Police State

Joseph Weekley: Self-Pitying Stormtrooper

“It was my gun that shot and killed a 7-year-old girl,” insists Detroit resident Joseph Weekley, who took part in a fatal home invasion on May 17, 2010. Embedded with Weekley and his comrades on that evening was a camera crew from a cable TV program called 'The First 48' – which meant that PR, rather than public safety, was the defining priority of the mission. Weekley is a museum-quality specimen of the self-pitying Stormtrooper – and the jurors who were willing to let him escape mortal accountability for his crime would likely have done the same for Weekley’s German antecedents in the 1930s." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJoseph Weekley: Self-Pitying Stormtrooper

NSA Rejecting Every FOIA Request Made by U.S. Citizens

"Seymour had decided to request his NSA file after coming across a recent post of mine instructing Americans on how to properly request such files from the FBI and NSA. A Navy vet and two-time Obama voter who supported the President’s platform of greater governmental transparency, Seymour was shocked by the letter he received. The letter, which first acknowledges the media coverage surrounding its surveillance systems, quickly moves to justify why none of that data can be obtained by an American citizen in a standard FOIA request. Dozens of citizens have emailed me to say they’ve received a similar, if not identical, letter." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA Rejecting Every FOIA Request Made by U.S. Citizens

Obama Throwing Medical Marijuana Patients Into Federal Prison At Unprecedented Rate

"Fallout from the Obama Administration’s aggressive federal enforcement in medical marijuana states has reached a fever pitch this month with three people being sentenced, two others due to surrender to federal authorities to serve out sentences of up to five years in prison, and one federal trial in Montana currently scheduled for January 14th. Two of the three people being sentenced in the coming month face five and ten years to life, respectively. Far surpassing his predecessor George W. Bush, President Obama has conducted more than 200 SWAT-style raids on state-compliant medical marijuana businesses and has indicted more than 80 people since he took office." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama Throwing Medical Marijuana Patients Into Federal Prison At Unprecedented Rate

Professor in Jesus-stomping controversy reinstated, will teach online courses

"Non-tenured communications instructor Deandre Poole will teach online courses this summer and in the fall. Poole endured quite a lot last semester after then-junior Ryan Rotela, a devout Mormon, was suspended from class because he complained about one of Poole’s assignments. According to a letter written by FAU associate dean Rozalia Williams, Rotela faced several possible charges including 'acts of verbal, written or physical abuse; threats, intimidation, harassment, coercion; or other conduct which threaten the health, safety or welfare of any person.' The charges against Rotela were apparently hastily dismissed at some point." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingProfessor in Jesus-stomping controversy reinstated, will teach online courses

Angry Protesters Rally Over Dog Killed By Hawthorne Police

"[Note: The man who was being arrested in this video was not obstructing an investigation, he was video taping the police and they threw a false charge at him because they didn’t like it.] Demonstrators are out in front of the Hawthorne Police Department Saturday morning, protesting the shooting of a dog by one of their officers. A handful of people stood with signs, some bringing their own dogs, to express their displeasure with the killing of a dog last Sunday. The incident was caught on video and immediately went viral, with nearly four million views on YouTube." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAngry Protesters Rally Over Dog Killed By Hawthorne Police

Judge Finds Cop Not Guilty of Assault After Refusing to Watch Video of Assault

"A St. Louis cop is caught on video, slamming his forearm across the face of a handcuffed teenage suspect. However, when Bruce stepped in front of the judge to be tried this week, the judge refused to watch the video that came from a surveillance camera from the back of a police transport vehicle. As a result, Judge Theresa Counts Burke found him not guilty. But the head of the police union, Jeff Roorda, who is also a Missouri state representative, fully agreed with her decision not to view the video because he believes videos should only be used to protect police, not hold them accountable. Roorda is now going to help Bruce get his job back." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJudge Finds Cop Not Guilty of Assault After Refusing to Watch Video of Assault

“Why did you shoot me? I was reading a book”: The new warrior cop is out of control

"Sal Culosi is dead because he bet on a football game — but it wasn’t a bookie or a loan shark who killed him. His local government killed him, ostensibly to protect him from his gambling habit. Fairfax County, Virginia, detective David Baucum overheard the thirty-eight-year-old optometrist and some friends wagering on a college football game. Baucum befriended Culosi as a cover to begin investigating him. On the night of January 24, 2006, Baucum called Culosi and arranged a time to drop by to collect his winnings. When Culosi, barefoot and clad in a T-shirt and jeans, stepped out of his house to meet the man he thought was a friend, the SWAT team began to move in." Continue reading →

Continue Reading“Why did you shoot me? I was reading a book”: The new warrior cop is out of control

The Redcoats Had NOTHING on Today’s Local Police

"Dustin Theoharis of Auburn, Washington was asleep in a basement bedroom when he was shot 16 times by officers who had come to the home looking for someone else. He was not a criminal suspect and had no access to a weapon when the officers opened fire in the darkened bedroom. The assailants who shot Theoharis were Detective Aaron Thompson of the King County Sheriff’s Office and Corrections Officer Kris Rongen. The King County Prosecutor’s office ruled that the shooting by Deputy Aaron Thompson and Correctional Officer Kristopher Rongen was legally justified." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Redcoats Had NOTHING on Today’s Local Police

Students DESTROY NSA Recruiters Over Illegal Spying and Lies

"When NSA recruiters went to the University of Wisconsin earlier this week to pitch language students on working for the agency, they got more than they bargained for. The informed students turned the question-and-answer session into a hearing. On trial were the NSA's lies, their legality, and how they define 'adversary'. The students recorded audio of the exchange on an iPhone proving that the language-analyst NSA recruiters were left tongue-tied." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStudents DESTROY NSA Recruiters Over Illegal Spying and Lies

Cops Booed, Pelted With Objects After Arresting Ice-Cream Bicycle Chef

"During last Friday night's ride, Miami Police officers were booed and pelted with objects after arresting local chef Aleric 'AJ' Constantin for selling ice cream out of the back of his bicycle. 'I basically spent a day and a half in jail for selling ice cream,' Constantin says. Around 10 p.m., one of the officers approached Constantin just as he was selling some ice cream to a fellow cyclist. The cop asked the chef if he had a license to sell his dessert. Constantin handed over his driver's license and said that all of his paperwork was in order. Moreover, he had permission from the Filling Station to be there. But that wasn't good enough for the officer." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCops Booed, Pelted With Objects After Arresting Ice-Cream Bicycle Chef