Coming February 6, 2024 . . .
MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
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Coming February 6, 2024 . . . MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Pre-order at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
The Staten Island Grand Jury has decided not to indict members of the NYPD for the homicide of Eric Garner despite the application of an illegal choke hold
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Comments
What words are left? I've been listening to the coverage, to the statements, speeches and expressions of varying degrees of shock. But it's all too familiar. The sentences are running together into one big mass of repetitive platitudes.
by barefooted on Wed, 12/03/2014 - 5:59pm
Now we add this report that the Cleveland PD officer who killed 12 year old Tamir Rice was so unstable that he should never been authorized to carry a weapon
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/12/cleveland_police_office...
by rmrd0000 on Wed, 12/03/2014 - 6:07pm
The Cleveland PD has of course been certified by CALEA as being a highly rated organization. They should put the guy running the Independence PD in charge in the Cleveland PD.
by NCD on Wed, 12/03/2014 - 8:30pm
A DOJ report released today notes the complete incompetence of the Cleveland PD. They punched a handcuffed 13 year-old accused of shoplifting. A shot a kidnapping victim who was wearing only boxers. That's right, the victim was shot by the police.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/04/cleveland-police-doj_n_6270220....
by rmrd0000 on Thu, 12/04/2014 - 2:08pm
The Garner GJ was clearly rigged. Commenter at NYT had link to SCOTUS case from '92 stating that the defendant has no right to appear before a GJ, and a GJ is not supposed to be an adjudicatory body that determines guilt or innocence:
Clearly, the prosecutors side was kill this case.
With the chokehold being banned, Garner pleading that he couldn't breathe, the coroner saying cause of death was murder, the case should have gone straight to trial.
The Grand Jury was used as a method to give the facade of justice while deep sixing the case.
If the DOJ doesn't go after this guy in court there is no hope of any accountability for bad deadly cops in this country.
by NCD on Wed, 12/03/2014 - 8:42pm
There's a freakin' video that leaves absolutely no question about what happened. Combined with everything else you noted, it is simply unimaginable that at least nine of twelve jurors couldn't find reason to indict. A grand jury proceeding is traditionally one of the most straightforward legal processes we have - with a very low bar for the prosecutor to hop over. There's a reason most defense attorneys are not fans. If the DOJ is going to have to get involved in these cases, why not make it mandatory that a federal special prosecutor be appointed when it involves a police officer? Impartiality is essential - and we clearly cannot be guaranteed of that when the prosecutor works hand-in-hand with the accused on a regular basis.
by barefooted on Wed, 12/03/2014 - 9:34pm
The guy who took the video was indicted, arrested for gun possession in August.
Ironic that the most criminal police forces in history, Stalin's NKVD and Hitlers Gestapo, held rigged 'show' trials in public, the killing done later in secret.
Cops today kill in public and on video, rigged cop 'show trials' (grand juries) are later held in secret.
Numbers aside, which is worse?
Ours don't even keep track of the numbers killed by cops. If Holder doesn't indict this guy his tenure at DOJ is a flaming failure.
by NCD on Thu, 12/04/2014 - 9:34am
Jeez, can anybody in this country be convicted for killing a black man?
by Aaron Carine on Thu, 12/04/2014 - 8:52am
Other Black guys
by rmrd0000 on Thu, 12/04/2014 - 9:14am
President Obama wants money for police cameras, but we now see that video evidence is not guarantee of justice. John Crawford was gunned down while carrying a toy gun in WalMart. He had little chance to surrender. There was no indictment. There was video of Eric Garner dying after application of a banned choke hold. There was no indictment. There were conflicting witnesses in the Michael Brown case but prosecutors presented a case that defended the police officer. It appears that in the case of police involved shootings, police have prosecuting attorney's acting as defense lawyers. The victims have no advocate. The prosecutors are bold enough to do this in the open. The transcripts were released in Ferguson. The prosecutor did not care that his bias was there for all to see. He knew that he would face no penalty. The Staten Island prosecutor is not afraid to release transcripts because he will never face repercussions. The Justice system can be open about its misdeeds because the prosecutors face no penalties.
It is doubtful that Darren Wilson will face penalties for the homicide of Michael Brown.the choke hold may lead to some federal penalty for the homicide of Eric Garner. The end result of these cases is that the skepticism of fair ness in the judicial system remains warranted. We have seen the video documentaries.
by rmrd0000 on Thu, 12/04/2014 - 10:12am