VOICE OF DETROIT: The city's independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

Prison in California is reminiscent of a slave ship.

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by executive editor Glen Ford

“The system is deliberately racist, brutal, arbitrary and malevolent.”

January 3, 2017

http://blackagendareport.com/pardons_distract_from_prison_horror

Americans imprison big, but they pardon very small. President Obama set a record by giving clemency to 1/2000^th of the 2.3million U.S. prison inmates. The Brennan Center recommends release of 40 percent of inmates. But the Black Is Back Coalition calculates that even release of twice that many – 80 percent – would still maintain mass incarceration at 1973 levels. The whole damn system has to go, for Black folks to even get close to justice.

President Barack Obama

President Obama, a master of public relations, now has bragging rights for having granted clemency to a record number of federal prisoners – 1,176 of them, at last count, more than those set free by the past 11 presidents, combined. Looking at the number from a different angle, Obama released only one out of every two thousand of the nation’s 2.3 million prison inmates, the largest incarcerated population in the world, both in raw numbers and in the proportion of U.S. society living behind bars. In other words, Obama’s clemencies, like all other presidents’, are statistically meaningless and morally and politically distractive. But, of course, that’s what Obama’s good at – distracting people.

The incompetent, lazy and white supremacist corporate media forget, or never reported, that for several years the Obama administration delayed the release from prison of five times as many inmates as he pardoned: about 6,000 federal prisoners convicted under the old crack cocaine laws. A federal appeals court wanted to let them out, ruling that they were covered by a prison reform bill, but President Obama successfully argued to keep these men and women in prison. Several years later, Obama staged a huge public relations extravaganza, releasing many of these same inmates, supposedly out of the goodness of his heart.  It was two years too late. Some never got out.

The Brennan Center for Justice released a study last month that concluded the U.S. could set free 39 percent of its prison population with no threat to public safety. The Brennan researchers argue that you can’t make a dent in the mass incarceration system unless whole categories of prisoners are made eligible for immediate release. They say 25 percent of the prison population should, instead, have been sentenced to drug treatment, community service, probation or a fine. Another 14 percent of inmates have already served enough time in prison, and are no longer a risk. Together, that comes to almost 40 percent of the prison population — one and a half million people, about half of them Black.

“Not Even a Half-Way Measure”

Prison reformers seem to think the system can be made more rational and fair. They don’t seem to understand that the system is deliberately racist, brutal, arbitrary and malevolent — it is not meant to be fair, and it cannot be reformed. Former Black Panther Sundiata Acoli turns 80 this month. He has been in a New Jersey prison since 1973 and first became eligible for parole in 1992, but was turned down by the parole board, which set his next parole hearing for 15 years from now, when Sundiata Acoli will be 95 years old. 

This system is pure meanness and race-hate. The Brennan Center’s proposal to release almost 40 percent of prison inmates is, itself, not even a half-way measure. As the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations points out in number five of its 19 point platform on Black self-determination, the United States would have to release 80 percent of its prison population — four out of every five inmates — just to bring the incarceration rate down to 1973 levels. And, remember: the U.S. was already the worst mass incarceration state in the world back in 1973. Even the release of four out every five inmates does not change the essential nature of American mass Black incarceration. There can be no compromise with such an evil.

For Black Agenda Radio, I’m Glen Ford. On the web, go to www.BlackAgendaReport.com.

BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.

WILL THEY ALL LIVE TO SEE JUSTICE PER USSC DECISIONS IN MILLER V. ALABAMA (2012), MONTGOMERY V. LOUISIANA (2016)?

U.S. Supreme Court first declared juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) unconstitutional for all in 2012

Michigan’s older, ill  juvenile lifers may die in prison waiting for justice; only 30 Wayne County lifers, or 20.4%, have been re-sentenced so far

Charles Lewis: post-conviction hearing set for Thurs. Feb. 9, 2017; Worthy wants to re-instate JLWOP for him despite documented innocence claims 

By Diane Bukowski

January 12, 2017 Update January 13, 2017 

Note: earlier version of this story reported 8% re-sentenced; figures updated

Supporter of Charles Lewis at rally Oct. 11, 2016

DETROIT – Charles Lewis, a Wayne County juvenile lifer whose family and supporters say he is innocent of a murder charge for which he has spent 41 years in prison, recently summed up what is happening in the re-sentencing process for many of the county’s 147 juvenile lifers. 

“I think they’re just dragging things out, waiting for me to die,” Lewis told VOD. His mother Rosie Lewis earlier said, “They’ve done everything they can to him—let him go!” The County earlier admitted it had lost Lewis’ entire case file.

Lewis, 57, has had three heart attacks for which the Michigan Department of Corrections denied him effective treatment. He also suffers from severe diabetes. But he has battled throughout his 41 years in the prison system, becoming an accomplished jailhouse lawyer who has filed dozens of appeals in both the state and federal court systems.

Charles Lewis’ mother Rosie Lewis celebrates her birthday with grandkids. She has fought 41 yrs. for her son. Facebook photo

“I guess I’m addicted to the struggle,” he told VOD at one point. He currently works in the law library at Lakeland Correctional Facility and said he tries to help his fellow prisoners research and fight their cases in that capacity.  

Only two of Wayne County’s 147 juvenile lifers, William Washington and Timothy Jordan, have been paroled so far. Thirty, or 20.4%, have been re-sentenced to date, according to updated figures. Twenty-eight of the 30 got 60 year maximums and are awaiting parole. Nine were given sentences with minimums exceeding what they have served so far, meaning they are not yet parole eligible.

It has been four and a half years since the USSC’s first ruling in Miller v. Alabama (2012) that only the “rarest child” should be sentenced to die in prison, and that JLWOP was unconstitutional, a view held in every other country in the world. Most of Michigan’s juvenile lifers have served terms far beyond those accorded to adult offenders for the same crimes.

Timothy Kincaid and attorney Gerald Evelyn at re-sentencing hearing Nov. 4, 2016.

Michigan was one of four states to wait til the bitter end before agreeing that Miller was retroactive, pursuant to the USSC’s 2016 Montgomery v. Louisiana decision.

Attorney Gerald Evelyn wrote regarding Timothy Kincaid, “Mr. Kincaid was born in 1961, when the closest measure of life expectancy for his demographic (African-American males born between 1969 and 1971) was 60 years. Those numbers do not adequately account for being incarcerated for a significant if not all of those years. Thus, a 60-year sentence is a de facto life sentence, which denies Mr. Kincaid the reasonable possibility of parole during his lifetime.” 

Others including former Wayne County Prosecutor John O’Hair and Former Michigan Governor William Milliken have also condemned Michigan’s draconic juvenile lifer re-sentencing statutes, passed in 2014, which set a minimum of 25-40 up to maximum of 60 years in those cases where prosecutors have not re-recommended JLWOP. They also bar juvenile lifer re-sentencings from taking “good time” into account.

Lewis  had a post-conviction hearing scheduled Fri. Jan. 13, 2017 in front of Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Qiana Lillard, but that was adjourned until Feb. 9, 2017.

Lewis’ entire case file went missing several years ago. His falsified Register of Actions (ROA) remains intact on the county’s website, including only events from 2000 on, although he was sentenced in 1977, after three separate trials. It still incorrectly says he was convicted April 3, 2000 front of Judge Gershwin Drain.  State law considers the ROA the backbone of case files. 

On Nov. 11, Lillard denied Lewis’ motion to dismiss his case based on U.S. Supreme Court and state court precedents regarding missing or altered records. She ordered the prosecution, defense, and Clerk’s office to “re-construct” his file after eight months of hearings, during which numerous officials affirmed the loss of the records.

On Jan. 13, Deputy Court Clerk David Baxter said the re-constructed file was complete.

But Lewis says whatever is in the file cannot be accurate according to state standards (see box at left) particularly without a valid ROA. He says he also questions the legality of the re-construction procedure, saying there is no court precedent or state law supporting it.

“They can’t re-construct my file without me there,” he said. “I doubt they have the records of all three trials I had in 1977. The jury was dismissed without reason in the first trial by Judge George Maher, but I’ve always believed they acquitted me. Where are the records showing why Maher dismissed them? Next my case was assigned to Judge Ollie Gibbs and a jury was selected, but Judge Maher intervened and said he wanted to re-try the  case. Where are the records of that action? My third trial began in July, 1977, but there was never a sentencing transcript produced.”

Lewis is one of 65 juvenile lifers for whom Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy is recommending re-instatement of life without parole sentences. This means they still face complex re-sentencing hearings required by the USSC in its 2012 Miller v. Alabama decision. (See list of County juvenile lifers with LWOP or TOY  (term of years) recommendations at http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/JLWOPchart916.pdf.)

Gil Hill meets with known drug dealer Willie Volsan and Sgt. James Harris. DPD/FBI surveillance photo.

Lewis was convicted of killing off-duty police officer Gerald Sypitkowski July 31, 1976. VOD reported previously that Aug. 1, 1976 Free Press coverage of the killing, obtained immediately from numerous eyewitnesses at the scene, including Sypitkowski’s partner officer Dennis Van Fleteren, exonerates Lewis. Those witnesses said the fatal shot came from a white Lincoln Mark IV driving down Harper at Barrett.

None of them told the Freep that they saw four Black teens including Lewis, then 17, in a yellow Ford Gran Torino, at the scene. 

But that was the scenario former DPD homicide chief Gil Hill (then a sergeant) cooked up against Lewis, recruiting three frightened juveniles to testify against him, admittedly overriding court rules that required them to be handled by juvenile court.  Hill, who testified he was working with the “Special Assignment Squad,” was known for decades as an allegedly dirty cop who took bribes to cover up homicides and drug-deals.

“I said that the police obviously made up their stories,” Lewis said he told his court-appointed attorney Valerie Newman. “All of their stories are basically the same story.  If you get three sixteen year old’s together and have them watch one event you will get three different versions of what happened. So, for them to all make basically the exact same statement was crap. I asked her how do you take the testimony of three juveniles over the testimony of a police officer, white college students, and a white bouncer. She could not answer that question. The reality is this, if you don’t believe in my innocence, you can’t fight for me.”

William Washington, mother  Lizzie Young Photo: Jodi Westrick, Michigan Radio

Timothy Jordan, paroled Jan. 10, 2017/Photo: MDOC

Meanwhile, to date, two juvenile lifers out of the County’s 147 have actually been paroled after re-sentencing under draconic state statutes passed in 2014. The statutes are currently under federal appeal by the American Civil Liberties Union. 

The first was William Washington, 59, who was released from prison Nov. 17, 2016 after serving 40 years, the first juvenile lifer out nearly 370 across the state to finally see freedom. Now, according to his attorney, Timothy Jordan, 48, was paroled Jan. 10, 2017, after being re-sentenced Sept. 23, 2016 to to 25 to 60 years after serving 30 years. Both Washington and Jordan still face two years of parole oversight before their status is finally confirmed.

Seven others shown below, (known to VOD) still serving these unconstitutional sentences have been re-sentenced but not yet paroled. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has appealed re-sentencing decisions for two of them, causing further delay. Some who have seen the parole board now must go through several months of re-entry classes, psychiatric evaluations, and other pre-release requirements before parole board approval.

Edward Sanders family after re-sentencing, including (l to r) aunt Jeanette Lattner, sister Yvonne Sanders, mother Joann Sanders

(L to r) Brother Julius Sanders, sister Yvonne, nephew Atwaab, mother Joann Sanders

In Kincaid’s case, an appeals court ordered Dec. 29 that he be re-sentenced to 60-90 years for “assault with intent to commit murder (AWIM),” while upholding a trial court re-sentence of 30-60 years for three counts of first-degree murder in a 1976 case.

Kincaid is already 55 years old. He has served 36 years for the murders of three women, carried out by two older men in 1976, when he was 16. Ironically, Kincaid himself did not shoot or kill any of the four women victims, instead having one hide in a closet while he shot into the ground. Two older men who were the actual killers did not receive life without parole sentences.

“According to the probation officer, the surviving victim believes she is still alive through the intercession of Mr. Kincaid, in light of his protective conduct during the shooting,” trial court Judge Michael Callahan said during Kincaid’s re-sentencing Nov. 4. “She even visited him while he was housed in the Department of Corrections.”

Attorney Evelyn said, “In the prosecution’s brief, they acknowledge that any judge has the authority to correct an unconstitutional sentence. The prosecution should not have opposed Callahan’s common sense correction,”

Odessa Kincaid, who passed in 2011, with her sons Timothy and Waymon during their youth.

Evidently, however, the COA ruling will hopefully not hinder Kincaid’s parole. His hearing on that was held Jan. 5, 2017, according to his family members, who had the understanding that the AWIM sentence of 60-90 years was NOT a JLWOP charge. Therefore, state good time rules should apply, cutting 35 years out of that sentence. The state’s OTIS website already indicates his new sentence, showing his earliest release date as Sept. 26, 2013. 

Kincaid’s brother, Waymon Kincaid, a parolable lifer who was a plaintiff in an ACLU lawsuit against the state’s changes to parolable lifer sentencing, is now finally home himself.

Meanwhile, the Court of Appeals has not yet ruled on Worthy’s appeal of Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Morrow’s re-sentencing of Zerious “Bobby” Meadows to 25-45 years, which should have set him free immediately, since he had already served the 45 years. 

Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy

Worthy contends state law requires that the maximum of 60 years is mandatory, while Meadows’ attorney Melvin Houston said, “My client has little else to lose by appealing this matter as the state has already taken his youth.”

Houston has filed extensive briefs which contend that state law does not require a prisoner be sentenced to a maximum of 60 years, as well as citing a Florida case where an appeals court struck down mandatory minimums for juvenile lifers.

VOD covered Meadows’ case earlier, at

 http://voiceofdetroit.net/2016/11/28/case-of-zerious-meadows-challenges-michigans-draconic-juvenile-lifer-re-sentencing-practices/.

Related stories:

DIRTY DEALINGS: GIL HILL’S ROLE IN ‘WHITE BOY RICK’ CASE, CHARLES LEWIS AND EDDIE JOE LLOYD FRAME-UPS

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2016/11/28/case-of-zerious-meadows-challenges-michigans-draconic-juvenile-lifer-re-sentencing-practices/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2016/11/08/good-news-in-timothy-kincaid-juvenile-lifer-case-judge-recommends-immediate-parole/

FAMILY, FRIENDS WANT “RELEASE, NOT RE-SENTENCING” FOR CHARLES LEWIS; CONDEMN APPOINTED ATTY. NEWMAN

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2016/10/26/free-charles-lewis-mich-juvenile-lifers-re-sentenced-to-die-in-prison-rally-fri-oct-28/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2016/10/13/support-for-charles-lewis-mich-juvenile-lifers-strong-at-hearing-oct-11-bring-them-home-now/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2016/10/07/stop-new-death-penalty-for-mich-juvenile-lifers-rally-tues-oct-11-for-charles-lewis-others/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2016/09/10/new-hope-for-michigan-juvenile-lifer-charles-lewis-as-others-await-long-delayed-justice/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2016/09/04/free-charles-lewis-wayne-co-juvenile-lifers-dying-in-prison-rally-at-hearing-tues-sept-6/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2016/08/18/genocide-state-s-a-d-o-subject-michigan-juvenile-lifers-to-more-cruel-and-unusual-punishment/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2016/08/02/michigan-files-for-jlwop-for-80-of-juvenile-lifers-fed-court-wants-all-parole-eligible/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2016/07/26/worthy-others-want-large-portion-of-juvenile-lifers-to-die-in-prison-despite-ussc-rulings/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2016/06/02/stop-torturing-michigans-juvenile-lifers-with-state-delays-freedom-now/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2016/05/24/free-charles-lewis-innocent-juvenile-lifer-who-has-spent-41-years-in-state-prisons/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2016/05/18/michigan-juvenile-lifers-score-6th-circuit-appeals-court-victory-in-hill-v-snyder/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2016/04/30/why-is-juvenile-lifer-charles-lewis-still-in-prison-16-yrs-after-his-case-was-dismissed/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2016/04/12/dying-in-prison-michigan-juvenile-lifers-get-new-hope-under-montgomery-still-face-obstacles/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2013/02/12/u-s-judge-rules-all-michigan-juvenile-lifers-eligible-for-parole/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/10/28/michigans-juvenile-lifers-want-state-to-comply-with-u-s-supreme-court-ruling/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/08/16/michigan-challenges-u-s-supreme-court-ruling-on-juvenile-life-without-parole/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/07/02/us-supreme-courts-juvenile-lifer-decision-brings-hope-to-thousands/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/07/02/nations-high-court-ends-mandatory-life-without-parole-sentences-for-youth/

By David Schied

 December 25, 2016

As you know, it has been six months since my last RICO Busters episode. This latest proves even more that the Charter County of Wayne is being operated by domestic terrorists. This video shows more about why I was and continue to be in the federal courts along with The Insurance Company for the State of Pennsylvania and the American Insurance Group (a.k.a. “AIG”) with my own and “14 other joinder” claims against their insurance policy backed by the United States taxpayers guarantee to pay claims against their policy purchased by the Charter County of Wayne at local taxpayer expense. 

At any rate, the video is lengthy but informative and with damning evidence. It also includes a referenced link for others who wish to get involved with claims of their own against that insurance policy. 

As always, I am praying for the wherewithal to continue my line of battling this corruption, hoping it not to take another 6 months before my next video production, done without a budget and while taxing my old computer system. Please donate if you can.  

Please also refer others to my RICO Busters channel with another 18 video productions, located at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd3xqk6Kc778ASLAsRpV5ag

Video above: Cornell Squires’ favorite hymn, “Amazing Grace,” played on sax by friend “Squirrel” during funeral  November 28, 2016. Cornell passed away Nov. 19. VOD’s original story on his death garnered over 1200 Facebook “likes,” attesting to the widespread esteem in which he was held by community members. 

In Loving Memory of Cornell Squires, Consummate Friend, Victim’s Advocate, Legal Peacemaker

By David Schied, Co-founder of RICO-busters

Cornell Squires speaks passionately at Wayne County Commission meeting March 18, 2016 against flood of tax foreclosures destroying Detroit’s neighborhoods.

When I met Cornell for the first time in 2010, he introduced himself to me as an advocate for others seeking justice through legal remedies. The problem both he and I  found was that there was no “justice” to be had in the local, county and state administrative systems of Detroit, Wayne County and  the State of Michigan.

Cornell and I both have shared with one another story after story – life after life, family after family, and home after home – that has been robbed, ripped apart, denigrated, and ultimately destroyed by the corporate-government crime syndicate operating in this region of the country for decades, in full view and with the cooperation of the Office of the U.S. Attorney, the FBI, and the clerical and judicial usurpers operating what is popularly known as the United States District Court.

Cornell continually proclaimed that the Goodness of God was always near and dear, accessible by faith, by prayer, and by the Eternal Will of the Almighty to have His children find the ultimate Peace on Earth with Him. Many times in my moments of doubt and weakness did Cornell take my hands into his, or lead in his words over the phone, as he invoked the presence of God in our lives, to deliver to us His mercy, and to share with us so much of the love with which Cornell Squires brought to us a-plenty.

Cornell speaks against fraudulent tax bills during foreclosure protest at Wayne County Treasurer’s office April 31, 2015.

He worked both selflessly and tirelessly to help others, to advocate for others, to demonstrate with others, and to raise all others above his own level of goodness. Though we had many differences, he was indeed my big brother. He was only a couple of months older than me, but in the face of this unjust society full of greed, corruption, racism, and pure evil, Cornell’s experience and patience were second to none, and light years ahead of mine. He was an unshakable Soul.

County, state and federal courts alike dismissed many of Cornell’s court cases without remedy and without “litigating the merits” on behalf of himself and others. Recently, we together as Private Attorney Generals were dismissed by the same “pattern and practice” of the corrupted United States District Court in Detroit, despite there being over 52 unrebutted sworn and notarized Affidavits of testimony supported by mounds of evidence proving the racketeering and corruption facilitated by  our city, county, state, and federal government functionaries.

U.S. District Court Judge Avern Cohn/Photo: My Jewish Detroit

This last dismissal was by a 92-year old “lifetime employed” federal judge, Avern Cohn. Many other State Bar of Michigan members have been committing treasonous acts of domestic terrorism,  running crime syndicates and protectionist rackets out of our government offices – such as U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade.

They have long owed Cornell and the rest of us financial compensation and their own occupational impeachments. It was only a couple of months ago that Cornell expressed his dismay that while helping someone else report federal crimes by local public officials to the Office of the U.S. Attorney McQuade, he wasn’t even allowed to even enter that office. It had been more than three years since the last time he was rejected from there. He was told by building security that he was on a “list” of those that McQuade did not even want on her office floor.

As a legal peacemaker, Cornell Squires devoted his life to advocating for others and helping people to advocate for themselves in the face of the blatant and widespread corruption and violence being unleashed upon the ordinary residents of Wayne County.

Cornell remained active throughout his life against racist police killings and brutality.

Cornell himself was brutally beaten by Detroit police officer Robert Feld in 1999. His father Eugene Squires intervened and suffered a heart attack which led to his death months later. His son was framed up by former Detroit cop William ‘Robocop’ Melendez, who many years later was finally prosecuted for brutally beating Floyd Dent in Inkster. It was upsetting to Cornell that, thanks to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and others working under her on the taxpayer’s dime, the Melendez received only a slap on the wrist and was out of jail in no time.

Cornell was proud to have founded “We The People, For the People” as a nonprofit ministry dedicated toward helping his fellow community members to deal with widespread foreclosure fraud. That fraud was brought about by the unscrupulous tactics of banksters and law firms, including over-taxation by the crooked Wayne County Treasury, bogus recordkeeping by Register of Deeds executives, and dishonest judges helping to facilitate these crimes by a “pattern and practice” of pretending not to notice.

All this and more was exposed by Cornell and others in public protests. I sincerely believe that it was thanks to him, to the Voice of Detroit online newspaper for which he delivered stories, and thanks to his association “We The People, For the People” – and others operating as advocates and activists to put these many white collar criminals into prison – that finally resulted in the FBI being pressured enough to investigate the Wayne County Land Bank.

The People should note that it is no coincidence that the Land Bank is in the very same building that also houses the Wayne County Executive and the Wayne County Corporation Counsel, where the “racketeering” brains of an illegal crime syndicate operate as former law “enforcement” officers and attorneys.

(L to r) Luis and Cecilia Espinoza, with Cornell Squires, point out abandoned, burnt out properties next to their home (at far left) on Detroit’s southwest side. They had paid $16,000 in property taxes since 2011 but were facing foreclosure March 31, 2015. They have five children and little income.

While the mainstream press is willing to buy the oversimplified government story that the suspected reason for the FBI investigation is the contractors’ “spike of demolition costs”, make no mistake that Cornell had notified the feds back in early April and again in September about the county’s criminal scheme of over-estimating the value of homes for the purpose of over–taxation, to entice Wayne County residents into taking new “terms” of refinancing their homes to pay the county’s taxes or face tax foreclosures. This was what the county did against Cornell, except Cornell chose to stay and fight, in an effort to expose this racketeering scheme.

Other community residents have simply given up their homes, pressured by the extortionist tactics used by the county to force them out. So then the “Hardest Hit” federal funding meant to keep people in their homes is used to demolish those homes, to make room for land-developers, financed by lawyers, judges, and the many others partaking in this government “racket,”  to change the face of the neighborhoods with new buildings and new people of “greater worth” (as if some people are worth more than others). And who heads Detroit’s Demolition Task Force–none other than multi-billionaire racketeer Dan Gilbert, owner of Quicken Loans, currently being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice for predatory lending which led to many of these foreclosures. Quicken Loans ranks fifth in numbers of Detroit mortgage foreclosures. 

Wordfence reports allegations that Russia hijacked U.S. elections are false.

“Our research indicates that the DHS/FBI report actually does not contain any data attributing the attack to Russia.” 

Wordfence says IP addresses included in “Grizzly Steppe” report originated from 61 countries and 389 different organizations with no clear attribution to Russia 

Mark Maunder, CEO of Wordfence

by Mark Maunder   

(VOD note: Voice of Detroit proudly uses the non-partisan Wordfence, a firm associated with Word Press, to guard against hacking. We received this enlightening article in an email from Wordfence.) 

Election Hack Report FAQ: What You Need to Know

On Friday we published an analysis of the FBI and DHS Grizzly Steppe report. The report was widely seen as proof that Russian intelligence operatives hacked the US 2016 election. We showed that the PHP malware in the report is old, freely available from a Ukrainian hacker group and is an administrative tool for hackers.

We also performed an analysis on the IP addresses included in the report and showed that they originate from 61 countries and 389 different organizations with no clear attribution to Russia.

Our report has received wide coverage. Since then I have been interviewed on international network news and by online publications to share our findings. I’d like to provide some clarity both on the FBI/DHS report itself and our findings in the form of an FAQ.

Our business is WordPress security and our customers use WordPress and the Wordfence firewall and malware scanner. Some of this report will be talking directly to our customers, and some of it will be helpful for those interested in security in general and global events.

Table of Contents:

I’m a Wordfence customer who uses WordPress. What do I need to know?

Wordfence detects the PHP malware that is in the report. It also blocks it from being uploaded to a WordPress website. Even before the FBI/DHS released this report, we were blocking this malware.

That is how we found the original source code: By capturing a sample when a hacker tried to upload it to a customer website. The upload occurred before the FBI/DHS report came out. We tracked and logged over 130 unique attempts to upload the specific malware sample the FBI/DHS provided.

The samples the FBI released are old and limited. Wordfence detects thousands of malware varieties that are actively used to attack WordPress websites. We also track a much larger set of IP addresses.

The bottom line is that if you use Wordfence, you are safe from anything in the DHS report that affects your website, and much more.

Does the report prove that Russia Hacked the 2016 US Election?

No it does not. What Wordfence revealed on Friday is that the PHP malware sample that the US government provided is:

• An old version of malware. The sample was version 3.1.0 and the current version is 3.1.7 with 4.1.1 beta also available.
• Freely available to anyone who wants it.
• The authors claim they are Ukrainian, not Russian.

The malware is an administrative tool used by hackers to upload files, view files on a hacked website, download database contents and so on. It is used as one step in a series of steps that would occur during an attack.

Wordfence also analyzed the IP addresses available and demonstrated that they are in 61 countries, belong to over 380 organizations and many of those organizations are well known website hosting providers from where many attacks originate. There is nothing in the IP data that points to Russia specifically.

If I find something in the DHS/FBI report on my website or network, does it mean that Russia hacked me?

No it does not.

This has caused serious confusion already among press and US policy makers. A Vermont electrical utility found a sample of what is in the DHS/FBI Grizzly Steppe report on a single laptop. That laptop was not connected to the Electric Grid network. It was reported as Russia hacking the US electrical grid.

Glenn Greenwald is at right.

Glenn Greenwald has provided some magnificent reporting on this incident and the response from the media and from US senators.

The data in the DHS/FBI Grizzly Steppe report contains “indicators of compromise” (IOCs) which you can think of as footprints that hackers left behind. The IOC’s in the report are tools that are freely available and IP addresses that are used by hackers around the world. There is very little Russia-specific data in the Grizzly Steppe report.

If you find an IOC that is in the report on your network or server, it is unlikely that you have been targeted by Russian Intelligence.

The PHP malware the report provided, for example, is freely available for anyone who wants it. You can even customize it to include your own password to limit access to others. Please see our original report for details. Any attacker can use it to hack your website, not just Russian Intelligence.

Pres. Barack Obama, Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin

The DHS/FBI report also included IP addresses. The owners of IP addresses change from time to time. An IP that was being used by Russian Intelligence today to hack a target may be used by another attacker to hack a different target a few days later. This can happen for several reasons:

A hacked IP can be used by one attacker and then be compromised by a different attacker later on to also launch attacks.

IP addresses change ownership from time to time. A Linode IP may be hacked by Russia and used to launch attacks. Then it may be shut down by Linode, change ownership and the new owner’s site can get hacked. Then that IP address is attacking once again, but the attacker is someone else.

IP addresses are also dynamic if they belong to an internet service provider (ISP). Some of the IP’s in the Grizzly Steppe report do belong to ISP’s. For example we can see IP’s belonging to Yota.ru, a Russian internet service provider. The hostnames are ‘wimax-client.yota.ru’ which suggests that they are wifi customers. These IP’s are probably dynamic and regularly change hands. They may be used by one attacker today and a different attacker tomorrow.

How did Wordfence determine the malware source, the authors and the version?

Robert McMahon of Wordfence

We received the DHS/FBI report on Thursday. Rob McMahon, one of my colleagues and a security analyst at Wordfence alerted me to its existence at 8pm pacific time on Thursday December 29th. We worked through the night until 7am the next morning when we released the report. Here is what we did:

We read the report and noticed there was a Yara signature for PHP malware. That means that FBI and DHS provided just enough information to identify the existence of PHP malware. It didn’t actually provide the malware itself.

We went into Polestar which is a Wordfence proprietary big-data platform that we have developed to aggregate and mine a large number of attacks from a range of sources. We used the Yara signature to try to determine if anyone has attacked a WordPress site using this malware. At this point we didn’t know what it was or if it was even used against WordPress.

Jackpot! We had captured the entire 20k malware sample!

We extracted the malware sample from Polestar and I handed it to Rob who started analysis on the sample. We divided the work and I went off and analyzed the IP addresses that DHS/FBI had provided in Grizzly Steppe.

Rob realized that most of the malware is encrypted. The way it works is that a hacker will upload it to a website. They access the malware as a web page and are prompted for a password by a small amount of unencrypted code in the malware. They enter the password which is actually a decryption key.

Many Ukrainians are hostile to Russia because Crimea voted to split from the Ukraine and become part of Russia again.

That decryption key is stored in a cookie so the hacker doesn’t have to keep entering it. The key then decrypts the malware code which is executed. Then every time the hacker accesses the malware in future, the key stored in a cookie decrypts the malware so that it can execute. It’s quite clever and makes our jobs harder.

We needed to find the decryption key for the malware. So we went back to Polestar and tried to find an attack that was blocked and logged where the attacker was trying to access the malware they had uploaded.

Jackpot again! We found the key. Rob used the key to decrypt the malware and view the source code. Once he could see the source code, he could see the name of the malware and the version and a few Google searches revealed the source website that it came from.

The rest was much easier. We could now take the malware sample and put it on a sandboxed research environment and actually run it and see what it did. We could also download the newer version of the malware, called ‘P.A.S.’, and execute that to see what it does and how it differs.

This is how we determined that the FBI/DHS report contains an old malware sample that is publicly available and the hacker group that distributes it appears to be Ukrainian. Continue reading →

Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations mobilizes mass march independent of ruling class parties

Calls for solidarity among the oppressed

March info at http://blackisbackcoalition.org/ 

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by executive editor Glen Ford

December 20, 2016

Black folks who should be shouting defiance to racists from both parties will instead hurl insults at Vladimir Putin and join hands with the CIA and war profiteers next month, in Washington. However, there will be another presence in DC. The Black is Back Coalition “will declare to the world its intention to fight for Black self-determination in every aspect of life, ‘despite the rise of Donald Trump and his version of white nationalism.’”

 “The Black servants of the Democratic Party have made a pact with that section of the U.S. ruling class that has rallied around Hillary Clinton.”

The Police State of America

If the U.S. ruling class and the spies and national security goons that serve them wanted to divert attention from the crimes and crises of capitalism, they have temporarily succeeded. In this insane post-election season, all the corporate media talk about is the outrageous fiction that Russia is the greatest threat to American domestic peace and tranquility. Jim Crow stole the election, as usual, but the corporate media and Hillary Clinton’s minions blame it on the Russians.

Tens of thousands of people will descend on Washington to denounce Donald Trump’s inauguration — which, given his horrific appointments and domestic policies, would be the righteous thing to do. If Clinton had won, she too should have been confronted with vast crowds of demonstrators determined to bring her “to heel” for crimes of mass Black incarceration and a whole list of other offenses against humanity.

But it is already clear that the useless and self-serving Black Misleadership Class, who work for the Democratic Party rather than for their Black constituents, will be making common cause with the CIA and the war profiteers, shouting their worthless heads off about Vladimir Putin who — to paraphrase Muhammad Ali — never called anybody the N-word, that we know of, or kicked millions of poor women and children off welfare, or imposed a reign of terror in Black communities. That was the Clintons, remember?

“Black people are their own liberators.”

Anti-Donald Trump protest is held at Trump Tower on 5th Avenue in New York, Dec 20, 2015

The Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations will also be in Washington around the time of the inauguration — on January 14, the day before Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday. But, the coalition will not join hands with Hillary’s friends on Wall Street and the Pentagon. Instead, Black Is Back will declare to the world its intention to fight for Black self-determination in every aspect of life, “despite the rise of Donald Trump and his version of white nationalism.”

The Black is Back Coalition is telling the incoming administration that Black people are their own liberators. And, that is a very different kind of message than you’ll be hearing from the Black servants of the Democratic Party, who have made a pact with that section of the U.S. ruling class that has rallied around Hillary Clinton, a raving, maniacal war criminal who is culpable in the death of millions.

The Black Misleadership Class can imagine no other way to function except to become junior partners with one powerful group of oppressors or the other. Independent Black politics is alien to them, because they see no money in it — no profit in the liberation of other Black people. And so, they methodically sacrifice Black folks’ interests, and the hopes and dreams of all oppressed peoples, in return for some squatting room at the feet of the enemy.

Video below: Published on Apr 22, 2015

The Black Misleaders have no shame, and no demands either, except that they get paid. The Black is Back Coalition, on the other hand, has put forward a 19 point agenda to guide the fight for Black self-determination, a human right of all peoples and the basis of solidarity among the oppressed — points that will be thoroughly discussed on January 14^th at Freedom Plaza, at 14^thStreet and Pennsylvania Avenue, in Washington, DC.

The struggle is not about choosing between Trump and Clinton; it’s about Black self-determination and bringing down this evil system.

For Black Agenda Radio, I’m Glen Ford. On the web, go to http:// www.BlackAgendaReport.com. 

BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.

National Black Political Agenda for Self-determination

Continue reading →

Dorothy Loretta Ellis Bukowski, at home during my last visit with her there in November.

MEMORIAL

BY DIANE BUKOWSKI

December 25, 2016

Visitation

Mon.Dec. 26, 2-8 pm    Sawyer-Fuller Funeral Home 2125 12 Mile w. of Woodward Berkley, MI

Funeral:

Tues. Dec. 27, Family Hour 9:30 AM Mass 10 AM      Church of the Transfiguration 25225 Code Rd. (w. of Lahser at Ten Mile) Southfield, MI

SOUTHFIELD—Dorothy Loretta Ellis Bukowski, 94, mother of this paper’s editor and her six siblings, died December 22, 2016 in hospice, succumbing to complications from surgery performed at Southfield’s Providence Hospital earlier in November. Mrs. Bukowski and her late husband of 60 years, Robert Bukowski, also had ten grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

I am the oldest of Robert and Dorothy Bukowski’s seven children, all born and raised in Detroit after our parents’ marriage on Oct. 18, 1947. One sibling, Paul Bernard Bukowski, passed away Oct. 29, 1972 in a car accident.

This is a personal eulogy to my dear Mother, who along with my father was always there for everyone in their extended family, and loved each one of us equally despite differences that developed as we grew older. They taught us to love others as well, instilling no racial bias into our upbringing.

I left my family home near 7 Mile and Greenfield at the age of 18, moving deeper into the city. My parents were the last white family to remain in our immediate Detroit neighborhood, despite the racist real-estate blockbusters who descended on the area after the 1967 rebellion. They finally moved to another Black-majority city, Southfield, in the 1980’s, only after their new neighbors encouraged them to do so because of rising problems with drug dealing in their neighborhood. They always maintained fond ties with their neighbors in both communities.

Dorothy Ellis on graduation from the University of Detroit, 1943

My mother was born in New York City, N.Y. on Feb. 5, 1922. She was raised there with her dear sisters Gloria and Ardith until her own mother, Dorothy (nee Grotz) Ellis, passed in 1931. For several years afterwards, she was raised by her maternal grandmother and relatives and always had fond memories of that time in her life. When her father, Arthur Ellis, remarried, the family moved first to Chicago and then here to Detroit.

My mother attended the all-female Rosary College outside Chicago, and then graduated from the University of Detroit in 1943, one of only a few women among hundreds of men attending the school at that time.

She worked for a time as a kindergarten teacher, during which time she told me she learned never to raise her voice with the children, a lesson that carried over into our own upbringing. She also worked at Henry Ford’s main plant for a time during the war doing clerical work. She made lifelong women friends during her time at those schools and jobs. I was always astonished at the number of birthday cards she got every year from across the country.

Dorothy Ellis married my father Robert Bukowski, a native of Bay City, Michigan, on Oct. 18, 1947. They lived for a short while in an apartment building on Lothrop in Detroit, near West Grand Blvd. and Second. That was my first home. When my mother became pregnant with my brother Michael, they moved to a small bungalow at 19189 Murray Hill, where they raised the rest of us—Mark, Paul, John, Eileen and Jean.

Father Robert and mother Dorothy Bukowski with Diane Bukowski in her office at Detroit Human Rights Department, late 1990’s.

I will never know how my mother did it, cooped up in that little house with seven children. She told me the fifties were a blur to her. The family had no car for several years. My father traveled to his job by streetcar and bus and took us grocery-shopping in a little red wagon. After he finally bought a car, he used it to work at the small tax and accounting firm he established in 1959, the Bob Bukowski Tax Service, at 7 Mile and Conant. He worked very hard to support all of us, coming home during tax season to fall asleep on the couch. My brother John and sister Eileen later went to work with him, and carried the business on after he retired.

My mother did not learn to drive until many decades later, but when she did, it was like letting a bird out of its cage. I was highly distressed when she gave up driving at the age of 92, knowing how much it had meant to her.

My family belonged to Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish during its time in Detroit. I was astonished to discover in 1983, when our union local AFSCME 457 participated in a march commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1963 March on Washington, that famed civil rights hero and martyr Viola Liuzzo also belonged to our parish. I met Mrs. Liuzzo’s children on that march. I discovered Dr. King, union leaders Walter Reuther and Jimmy Hoffa, and numerous other nationally known icons attended her funeral held in our small church, which had been converted from the grade school’s gymnasium.

My Aunt and Godmother Gloria Shuster, Cousin Tim Shuster, and Mother during one of her many visits to see her sister in Florida.

Viola Liuzzo’s spirit must have lived on in my parents, both of whom supported me in my lifetime of political work. My father brought my sister Eileen to see me speak at an anti-war rally in Kennedy Square in the early ‘70’s. He always told people he was proud that I was a “fighter.” My parents had a subscription to the Michigan Citizen during the time I reported for it from 2000 to 2010. They shared the paper with their next-door neighbor and close friend Roy McAlister, Sr. after finishing it.

When I was falsely arrested for covering a fatal state trooper chase on E. Davison in 2008, my mother and some siblings came to support me during my sentencing hearing. My mother’s hearing was failing at the time, and she did not hear Judge Michael Hathaway say at the beginning that he was not going to give me prison time, so she sat through the sentencing in agonized suspense until he gave me probation and community service. But she did hear the many supporters who had come for the hearing tell her what a wonderful daughter she had.

My Aunt Gloria, Uncle Don and my favorite cousin Tim Shuster also supported me during that trial. They sent supportive emails to me throughout the trial. Every time my Aunt Gloria, who is my godmother, sends me a card, she always tells me to keep on with my work fighting for the people.

Mother and my dear friend Cornell Squires during visit to the graves of my father and brother earlier this year, after having lunch. Cornell prayed over my Mother at the hospital in November, a week before he passed unexpectedly of a heart attack on Nov. 19, 2016.

As my siblings grew older, they had their own children of course. My mother and dad were always there to help take care of their grandchildren, especially when my sisters’ initial marriages ended in divorce and they needed the help. Every holiday season, we were all welcomed into their Southfield home. My mother cooked wonderful holiday meals for all of us, assisted by my sisters and sisters-in-law (I never did learn to cook—I think my mother didn’t want me to be a housewife.)

After my Dad passed in 2008, and my mother later gave up driving, my siblings John, Eileen and Jean visited overnight, did housework, cooking, shopping and other chores for my mother. We all took her on various excursions during that time. My last outing with my mother was our visit to the DIA this year to see its “Dance Art” exhibit, and then go to lunch at . Many times, my mother did not feel well enough to go out, however, so then I would visit with her at home, bringing us a Jet’s vegetarian pizza for dinner, flowers, and mystery books I had taken to reading at night to relieve the stress of reporting on Detroit’s distressing circumstances in the Voice of Detroit.

My last memory of my dear Mother a week before she went to Providence Hospital is of her standing in the doorway of our home, waving good-bye and telling me to drive safely, as she always did. I took the photo at the top of this memorial of her at that time, comfortable and happy in her home. She told me to be sure to send it to her dear sister Gloria, her closest friend and confidante for 92 years.

Further details at 

http://v3.fserv.net/bin/get/obit.php?fid=4447

Mother at DIA “DANCE” art exhibit June 12, 2016

Facebook Event at https://www.facebook.com/events/179305295867095/