Showing posts with label Missouri. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Missouri. Show all posts

Thursday, December 25, 2014

NEWS: Hip-Hop Reacts To Antonio Martin's Death

 Hip-Hop Reacts To Antonio Martin's Death

Members of the hip-hop community express their condolences to Antonio Martin, an 18-year-old who was shot and killed by police in Missouri yesterday.

2014 just couldn't go out without one more incident of police killing a black teenager. At the tail end of a year in which we've seen Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and others gunned down by police, 18-year-old Antonio Martin was gunned down last night in Berkeley, Missouri, just two miles from Ferguson. Officers say he was armed, but the full chain of events isn't very clear at the moment. For detailed coverage, head over here.
Various members of the hip-hop community voiced their opinions on Twitter. Read their tweets below.


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Saturday, December 20, 2014

NEWS: Anonymous Claims To Have Released The Officers’ Names Who Killed Kajieme Powell

 Anonymous Claims To Have Released The Officers’ Names Who Killed Kajieme Powell
In yet another bold move from Anonymous, Anon Cop Watch has revealed who they believe to be the killers of 25 year old Kajieme Powell, the young man tragically executed on August 19, by St. Louis Police, only 10 days after the killing of Michael Brown
St. Louis Police Chief Dotson called the shooting justified, as Powell was in fact armed with a small knife. He defended the officers’ actions on the grounds that they used deadly force due to the suspect with a knife, coming within three of four feet of the officers, which would be considered within lethal range.
Unfortunately for Dotson a good Samaritan filmed the encounter, and when video surfaced, it was clear to everyone that Dotson and/or the killer cops had fabricated many of the facts in this case. At no time during the encounter does Powell appear to be less than 10 feet from the officers, and his hands were by his sides when the officers began firing.
The horrifying video of his death also left many questioning why the police made no attempts to deescalate the situation or talk down the clearly upset and troubled Powell, instead obliging his requests to shoot him, and then callously handcuffing his corpse.
Perhaps this is why Dotson did not want to release the killer cops’ names.
For 112 days community members and concerned citizens nationwide demanded to know the names of the cops who killed Powell without response from the department. On Tuesday morning Anon Cop Watch announced the first name, Officer Ellis Brown, a 26 year old rookie on the force.
Four hours later they released the second name, 27 year old Randy L. Hays, along with a deeply disturbing image of animal torture that they say came from his social media.

As Anons scoured the internet for information on the two they claim are the killers, the two men began scrubbing all of their information offline. They were not fast enough, and by early afternoon the addresses and phone numbers of both men were available on twitter in screenshots posted by @AnonKafir.
They also found some unsavory content on a woman reporting to be Hays’ mother’s social media, noting that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. When this woman isn’t cheering for bloody photos of a pepper sprayed and tortured squirrel, she is apparently boasting about how she “shoots to kill, not wound” in regards to Ferguson protests.
Freethoughtproject.com spoke with the Anon’s involved, who are confident in their information, which was leaked to them and then allegedly verified through an eye witness to the shooting.
They also asked if Anon had any comments, to which the Anonymous activist who goes by “West Florissant Ave” (@thatsracistaf) responded, “We demand transparency and justice. If the police will not give it, we will take it. No apologies.”

As of Tuesday evening the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department had not responded to the allegations.
-Tamara El(@_SheWise_)
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Monday, November 24, 2014

FERGUSON: ACLU making sure Ferguson protesters know their rights

Ferguson, Mo. – One civil rights group has found a novel way to make sure protesters taking to the streets over the death of Michael Brown understand their legal rights.
The American Civil Liberties Union has been handing out black t-shirts at protests and other events here with the slogan, “I know my rights.”

Underneath, the t-shirts spell out those rights: “I have the First Amendment right to: Peacefully assemble; photograph or videotape police; protest in public spaces; protest without a permit.”
At a protest march in the Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis on Sunday night, ACLU staff were distributing the t-shirts widely, and getting an enthusiastic response from protesters.
Jeff Mittman, the executive director of the ACLU of Missouri, said that although protesters usually have a general idea of their rights, it helps to have it spelled out.
“Knowledge is power,” said Mittman. “So we want to have it right there on their chests, front and center, that the First Amendment is important.”
“We think the message is getting through,” Mittman added, noting recent comments from Missouri governor Jay Nixon and St. Louis mayor Francis Slay that emphasized the importance of protecting First Amendment rights.
Since not long after the unrest began here in the wake of Brown’s death on Aug. 9, the legal rights of protesters and the media have been a subject of contention. Protest leaders and civil rights advocates have accused police of violating First Amendment rights by arresting reporters and at times setting strict rules for where protesters can assemble, and for how long. Police have acknowledged some missteps, but said their goal has been to protect public safety.
The ACLU has been active in the controversy. On Friday, it won court orders requiring local and state police here to abide by a prior agreement allowing protesters and media to record law enforcement officers. Sunday, it expressed concern over the arrest on Saturday of a News2Share reporter at a protest outside the Ferguson Police Department. 
At least one protest leader, Joshua Williams, 18, appeared in no doubt about his rights at Sunday’s march. As protesters blocked an intersection, he held his phone up to the window of a police car to record its driver, and continued to record as he ran alongside the car for several yards while it drove away. After the police car stopped and turned around, Williams kept recording as he stood directly in front of the car. 

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