COP SLAUGHTER OF BLACK MEN CONTINUES IN GEORGIA, COLORADO; MADISON STATE CAPITOL OCCUPIED


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Video above:  High school students in Madison, Wisconsin occupied the state capitol building to protest the killing of 19-year-old Tony Robinson by white cop Matt Kenny March ; radio dispatches indicate cops knew who he was, and that he was likely unarmed. Meanwhile, killings by cops across the country have continued, with two fatal shootings of unarmed Black men in Georgia and Colorado. According to the following link, police have killed three men a day so far in 2015. The story links to a list of those who have been killed.

http://www.dontcomply.com/so-far-in-2015-police-have-killed-three-people-a-day/#sthash.JBMhTdPS.dpuf

There is also a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/KilledByPolice?fref=nf

UNARMED BLACK VETERAN, MUSICIAN KILLED BY DEKALB COUNTY COPS WAS ANTHONY HILL, 27

Anthony Hill's last Facebook post: "Where I once saw death, now I only see life.
Anthony Hill’s last Facebook post: “Where I once saw death, now I only see life.

“Where I once saw death, now I see life”–Hill’s last post on Facebook page

By Steve Visser

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 

March 10, 2015

The naked, unarmed man shot and killed by DeKalb County police Monday afternoon has been identified as 27-year-old Anthony Hill of Chamblee.

Hill was an Air Force veteran and a musician, according to his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/theycallmeant?fref=nf

And his name has already become a hashtag on social media, a platform hundreds of people have used in the hours since the shooting to express sadness, confusion and outrage.

“Something must be done about police training,” @historygal517 wrote in a Twitter post. “How could a naked unarmed man be dangerous enough to shoot? #AnthonyHill needed help. #Dekalb”

Still from video shows Hill hanging from apartment balcony moments before he was shot and killed by police. He was bipolar, according to news reports.

Still from video shows Hill hanging from apartment balcony moments before he was shot and killed by police. He was bipolar, according to news reports.

The GBI has been called in to investigate if the officer acted properly when he fatally shot the man, who appeared to be mentally ill Monday, said Cedric Alexander, director of the county public safety department.

According to Alexander, a DeKalb officer responded to an apartment complex about 1 p.m. on a “suspicious person” report in which a man, who lived in The Heights at Chamblee, was knocking on apartment doors, had disrobed and was crawling around naked.

“No weapon was found,” Alexander said. “The GBI is going to take the point on this investigation.”

Onlookers gather at Chamblee Apartments where Hill died.

Onlookers gather at Chamblee Apartments where Hill died.

The man ran at the officer and ignored demands to stop before the officer shot him twice, Alexander said. He said he did not know the distance between the officer and the man when the shots were fired, if the man was charging the officer or just running and if the officer should have deployed his Taser. That will all be part of the investigation, he said.

The name of the officer, a 7-year-veteran of the force, has not been released. The officer is on administrative leave.

Anthony Hill with friend Bridget.

Anthony Hill with friend Bridget, who wrote: Today was our 3 year anniversary. I love babe. I know you’re happy to see your granddad in heaven.

Today was our 3 year anniversary… I love you babe. Rest in paradise. I know you’re happy to see your granddad.

Alexander said the decision to call in the GBI was in step with a national move toward having independent agencies investigate officer-involved shootings. Alexander said it was not tied to recent unrest involving a DeKalb police investigation into an officer’s fatal shooting of a 44-year-old man who had called 911 for police help.

In that case, Alexander agreed to call in the GBI following demands by the man’s family members and protesters.

DeKalb officers receive some training in dealing with the mentally ill while in the academy before they join the force, Alexander said, but on Monday he said perhaps the training needed to be bolstered.

“That is becoming more and more apparent,” he said.

— Staff writers Ben Gray, Mike Morris, Alexis Stevens and Rodney Thrash contributed to this report.

Three of Anthony Hill’s songs are available on his Soundcloud page, where he uses the name Ant Lanta.

Hill's photo of family members on his Facebook page.

Hill’s photo of family members on his Facebook page.

 NAESCHYLUS VINZANT, ANOTHER UNARMED BLACK MAN, KILLED BY POLICE IN COLORADO: REPORTS

  @aaronlmorrison

March 9, 2015

International Business Times

Naeschylus Vinzant, photo from Colorado Dept. of Corrections

Naeschylus Vinzant, photo from Colorado Dept. of Corrections

As protests grew over the shooting of an unarmed biracial teenager in Wisconsin, police in Aurora, Colorado, announced an African-American man fatally shot last week also had been unarmed. Police Monday said the 37-year-old man, identified by the coroner’s office as Naeschylus Vinzant, was a parolee who had removed a Department of Corrections ankle monitor. The officer responsible for the shooting, who has not been named, was placed on administrative leave, the Denver Post reported.

Aurora Police Cmdr. Paul O’Keefe told a news conference Vinzant was on foot when he was shot once Friday. Officers were trying to arrest him  in a kidnapping and robbery investigation. The officer who did the shooting hired a lawyer and was being interviewed by investigators, O’Keefe said.

AURORA, CO - MARCH 06: Scene of an Aurora Police officer involved shooting near 12th Ave and Memphis St. March 06, 2015. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)

AURORA, CO – MARCH 06: Scene of an Aurora Police officer involved shooting near 12th Ave and Memphis St. March 06, 2015. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)

“Police actions are going to be questioned to a much greater degree,” said Nicholas Metz, chief of the Aurora Police Department, apparently referring to the national conversation about law enforcement prompted by several recent police-involved killings of unarmed black men and boys. Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice released a searing report detailing racial discrimination and targeting by police in Ferguson, Missouri, where white police Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed unarmed black teen Michael Brown last August. The Justice Department’s investigation in Ferguson cleared Wilson of civil rights violations in the shooting.

Public outcry Monday was growing over the shooting of Tony Robinson in Madison, Wisconsin, last Friday. The biracial 19-year-old, who reportedly suffered from anxiety and depression, was unarmed at the time white police Officer Matt Kenny shot him. Robinson, whose case was drawing comparisons to Brown’s in Ferguson, reportedly struck Kenny in the head before he was shot. Police had been responding to reports the teen allegedly assaulted two friends at a Madison apartment.

Protest after brutal killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO

Protest after brutal killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown by cop Darren Wilson  in Ferguson, MO

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BLACK TEEN TONY ROBINSON SHOT DEAD BY MADISON SERIAL KILLER KOP MATT KENNY; POLICE OUT NOW!

Tony Robinson, 18, killed by Madison, Wisconsin police March 6, 2015.

Tony Robinson, 18, killed by Madison, Wisconsin police March 6, 2015.

Update, March 8, 2015: According to a report from the Associated Press, the cop who killed Tony Robinson, 19, is Matt Kenny, who is white. . . .

Kenny, who had more than 12 years with the Madison department, also shot and killed a suspect in 2007, but was cleared of wrongdoing because it was a ‘suicide by cop-type’ situation,” said the AP. “In that shooting, Kenny responded to a 911 call of a man with a gun and shot him twice after police said he pointed the gun at officers. It turned out to be a pellet gun.”

Serial killer Madison kop Matt Kenny.

Madion serial killer kop Matt Kenny.

Predictably, news media has now also detailed a previous arrest and conviction of Robinson for home invasion, completely unrelated to his killing by Kenny. Police had said he was running in and out of traffic, and allegedly he had been involved in an assault and battery. However, a friend said he frequently runs across the street between his apartment and that of his room-mate’s mother.

Robinson was still alive when he arrived at the hospital where police took him, but no one from his family, including his mother Andrea Irwin, was allowed to see him. Irwin said her son was not a violent person, and she could not understand how he could die under such violent circumstances.

Daily CardinalBy

MADISON, WI — After an unnamed Madison Police Department officer shot teenager Anthony “Tony” Terrell Robinson in an apartment on the 1100 block of Williamson Street Friday evening, a crowd of nearly 150 gathered at the scene to protest what they said was another example of racial injustice. Robinson was a graduate of Sun Prairie High School.

Tony Robinson's grieving mother Andrea Irwin.

Tony Robinson’s grieving mother Andrea Irwin.

Family spokesman Michael Johnson said on Facebook that Robinson was a “loving and caring young man” who was about to attend Milwaukee Area Technical College to pursue a business degree.

Madison Police Chief Mike Koval said a police officer shot and killed a 19-year-old black man Friday evening, according to footage from a press conference published by Channel 3000. The family of the victim identified him as Anthony Robinson.

Koval said MPD received a report that Robinson was responsible for a recently committed battery. The first responding officer arrived at the apartment the man had entered and heard a “disturbance” coming from inside. The officer then forced his way into the building, where Robinson allegedly assaulted him.

“In the context of mutual combat in that sense, the officer did draw his revolver and subsequently shot the subject,” Koval said.

At the time of the press conference, police did not know if Robinson had a weapon, although an initial investigation ruled out the presence of a gun.

Protest at shooting site included Robinson's aunt (in brown leather jacket) and grandmother at right.

Protest at shooting site included Robinson’s aunt (in brown leather jacket) and grandmother at right.

Koval said the officer immediately aided Robinson with CPR, along with help from backup officers. He was taken to a hospital, where he died of the gunshot wounds.

The responding officer was knocked down by a blow to the head, but Koval said at the press conference, the officer would be treated and ultimately released.

State law mandates that an independent investigation be conducted. MPD froze the scene until the state Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation arrived.

Officers at the scene said DOJ investigators had arrived before 11:30 p.m.

“This is completely their oversight,” Koval said. “We will only supplement their needs as they request it.”

Hundreds of people rallied outside building where Tony Robinson was murdered.

Hundreds of people rallied outside building where Tony Robinson was murdered.

He said MPD will not have an instrumental role in the investigation.

“In light of so [many] things that have happened not just across this country, but in our own community, it’s understandable that the reaction at the scene amidst some of our citizens is extremely volatile, emotional and upsetting,” Koval said.

Demonstrators arrived on Williamson Street shortly after the incident, where they remained for several hours, chanting, singing and praying for Robinson’s family.

Shortly before midnight, Robinson’s grandmother, Sharon Irwin, and aunt, Lorien Carter, addressed the crowd.

He [Robinson] wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Irwin said. “He was unarmed. Why would you shoot him five times? What happened to your taser gun?”

Family members said they were not allowed to see Robinson after he was pronounced dead.

Protesters sit in at Madison City Hall to protest Robinson's killing.

Protesters sit in at Madison City Hall to protest Robinson’s killing.

 

‘WE WERE TOLD HE WAS EVIDENCE,’ NOT ALLOWED TO SEE ROBINSON

“We were told he was evidence,” Carter said. “He wasn’t referred to as ‘his son’ or ‘your son,’ just ‘evidence.'”

Protest organizers relocated the crowd to the City/County Building, where they said police were holding two demonstrators who had been detained from the scene earlier in the evening.

Protester weeps as demonstrations continued over the weekend,

Protester weeps as demonstrations continued over the weekend,

Police locked the doors to the building after half the group had already entered. They staged a sit-in along the halls of the building while the others chanted outside and knocked on the doors to the building.

The two protesters were released before 1:30 a.m., and the combined group of roughly 150 dissipated.

Irwin said she believed her grandson’s death was part of a larger national issue and similar to cases in Ferguson, Mo. and Miami Gardens, Fla.

“This can’t go on anymore,” Irwin said. “It’s going on across the United States and it’s ridiculous. You don’t have a license to kill. You have a license to protect, and that’s not what I’m seeing.”

Above all, family members asked for nonviolent demonstrations, like the one Friday night, to continue.

“Protest peacefully, please,” Carter asked. “Stand up, but stand up peacefully.”

selma-ferguson-detroit-aiyana-650px

VOD editor: This morning again, we wake up to hear of another Black youth whose life has been ended by a killer kop, after two men of color in LA were shot down like dogs by the LAPD March 1 and March 5. This is nothing but an ongoing massacre across the U.S. now, by the country’s own home-grown terrorists, its police forces.

Joseph Weekley in SWAT uniform with gun

Killer cop Joseph Weekley, all charges dismissed.

Peaceful protests do not matter, as killer cops are set free, from Joseph Weekley in Detroit, who deliberately shot Aiyana Jones, 7, in the head with an MP5 submachine gun on May 16 2010, to Darrell Wilson from Ferguson, MO, who deliberately killed 18-year-old Michael Brown Aug. 9, 2014.

The mainstream media lies, criminalizing the victims without fail, aiding and abetting the killers. It lied all through the years since Aiyana’s murder, claiming the shooting, part of a horrific SWAT-style raid on her home, was an “accident.” VOD was the only newspaper to report that the Medical Examiner testified that a contact gunshot wound would not leave stippling, as was the case with Aiyana, and that Weekley did not even have the safety on his gun engaged according to an inside source.

“He came to kill!” Aiyana’s grandmother Mertilla Jones cried out at the time. Yes, Weekley did, and yes, cops all over the U.S. are coming to kill members of Black, Latino and poor communities deliberately every single day.

Mike Brown, 18, shot to death by Darren WIlson in Ferguson, MO.

Mike Brown, 18, shot to death by Darren WIlson in Ferguson, MO.

The U.S. Department of Justice issued a report this week condemning the racist practices of the Ferguson Police Department, but never brought charges against Wilson.  Outgoing U.S Atty. General Eric Holder said the USDOJ may have to go so far as to dismantle the department.

YES! That must be done across the country and if the federal government does not do it, the people must!  Killer cop forces must be driven out of our communities, and those responsible for these murders jailed for life. The slaughter of our youth, people of color and poor people across the U.S. will never end until these ISIS-style occupation forces leave!

Revolutionary leader Frederick Douglass.

Revolutionary leader Frederick Douglass.

Frederick Douglass:

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.

In the light of these ideas, Negroes will be hunted at the North and held and flogged at the South so long as they submit to those devilish outrages and make no resistance, either moral or physical. Men may not get all they pay for in this world, but they must certainly pay for all they get. If we ever get free from the oppressions and wrongs heaped upon us, we must pay for their removal. We must do this by labor, by suffering, by sacrifice, and if needs be, by our lives and the lives of others.

– See Frederick Douglass’ entire speech at:

http://www.blackpast.org/1857-frederick-douglass-if-there-no-struggle-there-no-progress#sthash.4X2eLOf7.dpuf

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LA COPS SLAUGHTER 2 IN 4 DAYS: HOMELESS BLACK MAN ‘AFRICA;’ LATINO DRIVER SERGIO NAVAS

VIDEO ABOVE BY THOMAS BLACKBURN, MARCH 1, 2015

VOD Editor: On March 1 and again on March 5, Los Angeles cops brutally killed two unarmed men of color, a homeless man called “Africa” or “Cameroon,” given name Charley Leundeu Keunang, killed by five cops  in downtown LA outside a homeless shelter, and Sergio Navas, 35, chased by police from North Hollywood to Burbank in what they claimed was a stolen car. A cop in the passenger seat of a pursuit car shot Navas numerous times as he sat in the driver’s seat of the car he was in, shattering its window.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck during press conference on shooting of Africa.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck during press conference on shooting of Africa.

Below are excerpts from various sources on the LAPD’s brutal killing of “Africa” March 1, and the subsequent killing of Navas on March 5. The LAPD, with other police in LA County, according to official figures posted below, has racked up an astounding record of fatal shootings by cops just since 2014. Protests have been taking place across the city.

Detroiters should note that Detroit Police Chief James Craig, earlier appointed by the city’s emergency manager Kevyn Orr, spent 28 years in command positions with the LAPD. He was on the internal panel that investigated and whitewashed the “Ramparts” scandal, before the U.S. Department of Justice intervened.

_____________________________________________________________

LA POLICE FATAL INCIDENTS

LAPD cops advance in battle gear.

LAPD cops advance in battle gear.

16 People shot dead by police in city of Los Angeles in 2014

252 People killed by police in LA since 2000

606 People killed by police in LA county since 2000

38 People killed by police in LA county in 2014

Source: LA Times Homicide Report

____________________________________________________________

Protest of Africa's death in downtown LA.

Protest of Africa’s death in downtown LA.

Homeless, unarmed man “AFRICA” shot five times, killed  after police dragged him out of tent in front of  Union Rescue Mission Shelter

Friends said he had been recently released from mental hospital

French consulate repudiates reports that he was French national called Charley Saturmin Robinet;  he has now been identified as native of Cameroon,

"Africa," shot to death by five LAPD cops March 1, 2015 outside his tent near homeless shelter

Africa,” shot to death by five LAPD cops March 1, 2015 outside his tent near homeless shelter

VOD Editor: Please note the original unedited video at top, by Thomas Blackburn, of the slaughter of “Africa.” Various mainstream media have shown it interspersed with stills and comments from so-called “experts” who claim Africa can be seen reaching for a cop’s gun. In fact, it is absolutely unclear from the stills what the object is.

Africa had just been dragged out of his tent and slammed to the ground without provocation by at least five cops with their guns drawn.  A similar tactic was used in St. Louis, MO after police killed 18-year-old Antonio Martin last year; a red circle was drawn around an unidentified object police alleged was a gun in a blurry gas station video still.

The mainstream media continues to vilify “Africa,” first wrongly identifying him as a French national, and then claiming without complete substantiation that he was a bank robber 10 years ago.  It has now been established that he was from Cameroon. The Miami Herald reports he is Charly Keundeu Keunang, 43, listed as being indigent and homeless, and dying  from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

Despite a California Supreme Court mandate that the names of officers involved in such shootings be released, the LAPD has so far refused to do so.

 

VIDEO SHOWS FATAL SHOOTING OF HOMELESS MAN

Suzetta Shaw, a homeless woman at left, joins other homeless protesters at site of Africa's slaughter by LAPD.

Suzetta Shaw, a homeless woman at left, joins other homeless protesters at site of Africa’s slaughter by LAPD.

Buzz Feed

By Claudia Koerner and Mary Ann Georgantopoulos

Updated on March 2, 2015, at 7:33 p.m.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/claudiakoerner/video-shows-los-angeles-police-shooting-homeless-man#.rrv4zOzpaN

A video uploaded to Facebook shows officers responding to a robbery call and arguing with two people. Two officers pull one person away. The other officers, who are farther from the camera, surround a man.

A video from the BBC below gives reaction from witnesses at the scene:

The Los Angeles Police Department said the robbery suspect began fighting the officers and resisting arrest. At one point an officer punches the man to the ground. The officers attempted to use a taser, but the suspect continued fighting, according to a statement released by the LAPD (click on LAPD pr on killing of homeless man Africa). During the altercation, the man and the officers struggled over one of the officer’s handguns.

“Drop the gun,” officers shout several times with their own guns drawn. About five shots can be heard on the video.

Witness who recorded video says he didn’t see man reaching for cop’s gun; LAPD admits he was unarmed

Thomas Blackburn

Thomas Blackburn

Thomas Blackburn, the man who recorded the shooting, told CNN that he didn’t see the homeless person reaching out for an officer’s gun, contradicting the police’s version of events. “Why didn’t they simply “shoot the man in the leg?” Blackburn said. “He’s already on the ground.”

Paramedics responded and pronounced the victim dead at the scene. Two officers were treated for minor injuries and released. Witness also began shouting that they did not believe the man who was shot was armed.

LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith told CNN that the man was unarmed. “I don’t know what they found on this individual,” Smith said. “Obviously he didn’t have a firearm.”

Witnesses identified the man by his street name, “Africa,” according to the Los Angeles Times. Witnesses said he had been living in a tent on Skid Row for several months and had spent some time in a mental health facility.

There have been 12 fatal officer-involved incidents in downtown Los Angeles since 2000, according to the Times.

Mainstream media claimed this inset from video shows Africa reaching for cop's gun. Well, WHAT IS THAT?

Mainstream media claimed this inset from video shows Africa reaching for cop’s gun. Well, WHAT IS THAT?

The LAPD’s specialized Force Investigative Division is collecting evidence and will interview witnesses as part of their investigation to determine whether the use of deadly force was consistent with the department’s policies. In addition to the video posted on Facebook, LAPD Sgt. Barry Montgomery said there could be video from two surveillance cameras from buildings at the scene.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney will also review the incident.

The shooting took place across from the Union Rescue Mission, which provides a number of services to homeless people.

US POLICE SHOOT HOMELESS MAN DEAD IN LA 

BBC News

2 March 2015 Last updated at 05:55 ET BBC’s Alastair Leithead: “Five shots were fired”

Protesters hold impromptu memorial for Africa.

Protesters hold impromptu memorial for Africa.

US police have shot and killed a homeless man during an altercation in central Los Angeles, in an incident caught on video.

The graphic film shows a violent struggle between the man and several officers in the city’s Skid Row area.

Police say that three officers opened fire after the man tried to grab a gun from an officer.

Witnesses said the dead man was known as Africa and had been homeless after treatment for mental illness.

The LA police department said officers had been responding to reports of a robbery and had attempted to use a Taser to subdue the suspect but he had “continued fighting and resisting”.

A witness said five officers were involved in the altercation

No other gun was recovered at the scene, LA police commander Andrew Smith said.

Last year, highly publicised killings of black men sparked weeks of protests in the US.

Hours after the latest shooting, the hashtag #LAPDShooting was trending on Twitter in the US.

Shooting victim

  • Another memorial identifying Africa's home country as Cameroon, not France.

    Another memorial identifying Africa’s home country as Cameroon, not France.

    Nicknamed Africa, had been living on the street for months, eyewitnesses say

  • Said to have spent 10 years in a mental health institution before winding up homeless
  • Said by people who knew him to have not been violent but still exhibited “mental problems”

Sources: LA Times and ABC News

It is unclear from the video what exactly happened, the BBC’s Alastair Leithead reports from Los Angeles.

The video begins with what appears to be a black man swinging punches at four police officers in daylight, near the tents and cardboard of a pavement homeless camp. Two other officers run up to join their colleagues.

The video posted on Facebook showed the altercation leading to the shooting

Protesters conduct "die-in" on LA street.

Protesters conduct “die-in” on LA street.

As the man is knocked to the ground, a woman can be seen picking up a fallen police baton and a voice seems to shout “Give me my stick! Give me my stick!”

Several police officers turn to tackle the woman, in the foreground of the video, and her detention partially obscures what is happening with the man on the ground.

A voice can be heard shouting “Drop the gun!” four times before five shots ring out.

The police officers step away from the suspect lying on the ground. No-one approaches the body again for one minute and 13 seconds, by which time police reinforcements have arrived.

The man taking the video can be heard swearing as he records it.

After the shooting, he can be heard saying. “Ain’t nobody got no [obscenity] gun. I’m gonna record this [obscenity]… They just shot that man right here, man, they just shot that [obscenity] man right here, yeah.”

The man was shot dead in Skid Row, where many of LA’s homeless live.

Protester demands homes, not police.

Protester demands homes, not police.

Skid Row

  • Name given to a central district of Los Angeles with a large homeless population
  • Estimates of district’s population range from 8,000 to 11,000 people, predominantly black, with a homeless population of about 2,500, according to the LA Chamber of Commerce
  • Described by the Associated Press news agency as a “tenuous comfort zone for many who hit the rock bottom of their lives in America”
  • Homeless people tended to gravitate to the area historically as it was near a railway terminal – “the last stop on the train for the whole country”, according to the Union Rescue Mission charity
  • Other US cities have their own “skid rows”, with the term believed to have originated in Seattle, Washington state

“The video is disturbing,” LAPD Commander told reporters. “It’s disturbing any time anyone loses their life. It’s a tragedy.” The commander added that at least one of the police officers had been wearing a body camera.

According to an ABC News report, the three officers have been placed on leave pending the outcome of an investigation into the shooting. Steve Soboroff, president of LA’s Police Commission, told the BBC it was important to investigate the facts before making any conclusions.

 Eyewitnesses call fatal Los Angeles police shooting of homeless ... www.finalcall.com-350 × 243-Search by image From left, Skid Row activist “D.J.” General Jeff consoles Skid Row resident Ina Murphy ollowing LAPD shooting of homeless, mentally ill Black man/Photo Final Call


  From left, Skid Row activist “D.J.” General Jeff consoles Skid Row resident Ina Murphy ollowing LAPD shooting of homeless, mentally ill Black man/Photo Final Call

Witnesses told the Los Angeles Times that the man who died had been living on the street for four or five months.

Ina Murphy, who lives in an apartment nearby, said he had told her that he had recently been released after spending 10 years in a mental health facility.

People on Skid Row who knew him said he was not violent.

“What did he do?” said Steven Tugmon to ABC News. “He wasn’t an aggravated person. He wasn’t mad all the time. He just had mental problems.”

More on This Story

Related Stories

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2975139/Video-shows-Los-Angeles-police-officer-shoot-dead-homeless-man-broad-daylight.html

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-rall-lapd-skid-row-homeless-shooting-20150305-story.html

Witness describes LA shooting Watch

Angry protester after LAPD killing of homeless man called Africa.

Angry protester after LAPD killing of homeless man called Africa.

LAPD OFFICER FATALLY SHOOTS FLEEING MOTORIST AFTER HIS CAR COLLIDES WITH POLICE VEHICLE

 ‘There is no evidence to support he was armed.’

Man now identified as Sergio Narvas, 35

Cops shot him from their car as he sat in his driver’s seat, shattering window

(VOD: see second video at top of post.)

 March 5, 2015

LA NOW – Los Angeles Times

Body of Sergio Navas, 35, is under the white covering on street where he died.

Body of Sergio Navas, 35, is under the white covering on street where he died.

A man [now identified as Sergio Navas, 35, of North Hollywood] was killed by LAPD officers after a pursuit that ended in Burbank.

LAPD Sgt. Barry Montgomery said, “There is no evidence to support he was armed.”

The man was shot by an officer sitting in the passenger seat of a squad car when their two cars collided during the chase. Wounded, the man got out of the car and ran but officers chased him down and handcuffed him, said Officer Wendy Reyes.

He was declared dead at the scene after arriving paramedics tried to resuscitate him.

Anti-police brutality protesters..

Anti-police brutality protesters..

The chase began when the man sped away from LAPD officers who tried to pull him over at Magnolia Boulevard and Riverton Avenue in North Hollywood about 1:45 a.m., said Officer Liliana Preciado. Officers started following the car because it had paper plates and the suspect was “driving erratically,” she said.

Officers gave chase and followed him into Burbank, where the man drove into a short cul-de-sac off West National Avenue and Evergreen Street and was cornered. The man’s car collided with the passenger side of the LAPD car and the officer in the passenger seat started shooting, Preciado said.

“All I heard was sirens and gunshots,” said John Zunino, a resident who was woken up Thursday by the commotion and police helicopter. “I kept hearing them get louder and louder…then I hear pop-pop-pop-pop like five or six gunshots.”

Officials confer at site of Burbank killing.

Officials confer at site of Burbank killing.

Police initially said it appeared the man had deliberately rammed the vehicle. Further investigation showed “he was not ramming the vehicle, it was a straight collision,” Preciado said.

Montgomery said the pursuit lasted about 6 minutes before it ended in the cul-de-sac. He said experts would analyze skid marks and look for any kind of surveillance video to determine exactly what happened.

The officers involved in the pursuit had minor injuries, Montgomery said.

The car the unidentified suspect was driving, a gold Mercury Sable, had been reported stolen on Feb. 26 from a northeast L.A. neighborhood, the police sergeant said

Site of death of Sergio Navas, 35

Site of death of Sergio Navas, 35

Burbank resident David Lamb walked his bike from his second-story apartment Thursday morning, ducking under the yellow police tape that lined Pass Avenue after the early morning violence.

A black screen blocked his view of a white sheet covering the driver’s body.

Lamb said the early morning gunshots jolted him and his wife awake. Both rushed to check on their three children — 6 months, and 2 and 4 years old.

“We heard a lot of sirens and helicopters,” Lamb, 32, said. “From our window we could see the scene and we saw the body on the ground.”

Paramedics came shortly after, he said, and spent about 20 minutes trying to revive the suspect.

“It’s shocking that this happened in this neighborhood,” he said.

Neighborhood of Burbank killing, near Warner Bros. studios. Was LAPD protecting Hollywood stars?

Neighborhood of Burbank killing, near Warner Bros. studios. Was LAPD protecting Hollywood stars?

Diana Cruz heard the whooping police sirens before dawn and watched as white lights flashed throughout the neighborhood and into her home. Then she heard the gunshots.

“I thought I heard about four,” Cruz said as she walked her dog one street away from the scene of the shooting.

But she rolled over in bed and went back to sleep, convinced that that shots were either fake or came from far away.

“We live so close to Universal Studios and a couple of times they’ve put up signs saying that we’ll hear shots,” Cruz explained.

Jennifer Mendoza, 25, said that her boyfriend was awake at the time and rushed into the room to see if she had heard the gunfire.

“He said, ‘I think I heard gunshots. What if they’re in the alley?'” Mendoza recalled.

Falling in and out of sleep as he tried to tell her what he’d just heard, Mendoza found it hard to believe that there would be a shooting in the neighborhood.

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna and @ParviniParlance.

UPDATE: DEAD DRIVER IDENTIFIED AS SERGIO NAVAS, 35

North Hollywood Man Killed in Second Fatal LAPD Shooting in Four Days

By Paige Austin (Patch Staff) March 5, 2015 at 10:30pm

A car theft suspect who led Los Angeles Police Department officers on a six-minute chase from North Hollywood to Burbank was shot and killed today, in the second deadly LAPD shooting in four days.

The man was identified by the coroner’s office as 35-year-old Sergio Alexander Navas of North Hollywood.

LAPD motorist shooting

Site of car crash after which LAPD opened fire on Sergio Navas as he sat In driver’s seat.

Navas was shot about 1:45 a.m. in a cul-de-sac near the intersection of National Avenue and North Pass Avenue. The car driven by Navas collided with a patrol car collided at that location, according to the LAPD.

Police initially reported that the suspect had repeatedly rammed the patrol vehicle, but investigators later determined that was not the case, said LAPD Sgt. Barry Montgomery.

“I just want to clarify that in this particular case, there was no multiple ramming of the police vehicle,” Montgomery told Fox11.

Liliana Preciado, LAPD Communications

LAPD Officer Liliana Preciado said an officer on the passenger side of the patrol car opened fire on the suspect, who then ran off. He was chased by officers before collapsing near an alley off North Pass Street. No shots were fired during the foot pursuit, Preciado said.

Burbank firefighters pronounced Navas dead at the scene.

The LAPD’s earlier fatal officer-involved shooting occurred Sunday afternoon on Skid Row near downtown Los Angeles. Killed in that shooting, which was videotaped and sparked outrage among some activists and members of the public, was 43-year-old homeless Cameroonian Charley Leundeu Keunang, who allegedly tried to grab an officer’s weapon during a scuffle.

(VOD note: the LA Times reported that Navas had a number of drug and theft-related arrests, while other newspapers said he had convictions. VOD was not able to verify any of these from online LA County sources.)

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DETROIT LONG-TERM DEBT RISES 300% IN BANKRUPTCY; RETIREES FIGHT BACK WITH PROTEST, COURT APPEALS

Detroit retirees protest Orr, Rhodes, Rosen at Crain's luncheon Feb. 26, 2015. Poster of Aiyana Jones, 7 when killed by Detroit police in 2010, was prominently displayed.

Detroit retirees protest Orr, Rhodes, Rosen in freezing temperatures outside Crain’s luncheon Feb. 26, 2015. Poster of Aiyana Jones, 7 when killed by Detroit police in 2010, was prominently displayed. It’s not one thing–it’s everything.

Financial Review Commission report on current general fund debt: $3,008,162,089, up from 2013 total LTD of  $1,003,937,000 

“DON’T HONOR THIEVES” retirees shout outside luncheon for bankruptcy perpetrators Orr, Rhodes, Rosen 

Appeals of bankruptcy proceed in U.S. District Court

Next meeting of DAREA Wed. March 4 @ 5:30 pm, St. Matthew/Joseph Church at Woodward and Holbrook — Guest speaker Tom Barrow

DAREA VP Cecily McClellan at right.

DAREA VP Cecily McClellan at right.

By Diane Bukowski 

March 1, 2015 

DETROIT – As 32,000 members of Detroit’s city retirement systems lose huge chunks of their pension checks and annuity savings funds (ASF) accounts this week, on top of health care elimination, wage cuts, and lay-offs already in place, Wall Street is celebrating its $2 billion coup in the Detroit bankruptcy.

The Detroit Financial Review Commission (DFRC) published figures Feb. 16 that show the city’s total general fund long-term debt (LTD) from 2015-44 is now $3,008,162,089. According to the city’s last available Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) of 2013, the general fund LTD then was $1,003,937,000. 

LTD chartClick on City bond debt under bankruptcy for copy of chart; click on DFRC report for full copy of Financial Review Commission report.

,

Detroit Financial Review Commission:
Detroit “Mayor” Mike Duggan, Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones, State Treasurer Kevin Clinton, State Budget Director John Roberts,
Darrell Burks former senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Stacy Fox, former deputy EM under Kevyn Orr, Dupont Senior VP, Roxbury Real Estate, Lorron James ,VP of James Group Int’l, military contractor with Lockheed Martin; Bill Martin, founder of First Martin Corp., a real estate, construction, and development firm; Tony Saunders, former director at Conway McKenzie law firm, prime player in Detroit bankruptcy.
Every decision on every dollar in Detroit goes through these nine men and women.

Detroit workers, retirees and residents are liable for the debt, to be paid BEFORE any spending on city services. Under terms of the bankruptcy plan, the DFRC is the final decision-maker on city finances. 

“The City pledges to pay the principal of and interest on the Bonds as a first budget obligation from its general funds and in case of insufficiency thereof, from the proceeds of an annual levy of ad valorem taxes on all taxable property of the City, subject to applicable constitutional, statutory and charter tax rate limitations,” says the bankruptcy exit plan.

The DFRC report says the city’s state revenue-sharing payments, already slashed by $7.32 billion over the last 10 years, will also back up portions of the debt.

Some of the furred and beweled supporters of bankruptcy pretend non-chalance.

Some of the furred and beweled supporters of bankruptcy pretend non-chalance as they are called “thieves.”

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s celebrated the inclusion of state aid liens, giving four of the bond deals investment-grade ratings in the A range.

“Factors that strengthen the new credit and offset some of the weaker characteristics cited include the statutory lien on state aid, a first lien on debt millage from the city’s UTGO pledge, and the direct flow of state aid needed for debt payments from the state treasurer to the trustee as well as the direct flow of debt millage directly to the escrow trustee,” the Bond Buyer reported Dec. 22, 2014.

In other words, the state pays the debts directly to Wall Street without local government intervention.

Protester at entrance to MCC Sound Board.

Protester at entrance to MCC Sound Board.

“Thieves!” and “Al Capones!” a furious group of retirees shouted at well-heeled patrons arriving at a Feb. 27 Crain’s Detroit “Newsmakers” luncheon. The event honored former Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes, and bankruptcy mediator U.S. District Court Chief Judge Gerald Rosen.

“The banks got bailed out, we got sold out!” and  “Don’t honor thieves!” retirees chanted as the predominantly white attendees, including former EM Kevyn Orr and Jones Day attorney Heather Lennox, exited expensive cars, limousines and buses outside the entrance to the Motor City Casino’s Sound Board in downtown Detroit.

One group of retirees confronted Orr about the huge cuts they have taken to their pensions and health care. Orr responded, “You’re lucky I didn’t take it all.”

Protesters added a chant of “Newsmakers make up the news!” referring to what they said was biased coverage in favor of the bankruptcy by most of the mainstream media. During the luncheon, Orr and Rhodes congratulated the media for their coverage. The fact that the two spoke together with Rosen shed more doubt on the judges’ impartiality in the bankruptcy case.

Retirees confront luncheon attendees, who paid $70 a head, charging robbery.

Retirees confront luncheon attendees, who paid $70 a head, charging robbery.

VOD has already exposed Rhodes for chairing a one-sided forum Oct. 10, 2012 on Chapter 9 bankruptcy and Emergency Managers, which featured a chief witness for the “city” at the bankruptcy trial, Charles Moore of Conway Mackenzie. Also speaking were a co-author of Public Act 4, the predecessor to PA 436, EM trainers, and other pro-EM and Chapter 9 advocates.

“That constitutes not only an ethical violation, but Rhodes’ confirmation of the bankruptcy despite his knowledge of criminal fraud as exposed in the city’s lawsuit against the $1.5 billion ‘Certificates of Participation’ loan makes him liable for criminal charges as well,” retiree Cornell Squires of We the People for the People said.

“It is important that we are here today to show the world that we are still fighting, that the so-called ‘Grand Bargain’ was nothing but a ‘grand theft,’” Cecily McClellan, vice-president of the Detroit Active and Retired Employees Association (DAREA), told the crowd.

Jones Day atty. Heather Lennox arrives; she has been assigned to handle bankruptcy appeals.

“Many people don’t know we are appealing the bankruptcy plan in District Court because of its illegal injuries to retirees and residents. At the very least, we want the ‘claw-back’ of our annuity savings funds overturned, and at the most, we want the bankruptcy plan rescinded. It represents disparate treatment to African-Americans in the nations’ largest-Black majority city, which has been portrayed as a ‘failed’ city in world-wide publicity.  The ASF recoupment is aimed at employees who hired on after Coleman A. Young became Detroit’s first Black mayor. Judge Rhodes showed the institutional racism involved when he cited ‘the unique racial composition’ of Detroit to justify the bankruptcy.”

The mainstream media has completely ignored ongoing appeals in front of U.S. District Court Judge Bernard Friedman, filed by DAREA, the Ochadleus Group/Quinn, Jamie Fields, and others. The city summarily moved to dismiss the appeals without filing responses to them on Feb. 21, as did the so-called Detroit Retired City Employees Association (DRCEA), headed by Shirley Lightsey.

The DRCEA even requested $50 legal donations from its members to cover their expenses in the case against city retirees. But Friedman has not set a date for a hearing on the dismissal motions. Instead, he has told the city to provide “responsive briefs” after the appellants provide their responses to the motions to dismiss. Copies of the pertinent motions are attached below.

“We’re in this to win,” DAREA President Bill Davis told retirees earlier, “even if we have to take it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

"Rebirth of Detroit:" Dan Gilbert affiliates moved tenants out of bldg. next door and long-time Black and disabled residents from Griswold Apartments across street in Capitol Park.

“Rebirth of Detroit:” Dan Gilbert affiliates moved tenants out of bldg. next door and long-time Black and disabled residents from Griswold Apartments across street in Capitol Park.

The media generally claims retirees are losing only 4.5 percent of their pensions, ignoring huge six-figure sums being ripped from many annuity savings accounts, as well as new monthly payments of as much as $1200 for retiree health care.

It has celebrated the bankruptcy as “the rebirth of Detroit,” refusing to acknowledge that it may be nothing but a house of cards if Detroit is not able to repay the $3 billion debt Wall Street has foisted on it.

“We think that it is more than ‘feasible’ that the city finds itself facing fiscal difficulties over the next five years,” Municipal Market Advisors (MMA), an independent advisory firm, reported in October, 2014. “In effect, Detroit may wind up, on its first day out of bankruptcy, as one of the most likely candidates for Chapter 9 in the state of Michigan.”

Detroit retiree protests on Grand River before moving to MCC Sound Board entrance.

Detroit retiree protests on Grand River before moving to MCC Sound Board entrance.

MMA cited the bankruptcy plan’s giveaway of many of the city’s major revenue-producing assets, which include most of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, the Joe Louis Arena and other riverfront and downtown land and revenues.

The state of Michigan imposes a legal debt limit on its municipalities, which is 10 percent of the total assessed value of all the entities’ real and personal property.

According to Detroit’s 2013 CAFR, the city’s total debt limit was $1,558,064,000, with total net debt applicable to the limit at $1,039,011,000.The $3 billion total LTD already exceeds the limit, while figures from the DFRC report show the city’s annual debt payments rising year by year, with no substantial increase in revenue.

Bosom buddies: Michigan Gov. Rick-tator Snyder, Detroit "Mayor" Mike Duggan

Bosom buddies: Michigan Gov. Rick-tator Snyder, Detroit “Mayor” Mike Duggan

Detroit “Mayor” Mike Duggan reported in his State of the City Address that income from property taxes is expected to decline at least through 2017. Wayne County’s chargebacks to the city for foreclosed property it bought from Detroit, but cannot sell at auctions, are a huge factor, amounting to $82 million last year. Duggan also cited declining property values and likely increased foreclosure activity. He did NOT cite the huge tax breaks being accorded to wealthy developers like Dan Gilbert and Mike Illitch.

Other “inherent risks” in the projected budget, Duggan said, include increased unemployment, rising interest rates, rising inflation, lowered consumer confidence, declines in state sales tax revenues apportioned to the cities, and “implementation risks due to deferred-delayed results from restructuring efforts.”

BELOW: VIDEO OF KEVYN ORR AND JUDGE STEVEN RHODES AT CRAIN’S LUNCHEON. SPEAKERS, ATTENDEES HAD MANY GOOD LAUGHS AS DETROIT RETIREES SUFFERED WORST ATTACKS IN U.S.

DETROIT ACTIVE & RETIRED EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATION NEXT MEETING WED. MARCH 4 @ 5:30 P.M. ST. MATTHEWS/ST. JOSEPH CHURCH WOODWARD AND HOLBROOK

Former mayoral candidate Tom Barrow

Former mayoral candidate Tom Barrow

Guest Speaker: Mr. Tom Barrow

PETITION: Sign the petition to halt changes to pensions and other benefits, to  U.S. Justice Department, at http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/selective-enforcement?source=s.icn.em.mt&r_by=9645222.

FUNDRAISING: To donate to DAREA’s LEGAL DEFENSE FUND, click on  http://www.gofundme.com/pensiondefensefund. Or checks can be made payable to the Detroit Active and Retired Employees Association (DAREA), at P.O. Box 3724, Highland Park, Michigan 48203.

“Hands off my Pension” T-shirts shown in photos above are available for $10 each. The fundraising committee will continue to sponsor events to cover what is anticipated will be substantial legal fees.

WEEKLY MEETINGS:  To receive notices of meetings, updates on the appeal and events information please provide your email address and phone numbers via email at Detroit2700plus@gmail.com or call DAREA at 313-649-7018.

Read DAREA’s position statement at DAREA Call/.

Retirees pack DAREA meeting Jan. 21, 2015.

Retirees pack DAREA meeting Jan. 21, 2015.

Related documents:

Detroit Four year financial plan Duggan

Motion to dismiss DAREA appeal

DRCEA motion to dismiss

City response brief 30 days after service of DAREA reply to motion to dismiss

Brf opposing Mot Dismiss – Mootness Quinn

Index of Exhibits Quinn

State Notice Re Conditions Precedent to State Contribution

Related from VOD:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/02/21/rhodes-says-detroits-unique-racial-composition-led-to-bankruptcy-ignores-cops-fraud/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/02/18/a-tale-of-two-elections-in-michigan-its-all-black-and-white/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/02/03/retirees-carry-on-the-battle-for-detroit-appealing-bankruptcy-to-higher-court/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/01/23/detroit-workers-retirees-filing-briefs-in-8-appeals-of-citys-bankruptcy-plan/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/01/12/detroit-retirees-announce-federal-appeal-of-bankruptcy-call-for-massive-support/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/01/07/appeal-of-detroit-bankruptcy-accepted-in-u-s-district-court-press-conf-thurs-jan-8-10-am/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/12/14/leaving-bankruptcy-detroit-takes-on-1-28-billion-of-new-debt/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/11/20/judge-denies-all-but-pa-436-lawsuit-equal-protection-claim-after-detroit-bankruptcy-over/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/11/15/detroit-bankruptcy-plan-genocide-in-usas-largest-black-majority-city-rich-get-95-9-poor-get-13-5/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/10/28/bankruptcy-did-little-to-stabilize-detroit-municipal-market-advisors/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/10/21/why-the-poor-are-paying-for-detroits-bankruptcy/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/10/17/detroit-bankruptcy-creditor-fgic-to-get-joe-louis-arena-billions-based-on-fraudulent-poc-deal/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/10/16/detroit-retirees-officials-blast-bankruptcy-plan-em-at-last-minute-hearing/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/09/10/detroit-bankruptcy-great-lakes-water-authority-to-steal-largest-asset-of-largest-u-s-black-city-4/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2014/09/06/racist-bankruptcy-plan-hearing-sanctions-theft-of-detroit/

Related from other sources:

http://www.bondbuyer.com/news/regionalnews/standard-and-poors-gives-detroit-one-investment-grade-rating-1068987-1.html

http://www.publicsectorinc.org/2014/02/detroit-pension-borrowings-what-a-tangled-web/

http://www.demos.org/blog/3/10/14/detroit%E2%80%99s-bankruptcy-laboratory-study-corruption-municipal-finance

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PROSECUTION OF ANGEL ARTIST TEENS CONTINUES TUES. MARCH 3, 9 AM

This montage, done last year, should also now include 12-year-old Tamir Rice of Cleveland and numerous other young people who continue to lose their lives to law enforcement.

“Anyone can paint what they want under their First Amendment rights.”

What about those who commit actual mass destruction, including Dan Gilbert, U-M fraternities?

By Diane Bukowski

February 25, 2015

This mural was found on the side of the Youthville building at Woodward and Grand Blvd. in central Detroit in January.

Detroit – Taylor Daramy and Marcelus Gray, the two teens charged with painting a mural of a child angel holding a gun on a cop with his hands raised on Detroit’s Youthville headquarters, are both due back in court Tues. March 3, according to the latest information available.

The 19-year-olds face charges of “malicious destruction of a building” under MCL 750.830. For destruction costing $1,000 to $20,000, a felony penalty of up to five years in prison is possible; for destruction costing $100 to $1,000, a one-year high misdemeanor penalty can be assessed.

Judge Michael Wagner, recently appointed to the 36th District Court bench by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, held separate preliminary exam hearings Feb. 17 in the cases. Wagner’s chambers are located not in 36th District Court, but in the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, Rm. 201.

Gray’s attorney Ryan Hill waived the exam and Wagner bound him over to Wayne County Circuit Court. Gray’s arraignment on the information there is set for March 3 at 9 a.m. in front of Judge David Groner. Daramy’s attorney Arni Chambers said his client will not waive her exam, but asked for more discovery information from the prosecution. Her preliminary exam was rescheduled to March 3 at 9:15 a.m. in front of Wagner.

Marcelus Gray, 19, Taylor Daramy, 19

Marcelus Gray, 19, Taylor Daramy, 19

“Anyone can paint what they want under their First Amendment rights,” Chambers told VOD after the proceeding. “The only issue might have been where it was painted.”

About a half-dozen Detroit youths came to court to support the teens.

The teens’ families and friends also accompanied them to the hearing, but deferred all questions to their attorneys. A storm of negative media coverage of the painting last month even included an attempted visit to Daramy’s home by Fox 2 News, according to Chambers. Most of the media portrayed the mural as a statement that youth should shoot police, treating it as an offense nearly tantamount to the rampant killings of youth by police across the U.S.

Ron Scott

Ron Scott, president of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, Inc. also attended the hearing. He was quoted extensively in the media condemning the mural and the artists.

He told VOD, “I did not want prosecution, but mediation,” and claimed he would testify as a witness for Daramy and Gray. He said he has tried to call Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy several times about dropping the charges, but has not been able to reach her.

He denied taking photos of the mural, which were attributed to him or to the DCAPB in numerous newspaper and online captions. He said he has ties with various groups in Youthville and would ask them to intervene. So far, his attempts have been fruitless.

Maria Miller, Chief of Communications for the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office, said next week’s hearings are still scheduled as planned.

“Dan Gilbert’s people installed video cameras on 1515 Broadway and the Detroit Beer Company downtown, drilling holes in the bricks without the permission of the owners,” Mike Shane, of the Moratorium NOW! Coalition said. “THAT’s destruction of property, but nobody’s charging Gilbert.”

Dan Gilbert is watching you!

Camera at 1515 Broadway

Steve Neavling of the Motor City Muckraker wrote earlier, “Chris Jaszczak heard the high-pitched sound of a drill grinding into the brick wall of his coffee shop and black box theater in downtown Detroit. After peeking into the alley behind his building at 1515 Broadway, Jaszczak was shocked when he saw someone installing a surveillance camera on his brick wall. . . .Turns out, employees for Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock Real Estate Services were ordered to place surveillance cameras on the rear of 1515 Broadway and the Detroit Beer Company without gaining permission from the owners, who are angry about the discovery.”

Demolition of Detroit home.

Demolition of Detroit home.

Gilbert’s cameras are all over the downtown Detroit area, including inside the Detroit News and Free Press buildings, newly-rented from him after he bought their old offices, according to a report from the on-line newspaper MFI-Miami.

Gilbert additionally heads the Detroit Blight Removal Task Force, which is busy tearing down hundreds of homes across the city using federal “Hardest-Hit” funds meant to keep families in their homes.

MFI-Miami, which investigates mortgage fraud, reports that it did a sample survey of mortgages supplied by Gilbert’s Quicken Loans.

“Of the 75 homes sampled that had Quicken Loans named as the original mortgagee sampled,” the paper wrote, “70.6% of these homes went into foreclosure within the first 24-36 months of being sold on the secondary housing market by Quicken Loans to either Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or to a private mortgage backed securities trust on Wall Street.”

TreeTops resort hallway after frat boys trashed it in January,

TreeTops resort hallway after frat boys trashed it in January,

So Gilbert’s been getting paid the value of his foreclosed mortgages by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, then using federal funds to tear foreclosed homes down, homes worth massively more than the amounts cited in the charges against Gray and Daramy.

Also in contrast, hundreds of college fraternity members from the University of Michigan literally dismantled parts of the TreeTops and Boyne Highlands Ski Resorts in Michigan in late January after a week-end of “partying too hard” in late January. Michigan State Police politely “escorted” students from TreeTops, but no arrests have been reported.

Barry Owens, a general manager at Treetops, earlier told news media he estimated the damage there at $50,000, but photos taken by news crews show hallways and rooms that look like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, with floors and ceiling tiles ripped out.

Owens told VOD that as far as he knows, no criminal charges have been brought against the perpetrators, but that the Michigan State Police are still investigating the matter.

Kids police

Killed by police who have never been fired, convicted or jailed.

Meanwhile, the Detroit Youth Foundation, the organization that owns Youthville, site of the “malicious destruction” in the current case, dissolved itself August 1, 2014 according to state records. It ran a deficit of $1,175,000 in its last 990 filing with the IRS, from 2011.

Some local media called the building a “school.” In fact, it houses not only the Plymouth Education Center charter school, but also a branch of Don Bosco, the Detroit Parent Network (cited by public school advocates as a replacement for Local Community School Organization leaders at individual schools), the Motor City Dance Factory, and N C Management.

It also rents out space according to its 990 filing. Most of the officers listed in its 2013 annual report do not reside in Detroit, or have given only office addresses in Detroit. As a non-profit, Youthville pays no taxes to Detroit. A woman who answered the phone for Youthville/Don Bosco said their organization was not the complainant against Daramy and Gray, and referred VOD to building maintenance for that information, where the individual in charge was out sick for the day.

Related stories: 

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/02/10/drop-charges-against-teens-who-painted-angel-cop-charge-killer-cops-with-murder/

http://mfi-miami.com/2015/02/did-dapper-dan-gilbert-quicken-loans-contribute-to-detroits-blight/

http://mfi-miami.com/2015/02/dapper-dan-gilberts-voyeurism-fetish-in-detroit/

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/27905772/university-of-michigan-fraternity-members-accused-of-vandalizing-ski-resorts

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DETROIT BEGINS TURNING OFF SUNLIGHT FOR LOW-INCOME RESIDENTS (SATIRE)

Detroit Houses delinquent on property taxes have sunlight turned off.

Detroit houses delinquent on property taxes have sunlight turned off.

The-Beaverton-logo-380px-flagBy Ian MacIntyre

January 22, 2015

Published in U.S.

VOD editor: I know many Detroiters took this satirical article as serious business, and it’s no wonder considering the vicious suffering we have been subjected to at the hands of our fascist Gov. Rick Snyder, EM Kevyn Orr, Bankruptcy Czar Steven Rhodes, and “Mayor” Mike Duggan. But please be aware this is not for real and take some time out to laugh–it’s good for the soul, as we go on about our struggles. Our day will come! VOD would also recommend this Canadian newspaper, The Beaverton, at http://www.thebeaverton.com

DETROIT – In response to non-payment of property taxes, the City of Detroit has undertaken a massive city-wide effort to block sunlight from the homes of its poorest residents.

“They came at 5am to install the sun blocker over my house,” said Marcus Jones. “It was still dark out, so I didn’t notice it until hours later.” Jones then directed reporters to the property boundary of his darkened home, demonstrating how his neighbour still had bright noon hour sunlight.

Bat (resembles Judge Rhodes a little bit)

Bat resembles Bankruptcy Judge Rhodes

Jones lamented, “How am I supposed to get rid of all these bats?”

The massive sun blocking devices are just the latest in the city of Detroit’s plans to recoup millions in lost tax revenue. In some cases entire neighbourhoods have had their light blocked out, while in other cases individual homes have been plunged into darkness.

The sunlight turnoff initiative is the brainchild of Detroit’s emergency manager trustee, Kevyn Orr. “There is no law that guarantees the right to free sunlight. Trust me, we checked,” explained the unilaterally appointed Orr.

Asked whether the cost of blocking the sunlight was greater than the lost revenue, Orr replied, “Certainly, but we’re counting on the costs to be offset by sales of scurvy medication.”

Fighting wolves resemble Republicans and Democrats.

Fighting wolves resemble Republicans and Democrats.

Some have noted that many delinquent payees – notably Detroit’s high-end golf club, Joe Louis arena, and many commercial users – continue to enjoy both free sunlight, and its offshoot benefits like heat and photosynthesis. However, before receiving an explanation for the preferential treatment, these residents have generally been frightened off by the increase in nocturnal wolf activity.

Many residents are beginning to feel the lack of heat. Local labourer Scott Jenkins explained, “It wasn’t so bad at first, when I still had my job at the sun blocker motor plant. But then (Republican Governor) Snyder shipped the whole plant down to Mexico!”

BOA vampireStill, longtime resident Patty Hudson remains defiant regarding the health problems associated with sun blocking: “They tell us lack of sun can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure, and depression. Well, I been living in Detroit for 40 years – I already got all of those. They’re gonna have to do better than that to get rid of me.”

At press time Detroit was bracing for a surge in vampire activity, of both the corporate and nosferatu varieties.

From http://www.thebeaverton.com/us/item/1715-detroit-begins-turning-off-sunlight-for-low-income-residents

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DETROIT RETIREE EVENTS WED FEB. 25: ORR/RHODES DAYTIME CELEBRATION; FUNDRAISER 6PM

Orr Rhodes rock bandCrain’s Communications celebrates massive cuts to city retirees effective March 1 by honoring Detroit EM Kevyn Orr and Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes as “Newsmakers of the Year” at Motor City Casino Sound Board. (Perhaps Rhodes, shown at right, will bring his rock band “The Indubitable Equivalents”.) Call DAREA for more info at 313-649-7018.
DAREA fundraiser Feb 25

Bucharest Grill owner Jerry Ballenger heatedly testifies against Illitch re-development plans for new Red Wings stadium, at City Council Sept. 5, 2013.

Bucharest Grill owner Jerry Ballenger heatedly testifies against Illitch re-development plans for new Red Wings stadium, at City Council Sept. 5, 2013.

Jones Day (a/k/a Detroit) has filed 291 pp. motion to dismiss DAREA appeal of city bankruptcy.

The Detroit Active and Retired Employees Association (DAREA) and GODetroit are sponsoring the fundraiser above, at a downtown restaurant owned by Jerry Bellanger, a vocal opponent of Mike Illitch’s 60 percent publicly-funded re-development plans for a new Red Wings stadium.

This fund-raiser, and other contributions to DAREA for legal expenses, are currently vital because the City of Detroit (a/k/a Jones Day) has just filed a 291-pp. Motion to Dismiss DAREA’s appeal of the phony, fraudulent Detroit bankruptcy, being heard in U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman’s court. This bankruptcy affects not only retirees, but also represents the theft of the city’s most prime assets, including the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, which used to be avenues for good, well-paying union jobs with benefits for Detroit’s youth.

More to come on the city’s motion to dismiss and DAREA’s planned response in the Voice of Detroit shortly. Please support DAREA AND GODetroit!

DAREA PETITION:

Sign the petition to halt changes to pensions and other benefits, to  U.S. Justice Department, at http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/selective-enforcement?source=s.icn.em.mt&r_by=9645222.

FUNDRAISING:

To donate to DAREA’s LEGAL DEFENSE FUND, click on  http://www.gofundme.com/pensiondefensefund. Or checks can be made payable to the Detroit Active and Retired Employees Association (DAREA), at P.O. Box 3724, Highland Park, Michigan 48203.

Nandi'sWEEKLY MEETINGS:

General membership meetings Mondays, 11 AM, at Nandi’s Knowledge Café, 12511 Woodward, Highland Park, 48203, alternate with Wednesday meetings at 5:30 PM, at St. Joseph’s and St. Matthew’s Church, Woodward and Holbrook. To receive notices of meetings, updates on the appeal and events information please provide your email address and phone numbers via email at Detroit2700plus@gmail.com or call DAREA at 313-649-7018.

Read DAREA’s position statement at DAREA Call.

RELATED:

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20150208/NEWS/302089991/2014-newsmaker-of-the-year-luncheon

https://www.facebook.com/go.detroit.3?fref=ts

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/02/03/retirees-carry-on-the-battle-for-detroit-appealing-bankruptcy-to-higher-court/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/01/23/detroit-workers-retirees-filing-briefs-in-8-appeals-of-citys-bankruptcy-plan/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/01/12/detroit-retirees-announce-federal-appeal-of-bankruptcy-call-for-massive-support/

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RHODES SAYS DETROIT’S ‘UNIQUE RACIAL COMPOSITION’ LED TO BANKRUPTCY; IGNORES ‘COPS’ FRAUD’

Great white massa: “City in denial regarding its need for help.”

 “Concept of civil unrest or civil disobedience not really on my mind,   Rhodes says, despite running off the bench when pastor Bill Wylie-Kellerman stood up in audience, declaring, “Jones Day is not the City of Detroit.”

By Diane Bukowski

Feb. 21, 201

Judge Rhodes enjoys roller skating with granddaughter and friend in hometown of Cape May, NJ. The county there is only five percent Black.

Judge Rhodes enjoys roller skating with granddaughter and friend in resort hometown of Cape May, NJ. The county there is only five percent Black.

DETROIT – As 32,000 active and retired City of Detroit workers wait for the ax to fall on their pensions, wages and health benefits March 1, plummeting many of them below the poverty level, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes is busy congratulating himself on the bankruptcy’s alleged success as he retires.

Now that he thinks he’s out of the line of fire, he played the infamous “race card” in an interview with the Free Press.

“Part of the decline of the city itself can be attributed to our unique racial circumstances,” he told the Free Press in an online video, attached to a brief article that left out most of what he said to the camera, as well as whatever else he discussed in a “broad-ranging 90-minute interview.”

“The city was desperate, and desperate people and desperate entities do desperate things,” Rhodes continued, psychoanalyzing Detroit’s Black population with regard to the notorious $1.5 Billion Pension Obligation Certificates deal of 2005-06 (known as “COPS”). He claimed the city should have declared bankruptcy then.

Part of massive Detroit rebellion against racist police in 1967.

Part of massive Detroit rebellion against racist police in 1967.

“We see that in bankruptcy all the time,” Rhodes continued. “As I have said, the city was in denial regarding its need for help, regarding its insolvency, and could not psychologically contemplate public embarrassment or humiliation associated with filing bankruptcy. So they entered into this creative and quite likely illegal deal.”

He also told the Freep, “The concept of civil unrest or civil disobedience was not really on my mind,” despite Detroiters’ anger against the imposition of an Emergency Manager and of the bankruptcy.” However, when Pastor Bill Wylie-Kellerman rose during a hearing to tell Jones Day attorneys, “You are not the City of Detroit,” Rhodes ignominiously ran off the bench to hide.

(L to right) Detroit CFO Sean Werdlow, Fitch Ratings' Joe O'Keefe, Standard and Poor's Stephen Murphy, and Detroit Deputy Mayor Anthony Adams press City Council to approve the $1.5 billion COPS loan, on Jan. 31, 2005, Photo: Diane Bukowski

(L to right) Detroit CFO Sean Werdlow, Fitch Ratings’ Joe O’Keefe, Standard and Poor’s Stephen Murphy, and Detroit Deputy Mayor Anthony Adams press City Council to approve the $1.5 billion COPS loan, on Jan. 31, 2005, Photo: Diane Bukowski

In a second interview with WDET Radio, Rhodes said the POC deal, “. . . was structured to be an intentional evasion of the legal debt limits that municipalities by state law are required to stay within. It was too innovative, it was too creative and um that by itself should of been a red flag at the time.”

Rhodes here admits for the first time in public that he knew of the illegalities and likely fraud involved in the POC scam. Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr as well as bond insurer FGIC both filed lawsuits against the case. Wallace Turbeville, a senior analyst at DEMOS and former Wall Street banker, pointed out the fraud involved in a paper published in Nov. 2012, but Rhodes refused to have him testify during the bankruptcy case.

The late Mayor of Jackson MS. and Detroit native Chokwe Lumumba, with Cornell Squires at federal court appeals hearing.

The late Mayor of Jackson MS. and Detroit native Chokwe Lumumba, with Cornell Squires at federal court appeals hearing.

“As an officer of the court, a judge with integrity would first stop the proceedings, and investigate the legality of the debt,” Cornell Squires, a paralegal with We the People for the People, said. “Instead, they rushed the process, to make taxpayers and retirees responsible for billions of dollars that we shouldn’t have to pay back. This involves the doctrine of unclean hands. Rhodes doesn’t have any integrity whatsoever. His approval of the bankruptcy makes him a a stone racist, because the majority population of Detroit are people of color. No one’s above the law. He should be ashamed of himself.  He did the damage knowing he’s going to leave and enjoy retirement, unlike city workers. This is differential treatment—worse than the South. As an officer of the court, he should have seen to it that criminal charges were brought. Detroit is a crime scene, with the banks destroying the city and our people. Kwame went to jail for 28 years. Why can’t they go to jail? How much time do you get for stealing a whole city?”

Rhodes set a trial date in June 2015 to hear the Orr lawsuit, but with the help of U.S. District Court Chief Judge Gerald Rosen, he pressed the trial to an early conclusion in December, 2014.

The late, world-renowned union organizer General Baker campaigns against VEBA plan for UAW. Detroit's agreement includes two VEBA's, neither of which guarantee health care.

The late, world-renowned union organizer General Baker campaigns against VEBA plan for UAW. Detroit’s agreement includes two VEBA’s, neither of which guarantee health care.

The deal took place under the administration of former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. His CFO Sean Werdlow negotiated the terms with global Swiss-based bank UBS AG, and Siebert, Brandford and Shank (SBS), a partner backed by the Bank of America. Werdlow was appointed to an executive position with SBS in Dec. 2004 and is now its COO. Also at the table to press the deal were Wall Street ratings agencies Standand and Poor’s and Fitch Ratings.

But Rhodes implies in his comments that the deal was only Kilpatrick’s fault,  who he termed the only city mayor to be federally charged. It wasn’t the fault of the greedy white one percent who control the wealth of Detroit and the U.S.

Resort town of Cape May, N.J. and home base for Judge Rhodes.

Resort town of Cape May, N.J. and home base for Judge Rhodes.

Other articles reported that if the POC deal was canceled, health care for retirees could have been restored. By the time of the bankruptcy, the POC debt had skyrocketed to $2.8 Billion, with interest, penalties and fees. Instead of cancellation, however, the Eighth Amended Plan of Adjustment provides healthy settlements for UBS AG, SBS, and Bank of America. In the shadows, it handed over control of key municipal properties and billions in revenues including the Joe Louis Arena, the Detroit Windsor Tunnel, and the Grand Circus Park garage, to bond insurers FGIC and Syncora.

Throughout the trial, Rhodes falsely portrayed himself as part of Detroit, throwing crumbs to let retirees and others testify pro se. However, an internet address search for Rhodes shows that his only addresses have been 1610 Arborview Blvd, Ann Arbor, MI 48103; 1503 Linwood Ave, Ann Arbor MI 48103; and 1005 Pittsburg Ave, Cape May, N.J.

If former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick got 28 years in prison for allegedly stealing about $400,000, how much time should Rhodes, Rosen, Orr, Jones Day and other law firms, and Wall Street bankers get for stealing the entire city of Detroit?

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THE U.S. EMPIRE AND ISIS: A TALE OF TWO DEATH CULTS

Flame throwerObama military 2

 “Obama is a flame-thrower, a fire-spitter, a pyromaniac on a mission to incinerate humanity’s capacity to resist – a vision shared by the jihadist death cults.”

As U.S. imperialism loses its capacity to compete outside the military sphere, its foreign policy options shrink, accordingly.

“Since the U.S. is superior ISISto the rest of the world ONLY in military terms, Washington finds its ultimate advantage in turning the whole world into a battlefield.” Permanent War follows the same logic as a death cult. In fact, one created the other – literally.

 

By BAR Executive Editor BAR logo 2 GLEN FORD

February 18, 2014

President Obama is a master of military supply and demand. His operatives and allies supply jihadists with enough weapons, financing and, in the case of Libya, a Euro-American air force, to plunge vast tracts of Africa and Asia into bloody chaos, thus creating a demand for intervention by the planet’s only “indispensable” nation: the United States. It’s a diabolical formula for fomenting hell on earth, driven by a simple logic: Since the U.S. is superior to the rest of the world ONLY in military terms, Washington finds its ultimate advantage in turning the whole world into a battlefield. U.S. imperialism in terminal decay sees no salvation except through global war.

Of necessity, Obama is a flame-thrower, a fire-spitter, a pyromaniac on a mission to incinerate humanity’s capacity to resist – a vision shared by the jihadist death cults America has incubated for the past four decades.

Libya before U.S.-NATO war; after in 2012.

Libya before U.S.-NATO war; after in 2012.

ISIS, the Islamic State, begat by Al Qaida, which was begat by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the U.S. in Afghanistan, now declares sovereignty over portions of Libya, having occupied much of Syria and Iraq and planted the black flag in southern Yemen and the suburbs of Paris, where its token presence is enough to drive millions of Europeans into a decrepit Crusader palsy. A subcontinent of thieves who have plundered the planet for half a millennia vow to send the dark Others back to “their own countries” – as if Europe had not stolen these African and Asian homelands long ago. In the end, however, what Europe will send is more weapons to the jihadists, mimicking Uncle Sam.

“Boko Haram has proven quite useful to the consolidation of U.S. military dominance in West Africa.”

Boko Haram fighters.

Boko Haram fighters.

This week, as happens every year, France, Britain, Italy and other piratical European states join the U.S. Africa Command’s military Flintlock exercise, designed to deepen African militaries’ dependence on western weaponry, training and finance.

Chad, a client state of both Washington and Paris, is the nominal host of the exercise – as if any of the African participants could actually say No to an imperial proposal. The Flintlock maneuvers have converged with a regional military offensive against Boko Haram, the northern Nigerian jihadists that have gained so much ground since the U.S. and NATO turned Libya over to the tender mercies of Arab jihadists, in 2011.

Five allies of the U.S. in the Flintlock campaign against Boko Haram.

Five allies of the U.S. in the Flintlock campaign against Boko Haram.

Libyan weapons flooded south across the Sahara desert, bringing instability to the vast Sahel region – which is like honey to the Pentagon bee.

The U.S. military has announced that it will “share communications equipment and intelligence” with the five nations preparing to battle Boko Haram around oil-rich Lake Chad – imperial double-speak for putting the Americans in charge of the command-and-control mechanisms of the armies of Chad, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Benin. Boko Haram has proven quite useful to the consolidation of U.S. military dominance in West Africa.

Meanwhile, the jihadist rampage has come full circle in Libya, where both ISIS and Al Qaida have multiple strongholds. Jihadist “ultras” are most deeply entrenched in Derna, a port city east of Benghazi that accounted for the most jihadists killed or captured in Iraq during the American occupation. When U.S. and NATO finally destroyed Muammar Gaddafi’s forces after seven months of bombing, hundreds of jihadists were sent to Syria, hoping to repeat the process against President Bashar al-Assad. Many have since returned to Libya, bringing the black flag of the Islamic State with them.

Egyptian dictator Abdel Fatah-el-sisi.

Egyptian dictator Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Egyptian dictator Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, a supporter of one of three rump “governments” in Libya, bombed ISIS targets in Derna after the decapitation of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christian migrant workers.

The atrocity, combined with a declaration of allegiance to ISIS by some Islamic rebels on Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, prompted el-Sisi to call for the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS to put Libya on its bombing list – an invitation from the world’s most populous Arab nation for the U.S. to extend the scope of its military operations to Egypt’s western border.

Jihad is truly a blessing for U.S. imperial objectives – but there is nothing coincidental about it. The U.S. installed jihadists in power in Libya, leading directly to the destabilization of vast lands to the South, which in turn facilitated the U.S. Africa Command’s mission to militarily dominate the continent. The U.S.-led jihadist proxy war against secular Syria was the incubator for ISIS, providing the U.S. with a new portal into Iraq, an excuse to operate openly in Syria, and now a possible chance to re-enter Libya cloaked as a savior from the jihadist hordes that the U.S. armed, financed and empowered only four years ago.

Endless war protestISIS has been such a boon to U.S. war-fomenting strategy, Obama has been emboldened to demand that Congress give him three years of virtually unlimited, renewable powers to reboot the War on Terror. Like George Bush before him, Obama refuses to put geographic limits on the scope of his crusade against ISIS and its “associates.” The world is his live-fire chessboard, he can call the pieces by whatever name he wants, and make up the rules along the way. Every move is calculated to lead to greater militarization of relations among nations and peoples, because the military is America’s strongest suit – in fact, its only suit.

The truth is, the rulers of the United States are as much a death cult as the Islamic State, although U.S. imperialism is infinitely more dangerous. Let us do our best to send them both to their respective Paradises.

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

Related:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/02/09/the-covert-origins-of-isis-united-states-cia-in-libya-syria-iraq-afghanistan/

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A TALE OF TWO ELECTIONS: IN MICHIGAN IT’S ALL BLACK AND WHITE

Protesters outside suburbanite Mike Duggan's State of the City address Feb. 11, 2015. Instead of holding it in downtown Detroit, he got as close to the white suburbs as he could.
Protesters outside suburbanite Mike Duggan’s State of the City address Feb. 11, 2015. Instead of holding it in downtown Detroit, he got as close to the white suburbs as he could.

 

Detroit “Mayor” Mike Duggan celebrates abominable “State of the City,” after candidacy ruled invalid by COA, faked election

Meanwhile, the people’s champion Rev. Edward Pinkney imprisoned in Marquette for trying to recall Mayor of Benton Harbor, without evidence

Pinkney hearing on pre-sentence motions Tues. Feb. 24, 9 AM St. Joseph, MI

 By Jean Vortkamp

February 18, 2015

Rev. Pinkney at Detroit rally vs. mass water shutoffs. Photo: Daymon Hartley

Rev. Pinkney at Detroit rally vs. mass water shutoffs. Benton Harbor’s water system has also been privatized. Photo: Daymon Hartley

Amongst the piles of dirty snow and dying White Pine trees of Pure Michigan a senior citizen and community leader, Reverend Edward Pinkney, sits in his cell in Marquette Prison, eating food not fit for dogs, but good enough to fulfill yet another scam of a private contract.

If they want to tear you away from your family, this Siberian-like place is the prison of choice. He has lots of time to think about the injustice he suffered being charged with “forgery under the Michigan election law” without real witnesses or evidence.

Meanwhile, in Detroit, the marquee in front of the Redford Theater shines brightly in the crisp winter air. There are people getting out of city owned vans to pack the State of the City speech. Inside a white man, Mike Duggan, from the most racist suburb near Detroit, Livonia, coos about his victories in his position as mayor of the bankrupted city.

Retiree speaks at STATE OF THE PEOPLE RALLY outside Duggan's rant, Feb. 11, 2015.

Retiree from DAREA speaks at STATE OF THE PEOPLE RALLY outside Duggan’s rant, Feb. 11, 2015.

In reality six billion dollars are being stolen from pensioners and their new healthcare costs will now literally kill them, 70,000 homes go into foreclosure just this year, and Duggan/Bing shut off the water of about 30,000 homes. This white man who comes from the allegedly corrupt political legacy of the McNamara machine became mayor by allegedly winning the primary of a radical African American city with 40% of a write in vote, after a State Court of Appeals ruled he was not eligible to run because he had not established residency by the deadline.

Benton Harbor

Rev. Pinkney reads award to supporter Danny Glover at dinner in 2012.

Rev. Pinkney reads award to supporter Danny Glover at dinner in 2012.

Reverend Pinkney is facing up to ten years in prison for forgery in election fraud in which there were no real witnesses or evidence. He has been fighting the far right’s wayward plan of emergency management/asset theft/gentrification/genocide for decades now.

Earlier he and others in Benton Harbor tried to recall the mayor of Benton Harbor for refusing to institute a city income tax that would have brought tens of millions from Whirlpool, the ogre of a corporation.

Basking in this white male privilege is Fred Upton, a Republican congressman and Whirlpool heir. The Reverend already went to prison once (for quoting the bible). He sits in his cell in Marquette, wishing for more mail. Wondering how he will find justice in a place more akin to Hitler’s Germany than the land of the free and the brave.

Fred Upton, heir to the Whirlpool fortune.

Fred Upton, heir to the Whirlpool fortune.

Whirlpool used to have jobs for the people of Benton Harbor. Cheaper labor was found elsewhere but the Gold Coast of Michigan doesn’t move. Fred Upton lives on the Gold Coast near Jean Klock Park, with the boat slips and the silky sand. The main park used to be used by families in Benton Harbor. Then it was slipped out of public ownership by “friend of bankers” former Governor Jennifer Granholm and the deal finished off by Governor Rick Snyder and friends.

Now the PGA uses a new Jack Nicklaus golf course near the Park, sponsored by Whirlpool.  Rev. Pinkney protested that the park belonged to the public, to the people of Benton Harbor. It does not belong to the crinkly old white men of privilege hitting a small white ball into a hole, over and over.

Dan Gilbert

Dan Gilbert

Mike Illitch

Mike Illitch

Roger Penske

Whirlpool is a part of Doug Rothwell’s Business Leaders for Michigan, a group of giant corporations who are responsible for much of the sub-standard asinine decisions made in Michigan’s legislature. There you will find Upton’s company represented, along with Dick DeVos, Dan Gilbert, Roger Penske, Mike Ilitch, and a host of the greedy who are sucking community resources dry with their corporate welfare. They should really work for a living.

Sadly they think that because they use white privilege entitlement to run their businesses that they know better than the majority of the good people of Michigan.

Detroit

"Mayor" Mike Duggan lays down the law at his State of the City address.

Detroit’s first white “Mayor” in 30 years, Mike Duggan lays down the law at his State of the City address.

While in Detroit in those same decades Duggan’s office was raided by the FBI in connection to the political machine of McNamara. His multiple involvements in contracts (his most favorite things) for the DTW Airport and Detroit Public schools, in addition to his wife’s business have all been questionable.

He stands in front of the crowd in the theater in his suit, happy that he has cheated fate over and over. White privilege may do that for you. Favors owed, favors given.

He stands in the carcass of democracy, devoured by Snyder and the Business Leaders for Michigan, proud of the way he is funneling all tax money and public assets out of the public’s own hands. He shakes hands, smiles, puts on his “Well, gee guys, let’s work together” smile and lives guilt and conscience free. He even invites the Pope to Detroit.

After the primary election where he was declared the winner, the ballots, of which thousands were in a very obvious similar handwriting, were silently slipped around from authority to authority like a hot potato. The Department of Justice, the Secretary of State, the Wayne County Prosecutor, the Wayne County Board of Canvassers did not choose to do their jobs and crack open this piñata of injustice. They chose not to expose the truth about Detroit. – That it is not a democracy.

Ken Cockrel, Jr., Exec. Director of Detroit Future Cities, led Detroit into state takeover.

Ken Cockrel, Jr., Exec. Director of Detroit Future Cities, led Detroit into state takeover.

We, regular Detroiters, have not chosen to make Detroit like this. Duggan’s campaign supporters were many of the people who mysteriously supported the “Grand Bargain” (a/k/a “Grand Theft”) along with the man who spearheads the Detroit Future Cities gentrification plan, Ken Cockrel, Jr., who helped lead Detroit into a state takeover as City Councilman, and many from the Business Leaders for Michigan.

In Berrien County, regular people took the stand as the prosecutor witch-hunted the fine politically active Americans who took part in the political process there. Where does Rev. Pinkney’s group, BANCO, meet? Who is its leader?  It was a string of questions that were more of an FBI investigation into some fringe group than anything about recall petitions. You see, they were saying that Rev. Pinkney wrote 1’s and 2’s on the dates to make the recall petitions fit in the time frame to turn them in.

Pinkney boxThey had no one who could say they saw Rev. Pinkney do it and the handwriting expert said he could not say who did it. There was even a witness who came forward to say she saw a particular woman do it. Contrast this to the ballots in Detroit where they had the candidates in the recount select the ballots for the handwriting expert.  When the candidates said that the very similar ballots were spread throughout the precincts, they were allowed to choose ballots for examination by the handwriting expert from ONE precinct at a time, with as many ballots from that precinct that could fit on two tables. Cat and mouse.

So when the papers reported on the handwriting expert’s opinion they could say they were not similar. When ballots in an absentee case were opened and two matching ballots came out right next to each other on the table, the Board of Canvassers went and sat down away from the ballots and continued the meeting. They go on and on, the instances where the truth sat in the room and was ignored.

And so it goes. Reverend Pinkney sits in prison and Mike Duggan occupies the office overlooking the river. The barges serenely float by out the window, luncheons and dinners are served. Meetings are called, deals are made to complete the right wing takeover of the city.

Reverend Pinkney looks down at his slimy food, ironic because he used to help deliver food to the people in need in his community. Rev. Pinkney is an unwelcome prisoner, having been counseling African Americans suffering grave injustices for years at the hands of the Berrien County Injustice system. He spent his days in courtrooms being the spiritual adviser to the oppressed and accused. He may just be putting all kinds of ideas about justice into the heads of his fellow inmates.

They put his trial on his birthday so in the overflow room his outraged supporters from Chicago, Detroit and Flint sang him a rousing Happy Birthday. Once back in the courtroom, the judge made sure to tell the press not to record anything from the overflow room.

You can’t help but notice the stark contrast between fancy St. Joseph versus Benton Harbor. At the courthouse the Benton Harbor supporters of Rev. Pinkney need new shoes as they shuffle in to support him. They need good jobs. They need hope because they have been fighting so long ignored in this pocket of Michigan. It is very much like the gentrifiers of midtown Detroit versus most regular Detroit neighborhoods. Boarded up houses and schools versus shiny new buildings built with taxpayer money. Destruction from the war of the overstuffed rich on the ever skinnier poor, which starts at the ballot box.

Protesters hold electric "Stop Foreclosures" sign across the street from Duggan State of the City address, Feb. 11, 2015.

Protesters hold electric “Stop Foreclosures” sign across the street from Duggan State of the City address, Feb. 11, 2015.

______________________________________________________________________________ To see some of the ballots from the 2013 election visit http://detroitrecount.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-handwriting.html

Related stories:

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/01/28/rev-pinkney-now-in-marquette-prison-trial-motions-hearing-tues-feb-24-1-pm-st-joseph-mi/

http://voiceofdetroit.net/2015/02/09/tell-duggan-stop-destruction-of-detroit-at-state-of-the-city-address-tues-feb-10-6pm/

Contact BANCO at at http://www.bhbanco.org/. Site includes a PayPal donation button to send badly needed funds for Pinkney’s legal defense, or they can be mailed to BANCO, 1940 Union Avenue, Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022.

Contact Moratorium NOW on campaign against tax foreclosures, http://moratorium-mi.org/,  phone 313-671-7426.

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