COPWATCH

[StillHustlin]

NC judge charged with trying to bribe official with ‘couple of cases of beer’

Superior Court Judge Arnold Ogden Jones II has been charged with trying to bribe an FBI agent with beer and cash to obtain copies of text messages involving members of his family.

Jones, the senior resident Superior Court judge in a judicial district that includes Wayne, Lenoir and Greene counties, is accused of texting the agent on Oct. 10, trying to get copies of text messages exchanged between two numbers. The FBI can only obtain those records with a warrant approved by a federal magistrate judge on suspicion of criminal activity.

According to the indictment, the judge told the agent the messages were “just for (him)” and “involve(d) family members.”

[[ame="http://media2.newsobserver.com/content/media/2015/11/4/Jones%20Indictment.pdf"]View the indictment of Superior Court Judge Arnold Ogden Jones[/ame]]

On Oct. 19, the FBI agent told the judge there wasn’t the legally required probable cause to get the texts, but said he would continue to try if the judge desired.

The indictment outlining the three counts states that the judge said: “I want down low – see what you can do without drawing attention. … This involves family so I don’t want anybody to know.”

[[ame="http://media2.newsobserver.com/content/media/2015/11/4/151104%20Judge%20Jones%20Indictment%20Statement.pdf"]Read a statement from the Department of Justice concerning arrest[/ame]]

The FBI agent and judge met in a car on Oct. 27, according to the indictment, where they discussed a fee for the information. Jones reportedly offered the agent “a couple of cases of beer” for helping him get the information.

On Monday, the federal agent informed the judge he had the information on a disk. In addition to agreeing to shred the disk so it could not be traced back to the agent’s computer, the judge reportedly told the agent he had “his paycheck.”

During that time, the indictment states, the judge agreed to give the agent $100 instead of beer. The two met on Tuesday in Goldsboro, and the judge handed over $100 in cash, according to the indictment.

Jones is accused of promising and paying a bribe to a public official, promising and paying a gratuity to a public official and corruptly attempting to influence an official proceeding.

Read more

 

[StillHustlin]

Sheriff denies shakedown claims over cash swap in Coney Island spat

BURTON, MI -- The owner of a Burton Coney Island is suing Genesee County and its undersheriff, claiming he was the victim of a police shakedown.

But Genesee County Sheriff Robert J. Pickell said his office actually helped the man by allowing him to pay $1,800 to a competitor to settle a dispute over stolen meat and avoid potential criminal charges and the possibility of prison time.

Apostolos "Paul" Margaris, owner of Paul's Coney Island, made the accusations in a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Nov. 4, against Genesee County and Undersheriff Christopher Swanson.

Attorney Tom Pabst, who represents Margaris, claims the incident began when his client began purchasing meat from a person's automobile to serve in his restaurant.

Pabst alleges that Swanson and other sheriff's office officials set up a "pseudo sting" operation to capture Margaris making the purchases. After the buy was made, Margaris was arrested and taken to the sheriff's department for interrogation.

The lawsuit claims Swanson offered to make the case go away and told Margaris he could avoid criminal charges if he paid $5,000. When Margaris declined, the lawsuit claims the offer continued to drop until Margaris agreed to pay $1,800.

In return, Swanson provided a hand-written receipt to Margaris that read "suspect and victim agreed to $1,800 settlement so not to pursue criminal or civil action," according to a copy of the receipt attached to the lawsuit.

"The truth is, he's scared spitless," Pabst said of his client.

However, Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell said there was nothing wrong with the way Swanson handled the situation and the payment actually highlighted the success of his office's consumer protection bureau.

"It's purely political," Pickell said of the lawsuit.

read more

 

[StillHustlin]

Ex-L.A. County sheriff's sergeant sentenced to 8 years in prison in jail visitor beating

Gabriel Carrillo listens in May 2014 to attorney Ronald Kaye, next to a picture of Carrillo's face after an encounter with Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)


Former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Eric Gonzalez made a final, defiant stand Monday as a judge prepared to sentence him in the beating of a handcuffed man and a scheme to cover it up.

In making his case for leniency, Gonzalez said his job in the Los Angeles County jail was filled with danger and praised himself for showing restraint. He sat down without apologizing.

Then Gabriel Carrillo stood to speak.

He called Gonzalez’s request for a light sentence "a joke," and described how a jail visit to his brother upended his life when he was beaten and then falsely accused of attacking deputies.

“He made his bed,” Carrillo said. “Now he needs to lay in it.”

The judge agreed, telling Gonzalez that he would spend the next eight years in prison.

more here

 

[StillHustlin]

Virginia cops Tased handcuffed man 20 times in 30 minutes before he died

Linwood Raymond Lambert Jr.'s Family Filed a $25,000,000 Federal Lawsuit After Unarmed Man Dies in Va. Police Custody

Po lice in South Boston, Virginia broke their own rules and Tased a man multiple times, then reneged on a planned trip to the hospital, before he died in their custody, MSNBC reported.

Newly-released footage shows three officers using the devices against 46-year-old Linwood Lambert while he was handcuffed both in front of a local hospital and in a patrol car. The Tasers were used 20 times over the course of a 30-minute period.

However, the department’s rules state that Taser use “is no longer justified once the subject has been restrained,” as Linwood was during the May 4, 2013 encounter.

The footage also reveals that the officers broke the department’s rules regarding providing medical assistance to suspects after the use of a Taser. The regulations state that officers should take suspects to the emergency room at the Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital before taking them to jail.

 

[StillHustlin]

ALL THREE OFFICERS HAVE BEEN PROMOTED

 

[StillHustlin]

Police Arrest 1st Grader For Attempted Assault On A Teacher, Because, You Know, First Graders Completely Understand Their Actions


Sanford, N.C. — A first-grader at B.T. Bullock Elementary School in Sanford is facing juvenile charges of assault and disorderly conduct after deputies say the student tried Monday to assault a teacher with a pair of scissors.

According to the Lee County Sheriff's Office, the student also threw items around the classroom and attempted to damage school computers.

The student was restrained and removed from the class by a Lee County school resource officer.

No other information about the incident was released.

 

[DVS ONE]

This happened in my town a few weeks ago. Today the D.A. said there was no wrong doing and charges will not be filed.

 

[DJ Coma]

Los Angeles Deputy Shoots Partner, Blames Suspect; Both Kill Suspect in Retaliation

A disturbing video emerged Friday showing two Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies killing a man after they had chased him for riding a bicycle while wearing headphones.

The incident took place more than a year ago with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department initially telling the media that they shot and killed 23-year-old Noel Aguilar, a “known gang member,” after he pulled out a gun and shot a deputy.

But now a video shows the two deputies struggling to arrest Aguilar when one deputy pulls out his gun and shoots the second deputy before placing his gun back into its holster, then placing the blame on Aguilar.

“Where’s the gun?” Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy Jose Ruiz asked Aguilar seconds after his partner announced he had been shot.

“I don’t have any,” Aguilar said.

“I’ve been shot,” yelled Albert Murade for the second time.

“I didn’t shoot nobody,” responded Aguilar.

“I got shot in the stomach,” Murade continued.

“I didn’t shoot nobody,” Aguilar insisted.

Ruiz then pulled his gun back out and pointed it at Aguilar in an obvious attempt to shut him up.

“C’mon man, why you pulling a gun on me,” Aguilar asked.

Ruiz shoots him in the stomach, prompting Murade, who is already angry at having been shot, to fire three bullets into Aguilar’s back.

That sparks angry shouts of protest from witnesses, in English and in Spanish, saying Aguilar did nothing illegal.

“I’ve been shot,” Murade kept repeating now that the struggle was subsiding.

“I’m dying,” Aguilar said, fading away.

“Go sit down,” Ruiz told Murade, pushing his partner away while standing over Aguilar, comfortable he was now handcuffed and facedown, the life slowly slipping out of him, keeping his knee on his back just to be sure.

Murade took his advice and walked off-camera as the shouts of anger became more intense, demanding Ruiz remove the knee from Aguilar’s back.

But Ruiz went from keeping a single knee on Aguilar’s back to plopping his entire body on his back, remaining there for several minutes in a suffocating manner while furious witnesses ordered him off.

It was almost as if he was deliberately trying to squeeze the life out of Aguilar, whom he knew would never shut up about not having shot Murade.

Ruiz is eventually pried off Aguilar’s body by the swarming deputies who enter the scene with their guns pointed at witnesses, ordering them all back inside their homes, running up stairwells to chase people all away...

More: https://photographyisnotacrime.com/...mes-suspect-both-kill-suspect-in-retaliation/

 

[Gas One]

Los Angeles Deputy Shoots Partner, Blames Suspect; Both Kill Suspect in Retaliation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjLkZpot_JA

A disturbing video emerged Friday showing two Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies killing a man after they had chased him for riding a bicycle while wearing headphones.

The incident took place more than a year ago with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department initially telling the media that they shot and killed 23-year-old Noel Aguilar, a “known gang member,” after he pulled out a gun and shot a deputy.

But now a video shows the two deputies struggling to arrest Aguilar when one deputy pulls out his gun and shoots the second deputy before placing his gun back into its holster, then placing the blame on Aguilar.

“Where’s the gun?” Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy Jose Ruiz asked Aguilar seconds after his partner announced he had been shot.

“I don’t have any,” Aguilar said.

“I’ve been shot,” yelled Albert Murade for the second time.

“I didn’t shoot nobody,” responded Aguilar.

“I got shot in the stomach,” Murade continued.

“I didn’t shoot nobody,” Aguilar insisted.

Ruiz then pulled his gun back out and pointed it at Aguilar in an obvious attempt to shut him up.

“C’mon man, why you pulling a gun on me,” Aguilar asked.

Ruiz shoots him in the stomach, prompting Murade, who is already angry at having been shot, to fire three bullets into Aguilar’s back.

That sparks angry shouts of protest from witnesses, in English and in Spanish, saying Aguilar did nothing illegal.

“I’ve been shot,” Murade kept repeating now that the struggle was subsiding.

“I’m dying,” Aguilar said, fading away.

“Go sit down,” Ruiz told Murade, pushing his partner away while standing over Aguilar, comfortable he was now handcuffed and facedown, the life slowly slipping out of him, keeping his knee on his back just to be sure.

Murade took his advice and walked off-camera as the shouts of anger became more intense, demanding Ruiz remove the knee from Aguilar’s back.

But Ruiz went from keeping a single knee on Aguilar’s back to plopping his entire body on his back, remaining there for several minutes in a suffocating manner while furious witnesses ordered him off.

It was almost as if he was deliberately trying to squeeze the life out of Aguilar, whom he knew would never shut up about not having shot Murade.

Ruiz is eventually pried off Aguilar’s body by the swarming deputies who enter the scene with their guns pointed at witnesses, ordering them all back inside their homes, running up stairwells to chase people all away...

More: https://photographyisnotacrime.com/...mes-suspect-both-kill-suspect-in-retaliation/

wow. at first i was like am i even reading this correct? the cop got clipped, suspect got clipped, and its like the pig who shot the two didnt even give a fuck. dude needs to get locked up for life. anyone else who shot a cop would. much less a motherfucker who look an oath to uphold the law.

LAPD is grimy as fuck. the last thing you wanna do is get mixed up with them niggas. muthafuckas be actin like training day was real life. remember when i went to a football sunday party went to the backyard saw a police motorcycle come to find out dudes house im at was a cop...were all snorting coke smoking weed getting hella drunk everyone drove home drunk as fuck liek that shit was even cool. like i was trying not even to drink that much , had to drive a chick and her baby home, and literally was forced to..motherfuckers knew i was the designated driver too. i didnt even respect the drug/alcohol use due to that fuckin cop damn near demanding i get shitfaced via drinking games. lol fuckin' children were all over the place they doin lines feet away from children. muthafuckas are not to be trusted.


if it aint enough that you walk through LA and get the whole 'where you from' shit every god damn block, you gotta put up with the LAPD's ass, they 10 times as crooked as any of the gangs. only time ive been physically assaulted by cops was in LA. although dublin PD had it in for me when i beat my drug/weapon case....had to move from there QUICK... fuck dublin PD and fuck Santa Rita jail.

 

[GTS]

Los Angeles Deputy Shoots Partner, Blames Suspect; Both Kill Suspect in Retaliation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjLkZpot_JA

A disturbing video emerged Friday showing two Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies killing a man after they had chased him for riding a bicycle while wearing headphones.

The incident took place more than a year ago with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department initially telling the media that they shot and killed 23-year-old Noel Aguilar, a “known gang member,” after he pulled out a gun and shot a deputy.

But now a video shows the two deputies struggling to arrest Aguilar when one deputy pulls out his gun and shoots the second deputy before placing his gun back into its holster, then placing the blame on Aguilar.

“Where’s the gun?” Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy Jose Ruiz asked Aguilar seconds after his partner announced he had been shot.

“I don’t have any,” Aguilar said.

“I’ve been shot,” yelled Albert Murade for the second time.

“I didn’t shoot nobody,” responded Aguilar.

“I got shot in the stomach,” Murade continued.

“I didn’t shoot nobody,” Aguilar insisted.

Ruiz then pulled his gun back out and pointed it at Aguilar in an obvious attempt to shut him up.

“C’mon man, why you pulling a gun on me,” Aguilar asked.

Ruiz shoots him in the stomach, prompting Murade, who is already angry at having been shot, to fire three bullets into Aguilar’s back.

That sparks angry shouts of protest from witnesses, in English and in Spanish, saying Aguilar did nothing illegal.

“I’ve been shot,” Murade kept repeating now that the struggle was subsiding.

“I’m dying,” Aguilar said, fading away.

“Go sit down,” Ruiz told Murade, pushing his partner away while standing over Aguilar, comfortable he was now handcuffed and facedown, the life slowly slipping out of him, keeping his knee on his back just to be sure.

Murade took his advice and walked off-camera as the shouts of anger became more intense, demanding Ruiz remove the knee from Aguilar’s back.

But Ruiz went from keeping a single knee on Aguilar’s back to plopping his entire body on his back, remaining there for several minutes in a suffocating manner while furious witnesses ordered him off.

It was almost as if he was deliberately trying to squeeze the life out of Aguilar, whom he knew would never shut up about not having shot Murade.

Ruiz is eventually pried off Aguilar’s body by the swarming deputies who enter the scene with their guns pointed at witnesses, ordering them all back inside their homes, running up stairwells to chase people all away...

More: https://photographyisnotacrime.com/...mes-suspect-both-kill-suspect-in-retaliation/

damnnnnn

 

[BUTCHER 206]

That Ruiz guy is a fucking idiot, I don't see the cop who got shot in the stomach as the bad guy here, he clearly thought the suspect had a weapon somewhere that he somehow shot him with and decided to end the threat before it happened again. All it would've took was Ruiz saying something. He's either a cold blooded murderer and this was some kinda set up gone wrong or a complete bungling moron, either way dude deserves any and all possible charges

 

[GTS]

what's crazy is after shooting him 5 times that cop lays on him basically sucking the life out of him for at least 2 minutes

not sure what his answer to that will be

 

[BUTCHER 206]

what's crazy is after shooting him 5 times that cop lays on him basically sucking the life out of him for at least 2 minutes

not sure what his answer to that will be

yeah that was some brutal cold blooded cowardly shit... that video was awful. fucking thugs are crossing lines even soldiers in war zones don't cross

i usually defend cops for the most part because ive seen so many good ones... but man the whole LAPD might need to just be completely wiped out top to bottom this shit has been going on forever

 

[:ab:]

what's crazy is after shooting him 5 times that cop lays on him basically sucking the life out of him for at least 2 minutes

not sure what his answer to that will be

prolly get a promotion and a medal for bravery

serio tho, if nothing happens to the cop it just confirms that the system is a complete joke

 

[DJ Coma]

what's crazy is after shooting him 5 times that cop lays on him basically sucking the life out of him for at least 2 minutes

not sure what his answer to that will be

In the hundreds/thousands of videos of citizens killed by cops that I have seen, this is the only one I can remember where a cop "hangs out" around the person that's dying, let alone sits on them like they're still a threat. He obviously wanted to make sure that guy did not live to tell his side of the story.

And I agree with you Butcher that the cop that got shot wasn't really at fault here. He actually showed pretty good restraint when you consider that he didn't even fire his gun until he saw his partner shoot the victim. He did shoot the guy in the back like 3 times but that looked it was only in reaction to his partner shooting him.

Also, I've read conflicting reports about whether the victim had a gun on him. I don't trust anything the police says in this situation so I'm not sure what to think. Gun or no gun doesn't really matter though, this was a murder.

 

[StillHustlin]

Fears raised for witnesses’ safety in corruption case

Officer Lt. David "Hater" Hansberry

A witness who is scheduled to testify against allegedly corrupt Detroit narcotics officers was shot during an unsuccessful hit attempt, and other witnesses were relocated because their lives are in danger, federal prosecutors say.

According to a court transcript obtained Monday by The Detroit News, concerns for witness’ safety were discussed in a Nov. 9 hearing in the case of Detroit narcotics officers Lt. David “Hater” Hansberry and Bryan “Bullet” Watson. They are accused of stealing cocaine from drug dealers and giving it to informants to sell.

“We have legitimate witness safety concerns,” said assistant U.S. Attorney Louis Gabel, according to the transcript. Gabel was in charge of the case before moving to private practice.

The discussion occurred during a final pretrial conference, in which the defendants’ attorneys asked to have the Dec. 1 trial date postponed. They wanted additional time to study new material that included hundreds of pages of documents and transcripts from wiretaps and more than 1,000 phone calls.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Murphy agreed to move the trial to June 7; it was the fourth time the trial date has been rescheduled. Indictments were handed down in April against the officers and a third defendant, Kevlin Omar Brown, who is referred to in court documents as an “associate” of Hansberry.

During a court sidebar with Murphy, Gabel said one witness, whose name is being withheld by The News, was attacked while driving in Metro Detroit this summer, days after he agreed to cooperate with federal authorities. He has recovered from his injuries.

“(The witness) was targeted and shot,” Gabel said. “The timing was very troubling for us and very suspicious.”

Gabel added if the trial was postponed, more witnesses could be in danger.

“We’ve had other witnesses who we’ve had to move, quite frankly, other witnesses who have been concerned” about their safety, he said. “With the Dec. 1 trial date, it was more reasonable that this was going to get tried and decided sooner rather than later.”

The judge agreed that postponing the trial could endanger witnesses. “The longer the delay before trial goes, the more risk any witness would have,” he said, before adding: “I really don’t think I have any reasonable option not to adjourn the trial.

“The stakes are extremely, extremely high. We’re talking about two police officers and one individual defendant who’s not a police officer that face a great deal of time.”

According to the indictment, Hansberry and Watson employed informants to arrange drug deals so they could rob and extort the dealers.

“The defendants allegedly carried out traffic stops and fake arrests and then stole drugs, money and personal property from their victims,” U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said in a statement after the indictments.

“Hansberry and Watson are charged with using their status as law enforcement officers to assist in their scheme, by driving police vehicles, activating lights on their police vehicles, wearing police-issued attire, displaying official badges and carrying firearms.

“Hansberry and Watson also allegedly identified themselves as police officers to coerce their victims into complying with their demands and to encourage their victims to flee, leaving behind illegal drugs, money, and personal property,” McQuade said.

Former narcotics officer Arthur “Curly” Leavells, who reportedly was childhood friends with informants frequently used by police in sting operations, pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

He told federal authorities he and other narcotics cops raided drug houses from 2010 through August 2014, but did not record the confiscated cocaine into evidence.

“Instead, the officers worked together to distribute the seized cocaine to drug dealers who could then sell it,” the indictment said. “The proceeds from the sale of the cocaine were split amongst the drug dealers and officers from the DPD Narcotics Section.”

Leavells cooperated with the FBI by wearing a wire to record conversations with fellow drug officers Hansberry and Watson, according to two police sources familiar with the investigation and federal court records.

Gabel was replaced by Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Michael Buckley.

[email protected]

(313) 222-2134

 

[StillHustlin]

Cops Seized Over $107,000 From Couple, No Crime Committed

(Nick Sibilla) A Massachusetts couple has been fighting for three years to regain cash they say was wrongfully seized from them. In October 2012, the Illinois State Police pulled over Adam and Jennifer Perry for speeding as they were driving through Henry County on Interstate 80. The Perrys said they were headed to Salt Lake City, Utah to see a hearing specialist for an ear infection Adam was suffering from.

A drug dog sniffed and indicated on the car. Officers then searched the vehicle and found $107,520 in cash in a suitcase and in Jennifer’s wallet. The Perrys claimed the search was without their consent and without a warrant. According to the officers, they also found a duffel bag that reportedly smelled of marijuana.

No drugs were found in the car, nor did the government file criminal charges against the Perrys. Nevertheless, officers seized the cash and eventually transferred it to the federal government.

In a letter filed earlier this month, Adam claims that the taken cash came from savings and disability settlements and payments. “Our faith in the United States legal system has been shaken. Why are officer’s [sic] allowed to be judge, jury and executioner on the side of the road?” the Perrys asked in a 2013 response to federal prosecutors.

Unfortunately, their case is not unique. An extensive investigation by The Washington Post into one federal forfeiture program found nearly 62,000 cash seizures since 9/11 where police did not use warrants or charge the owners with a crime. Out of those seizures, more than 1,700 were in Illinois alone.

Moreover, for federal civil forfeiture cases, property owners are not presumed innocent and do not have a right to an attorney. With few safeguards, police and prosecutors can profit from forfeiture. Illinois agencies received more than $186 million in federal forfeiture funds between 2000 and 2013 from the U.S. Department of Justice, according to the Institute for Justice’s report, Policing for Profit.

 

[StillHustlin]

Federal Judge Shames DEA for Fabricating Sham Cases to Justify War on Drugs

By Justin Gardner

Since the War on Drugs began in earnest under Nixon and Reagan, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has ruined millions of lives for nonviolent, victimless behavior. The DEA’s drug crusade is not limited to the homeland either, as it also has sole responsibility for pursing international drug investigations.

After 9/11, among the many travesties of the Patriot Act was a little-known section that gave the DEA powerful new abilities, under the guise of “narco-terrorism.” The agency says that these new pursuits are promoting national security, and it uses the purported success to lobby Congress for more funding.

However, according to ProPublica, these narco-terrorism cases are merely staging threats, not stopping them. Many targets of the DEA have no actual involvement in terrorist groups and are the hapless victims of entrapment.

A federal court recently showed the reality of this when it threw out a conviction because the DEA relied on a known “fabricator.” This Afghan informant, identified during trial only as Qari, formed almost the entire basis of the DEA’s case against alleged narco-terrorist Haji Bagcho.

In a 24-page ruling, issued last Friday, Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle vacated the narco-terrorism count against Bagcho, saying “the government violated the defendant’s right to due process by failing to turn over favorable impeachment evidence.” She wrote, “Evidence that the DEA’s Kabul office was told that Qari had been deemed a liar by another government agency, yet it still elected to use him as a witness would serve to undermine the reliability of the government’s investigation and its sources.”

Qari was paid $45,000 by the DEA for acting as a confidential informant while the usual income in Afghanistan was less than $600. A previous court had already designated Qari a “fabricator and/or information peddler,” and that other agency mentioned in Huvelle’s ruling had deemed his information “unrealistic and sensational.”

The DEA pleaded ignorance in using Qari, saying its failure was due to “discrepancies in the spelling of Qari’s name.”

Only a month ago, ProPublica and the New Yorker “examined some 37 narco-terrorism cases highlighted by the DEA and found that a disturbing number of them also unraveled. In most of the cases, the only evidence of a link between drugs and terrorism entered into evidence was provided by the DEA, which used paid informants to lure targets into staged narco-terrorism conspiracies.”

The case of Harouna Touré and Idriss Abdelrahman provides another example. The DEA launched an elaborate scheme to entrap the two smugglers in a narco-terrorism plot, involving fabricated tales of thousands of FARC fighters ready to collaborate against the U.S. This was the first narco-terrorism case brought against al Qaida, and DEA was hoping to make a big show.

As the Malians’ case proceeded, however, its flaws became apparent. The defendants emerged as more hapless than hardened, childhood friends who believed that the DEA’s informants were going to make them rich. “They were lying to us. And we were lying to them,” Touré told me from prison. Judge Barbara Jones, who oversaw the final phases of the case, said, “There was no actual involvement by the defendants or the undercovers … in the activities of either al-Qaida or the FARC.” Another judge saw as many problems with the statute as with the merits of the case. “Congress has passed a law that attempts to bind the world,” he said to me.

These sting operations, better known as entrapment, are a favorite tool of law enforcement—from local police departments to the FBI to the DEA in Afghanistan. Besides being a waste of taxpayer money, they are a morally reprehensible way for the state to carry out its dirty drug war. Even judges are not buying it anymore.

Justin Gardner writes for TheFreeThoughtProject.com

 

[StillHustlin]

Texas Rangers investigating suspicious death of woman found hanged in jail cell

FILED UNDER FUCC TEXAS PIGS YA HEARD ME

28-year-old Sandra Bland was found dead in her jail cell in Waller County, Texas on Monday, and while the police are calling it a suicide, her friends, family, and pretty much everyone else who hears about this aren’t convinced that’s what happened.

land’s friends and family feel that the police’s story doesn’t add up. For one thing, the odd quickness with which everything seemed to escalate seems off. In a matter of 72 hours Bland went from being pulled over for a minor traffic violation, to being arrested for assaulting a cop, and then killing herself, according to the police’s story. There’s also the fact that Bland is black, and Waller county supposedly has a history of discriminatory law enforcement behavior.



[Chicago Tribune | ABC 7 Chicago | My FOX Houston]

Trooper Who Arrested Sandra Bland Indicted for Perjury and Fired

The Texas state trooper who violently arrested Sandra Bland, an activist whose death caused nationwide protest last summer when she was found dead in her jail cell, was indicted by a grand jury on Wednesday for perjury. Following the indictment, it was announced that he has been fired from the state police.

Trooper Brian Encinia was charged with the misdemeanor for allegedly lying about how he removed Bland from her vehicle during the traffic stop. The same grand jury opted not to indict any sheriff's officials or jailers in Bland's death last month.

Bland was pulled over for an improper lane change on July 10, and the interaction quickly escalated to the officer brandishing his taser and threatening “I will light you up,” when Bland refused to put her cigarette out and get out of the vehicle.

Bland was then held in a Waller County jail for three days, unable to come up with the $500 bail. On the third day, she was found hanging in her cell with a plastic garbage bag around her neck.

The woman’s family and supporters have questioned the official suicide ruling, noting that she was about to start a new career. She had also been critical of police on social media.

Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis has maintained that there is no evidence of foul play, but a lawyer for the family is requesting all the evidence from the grand jury proceedings to conduct their own investigation.

Encinia had been on paid administrative duty since Bland’s death, and is currently facing a wrongful death lawsuit by Bland’s family. The case is set to go to trial in January 2017.

The perjury charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $4,000 fine. The grand jury will not be issuing any more indictments and have concluded their investigation into the case.


#WOOPTYEFFINDOO

 

[FATHERJOE]

What I want to know is why motherfuckers will hold a knife or scissors and approach a cop talking shit KNOWING that they will be shot. Makes me wonder how stupid society is these days.