NO JUSTICE FOR YOUNG DETROIT DAD TERRANCE KELLOM; WORTHY REFUSES TO PROSECUTE KILLER COP(S) AGAIN

Posted on 08/21/2015 by Diane Bukowski

Terrance Kellom with his babies and Terranae, and other family members. Photo: Facebook Janay Williams

Terrance Kellom and his babies Terrance Desmond and Terranae Destiny Kellom, and other family members. Photo: Facebook Janay Williams

Autopsy report released after Worthy press conference, shows Kellom WAS shot in back; attorney to file civil suit

3 other entrance gunshot wounds noted by ME; no second autopsy done

No fingerprints on hammer Kellom allegedly used to pound hole in upstairs crawl space, threaten cops

Police gun(s) that fired 7 bullets not identified; invading task force included I.C.E., Wayne, Oakland County sheriffs; Livonia, Detroit PD’s

BLMDetroit calls protest for Friday, Aug. 28 @ 4 p.m., Frank Murphy Hall

“I want her to resign by Sept. 21, 2016, the 20^th anniversary of my brother Lamar’s death”—Arnetta Grable, Jr.

By Diane Bukowski

August 20, 2015, updated August 21, 2015

Kym Worthy points to diagram of body of Terrance Kellom, 19, during press conference Aug. 19 declaring no charges will be brought In his death.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy points to autopsy diagram of body of Terrance Kellom, 19, during press conference Aug. 19, declaring no charges will be brought In his death.

DETROIT – ““I knew she wasn’t going to prosecute this dude,” Arnetta Grable Jr. told VOD after Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s announcement on Aug. 19 that no charges would be brought against I.C.E. agent Mitchell Quinn in the death of Terrance Kellom, 19, on April 27.

“I knew the media was going to prosecute Terrance Kellom at the same time, like they did with my brother Lamar,” she said.

“I was at the hair salon when Kym Worthy announced her decision on the Channel 2 News,” Grable explained. “People in the shop were saying Terrance Kellom was just a bad seed, that he had warrants out. Nobody ever considered that he was not convicted, and never will be convicted because he’s dead now. Nobody ever considered that his family said he was turning his life around. She [Worthy] got up there and justified the shooting. No one considered how the hell did he get shot in the back if he was coming at the cops with a hammer.”

Grable has been active in the protest movement against Kellom’s killing by a “Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Team.

: Arnetta Grable, Jr. (r) with others at vigil for Terrance Kellom May 2, 2015.

Three-time killer cop Eugene Brown shot Grable’s brother Lamar, 20, to death in 1996. Worthy also refused to prosecute Brown, despite a multi-million jury judgment in the family’s favor, and exposure of an internal police report recommending that charges be filed against Brown for killing Grable and others. The family’s battle to clear Lamar’s name took ten years, overlapping Worthy’s tenure in office.

Kellom was shot multiple times and killed after a seven-member multi-jurisdictional Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Task Force (D-FAT) invaded his father Kevin Kellom’s home with an armed robbery arrest warrant, but no search warrant. Police identified the shooter as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) agent Mitchell Quinn, a former Detroit police officer. They said he fired because Kellom threatened him with a hammer.

Kevin Kellom holds his newborn granddaughter Terranae Destiny Kellom at rally June 18, as his grandson Terrance Desmond Kellom looks on in second pew. His son Terrance was killed before Terranaes birth. Kellom said little Terrance keeps asking where his father is.

Kevin Kellom holds his newborn granddaughter Terranae Destiny Kellom at rally June 18; his grandson Terrance Desmond Kellom is behind him.

“The police knocked on the door, I opened the door, they came in,” Terrance’s father Kevin Kellom said in part April 28. “There was no need to come in the way they did. They brought my son downstairs, they executed my son in my face. My son died with clutched fists, no hammer. My son reached for me, he got shot twice in his chest. After that, eight more shots ring out. Every time you come in contact with a young Black man, does it have to result in death?”

Worthy acted as judge and jury post-execution during the press conference Aug. 19. She declared Kellom guilty of the armed robbery cited in the warrant and other crimes without a trial. Her declaration was put into black and white in a timeline slide which said for Mar. 31, 2015, “T. Kellom robs pizza del.”

Part of timeline slide Worthy showed at press conference.

That was the arrest warrant police were executing when they also executed Kellom. They entered the home without a search warrant, which was not signed until hours after Kellom was killed.

Worthy also claimed Kevin Kellom, who said he had witnessed the first two shots before police shoved him into the dining room, lied repeatedly in his accounts. She said Kellom and five other witnesses, out of a total of 17, were subjected to interrogations through court-ordered investigative subpoenas. At these events, individuals are not allowed legal representation and are forced to give their statements under oath in a hostile atmosphere.

“As always, we let the facts in evidence and absolutely nothing else guide us,” she said. “No one person, not the news media, not letters, not protests, not petitions, not emails threatening or otherwise, not phone calls, not any member of the public, not any organization, and no threats will dictate any perceived ideas of justice.”

Numerous police cars surrounded the Kellom home at Evergreen and W. Chicago on Detroit’s west side during the press conference, according to a report from a Kellom family member. Evidently, Detroit Police Chief James Craig feared a popular uprising in reaction to the decision.

Hundreds marched down W. Chicago in Detroit from Terrance Kellom’s home April 28. Photo: Kenny Snodgrass

Hundreds had marched outside the Kellom home, taking the streets, the day after Terrance Kellom was killed, as a fiery rebellion raged on in Baltimore against the police custody death of Freddie Gray, Jr. A vigil and three other protests of Kellom’s death occurred afterwards, with one still planned for August 28.

Quinn, a U.S. Marshal, two sheriffs from Oakland and Wayne Counties, one Livonia police officer, and two Detroit police officers comprised the D-FAT team involved, Worthy said.

Terrance Kellom smiles for a friend who grieved his death on Facebook.

“Terrance Kellom was shot four times,” Worthy said, as she laughed during an aside with a Michigan State Trooper, because she at first said seven times.

“Once in the neck with a downward trajectory and no exit wound, once in the shoulder with a downward trajectory and no exit wound; once in the posterior flank with a slightly upward trajectory near an exit wound on the abdomen, and once through and through in the thigh and groin with a downward trajectory that exited out of the groin area.”

Referring to the “posterior flank” wound, she said, “The wound at the far right of his back is consistent with his body twisting slightly to the right.”

No such explanation is given in the complete Medical Examiner’s report, finally released Aug. 20, and Worthy cited no ballistics evidence to that effect. The ME’s report says simply regarding the gunshot wound to Kellom’s back:

Family attorney Karri Mitchell has contended all along that Kellom was shot at least once in the back, shedding doubt on the police contention that only ThQuinn shot Kellom as he ran towards him holding a hammer.

The downward trajectories of the wounds also do not appear to support the prosecution’s claim that Kellom was standing up as he advanced on D-FAT members. Kellom’s father said at one point that he fell to his knees after the first two shots.

Terrance Kellom autopsy diagram shows he was shot in the back as family and attorney claimed.

Worthy showed a body diagram of Kellom’s gunshot wounds from the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s (WCME) autopsy report, but did not release the entire report to the media at the time, or to his family afterwards, choosing instead to give her own interpretation of the chart.

The report was finally released the next day. In a highly unusual move, Worthy earlier ordered the autopsy report and all other evidence in the case sealed pending her decision on charging Quinn.

Worthy’s Communications Officer Maria Miller said regarding the sealed autopsy report, “We have the ability to request that the Medical Examiner not distribute the report if it will interfere with an investigation. A number of witnesses had to be questioned about the fatal shooting. In this instance it was granted [by the ME] because we were able to show that the release of the information would interfere with the investigation.”

She said she could not cite a legal explanation for this and referred that question to attorneys for the ME. In its original May 8 Freedom of Information Act request for the report, VOD cited Swickard v. Wayne County Medical Examiner, 438 Mich. 536, 475 N.W.2d 304, 19 Media L. Rep. 1833 (1991), affirming 184 Mich. App. 662, 459 N.W.2d 92, 17 Media L. Rep. (1990) (summary disposition affirmed for newspaper in FOIA action holding autopsy reports to be public records).

Kevin Kellom’s wife Yvette Johnson at protest June 8, 2015.

Worthy said occupants of the house at the time of the shooting were Terrance Kellom and his unidentified “new girlfriend,” his father Kevin Kellom with his “girlfriend” Yvette Johnson (to whom he is married), Terrance’s sister Teria and her boyfriend, and Terrance’s unidentified “new girlfriend.”

“Kevin Kellom’s girlfriend was in the upstairs bedroom partially clothed, so a female officer was called upstairs,” Worthy said.

“Two DFAT officers went upstairs, and found Terrance Kellom hiding in an attic crawl space,” she continued. “The Oakland County Sheriff looked into the crawl space, and observed him hiding by a heating duct. Terrance Kellom was ordered out, but he yelled at the officer, ‘I have a gun, shoot me bitch, kill me.’ He was observed with a hammer in his hands. He disconnected the heating duct and began to hit floor with the hammer, then crawled through the hole he made in the floor. The DFAT officer watching him radioed that he was going through the floor. The officer ran back downstairs to the southwest bedroom, where he believed he would drop down.”

Worthy said no fingerprints were identified on hammer, which she said Kellom allegedly used to smash crawl space floor, then threaten police. Circled areas show small portions of blood id'd as Kellom's.

Worthy said no fingerprints were identified on hammer, which she alleged Kellom used to smash a hole in a crawl space floor, then threaten police. Circled areas show drops of blood id’d as Kellom’s.

Despite Worthy’s description of Kellom’s repeated, forceful use of the hammer, she said Kellom’s fingerprints were NOT found on the hammer, only spots of his blood. She showed a photo of the hammer and a map describing its alleged location on the hallway floor near where Kellom fell.

This reporter earlier went to the upstairs bedroom involved with a family member. The “crawl space” is actually part of that bedroom, not an “attic.” There is no third level in the house.

A very small hole in the crawl space floor was observed, which did not appear large enough for a human being to get through. Worthy claimed it was large enough for Kellom, who was 5’9” and 145 lbs., measuring it at 20 by 11.5 inches. There was additionally no heating duct apparatus in the crawl space, although photos Worthy displayed of it showed large pieces of metal hanging out. The photos were hard to interpret and are not shown here, but in the link at bottom of story. They contain several confusing overlays.

She did not explain why the three police officers said to be in the room stood by idly while Kellom took time hammering a hole in a solid floor, instead of restraining and cuffing him.

Hole in the southwest bedroom closet ceiling can be seen above and to the right of the video arrow. Worthy alleged Kellom jumped through it from a crawl space upstairs. It is small and is directly above a very small space over a closet shelf. Kevin Kellom told Fox2, “You can see nobody could get through that hole.”

“Quinn heard him dropping to the floor [in the southwest bedroom],” Worthy continued.

“He [Kellom] came out of the bedroom with the hammer in hand. He was ordered to drop it several times. He did not, and continued to advance. Quinn fired once, and paused briefly, but Kellom continued to advance. Agent Quinn fired several rounds while backing up, and Kellom fell forward. Two DPD officers present witnessed the weapon [hammer] in his hand. The male DPD officer drew his own weapon, but did not fire any rounds.”

Worthy said a joint Detroit and Michigan State police task force investigated Kellom’s death, and her office followed up with its own investigation during the 98 days following the issuance of a warrant for Quinn. Quinn is a former Detroit police officer who compiled his own record of brutality lawsuits and a felony charge of assaulting his former wife, which was later dismissed, during his time on that force.

Map showing where fired bullets were found.

Map showing location of shell casings from fired bullets.

Worthy said the investigation also considered “dozens” of pieces of evidence, including bullet trajectory, blood spatter patterns, paint analysis, fingerprints, trace evidence of insulation fibers and drywall, serology including DNA, and blood analysis, in addition to witness interviews and the autopsy report.

Photo of hall after Kellom's killing. It is not time stamped. Black cloth and plastic wrap appear to cover most of blood at foot of stairs. It is unknown whether hammer at lower left was there when Kellom was killed, or was placed there by police afterwards, as they do with "throw-away" guns.

Photo of hall after Kellom’s killing. It is not time stamped. It is unknown whether hammer at lower left was there when Kellom was killed, or was placed there by police afterwards, like a “throw-away” gun.

She displayed a map of shell casings and bullets found. She said there were seven fired jacketed .40 caliber bullets, one in the southwest bedroom, one in the northwest bedroom, one in the hall way at the base of the steps, and one lodged in the doorjamb of the stairwell behind its molding.

Seven spent .40 caliber casings were also found, four in the north half of the living room, one in the hallway at the base of the stairs, one along the north wall of the bathroom, and one in the top shelf of the closet at the end of the hallway.

The three other bullets were found in Kellom’s body by the Medical Examiner, she said. She did not identify from whose gun(s) the bullets came.

Both maps show an extremely scattered range of found bullets and casings. A recent study showed that spent shell casings land to the right and rear of the shooter 75 percent of the time, so exactly where were the shooter(s) located? (See ShellCasingStudy.)

Worthy said fibers and drywall particles shown in the photos had adhered to Kellom’s clothes as he allegedly jumped through the hole, but that the MSP lab could not match paint chips found on Kellom’s clothing to the paint in the ceiling of the southwest downstairs bedroom.

Cornell Squires, of the Original Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, was present during the April 28 rally at the Kellom home.

Members of the Original Detroit Coalition against Police Brutality at the April 28 protest against Terrance Kellom’s killing. They are (l to r), Arnetta Grable, Jr., Butch Carrington, Arnetta Grable, Sr., Herman Vallery (father of Lamar Grable), and Cornell Squires.

“This is usual with Kym Worthy’s office—stall the case, interfere with it, block evidence, and then dismiss any charges,” he said. “Kym Worthy cannot be trusted. You have to do your own independent investigation. We tried to encourage the family to get a second autopsy report, because we knew this was going to go down. Kym Worthy is for sale when it comes to police officers. A second autopsy would have been credible evidence to prove any foul play.”

Rev. Curtis Williams of Trinity Chapel Funeral Home refused to allow second autopsy of Terrance Kellom unless family paid additional fees for funeral.

Arnetta Grable, Sr. said she had already lined up Macomb County Medical Examiner Mark Spitz to do a second autopsy at the funeral home, with repairs to the body completed in time for the funeral.

But Roosevelt “Butch” Carrington, Jr. whose own brother Rodrick Carrington was killed by Eugene Brown in 1995, said he went to the funeral home with his cousin Kevin Kellom. He said funeral home director Rev. Curtis Williams told them the funeral would cost more money if a second autopsy was done.

Worthy said during the press conference that she has prosecuted numerous cops, including one recently for lying during an investigation.

However, during her tenure, she has prosecuted only two police officers out of dozens who killed Detroiters, in cases covered by this reporter. They were Detroit cop Joseph Weekley, who killed Aiyana Jones, 7, in 2010, and Michigan State Trooper Jay Morningstar, for killing a homeless man in Greektown. The prosecution clearly threw the case against Weekley during three trials covered extensively by VOD, and a jury acquitted Morningstar.

Arnetta Grable, Jr. said new leadership is needed, reflecting the sentiments of many young people across the U.S. as they watch their counterparts slaughtered by law enforcement, up to 746 so far this year alone, according to statistics compiled by http://killedbypolice.net.

Members of Lamar Grable’s family and other victims of police officer Eugene Brown outside Frank Murphy Hall, where they met with Kym Worthy’s staff to demand charges against Brown. She refused to charge him.

“I think it starts in community, with leaders who are supposed to have our back and don’t have our back,” Grable Jr. said. “I’m tired of it. I feel that we as a people, Black and white and whatever, need to stand up and make a decision about who’s going to lead us, or decide to lead ourselves. We are running ourselves into the ground more and more, listening to ministers, civil rights leaders, and others in the community that don’t have our back. We need somebody willing to fight for us. It’s not going to be the feds, the city, the state, or any government. How did they let them run up in Terrance Kellom’s house and treat him like that? How did they let them kill a little bitty boy half their size like that? We need to rise up. We can’t sit around and do nothing.”

So-called community leaders in Detroit have repeatedly stopped or sabotaged militant protests like that in Baltimore which forced murder charges to be brought against four cops involved in the police custody death of Freddie Gray, Jr.

Hundreds who attended a vigil for Aiyana Jones the night of May 16, 2010, after Detroit police killed her that morning, began to march on the police station afterwards, but were stopped by Ron Scott, according to three individuals present at the vigil, including Kenny Snodgrass, who took the video below.

A march and rebellion at that time may have changed the tenor of events afterwards, during which the entire Jones family has faced unrelenting media attacks and watched as killer cop Weekley walked.

Two weeks later, Rev. Horace Sheffield, Sam Riddle, and several others forestalled a mini-rebellion in an east-side neighborhood near Aiyana’s after Grosse Pointe and State Police shot and wounded an unarmed young man in the neck as he exited his car after a chase.

Kym Worthy takes the oath of office as Prosecutor Jan. 6, 2004, as her adopted daughter Anastasia looks on. Worthy has refused to support state legislation barring juvenile life without parole.

Grable, Jr. called Prosecutor Worthy an “evil” person.

“She’s never really been a mother, she never cared about the lives of us in this city or this state or she would have tried to do better,” Grable, who has two children, including a son named Lamar after her brother, said. “Instead, she is doing the devil’s work. Next year will be the 20^th anniversary of Lamar’s death, on Sept. 21, 2016. By that date, I want her to resign. We’re going to find everything we can find on her, so that she won’t show her face in Detroit again.”

FACEBOOK EVENT TO PROTEST EXONERATION OF POLICE IN TERRANCE KELLOM’S DEATH

Hosted by #BLMDetroit

https://www.facebook.com/search/str/August%2028%20Terrance%20Kellom/keywords_top

WE’VE HEARD FROM KYM WORTHY; NOW KYM WORTHY HEARS FROM US!

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2015 @ 4 pm

Protest at Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, Gratiot at St. Antoine

Over? This ain’t over by a damned sight! Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy did a great job acting as defense attorney for ICE agent, Mitchell Quinn by dehumanizing the victim, Terrance Kellom and slandering his family. Unfortunately, that’s not her job. As prosecutor, Kym Worthy’s job is to protect us from killers. Sometimes those killers happen to be cops.

Marchers protesting Terrance Kellom’s death on April 28 also remembered Aiyana Stanley Jones.

You can’t convict killers by taking everything they say at face value and looking for evidence to support their claims. Worthy has held all the cards for 4 months. Now we’ll have some time to look at her hand and point out discrepancies in the police account the way she was able to find fault with the account of a traumatized man who’d just seen his son die before his eyes.

If only this were an isolated case. Sadly, it is not. As with the cases of RIP Aiyana Mo’Nay Stanley-Jones. and RIP Adaisha Miller, Worthy did everything in her power to shield the police from accountability for the death of Terrance. Stand with us Friday as we assemble in the plaza outside the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice at 4pm. We’ll begin to delve into the evidence against Mitchell Quinn with a critical eye and let Kym Worthy know what we think of her performance.

Terrance Kellom Autopsy Report:

kellum-autopsy

Related documents from Worthy press conference:

Worthy 20150819-Kellom-NOTES

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/05/03/hundreds-comfort-terrance-kelloms-family-at-vigil-will-autopsy-show-both-feds-dpd-shot-him/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/05/05/family-members-want-terrance-kelloms-autopsy-report-unsealed-funeral-announced-to-public/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/05/09/coalition-confronts-i-c-e-demands-justice-in-terrance-kellom-killing-end-to-other-attacks/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/06/20/detroit-rally-demands-charges-in-police-execution-of-19-yr-old-dad-terrance-kellom/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/04/01/anthony-clark-reed-24-black-dies-during-detroit-police-traffic-stop-i-cant-breathe/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/06/11/detroit-police-prosecutor-cover-up-in-death-of-anthony-clark-reed-24/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/10/11/warrior-cop-weekley-walks-again-in-aiyana-jones-death/ (One of dozens of stories on the death of Aiyana Jones published in Voice of Detroit, which covered all three of Weekley’s trials as well as the trials of Aiyana’s father Charles Jones and Uncle Chauncey Owens. Put “Aiyana” in search engine to find stories.)

Stories below detail many of known killings by Detroit police during Kym Worthy’s tenure as Wayne County Prosecutor, since Jan. 6, 2004.

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/10/11/detroit-police-sex-scandals-who-is-monitoring-police-brutality-2/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2010/10/25/ella-bully-cummings-killer-cop-chief/

#BlackLivesMatter, #BlackLivesMatterDetroit, #TerranceKellom, #SavageTee, #NBTF, #Fuck12, #LamarGrable, #AiyanaJones, #PoliceState, #PrisonNation, #BeatBacktheBullies, #ODCAPB

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged #AiyanaJones, #Beatbackthebullies, #blacklivesmatter, #blacklivesmatterDetroit, #BLMDetroit, #Fuck12, #LamarGrable, #NBTF, #ODCAPB, #PoliceState, #PrisonNation, #SavageTee, #TerranceKellom | Leave a comment

JUDGE SIGNS ORDER TO LOWER FLINT WATER RATES 35%, STOP SHUT-OFFS, TAX LIENS

Posted on 08/18/2015 by Diane Bukowski

Protesters at Flint city hall in January. Flint’s Emergency Manager ordered the city to disconnect from the Detroit Water & Sewerage Dept. and establish its own water treatment facilities. Residents have since complained of polluted water, higher rates.

By Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com

The Flint Journal

August 17, 2015

Genesee County Judge Archie Hayman issues injunction lowering Flint water bills, stopping shut-offs immediately

Order results from lawsuit filed in 2014 by Flint residents

Genesee County Circuit Court Judge Archie Hayman/file photo Flint Journal

FLINT, MI — An order signed Monday, Aug. 17, would lower water and sewer rates by 35 percent in Flint and could require the city to drop a ready-to-service fee charged to customers.

City officials said they will appeal the decision and ask that the injunction be put on hold.

“We will immediately file an appeal of the court’s order and seek a stay pending higher review,” City Attorney Pete Bade said in a statement released by the city. “It is our position the court should not have issued the injunction. The court abused its discretion by granting the injunction and ignored well-established legal standards.”

Hayman’s decision, reached last week and formalized Monday, also orders the city to meet with an attorney representing Flint residents who filed the lawsuit in 2014 and negotiate repayment of $15.7 million to the city’s sewer fund.

The judge’s injunction orders the city to stop water disconnections and liens for past-due bills effective immediately.

Flints EM had city set up its own pipeline from Lake Huron

Flint’s EM had city set up its own pipeline (red) from Lake Huron, duplicating DWSD pipeline (blue).

“I love this city. I am not trying to run the city into bankruptcy,” said Genesee Circuit Court Judge Archie Hayman. “I’m just making it follow the law.”

Unless the state Court of Appeals stays Hayman’s decision, it could result in lower water and sewer bills for Flint customers almost immediately, said attorney Val Washington, who represents Flint water customers Larry Shears and Margaret Fralick in the lawsuit.

Officials have said city water and sewer customers pay some of the highest rates in Michigan. Hayman’s decision says the price includes a 35 percent rate hike enacted in 2011 in violation of a city ordinance that required advance notice to customers and that higher prices be added over 12 months rather than all at once.

The judge also enjoined the city from collecting readiness-to-service fees until it complies with a city ordinance requiring officials to justify those charges in writing.

Water and sewer customers pay the fees, which amount to a $57.38 for a typical residential customer, as a part of their monthly water and sewer bill.

Attorney Val Washington argued for Flint residents. MLive photo

Hayman has also said the city wrongfully transferred $15.7 million in water and sewer funds in 2007 to help settle a lawsuit involving sewage overflows.

The city released a statement from City Administrator Natasha L. Henderson Monday that says officials “are carefully reviewing the judge’s order to ensure the city is compliant.”

“As always, the focus is on providing services to this community including safe and secure water that all of our families and businesses depend on,” Henderson’s statement says.

City officials have said the judge’s ruling could force Flint into bankruptcy, and Henderson issued a hiring freeze directive to department heads earlier this month in response to Hayman’s order.

VOD: why can’t U.S. District Court Judge Bernard Friedman issue the same order for Detroiters in current case before him? After U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Steven Rhodes denied Detroit plaintiffs in Lyda v. Detroit, case was appealed to District Court.

See: http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/08/26/detroiters-ask-judge-to-bar-water-shut-offs-until-lawsuit-resolved-hearing-tues-sept-2/

#WaterisaHumanRight, #WaterisLife, #StopWaterPrivatization, #BeatBacktheBullies, #StopPA436

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged #Beatbackthebullies, #StopPA436, #StopWaterPrivatization, #WaterisaHumanRight, #WATERISLIFE | 1 Comment

FATHER, WITNESS SAY ANDRE GREEN, 15, SHOT TO DEATH BY 3 INDIANAPOLIS COPS AUG. 9, POSED NO THREAT

Posted on 08/14/2015 by Diane Bukowski

Video above: hundreds turned out for vigil for 15-year-old Andre Green

Green killed on anniversary of Michael Brown death, same day cops in Ferguson critically wounded Tyrone Harris, Jr.

Witness Allen Eaton, father say Green did nothing to threaten cops

Indy cops have few dashcam videos, no bodycams

Teen sixth person killed by Indianapolis police this year

729 dead at the hands of U.S. law enforcement in 2015

Andre Green, 15, dead at hands of Indy cops

From video in Indianapolis Star, eyewitness Allen Eaton, who was standing a short distance away:

“When the police came through here chasing the car, the car went on a dead end. The car tried to turn around. I guess he didn’t know he couldn’t get out. He turned, he bumped the police car after that. And after that the police told him get out and they just fired at him. He wasn’t trying to run down the police officers. He was trying to back up, and that’s when he bumped them back, he couldn’t go nowhere. He definitely wasn’t trying to run them down. [the other guys] jumped out and ran. They was trying to get away. Then the police just killed him. He didn’t do nothing that made them feel that he was threatening their life.”

Allen Eaton at site of Andre Green’s killing by Indianapolis police. Indianapolis Star

August 11, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The father of a 15-year-old boy fatally shot by Indianapolis police who had cornered the young carjacking suspect after a pursuit said Wednesday he believes his son posed no threat to the officers.

Andre Green’s father, Kenneth Green, said he questions the police account of his son’s fatal shooting, including the assertion that the teen was accelerating a stolen car in a possible attempt to strike officers who had cornered him near a cul-de-sac after two passengers bailed out.

Police said Monday that three officers fired on the teen Sunday night, Aug. 9, because they feared the accelerating vehicle might strike them after it had rammed a police car moments before.

Kenneth Green told The Associated Press he believes his son was just trying to get away from police, not threaten them, as he accelerated the car, which police said had been stolen Sunday at gunpoint.

Ikeila Watford, cousin of teenager Andre Green who was shot by IMPD Sunday night, sheds a tear as his aunt Chonda Watford and sister Terika Jackson mourn the loss of his life on Monument Circle during a vigil held Monday evening, August 11, 2015.(Photo: Matt Detrich/The Star)

“He wasn’t a threat. They said my son was armed, but I don’t know about that. All I want to know is the truth, what happened to my son — if he was right or wrong,” Green said while seated outside the home where his son’s mother lives on a shady, tree-lined street.

“I have a lot of pain in my heart right now. I’m just looking for answers to my questions.”

Police said Monday that the youth was holding a handgun when he exited the car after being shot and that the confrontation and shooting was not captured by any department cameras.

Green’s shooting happened the same weekend as events marking the anniversary of the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed, black 18-year-old who was fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

Assistant Police Chief Lloyd Crowe said Wednesday he believes the two white officers and a black officer acted appropriately when they opened fire on the Indianapolis youth because they feared the accelerating car could strike them.

Woman stops by memorial for Andre Green, 15, in Indianapolis alley where he was killed by police.

“I wasn’t there, obviously, but I have faith that these officers relied on their training in that instance to make a decision on the reasonable use of force, the level of force to use,” he said.

Crowe said it isn’t known yet how many shots the officers fired, how many times Andre Green was struck, or whether a handgun found near his body was the one used to fire four shots after the car was stolen from its owner about an hour before the deadly confrontation. No one was injured in that shooting.

The three officers, who are on administrative leave, will likely be interviewed later this week or early next week by members of the department’s internal affairs unit investigating the fatal shooting, Crowe said. The department’s policy is to give officers involved in fatal shootings a 72-hour cooling down period and access to counseling before such interviews occur, he said.

Crowe said it’s expected to take weeks for the internal affairs unit to complete its findings. That report would be forwarded to prosecutors to determine if the officers acted appropriately or if any of them could face charges, he said.

“A lot of us have questions we want answers to, but they’re just not available at this point,” he said. Crowe added that the three officers are emotional and shaken up by the shooting, which he called “a tragic, tragic event for everybody involved.”

Green said his son, who pleaded guilty in May to juvenile charges of auto theft and criminal mischief stemming from the March theft of a car from an Indianapolis church, had some run-ins with the law but was “a wonderful son.”

“Just because he had a court record doesn’t make him a bad person. Plenty of people make mistakes,” he said.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/322d68ff381349109938a7abbe13ebfc/father-teen-killed-police-posed-no-threat-officers

#AndreGreen, #TyroneHarrisJr., #MikeBrown, #BlackLivesMatter, #BlackLivesMatterDetroit, #PoliceBrutality,#JailKillerCops, #SaveOurYouth, #StopWaronBlackAmerica, #BeatBacktheBullies

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged #AndreGreen, #Beatbackthebullies, #blacklivesmatter, #blacklivesmatterDetroit, #MikeBrown, #PoliceBrutality, #SaveOurYouth, #StopWaronBlackAmerica, #TyroneHarrisJr | Leave a comment

PACK THE COURT FRI. AUG. 14 TO SUPPORT ALONZO LONG, JR.; STOP ILLEGAL TAX FORECLOSURES AND EVICTIONS

Posted on 08/13/2015 by Diane Bukowski

Protesters at Wayne County Treasurer June 8, 2015.

Alonzo Long, Jr.

PACK THE COURT!

SUPPORT ALONZO LONG, JR.

Friday, August 14, 2015 @9am

Frank Murphy Hall of Justice Rm. #604

(St. Antoine at Gratiot)

Long defended his family members from illegal armed eviction by tax foreclosure bidders in 2014

Young man’s first trial ended with hung jury

The first trial of Alonzo Long, Jr., 22, charged with two counts of felony murder as well as first-degree murder, ended in a hung jury. This is good news. A preliminary exam, a prelude to a second trial, is scheduled for Friday, August 14.

Long’s family and friends have asked for our support by attending the hearing. The hearing will take place on Friday, August 14, at 9 am, in room 604 of the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice. The Frank Murphy Hall of Justice is located at Saint Antoine St. and Gratiot Ave.

Background:

Rosedale Park home on Piedmont where shootings took place Nov. 28, 2014.

Last November 28, Alonzo Long, Jr., was helping his uncle move out of a home in Rosedale Park that the family lost in the fall 2014 tax foreclosure auction. The purchasers of the home, Howard L. Franklin and his daughter Catherine Franklin, arrived and accused Long and his relatives of stealing window blinds and a chandelier from the property.

The Franklins called the police. The police arrived and observed that the previous owners were vacating the property and ordered the Franklins to leave and allow the move-out to proceed with any more hinderance and harassment. But that evening, the Franklins arrived at the home again.

It was dark both inside and outside of the home. The electric and gas service to the home had already been terminated. The Franklins arrived armed. Long was also armed. All three people had permits to carry a concealed pistol. According to witnesses, the Franklins shot a young woman family member first. Relatives called Long to come into the house for defense. A shootout occurred and tragically ended with the deaths of the Franklins.

MASS PROTEST AGAINST ILLEGAL TAX FORECLOSURES OUTSIDE WAYNE CO. TREASURER OFFICE JUNE 8, 2015.

MASS PROTEST VS. ILLEGAL TAX FORECLOSURES AT WAYNE CO. TREASURER OFFICE JUNE 8, 2015.

According to the Voice of Detroit,

Howard Franklin did not follow the law by first going to 36th District Court’s landlord-tenant division and filing for eviction, a mandatory process with notice to occupants that, if successful, is carried out only by Wayne County bailiffs. The Franklins had no right even to enter the premises without permission of the occupants, according to the treasurer’s bidding requirements.

The tragic deaths of the Franklins are the direct consequence of the mass tax foreclosures initiated by Wayne County Treasurer Raymond Wojtowicz and supported by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.

Racketeering partners Detroit un-Mayor Mike Duggan, billionaire Dan Gilbert. Gilbert heads Detroit Blight Removal Task Force despite USDOJ charges of predatory lending, illegal foreclosures brought against his company, Quicken Loans.

The Detroit tax foreclosures have actually been illegal for the last 20 years, during which the City of Detroit did not perform annual property evaluations as required by state law.

They also could have been resolved by using federal “Hardest Hit Funds” to keep homeowners in their homes. In November 2014, approximately $250 million was still available to assist homeowners keep their homes.

Instead, Mayor Mike Duggan, subprime lender Dan Gilbert, Governor Rick Snyder, and other elected misleaders, successfully lobbied the Federal government to allow the Hardest Hit Funds to be used to tear down blighted structures!

Had the funds been used to pay for property tax delinquencies and keep people in their homes, the City of Detroit, the Wayne County Treasury, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, and the Detroit Public Schools would have also benefited.

Facebook: Pack the Court! Support Alonzo Long, Jr.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1650629668528530/

For additional information, see:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/12/19/two-dead-one-wounded-one-youth-facing-life-in-prison-for-defense-against-armed-eviction-attempt/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/01/01/stop-tax-evictions-drop-charges-vs-alonzo-long-jr-come-to-hearing-fri-jan-2-1-pm/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/01/05/statement-long-jr-acted-in-self-defense-in-piedmont-killingstook-wounded-girl-to-hospital/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/01/13/alonzo-long-jr-22-bound-over-on-all-charges-in-detroit-foreclosed-home-shoot-out/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/06/09/tax-protesters-block-street-at-treasurers-office-as-evans-commission-debate-bank-debt-payoff/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/04/24/u-s-sues-dan-gilberts-quicken-loans-over-mortgage-fraud-one-cause-of-detroit-blight/

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

FERGUSON ERUPTS AGAIN

Posted on 08/13/2015 by Diane Bukowski

Video above: Ferguson shooting of man [Tyrone Harris, Jr.] and arrest of videographer recording crime scene –posted by Photography is not a Crime

Harris family denies he had a gun; why were plainclothes police tailing this friend of Mike Brown’s? Who shot into crowd at store first?

Ferguson 15-year-old says he would fire at police: “I wouldn’t want to do it but I would to save my life.”

By Richard B. Muhammad and J.A. Salaam –Final Call Staffers

Updated Aug 11, 2015 – 4:41:39 PM

(Photos, captions and videos inserted by Voice of Detroit.)

Tyrone Harris Jr. who is fighting for his life. His family denies he was armed; girlfriend who was with him said he was running toward her car, which was parked near plainclothes police car. Police said they had been tailing him all day. Was he targeted by police as friend of Michael Brown? Who started the barrage of shots outside the store–protesters or police? Why were plainclothes police involved in the first place?

FERGUSON, Mo. (FinalCall.com) – The image of a young Black male, bloodied, handcuffed facedown and surrounded by police officers was perhaps the ultimate illustration of how little has changed a year after 18-year-old Mike Brown, Jr., was shot to death here by a White police officer.

A state of emergency was imposed Aug. 10 as Tyrone Harris, Jr., fought for his life at Final Call press time. According to the St. Louis County Police Dept. the 18-year-old was involved in a gunfight with others on West Florissant Avenue, fled his enemies but turned his weapon on plainclothes officers responding to the gunplay.

The emergency declaration did little to keep people off of streets, it initiated a nightly cycle of confrontation well-established a year ago. Aggressive policing, tear gas and what demonstrators see as intimidation only breed a counter refusal to back down or kowtow to authorities.

Some 2,000 protestors showed up the night of Aug. 10 and appeared to outnumber police officers, who remained in full riot gear and quickly moved against anyone who tried to block traffic.

“It’s like the police have learned nothing. The state of emergency is the result of county government’s unwillingness to control the police and authorities, who used excessive force on a crowd that was retreating as instructed,” said Montague Simmons, executive director of the Organization for Black Struggle. “Once again, police disregarded the rules of engagement. (County executive Steve Stenger) has shown no interest in engaging in dialogue or changes.”

Gwen Drisdel, Tyrone Harris, Jr’s grandmother, shows his high school diploma to St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter. She told him, “I don’t believe he would disrespect police like that. There was a lot of confusion, and it was very dark. . . .I know his girlfriend said he was running from the shooting toward her car, and where the plainclothesmen were. He was running from the bullets; I’m not even sure he knew he was encountering police.”

“The Organization for Black Struggle supports the pursuit of justice through nonviolent civil disobedience as displayed by Moral Monday sit-in participants today. Based on St. Louis County Commissioner Stenger’s stated criteria for declaring a state of emergency, the St. Louis metro area should always be under a state of emergency because of the constant potential for harm to Black people and relentless attempts to silence those who work toward justice,” Mr. Simmons added.

“In light of last night’s violence and unrest in the City of Ferguson, and the potential for harm to persons and property, I am exercising my authority as county executive to issue a state of emergency, effective immediately,” Mr. Stenger announced referring to 50-60 gunshots that rang out the early morning of Aug. 10. St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said shots were fired at an unmarked police vehicle and with bullets piercing a window and the front of the SUV.

Mr. Harris, Jr., is accused of firing those shots.

He faces 10 felony charges, five counts of armed criminal action, four counts of first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer and a firearms charge. He was in critical condition after surgery and family members complained they were given no information and were not given a chance to see him.

St. Louis Alderman Antonio French. He disparaged looters as opportunists. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said rebellions are “the voice of the unheard.” There have been looters in every major rebellion in the U.S. They are poor people re-distributing the wealth that is not available to them, unlike Alderman French, who evidently has no need to do so–VOD

The shots rang out in the wee hours of Aug. 10 as protestors confronted a line of officers dressed in riot gear across Ferguson Avenue and West Florissant Avenue as officers essentially had protestors surrounded.

“Opportunists,” in the words of Alderman Antonio French of St. Louis, tried to break into some businesses. Shots rang out as he and others tried to prevent any looting.

Malik Shabazz of Black Lawyers for Justice, who was back in town to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the rebellion and killing of Mike Brown, Jr., saw a confrontation between two groups and then heard gunshots. It looked like a dispute as a teenager broke into a store and others tried to take the stolen items, he said.

As Mr. Shabazz ducked for cover, he couldn’t tell who was doing the shooting, but heard something striking the street.

Panic set in as shots were fired. People ran, snatching up baby strollers and children. Others ducked behind cars or any available barrier. Police said shots were also fired on a lot in front of a market. They ordered people away from their lines.

Protesters face off against police on West Florissant, where Michael Brown died. FC photo

A short time after people cleared out, social media exploded with tweets and photos saying someone had been shot, possibly killed. People returned to the area, angry, frustrated and fed up. There was shouting, some items thrown at police, then smoke bombs and what protestors called tear gas.

The county executive declared enough is enough: “The recent acts of violence will not be tolerated in a community that has worked so tirelessly over the last year to rebuild and become stronger.” He turned law enforcement authority and police emergency management for Ferguson and surrounding areas into the hands of Chief Belmar.

An active and peaceful weekend gave way to angst, protest and civil disobedience as protestors shutdown several highways, were arrested sitting-in at the St. Louis federal building and took to the streets. “Justice Department do your job!” they chanted outside of the federal court building.

Cornel West (third from l) and others engage in civil disobedience outside federal courthouse in St. Louis. West and others were later arrested. FC photo

Pastor Cori Bush questioned whether the state of emergency was to protect people or property. None of the three people shot last night were mentioned by the county executive, she said. She also saw the declaration as an excuse for officers to escalate conflict.

Things were peaceful when police didn’t come out, then it progressed from talking with officers, to reinforcements quickly filing in, to two tanks, and riot gear wearing officers in an L-shaped formation moving forward, pushing people for no reason, said Pastor Bush. She came out to West Florissant Avenue after hearing someone had been shot.

“All we wanted to know was what was going on,” Pastor Bush said. Some people were maced in the face, mace hit the back of her head and then people went crazy, she said. There had to be 300 officers on the scene, said Pastor Bush.

No peace until police shootings stop

Pastor Cori Bush (l) during protests. From Twitter.

Police and politicians aren’t the only ones who are fed up, said Pastor Bush. “Ferguson will take more of this until they stop shooting us. What do they expect? What day on the calendar can they pinpoint and say ‘we are not going to shoot you?’ We came out here for justice and if we wanted to turn back we would have done it months ago,” said the woman who described herself as “Miss Ferguson Frontline.”

“After a year of protests and conversation around police accountability, having plainclothes officers without cameras or proper identification in the protest setting leaves us with only the officer’s account of the incident, which is problematic,” observed Kayla Reed of the Organization for Black Struggle.

Family members of the accused shooter insisted he did not have a weapon and was trying to get away from shooters when officers fired on him.

Anthony Shahid. Twitter photo Richard Muhammad

“The people are more fed up than the police and the politicians because the politicians have put things in place that is business as usual,” said activist Anthony Shahid, who has been engaged in protests and supporting the father of Mike Brown, Jr. over the past year.

The police are disconnected from Blacks and with “this Darren Wilson mindset are shooting us straight down and our people are tired of it. Young people just are not going to take it,” he said.

He called for four and half days of civil disobedience and shutting down anything and everything—highways, bus stations, convention centers, federal banks, tourist attractions. “I am saying close them down because White folk don’t understand nothing but money,” said Mr. Shahid.

“It’s not going to get better,” he said. They are shooting Black folk like animals but even the animals have more rights than Blacks do, added the activist. Animal rights groups will defend the well-being of animals but no one cares about Black suffering, said Mr. Shahid.

“I don’t see Black police shooting White boys like that,” he continued. So long as cops, politicians, prosecutors and police unions collude to protect all officers, the unrest is not going to die down, Mr. Shahid predicted.

“I see the volcano getting ready to erupt,” he said.

Continue reading →

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COPS SHOOT TYRONE HARRIS, JR., 18, ATTACK MARCHERS AT MICHAEL BROWN ANNIVERSARY PROTEST IN FERGUSON

Posted on 08/10/2015 by Diane Bukowski

Tyrone Harris, Jr., 18, who his father says was “very close” to Michael Brown, 18, lies critically wounded by cops on ground one year to the day after Brown’s death, Aug. 9, 2015. The photo is eerily similar to that of Michael Brown as he lay dead on ground after being shot 8 times by cop Darren Wilson.

Police claim Tyrone Harris, Jr., 18, in critical condition, shot at them

Harris charged with attack on law enforcement, bond $250,000, remains in hospital

Cops in riot gear, military formation launch attack on marchers

New round of rallies planned for Mon. Aug. 10, after Harris shooting

State of emergency declared in Ferguson

Mainstream media, police chief call violence the work of “criminals.” ignore ongoing war by U.S. law enforcement that has taken lives of at least 706 in 2015 to date, 8 in Ferguson itself, and continuing unemployment, mass incarceration of Black, Latin and poor youth

August 10, 2015

Michael Brown, 18, lies dead in street Aug. 9, 2014, killed by cop Darren Wilson.

Michael Brown, 18, lies unarmed and dead in street Aug. 9, 2014, killed by cop Darren Wilson.

The person shot in Ferguson by a police officer after a day of commemorating the first anniversary of Michael Brown’s death has been identified by his father as 18-year-old Tyrone Harris Jr., of St. Louis, who was “real close” to Brown, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

“We think there’s a lot more to this than what’s being said,” Harris Sr. said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, adding that his son had graduated from Normandy High School. Harris Sr. also added that his son had just come out of surgery early on Monday.

Jon Belmar, the head of St. Louis County police, said that a man opened fire on plainclothes detectives on Sunday evening. He was then pursued and shot by officers. The police chief did not identify the suspect, but said he was in a “critical” and “unstable” condition in hospital and undergoing surgery.

Belmar added that the suspect had been tracked throughout the protest as police believed he was armed. Officers allege the suspect approached the detectives who were sitting in a van and opened fire with a 9mm gun that had been stolen last year.

Michael Brown, Sr. heads off protest Aug. 9, 2015.

The officers have all been placed on administrative leave, in keeping with standard practice after police-involved shootings. Belmar said none of the officers, who have between six and 12 years’ experience, was seriously injured.

Andre Anderson, the acting head of Ferguson’s Police Department, added that several people were detained during the protests, but did not specify how many had been arrested.

The gunfire occurred as Anderson was speaking to CNN about how the police, “just wanted to be as patient as possible.” As he talked, some 20 shots could clearly be heard in the background. The clip of the incident showed the police chief was shocked, as he looked away in awe when the shooting began.

The head of St. Louis County police also told a news conference on Monday morning that a second shooting had occurred in Ferguson. The incident reportedly involved two groups of people on the west side of West Florissant Avenue. It happened just before police shot Harris Jr.

Crowds mass in streets of Ferguson to remember Michael Brown and all victims of police, 706 so far in 2015 alone.

Belmar added that 40 and 50 shots were fired in an exchange between the two groups, and the incident he described as “remarkable” lasted around 45 seconds. “They were criminals. They weren’t protesters,” Belmar said of those involved in the shootings. He did not say if there were any casualties from the shooting on West Florissant Avenue.

Cops manned large variety of military vehicles during protest.

Eighteen-year-old Michael Brown was killed by Police Officer Darren Wilson on August 9, 2014. He was walking through a St. Louis suburb when he became involved in an altercation with the officer. Wilson fired approximately 12 shots from his department-issued handgun. At least eight of them struck the teen’s body and two were fired at his head, despite the fact that Brown was unarmed.

A grand jury and the US Department of Justice refused to prosecute Wilson, which led to riots in Ferguson and across the US, with protesters angered in their belief that justice had not been served.

COPS SHOOT ‘SUSPECT’ DURING FERGUSON PROTEST

By Jim Salter and Jim Suhr

August 10, 2015

Ferguson, Mo. — A suspect who authorities say opened fire on officers in Ferguson, Missouri, on the anniversary of Michael Brown’s death was critically wounded when the officers shot back, St. Louis County’s police chief said early Monday.

Woman collapses after hearing of shooting of Tyrone Harris, Jr.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the latest police-involved shooting would spur renewed unrest in Ferguson, the site of many protests — some violent — in the aftermath of Brown’s death on Aug. 9, 2014. Protest groups were quick to criticize the police response to protesters who gathered along West Florissant Avenue on Sunday night.

St. Louis County Chief Jon Belmar said at a news conference that officers had been tracking the suspect, who they believed was armed, during a protest marking the death of Brown, the black, unarmed 18-year-old whose killing by a white Ferguson police officer touched off a national “Black Lives Matter” movement.

At the height of what was already a rowdy protest in which rocks and bottles were thrown at officers, gunshots rang out from the area near a strip of stores, including some that had been looted. Belmar believes the shots came from about six different shooters. What prompted the shooting wasn’t clear, but Belmar said the groups had been feuding.

At one point, the suspect crossed the street and apparently spotted the plainclothes officers arriving in an unmarked van with distinctive red and blue police lights, Belmar said. He said the suspect shot into the hood and windshield.

The officers fired back at him from inside the vehicle then pursued him on foot when he ran.

Cops in military formation, a repeat of protests after Michael Brown's death in 2014.

Cops in riot gear, military formation, a repeat of their actions during protests after Michael Brown’s death in 2014.

The suspect again fired on the officers when he became trapped in a fenced-in area, the chief said, and all four officers fired back. He was struck and fell.

The suspect was taken to a hospital, where Belmar said he was in “critical, unstable” condition. Authorities didn’t immediately release the identities of anyone involved, but Tyrone Harris told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the injured suspect was his son, 18-year-old Tyrone Harris Jr.

The elder Harris told the newspaper shortly after 3 a.m. that his son had just gotten out of surgery.

None of the officers was seriously injured. All four have been put on standard administrative leave. They were not wearing body cameras, Belmar said.

Below: Protesters in Ferguson Aug. 7, 2015 explain their rage.

The shooting happened shortly after a separate incident that the chief called “an exchange of gunfire between two groups” rang out around 11:15 p.m. Sunday while protesters were gathered on West Florissant Avenue, a business zone that saw rioting and looting last year after Brown’s killing. The shots sent protesters and reporters running for cover.

The chief said an estimated six shooters unleashed a “remarkable” amount of gunfire over about 45 seconds.

Woman after being tear-gassed by police during Ferguson anniversary protest.

Belmar waved off any notion that the people with the weapons were part of the protest.

“They were criminals. They weren’t protesters,” he said.

The suspect who fired on officers had a semi-automatic 9 mm gun that was stolen last year from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, according to the chief.

“There is a small group of people out there that are intent on making sure that peace doesn’t prevail,” he said. “There are a lot of emotions. I get it. But we can’t sustain this as we move forward.”

Some protest groups were critical of police.

Kayla Reed, of the Organization for Black Struggle

“It was a poor decision to use plainclothes officers in a protest setting because it made it difficult for people to identify police officers, which is essential to the safety of community members,” Kayla Reed, a field organizer with the Organization of Black Struggle, said in a statement.

“After a year of protest and conversation around police accountability, having plainclothes officers without body cameras and proper identification in the protest setting leaves us with only the officer’s account of the incident, which is clearly problematic.”

Early Monday, another reported shooting drew officers to an apartment building in the area. Two males told police they were targeted in a drive-by shooting near the memorial to Brown outside Canfield Apartments. A 17-year-old was shot in the chest and shoulder while a 19-year-old was shot in the chest, but their injuries were not life-threatening, the St. Louis County Police said in a news release.

St. Louis County police were part of large contingent called to Ferguson.

St. Louis County police, taking cover, were part of large contingent called to Ferguson.

Separately, police said a 17-year-old suspect has been charged with unlawful use of a weapon and one count of resisting arrest after he fired shots near the protesters late Sunday. He is being held on $100,000 bond.

The anniversary of Brown’s killing, which cast greater scrutiny on how police interact with black communities, has sparked days of renewed protests, though until Sunday they had been peaceful and without any arrests.

Before the gunfire, protesters were blocking traffic and confronting police. One person threw a glass bottle at officers but missed.

For the first time in three consecutive nights of demonstrations, some officers were dressed in riot gear, including bullet-proof vests and helmets with shields. Police at one point early Monday shot smoke to disperse the crowd that lingered on West Florissant, Belmar said.

One officer was treated for cuts after a rock was thrown at his face, and two officers were pepper-sprayed by protesters, county police spokesman Officer Shawn McGuire said in an email. Five people were arrested, according to records McGuire released.

Several other peaceful events earlier Sunday were held to mark the anniversary.

Brown’s father, Michael Brown Sr., led a march through town. It started at the site where Brown was fatally shot by officer Darren Wilson. A grand jury and the U.S. Department of Justice declined to prosecute Wilson, who resigned in November.

Later, a few hundred people turned out at Greater St. Mark Family Church for a service to remember Brown, with his father joining other relatives sitting behind the pulpit.

Organizers of some of the weekend activities pledged a day of civil disobedience on Monday, but have not offered specific details.

#TyroneHarris, #MikeBrown, #SandraBland, #ChristianTaylor, #BlackLivesMatter, #BlackLivesMatterDetroit, #PoliceBrutality, , #Sandyspeaks, #RaynetteTurner, #JoyceCurnell, #RalkinaJones, #KindraChapman, #SamuelDubose, #JamesBoyd, #TrayvonMartin, #MichaelBrown, #EricGarner, #PoliceState, #PrisonNation, #StopPoliceBrutality, #StopPoliceKillings, #StopWaronBlackAmerica, #BeatBacktheBullies, #Ferguson, #HandsUpDon’tShoot, #ICan’tBreathe

Protest last year: Mike Brown means we got to fight back.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged #Beatbackthebullies, #blacklivesmatter, #blacklivesmatterDetroit, #ChristianTaylor, #EricGarner, #Ferguson, #HandsUpDon, #ICan, #JamesBoyd, #JoyceCurnell, #KindraChapman, #MichaelBrown, #MikeBrown, #PoliceBrutality, #PoliceState, #PrisonNation, #RalkinaJones, #RaynetteTurner, #SamuelDubose, #SandraBland, #Sandyspeaks, #StopPoliceBrutality, #StopPoliceKillings, #StopWaronBlackAmerica, #TrayvonMartin, #TyroneHarris | Leave a comment

DFT PRES. STEVE CONN, OTHER UNION LEADERS DENOUNCE HEALTH CARE CUTS, ATTACKS ON SCHOOLS

Posted on 08/08/2015 by Diane Bukowski

Above: Detroit teachers and students rally in Lansing June 6, 2015

By Steve Conn, Pres. Detroit Federation of Teachers

August 9, 2015

Steve Conn (2nd from r) and other DFT board members take oath of office Jan. 20, 2015.

I joined the other leaders of the Coalition of Unions in a meeting [Thurs. August 6] with DPS officials about the Emergency Manager’s plans for devastating health care cuts. It would be impossible to overstate the importance of this issue, and as with all union negotiations, I am duty bound to report to the membership.

DPS began the meeting by introducing a modification of their health care cuts plan that would allow employees the option of avoiding most of the huge deductibles, although only by paying a much larger share of the premium costs in our paychecks.

The Coalition reiterated its position that “all proposed health care cuts must be rescinded,” as stated in a July 31 op-ed column in the Detroit News. (See below.)

Certainly, we have a long way to go before we can say we have won this fight. But it cannot be denied that this DPS modified plan is some improvement. What caused the EM’s modification? The only explanation is that Mr. Darnell Earley is reacting to the new fighting activism of the DFT in the past several months: pickets, rallies, grievances, unfair labor practice charges at MERC, and our visits to Lansing.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announces appointment of Darnell Earley as new DPS Emergency Manager.

The EM is also continually reminded that the DFT does not fight alone. BAMN, the Operating Engineers Union, and other groups and individuals are always there with us. Our public activism has exposed how the health care cuts and other attacks by the governor are driving teachers out of the district, thus further crippling education in Detroit. Our protests have made it ever clearer how the people of Detroit stand with the DFT, and how isolated Mr. Earley, the governor’s handpicked agent, really is.

Some of our most active DFT members are continuing the work this summer by getting hundreds of Detroiters to sign petitions against health care cuts and school reconstitution, and for teacher placement. That petition is still available below. We also have several more court cases and court hearings scheduled before school begins that members can sit in on. In the fall, we must especially concentrate on building the size of our marches and rallies by increasing the membership participation from every school. Only when the fighting spirit spreads throughout the entire union membership will we be able to achieve our objective of stopping all the cuts, and beginning to win new gains, such as a pay raise.

Students, parents and teachers commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday in 2011, marching from MLK High School.

As Dr. King put it so well in his Letter from Birmingham City Jail, “So the purpose of direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.” We certainly have a long way to go. But we should celebrate the fact that we have started down the right road. If we continue in this way, I am completely confident of victory in this and every other fight our union enters into in the struggle to defend public education in Detroit.

http://dft231.mi.aft.org/files/modified_health_care_scenario_3b.pdf http://dft231.mi.aft.org/files/petition_stop_driving_teachers_and_students_out_of_detroit_sch_0.pdf

Related VOD story:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/01/24/dfts-steve-conn-board-teachers-renew-fight-to-save-detroit-public-schools-citys-youth/

Health care for teachers is worth fighting for

By Ruby Newbold, Pres. Detroit Assn. of Educational Employees, AFT 4168, Chair of Coalition of DPS Unions

July 31, 2015

Ruby Newbold, Pres. Coalition of DPS Unions

Detroit Public Schools Employee A has two children. One has asthma and the other has extreme migraine headaches. The child with headaches has to see a neurologist twice a month. Mom also sees a neurologist for headaches. With the new health care plan proposed by the Emergency Manager (EM) the employee would have to pay $60 for each time she and her child see the neurologist. All costs for tests must be paid by the employee until she meets the proposed deductible of $6,000. This employee makes $24,000 a year.

Employee B was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this month. She started her treatments two weeks ago. Under the health care plan proposed by the EM, her deductible is $3,000 and her cost to visit her doctor increases to $60 a visit. This employee makes $22,000 a year.

Before you respond that everyone has to sacrifice when times are tough, please remember: These employees have sacrificed for over a decade. They haven’t had a wage increase since 2002, they took a 10 percent wage cut in 2011 and have forgone step increases. They have been burdened with increasing health care costs with decreasing benefits, currently pay over 20 percent of premium cost, have lost assault pay when they’re victims of assault at school and more.

DFT teachers walked out en masse for one day in 2001, under leadership of then Pres. Janna Garrison, rallied in Lansing, and succeeded in blocking pro-charter schools bill. Fourteen years later, the district is a shell of its former self, with hundreds of schools closed, thousands of teachers and other DPS workers laid off.

DFT Executive Vice President Ivy Bailey has stressed, on top of all of these concessions, teachers have larger classes, no oversize-class pay, and have lost three hours a week of preparation time, as well as their national board certification bonus and tuition reimbursement. Moreover, in 2010 and 2011 they helped DPS with cash flow problems by lending them approximately $54 million by delaying receiving a portion of wages until they leave the district.

So I ask, how do we retain the best and the brightest to educate and serve our children?

The DPS minimum pay for a teacher with a bachelors degree is $35,683. The maximum for a teacher with a masters is $65,265. Now consider the Chippewa Valley, Plymouth-Canton and Waterford school districts, all receiving a lower foundation allowance per student than DPS. Chippewa Valley’s range is $38,064 to $85,873. Plymouth-Canton’s is $39,954 to $79,473 and Waterford’s is $37,200 to $75,302.

Hundreds march in downtown Detroit May 9, 2012, demanding cancellation of Detroit and DPS debt to the banks.

Hundreds marched in downtown Detroit May 9, 2012, demanding cancellation of Detroit and DPS debt to the banks.

Why would a teacher work in Detroit if she can make more money with better benefits in virtually every other school district in Metro Detroit? DPS teachers and staff care deeply about their students, but they also care deeply about their families and their well-being.

It’s no wonder DPS already has a teacher shortage, one that will undoubtedly grow this coming school year, especially if the proposed health care cuts are implemented. There are $3 million in proposed cuts this coming year and $6 million the next. What is the cost of these cuts, the cost of a teacher shortage to our children, the cost of losing teachers and staff to other districts or careers?

These proposed cuts come just as our community has come together in support of a plan to save and enhance DPS. Just when the state is giving serious consideration to paying the DPS operating debt developed under state appointed school boards and EMs.

The EM has responded to our request for health care and financial information for us to analyze. We are all for saving DPS money, but not on the backs of the employees who educate our children or support those who do, and not in a manner that will do harm to DPS. The examples at the beginning of this piece are just two stories of many detailing what these proposed health care cuts would mean not only for teachers and staff, but for the district.

We call for all proposed health care cuts to be rescinded. We call on heath care providers to do their part in rebuilding DPS by allowing the district to save a portion of their desired $6 million without reducing benefits and increasing employee costs yet again.

If we value our children, we should value the women and men who educate them.

Ruby Newbold is chair of the Coalition of DPS Unions and President of the Detroit Association of Educational Employees, AFT 4168.

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CHRISTIAN TAYLOR, 19, UNARMED COLLEGE STUDENT, FOOTBALL PLAYER SHOT DEAD BY TEXAS POLICE

Posted on 08/08/2015 by Diane Bukowski

Christian Taylor, 19, from @ChristianTaylor, college student, football player, dead at hands of Texas police

“He was a good kid. I don’t see him stealing no car or nothing like that.” -Great-uncle Clyde Fuller

“Heart is hurting”–Will Wagner @coachwillwagner

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Christian Taylor. Your presence will be missed but not forgotten.”–#Ramfam, ASU Ram Football @ASURamFootball (Angelo State University)

Killed by Arlington police trainee Brad Smith

By Stephen A. Crockett Jr.

August 8, 2015

Arlington, Texas — Police fatally shot a 19-year-old Angelo State University college student and football player, that they claim broke into a car dealership early Friday morning. But some members of the dead man’s family find the police version of the story hard to believe.

According to the Star-Telegram, around 1 a.m. police were notified of a burglary in progress at a GMC Classic Buick dealership. Police claim that a security company dialed in emergency help after they witnessed the suspect using his car to crash through the dealership’s showroom window.

Arlington, TX police officer trainee Brad Miller

“The officers went and confronted him. There was an altercation. An officer discharged his weapon and struck the suspect,” Rodriguez told the Star-Telegram.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office identified him Friday afternoon as 19-year-old Christian Taylor. Taylor was a sophomore at Angelo State University and a member of the football team. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Rodriguez added that Taylor was unarmed when he was shot.

Police identified the officer involved in the shooting as 49-year-old Brad Miller, a recent graduate of the academy, who was working under the supervision of a training officer at the time of the shooting. Miller has been placed on administrative leave.

“We’re having two independent investigations — a criminal and administrative,” Rodriguez said. “As an agency, we take the loss of any human life as serious, but we owe it to our community to conduct a clear and transparent investigation to determine what exactly took place.”

Christian Taylor (in blue jersey) playing football in 2013. The same year, he tweeted, “I don’t wanna die too youngggg” @he_got_sneaks

Clyde Fuller, Taylor’s great uncle, told the Star-Telegram that the story that is being described doesn’t add up. He said his great nephew was set to return to college and that he excelled at football.

“He was a good kid. I don’t see him stealing no car or nothing like that,” Fuller said.

“I think something is going on that somebody is lying about,” Fuller told the Star-Telegram. “…They say he’s burglarizing the place by running up in there? Nuh-uh. Something doesn’t sound right.”

Rodriguez told the newspaper that the officers are in the process of receiving body cameras but they don’t have them yet and as such, officer Miller was not wearing one during the shooting.

He added that there are several security cameras in the dealership but they haven’t found footage that shows the incident clearly.

“We are looking at all available video from outside and inside the location to obtain as much information as possible,” Rodriguez said.

DESPITE MURDER CHARGES, POLICE WAR ON PEOPLE GROWS: SANDRA BLAND, SAMUEL DUBOSE, JAMES BOYD

Posted on 08/06/2015 by Diane Bukowski

SANDRA BLAND

THE SECOND DEADLY ASSAULT ON SANDRA BLAND

Attacks on character, despite evidence of multiple physical injuries prior to her death in autopsy report, which declared it suicide by hanging.

By Earl Ofari Hutchinson

July 30, 2015

Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia stopped Sandra Bland for not signaling a lane change, became hostile and assaultive after she stood up to him.

It started within moments after Sandra Bland was found hanging in a Waller County jail cell. And it hasn’t let up for one moment since her dubious death. The “it” is the non-stop litany of veiled and not so veiled hints, innuendoes, digs, and crass, snide, accusing comments, remarks, slander and outright lies about Bland’s activities before, during and after her death.

Here’s a brief checklist of the defamatory, self-serving litany of slanders against her. She was uncooperative with Texas Highway Patrolman, Brian Encinia. Her cigarette could have posed a potentially dangerous weapon. She smoked marijuana before and after her arrest. She had serious mental issues that made her suicidal. She had a block sized chip on her shoulder against law enforcement given her involvement with Black Lives Matter and her alleged diatribe against law enforcement on her Facebook page.

http://www.freepresshouston.com/police-lies-and-omissions-exposed-in-sandra-bland-arrest/

She was alive and in good spirits when she entered her jail cell. This comes courtesy of a video that Texas officials released to counter allegations that she was dead before she was booked. The video has been challenged both on the timing of its release and authenticity. Then to bolster their case that there was no foul play in her death, a co-inmate magically appeared to corroborate her supposed suicidal state.

http://www.businessinsider.com/texas-police-officials-are-fighting-an-information-war-over-sandra-bland-2015-7

For one brief moment Waller County prosecutors said that they’d investigate her death as a murder. It was just that, brief. It got tossed in the midst of their pile on of allegations about her alleged bad conduct and state of mind and a forensic finding that concluded that she died at her own hands.

Above: Sandra Bland’s family announces federal lawsuit in her death. Her autopsy report DOES show possible violence committed on her prior to her death, including a contusion on her upper right shoulder, multiple scabbed abrasions on right upper back, contusion and multiple small scabbed healing abrasions on right elbow, contusion on left forearm, scabbed healing abrasions on both wrists, all with “underlying red-brown subcutaneous hemorrhage.” It is open to question when these injuries occurred. See autopsy report at Sandra-Bland-Autopsy-Report.compressed.

The predictable assault on Bland has three aims. The first is to stop in its tracks the widespread call for a full bodied Justice Department probe into Bland’s death. This can only be accomplished through the second aim. That is to deconstruct her as a bad behaving, chip-on-her shoulder, unstable black woman, and not the sympathetic victim that supporters and some in the press depict her as.

The other aim is to exonerate in this order: Encinia, Texas Highway Patrol officials, Waller County jail officials, and the Waller County District Attorney’s office. All have been fingered as being complicit in her death either directly or through their gross negligence and desperate effort to avoid a fair and impartial probe into the cause of her death.

At least 5 Black women died in their jail cells nationally in July: Top row: Raynette Turner; Joyce Curnell; Sandra Bland. Bottom row: Ralkina Jones; Kindra Chapman.

If enough mud can be tossed on Bland to cast doubt and suspicion about her character and motives, the hope is that the issue will quietly go away.

None of this should surprise. The assault on Bland follows the same script used in the dubious and controversial killings of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and countless other young African-Americans who have died or been killed under questionable circumstance after encounters with police.

The pantheon of stereotypes and negative typecasting the script relies on has been time tested. It’s the shortest of short steps to think that if an innocent such as Bland fits the car`icature of the terrifying image that much of the public still harbors about young black males and increasingly females as witnessed by the edge up in assaults on them and a rash of their mysterious deaths in jail cells, then that image seems real, even more terrifying, and the consequences are just as deadly.

http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2015/07/at_least_5_black_women_have_died_in_police_custody_in_july_wtf.html

Eric Garner and wife

Michael Brown

Trayvon Martin

The flip side of this is that police, prosecutors and jail officials in Bland’s death hold the major cards. They can leak, publish, and put on display for the press and the public supposedly incontrovertible evidence to make their case that the circumstances surrounding her death are exactly as officials say it is. They are secure in the knowledge that any evidence real or circumstantial that contradicts the official version can be dismissed out of hand as pure speculation, hearsay or is driven by an anti-police agenda.

There’s one other trump card that officials can play to boost their Simon pure innocence in a death such as Bland’s. That is the bulging numbers of blacks in America’s jails and prisons seem to reinforce the wrong-headed perception that crime and violence in America invariably comes with a young, black face such as Bland’s. Martin, Brown, and Garner were roundly vilified for having run-ins with the law, or being a border line school delinquent.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/13/the-true-stereotypes-behind-michael-brown-s-death.html

In Bland’s case, she had no criminal record to wave in the press and public’s face. So they settled on her alleged emotional instability to prove her deviant behavior. It is crucial to plant this in the public’s mind since she did not die from a provable and observable police bullet or chokehold as in the case of Brown and Garner.

Earl Ofari Hutchison

The clamor for the truth about whom or what killed Bland won’t go away. This insures that Texas officials will spin out more new “revelations” to the press and public about Bland’s character. The second deadly assault on Bland will continue unabated.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is a frequent MSNBC contributor. He is an associate editor of New America Media. He is a weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on American Urban Radio Network. He is the host of the weekly Hutchinson Report on KTYM 1460 AM Radio Los Angeles and KPFK-Radio and the Pacifica Network.

WORD ON THE STREET IS MURDER

July 30, 2015

Samuel Dubose, killed by Greenhills university cop James Tensing July 19, 2015.

CLEARLY THERE’S SOME BUZZWORD going around that it’s alright for cops to shoot anybody they might want to.

The latest is a University of Cincinnati patrolman shooting of an unarmed civilian. We can read all about it on Google and You tube replete with video by the officer’s own camera. Chaotic, yes, but we get the gist of it, dead motorist, cop now indicted for murder in the first degree, which is pretty obvious from the video. Cops have been inculcated with the drudge that they can do anything they want to do now and get away with it.

Statistics say that only one in one thousand killer cops is indicted. But apparently this is changing before our very eyes, thanks to video cameras, or so it might appear.

The details are commonplace, a traffic stop gone awry. Paranoid cop feels threatened, starts shooting randomly, same old same old story. But now the cop is charged with Murder One, different slant on the same old story. Times might be changing at least a little. Poor baby cop; how does it feel? How does it feel to be on the other end of the gun barrel? Send him up the river for life, whatever. He deserves it for so many others that shoot before thinking.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/29/cincinnati-police-shooting-samuel-dubose

That grapevine that seems to have broadcast the clear signal for cops to start shooting before asking questions might have some shield lately if the backlash continues via media coverage and the almighty video camera. But we have to pause and consider the question: how did this happen? Theories have been purported but no real answers are forthcoming. Cops kill and maim with impunity so often now that it’s a plague upon the populace and cops are laughing all the way to retirement, except for those few hapless ones that don’t have enough sense to cover their tracks.

Former U of Cincinnati cop Ray Tensing, charged with murder in death of Samuel Dubose.

This phenomenon has been discussed, dismissed, dissed, dissected, directed, disseminated, misdirected, divided, decided and circumscribed so often that it’s a misnomer and a conundrum already. It’s like any advantage gained illicitly, it only gets worse with wear and tear.

Cops watch as other cops are indicted, tried and acquitted and figure it’s alright to just go ahead and do what they really want to do, which is get the bad guys, and if some not so bad guys get in the way get them too. These cops are not psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, doctors or lawyers; they’re simple people who watch football on Sunday, golf on Monday, Hockey on Tuesday, go bowling on Wednesday, bingo on Thursday, play pool on Friday night, go to the racetrack on Saturday if the wife hasn’t some activity planned for them.

Simple emulation seems to be the answer. That means that which they have gotten away with they now accept as status quo. Doubtless many are now reconsidering their stance since a few officers of the law have been indicted lately. That must have sent a shudder of recognition into the ranks.

They could actually go to trial and actually thereafter go to prison. Most places there’s no bail for murder so they’d have to sit in jail for months awaiting trial &c, not a pleasant thought when other jail inmates know they’re cops. So they’d be stuck in confinement segregation for those months if deemed necessary for crowd control. It scares them a little but apparently not enough yet to deter their hauteur in uniform.

The University of Cincinnati ex-cop is out on $1 million bail bond now but he’s going to trial for murder one. Where he got $100,000 to make 10% is not known. The two New Mexico cops who killed the homeless man are under investigation by the FBI and the NM Attorney General. Again video cameras present the evidence. Police are in a Catch-22 circumstance now: they need evidence against people but it might prove to be evidence against police.

http://www.rt.com/usa/221979-albuquerque-officers-charged-boyd-murder/

James Boyd, homeless man killed by New Mexico police.

A curious development transpired over the course of the latter twentieth century. Police felt pressured to gain convictions for high-profile crimes. This was accomplished by upgraded third-degree type interrogations of suspects. Upgrading was due to legislation limiting police procedures. Suspects could no longer be legally questioned under bare lightbulbs for hours or days but had to be accorded Miranda Rights and supposedly humane treatment.

What usually transpired was a pre-drawn confession ready to sign and after days of interrogation many did, most often with promises of leniency even if they were in fact innocent. It looked like the easy out to many under arrest for questioning. We are seeing the results of this with the mounting number of exonerations from wrongful conviction, restitutions now counted at $1 billion.

New Mexico cops Keith Sandy, Dominique Perez, charged with murder of James Boyd.

As to the effect on police work, this remains inchoate at present. Surely the officers nationwide are watching these developments closely. But then four New York officers were acquitted of gunning down an unarmed man even though the venue of trial was moved. That leaves cops in an odd position: public ire juxtaposed with jury nullification. Public opinion is always mixed and intractable on each side with little rationale of worth. Expert testifiers will substantiate anything they’re willing to be paid to say. Cops of course note this every day and react accordingly.

If a spate of arrests of police personnel should ensue they’ll curtail their actions to whatever extent the chiefs advise. If cops continue to shoot with impunity the country will continue to be the Wild West it purports to be. Cop killers, as opposed to killer cops, will proliferate. It is amusing in a macabre sense to witness the sentimentality of police when one of their own dies in battle but ne’er a tear at wrongful deaths or false conviction of the public. That would be a definition of “double-standard”.

Thus life is cheap again. Despite constitutional rights and guarantees, the US has descended into the maelstrom of lawlessness again. You not only have the broad spectrum of crooks and killers but the badges and ties of the supposed good guys to dodge. That’s the way of life under any tyrannical government, and that’s what the US has become.

No doubt there’s an apt Thomas Jefferson quote covering this, just as doubtless as his hundreds of slaves and descended black relatives. As sociologist George Gilder has writ: “Hypocrisy is indeed the tribute paid by vice to virtue. Hypocrisy makes us better than we are”. Cops will continue to kill people because it’s deeply engrained in their “culture”. They’re already researching ways to cover up misdeeds, tweak videos, seek other means of negating what is obvious & c.

Where this leads cannot be surmised yet. We can anticipate the worst and thereby be not disappointed. If video is utilized in all police surveillance, arrests, and interrogations there might be seen some adherence to propriety but just as certainly there will be superseding of these rules. A scenario might present itself of that interrogation sequence thence reenacted for the camera with guarantees of leniency should the defendant decide to cooperate, the former video destroyed, the latter preserved, the defendant’s bruises healed or covered & c. Sure, that would occur, always had, just the continuum of getting around the law.

It’s still the Wild West out here in America. This is the way we seem to like it collectively else the law would not be so arrogant as to shoot first, ask later, and get away with it. Those wild and wooly old-school outlaws and gangsters are now modern law and order representatives, or flaw and disorder as the case may be. Those bastions of redoubt known as police stations and courthouses are hideouts now conjuring criminal activities.

Of course it’s all euphemized as bureaucratic social order but many know otherwise. It’s deadly out there now. It’s legal murder. It’s never admitted, always Orwellian linguistically, but it’s as bad as lynching days and street gangs. The US hasn’t gotten better or freer. This is who we are: liars and murderers.

#SandraBland, #Sandyspeaks, #RaynetteTurner, #JoyceCurnell, #RalkinaJones, #KindraChapman, #SamuelDubose, #JamesBoyd, #TrayvonMartin, #MichaelBrown, #EricGarner, #BlackLivesMatter, #BlackLivesMatterDetroit, #PoliceState, #PrisonNation, #StopPoliceBrutality, #StopPoliceKillings, #StopWaronBlackAmerica

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged #blacklivesmatter, #blacklivesmatterDetroit, #EricGarner, #JamesBoyd, #JoyceCurnell, #KindraChapman, #MichaelBrown, #PoliceState, #PrisonNation, #RalkinaJones, #RaynetteTurner, #SamuelDubose, #SandraBland, #Sandyspeaks, #StopPoliceBrutality, #StopPoliceKillings, #StopWaronBlackAmerica, #TrayvonMartin | 3 Comments

WAYNE CO. PROBATE JUDGE TERRANCE KEITH, GUARDIAN MARY ROWAN FORCE VET GAYLE ROBINSON, 84, TO FLEE

Posted on 08/02/2015 by Diane Bukowski

Video above shows Gayle Robinson talking with her oldest child, Kathleen Law, on the phone regarding her objections to being in probate court. Law filed the petition. Video below shows Mrs. Robinson at home actively taking care of her property, exercising on park swings, and walking her beloved dog.

Keith issues order for son Randy Robinson’s arrest if he doesn’t make his mother return

Orders Mrs. Robinson’s brother, who resides in California, to do the same

Keith has had Rowan illegally evict Randy and his 15-year-old daughter from Mrs. Robinson’s home, despite her wish that they remain

Rowan, 68, has 416 open probate court cases, including conservatorships worth millions of dollars

Says husband John Cavataio, 37, “not involved with organized crime”

Keith may be in line for Chief Judge in wake of Milton Mack’s appointment to State Court Administrator’s Office July 27

By Diane Bukowski

July 30, 2015

Gayle Robinson, 84, at neighborhood park where she takes her dog and exercises on the swings.

DETROIT – “It’s horrendous, unbelievable, like a nightmare,” Debbie Fox, daughter of Gayle Robinson, said about her mother ’s dealings with Wayne County Probate Court Judge Terrance Keith and his appointed guardian/conservator Mary Rowan.

Mrs. Robinson is 84, and a member of the Montford Point chapter of Marine Corps Veterans, among other activities.

All medical doctors and psychiatrists who have examined Mrs. Robinson have concluded she does not need a guardian and is capable of handling her own affairs.

Fox said actions by Keith and Rowan have “cost Gayle her freedom, her 2003 Escape, her finances of over $27,000 and they are working on marshaling her home of almost 60 years where all her memories of her late husband and son who both died in the home she would like to continue living in are.”

Judge Terrance Keith (center) with his wife at left, and Judge Ruth Carter at right, during 2012 gala event at Detroit Marriott.

On June 17, Mrs. Robinson fled the charmingly appointed home in Westland, where she resided with her son Randy Robinson and granddaughter Lynette, after raising 10 children there with her late husband Russell Robinson, also a veteran. They bought the home in 1956.

She flew to stay with her brother James Brown in California, to avoid being placed by Rowan in a nursing home or other institution.

Rowan attempted to do so without a court order three times earlier. The third time, on September 30, 2014, Rowan’s aide Katie McDonald succeeded essentially in kidnapping her with the aid of Westland police, violating Keith’s July 28 court order that she could not be removed without his written order.

She was held against her will for a total of 10 days, 9 of them in a “geropsychiatric unit” at Botsford Hospital in Royal Oak.

In only available photo of her, Mary Rowan, seated in blue dress, admonishes this reporter for attending court hearing on Mailauni Williams (r), whose arm she is clutching. Rowan later kidnapped Williams and held her for six months at a location unknown to her mother. Photo: Cornell Squires

“Gayle Robinson has been severely traumatized by this kidnapping and heavily stressed by these probate court proceedings,” Randy wrote in a court pleading asking for Rowan to be removed as guardian, and for Rowan and McDonald to be held in contempt of court. Keith ignored the pleading and instead later held Randy in contempt.

“My brother was arrested and [now] is being held as hostage for the return of Gayle,” Fox said.

“I want Gayle, I want Gayle returned first!” Keith said according to courtroom observers.

Keith’s order (see link below story), implied that Randy Robinson would be indefinitely detained if he and his uncle did not force Mrs. Robinson to return. He gave specific orders to Brown, although Brown resides in another state, and is not in Keith’s jurisdiction.

An earlier charge of “contempt of court” for not showing up when his car broke down, landed Randy in jail for three days.

Gayle Robinson kidnapped from her Westland home of 60 years on Sept. 30, 2014, by Westland police and Rowan aide Katie McDonald, an accountant. The removal violated an earlier order by Judge Keith that Mrs. Robinson not be taken without his court order. Mrs. Robinson was held for 10 days, 9 of them in a psychiatric ward at Botsford Hospital, without her consent.

Keith gave Rowan “authority” to evict Randy and Lynette from the home and ordered the locks changed. Such eviction actions are legally handled by district courts. Without any such district court action, Mrs. Robinson’s other children now have access to the house and are throwing out many possessions, according to observers.

Keith barred Randy and Lynnette, and Debbie Fox and members of her marital family from any contact with their mother. Keith also ordered that Randy no longer be allowed to drive his mother’s car, with her permission, to earn a living delivering pizza.

Randy with daughter Lynette, 15, at Amvets event/Facebook. Gayle Robinson has repeatedly told Judge Keith and others involved in her case that she wants them to keep living with her.

Keith earlier gave Mary Rowan the “right” to shut down all Internet websites authored by Randy Robinson about his mother, likely a violation of the First Amendment. VOD obtained the videos on this site from other agency websites which posted them separately.

Rowan has meanwhile seized control of Mrs. Robinson’s home and car, all of her Social Security and pension income, bank accounts, and other financial affairs. She doles out spending money to Mrs. Robinson in small bits at a time, and has not timely paid her bills, according to Randy. This M.O. has been noted in other cases handled by Rowan (see links to stories below.)

It is rumored that Keith may be in line for appointment as Probate Court Chief Judge following former Chief Judge Milton Mack’s appointment to the State Court Administrator Office (SCAO), on July 27. The announcement included special kudoes from Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert P. Young, Jr., known for his right-wing views.

Gayle Robinson at Montford Point Marine Vets Black History Month celebration.

“It looks like when you get old, you don’t have the right to take your own money out of the bank anymore,” Mrs. Robinson told VOD outside Keith’s court during a hearing Dec. 9. “I don’t need a guardian, but I want my brother to be my conservator and I want my son Randy and his daughter Lynette to stay with me.”

At the hearing, she clearly stated to Judge Keith that she does not want the daughter, Kathleen Law, who initiated the probate court proceedings, or other children, including Ricky and Mary Robinson, who admittedly raided her home equity line of credit without her permission, to visit her. She said that before they visit, they must pay her back.

Fox remarked, “My mother says this is like Nazi Germany in World War II. She has no freedom. We can’t get a lawyer to even think about taking this case. They tell us, ‘Forget about it, she’s gone, she’s been declared incompetent.’”

No medical doctor or psychiatrist has ever declared Mrs. Robinson incompetent, incapacitated, or in need of a guardian.

Her family physician, Dr. Mark Richter of Canton, who has seen her for over 20 years, and neuropsychiatrists at Henry Ford Hospital and the Veterans Administrations have provided written reports indicating she is fully capable of performing the activities of daily living on her own. The last report from Dr. Richter was submitted to the court July 6.

Videos below show Gayle Robinson at home after her traumatic ordeal at the psychiatric unit of Botsford Hospital.

But Keith appointed Marlana Geha, who has only a PhD in gerontology, as his “Independent Medical Examiner.” Geha has 171 open cases in Probate Court and acts as a guardian in many.

She concluded that “Ms. Robinson is a person who meets the statutory requirement for the appointment of both a Guardian and a Conservator. Ms. Robinson is diagnosed with Depression and Depressive Disorder. These conditions impede Mrs. Robinson’s ability to adequately collect, protect and marshal her assets . . .[and] to make informed and appropriate medical placement and day to day decisions.”

Marlana Geha, PhD, with Krisanne George at Big Rock Chophouse in Birmingham, 2012.

Marlana Geha, PhD, (l) with Krisanne George at Big Rock Chophouse in Birmingham, 2012.

But her summary of other reports, most by medical doctors, who supersede “PhD’s” in qualifications, completely contradict her conclusion.

She said Mrs. Robinson took a Mini State Mental Exam at Botsford Hospital.

“Ms. Robinson scored twenty-nine our of a possible thirty points both times placing her in the normal range of cognitive function,” Geha reported.

She said an exam at the VA hospital in 2009 resulted in the conclusion that “Ms. Robinson is capable of independently making her own treatment, financial and personal decisions.”

In June, 2014, Geha reported, the “Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) Scale (Lawton) was administered [by VA]. Mrs. Robinson, as a result of the answers she provided, scored eight out of a possible eight points, indicting (sic) a high level of independence.”

Mark Richter, M.D. is part of Henry Ford Health System. He has been Mrs. Robinson’s doctor for 20 years, according to son Randy.

Further, Geha reported, “Ms. Robinson was also examined by Dr. Mark Richter, her civilian primary care physician, with respect to her cognitive functioning. In a letter signed by Dr. Richter, reflecting a date of visit of July 29, 2014, he reports that she does not have Dementia and that she has the capacity to make informed decisions regarding personal, medical, legal and financial matters.”

Geha says Dr. Richter also conducted the Mini Mental State Exam, resulting in a score of 28 out of 30 points “denoting normal cognitive functioning.” In a hand-written note attached to his report, Dr. Richter said, “End this nonsense—she doesn’t have dementia.”

Rowan has now forbidden Mrs. Robinson from seeing Dr. Richter without her permission.

Neuropsychological testing at Henry Ford Hospital June 25, 2014, reports Geha, resulted in the conclusion that Mrs. Robinson has “the capacity to make medical, legal and financial decisions.” The doctors there said that depression and psychological stressors may impact this capacity at times.

“Ms. Robinson repeatedly stated during both interviews that she wanted to return to her home of many years to live with her son Randy, and her granddaughter, Lynette,” Geha said of her interviews with Mrs. Robinson at Botsford. “Ms. Robinson stated she missed her dog who she stated was her constant companion.”

She added, “Ms. Robinson repeatedly stated she felt as if she had been kidnapped and further stated she is quite embarrassed by the public scene at her house when she was extracted from her house.”

Headline photo for Debbie Fox’s Facebook page.

Additionally, she reported, “Ms. Robinson stated that she thought her daughter, Kathy, filed to become her Guardian in order to make money.”

Mrs. Robinson’s oldest daughter Kathleen Law originally requested VA’s 2009 exam of her mother, as a “court-related matter.” She claimed her mother was suffering from dementia, after the death of her father the same year.

Law initiated probate court proceedings May 13, 2014, petitioning to become her mother’s guardian and conservator, claiming her mother was “incapacitated.” She is heard in the video at the top of the story discussing the matter with her mother by phone.

Gayle Robinson’s home in Westland is still under her name and that of her deceased husband, according to Wayne County Register of Deeds records. They bought the home in 1956.

Rowan said in her response to an attorney grievance filed by Debbie Fox that the reason for the petition was that Law had not been able to see her mother for one month.

Law’s petition was filed two years after Mrs. Robinson and her son Raymond Robinson, now deceased, initiated an elder abuse complaint with the Westland Police.

The report said that Mrs. Robinson’s children, other than Randy and Debbie, had convinced their parents, to set up a “home equity line of credit,” then took substantial loans from it after their father’s death, without their mother’s consent.

Gayle and Russell Robinson; she met her husband at the age of 17 and joined the Marine Corps to be with him. They were married when they were 20.

This was acknowledged later in Keith’s court. He ordered that visits from those children, including Mary and Ricky Robinson, would not be allowed unless it was shown that they were paying the loans back to their mother on a regular basis.

Instead of Law, Keith appointed Rowan as Mrs. Robinson’s temporary guardian and conservator June 11, 2014. Rowan is an attorney who court records now show has 421 open probate cases of various kinds, including millions of dollars in conservatorships, Rowan and Chief Judge Mack earlier denied that number of open cases.

“As Chief Judge of the Court my authority is limited to administrative matters,” Mack told VOD in a January email regarding the Robinson case. “I have no authority to interfere with the decision-making in cases handled by other judges serving in the Wayne County Probate Court. I do not believe that Ms. Rowan is handling one hundred cases in our Court, much less hundreds.”

Rowan responded to VOD’s question about her abnormally heavy caseload by email last week.

Then Chief Judge Milton Mack (l) celebrating holidays with commonly used Trustee Walter Sakowski at Attorney Geoffrey Fieger’s party. Trustees and other officials are paid out of the ward’s estate, depleting it.

“I have been appointed by the Court, nominated by individuals, families, other attorneys and retained as counsel through the years. As to the procedure on Court appointments, I am notified by the Court after each appointment is made. I do have a substantial active case load and have a great staff who assist me.”

She added, “My primary role as guardian is to make decisions and take steps on behalf of Mrs. Robinson that are in her best interest based upon all of the information that I have been provided.

Complaints from some of Rowan’s other wards about her practices to the contrary are detailed in links to stories at the conclusion of this one.

Peter Cavataio, who was affiliated with Detroit organized crime, was killed in a notorious hit in 1985. It is not known if Rowan’s husband John Cavataio is related to that family.

Rowan operates her practice out of her small home at 1303 Nottingham in Grosse Pointe, where she resides with her 37-year-old husband John Cavataio. He operates John Cavataio, Inc. a specialty construction business, according to state records.

Cavataio is related to a Peter Cavataio, about 65. Another Peter Cavataio, known as “The Baker,” was the subject of a well-publicized mob hit in 1985.

VOD asked Ms. Rowan whether her husband plays any role in handling the substantial funds she controls as a conservator, and whether he is associated with organized crime.

She replied, “With respect to your questions regarding my husband and your questions about whether he has any ties to organized crime, no he does not have any.”

She did not address whether her husband is related to the Cavataio family of organized crime repute, and whether he has any role in handling her conservatorship funds.

Rowan said in her response to an attorney grievance filed by Debbie Fox that she and Anna Duba, listed as an LPN and director of Admissions and Case Management at Maple Manor Nursing and Rehab Center in Wayne, Michigan, first visited Mrs. Robinson’s home on June 20, 2014, nine days after Rowan’s appointment as guardian. Their intent was to initiate Mrs. Robinson’s placement in the Center.

Residents over 100 in Maple Manor Center in Wayne, MI celebrate birthdays.

Mrs. Robinson was not there because Randy had taken her to visit her father’s grave in remembrance of his birthday that day. Rowan alleged she and Duba conducted a high-speed chase at 85 mph as Randy drove his mother from the home, which Randy denies. In any event, neither Rowan nor Duba had any authority to chase the car, especially at 85 mph.

No LPN license for Anna Duba exists on the state Dept. of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs web site. Medicare has cited Maple Manor for some cases of “not honoring a resident’s rights as a resident of the nursing home, free of coercion and reprisal, and as citizens or residents of the United States,” and many cases of fire code violations.

On June 27, Rowan again attempted to see Mrs. Robinson. Randy Robinson says she told him she was there to take his mother, but would not tell him where. He refused her entry.

Randy filed a report with the court stating this was an “illegal attempt to kidnap” his mother. “Rowan tried to force her way into the house illegally, pushing on the door with her hand,” he said.

After more court hearings, during which Keith said July 28^th that Mrs. Robinson could not be removed without a court order signed by him, Rowan’s aide Katie McDonald, an accountant, showed up at the house with Westland Police, to take Mrs. Robinson again, during the Sept. 30, 2014 event.

A two hour stand-off occurred, during which Mrs. Robinson repeatedly asked why McDonald and Westland Sgt. Randall Thivierge had no court documents giving them permission to take her. (See video below, filmed by Randy Robinson with some adjustments for effect, such as repetitions of Thivierge’s statement that he did not know where the court papers were.)

Finally worn down, Mrs. Robinson left the house after being told she would be gone only a couple of hours. She was taken to Botsford Hospital in Royal Oak. They would not admit her without a valid court order. Rowan admits that McDonald then took Mrs. Robinson to a hotel to spend the night. On Oct. 1, Randy said, Mrs. Robinson called home to tell him she was “back at Botsford is afraid please come get her.”

When Randy and Debbie went to see their mother there, hospital staff first told them she had never been there, then refused access to them to visit her. Randy filed a petition with the court asking that Rowan be removed as guardian, which was ignored.

After a total of 10 days of Mrs. Robinson’s captivity, Botsford’s Dr. Theodore Ruza reported in her discharge summary that she was “admitted to the geropsychiatric unit on an involuntary basis with the patient and Guardian’s permission.”

Dr. Theodore Ruza of Botsford said Gayle Robinson does not need a guardian.

He had earlier reported that Mrs. Robinson lived alone, had been “paranoid and delusional with her thought content,” and needed assistance with activities of daily living, based on Rowan’s false and/or unfounded statements.

“It should be noted that I feel at this time that the patient does not need a guardian,” he concluded however. “She can assist in making her own decisions. I do feel the patient may benefit from a conservator to monitor her finances.” (Author’s emphasis.)

Rowan claims reports from Mrs. Robinson’s own doctor and Henry Ford Hospital psychiatrists are “not credible . . .because either Randy and/or Ms. Fox attended these appointments or garnered the reports and were present for all other medical exams of Gayle, making the results highly suspect,” in a response to an attorney grievance filed by Debbie Fox.

Russell and Gayle Robinson family in happier days. Family photo added by Debbie Fox to her father’s obituary site.

She said Dr. Marlana Geha, subsequently appointed by the court to evaluate Mrs. Robinson, “is a PhD in Gerontology, a degree even higher than a medical doctor,” a blatantly inaccurate statement.

Keith appointed Rowan and Brown as co-guardians and Rowan as full conservator Feb. 4, 2015, with the expectation that Brown would become sole guardian/conservator June 17, 2015. The “consent agreement” gives Mrs. Robinson permission to leave the state with her brother on vacations. It also allows visits by her other children in her home from noon to 9 p.m. without Randy or Debbie present.

During the court hearing Dec. 9, covered by VOD, Judge Keith told Mrs. Robinson it was up to her to decide the circumstances of her other children’s visitation.

He specified that Mary and Ricky Robinson, the children who took loans from their mother’s home equity account, can only visit if they are up-to-date on re-payments.

Below, Mary Robinson discusses financial situation with mother.

Keith denied Randy Robinson’s and Debbie Fox’s objections to the “agreement,” which they said changed what was ordered in court Dec. 9.

On June 15, 2015, Kathleen Law filed a statement in court through her attorneys that alleged, “Jim Brown denies access to Mrs. Robinson as does Randy Robinson and Debbie Fox.” Her mother’s own statements in the video at the top of the story indicate that SHE did not want to visit with any children who put her in probate court.

In written notes, Jim Brown said he asked his sister if she wanted to speak to children who called, and was not willing to force her to do so after she said “No.”

The statement alleges that Randy Robinson “forced” his mother to mow her own lawn. Randy told VOD his mother enjoys doing yard work and remaining active, as shown in his video. The statement also asked that Randy and Lynette be “ousted” from the home.

Chicago Attorney JoAnne Denison

It claims that Randy and Debbie are denying Mary Rowan full access to their mother’s accounts as directed by the court.

On June 17, Keith awarded sole guardianship and conservatorship to Rowan, terminating Brown’s role as co-guardian. He also ordered attorney James Ayres to review the guardianship. His report is due Aug. 17, according to court records.

Chicago attorney JoAnne Denison, who authors a blog on probate court abuse, commented with regard to Gayle Robinson’s case, “She is . . . suffering from this trauma of the state and Ms. Mary Rowan, an attorney and professional guardian, trying to steal all her assets and then do the ‘target, isolate, medicate, drain the estate and quietly eliminate and cremate’ scenario we are all too familiar with in the probate division of courts across the nation.”