Police State

Police assault, bind Libertarian candidate for 3.5 hours in Detroit

"Scotty Boman, a candidate for Detroit clerk, was assaulted by police and left alone in handcuffs and without water in a closet-sized room for more than three hours for trying to take photos of what he considered unethical signs posted by incumbent Clerk Janice Winfrey. The math and physics professor at Wayne County Community College also was trying to hand out campaign literature. Boman said the officers laughed at him while he was stuck in handcuffs. By the time his camera was returned, incriminating video he took of the police was deleted. The officers, he said, threatened to arrest him if he brought the camera back to the campus." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice assault, bind Libertarian candidate for 3.5 hours in Detroit

Will Grigg: Abolish Your Local Police

"Ronald Weekley, Jr. , a 20-year-old college student from Venice, California, was riding his skateboard on the 'wrong side' of the street in front of his house when he was assaulted by four armed gangsters and severely beaten. The assailants then abducted the victim and accused him of a criminal offense because he was insufficiently docile while being beaten. They also claimed that Weekley had previously been seen on their turf, without permission, after sundown. The assailants belonged to that privileged caste of social misfits and intellectually stunted functionaries called 'police officers.'" Continue reading →

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Free State Project Demands Apology For “Domestic Terrorism” Claims In Tank Grant Application

"As president of the Free State Project ('FSP'), a NH-based non-profit organization with the sole mission of attracting 20,000 pro-freedom people to the Granite State, I am alarmed and appalled at the cleverly worded insinuation that the FSP is a domestic terrorist threat, or that 'Free Staters' are 'active and present daily challenges' to the Concord Police Department. Individuals who sign up for the FSP generally subscribe to an ethical stance which asserts that 'aggression' is inherently illegitimate. Sadly, the DHS grant application only came to light through an ACLU public records request, and not as a result of transparent governance." Continue reading →

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Zimmerman prosecution staffer files whistleblower suit over testimony on unreleased evidence

"A former employee of Florida State Attorney Angela Corey’s office is suing the prosecutor, claiming he was illegally fired after he testified on behalf of George Zimmerman, who was acquitted in the death of black teenager Trayvon Martin. Kruidbos was fired after testifying at a pre-trial hearing on June 6 that he believed prosecutors had failed to turn over to the defense, as required by evidence-sharing laws, potentially embarrassing evidence extracted from Martin’s cell phone." Continue reading →

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In USSA, Journalism is a Crime

"Author and activist Barrett Brown has been behind bars for nearly 300 days without a trial. Federal prosecutors have filed a 17-count indictment on charges arising from the act of republishing material obtained by hackers from HB Gary Federal and Stratfor, two private companies that are deeply involved in national security affairs. Brown’s supposed offense was to commit journalism by republishing information about politically privileged corporation that he didn’t personally acquire, and then to condemn a federal official who was harassing and persecuting his family. That’s the kind of thing that leads to prosecution in the American Reich." Continue reading →

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Inventing Pretexts to Ignore the Fourth Amendment

"Describing these factors as a threat to 'officer safety,' the agents demanded access to the home to conduct a 'protective sweep,' during which ammunition and drugs were found. A district court denied Mongold’s motion to suppress the evidence. The US. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the district court and suppressed the evidence, noting that the ATF agents 'could most easily have protected the officers’ safety by leaving [the] home, not by entering it.' The Tenth Circuit quite sensibly slapped down this cynical argument for a warrantless search, but it was careful to specify that its sensible ruling is not to be used as a precedent." Continue reading →

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Florida won’t investigate police shooting of Chechen man during questioning

"State investigators in Florida have rejected a request for an independent investigation of the fatal shooting of a Chechen man while he was being questioned about his ties to one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. Florida’s department of law enforcement declined the request by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida to look into the death of Ibragim Todashev. Todashev was killed in May while being questioned by FBI agents and others. Officials originally said Todashev lunged at an FBI agent with a knife. They later said it was no longer clear what happened." Continue reading →

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When Cops Don’t Need a Warrant To Crash Through Your Door

"We know we're secure in our 'persons, houses, papers, and effects' unless the cops demonstrate probable cause to a judge and get a warrant. Except... Except when they don't. The fact of the matter is that police have a lot of leeway to bust your door down and take a look around if they fear that waiting for a warrant could lead to loss of evidence or danger to people. Or lead to something, anyway. That end run around the Fourth Amendment is called 'exigent circumstances,' and nobody really seems to be sure where it starts and stops. Except for the police. They know it when they see it." Continue reading →

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Former Cops Speak Out About Police Militarization

"In the book, I interview lots of older and retired police officers, many of them with SWAT experience. I also cite other police chiefs and sheriffs over the years who have raised concerns about militarization. The divide among police on this issue isn't political. Instead, the divide appears to be more generational. Older and retired cops don't seem to like where policing is headed. Younger cops, who are nudging policing in a more militaristic direction, are naturally fine with it." Continue reading →

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Now We Know Why Googling Pressure Cooker Bombs Gets a Visit from Cops

"Michele Catalano was looking for information online about pressure cookers. Her husband, in the same time frame, was Googling backpacks. Wednesday morning, six men from a joint terrorism task force showed up at their house to see if they were terrorists. Which prompts the question: How'd the government know what they were Googling? Because the Googling happened at work. One hundred times a week, groups of six armed men drive to houses in three black SUVs, conducting consented-if-casual searches of the property perhaps in part because of things people looked up online." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNow We Know Why Googling Pressure Cooker Bombs Gets a Visit from Cops