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

Brown’s cousin Ty Pruitt interviewed on CNN in video above

The usual M.O. in the Police States of America: blame the victims

 Aiyana Jones’ family was similarly tortured and punished in Detroit 

Holiday appeal for funds for her family

St. Louis police target youth who participated in rebellion as well; refuse to charge killer of Vonderrit Myers, Jr.

Robert Williams, author of “Negroes with Guns”

_________________

“I made a statement that if the law, if the United States Constitution cannot be enforced in this social jungle called Dixie, it is time that Negroes must defend themselves even if it is necessary to resort to violence.

That there is no law here, there is no need to take the white attackers to the courts because they will go free and that the federal government is not coming to the aid of people who are oppressed, and it is time for Negro men to stand up and be men and if it is necessary for us to die we must be willing to die. If it is necessary for us to kill we must be willing to kill.” – Freedom fighter Robert Williams, author of “Negroes with Guns”

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/negroeswithguns/rob.html

By Diane Bukowski 

Andrew Brady, Korey Haulcy, Cedric James: more Black youth targeted by St. Louis Police– IT IS RIGHT TO REBEL!

Update: In the wake of the outrageous grand jury decisions in the murders of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, St. Louis-area police are pursuing charges not only against Brown’s family members, but against dozens who participated in rebellions against his murder and the grand jury decision.

Nicholas Green, beaten up during arrest, charged with interfering with police radio transmission.

See links below this article. They include three young men charged with throwing items at police (photo above) another man charged with interfering with police radio dispatches, (at left) who was beaten up during his arrest, and at least 24 others.

Two possible witnesses in the grand jury case, Shawn Gray and De’Andre Joshua, have been found dead in suspicious circumstances as well. The St. Louis Police Department has also refused to bring charges against the officer who killed Vonderrit Myers, 18.

Commentary 

December 3, 2014

Michael Brown, 18

Aiyana Jones, 7

DETROIT – Now the torture begins again for the family of Michael Brown.

On May 16, 2010, a Detroit police SWAT team raided the home of Aiyana Jones, 7. Officer Joseph Weekley, Jr. instantly blasted her in the head with an MP5 submachine gun as she lay sleeping on her family’s couch. Her brains and blood flew out across the couch and floor.

The first question a mainstream reporter asked at a press conference several days later was, “Didn’t Charles Jones [Aiyana’s father] give the gun to Chauncey Owens?” She referred to the killing of JeRean Blake, 17, on May 14, 2014. It was information that could only have been leaked by police. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy did not charge the child’s father with first-degree murder until 17 months later.

Killer cop Weekley freed; Aiyana’s father imprisoned

Killer cop Joseph Weekley — DETROIT

Killer cop Darren Wilson–FERGUSON

Weekley is now free as a bird, after two mistrials, never having spent a day in jail. But forensics experts testified at his trial that his gun could not have gone off accidentally. The medical examiner said it is possible that the gun was placed directly against Aiyana’s head. Other officers said the gunshot rang out only seconds after entry, and that they are thoroughly trained not to put their finger on the trigger unless they plan to shoot.

Aiyana with father Charles Jones before her murder.

Charles Jones is serving 40-60 years in prison on trumped-on charges in the Blake case, brought to justify the police raid on his mother’s flat, an address not named in the original search warrant. A police video at his trial showed Owens naming another man, not Charles, as the provider of the gun. No witnesses except two jailhouse snitches testified that Jones gave Owens the gun. No eyewitnesses saw such an act.

Meanwhile, the Detroit police continue to harass other members of this very large extended and impoverished family, still suffering from the unimaginable and ongoing horror that began four and a half years ago, as the holidays approach. Charles Jones is not there to help care for his six other children, two of whom were in the house along with him and their mother Dominika Jones, when Aiyana was killed.

Below: video of Mertilla Jones’ courtroom testimony on witnessing killing of her granddaughter Aiyana Jones

History repeats itself for Michael Brown’s family

On Aug. 9, 2014, Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson chased and shot Michael Brown, 18 and unarmed, at least six to eight times as he held up his hands in surrender. So said eyewitnesses closest to the scene, including one young woman only feet away from the police, and two white construction workers, one of whom imitated what Brown had done, holding his hands up in the air as police swarmed the area.

Michael Brown’s body lay in the street for over four hours in the hot sun as his blood and brains poured out of his head and his family begged police to cover him.

Below: video of account from Dorian Johnson, who was walking with Michael Brown when he was killed.

On Nov. 24, 2014, a grand jury which inappropriately heard four and a half hours of unbridled testimony from Wilson, refused to indict the killer cop. During his testimony, Wilson referred to Brown as “it,” a “demon” and “Hulk Hogan.”

St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch was in charge of presenting the case. In an on-line commentary, an attorney noted “the ‘prosecutor’ presented the case as if he were REPRESENTING THE DEFENDANT. . .Why did the prosecutor do this? …because he is a police force advocate. There’s a long history on this. His dad was a police officer killed by a black suspect; his brother, nephew, and cousin are also officers; his mother worked for the force for 20 years. (Click on The unethical use of a grand jury to defend defendant Darren Wilson  for full remarks.)

As crowds of youth massed in the streets outside Ferguson police headquarters, the news hit like the stun grenade police threw into Aiyana Jones’ home. Eventually a large part of Ferguson’s commercial section was burnt to the ground.

Michael Brown’s mother Lesley McSpadden, back from testifying before the United Nations, stood on a car in those streets, shouting out her sorrow and despair, then broke down weeping uncontrollably.  Her husband, Michael’s stepfather Louis Head, jumped up to hold her tightly in his arms. His shirt read on the back, “I am Mike Brown,” with a picture of Brown in his high school graduation gown on the front.

Astonishingly, even commentator Nancy Grace, known as a conservative defender of cops, blasted Darren Wilson and the grand jury decision on national TV.

“Burn this b—- down”

As someone in the crowd shouted, “Fuck the police,” he turned around and cried out in grief and anger, “Burn this  bitch down.”

Like pit bulls trained to kill, Missouri government officials and police now are after Louis Head for allegedly inciting a riot.  It’s not enough that Wilson, like Weekley, is free as a bird, after committing outright murder. They want MORE  blood, not just Michael’s.

Vonderrit Myers, 18, with mother

Kaijeme Powell

Police have launched an investigation of Head, speaking first to other individuals before talking to him. Missouri’s Lieutenant Governor has called for him to be charged. Head and his wife have been placed in the outrageous position of having to DEFEND his words and will likely face other investigations, as happened with Aiyana Jones’ family.

The mainstream media piously declares that Head’s remarks, and Ty Pruitt calling Wilson a murderer, were inappropriate and slanderous. During Weekley’s trial earlier this year, Detroit News reporter George Hunter tweeted piously that this reporter’s depiction of Weekley as a “killer cop” was unjust.

Some of the 89 people killed by Chicago police in last five years; over 300 were shot.

Never mind that Missouri police killed two other Black youth only weeks after Mike Brown was gunned down like an animal. Never mind that the United Nations Committee on Torture condemned the U.S. as a whole for hundreds of incidents of police killings and brutality committed against Blacks in particular, on Nov. 20, just before the grand jury verdict was handed down. Eighty-nine Blacks killed in Chicago alone over the last five years, and 300 shot.

THIS IS WAR. What are Blacks and other people of this country supposed to do to defend themselves? The people of Ferguson have been accused of “burning down their own community.” They didn’t burn their homes; they burned stores run by people of other ethnicities. In two cases, phone calls to the police by store clerks for petty incidents may have precipitated the police MURDERS of Mike Brown and Kaijeme Powell.

Detroit protesters block I-75 freeway at Gratiot Nov. 25 after grand jury verdict.

Detroit protest against Michael Brown grand jury verdict Nov. 25, 204

YES THEY WERE MURDERS, AND YES, BLACK PEOPLE IN THE POLICE STATES OF AMERICA HAVE THE HUMAN RIGHT TO DEFEND THEMSELVES AND FIGHT BACK!

Fortunately, a multinational movement comprised of both Black and white youth has developed out of Michael Brown’s racist murder, with thousands of demonstrators occupying freeways and shopping malls across the U.S. since the grand jury verdict. May this movement develop until it reaches the scale of the civil rights and Black Power movements of the 1960’s, and go beyond them until this entire system is burnt to the ground and replaced with one devoted to the people, not police, and not profit.

“We Will Not Be Satisfied Until Justice Rolls Down Like Water and Righteousness Like a Mighty Stream” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Related:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/two-dozen-charged-with-looting-other-crimes-in-ferguson-area/article_a3ebef9e-8062-5913-a47f-16d6de8009b9.html

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/three-men-charged-with-throwing-bricks-tire-iron-at-cops/article_cc3d4ad2-7139-587e-b25e-89421c45bb6d.html

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/ferguson-protester-used-police-radios-to-interfere-with-cops-charges/article_4f8eccb6-5be0-5f46-8529-38828d962cff.html

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/st-louis-police-seek-no-charges-in-officer-s-killing/article_613ee14a-5c6f-50a9-9566-009df039d49e.html

http://www.kmov.com/news/editors-pick/ATF-offers-reward-for-information-on-fires-started-in-Ferguson–284909361.html#ixzz3L8ePcYM4

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/missouri-highway-patrol-sued-over-drowning-of-handcuffed-man-at/article_06ec9daf-a73b-5c36-857d-2ab03581626e.html 

*******************************************************************

Charles Jones and other members of his family before Aiyana’s funeral.

VOD APPEAL FOR HOLIDAY FUNDS FOR AIYANA JONES’ FAMILY:  Aiyana Jones’ extended family, including numerous young children whose parents have had difficulty finding employment, has nothing for the holidays. VOD is appealing to the community not to forget them. Checks and money orders should be made out to “Mertilla Jones” (Aiyana’s grandmother), and sent c/o Voice of Detroit, P.O. Box 32684, Detroit 48232.  

(The family’s civil lawsuit has not been heard during the pendency of the Detroit bankruptcy. Lawyers representing the family will likely have a difficult time if trial does begin, due to the unjust conviction of Aiyana’s dad, who along with Dominika Jones, represents her estate. Any  trial will likely take years.)

******************************************************************

Rev. Edward Pinkney of BANCO speaks at Moratorium NOW! meeting in Detroit Nov. 17, 2014.

Pinkney spoke in Detroit again Nov. 17

Attorneys filing pretrial motions: “We’re going to rock their world”

Detroit strategy meeting Sat. Dec. 6 @ 1 pm Central Methodist Church

By Diane Bukowski

November 30, 2014

Berrien County Sheriff L. Paul Bailey

Berrien County Clerk Sharon Tyler

DETROIT –An announcement of Rev. Edward Pinkney’s Oct. 3 conviction by an all-white jury on five felony charges elicited wild applause and a standing ovation at a monthly Republican meeting Nov. 15 in St. Joseph, Rev. Pinkney told VOD this week.

The life-long Benton Harbor activist said an individual who attended the meeting also told him that Berrien County Clerk Sharon Tyler and Sheriff L. Paul Bailey, both instrumental in concocting phony charges of “forgery under the Michigan election law” against him, were part of the merriment.

“There’s a lynch mob mentality there,” he said. “But we’re going to rock their world; I’m expecting fireworks there by the time of my sentencing Dec. 15.”

Marian Kramer of MWRO (center), flanked by Dave Sole of Moratorium NOW! and Rev. Pinkney. announces Dec. 6 strategy meeting in Detroit.

He said his appeals attorneys are moving forward with motions to overturn the verdict. There was no evidence brought forward at trial to convict him of altering dates on petitions to recall Benton Harbor Mayor James Hightower, as even a Michigan State Police Forensics Technician admitted. Subsequent investigation has shown that many jurors did not disclose their ties with opposing parties in the case. Additionally, the Court of Appeals ruled Oct. 23 that violations of election law are misdemeanors, not felonies.

Earlier, Pinkney spoke in Detroit at Moratorium NOW’s weekly meeting Nov. 17, where Michigan Welfare Rights Organization (MWRO) leader Marian Kramer announced that a strategy meeting on Pinkney’s case will be held this coming Sat. Dec. 6 at 1 p.m. at Central Methodist Church, located at Woodward and Adams.

Marcina Cole said another busload is being organized to attend the Pinkney’s sentencing in St. Joseph Dec. 15. Over $700 was raised at the meeting for his defense.

Benton Harbor rebellion against police murders, including that of Terrance Shurn, in 2003.

“Our fight against racism is spreading from Benton Harbor to Ferguson to Detroit to New York City and all over the country and the world,” Pinkney said. “While the federal government is giving billions of dollars to our cities for military armaments to help police kill our kids, in Benton Harbor they found me guilty with no evidence because I organized a petition campaign to recall our mayor.”

Berrien County and Benton Harbor police carried out a mini-version of the police state that exploded after Ferguson, MO killer cop Darren Wilson shot 18-year-old Michael Brown to death Aug. 9, as he raised his hands in surrender.

In addition to the SWAT team with tanks that raided Pinkney’s home May 24 attempt to arrest him, police from numerous districts were all over Benton Harbor knocking on doors to terrorize its 90 percent Black population, he said.

Ferguson protesters take the streets Aug. 19, 2014 against police murder of Michael Brown.

“But the people of Benton Harbor are not intimidated,” Pinkney said. “They are organized to struggle. I’m proud to say I’m able to make them call martial law. At my trial, we turned their prosecution witnesses into our witnesses. They described how police came to their homes, kicked in their front and back doors, and tried to get them to lie. The prosecution tried to get over 30 people to say they didn’t sign the recall petitions on the date listed, but everyone said they signed them on that date. One lady said she signed the wrong date first and then changed it, using two different color pens.”

Pinkney recounted the testimony of a Michigan State Police forensics lab technician who was asked, “Can you say Rev. Pinkney did it [changed dates on petitions]. He said NO—that was a victory for the people.”

Pinkney identified racism as the chief problem everywhere today in the U.S., a view that was recently confirmed by a report from the United Nations Committee on Torture.

Quincy Stewart, with another Pontiac resident, speaks at meeting,

“They’re still burning crosses and hanging nooses in the workplace in St. Joseph,” he said. “This fight is not about Rev. Pinkney, it is about the people. We have to take the struggle to a whole different level.”

Quincy Stewart and another man from Pontiac, Michigan told the audience the travails that residents of their city have suffered since an Emergency Manager took over as has been done only in majority-Black cities across Michigan, including Benton Harbor and Detroit.

“We’ve suffered for five years under an EM,” Stewart said. “Every single asset has been taken. They sold the Pontiac Silverdome for a measly $580,000. We are right in the middle of Oakland County, and police repression happens every day.”

Judge Sterling Schrock, who is to sentence Pinkney.

Oakland County, a majority white, is one of the wealthiest counties in the U.S. Oakland and Macomb Counties were two of only four counties, out of 83 in Michigan, that voted against a referendum to repeal the first Emergency Manager law, Public Act 4.

Pinkney asked his supporters to write letters to Berrien County Judge Sterling Schrock demanding to know how he could be convicted with no evidence. Schrock’s address is 811 Port St. St Joseph, MI 49085.

BANCO targeted Schrock in 2011 for his racially discriminatory murder sentencings of a white man to probation, and three Black youths to prison for life. Click on Sterling Schrock legacy of hatred to read story.

Rev. Pinkney’s wife Dorothy Pinkney is in front row, with grey hat, during meeting Nov. 17 in Detroit.

STATEMENT BY REV. EDWARD PINKNEY ON BANCO WEBSITE:

Gail Freehling, the racist juror from Three Oaks, Michigan

 Standing ovation for sheriff stating Pinkney’s conviction

Gail Freehling, former city clerk for New Buffalo, MI was on Pinkney jury. Sharon Tyler, the Berrien County Clerk who oversees all city clerks there, was one of chief witnesses against Rev. Pinkney.

The look in her eyes, the expression on her face – if her eyes could shoot I would be dead. How much hate can one person have in their heart? Gail Freehling is the type who would be responsible for mobbing, hanging, and shooting blacks for no reason.

Racism in the 1960’s:  it was a huge decade and a war/battle every day between Blacks and Whites. Black and Whites had different drinking fountains and wash rooms.

Whites in Mississippi would scare blacks into leaving town by putting up signs, burning crosses, burning homes, and killing all members of the family.

In Berrien County, Michigan blacks are viewed as horrible people. When whites see a black person on TV or walking around Three Oaks, St. Joseph, or Stevensville, their first thought is, “what is a black person doing in our community?”

On October 27, 2014 in Berrien County, Michigan an all-white jury was sitting in judgment of me. The jury was motivated by something other than the truth.

Marion, Indiana, Aug. 7, 1930: Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith are lynched.

I was found guilty with no evidence and no witnesses to testify against me, no confession, and a group of whites hating black people. In the Berrien County courthouse this was a modern day lynching.

The Sheriff of Berrien County, Paul Bailey, went to a Republican meeting and was given a standing ovation when he made the announcement that, “we convicted Rev. Edward Pinkney and he will be going to prison for the rest of his life” (with absolutely no evidence.)

In 1960 they wore white robes and masks to symbolize their color and to sometimes act like ghosts. Today they wear suits, ties, and black robes to symbolize their color. We  must not forget our friendly American police officers whose job is to serve and protect -and have murdered someone every single day of the year.

Mike Brown, 18, of Ferguson, MO, and his executioner KKKop Darren Wilson.

Only in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, it is open season for cops to kill unarmed black people and not go to prison.  If Whirlpool, Rep. Fred Upton, and Berrien County Court have their way, Rev. Pinkney will be going to jail for the rest of his life, convicted with no evidence.  Killer cop Darren Wilson set free with evidence in Ferguson, Mo.

We the people must stand up against racism and discrimination, we must protect the have-nots. It is not one thing, it is everything. Let us stand together and fight and win.

Rev. Edward Pinkney

bhbanco.org

blogtalkradio.com

Pinkney to Pinkney Every Sunday at 5pm ET

Burn Baby Burn

Burn all NAACP Membership Cards

Posted by: Gordon Matthews <gormatthews@gmail.com>

_____________________________________________________________

To sign up for bus to Rev. Pinkney’s sentencing in St. Joseph, Dec. 15 at 8 am, contact Marcina Cole at 248-383-3595, or Abayomi Azikiwe at 313-671-3714.

To sign petition in support of Rev. Pinkney, click on http://www.bhbanco.org/2014/09/b-n-c-o-petition-we-demand-justice-in.html?spref=tw

To donate to the campaign to free Rev. Pinkney, send funds to
Rev. Edward Pinkney (checks made out to BANCO)
1940 Union St.
Benton Harbor, MI 49022  Phone: 269-925-0001

Listen to Rev. Pinkney every Sunday 5:00 p.m. on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/rev-pinkney/2014/10/19/pinkney-to-pinkney

Related stories:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/04/26/free-rev-edward-pinkney-recall-whirlpool-stooge-benton-harbor-mayor-james-hightower/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/05/10/rev-edward-pinkney-marcus-muhammad-battle-whirlpool-for-benton-harbor-pinkney-court-hearing-may-30/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/05/27/dismiss-all-charges-against-rev-pinkney-court-fri-may-30-save-benton-harbor-boycott-whirlpool/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/06/03/rev-pinkney-in-the-mouth-of-the-beast-in-benton-harbor/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/06/07/benton-harbor-rev-pinkney-to-face-trial-on-felony-charges-july-21-despite-no-evidence/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/07/13/drop-the-charges-against-rev-edward-pinkney-of-benton-harbor-trial-set-for-july-21/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/10/29/free-rev-pinkney-frame-up-benton-harbor-trial-targets-nationally-known-freedom-fighter/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/11/05/all-white-jury-convicts-rev-pinkney-of-5-felony-counts-pros-wants-life-sentence/

Alessio Bruni (l) of Italy, Committee expert on U.S. Review, and Claudio Grossman, of Chile, Chairperson of the UN Committee against Torture, during news conference by UN Committee Against Torture.

Tribune News Service

By John Zarocostas

November 29, 2014

Protesters occupy suburban St. Louis mall on “Black Friday” to protest grand jury verdict on police murder of Michael Brown, 18, in Ferguson, MO Aug. 9, 2014.

GENEVA — A U.N. anti-torture panel that is investigating the United States said Friday it was deeply concerned by what it described as the high incidence of police brutality and shootings — especially against African-Americans — in the U.S., was troubled by what it called harsh conditions in many prisons and was worried about the interrogation methods used on detainees.

The experts on the United Nations panel called for declassifying evidence of torture by the U.S. — in particular Guantanamo Bay detainees’ accounts — and declassifying and promptly releasing, with minimal redactions, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s report about the CIA’s secret detention and interrogation program.

“We express concern at the reported current police violence in Chicago, especially against African-American and Latino young people, and deep concern at the frequent and recurrent police shootings or fatal pursuit of unarmed black individuals,” said Alessio Bruni, a member of the panel and a lead investigator in the review of U.S. compliance with the 1984 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment. The U.S. ratified the 156-member-country convention in 1994. [See report on Chicago killings at http://report.wechargegenocide.org/people.html.]

Some of the 89 people killed by Chicago police in last five years; over 300 were shot.

Bruni, an Italian, said the 10-member panel recommended “that all instances of police brutality and excessive use of force by law enforcement officers are investigated promptly, effectively and impartially by an independent mechanism with no institutional or hierarchical connection between the investigators and the alleged perpetrators.”

On Nov. 12-13, nearly 30 senior officials from the U.S. Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security, along with the attorney general of Mississippi, presented evidence and were examined by the U.N. panel. The session was part of the periodic review of U.S. compliance with the anti-torture convention. The U.S. was last reviewed in May 2006.

Michael Brown’s parents Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown, Sr. testify at UN Committee on Torture.

Civil rights activists and human rights groups also met with the panel in Geneva. Among those testifying were the parents of Michael Brown, 18, who was shot dead Aug. 9 in Ferguson., Mo., by a police officer. A grand jury chose this week not to indict the officer.

Asked about the decision not to charge the officer who shot Brown, Bruni said: “It is always a tragedy when a person is killed and especially by an official of the government. … Can’t say more because there has been a judicial decision on this point and we have to respect that decision.”

The committee also said it was concerned about what it called excessive use of force by law enforcement officials against immigrants and LGBT individuals, about racial profiling and about the growing militarization of policing activities.

“This (U.N.) report — along with the voices of Americans protesting around the country this week — is a wake-up call for police who think they can act with impunity,” said Jamil Dakwar, the director of human rights at the American Civil Liberties Union.

A pair holds a solitary confinement protest sign outside the Ronald Reagan State Building in downtown L.A. Monday, July 8, 2013, during a protest against solitary confinement in California prisons. (Michael Owen Baker/L.A. Daily News)

The panel said it was appalled at the number of reported deaths that followed the use of stun guns, and it recommended that the weapons be used “exclusively in extreme and limited situations” and be banned for use on children and pregnant women.

The U.N. panel noted its concern at what it described as the high number of deaths in custody — 958 inmates died in American jails in 2012, up nearly 8 percent from2010 — and it called on the U.S. government to investigate all deaths of detainees promptly.

The panel said the U.S. should limit solitary confinement to “a measure of last resort” and prohibit its use for juveniles, people with disabilities, and pregnant and breastfeeding women. It said it was concerned about the use of solitary confinement for indefinite periods.

Bruni said keeping people in maximum-security prisons in solitary confinement up to 22 to 23 hours a day was not acceptable.

The panel also raised concerns about the U.S. military’s interrogation methods. Bruni said, “Certain changes have to be made in certain parts of the military manual for interrogation.”

The report said the United States should abolish the “physical separation technique,” which limits detainees to at least four hours of continued sleep.

With regard to the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, the panel concluded that the United States should “cease the use of indefinite detention without charge or trial for individuals suspected of terrorism or related activities,” and it recommended that the government end the force-feeding of detainees on hunger strikes.

Inside U.S. Guantanamao Bay politicial prisoner concentration camp.

———

(Zarocostas is a McClatchy special correspondent.)

See summary of UN Committee against Torture report on United States at UN Committee on Torture Report on US 11 20 14.

Stepfather Louis Head speaks for many grassroots Black youth

Enough of officials calling for peace–where were they when Mike Brown was killed?

By Diane Bukowski

Commentary

November 25, 2014

Aiyana Jones on her mother Dominika’s Facebook page, with her father Charles Jones.

DETROIT — As did thousands across the country, I watched the St. Louis County Prosecutor announce that the grand jury in Ferguson would NOT charge Michael Brown’s killer kop Darren Wilson with ANYTHING–not even involuntary manslaughter or reckless use of a firearm, charges faced here in Detroit by killer kop Joseph Weekley, Jr. in the machine gun slaughter of Aiyana Jones, 7, in 2010.

Of course, Weekley walked anyway while Aiyana’s FATHER Charles Jones went to prison instead for 40-60 years on trumped-up charges.

I also listened to the pathetic platitudes mouthed by our President Barack Obama, and other so-called leaders across the country, including Rev. Charles Williams of the National Action Network, here in Detroit. PEACE, they said–we need PEACEFUL protests. Williams spoke at Aiyana’s funeral, but he has been nowhere to be seen since, as her family has suffered excruciating pain, poverty and media assaults through the last four and a half years.

Ferguson police car burns Nov. 24 after grand jury verdict announced.

WHERE WERE THEIR CRIES FOR “PEACE” WHEN DARREN WILSON, EXPOSED BY “ANONYMOUS” AS LIKELY TIED TO THE KKK, EMPTIED 12 BULLETS FROM HIS GUN AT AN UNARMED 18-YEAR-OLD WHO WAS ON HIS WAY TO COLLEGE?

Tamir Rice

Where were they when Cleveland police just murdered 12-year-old Tamir Rice at a recreation center PLAYGROUND as he allegedly played with a toy gun?

Where were they when Vonderrit Myers, Jr., 18 was shot to death IN THE BACK as autopsy results have shown, by St. Louis killer kops Oct. 9?

Where were they when a virtual firing squad of white Saginaw cops lined up in 2012 to surround Milton Hall, Jr., a mentally disabled man who had only a penknife, then shot him multiple times to death?

Where were they when Northland Mall security guards in Southfield, MI lay on top of 25-year-0ld McKenzie Cochran, Jr. as he cried out that he couldn’t breathe because they had cut off his windpipe, then died as dozens of shoppers watched?

Where were they when Florida cops tased 18-year-old accomplished 18-year0ld artist Israel Hernandez to death in 2012 because he was painting on a building? Where were they back in 2005 when police in California killed 5-year-old Suzie Pena?

The Michael Brown verdict has given the green light to killer kops across the country. This is nothing but outright violent, military WAR, particularly on youth of color, and it will only be stopped in the way that ANY war is stopped–by organizing and responding in kind.

Volleys of gunshots were heard during the start of last night’s rebellion in Ferguson streets. It’s not clear if they came from protesters or police. But if it was the protesters, there is no way that they can be blamed for what amounts to self defense, as famed leader Robert Williams advocated in  decades ago.

The Final Call reported that young people took the stage during Ferguson October, displacing religious leaders and other so called “civil rights” advocates.

“On stage, Tef Poe offered his street level assessment of issues and problems. So-called gang members like the GD’s and the Vice Lords are not on this stage, he noted. But it wasn’t the professional people or academics out on the streets protecting us, it was the brothers with tattoos and their shirts off, he declared. We are not professional activists or organizers but we are real people dealing with real problems, he said. “I don’t need Don Lemon to tell me what happened. I was there,” said Tef Poe, referring to the CNN newsman. Elders were challenged to listen to, respect and support this emerging crop of fearless young leaders, who have not stopped their demands for justice.”

More to come in VOD on the Ferguson grand jury verdict. I’m on my way to Detroit’s protest at 4:30 pm in Hart Plaza. Hope to see you there.

Related:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/10/02/weekley-shot-aiyana-instantly-gun-at-head-grandmother-says-weekley-grabbed-raid-sgt-s-gun-after-shooting/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/10/30/code-black-alert-vonderrit-myers-shot-in-back-slave-patrol-officials-continue-disinformation-campaign/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/10/30/aclu-testifies-at-inter-american-commission-on-police-execution-of-milton-hall-in-saginaw-mi/

And more.

Tamir Rice, 12, killed by Cleveland police at playground.

Cleveland City Councilman Zack Reed: “How did a 12-year-old go from the rec center to the morgue?”

Child had toy gun but did not point it; caller told 911 it might be fake

Police video of killing to be released at family’s demand, killer cops not identified, put on 3 days paid leave

Investigation to take three months using grand jury

November 26 2014

Tamir Rice’s father Leonard Warner comforts the child’s big sister at vigil in park where he was killed.)

CLEVELAND — Surveillance video is “very clear on what took place” at a Cleveland playground when a rookie police officer fatally shot a 12-year-old boy brandishing a fake gun, police said Monday.

Tamir Rice was shot twice in the torso Saturday afternoon and died at a hospital Sunday morning.

Deputy Chief Ed Tomba said the officer, one of two who responded to a dispatcher’s call, was less than 10 feet from Tamir under a gazebo when the confrontation took place He declined to say if the video matches the officer’s description of events, saying a full interview of the officer has not been conducted.

Neither he nor Chief Calvin Williams explained why police have not obtained a full statement from the officer.

The boy’s family declined to view the video but it was shown to family representatives, Tomba said. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said the video would be released, but did not say when.

Protesters block freeway in Cleveland Nov, 25, outraged at police murder of Tamir Rice, 12.

(Update: authorities agreed to release the video Nov. 26 after receiving a letter from the child’s parents demanding it. Click on LETTER FROM TAMIR RICE FAMILY to read it in its entirety. It says in part, “The news of Tamir’s death has devastated our family. Tamir was a bright young man who had his whole life ahead of him. This is a tragedy in our eyes. He was a loving brother. He was a grandson. He was a nephew and cousin. His favorite sport was basketball. Tamir often visited the Cudell Recreation Center to play with friends. Most of all, he enjoyed being around people. Everyone loved him.”)

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty is advocate of the death penalty. Will he advocate it for killer cops?

The identities of the officers have not been made public. They were placed on three days’ paid administrative leave, and will be on restricted duty when they return, police said.

Tomba said the investigation could take three months, after which a grand jury will hear the case to decide if charges are warranted.

Tomba said one officer fired twice after the boy pulled the fake weapon from his waistband but had not pointed it at police. The boy did not make any verbal threats, but he grabbed the replica handgun after being told to raise his hands, Tomba said.

Williams said the “airsoft“-type pellet gun lacked the orange safety tip required at the time of sale and was indistinguishable from a real semiautomatic pistol.

Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams sworn in by Mayor Frank Jackson Feb. 2014

“Guns are not toys,” he said. “We need to teach our kids that.”

“Who would’ve thought he would go so soon?” Gregory Henderson, a close friend of Tamir’s family, told WKYC-TV. “To be 12 years old, he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Police, they know what they’re doing.”

Henderson also questioned why police did not use a Taser-type weapon.

“You shot him twice, not once, and at the end of the day you all don’t shoot for the legs, you shoot for the upper body,” Henderson said to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Henderson, identified by that newspaper’s website as Tamir’s father, said Tamir was a “respectful” young man who minded his elders.

A 911 call to police in which a man says the gun was “probably fake” has added to the controversy.

Memorial for Tamir Rice at park where he was killed.

Jeff Follmer, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, said the officers were not told the caller thought the gun might be fake. He said an officer taking a Taser out when they believe there could be a person with a gun puts the officer at risk, the Plain Dealer reported.

The hacker group Anonymous claimed responsibility Monday for shutting down the City of Cleveland’s website after Rice’s shooting, WKYC said. The FBI is investigating.

Rice’s friends and family brought posters, candles and teddy bears to the scene.

Monday afternoon, a few dozen protesters rallied on the city’s Public Square, and some briefly blocked traffic. About 5 p.m., protesters gathered at the Cudell Recreation Center, where Tamir was killed.

Update: Tuesday after the news of the grand jury decision in the Michael Brown case was released, protests ramped up across Cleveland. See photos below:

Tamir Rice protesters block Public Square in downtown Cleveland.

Front shot of Tamir Rice protesters occupying downtown Cleveland freeway.

Demonstrators lie down in Public Square.

Mailauni, holding her pet dog Holly, and mother Lennette Williams relax at home Nov. 24, 2014. Holly had just barked out “I wuv you” at Mailauni’s urging,

“I’m happy now” – Mailauni

“I WUV YOU” — Holly

“Her mother is the woman she loves above all others”—Judge Keith

“When is the corruption of our probate courts going to end?”—Lennette Williams

 By Diane Bukowski

 November 23, 2014

 “I just can’t believe it’s so, and though it seems strange to say I never been laid so low, in such a mysterious way. And the course of a lifetime runs over and over again. But I would not give you false hope on this strange and mournful day. When the mother and child reunion is only a motion away, Oh, the mother and child reunion is only a moment away.”  Mother and child re-union, by Paul Simon

Mailauni in high school graduation photo and posing with rose.

DETROIT – Mailauni Williams, 33, was back home with her mother Lennette Williams Nov. 21, in time for the holidays, after being viciously kidnapped and disappeared for six months by Grosse Pointe Farms police, former visiting Probate Judge Kathryn George, who was appointed by Wayne County Probate Court Chief Judge Milton Mack,  and Mailauni’s former “guardian” Mary Rowan.

“I’m happy now,” Mailauni, who her mother calls “Pookie,” said during a visit to their home. Mother and daughter, reunited, sat together on their living room sofa with Mailauni’s dog Holly, better known as “Mutt” to Lennette, grinning from ear to ear. They were dressed comfortably for home, in matching pink and blue pajamas.

Lennette was in the process of cooking dinner for them.

Mailauni told the little dog, “I wuv you, I wuv you,” and tiny Holly responded with a loud yowl that sounded much like “I love you,” as Mailauni had trained her.

Mary Rowan, seated in blue, grabs Mailauni’s arm possessively after being appointed guardian June 13, while admonishing VOD reporter for being in courtroom. Mailauni’s sister Monique is at center. Photo by Cornell Squires

Mailauni said she misses her sister Monique and was looking forward to Monique visiting the next day to bring her bookbag. She stayed with Monique at Rowan’s  direction, without a court order, for part of the six months, unbeknownst to her mother and friends, who were frantic to know her whereabouts.

Williams had just returned from trying to get Mailauni’s Blue Cross Blue Shield reinstated. Estate trustee Walter Sakowski allowed it to lapse during the kidnapping, meaning medications she needs must be paid for out-of-pocket. At Judge George’s order, Sakowski also ceased mortgage and utility payments on their home, as well as on Lennette’s car insurance, while getting fees approved for yet another attorney on the case.

“They didn’t care if she lived or died,” Williams said. Mailauni suffers from cerebal palsy and a seizure disorder that nearly killed her previously, caused by admitted malpractice during her birth at Henry Ford Hospital. She has other permanent ailments as well.

Wayne County Probate Court Judge Terrance Keith, newly assigned to Mailauni’s case, declared during a court hearing Nov. 19 that Lennette Williams is “the woman Mailauni loves beyond all others,” and that she should immediately go back to the only home she has ever known.

VICTORY! Lennette Williams (center), with attorney Vanessa Fluker at right, supporters Arnetta Grable (l) and Min. Malik Shabazz (top) after court hearing Nov. 19, 2014

“Attorney [Allison] Folmar and I were in tears when Mailauni finally got home,” Williams said. “When is the corruption of probate courts in Wayne County and everywhere going to end? Jail the judges! They kidnapped my daughter to make me sign over the malpractice money in her case. No one should be allowed to get away with the thieving and plundering of estates they are guilty of.”

Grosse Pointe Farms police broke down the door to the Williams home May 22 with no valid court order, held her at gunpoint outside, and seized Mailauni, as she kept crying, “Is my mother going to be OK?”

During a subsequent, chaotic court “hearing” June 13, Judge George, acting erratically and with obvious malice, jailed Lennette Williams for five days for contempt of court, barred Attorney Folmar from presenting her case or cross-examining witnesses, and then threatened to jail her as well.

VOD ran a story on that hearing, including an expose of George’s well-publicized  removal as Macomb County Probate Court Chief Judge in Jan. 2008 by the Michigan Supreme Court.

Judge Kathryn George, now back in Macomb County.

The high court cited her appointment of a high number of cases to one agency, ADDMS Guardianship Services, among other factors.  After reviewing an audit of the Macomb Court, former State Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Weaver wrote, “the Report confirms not only Judge George’s apparent inappropriate involvement with ADDMS guardian services, but also her apparent failure to properly oversee numerous guardianship cases.”

Despite Mack’s appointment of this shady judge, Williams kept fighting on her own until she finally retained Folmar with the assistance of her well-known friends Arnetta Grable and Anita Peeks and Elaine Steele  from the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute. Growing up, Mailauni and her mother frequently visited the civil rights heroine, who considered her her godchild.

With the help of the VOD expose, Attorney Folmar, working with attorney Vanessa Fluker, who appeared in court Nov. 19, successfully got the Williams case re-assigned.

Judge Keith then removed Rowan from the case and temporarily assigned her to stay with her sister.

Curt Guyette said in a 2002 Metro Times story that records he reviewed showed that “Calculated over a life span of 73 years for Mailauni, the entire settlement was valued at $30.5 million, according to the settlement agreement.” Williams says the agreement  covered both mother and daughter, since she also suffered permanent physical injuries during prolonged labor.

Judge Terrance Keith with his book, “Sunrise on the Detroit River.”

At the time, doctors expected Mailauni to survive only several years. But, as Keith himself declared, it was her mother’s constant love and nurturing that brought her to adulthood, along the way earning a high school diploma. Keith has also lauded Lennette Williams’ legal skills.

Since Mailauni’s birth, Williams, a strong, feisty, articulate, well-read and legally well-versed woman, has had to battle a legion of judges and court-appointed attorneys who progressively stripped the family’s estate with outrageous fees. Also in the mix were the Grosse Pointe Farms police, who invaded her home several times, and the school district, which falsely accused her of child abuse after stripping Mailauni naked in an exam at the school. No charges were ever brought.

Judge Keith issued his ruling for Mailauni’s return Nov. 19 on the recommendation of Mailauni’s guardian ad litem John Sullivan, who toured her Grosse Pointe Farms home with attorney Folmar the night before.  Keith also terminated the guardianship in her case, restoring the central mother-daughter relationship which has never died.

Sullivan testified that even though the home’s original built-in appliances had not yet been replaced, Williams kept a well-stocked refrigerator and freezer in the home’s connected garage, and a wide array of cooking appliances sufficient to feed her family.

Frequently, Williams also caters.

Wayne Co. Probate Court Chief Judge Milton Mack, Jr. at left and Trustee Walter Sakowski at right live it up at Geoffrey Fieger’s holiday party.

The greedy nature of the probate court system came to light at the hearing after Judge Keith’s order returning Mailauni home immediately. Trustee Sakowski began quibbling about the amounts needed for replacement appliances and renovations for the 30-year-old home.

He said that even he didn’t have a $10,000 refrigerator in his home.  A friend of Lennette’s told VOD, “They want her to live like a welfare mom.” Sakowski and other attorneys involved financially in the case are white, as is Chief Judge Mack.

Attorney Fluker and Williams explained that the refrigerator, stove and cook-top were built into the home, and that quotes included the cost of stripping out the original installment, replacing power lines, and other matters. Judge Keith ordered Fluker to get two additional quotes and prepare a petition for funds release, including mortgage and other home-related payments as well as the monthly allowance Williams has received for other necessities of life.

Door to the Williams home in Grosse Pointe Farms, which police have not repaired after breaking in to seize Mailauni June 13, 2014. Photo: David Schied

Trustee Sakowski sits on the Wayne County Probate Board with Mack, who battled Williams for years over the settlement, apparently outraged that a Black woman would have the gall and intelligence to speak her mind in court. Sakowski and Mack apparently socialize together as well, as seen in a photo from a holiday party at Attorney Geoffrey Fieger’s law offices.

Williams has contended all along that she is perfectly capable of handling her own financial affairs. She says she needs no trustee, and no guardian for her own daughter. Until George’s ruling June 13, Williams was her daughter’s guardian, a victory she won. Williams keeps volumes of documents from her 30 years of battle with the courts in pristine covers, well-organized and at her fingertips and is able to argue toe-to-toe with the best legal minds.

“Mailauni is my heart, I would die for her,” she says, explaining her decades long fortitude in the battle.

Related stories:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/10/24/rosa-parks-godchild-mailauni-williams-found-judge-george-guardian-rowan-removed-from-case/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/07/21/amber-alert-rosa-parks-godchild-mailauni-williams-missing-judge-kathryn-george-loots-estate-bars-mortgage-payments-on-her-home/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/10/23/serial-kidnapper-atty-mary-rowan-takes-second-adult-ward-from-home-without-court-order/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/06/16/shady-probate-judge-kathryn-george-jails-mom-seizes-daughter-and-estate/

Ferguson demonstrators outside police station with photo of Mike Brown’s killer, cop Darren Wilson, projected on wall Oct. 22, 2014. Photo: Scott Olsen/Getty

Where Is Ferguson Jury? Who Are They? It’s All Secret, and Vote Will Stay That Way

Nine votes required to indict; jurors’ identities to remain secret

Jury meeting in secret location in Clayton, MO

By Tim Bross and Andrew Harris Nov 21, 2014 5:01 AM ET

Bloomberg

Mike Brown, 18 (l), killed by Officer Darren Wilson (r) with up to 8 gunshots, on Aug. 9, 2014.

Secrecy surrounds almost every aspect of the grand jury deciding whether a white police officer in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson should be charged with a crime for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, a Democrat, has mobilized National Guard troops to support local law enforcement agencies if there is unrest after the decision, which could come as early as today.

The panel of nine whites and three blacks has been reviewing evidence since Aug. 20, 11 days after officer Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown, 18, in a street encounter.

Some eyewitnesses said Brown was shot while raising his hands in surrender. Police said he attacked Wilson while the officer was in his patrol car. The killing touched off street protests, some of them violent in the days after the shooting. Demonstrations have reignited as the grand jury’s determination draws near.

Mike Brown’s body lying in street for four hours after he was killed, as agonized family members and neighbors watched.

The office of St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch hasn’t divulged when or where the grand jury meets or when its work will be done, offering only the estimate its decision will be made in mid- to late-November.

St. Louis County doesn’t include the city of the same name. Grand jurors have been meeting in suburban Clayton, the county seat.

Identities of the grand jurors, seven of whom are male and five female, will be kept secret. At least nine of them will have to agree to a charge to return an indictment.

Jury’s Vote

Michael Brown’s parents Leslie McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr. have testified before the United Nations.

When a decision is reached, the actual vote won’t be disclosed, only whether the jurors voted for an indictment or for what’s known as a no-true bill. State law prohibits disclosure of the vote.

Panel members are prohibited by law from disclosing anything they saw or heard in the proceeding, or expressing an opinion about them, said Paul Fox, director of judicial administration for St. Louis County.

Violating that secrecy would put a juror in contempt of court with a penalty to be determined by a judge, said Edward Magee, a spokesman for McCulloch. Magee said he’s unaware of any such prosecutions in his 19 years in the prosecutor’s office.

Ferguson cops and protesters outside police station Nov. 22, 2014.

The only significant disclosure from the current proceedings has been a description of Wilson’s four hours of testimony before the grand jury that was reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper.

St. Louis County Circuit Court Judge Carolyn Whittington overseeing grand jury, must OK verdict.

If there is an indictment, it will require the approval of Circuit Judge Carolyn Whittington, who is overseeing the grand jury operations.

The case would then go to Presiding Judge Maura McShane, who will schedule an arraignment. From there, it would be assigned randomly to a circuit judge in the court’s criminal division.

McCulloch has already decided that barring the discovery of additional relevant evidence, he will not bring charges or resubmit the case to a grand jury if Wilson isn’t indicted, Magee has said.

POLICE UNION: CHARGES UNLIKELY FOR FERGUSON COP WHO KILLED MIKE BROWN

“It’s fair to say that neither he nor his defense team expect an indictment”

(VOD: Wilson and his attorney may have violated grand jury secrecy rules by disclosing information to police union; note subsequent denial by union head that they did so.)

By David A. Lieb 

Associated Press

 November 21, 2014

(excerpt)

Jeff Roorda, Business Manager for St. Louis Police Officers Association

Jefferson City, Mo. — The suburban St. Louis police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown seems confident that he will not face criminal charges from a grand jury that has been investigating the case for several months, a police union official said Thursday.

Jeff Roorda, business manager for the St. Louis Police Officers’ Association, said he met Thursday with Ferguson officer Darren Wilson, who has remained secluded from the public eye since the Aug. 9 shooting that sparked tense and occasionally violent protests and drew national attention.

Wilson has been under a lot of pressure and stress but appeared confident in the outcome of the grand jury investigation, Roorda said.

“It’s fair to say that neither he nor his defense team expect an indictment,” Roorda said, offering his impression of the situation based on the meeting with Wilson.

Roorda later told the AP in a text message that he was only speaking for himself.

“Wilson seems confident that justice will be served, but neither he nor his attorneys shared any expectations with me,” he said in the text.

Roorda told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the AP “mistook what I said.”

Protesters demand indictment of Darren Wilson.

“At no time did I say they don’t expect an indictment or that they are confident in what the outcome of the grand jury would be; it’s just that they seemed confident in the system,” Roorda said.

One of Wilson’s attorneys, who also attended Thursday’s meeting, said there was no specific discussion of expectations.

Darren WIlson attorney Neil Bruntrager

“We have absolutely no idea — no more than anyone else — what may or may not happen,” attorney Neil Bruntrager said. “The only expectation that we would have is that the grand jury would be thorough and fair.”

“We have absolutely no idea — no more than anyone else — what may or may not happen,” attorney Neil Bruntrager said. “The only expectation that we would have is that the grand jury would be thorough and fair.”

If he is indicted, Wilson will immediately turn himself in to authorities, Bruntrager said.

Wilson has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting.

A 12-person St. Louis County grand jury has been hearing evidence in the case as it weighs whether to issue charges against the white officer for the black 18-year-old’s death. A decision could come soon, though authorities have not publicized any specific date for an announcement.

23 Jun 1963, Detroit, Michigan, USA — Martin Luther King Jr Leading March in Detroit — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS WHAT WOULD DR. KING SAY ABOUT THE RACIST WAR ON DETROIT?

Plaintiffs’ complaint was amended to exclude Detroit

Judge Steeh: “. . .a law directed at temporarily reorganizing local government for the purpose of addressing a serious fiscal concern cannot be characterized as a vestige of slavery.”

 Plaintiffs’ attorney Philo: “. . . this case has never been just about Detroit, it’s about the law as it’s applied throughout the state. Not about any particular emergency manager or city.”

 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “. . .you begin to question the capitalistic economy. You begin to ask the question, ‘Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that’s two-thirds water?’

 By Diane Bukowski

November 20, 2014

Linda WIllis and grandchild protest mass water shut-offs in Detroit Aug. 15, 2014.

“There are forty million poor people here, and one day we must ask the question, ‘Why are there forty million poor people in America?’ And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising a question about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I’m simply saying that more and more, we’ve got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. . . .And you see, my friends, when you deal with this you begin to ask the question, ‘Who owns the oil?’ You begin to ask the question, ‘Who owns the iron ore?’ You begin to ask the question, ‘Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that’s two-thirds water?’ These are words that must be said.”  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “Where do we go from here? Chaos or community?” 1967

“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Shakespeare: Henry The Sixth, Part 2 Act 4, scene 2, 71–78

DETROIT – U.S. District Court Judge George Caram Steeh on Nov. 19 at long last issued a ruling keeping alive a lawsuit against Public Act 436, brought by civil rights groups, public officials, and residents of Michigan cities under emergency managers, but later voluntarily amended to exclude the City of Detroit. (See ruling at Steeh rulgin EM lawsuit 11 19.)

U.S. District Court Judge George Caram Steeh

Steeh had promised to render a written opinion shortly after oral arguments on April 29. But he clearly waited until after U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Steven Rhodes affirmed Detroit’s bankruptcy plan Nov 7. Now that severe and possibly irreparable damage has been done to the people of the largest Black-majority city in the country, Steeh has decided it’s OK to rule.

Steeh dismissed eight of nine claims at the request of the State of Michigan. He upheld only a claim based on the Equal Protection clause of the 14^th Amendment, which cited the discriminatory use of Emergency Managers in Michigan’s majority-Black cities.

“The First Amended Complaint states that 52% of Michigan’s African American population resides in cities with an EM, a consent agreement, or a transition advisory board,” Steeh said. “At the same time, only about 2% of Michigan’s white citizens live in communities governed by an EM. . . Fiscal indicator scores between 5 and 7 place a municipality on a fiscal watch list while scores between 8 and 10 result in the community receiving consideration for review. However, six out of seven communities (85%) with a majority population of racial and ethnic minorities received EM’s when they had scores of 7. At the same time, none of the 12 communities (0%) with a majority white population received on EM despite having scores of 7 or higher.”

Plaintiffs’ Attorney Herbert Sanders

During the April 29 hearing, Attorney Herbert Sanders passionately argued that PA 436 also violated the 13^th Amendment, one of eight claims that Steeh denied. (Original lawsuit at PA 436 Phillips 2 6 13.)

“The stigma of PA 436 is that African Americans are incapable of self-government,” Sanders said. “I submit the denial of the right to vote through the exercise and implementation of PA 436 is to impose the badge and incidents of slavery.”

But Steeh opined, “. . . plaintiffs have not lost their right to vote. Not only is there no restraint on plaintiffs’ ability to vote in local elections, the power of the entire political process is open to them. . . . They can initiate new legislation through the petition process, or use the referendum procedure to reject PA 436, as was successfully done on . . . PA 4. With every device in the political arsenal remaining available to plaintiffs, a law directed at temporarily reorganizing local government for the purpose of addressing a serious fiscal concern cannot be characterized as a vestige of slavery.”

Detroit, Michigan – A monument to the underground railroad, which smuggled slaves to freedom in Canada, at the end of the line on the banks of the Detroit River looking towards Windsor, Ontario in Canada.
Photo by Jim West

Steeh wrongly stated several times that Michigan residents could reject PA 436 through a referendum. However, state statutes proclaim that the general electorate cannot rescind statutes with financial provisions in them. Such a provision was deliberately written into PA 436 to nullify the people’s right to vote on the act.

Most mainstream media coverage has echoed Crain’s Detroit’s take on the matter.

“U.S. District Judge George Steeh in a ruling today echoed U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes’ prior statement that the lawsuit against Public Act 436 of 2012 would not necessarily invalidate Detroit’s bankruptcy or debt shedding plans, and called that assertion from state officials  ‘speculative at best.’ He also notes that the lawsuit claims are not directly related to Detroit.”

Atty. John Philo on RT video interview.

John Philo, another attorney for the plaintiffs, agreed that the case is not about Detroit.

“There are a hundred variables that come into play before that stage, and that (rescinding Orr’s appointment) is not our endgame,” he told Crain’s. “Because this case has never been just about Detroit, it’s about the law as it’s applied throughout the state. Not about any particular emergency manager or city.”

U.S. President Barack Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder evidently agreed earlier, refusing to open a Voting Rights Act investigation of PA 436’s predecessor PA 4, and then sending federal witnesses to the bankruptcy trial who testified on behalf of Detroit EM Kevyn Orr. Obama staff earlier met with Detroit Emperor Dan Gilbert and his evident ally Dennis Archer to map out plans for “The Detroit District.”

Steeh continues throughout his ruling to describe PA 436 as simply “a law directed at temporarily reorganizing local government for the purpose of addressing a serious fiscal concern.”

First demonstration in Detroit calling for cancellation of city’s debt to banks May 9, 2012.

Such a simplistic description of the Act belies the truth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.s’ statement challenging the system of capitalism.

The entire administration of Gov. Rick Snyder, in collusion with the Democratic administrations of two Detroit mayors and numerous Detroit legislators, have been acting at the behest of the banks and corporations represented by the law firm of Jones Day and others. They want to make an example of Detroit, boasting that they have now stripped the country’s largest Black-majority city of nearly all its assets, and of any economic self-determination whatsoever.

The capitalist system is foundering world-wide, and it is rushing to steal everything it can from the poorest and most oppressed segments of society, before moving on to the upper echelons. The future will show the level of resistance it encounters.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Harry Belafonte: “We have fought hard and long for integration, as I believe we should have, and I know that we will win. But I’ve come to believe we’re integrating into a burning house. I’m afraid that America may be losing what moral vision she may have had. And I’m afraid that even as we integrate, we are walking into a place that does not understand that this nation needs to be deeply concerned with the plight of the poor and disenfranchised. Until we commit ourselves to ensuring that the underclass is given justice and opportunity, we will continue to perpetuate the anger and violence that tears at the soul of this nation.”

By Mariano Castillo and Dana Ford, CNN

November 18, 2014 

(CNN) — Ahead of a grand jury’s decision on whether to indict a police officer in the killing of Michael Brown, Missouri has both called in the National Guard and diminished the role of the Ferguson Police Department.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency Monday as a precaution, he said, in the event of unrest or violence.

It’s unknown when the grand jury will hand down a decision on whether to indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson for his fatal shooting of Brown, a teen. Prosecutors have suggested the grand jury would be done deliberating in mid- to late November.

At the national level, the FBI last week issued a bulletin to law enforcement urging vigilance in the days before the Ferguson grand jury decision, according to a law enforcement official.

The bulletin did not cite any specific intelligence to suggest there was any ongoing threat to officers. It was based on what had occurred during previous protests.

The bulletin expressed concern over possible violence relating to Ferguson protests and warning officers to be vigilant. In addition, it also mentioned that officers should take proper precautions and be vigilant over possible hacking of their personal information, the law enforcement official said.

Protesters in Ferguson after Michael Brown’s murder by Darren Wilson.

‘Possibility of expanded unrest’

Nixon said he signed the executive order because of the “possibility of expanded unrest.”

Nixon said people have the right to protest peacefully but that citizens and businesses must be protected from violence and damage.

Michael Brown’s killer Darren Wilson

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said the governor’s plan will bring National Guard troops to St. Louis County, where Ferguson is located, but he said their role is designed to be secondary to local law enforcement.

As Missouri prepared to deploy the troops — officials did not say how many — the role of the Ferguson Police Department in the case of unrest in that city will be reduced.

In the event of unrest in Ferguson, that city’s police will not be at the forefront of a response, Nixon said in a teleconference with reporters. The St. Louis County Police Department will lead any response, and they will be the ones coordinating with the National Guard, if needed.

The governor expects the role of Ferguson officers will be to handle routine calls not related to protests or unrest.

Brown, a black teen, was fatally shot by Wilson, a white police officer, on August 9. The grand jury is weighing whether to indict Wilson.

‘That ugliness … cannot be repeated’

Senseless act of violence and destruction: Mike Brown’s body lies in street for four hours before being removed, as his family, friends and neighbors watched in horror.

“In the days immediately following Michael Brown’s death, peaceful protests were marred by senseless acts of violence and destruction,” the governor said last week.

“That ugliness was not representative of Missouri, and it cannot be repeated,” said Nixon.

The state of emergency will expire in 30 days unless extended by another order.

Slay said the exact positions of the National Guard troops has not been decided, but he said the troops will “not be on the front lines, confronting protesters.”

National Guard in Ferguson

They will play a secondary role, he said, and will be partnered with local law enforcement anywhere they are posted.

While Slay emphasized the back-up role of the National Guard, he said he agreed with the governor’s decision to declare a state of emergency.

The troops are needed for visibility and deterrence, Slay said.

There are too many unknowns about what the grand jury decision might be and how the public may react, he said.

Slay said it makes sense to be prepared in case there is violence.

The governor said the goal is to keep citizens safe while protecting people’s right to protest.

CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz contributed to this report.