warlikeparakeet88:

A Year After Ramarley Graham’s Murder, a Movement Against Police Brutality Grows

By Graciela Razo

On February 1, 2012, 18-year-old Ramarley Graham was gunned down in his own home by New York City police in front of his grandmother and 6-year-old brother. The unarmed black teenager was killed with a bullet to the chest by officer Richard Haste after police broke into his family’s apartment claiming Graham had a gun.

On Friday, the one year anniversary of Graham’s murder, his family filed a suit against Haste, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and other officers for use of the discriminatory stop-and-frisk tactic and for allegedly covering up evidence from the day their son was murdered.

Unlike many other cases surrounding police violence, Haste faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison on first and second degree murder charges; he is the first NYPD officer to face criminal charges for a fatal shooting since 2007 when three officers were indicted for the murder of Sean Bell, another black victim who was shot 50 times.

Police violence hits communities of color

Graham’s murder is a familiar nightmare to many communities across the United States terrorized by police violence. From Harlem to Oakland, youth are subjected to legalized racial profiling, known as stop-and-frisk, which disproportionately targets 87 percent black and Latino people. Harassment and violence from area police forces have been a reality for communities of color for decades.

But families rarely see justice for their slain loved ones; officers typically receive what amounts to a slap on the wrist with paid leave. One such instance was the murder of black Oakland teenager Alan Blueford, who was shot three times by Oakland police and left dead in the street for four hours in May 2012, weeks before Blueford was set to graduate from high school.

Another was the shooting of Anaheim resident Manuel Diaz in July 2012. During a chase, police shot Diaz once in the leg and another time in the back of his head. Two days later, Anaheim police shot and killed Joel Acevedo during a car chase. Community members were outraged at the killings and demanded justice. According to Orange County DA records, there were 40 shootings by Anaheim police from 2003 to February 2011. Not one officer has been charged.

In New York City, incidents like these without reprimand occur all too often. Last June, NYPD narcotics detective Phillip Atkins shot 23-year-old Shantel Davis in the chest as the unarmed woman held her arms up crying out, “Don’t shoot me.” In September, NYPD officers opened fire and killed 20-year-old Reynaldo Cuevas as his Bronx bodega was being robbed. A month later, Noel Polanco was shot point blank after he was pulled over in his neighborhood in Queens.

The NYPD has led the way in police violence, paying a staggering $550 million to settle 8,882 lawsuits in 2011 alone. At the beginning of this year, a Manhattan Federal Court judge ruled that the tactic of stop-and-frisk was unconstitutional outside private residential buildings. However, shortly after, another judge lifted the ban on stops and searches of “suspicious looking people,” allowing stop-and-frisk to continue until the case goes to trial in March.

Families organize for justice

Families afflicted by police violence have responded by brewing up a social justice movement to put an end to unwarranted searches, frisks and shootings. Communities are organizing, storming courtrooms and police precincts to demand accountability and justice for the brutal acts. Organizations like All Things Harlem, Stop Police Brutality and NYCresistance are developing tactics to counter and prevent these attacks in their neighborhoods.

Activist Joseph “Jazz” Hayden of All Things Harlem has created a network of resistance by documenting police interactions and has been a strong voice against NYPD racial profiling and violence. Although he has directly been targeted by police for filming arrests and harassment in his neighborhood, Hayden continues to share incriminating videos of officers in an attempt to hold police responsible for civil liberties violations.

“Police violence in our black and brown communities isn’t anything new. They have tried to incriminate our youth, but we aren’t backing down,” Hayden said. “We have to continue to fight for our futures.”

Baltimore civil rights activist Reverend Annie Chambers has been a leading anti-police brutality advocate, organizing community members and families ever since her great grandson was murdered near her home in a case of mistaken identity.

“You look outside my window and see police cars at any time of the day,” Chambers said. “I have seen them with their brutality over and over again. Young people are now at the part where they won’t take it anymore.”

And now, family members of the slain are increasingly taking the justice system into their own hands. Ramarley Graham’s parents continue, one year on, to lead marches to police precincts reminiscent of the Civil Rights era, not only in remembrance of their son but for all those who have died at the hands of uniformed officers.

Alan Blueford’s parents have created Justice 4 Alan Blueford and hold weekly meetings to end racial profiling and police violence in the Bay Area.

Their case, and similar ones, are now pushing law enforcement officers into the national discussion about gun control and violence, spurring a new form of resistance by communities and neighborhoods long terrorized by unaccountable police brutality.

This article was published at NationofChange at: http://www.nationofchange.org/year-after-ramarley-graham-s-murder-movement-against-police-brutality-grows-1360336751. All rights are reserved.

(via sustainableprosperity)

thepeoplesrecord:

NYPD beat homeless man in synagogue outreach center
October 17, 2012

The NYPD beat up a homeless man in Brooklyn last week as he resisted arrest for sleeping in a synagogue outreach center, where he had permission to stay. Surveillance video obtained by local news siteCrownHeights.info shows two officers brutally beating a shoeless and shirtless man, Ehud Halevi, who insisted he had permission to be in the center for troubled youth, ALIYA (Alternative Learning Institute for Young Adults).

Although sources confirmed with CrownHeights.info that Halevi had been sleeping in the space for a month with permission, one security guard, unaware of the arrangement, called the police. The guard later told the New York Daily News that he regretted making the call.

According to Gothamist, “[Halevi] was also pepper sprayed during the arrest, [and] was charged with assaulting a police officer, trespassing, resisting arrest and harassment. He’s currently out on bail and faces up to five years in prison for assaulting an officer.” The NYPD have yet to issue comment.

Watch the graphic video here.

Source

(via amodernmanifesto)

fuckyeahmarxismleninism:

Palestinian activist Bassem Tamimi is arrested and beaten by Israeli police at the Rami Levi supermarket opened in Shaar Binyamin close to the city of Ramallah in the Israeli occupied Palestinian West Bank on October 24, 2012, as the protesters called for a boycott of goods being produced in the Jewish Settlement.

thepeoplesrecord:

Alabama police officer shot and killed naked student despite having non-lethal arsenal

October 13, 2012

An Alabama police officer shot and killed a naked college student, despite also carrying a baton and pepper spray. Police claimed officer’s the use of deadly force was necessary.

Last Saturday, officer Trevis Austin, a four-year employee in his first police job, was reportedly armed with the two non-lethal weapons and a gun when he exited the police station to confront 18-year-old University of Southern Alabama freshman Gil Collar.

Collar was naked, and had been seen banging on the police department’s door that night.

The wounded student got back up after being shot once in the chest, and backup officers arrived seconds after the shooting took place.

Authorities said that Collar, a heavyset man, was on LSD and behaved aggressively toward the officer, prompting the shooting.

Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran told reporters that the killing was justified, “because the events were evolving so rapidly and he was so close that had he put the pistol in the holster, I don’t know that he could have drawn something else.” 

CCTV footage of the incident revealed that the student did not attempt to grab the Austin’s weapon, nor did he get closer than a meter and a half to the officer. Police did not explain why Austin did not choose to use a non-lethal weapon.­

An attorney for Collar’s family, former Alabama Lieutenant Governor Jere Beasley, said the university’s policy “totally gives support to our position” that the killing was unjustified.

“There is no question the required force here was much less than shooting somebody,” he told the AP. “He could not say his life was in jeopardy or he was in fear of bodily harm.”

A grand jury will conduct a procedural review of the incident to determine whether charges should be filed. Officer Trevis Austin was also placed on administrative leave.

Collar’s funeral will take place on Saturday in his hometown of Wetumpka, Alabama.

Source

(via queerencia-deactivated20130103)

fuckyeahmarxismleninism:

On September 7th, 2012, 20-year-old Bronx Resident and father Reynaldo Cuevas was shot and killed by an NYPD officer outside the bodega where he works. According to witnesses, Cuevas had tripped while attempting to escape an armed robbery inside the bodega. Immediately after, a 42nd precinct officer shot his gun, killing Cuevas, who was later dragged by the officer some 20-feet along the sidewalk.

The shooting occurred just one block away from where unarmed 19-year-old Jateik Reed was recently beaten by a team of 42nd precinct officers.

— Take Back the Bronx

bcapitalized:

cobyfromthesuburbs:

Can you imagine how a man could shoot himself in the head while his hands have been double locked behind his back? Now imagine him shooting himself squarely in the right temple, when he is left-handed.

This seemingly impossible suicide is how Jonesboro, Arkansas police explain the death of twenty one year old Chavis Carter. On Saturday night he was placed in a patrol car because he had marijuana on his person. He also had a warrant for previous drug possession.

“As protocol, he was handcuffed behind his back, double-locked and searched” said Jonesboro Police Department Sgt. Lyle Waterworth. Yet minutes later he was shot in the head. The police claim that he had hidden a gun and had taken it out to shoot himself.

His mother, Teresa Chavis, thinks the police killed him. She says he wasn’t suicidal and had just called his girlfriend to let her know what was happening. He told her he would call her from jail. Teresa wants to know what happened to her son.

The two officers who were present when Carter was shot were placed on administrative leave, but we cannot let that be the end of the story.

Tell the Jonesboro Police Department and the Jonesboro Mayor that the whole world is watching them. We expect a full investigation. Chavis’s mother deserves to know exactly how her son died.

If it becomes clear that the police murdered this young man, they should not be put on “administrative leave” – they should be tried and sent to prison. Chavis was handcuffed behind his back and could not defend himself. As in the case of Trayvon Martin, jailing the killer will not reverse the death of a young man. But it will remind the world that we do not live in a country that ignores violence against African Americans.

 —- 

Why do all these stories sound so damn familiar. Why do these things happen more often than we could ever fucking know. Why is it that we can’t make people see what’s happening to our people? We’re being slaughtered like animals.. and the police get away with it like nothing happened. These pigs get away with it like nothing happened. Any cracker gets away with it like nothing happened.

“Now imagine him shooting himself squarely in the right temple, when he is left-handed.”

(via rosadefuego)

Map

redlightpolitics:

The banner in the photo reads: STOP THE REPRESSION AGAINST THE CHILDREN OF THE MAPUCHE NATION.

Photo via.

Three Mapuche women and a child have occupied the offices of UNICEF in Chile to demand that UNICEF becomes actively involved in the investigation, reporting and advocacy of Mapuche children and underage minors who are subject to Chilean police violence.

(I haven’t found sources in English speaking media so all links are to reports in Spanish).

In response to the request by the Mapuche people, UNICEF has said that they do not share the methods and that such occupations are contrary to UNICEF’s principles of neutrality. (Sic from the report in Spanish). 

The protest and occupation started seven days ago in response to gun shots fired by the Carabineros (Chilean national police force and gendarmerie) during a land dispute in the Temucuicui community. During the police repression, three Mapuche children and several adults were wounded with bullets and had to be hospitalized.

(via nezua)