A father and husband in need of mental help was cornered by a dozen cops in a homeless shelter and executed as witnesses watched in horror. He was a threat to no one.
The post Disturbing Video Shows a Dozen Cops Corner Father In Homeless Shelter and Execute Him appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
A police department is defending its officers after they fired more than 20 rounds into a car because they "reasonably believed they were pursuing” a man who had escaped from jail.
The post Cops Mistook Man for Escaped Convict So They Murdered Him and Called It ‘Reasonable’ appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
The president of a police union was cleared of all wrongdoing in the shooting that killed an unarmed16-year-old girl and her unborn child after his union donated to the campaign of the district attorney in his case.
The post Cops Cleared in Murder of 16yo Girl and Unborn Baby, After Giving $10,000 to District Attorney appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
The family of a 16-year-old girl who was shot and killed by police when officers opened fire on the car she was riding in, is now filing a lawsuit against the department after they claimed the driver of the car was responsible for her death.
The post Cops Murder Innocent 16yo Teen and Her Unborn Baby—No Charges, Taxpayers Held Liable appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
Instead of teaching their officers how to determine if a person suffers from cognitive conditions, one police department is putting the burden on the families to attach a sticker to their loved one"s car letting police know that they are autistic.
The post Police Dept. Now Having Parents Label Their Autistic Kids So Cops Don’t Kill Them appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
Local residents were outraged as they watched footage of the drive-by shooting in which a rookie police officer opened fire on an unarmed man, killing him.
After resigning from his position as chief, an autopsy doctor is now calling out the sheriff for overriding his death investigations to protect officers.
The graphic body camera footage showing an Arizona cop murder an innocent unarmed dad has just been released—following the killer cop"s acquittal.
Because a vigilant citizen took out their phone and filmed the police, killer cop, Michael Slager will spend the next 20 years in prison for murdering Walter Scott.
Multiple police officers turned a traffic stop into a firing squad and executed an unarmed couple—now they are all back on the job.
Phoenix, AZ — In March of 2016, Mesa Police Officer Philip Brailsford was charged with second-degree murder for gunning down Daniel Shaver, an innocent husband, and father of two. The shooting was captured on his body cam, part of which was released the following May.
Now, however, Brailsford’s defense is claiming that the prosecution showing the jury the body cam during opening statements would be unfair to the killer cop.
According to AZ Central, Brailsford, 26, is scheduled to stand trial starting Oct. 23 on a charge of second-degree murder. The trial is expected to last 16 days. In a memorandum filed in Maricopa County Superior Court on Monday, attorney Michael Piccarreta says prosecutor Susie Charbel plans to show an 18-minute police body- camera recording during her opening statement, scheduled for Oct. 25.
Piccarreta says in the memo “that it is extremely unfair to the defense” to show the video during the opening statement because that wouldn’t allow the defense lawyer to immediately cross-examine any witnesses about the footage.
However, the playing of the video is in line with standards of opening statements allowing the prosecution to establish their credibility in this case. The video of Brailsford killing Shaver will undoubtedly be at the very center of the case so the defense’s claim of not being allowed to cross-examine any witness about the footage is unfounded.
Regardless of when the body camera video is shown, it will be the first time the full, unedited version will be played.
Last year, an Arizona judge announced that they would be releasing the body camera footage showing Brailsford murder Shaver. When they did release it, however, the city released two videos, both of which were clearly edited and portions redacted.
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Police said Shaver, a 26-year-old from Texas staying at the La Quinta Inn & Suites on a business trip on Jan. 18, 2016, had invited a couple he met to his room for drinks. No one was in any danger and the entire incident was a misunderstanding. For the majority of the video, police appear to be in a standoff with people who simply can’t hear them.
READ MORE: A Year After Murdering an Innocent Woman, New Video Shows Cops Lied About her Having a Gun
“Occupants of room 5-0-2, this is the Mesa Police,” the officer is heard yelling on the video, to which he receives no response.
“Listen to my instructions or it’s going to become very uncomfortable for you,” the officer said. “The female is to step outside the room.”
When ‘the female’ does step out the room, she is escorted away by an officer as she tells him how scared she is.
“I’m so scared,” she told the officer, clearly in shock with the multiple officers in the hallway responding to a hotel in which no crime had been committed and innocent people were simply sharing drinks.
Below are the redacted versions of the police body cameras.
The videos above clearly illustrate the intentions behind only releasing a portion of the body camera footage. It is made to look like it was an intense standoff as well as make the police look like heroes as they comforted the woman.
However, as we pointed out, it was likely that there was no standoff and they simply did not hear the officers. Also, the woman was most likely not scared of the man who she voluntarily consented to have drinks with — she was scared of the multiple armed men pointing AR-15s at them. This will likely come out when the defense is allowed to cross-examine her.
When Laney Sweet, Shaver’s wife originally asked to see the footage, she was told that if she watched it, she would be forced to remain completely silent about its contents.
READ MORE: Killer Cop Works Undercover at Protest Against Killer Cops
During an interview with Maricopa County attorney, Bill Montgomery, Sweet was given the ultimatum — watch the disturbing video and never speak of it, or don’t. The widow of an innocent man, killed by the government, was told that the video proves her husband did not deserve to die. However, Sweet will now have to wait until the city decides to release the unedited version of the video to get closure—this would have been over a year.
In a statement to the press, the county stated that Daniel Shaver was complying with officers, crawling on his hands and knees and begged not to be shot, just before Brailsford opened fire.
However, last year, Brailsford’s attorney denied Shaver begged not to shoot him while at the same time thanking Superior Court Judge Sam Myers for not releasing the entire video.
On January 18, Brailsford, along with several other officers, responded to a call about a suspect with a rifle in a hotel room. The ‘rifle’ was nothing more than a pellet gun that was used in Shaver’s business of pest control, and Shaver was not in possession of the pellet gun when he was murdered in cold blood by officer Brailsford.
According to KTAR, Brailsford told investigators that Shaver was ordered to crawl toward officers with his hands on the ground, but the officer believed Shaver’s move forward was an attempt to get “a better firing position on us.”
The officer said he could no longer see Shaver’s right hand and worried that Shaver could have easily drawn on officers, who were just feet away in a hallway outside his room. However, none of the other officers fired, illustrating the lack of danger.
READ MORE: City Refuses to Keep Paying Legal Fees For Cop Who Shot & Killed Unarmed Man
“So that’s when I assessed the threat. I fired my weapon, uh, five times,” Brailsford said, adding that it was terrifying the first time Shaver reached back.
Charging an officer with murder in Arizona is an exceptionally rare incident, which speaks to the severity of what must be shown on the body camera. It also means that this coward officer was in no danger when he decided to pull the trigger — 5 times.
Brailsford was fired from the department in March of 2016 for multiple policy violations not associated with the murder of Shaver. After he was fired, we learned that he should have never had a badge that night he killed an innocent man.
Aside from his unsatisfactory performance, records released by Mesa Police revealed that Brailsford was accused of beating three people a few months before he killed Shaver. He also etched “You’re Fucked” into his AR-15 police rifle — illustrating his disregard for human life.
Two children and a wife will now live the rest of their lives without their loving father because of the actions of this public servant. The one thing that could help get this family closure is to see the man who stole the life of their dad and husband put behind bars. Hopefully, this case ends differently than the countless cases before which ended with killer cops walking free for needlessly killing other human beings.
The Free Thought Project will continue to cover the trial as it unfolds next week.
St. Louis, MO — In December 2011, St. Louis Police Officer Jason Stockley violated department policy when he grabbed his personal AK-47, premeditated, and then murdered Anthony Lamar Smith. The planning of the murder and the actual murder were captured on the officer’s dashcam. In spite of the overwhelming amount of evidence against him, a St. Louis judge on Friday found Stockley not guilty of first-degree murder in the 2011 shooting death of Smith.
“This Court, in conscience, cannot say that the State has proven every element of murder beyond a reasonable doubt, or that the State has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defense,” St. Louis Circuit Judge Timothy Wilson wrote in his ruling.
The verdict prompted immediate protests from groups who were already on the ground knowing the likely result.
“What the country needs to know is, every single person in our country, we have a right to be mad,” said Al Watkins, an attorney for Smith’s fiancée, Christina Wilson, after the verdict, according to CNN. “We have a right to disagree. We have a right to express our opinion. We have a right to protest.”
“Exploit that right, don’t compromise it,” he said. “Stay peaceful.”
As TFTP reported last year, the video of this murder existed for years, however, it was kept secret until an anonymous person dropped off a USB drive to a local FOX affiliate last year. What it showed was nothing short of a conspiracy to commit and then allegedly cover up a murder.
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As the dashcam video begins, officer Stockley is attempting to arrest Smith who’s been suspected of possessing a substance deemed illegal by the state — otherwise known as a drug bust. Not wanting to be kidnapped for doing something that harms no one and makes him happy, Smith fled. At this point, Stockley pulls out his personal AK-47 with a drum magazine and begins dangerously squeezing off rounds in the middle of town.
READ MORE: Maui Mayoral Candidate Tased After Police Chase for Being "Sovereign"
Unable to murder Smith for running away, Stockley and his partner began a highly dangerous pursuit, endangering everyone around him by driving upwards of 90 mph through busy city streets in the rain. At one point, Stockley’s partner Brian Bianchi, who is driving the car, loses control and crashes into a tree. This infuriated the trigger happy cop.
”Back up,” Stockley yells.
According to the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Probable Cause Statement, Stockley then says something that foreshadows what’s about to happen — he premeditates the murder of Smith. Prosecutors believe he said “…going to kill this motherfucker, don’t you know it.”
After the officers ran through a number of red lights, Stockley tells Bianchi to ram Smith after he’d stopped, “hit him right now.”
The patrol car smashes into the surrendering Smith.
Both cops surround the car with Stockley immediately firing five shots into Smith — killing him.
The in-car camera shows Stockley then throw his personal weapon, which was a violation of department policy, into the back of the cruiser. He then exits and returns moments later and begins to dig around in a bag — most likely grabbing a ‘drop gun’ to plant it on Smith.
After the shooting, police found a pistol lying in Smith’s vehicle. However, according to prosecutors, it “was later determined by lab analysis to have only (Stockley’s) DNA on it.”
The police video then cuts out and we are unable to see anything else.
Before this dashcam footage was released, a citizen’s cellphone video was the only evidence showing that Stockley entered Smith’s car. When we combine the two videos, however, it shows what the police apparently did not want the public to see. Sadly, however, as the ruling on Friday shows, even though the public saw it, the verdict is not guilty.
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After Stockley rummaged through the bag and got out with empty hands, implying that he’d hid something, he walked over to the car. He then hangs around driver’s side door and makes several attempts to lean in while being pushed back by one of the officers. However, once Smith’s body is dragged from the vehicle, Stockley quickly sits in the driver’s seat.
Knowing there was likely blood all over and this would inevitably get on his uniform, why would Stockley sit in the driver’s side of the vehicle, unless he had to ‘recover’ Smith’s gun? That is exactly what happened.
When investigators asked him why there was only his DNA on the revolver, Stockley said he immediately unloaded it for safety reasons. However, if Stockley’s story was true and Smith tried to shoot him, there would have been DNA evidence proving this — but there was not.
After the shooting, a federal judge moved in to protect the thin blue line and issued a protective order forbidding release of the material by lawyers who obtained it as part of a civil suit in which the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners paid a $900,000 settlement in 2013 for Smith’s young daughter, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In August, the judge turned down a request from the Post-Dispatch to lift the order.
Stockley was allowed to remain on the force and only faced a slap on the wrist for using his personal weapon to murder Smith. He then left the force in 2013. He was not charged until May of last year, based on what Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce’s office said was new evidence.
READ MORE: "Don"t let my Baby Sister Die" How the "War on Drugs" is Killing Children
Joyce filed a murder complaint against Stockley in May 2016 and obtained an indictment in August. However, after today’s verdict, the former cop will now go free.
As for Bianchi, who undoubtedly had a hand in protecting his fellow officer, he remains on the force.
Cincinnati — Former University of Cincinnati Campus Police Officer Ray Tensing will not be held accountable for killing motorist and father Samuel DuBose just off campus nearly two years ago, because — despite a Grand Jury indictment for manslaughter — the trial jury remained deadlocked after deliberating for a full five days.
DuBose was pulled over for a front license plate violation — one which, in many states, would not even have been a code violation.
Now, this hotly disputatious killing will join a lengthy list of similar questionable deaths at the hands of a collective American police force eager to shoot first, ask questions later — and never take responsibility for the most grievous of wrongdoings.
“The evidence shows there was no danger to Ray Tensing when he made the decision to go for his gun,” prosecutor Seth Tieger argued in a closing statement quoted by the New York Times on Monday. “Sam DuBose was trapped in that car during that stop, and he was an easy target when his car became his coffin.”
“In his first trial, jurors were evenly split: Four jurors thought Tensing was guilty of murder, four thought he was guilty of voluntary manslaughter and four thought Tensing was not guilty, according to Prosecutor Joe Deters,” local WCPO reports.
“The prosecution filed a motion to add reckless homicide — a lesser charge — to the two-count indictment.”
Incidentally, The Free Thought Project predicted this outcome last week in the wake of the first hung jury in Tensing’s trial with an article titled, “Get Ready – Sam Dubose’s Killer Set to be Next Cop to Walk Free for Murdering a Citizen on Video.”
READ MORE: "I Can"t Breathe" -- Horrifying Video Shows Father of Four Begging for His Life Before Dying in Jail
In July 2015, Officer Tensing stopped DuBose around 6:30 in the evening, as his vehicle lacked a front license plate — something required in Ohio and a smattering of other states.
Tensing, an officer with the University of Cincinnati force — which had an arrangement with the City of Cincinnati to overstep the technical bounds of the school — decided to make the stop after following the motorist for about one mile.
“Police said Officer Tensing asked repeatedly to see the man’s driver’s license, but he ‘produced a bottle of alcohol inside the car,’ instead, said University police chief Jason Goodrich in a press conference,” the Anti-Media reported at the time.
ABC News reports, “According to The Associated Press, Tensing and his defense attorney, Stewart Mathews, have argued that, at the traffic stop, DuBose stepped on the accelerator while Tensing’s arm was trapped. The defense says Tensing, who pleaded not guilty, was scared DuBose would use his car to kill him, so Tensing acted reasonably to try to stop the threat.”
Video footage from the dash camera inside a patrol car on scene disputed police accounts of the stop — showing DuBose, perhaps panicked, indeed pulling away from the stop prematurely, but not placing Tensing in danger.
In short, it appeared DuBose simply wanted to flee — not harm the officer in any way.
Prosecutors had argued video showed the officer firing into DuBose’s vehicle just one second after he began to pull away — meaning Tensing could not possibly have feared for his life.
“Tensing wasn’t in reasonable fear of his life when he made the decision to shoot DuBose,” they contended, according to the AP.
“This office has probably viewed upwards of hundreds of police shootings, and this is the first time that we’ve thought this is without question a murder,” stated Prosecutor Joe Deters in a press conference just after the killing. “It was so unnecessary for this to occur,” he said, adding that DuBose was “subdued” and Tensing had noted the license plate number, so should not have had reason to pursue, much less fire upon, the car.
DuBose’s thirteen children have been left without the man who had turned his life around immediately before Tensing ripped their loving father from their lives.
At least some members of yet another jury in yet another trial for senseless killing by police have in essence found yet another hapless cop, afraid of his own shadow, perfectly justified in stealing the life of a Black man — ultimately due to the existence of yet another meaningless, excessive law.
This is untenable. It cannot continue. This week, police barbarism — and, worse, its ignorant impunity — has been put on trial and found a perfectly acceptable state of affairs for the United States in 2017.
But this isn’t acceptable.
Policing in America will have to endure sweeping, unapologetic reform in the use of force, interactions with the public, training, traffic stops, and morality versus legality — if, that is, they don’t want to be viewed as an enemy of the people.
If not, police impunity and senseless killing will produce one consequence U.S. foreign policy is beginning to comprehend in full — blowback. And it — like the excessively violent police — won’t be pretty.
Cleveland, OH — In what can only be referred to as a travesty of justice and a disgrace to the integrity of police departments nationwide, five officers who took part in the 137-shot, execution-style fusillade that killed an unarmed couple — will get their jobs back.
The sixth cop, Michael Brelo will remain free from jail but has been fired. He has since become a gypsy cop, scrounging for a job at any department that will hire him.
The shooting came at the end of a November 12, 2012 high-speed chase involving more than 100 officers and 62 police vehicles to go after Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams. The pursuit began when officers standing outside police headquarters mistook the sound of Russell’s backfiring Chevy Malibu for gunfire. When the car stopped outside city limits, officers opened fire, perforating Russell with 24 shots and Williams with 23.
The shooting lasted 19.3 seconds. For anyone who’s ever been to a shooting range or is familiar with firing weapons, 19.3 seconds would seem like an eternity as all those rounds were flying down range. To discount the malicious intent of these officers continuing to fire after the first few seconds is outright criminal.
Neither of the victims were armed, or suspected of anything more serious than traffic violations resulting from the pursuit. A search of the vehicle following the double homicide revealed a crack pipe. Both Russell and Williams had been diagnosed as mentally ill.
The city has since paid $3 million each to the families of Russell and Williams to settle a lawsuit.
Brelo, the ring-leading murderer, fired 49 rounds, including the last 15 after he jumped up on the hood of the car in a wild west fashion. In spite of this horrifying display of aggression, a judge acquitted him of manslaughter charges at trial.
READ MORE: Florida Police Cover Up Man"s Death, Cellphone Video Shows Cops Most Likely Killed Him
Officers Wilfredo Diaz, Brian Sabolik and Michael Farley and detectives Christopher Ereg and Erin O’Donnell fired the remaining shots in a gross display of excessive deadly force. They were also all acquitted.
Brelo was acquitted in a bench trial after W. Ken Katsaris, a retired sheriff and “expert witness” specializing in testimony tailored to exonerate police officers, testified that Brelo’s only mistake was to expose himself to potential danger, thereby potentially inhibiting his colleagues as they unleashed gunfire in the direction of the vehicle.
By leaping on top of the hood of the car, Brelo was “taking action that is not trained, not recognized, not safe, and put all of the other officers in the vicinity of his becoming a victim and their [the other officers] having to attempt to now engage to save his life,” Katsaris testified before trial judge John P. O’Donnell, who in predictable fashion exonerated the officer.
“We believe that the City’s decision to terminate the other five officers was justified and should have been upheld,” Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson said in a statement this week. “We acknowledge that the arbitrator concluded that those officers committed serious policy violations; however, we are reviewing our options regarding the officers whose terminations were not upheld.”
Naturally, the police funded defense attorney is defending the decision and disgustingly referring to the officers — who murdered an unarmed couple over a traffic violation — as exemplary.
“It was a difficult case for both sides and a gratifying outcome,” defense attorney, Patrick D’Angelo, who represents the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, the union of rank-and-file officers, said. “We realize we didn’t prevail in everything that we were seeking but we saved the career of five fine officers.”
READ MORE: Cops Kill Man With Asperger"s Whose Viral Video Touched Millions — Family Sues
In the eyes of the police union, six cops dumping 137 rounds into an unarmed couple is ‘fine’ work.
“Hopefully after further deliberations by both parties, this should be the end of this saga,” D’Angelo said. “Hopefully there will be no appeal and we can go forward.”
As for Brelo, he is still eligible to be hired by other departments. For unloading 49 rounds into an unarmed couple, 15 of which a court, the department, and the arbitrator all agreed were ‘egregious’ in nature, Brelo could very well be back on the street in no time.
“Indeed Officer Brelo never offered a reason or an explanation for these actions,” Arbitrator William Heekin wrote in his ruling. “Accordingly and upon finding that this clearly constituted an excessive use of deadly force, the contention of the City that it amounted to egregious misconduct where as a result the City no longer has trust and confidence in his ability to carry out the duties and responsibilities of a police officer is accepted.”
For clearly using excessive deadly force, however, Brelo and his murderous accomplices will face no consequences.
“It’s tragic that it went down this way, but at the end of the day, two people high on crack cocaine, high on marijuana, one of them intoxicated, made the decisions that they made and we responded to them,” union spokesman Steve Loomis said after the officers were acquitted. “And we responded within our training.”
As the late William Grigg noted in his coverage of this case for the Free Thought Project last year:
This is precisely the problem: Cleveland police, like their comrades nation-wide, are trained to kill people for reasons that will not withstand rational scrutiny — and they are expected to be rewarded for doing so.
Tarpon Springs, FL – A disturbing video posted on Facebook shows the final moments of 25-year-old Nicholas Provenza as he lay dying on the ground, while the cop who shot him paces around in seeming self-pity – and not one officer renders medical aid to Provenza.
The shooting happened Saturday at a charity car show, after someone told an off-duty officer about a man on a bicycle “acting suspiciously.” The responding officer, Scott Macisaac, said Provenza gave him a fake name when questioned, and claimed Provenza then charged him with a knife.
Family and friends of Provenza say he had no violent tendencies, and they find it hard to believe he would charge a cop with a knife. According to Rebecca Schnell, Provena’s fiancée, who shared the video:
As the video begins, a man presumed to be with law enforcement runs toward the camera, shouting, “Make way! Make way!”
The camera then zooms in toward Provenza, who is lying on the ground, moving feebly as the life leaves his body. Officer Macisaac is seen pacing around Provenza in a panic, shouting “Fuck!” as other officers arrive on scene.
Shockingly, no one even attempts to help Provenza who has just been shot three times and is clearly still alive. Instead, another officer appears to console Macisaac by patting him on the back. No less than four people, presumed to be affiliated with law enforcement, are standing near Provenza, completely ignoring the mortally injured man.
READ MORE: Whistleblower: NSA stores 80% of all phone calls, not just metadata - full audio
A female officer attempts to tell people, “Put your phones away!” Fortunately, no one pays her any mind and the recording continues – a recording that shows the astonishing indifference cops can have after gunning someone down in cold blood.
“This is hard for me to share because this is the last moments of my beautiful fiance and best friend’s last moment on earth after he was fatally murdered by Tarpon Springs Police Department. I’m sharing because this needs publicity. This stretches beyond my comfort and sensitivities or anyone else’s. This is graphic but this is very very real and this needs to be seen by the world so they can witness what happens to innocent civilians all over our nation and other nations relentlessly.”
According to local Fox13, the Tarpon Springs police chief is angry that people are “speculating” on social media about what happened. Police Chief Robert Kochen said, “the weapon used by the subject was recovered and was entered into evidence as part of the investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.”
The question remains, why would someone described as having a “peaceful, beautiful” soul, who was riding his bike around at a car show, want to charge a cop with a knife? Will witnesses give the same account to investigators, that Provenza never charged the officer and there was no knife?
According to Schnell’s posting, another officer, Michael Trill, shouted: “he had a knife” loudly at some point during the incident. If the knife story is not corroborated by any witness, the question must be asked whether one or more officers attempted to cover up the truth and perhaps even plant the knife.
READ MORE: WATCH: Raging Cop Slams 86-yo Grandma Down, Maces Elderly Woman Helping Her
While Officer Macisaac is on paid vacation, or administrative leave, a memorial is growing by the day for Provenza, with poems, pictures, and mementos. A “Peaceful Protest for Provenza” is planned for Saturday at the place where he was gunned down.
Rebecca Schnell can’t sit by and do nothing at the injustice. Trigger-happy cops, fearing for their lives at the mere hint of danger, can’t be allowed to continue murdering innocent people with no repercussions.
Schnell writes:
“Sharing this for the people that want to deny the facts. Sharing this because this is the reality you live in. Police state is here and on the rise. Sharing this because this is undeniably murder. Sharing this because I’m lifting this veil and exposing this fascist, testosterone pumped autocratic brotherhood for what they are. Portrayed as our “protectors.” Sharing this because tyrants love to slay artists, visionaries, freespirits and activists. Sharing this because I’m dispersing the ignorance. Sharing this because this is a complete and utter VIOLATION of our 5th amendment rights. Sharing this because targeted individuals ARE A REALITY.”
President Donald Trump has explicitly endorsed the mass murder of innocent civilians who’ve done nothing more than use a substance deemed illegal by the state.
In April, Trump reportedly had a “very friendly conversation” with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who has repeatedly bragged about his ongoing campaign of summarily executing people who use and sell drugs in the Philippines. Following that conversation, Trump invited Duterte to the Oval Office.
Now, thanks to an official transcript of the phone call, obtained by The Intercept, we know Trump went much farther than a simple conversation between two heads of state. The American president actually heaped praise on Duterte for his systematic extermination of civilians.
“You are a good man,” Trump told Duterte, according to an official transcript of the April 29 call produced by the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs and obtained by The Intercept. “Keep up the good work,” Trump told Duterte. “You are doing an amazing job.”
Trump began the call by telling Duterte, “You don’t sleep much, you’re just like me,” before quickly pivoting to the strongman’s drug war.
“I just wanted to congratulate you because I am hearing of the unbelievable job on the drug problem,” Trump told Duterte at the beginning of their call, according to the document. “Many countries have the problem, we have a problem, but what a great job you are doing and I just wanted to call and tell you that.”
“Thank you Mr. President,” replied Duterte. “This is the scourge of my nation now and I have to do something to preserve the Filipino nation.”
The Intercept notes that the transcript has been authenticated by “well-placed sources in the Palace and the Department of Foreign Affairs by reporters at the Manila-based news outlet Rappler.”
READ MORE: Arrest of 94-year-old Veteran for Felony Marijuana Charges Highlights Absurdity of Drug War
Duterte has been rightly condemned by several countries around the world, and the UN for human rights abuses, by directing national police and vigilante death squads to roam the Philippines and execute drug users and dealers on the spot. So far, 7,000 people have been murdered by police, who have also used Duterte’s directive to murder government officials and community leaders who don’t fall in line.
Duterte has promised pardons and immunity for the killers, and continues to call for even more slaughter. The Filipino president has also proudly admitted to killing people himself.
“Hitler massacred three million Jews, now, there’s three million drug addicts. I’d be happy to slaughter them,” Duterte proclaimed in September.
President Trump called him a “good man” doing an “amazing job” in the April phone call, and said former President Obama “did not understand that.”
It almost defies belief that in this day and age, the supposed ‘leader of the free world’ would explicitly praise a modern-day extermination campaign by a government against its citizens.
Trump is ramping up his own war on drugs back in the U.S., by appointing rabid prohibitionist Jeff Sessions as Attorney General. Sessions has already sent a directive to prosecutors to seek the maximum penalty for drug charges. Apparently, Trump thinks summary executions of drug users is even better.
When Trump was elected, this writer posited that Donald Trump will use anti-establishment sentiment to form a new authoritarianism. He has already displayed many signs of doing so, but the call to President Duterte praising his murderous drug war may be the biggest yet.
Albuquerque, NM — In a matter of two days, former Albuquerque police officer Dominique Perez went from facing a new trial for the murder of James Boyd to getting his job back.
A mistrial was declared by Judge Alisa Hadfield in October when only three of twelve jurors voted to convict the two officers — which, though deplorably typical, seems inexplicable given officer helmet-camera footage and several nasty details in the case.
Instead of holding a second trial, however, Police Chief Gorden Eden issued a statement after the district attorney announced that Perez and former detective Keith Sandy will not be retried, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
Sandy will also continue to collect his $37,000 annual pension — for murdering a man on video.
Not only will the officers not be held accountable for murdering a mentally ill man on video, but Perez will now go back to work in the same department.
Luis Robles, Perez’s attorney, said Friday that his client and the city are completing the terms of his return to the Albuquerque Police Department, according to the journal.
“It’s not a question of if; it’s a question of when,” Robles said.
Only in America’s corrupt police institution can a person needless gun down a mentally ill man for camping and face no consequences.
Prior to the fatal shooting, a conversation involving Officer Sandy was captured on tape, revealing not only a lack of compassion or understanding for those with mental health issues, but utter disregard for human life:
Sandy: What do they have you guys doing here?
Ware: I don’t know. The guy asked for state police.
Sandy: Who asked?
Ware: I don’t know.
Sandy: For this fucking lunatic? I’m going to shoot him in the penis with a shotgun here in a second.
Police had been summoned to the rocky hillside location of Boyd’s illegal campsite in March 2014, after receiving calls of someone acting erratically. As footage from an officer’s camera-bedecked helmet subsequently revealed, a small army of 19 cops — some sporting a ridiculous amount of tactical gear — and a K-9 officer responded to the scene.
Boyd begins gathering his belongings and seems to be complying with police demands to leave, when one officer abruptly fires a flash-bang grenade — completely disorienting the man who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, an illness characterized most often by visual and auditory hallucinations.
Video shows Boyd appearing to pull out two knives as an officer with the K-9 approaches, but ineffectually waves them in the air, not making any significant threatening moves toward any of the cops.
When Boyd turns to retrieve his bags from the hillside, officers Sandy and Perez shoot him in the back — killing him, in what many who have seen the footage termed an execution.
Even if the homeless man’s movements prior to being shot could be deemed threatening, at the moment officers fired the fatal rounds, his back was clearly visible.
“What was the crime that prompted this paramilitary response?” Special Prosecutor Randi McGinn said during the original probable cause hearing, adding that shooting someone in the back isn’t something “reasonable people” do. “It was not a terrorist act. It was illegal camping.”
McGinn told ABC News in October she was not surprised by the deadlocked jury in this case, but hoped the trial would broaden the discussion and ‘leave a lasting legacy.’
Apparently, the only legacy left now is further reassurance of the precedent that cops can kill, on video, and keep their jobs.
READ MORE: Cop Escapes Charges After Shooting an Unarmed Man With His Hands Up on Video
Sarasota, FL — An unfortunate reality in the United States is that even the disabled and the elderly are not safe from falling victim to police misconduct. As a recent case in Sarasota County, Florida, illustrates, innocent elderly women are not immune from abuse of power — and even attempted murder — by police.
This case and the following details are close to one of the worst stories The Free Thought Project has ever reported on regarding police.
Frankie Eugene Bybee, 46, is an 18-year veteran of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, who has been arrested on multiple charges, including attempted murder, for preying on a 79-year-old woman.
According to Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight, allegations of Bybee harassing the elderly woman led to an investigation that uncovered horrendous criminal acts.
What makes this case even more horrifying is the fact that from an outsider’s perspective, it appeared that Bybee was going out of his way to help the 79-year-old woman. However, upon closer inspection, the true nature of his plan was exposed.
Bybee’s relationship with the elderly woman began after he responded to her call for help. After their first meeting, Bybee would frequently return to her retirement home in what appeared on the surface as genuine concern. Bybee even went so far as to introduce his family to the woman.
However, while things looked normal on the surface, Bybee was allegedly plotting to steal everything he could from this woman he apparently felt was helpless.
The theft started with her dog.
While the 79-year-old was in the hospital, Bybee said he would watch her dog. Instead, the deputy allegedly sold the dog on Craigslist. On Monday, police were able to locate the woman’s beloved and expensive Yorkshire terrier.
READ MORE: Warning: Infuriating Video. Veteran Unlawfully Disarmed, and Arrested.
On December 20, the woman filed a complaint with the department about the theft of her dog. But this was just the tip of the iceberg.
After the complaint was filed, according to the arrest affidavits, investigators found that multiple checks had been written out of the woman’s account — directly to Bybee and his children. The checks, which investigators accused Bybee of writing to himself, totaled upwards of $65,000.
After Bybee caught wind of the investigation, however, that’s when things took a turn for the worst.
On January 12, the victim told police that Bybee entered her home through an unlocked door. He was dressed in all black and wearing latex gloves.
According to WFLA:
The victim told officials the suspect “grabbed her face with his gloved hands and pressed hard against her causing her to bleed from her mouth,” the affidavit stated.
The victim stated Bybee tried to force a handful of unknown pills into her mouth while placing his knee in her pelvis before trying to “force” the victim to take her own tranquilizer medication that was used to help her sleep, the document stated.
The victim lost consciousness for a period of time before regaining consciousness and noticing her kitchen door ajar to her garage, her car running and the house filling with carbon monoxide.
“It is beyond unacceptable that an individual who works in a position of trust and guardianship to their community, is capable of such heinous crimes. His actions are a disgrace not only to our agency. but to law enforcement professionals everywhere,” said Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight.
READ MORE: Federal Reserve Removes all Doubt of True Intentions By Putting Picture of Actual Slave on Money
“I hope he gets prosecuted a little bit more exceptionally than a normal criminal because he used the uniform for public trust,” said Knight. “His actions are a disgrace not only to this agency, but to the law enforcement profession.”
Sheriff Knight escorts long-time employee Frankie Bybee to sallyport door, faces slew of felonies including Attempted Murder #Accountability pic.twitter.com/Hik7SZgSK6
— SarasotaSheriff (@SarasotaSheriff) January 23, 2017
However, as we’ve seen in the past, even the most heinous of crimes committed by cops receive lighter punishments as defense lawyers use their stellar history as a law enforcement officer as a means of seeking a lighter sentence.
Fontana, CA — James Hall, 47, is legally blind, mentally ill, and now dead — after being executed by police officers with the Fontana Police Department. The execution happened in a convenience store and was captured on the store’s surveillance cameras. The video also contradicts the lies police told to justify killing him.
Hall, who suffered from schizoaffective disorder — a combination of schizophrenia symptoms and mood disorder — was in the midst of an episode when police were called out to a convenience store during the early morning hours of November 22, 2015.
Police say they were responding to reports of a possible armed robbery. However, James Hall never robbed anyone and the video shows he was merely browsing the store when 5 police officers swarmed him.
The cops, who were clearly not trained in deescalating situations with mentally ill people, began yelling at him, pointing guns, and had their attack dog at the ready. All of these provocations served to only further Hall’s fears so he refused to come out.
Several minutes pass before officers opened fire and sicced the dog on Hall sending him into an utterly panicked state.
As the Daily Mail reports:
According to their lawsuit, Hall had been acting ‘peacefully’ when he encountered a group of Fontana PD officers outside the Chevron gas station at around 4.15am.
But the officers, the suit says, escalated the encounter and eventually ‘deployed lethal force’, killing Hall.
The suit states that one of the officers fired a shot at Hall as they entered the store and then deployed the police dog.
Hall became ‘startled’ and ran to the rear of the store where he ‘cowered’.
The suit states: ‘The Defendant officers cornered Decedent Hall in the rear of the convenience store, brandishing firearms, including an assault rifle.
‘As the Defendant officers continued to surround Decedent Hall, one of them opened fire on him, and Decedent Hall fell to the ground.’
If you read the official police account, Hall charged officers with a knife and they were forced to kill him. However, according to Hall’s family and the video, Hall was cornered and cowering when he was killed.
READ MORE: 70 Year Old Man Shot by Police for Grabbing his Cane During a Traffic Stop
According to the lawsuit, Hall had been acting peacefully prior to being confronted by police. At no time had he harmed anyone or attempted to rob the store.
The family also questions the police claim of armed robbery, as Hall had been outside the store until police arrived and frightened him.
Prior to this run-in with police, Hall had never been in trouble with the law. He was well known throughout the neighborhood for his “peaceful nature” and residents were aware of his disabilities, according to the lawsuit.
‘James was not observed by family, friends, or those who knew him as having violent tendencies because of his mental illness,’the lawsuit read.
In fact, a few years prior to being killed by cops, Hall was given an award by cops. In 2010, Hall was awarded a Citizen Citation from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office for assisting in the rescue of a four-year-old autistic child.
Like most people, who will watch the video below, Hall’s family wants answers as to why police killed their beloved brother and son.
The lawsuit goes on to accuse the Fontana police of “operating a culture whereby the use of excessive force is encouraged.” It then accuses the force of failing to conduct an ‘unbiased investigation’ in to Hall’s death. Judging from the absence of punishment for any of the officers involved in killing Hall, his family is spot on.
“The video puts the lie to the obviously falsified police account of what happened. In fact, this was an execution,” said Mark Geragos, whose firm is representing Hall’s relatives.
READ MORE: This Can"t End Well: California Governor Vetoes Bill Requiring Warrants for Police Drones
(CN) – Attorneys for the police officer who shot and killed Philando Castile in July say the manslaughter charge against him should be dropped because Castile was high on marijuana at the time of the incident.
Jeronimo Yanez and his attorneys filed a motion to dismiss Wednesday and a memo supporting the motion.
Yanez’s push to dismiss the felony manslaughter charge against him follows the U.S. Department of Justice’s announcement that it will conduct a comprehensive review of the St. Anthony Police Department, which was deeply criticized nationwide over the incident.
Last month, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi charged Yanez with second-degree manslaughter and two counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm for the shooting of Castile during a traffic stop on July 6.
The immediate aftermath of the shooting was live-streamed by Diamond Reynolds, who was a passenger in the car along with her 4-year-old daughter in the backseat.
The shooting spawned protests at the governor’s mansion and other parts of the country, including a demonstration in Oakland, Calif., that shut down an interstate for hours.
According to Yanez’s memo, Castile lied on his application for a permit to carry a firearm and denied that he used any controlled substance.
“This is critical because unlawful narcotic users are not eligible to own, let alone carry a firearm on their person,” according to his attorneys, led by Earl Gray of St. Paul.
Photographs of marijuana were discovered on Castile’s Instagram account from 2012, the memo states, and Castile was issued three marijuana-in-vehicle tickets in 2005, 2006 and 2008.
Yanez’s attorneys also say blood draws from Castile revealed high levels of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
“Evaluation of the defense expert Glenn Hardin, who was formerly employed by the [Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension] and often testified on behalf of the State of Minnesota, establishes that Mr. Castile was intoxicated,” the memo states. “The status of being stoned (in an acute and chronic sense) explains why Mr. Castille: 1) did not follow the repeated directions of Officer Yanez; 2) stared straight ahead and avoided eye-contact; 3) never mentioned that he had a carry permit, but instead said he had a gun; and 4) he did not show his hands.” (Parentheses in original.)
Glenda Hatchett, former TV court show star and attorney for the Castile family, released a statement Thursday in response to the motion to dismiss.
“This is the designed play for the defense of police officers who kill citizens, always blame the victim,” she said. “Earl Gray has done this for decades. They want to say and have you believe that Philando was the negligent one and somehow that matters in excusing or defending the officer.”
Hatchett added, “Similarly, the lawyers claim that Yanez could not be liable because he had no duty to Philando, simply because he had marijuana in his system and cite cases that supposedly support that ludicrous assertion. The United States Constitution, the Supreme Court of the United States and the State of Minnesota. by enacting Minn. Stat Section 609.066, state the exact opposite.”
But Yanez’s attorneys argue that an objective review of the squad-car video confirmed the officer’s description of why he acted in self-defense and why Castile himself was “culpably negligent and was the substantial cause of his own demise.”
“He should not even have been driving while under the influence. He should have showed his hands. He should not have reached for the handgun, the same handgun found at the scene, the handgun Officer Yanez described,” the memo states.
In addition to Gray, Yanez is represented by Thomas Kelly in Minneapolis.
Robert Bennett with Gaskins Bennett serves as co-counsel for Castile’s family.
