, as such he primarily worked odd construction or landscaping jobs, where speaking didn't matter or his Spanish sufficed. He regularly volunteered at the Antioch Baptist Church, one of the oldest black churches in the state, and THE oldest in the city and county. He also volunteered at the Veterans Shelter and provided and served food to San Jose's homeless, at St. James Park and The Jungle, amongst other places. By all accounts even those of some SJPD officers, he was a profoundly nice, well mannered and respectful man, a loving father, brother, and friend, a caring spouse, and the joy in his sons life. This however didn't stop him from becoming a victim of racially charged police brutality and now, murder.
Only a year ago (September 2013), here in San Jose a group of multi-agency police (Santa Clara County Sheriffs and San Jose Police Department) beat, brutalized and sexually tortured/assaulted Antonio, yelling; "You fking wetback, when will you learn, you need to speak English to live in this country!" After beating him, they arrested and charged him for resisting arrest, on a street stop that the police had instigated without cause. So severe were Antonio's injuries, that before taking him to jail, they took him to Valley Medical Center to be seen, then they took him back into custody, booked him and began processing him for incarceration. While in jail he began to have trouble breathing and was in fact drowning in his own blood. The police again took him to the hospital, he had to be admitted due to the distress caused by so much blood in his lungs, the blood had to be surgically drained by inserting a tube into his side. Thankfully both the Sheriffs and SJPD abandoned him to be released by the hospital (but didn't of course, lift the charges, he was murdered with charges for his own beating still pending).

Facts:

- The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department runs: security at the hospital, the Coroners/Medical Examiner's office located therein, the County Jail and provide police for the Santa Clara County District Courts.
- A 2005-2006 Grand Jury investigation cited the single most significant problem with the Santa Clara County Coroners/Medical Examiner's Office being the absence of a qualified Medical Examiner in charge of the department, this is still the case today.
- A 2006 Mercury News Six Part Investigative report entitled "Tainted Trials, Stolen Justice" resulted in the overturning and review of multiple Santa Clara County District Attorney's office cases, and multiple lawsuits against the County, most of which were won.
- By 2011, a judge had ruled that the SJPD and SCCDA's office actively, and regularly colluded in falsifying evidence and crime lab reports, and it was an endemic and repeated behavior. To quote: "The Appellate Court also reinstated [the] claim against the City of San Jose based on evidence SJPD officers routinely created false crime lab reports and there had been other instances where fake reports had been presented in court as genuine."

Antonio & SJSU

How it likely began, Antonio as he had done many times before, walked through the SJSU campus as a shortcut, this time carrying his water bottle, and his daughters pink & purple backpack full of tools and other item. At this time according to the UPD story, someone informed them that there was someone with a knife on campus. This is problematic for a variety of reasons;
1) It is not illegal to carry a knife, be it in a sheath or otherwise, and it is not even suspicious to be carrying one while simply walking from point A to point B, on or off campus. SJSU is a public space, though the University will assert that this is untrue, and claim it is a "closed campus" (it is not, if not legally so, then functionally so). Most especially as shared property such as the Martin Luther King Library, and various other structures are open to the public.
2) According to the UPD's own story, Antonio however was NOT carrying a knife, he was carrying a drywall saw blade (it is still unclear as to whether this was simple a blade itself or attached to a handle). A drywall saw however, is NOT a knife, it has a significantly serrated edge for use in construction. It is a TOOL. And it is 100% legal to carry a tool, but furthermore the entirety of SJSU campus is filled with construction workers, carrying tools. There is no less than three major construction projects going on, throughout the downtown campus, including a massive expansion and renovation of the SJSU student center. Thus interaction between construction workers and students is a regular occurrence, and large portions of the campus are fenced off as construction sites.
3) Witnesses to the shooting say; "There was no knife."
This begs the following question: Why was Antonio even approached in the first place? Most especially as he no longer presented any threat (real or imagined) to anyone on campus, and was now in a residential community.

Antonio's Murder

Antonio had LEFT the campus, and was on/near the intersection of 8th Street and San Salvador (we encourage you to Google Earth the area), in a residential neighborhood when according to the UPD (and now SJPD), Officer Frits van der Hoek stopped him, engaged with him and discovered he spoke limited English (has anyone asked if either of the officers spoke Spanish? No.), then things supposedly escalated. Standard procedure for all police stops requires the calling up of a back up officer, it is this second officer Sgt. Mike Santos that would fatally shoot Antonio in the back, twice, one of them through his heart. A recent March, 19 on campus incident of a supposed "man with a knife" in which Santos was involved, also began with all the officers responding with guns drawn. Again, there was no knife, and yet the man was still taken into custody.
According to eyewitnesses, on February 21, contrary to police claims, they saw no discussion take place between Antonio and any UPD officer, nor did they hear any orders given to drop anything, in any language. Nonetheless, it is clear that Antonio did indeed drop his backpack. According to the Mortician, when they saw the body, they had to partially reconstruct Antonio's face, and "stuff" the body, in order to give it bulk as the exit wounds and autopsy had essentially exploded his chest, they had been told the damage to his face was a result of the body falling face first into the street after being shot. However, there is no way of determining if such injury is postmortem or not actually. Again while some witnesses say Antonio was simply walking, others say he was running, but none say he was charging or presented himself as a danger to anyone, let alone a police officer.
According to the UPD officers claims, Antonio (a pacifist) brandished a knife (drywall saw), forcing the UPD officer to discharge his taser at range' but it was ineffective (i.e. the officer fired the taser and missed), twice. Santos claims Antonio then charged Van der Hoek, so he shot him, in the back, twice, in order to defend his partner. But one must wonder, how does a bullet that according to some accounts went through Antonio's body into a second story window', not represent an equally lethal danger to Officer Van der Hoek, who according to Santos would have had to have been standing in front of both Santos and Antonio in the line of fire as he shot him in the back? How is this not "more" lethal than an imaginary knife? Why would you discharge a firearm in a seemingly arbitrary direction, knowing that there is a Childcare Center full of children also directly in the line of fire?
Some witnesses say that they saw Antonio running, that in fact there was no officer in front of him, that he appeared to be running away from something, and that they did not even see an officer nearby, in front of, or behind Antonio at all, but heard shooting (three shots) and then saw Antonio stumble and fall. Due to the severity of Antonio's wounds he was likely dead before he hit the ground. He was shot through the heart. In the news media, of the dozen or so witnesses, on the short narrow two way street, none were interviewed, only a 13 year old girl who herself said she didn't know what was going on, nor did she know she was in any kind of danger, and her mother who wasn't even in the area at the time of the shooting was also interviewed. The young woman and the mother didn't know she was in danger', because, she wasn't, and she was naively coached, and put right in front of the cameras almost immediately, to set a particular story into motion. No adults, nor student witnesses were interviewed, and put on the news, why is that? To this day, there are still direct eyewitnesses who have yet to be interviewed. Why? Yet, supposedly the SJPD has already closed the case, and labeling it a "Justifiable Homicide".

Investigating Antonio

After the SJPD took over the case as per the Memorandum of Understanding between the City of San Jose, the SJPD and the University Police (UPD), Laurie Valdez, Antonio's widow spoke to the lead investigator of the homicide. Laurie desperately wanted to see justice done as she has family members both past and present who have worked in law enforcement, she begged the lead investigator to do it right and make Antonio's case a priority. In order to address her concerns with any malfeasance the lead Investigator had to assure her, and said; "Don't worry. There won't be anything done wrong. We don't play favorites. And I don't know anyone at UPD except for one person the Sergeant. There will be no problems." The "Sergeant" is the officer that shot Antonio, twice, in the back Sgt. Michael "Mike" Santos.
But what of Officer Van der Hoek, why hasn't he spoken up publicly in defense of Mike Santos' version of the story, or even made a single statement about having felt endangered by Antonio? If he were standing in front of Antonio, in danger, why didn't he use his own firearm and defended himself, shooting Antonio in the chest as he was charged? Perhaps the silence has to do with the fact that Frits Van der Hoek, used to be a Law Clerk in the DA's Office and is scheduled to graduate from Santa Clara University with a Juris Doctorate in Law this very year, and has in fact already accepted a job with the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, which he is scheduled to start in the Fall of 2014. Do you think those engaged in an active murder conspiracy will make good public servants for the SCCDA?
To date, Laurie does not have a coroners or police report from any agency, and in fact the University President was informed of Antonio's identity and death before anyone in his family was, and some in the media were informed the case is already closed. They haven't even returned a single phone call to Laurie. All incidents and "police reports" produced by the UPD are submitted to the County's District Attorney's Office for further investigation or prosecution. Wait, whose supposed to work there again? A CSU University President, is in fact, by law, the head of his campus police department, while the Chief manages it. In this case the UPD Chief of Police Peter Decena, is an SJSU alumni, a UPD alumni, a retired SJPD Officer and a "double dipper". A double dipper, is one of the (thus far) over two dozen SJPD officers who retired at the age of 50 at full pension, only to get a second ranking officer position at another police department or agency, at full pay, while still collecting their full retirement pension. These officers individually and unanimously make over $300,000+ in combined salary and retirement benefits a year as a result of their "double dipping". Needless to say, Chief Decena hasn't been the most vocal or critical about the investigation either. But why would all these peace officers who are supposed to "protect and serve" be so dishonorable, and cover for one another, so regularly? Is it just that cliched "blue wall of silence", or perhaps something more?

San Jose State & The Police

SJSU has the oldest accredited degree offering (undergraduate, and graduate) program for police in the entire country, it began in 1930. San Jose University literally established the very foundations of modern formal police training. As a result, the city of San Jose, Santa Clara County and the CSU system (the founding campus of which is SJSU) prefer if not require university educated and degreed personnel as a prerequisite for a job on their respective police forces, this is why no less than six south bay campuses have degree certified programs in policing and police related fields. To put it more simply, all these local cops are graduates of SJSU and are more often campus and UPD alumni.
The SJSU Justice Studies department is currently under investigation for financial malfeasance, moral turpitude, and the policing side of Justice Studies itself is being criticized for its lack of any form of academic rigor, cultural literacy, or scholarly value. While elsewhere in the sub-department of Criminology which is housed in SJSUs Sociology department, they have simultaneously been outted by local activists for their direct connection to and complicity with the overt militarization of policing in California, the United States, and more particular direct collusion with COINTELPRO an illegal series of Counter Intelligence programs targeting political activists from the 1950s to the present day, with the intended aim of repressing political dissent. This relationship has existed since as far back as 1964, but "Red Squads" have existed in the SJPD since at least the 1930s, before they formalized their Intelligence Division in the late 1970s.

Justice For Josiah

Josiah, is here. Antonio is not. There is no Justice for Antonio, he is a victim of Social Homicide by a Police Industrial Complex many years in the making. Josiah, is still here, his family is still here, his community is still here, for him. We strive for San Jose and a world in which no more Antonio Lopez's must die to police and structural violence, that only wants to see him incarcerated or in a grave.
***If you have any evidence or information on the murder of Antonio, please contact us via private facebook message, phone or email (addresses and numbers still pending)***

Justice For Josiah
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Justice-Fo...1023779235

[Peter Lemkin]

In Georgia, a toddler is fighting for his life after a SWAT team threw a flashbang grenade into his playpen while he was sleeping. Authorities raided the home in the early hours of the morning last week, searching for an alleged drug dealer, who was not there at the time. The grenade hit 19-month-old Bounkham Phonesavanh, who is now in a medically induced coma. He has reportedly lost the use of a lung, suffered burns to his face, and is set to undergo more surgery. Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell told WSB-TV a confidential informant had purchased drugs at the home.

Joey Terrell: "So when the CI done the deal, there was no indication there was children, there was no clothes, there was no toys, there was nothing to indicate that there was children present in the home. If there had of been, we would have done something different. Part of our policy is if there's children involved when we serve a search warrant, we do not use the flashbang of course, that's a no-brainer."

The toddler's mother says there were children's shoes in the house and a van parked out front with carseats visible inside. The toddler's family was staying with relatives at the house after their own home burned down.