Animal Farm

Video of police performing house-to-house raids in Watertown MA

"On April 19, 2013, during a manhunt for a bombing suspect, police and federal agents spent the day storming people's homes and performing illegal searches. While it was unclear initially if the home searches were voluntary, it is now crystal clear that they were absolutely NOT voluntary. Police were filmed ripping people from their homes at gunpoint, marching the residents out with their hands raised in submission, and then storming the homes to perform their illegal searches. This was part of a larger operation that involved total lockdown of the suburban neighbor to Boston." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVideo of police performing house-to-house raids in Watertown MA

New York Republican recommends ‘torture’ for teenage Boston bomb suspect

"If the United States really, in the words of President Barack Obama, wishes to keep 'looking forward' instead of backward when it comes to the violent legal limbo that is the Bush administration’s legacy, someone might want to ensure New York State Senator Greg Ball (R) gets a copy of that memo. In several separate instances this weekend, Sen. Ball has advocated torturing the teen police are accusing of helping execute the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three and injured more than 140. 'So, scum bag #2 in custody,' he wrote on Twitter Friday night. 'Who wouldn’t use torture on this punk to save more lives?'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew York Republican recommends ‘torture’ for teenage Boston bomb suspect

Google CEO Schmidt calls for end to private drone use

"'It’s probable that robotics becomes a significant component of nation state warfare,' he said. 'I’m not going to pass judgment on whether armies should exist, but I would prefer to not spread and democratise the ability to fight war to every single human being. 'It’s got to be regulated. You just can’t imagine that British people would allow this sort of thing, and I can’t imagine American people would allow this sort of thing. It’s one thing for governments, who have some legitimacy in what they’re doing, but have other people doing it … It’s not going to happen.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGoogle CEO Schmidt calls for end to private drone use

Report Confirms US Government Tortured Detainees

"'It is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture.' This damning statement derives directly from a report released by The Constitution Project who, along with former members of Congress, drew up this most comprehensive independent study to date of US torture in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, and secret CIA black sites around the world. The two-year study only looked at public documents, as well as interviews with interrogators and others involved in the counterterrorism program. However, classified information was not accessible to the non-governmental organization." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingReport Confirms US Government Tortured Detainees

Republican Lawmakers Urge Obama To Use ‘Combatant Status’ For Bombing Suspect

"Senator Lindsay Graham argues that because the public safety could be at risk (because there could be more bombs in place that could go off and/or more bombers who intend to kill still at large) that we do not read a terrorist suspect their Miranda rights (right to remain silent, etc.). The problem with this line of thinking is that we are assuming the ‘suspect’ is guilty without proof and so are denying him his rights based on the assumption that he is guilty until proven innocent. Senator Lindsay Graham wants to throw that American principle out the window and replace it with a fear driven, paranoia based legal system that does the opposite of what America stands for." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRepublican Lawmakers Urge Obama To Use ‘Combatant Status’ For Bombing Suspect

Anthony Gregory: What Is the Threshold for Martial Law?

"What if a future suspect implicated in a gruesome and dramatic criminal act next year manages to escape justice for months? Can the police now just shut down cities, transportation, and—as they did on Monday*—cell service for as long as they deem necessary? Should normal denizens really have no say of their own on whether they will risk the violent threats that might await them outside? If they have no right to walk about freely today without expecting, at a minimum, serious harassment from authorities, can the same be true on any other day? People tolerate extreme police powers when they seem temporary. But what if the emergency persists?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAnthony Gregory: What Is the Threshold for Martial Law?

SWAT Army Occupies Boston

"What is particularly relevant here, and chilling from my point of view, is an observation Jeff Snyder makes in his powerful book, 'Nation of Cowards.' Snyder talks about the change that takes place, that must take place, in the psyche of a person who is protected by others as a matter of routine. He accepts that protection in exchange for some portion of his own sense of personal responsibility. As a result, he can often be more easily controlled by those protectors. We're well on our way." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSWAT Army Occupies Boston

Rogue Cop Assaults Elementary School Student

"When Officer David Bailey grabbed a 10-year-old student by the back of his head and slammed it into the school cafeteria table, it is safe to say that student was not free to leave. On that afternoon, Bailey decided that his routine beat on the streets of Southeast D.C. extended into the hallways of Moten Elementary School. Although Bailey was not a trained school resource officer contracted from the Metropolitan Police Department nor one of the three contract officers assigned to Moten at the time, his presence raised no red flags. Regular visits from the police in D.C. Public Schools had become ubiquitous." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRogue Cop Assaults Elementary School Student

Living the Lockdown Life

"While watching coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing and its aftermath, I couldn’t help but notice multiple uses and variations of the word 'lockdown' (e.g. 'Boston is locked down'). I’ve been hearing that word used more and more frequently over the last few years, and finding its connotations are troubling. Between 1990 and 2008, use of the term 'lockdown' in English-language books ballooned ten times. Suddenly lockdowns were no longer just a prison thing. They became a school thing, and then an area, neighborhood, city thing. As of Tuesday morning, Google News reported more than 50,000 uses of the word 'lockdown' in the news media in the previous 30 days." Continue reading →

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537 Taser-Related Deaths In The United States Since 2001

"Between 2001 and 2008, 351 people in the United States died after being shocked by police Tasers. Our blog has documented another 186 taser-related deaths in the United States in 2009-2012. That means there have been 537 documented taser-related deaths in America. I think that something is wrong in America when the police electrocute folks on a WEEKLY basis with their taser arsenal … and the public is mute in its response. Sometimes it takes a lawsuit … like the one recently settled in Ohio … to get the police to cool it. The police in Cincinnati, Ohio took the hint … they changed their taser policy!" Continue reading →

Continue Reading537 Taser-Related Deaths In The United States Since 2001