Showing posts with label Police Abuse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Police Abuse. Show all posts
Monday, May 24, 2010
Action Alert: Federally Funded Drug Squad Seizes Petition For Pot Legalization In Washington State
I KNEW you could!
An Alert, from Firedoglake:
Sensible Washington is the group whose marijuana legalization petitions were seized by the federally funded agents. The group is well on its way to let Washington State residents vote on legalization on the November ballot, but this raid can put it in jeopardy.
The intended effect of this raid is to put a chill on other citizens from signing the petition, who will fear having their names and addresses exposed to a drug task force. It's intimidation, pure and simple. And your tax dollars are paying for it.
A federally funded drug task force seized as evidence up to 200 petition signatures for marijuana legalization in Washington State in a series of early-morning raids this week. Seizing the petition signatures is bad enough. What's worse is what the task force did on its raids of a legal marijuana dispensary and its owner's home.Drug agents handcuffed a 14-year-old boy and pointed a gun at his head. Then they took $80 from a 9-year-old girl's Minnie Mouse wallet that she earned for straight A's on her report card.
Now the drug agents - funded by the US Department of Justice - say they can only find two pages of the petition. But they had time to make photocopies of the petition, keeping the names and addresses of residents who signed.
We started our own petition demanding the release of the seized signatures that we'll deliver to the task force headquarters next week.
Ironically, it's this kind of reckless waste of time and money that makes marijuana legalization a safer, smarter alternative than the failed war on drugs.
Sensible Washington is the group whose marijuana legalization petitions were seized by the federally funded agents. The group is well on its way to let Washington State residents vote on legalization on the November ballot, but this raid can put it in jeopardy.
The intended effect of this raid is to put a chill on other citizens from signing the petition, who will fear having their names and addresses exposed to a drug task force. It's intimidation, pure and simple. And your tax dollars are paying for it.
That's why it's important we speak out about this gross violation of first amendment rights. We need to make sure that not only is every petition signature returned, but any other copies must be destroyed.
The only thing these petition signatures are evidence of is an exercise in democracy.
Sign the petition HERE
Thanks for standing with us,
Jane Hamsher
Firedoglake.com
Monday, July 27, 2009
As Of August 8 2009 The MOVE 9 Will Have Been Imprisoned For 21 Years And No One Knows Who Committed The Crime
H/t: Mathaba News and the Pan-African News Wire
On August 8 2009 the MOVE 9 will have been incarcerated in a U.S. jail for 31 years.
From Wikipedia (slightly edited for clarity, in parentheses):
"In 1978, an end was negotiated to an almost year-long standoff with police (over housing code and H&S issues between the MOVE organization and the city of Philadelphia Pennsylvania).Note: "Their sentencing judge has publicly admitted that he has no idea who shot the one bullet that they are all being held accountable for..."
MOVE failed to relocate as required by the court order.[3] When the police later attempted entry, Philadelphia police officer James J. Ramp was killed in a shootout. Seven other police officers, five firefighters, three MOVE members, and three bystanders were injured.[4] As a result, nine MOVE members were found guilty of third-degree murder in the shooting death of a police officer. Seven of the nine became eligible for parole in the spring of 2008, and all seven were denied parole.[5][6] Parole hearings now occur yearly."
[In Full]
Flash forward a few years from 1978 to 1985.
"Attention, MOVE: This Is America! You must abide by the laws of the United States!” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sambor declared through a loudspeaker, minutes before the May 13, 1985 police assault on the revolutionary MOVE organization’s home...
...That morning police shot over 10,000 rounds of bullets into their West Philadelphia home, and detonated explosives on the front, and both sides of their house." Source
Photo: Philadelphia Pennsylvania police use a State Police helicopter to satchel bomb the re-located MOVE communal house in 1985. The satchel charge was four pounds of C-4 plastic explosive and Tovex illegally obtained from the FBI. "The resulting explosion caused the house to catch fire, igniting a massive blaze which eventually consumed almost an entire city block.[8] Eleven people, including John Africa, five other adults and five children, died in the resulting fire.[9] Ramona Africa and one child, Birdie Africa, were the only survivors..."Ramona Africa, Mumia abu-Jamal, their defense attorney and others on the 'trial' of the MOVE 9
Get involved... More information [Here]
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
May Weasels Rip His Flesh - Grandmother Tasered at Traffic Stop (H/t Gates of Hell)
"A 72-year-old woman is pulled over for speeding, then tasered and sent to jail. Kathryn Winkfein says she drives to Austin about twice a month to do her shopping. But on a Monday afternoon, a Travis County Constable deputy pulled her over, on her way back to Granite Schoals."Source: Grandmother Tasered at Traffic Stop | The Gates of Hell"Due to being a construction zone, and workers being present," Pct. 3 Constable Richard McCain said, "it was 45, she was doing 60."
Winkfein admits she was speeding in the dangerous strip of Highway 71 and Bee Creek.
"He explained to her," Constable McCain said, "sign the ticket stub, it’s not an admission of guilt. It’s a promise to appear in court. She didn’t want to. She said take me to jail."
That’s when the officer says Winkfein exited her vehicle and didn’t cooperate.
"She refused to get off the side of the road, he said to her, Ma’am, you’re under arrest. She used profanity," the Constable said.
He adds she got violent, and the officer used a taser on her."
In full @ myfoxaustin.com
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