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Oct 22 2006
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ARCHIVE OF COVERAGE: Police & Legal |
This page is a partial archive of reporting by US-based IMCs on police abuse, government misuse of surveillance, and grassroots resistance through monitoring efforts and legal activism. It is not a complete archive of such coverage. If you know of a story that is missing, please contact the editorial collective at imc-us-editorial((at))lists.indymedia.org.See also: Prison Issues Archive | Human & Civil Rights Archive
October 22:
Every year on October 22, communities mobilize to protest police brutality and remember the those who have lost their lives as a result of police brutality. National October 22nd Coalition | Stolen Lives Project | Indybay's Past Coverage of October 22nd | Roundup of actions in 2006 and 2007.
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local and national features
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Sep 01 2010
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Did MPD Target an Activist? |
Linda Leaks is a community organizer. In order to protect the District of Columbia's remaining public housing stock, Leaks travels throughout the city, in her car. At least she did.
On the afternoon of Friday, August 8th, Leaks was pulled over by D.C. police for driving an unregistered vehicle. Rather than simply giving Leaks a ticket, she was handcuffed, arrested and not released until 2:30 AM, without her wallet, ID or money. Read More | Audio
On the afternoon of Friday, August 8th, Leaks was pulled over by D.C. police for driving an unregistered vehicle. Rather than simply giving Leaks a ticket, she was handcuffed, arrested and not released until 2:30 AM, without her wallet, ID or money. Read More | Audio
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Aug 28 2010
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Another photographer gets harassed on the Miami-Dade Metrorail |
Less than two weeks after 20 photographers conducted a photo protest on the Miami-Dade Metrorail system, security guards were at it again, telling a photographer he was not allowed to take photos. Obviously, Miami-Dade Transit and 50 State Security have made minimal effort to educate security guards that photography, is indeed, allowed on the Metrorail.
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Aug 28 2010
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Photo protest at Miami Dade Metrorail - A rousing success |
After the last two incidents at the Douglas Road Metrorail Station, I was pretty much expecting the worst Sunday as I prepared for the photo protest. I even had this crazy notion that I would don a wig as I entered the station to prevent the security guards from recognizing me, which would no doubt lead to them assaulting me and stealing my cameras. Read MoreRelated: Another photographer gets harassed on the Miami-Dade Metrorail
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Aug 27 2010
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Zombies to Donate Thousands to RNC 8 and Scott DeMuth |
Portion of Minneapolis Police Settlement to Go to Anarchists Facing Trial
The RNC 8 and Scott DeMuth, Twin Cities anarchist organizers facing trial this fall on politically motivated conspiracy charges, are receiving donations to their legal defense funds from an unlikely source--zombies who settled a lawsuit with the City of Minneapolis late last week. read more
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Aug 27 2010
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Chicago videographer Gregory Koger found guilty on three counts from attempted video recording |
Chicago activist and videographer Gregory Koger was found guilty on August 26th on three counts of trespassing, resisting arrest and battery on a police officer, despite being dragged, beaten and maced by police. Koger was recording with his iPhone a statement by New York-based activist and radio host Sunsara Taylor who was making an informal announcement at the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago just prior to a lecture event from which she had been suddenly disinvited. Koger was convicted without bond and was sent immediately to Cook County Jail. Koger's case has been aggressively pursued by the Cook County State's Attorney and has also been a cause célèbre of Chicago and national activists rallying to his cause, with ramifications related to police surveillance and media making. Koger's sentencing is scheduled for September 8th, and Koger could face up to three years in jail. Koger's attorney has promised an appeal.
Coverage From UC-IMC | | | Related: Rally to Free Diop Olugbala! | Zombies to Donate Thousands to RNC 8 and Scott DeMuth | Facing Prison for Filming US Police
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Aug 24 2010
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Code Pink founder arrested at Eric Prince (Blackwater)home demo |
Erik Prince of Blackwater has been rumored to have fled to the UAE to escape possible criminal prosecution, but on August 22, Code Pink found him at home when they dropped by for a home demo demanding he stay and face charges for Blackwater's crimes. Video of home demo against Erik Prince
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Aug 23 2010
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Rally to Free Diop Olugbala! |
A rally to show unity with the struggle to free Diop Olugbala is planned for Monday, August 23, 2010, at North Broad Street and Erie Avenue in North Philadelphia. Olugbala, now president of International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement, was attacked and arrested by police during a city council meeting. He is accused of carrying a sign that called for Africans to resist the war that the City of Philadelphia wages against our community. Before organizing in Philadelphia, Olugbala received worldwide media coverage when he publicly challenged then-candidate Barack Obama during a 2008 campaign event in St. Petersburg, Florida.
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Aug 17 2010
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Activist Convicted of Marching in Parade |
Anarchist activist and former parade organizer Wes Modes was found guilty on August 16th of walking in the DIY New Year's parade on December 31, 2009. Santa Cruz Superior Court Judge Jeff Almquist rejected arguments that the citation was discriminatory and that the city's permit requirements were unconstitutional. Almquist also denied a lengthy challenge to the City's permit requirements without addressing all of the points it brought up.
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Aug 15 2010
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Fire Liar Dyer |
On Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 8:30 a.m. the Fresno Brown Berets and CA Prison Moratorium Project will be presenting a petition to the City Council demanding Police Chief Jerry Dyer be fired and that reforms be made like drug testing the cops. You are invited to show your support or share your own story. Police are public servants and should be held accountable.
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Aug 13 2010
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Peace Camp 2010 Relocates from County Courthouse to Santa Cruz City Hall |
Red, a participant in the Peace Camp 2010 protest against the Santa Cruz Sleeping Ban, said that she and about 15 other demonstrators moved to City Hall at 3am on August 11th. The Peace Camp had been at the Santa Cruz County Courthouse since July 4th, and persevered through six Sheriff raids. Although Sleeping Bans have been ruled unconstitutional and overturned in several California cities, including San Diego, Laguna Beach, Los Angeles and Richmond, it is still enforced vigorously in Santa Cruz.
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Aug 12 2010
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SB1070 in Full Effect: Arpaio-style enforcement actions spread across the state |
Tucson, AZ- Although attention in Arizona has been focused during the past several months on SB1070 and Joe Arpaio's increasingly totalitarian anti-immigrant tactics, much of the media coverage has ignored the degree to which Arizona communities have long been under the thumb of SB1070-like enforcement practices. Programs such as 287(g) and "Secure Communities" already allow local police to cooperate with the feds on immigration enforcement, and have proliferated under the Obama administration. Even more dramatic is the free reign that the U.S. Border Patrol enjoy in southern Arizona, within 100 miles of the border, and the cooperation of municipal police agencies in cities such as Tucson, Yuma, Casa Grande and Sierra Vista in the routine detention and deportation of long-term community members. Despite a partial injunction, SB1070 has only emboldened such practices and the impunity with which these law enforcement agencies operate. Tucson residents are complaining of unprecedented police harassment and interrogation related to immigration status. Just one week after SB1070 went into effect, in an unprecedented show of force, the Tucson Police Department engaged in a Joe Arpaio-style immigration sweep on Tucson's southside involving a staging ground in Rudy Garcia park and dozens of patrol cars. Members of Copwatch / Migra Patrol observed police single out people driving with Mexican license plates and detaining anybody without "proper" ID. Confirmed reports in the past week have described similar police actions at the Ronstadt transit / bus station. Although police have claimed that these actions are related to "targeted crime suppression," a video that went viral earlier this week clearly showed a women being placed in Border Patrol custody after a minor traffic stop on Tucson's Fourth Avenue.
Related from Houston Indymedia: Immigration Round-Ups Cause Terror in Rio Grande Valley Colonias
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Aug 12 2010
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NEST update! |
[T]he NEST volunteers who were arrested were released and all their gear returned by the linn county sherrif's department.
The four members of the Northwest Ecosystem Survey Team who were arrested were cited and released by Linn County, and all their gear returned.
The Linn County Sherrifs had thought that NEST was camped illegally on private land, but were in the Willamette National Forest, according to maps provided by the Forest Service. As it turns out, the maps were inaccurate. Even so, the camp was still so close to the boundary of the Forest land that it would be close to impossible to determine which side of the boundary the camp had been set up in.
Linn County will certainly be hearing from our wonderful friends at the CLDC!
The four members of the Northwest Ecosystem Survey Team who were arrested were cited and released by Linn County, and all their gear returned.
The Linn County Sherrifs had thought that NEST was camped illegally on private land, but were in the Willamette National Forest, according to maps provided by the Forest Service. As it turns out, the maps were inaccurate. Even so, the camp was still so close to the boundary of the Forest land that it would be close to impossible to determine which side of the boundary the camp had been set up in.
Linn County will certainly be hearing from our wonderful friends at the CLDC!
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Aug 12 2010
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Immigration Round-Ups Cause Terror in Rio Grande Valley Colonias |
By John-Michael Torres to the open publishing newswire: Over the last three weeks, organizers from La Union del Pueblo Entero in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas have received more than 30 reports of Border Patrol round-ups and detentions in colonias from Pharr all the way to Mercedes. Colonia residents, many of them either undocumented or with undocumented household members, fear for their families and livelihoods. Many fear leaving their homes. Area businesses have been left deserted. Many have not even wanted to risk going to the area clinic or pharmacy.
This is the first time in recent memory that the RGV has seen widespread round-ups and detentions by Border Patrol so far north of the Rio Grande River. "We have not seen this kind of reaction from Border Patrol in the past," says LUPE Director Juanita Valdez-Cox. People are concerned in a way we haven't seen before either. In response to this general fear felt by LUPE members, the organization called for an emergency meeting between LUPE leaders and lawyer Celestino Gallegos of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid to come up with a plan of action. [Read Full Article]
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Aug 12 2010
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Video: Navigating the Security Culture |
Lauren Regan, founder of the Eugene Oregon based Civil Liberties Defense Center speaking at the recent Roots of Resistance Conference held in Portland Oregon, organized by Jesus Radicals.
The Conference, held in Portland Oregon on the week end of August 6th and 7th, explored themes of Christian Anarchism, violent vs non violent strategies, among others.
Lauren, along with Tre Arrow, spoke Sunday morning on a panel entitled, "Navigating the Security Culture, Activism in a Posts 911 World."
According to the flyer for the event, "the aim of this session is ................to inform people about laws that criminalize dissent and that make it exceedingly difficult to work for social change." Regan, who is a public interest attorney specializing in civil rights, criminal defense and environmental law, has successfully represented hundreds of political activists in both civil and criminal litigation. After first discussing some of her cases, she enumerates 4 main methods used by law enforcement to infiltrate, intimidate, marginalize and discourage organizations seeking to bring about social change as well as ways that activists can evade and neutralize these methods.
Lauren Regan, Navigating the Security Culture
The Conference, held in Portland Oregon on the week end of August 6th and 7th, explored themes of Christian Anarchism, violent vs non violent strategies, among others.
Lauren, along with Tre Arrow, spoke Sunday morning on a panel entitled, "Navigating the Security Culture, Activism in a Posts 911 World."
According to the flyer for the event, "the aim of this session is ................to inform people about laws that criminalize dissent and that make it exceedingly difficult to work for social change." Regan, who is a public interest attorney specializing in civil rights, criminal defense and environmental law, has successfully represented hundreds of political activists in both civil and criminal litigation. After first discussing some of her cases, she enumerates 4 main methods used by law enforcement to infiltrate, intimidate, marginalize and discourage organizations seeking to bring about social change as well as ways that activists can evade and neutralize these methods.
Lauren Regan, Navigating the Security Culture
Portland CLDC Benefit Show Sat Aug 14th | Eugene CLDC Benefit show in Eugene Thursday August 12th
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Aug 12 2010
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Update on Eric McDavid's Appeal |
Yesterday, August 9th, oral arguments for Eric's appeal were heard at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Most of the discussion focused on the incorrect written response to a question the jurors asked during deliberations at Eric's trial (the oral answer to a jury question was the complete opposite from the written answer - the jury reached a guilty verdict soon after). The presiding judge on the panel seemed particularly interested in this issue (she wrote a previous decision for the 9th circuit in which a case was reversed due to an erroneous jury instruction).
The prosecution, lacking any solid arguments about why this issue was "harmless error," resorted (as they usually do) to their typical bag of tricks and lies. We know we probably don't need to go into detail here - but just keep this in mind if you choose to listen to the arguments.
If you are interested in listening to yesterday's proceedings in their entirety, they are posted on the 9th Circuit's website at:
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/media/view_subpage.php?pk_id=0000005995
http://www.supporteric.org
The prosecution, lacking any solid arguments about why this issue was "harmless error," resorted (as they usually do) to their typical bag of tricks and lies. We know we probably don't need to go into detail here - but just keep this in mind if you choose to listen to the arguments.
If you are interested in listening to yesterday's proceedings in their entirety, they are posted on the 9th Circuit's website at:
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/media/view_subpage.php?pk_id=0000005995 http://www.supporteric.org