If you're a Black woman who was some how arrested during the month of July, thank the Gods you are still here. As the #BlackLivesMatter and #SayHerName movements have dutifully emphasized over the past year, a slow burning genocide against people of color - perpetrated by racist police terrorists, racist prosecutors and judges - has been underway for quite some time. The month of July 2015 has proven to have been especially deadly for women of color - at least 5 Black women have turned up dead in police custody this month. Most under "mysterious" circumstances (if not out right foul play). All are unacceptable!
Of course, the murder of 28 year old Sandra Bland in mid July has garnered international attention, and rightfully so. Arrested on Friday July 10th in Waller County, TX, Bland was found dead in her cell of an alleged "suicide" on Monday July 13th. But you might not be as aware of Kindra Chapman, a young 18 year old Black woman who was arrested in Homewood, AL on Tuesday July 14th (just one day after Bland's death/murder). Accused of stealing a cell phone, Chapman was found lynched in her jail cell within two hours of her arrest. Chapman's family was posting her bond, when her body was found.
Sandra Bland
Kindra Chapman
Raynetta Turner
Now there is news of a sixth Black woman who was killed while in police custody! As if we were not AWARE already, we now have an epidemic upon us!
Here are the names of these six women:
Sandra Bland, 28 - alleged suicide (murder) in Waller County, Texas on Monday July 13th (possibly dead before then).
Alexis McGovern, 28 - died in St. Louis, Missouri on Friday July 17th, under "mysterious" causes.
Raynetta Turner, 43 - died in Mount. Vernon, NY on Monday July 27th. Cause remains unknown.
Joyce Curnell, 50 - died in South Carolina on Thursday July 23rd, "mysterious" causes.
Ralkina Jones, 37 - died in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Arrested over a domestic dispute with husband on Friday July 24th, Jones was found unresponsive that following Sunday. Causes still unknown, but murder most likely.
Kindra Darnell Chapman, 18 - suspected "suicide" in Homewood, Alabama on Tuesday July 14th, one day after Bland was also lynched while in custody. Chapman's dead body was found just two hours after her arrest.
ALL of these women were arrested on minor charges. In some cases, they should not have been arrested at all. In at least one case, bail had already been posted! And yet they all ended up DEAD, some how...
When the infuriating case of Sandra Bland was first covered HERE, the identity of the arresting officer had not yet been released to the public. Now, the bastard-ass cop who wrongfully arrested Bland has been IDENTIFIED! He is officer Brian Encinia, a 30 year old state trooper with the State Department of Public Safety. Encinia, who is clearly White, has been a trooper for the state agency for a little more than a year.
Light his ass up: Trooper Brian Encinia pictured left. Sandra Bland, right, was arrested by Encinia during a racist traffic stop in Waller County, TX on July 10th. After needlessly escalating an already tense situation, Encinia falsely charged Bland with "assaulting an officer". Bland died in jail three days later, under "mysterious" circumstances.
Pig trooper Encinia initially pulled Bland over while driving in Waller Country, TX on July 10th 2015. Bland, a resident of Naperville, IL, was driving to her old college, Prairie View A&M University, where she was to be interviewed for an outreach counselor position. According to reports, Bland had allegedly changed lanes without signaling (no one will ever know), this was when Encinia pulled her over. Bland was understandably agitated, as she immediately recognized the implications of having been a Black woman being pulled over by a White cop in Texas. But she was never "combative" as erroneous police reports have claimed, much less any sort of threat. To the contrary, Bland remains calm and compliant during the first moments of this encounter. That would change drastically.
At some point Encinia ordered Bland to "put out her cigarette". Bland questioned why she had to put out her cigarette in HER OWN car - as she was well within her right to have done. Encinia then decided to drastically escalate an already tense situation, by ordering Bland out of her vehicle. Bland was then arrested and falsely accused of assaulting an officer. A brave vigilant citizen captured part of Bland's violent arrest on his mobile device. That video can be viewed HERE. In it, several other pigs can be observed on the scene. At some point, one of the cops even begins walking in a threatening manner towards the person recording them. This police thug orders the cop-watcher to leave, even though the person recording appears to be at least a dozen plus yards away, and clearly not interfering. Recently, dashboard-mounted camera video of the incident has been released. It depicts the entire incident between Encinia and Bland, and can be viewed HERE.
While giving an unlawful, unconstitutional comand to exit her vehicle, officer Encinia pulls out his taser and barks at Bland, "I WILL LIGHT YOU UP!", as you can clearly hear in the dash cam video. Bland then exits, under extreme duress and still continuing to protest her treatment. At which point, she is assaulted, handcuffed, and taken to jail. Once Bland had been kidnapped, she was issued bond of $5,000. Bland had managed to contact familiy and friends, who were arranging to post the minimum 10% (or $500) required to get her released. But in the meantime, Bland had no other choice but to sit in a rotten Texas gulag over the weekend... her life in iminant peril.
Bland was initially arrested on Friday July 10th around 4:00 in the afternoon. On Monday July 13th at around 9:00am, Bland's body would be found dead in her cell. A supposed "suicide-by-hanging", Bland had a plastic trash bag tied around her neck. Typically, Black people are killed by racist cops before ever making it ti jail. For some reason, officer Encinia did not simply shoot Bland right there in the street. But it is clear, that either he or his police comrades managed to get to Bland while she was in jail... with no withnesses and completely helpless.
Bland's funeral
was held on Saturday July 25th 2015. She was an outspoken activist who
gave her own critique on the murders of other People of Color at the
hands of cops. She is now a martyr who paid the ultimate price.
The horror never ends, it doesn't even seem to pause.
On Friday July 10th 2015, an Illinois woman named Sandra Bland was unjustly arrested in Texas, following an alleged traffic violation. Three days later on Monday July 13th, she was found dead in her jail cell. Local officials claimed it was "suicide". If you believe that for even a moment, you're a goddamned FOOL!
Having grown up in Naperville, IL, 28 year old Sandra Bland was driving in Waller County, TX on June 10th. The area is about 60 miles northwest of Huston. That drive would prove to be fatal. Bland was heading to a job interview for a college outreach counselor position at her alma mater, Prairie View A&M University, when she was pulled over for an allegedly failing to signal during lane change (a misdemeanor, typically punishable by a citation and an inconveniencing court date). The police OFFICIAL version of events is as follows:
"On Friday June tenth 2015, Miss Bland was pulled over by Waller County state trooper[name redacted] for failure to signal during a lane change. Miss Bland suddenly became combative and assaulted trooper[name redacted]. Miss Bland was then arrested and taken to Waller County jail to await a court appearance. On Monday June 13th, the female suspect was found dead in her cell of an apparent suicide, with a plastic bag around her neck".
And that's it. They actually expect the public, as well as Bland's family and friends, to believe that garbage. Bland's "mysterious" death has been seriously questioned by many people, with very good reason. And her case is gaining international attention. Mainstream/corporate media have made a particularly big deal over reports that Bland had claimed to experienced depression and PTSD earlier in the year. But family members and friends close to her insist that she was simply vending after a rough day. Plus, there seems to be no indication that Bland had ever attempted to harm herself. And what sense does it make that a 28 year old woman, on her way to a job interview at her old college (from which she is a 2009 graduate) just decides to "hang herself" over a traffic arrest??? And aside from this clear case of a jailhouse lynching, many people are questioning just WHY Bland would end up in jail over a weekend... over a simple traffic stop in the first place!
Bland's family has ordered an autopsy - independent of the initial autopsy/cover-up performed by a Waller County coroner. As it should be of absolutely NO surprise, Waller County, TEXAS itself has a deep and rich history of racism. So far, the identity of the pig who arrested Bland has been withheld, but it's safe to assume that the bastard is White. Bland was Black of course. So her unjust arrest, the false charge of assaulting an officer, and her DEATH have all fallen under national scrutiny. Especially in light of recent events involving police interactions with People of Color. In fact, Bland herself was an outspoken activist in the #BlackLivesMatter movement, having posted several videos of herself giving commentary to [other] national cases of police murder and terrorism (little must she have known of her own fate to come).
This is an on-going story so much more is to come. Rest in peace Sandra...
Upon this day, one year ago, Brother Eric Garner was murdered in cold blood by wild gang members of the New York City Police Terrorist regime. Garner's was one of the most galvanizing police murders of 2014. A year later, not one single pig-ass cop has been prosecuted for Garner's homicide. The death of Garner was first covered HERE in Targeting Cops. This blog has continued to revisit the Garner case many times since, including the outrageous grand jury decision not to indict officer Daniel Pantaleo. The continuous harassment of, and repeated unjust arrests of Ramsey Orta - the brave citizen to recorded the infamous murder of Garner from beginning to end - has also been covered. The most recent entry regarding Orta can be read HERE.
On July 17th 2014, Garner was walking along a street near his home in Staten Island, NY, when he found himself immediately surrounded by a pack of wild animals who happen to be cops. These cops had accused Garner of selling "loose cigarettes" - a city code violation which is punishable by a fine and nothing else. Garner denied doing anything wrong. When Garner asserted his right to be left along, the bastard cops jumped him like a pack of rabid dogs, bringing him to the ground. Officer Daniel Pantaleo placed Garner in a choke hold - banned from use by the NYC Police Gestapo since the early 1990's, though cops there have reportedly continued to employ this hold for years without any accountability. Garner immediately yelled that he couldn't breath, over and over. Within seconds he was unconscious. Garner was pronounced dead at a hospital later on. He was 43 years old and the father of six. Garner's funeral was held on July 23rd in Brooklyn. On August 1st, Garner's death had been officially ruled a homicide. The entire incident was captured on a citizen's mobile device. This video, shocking in its visual and audio clarity, went immediately viral, making Garener's death by police once of most galvanizing American crimes of 2014. The brave citizen who took that video, Ramsey Orta, has faced continuous retribution from NY's police terrorists ever since.
Of all the pigs directly involved in Garner's murder, officer Pantaleo was the only one to have faced potential criminal charges. On December 3rd 2014, a Staten Island grand jury declined to bring such charges against Pantaleo. District attorney Daniel Donovan, a conservative roman-catholic, wiped his hands of Garner and his surviving family, and went on to steal an election for Staten Island's congressional seat in May of this year. On Friday July 17th, thousands of citizens attended a NYC rally to both memorialize the one-year anniversary of Garner's murder, as well as continue demands for cop reform. Dozens of people were reportedly arrested during these non-violent actions.
Pig Pantaleo was initially stripped of both badge and gun following his choke hold murder of Garner. Unfortunately, he went on to enjoy a year's worth of paid vacation, on the tax payer's dime. Now after a year of free pay, dodging a grand jury's indictment, dodging his neighbors, and hiding out in general, the most hated cop in NYC is reportedly eager to get his job back. Apparently Pantaleo faces federal civil rights violations as well. But if history is any indication, then he may slip away from those charges too. A killer walking the streets and getting free welfare from the state. No other cop or city official has ever been held accountable for what was done to Garner. In fact, the only person to ever have been arrested in Garner's death... is the person who filmed it.
Meanwhile, Garner's family is still grieving, still seeking closure of some sort. Sadly, we may be here again a year from now... only to find that not a damned thing has changed.
One of the most confounding and infuriating cases of police murder in 2014 was that of John Crawford's senseless death inside a Walmart store in Ohio. To recap: On August 5th 2014 John Crawford III was shopping inside a Walmart store in Beavercreek, OH, which is a suburb to Dayton and over 200 miles southwest of Cleveland. Crawford was standing in the toy aisle holding an unpackaged BB/airsoft gun. He was also on the phone with the mother of his two children LeeCee Johnson at the time. Crawford's girlfriend, Tasha Thomas, had accompanied him on their trip to the store. Suddenly, two gang members of the Beavercreek Police Gestapo(BPG) charged in, and Crawford was gunned down within mere seconds. He never had a chance. Both Johnson and Crawford's father, John Crawford II, were still on the phone during the shooting. Since the mobile device had its speaker function activated, Johnson and Crawford II both heard him die. The two filthy, bastard-ass pigs who murdered Crawford are officers Sean Williams and David Darkow. Williams and Darkow were responding to a (since proven false)911 call of a "Black male waiving a gun around". The racist piece-of-shit who made this 911 call is Ronald Richie. Richie made claims to the 911 operator that he saw Crawford "loading an assault rifle, waiving it around, and pointing it at other shoppers". None of this was true, and Richie later admitted that he LIED. Officers William and Darkow started shooting within seconds of their arrival. The gunfire caused a panic, and in the process another shopper suffered a fatal heart attack. That person's name was Angela Williams and she was 37 at the time.
The last time we visited this case, it was to relay news that the two animals directly responsible for Crawford's murder would not face criminal indictment by a grand jury. The Crawford case happened in between the police murders of Eric Garner and Michael Brown(July 17th and August 9th, respectively). Unfortunately due to this timing, Crawford's death had been somewhat overshadowed initially, but would gain renewed(and well deserved) attention in the months following. Here is what else has happened since last year:
Tasha Thomas was tragically killed in a vehicle crash on New Years day. In December, video surveillance footage was was released to the public, depicting an extremely distraught Thomas being harshly interrogated and psychologically tortured by a bastard pig cop inside a police station. During the illegal interrogation, Thomas was falsely accused of "helping" Crawford bring a gun into the store, and threatened with arrest. Thomas was aware that Crawford had been shot, but did not know he was actually killed. Police knew this, of course, and deliberately did not tell her until more than an hour into her brutal questioning.
Also in Dec. last year, Crawford's family filed a federal wrongful death against both the Walmart store where Crawford was killed, and the Beavercreek Terrorist regime. A trial date for that civil suit has been set, but it is going to be a ways out.
Ronald Richie, the obese, neckbearded piece-of-shit who was the catalyst for what happened, has never himself been arrested for making a false 911 call and causing the deaths of two innocent people. An online petition has been set up, calling for Ritchie to be criminally charged, as he should be.
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When Rekia Boyd was first murdered by a racist scumbag cop in 2012, this blog was regrettably unable to give this case the attention it deserved. Recently in a entry focusing on the police murders of Black women, Boyd was briefly touched upon. Here now is a back story on her case - no less horrifying than most others covered here.
Boyd was murdered by an off-duty pig in Chicago, IL on March 21st 2012. She was 22 years old(to put this into perspective, Trayvon Martin was murdered less than a month prior, on February 26th in Stanford, FL). Boyd's murder had initially been shrouded in a fog of misinformation, due to police stone-walling and LIES. The TRUTH has slowly been pulled out ever since. Here is what is known: Around 1:00am on Wednesday March 21st 2012 the pig in question, off-duty Chicago detective Dante Servin, approached a group of four people in Douglas park. According to initial police reports, Servin was addressing a so-called "disturbance" in that park. Really, he was simply looking for trouble. This pig would later claim that one of those individuals, identified as Antonio Cross, pulled out a gun. This forced Servin to draw fire in "self-defense", striking Cross in the hand and hitting Boyd in the head. She died in a hospital the following day. However, Cross insisted that he never had a weapon... only a cell phone. Apparently to every pig-ass cop, a mobile device in a Black man's hand looks like a "gun". A total of five gun shots were fired that night, all from Servin's weapon. None of the people fired upon were ever armed. Cross was erroneously charged with aggravated assault, but that charge was dropped in March 2013.
Antonio Cross, left. And the deceased Rekia Boyd right(R.I.P.).
Boyd's older brother Martinez Sutton seen here. He has been advocating on behalf of his sister since her murder in 2012.
Even though pig-ass cop Dante Servin was eventually charged with Rekia Boyd's murder, he in fact would never face trial. On Monday April 20th 2015, manslaughter charges against Servin were dropped by judge Dennis Porter. Like a thug prowling the night, White cop Servin targeted a group of innocent unarmed Black residents, with the intent of causing great harm. This pig murders one person, shoots another in the hand. And for his "troubles", he gets to walk free. OUTRAGEOUS!
Antonio Cross seen here. While giving witness testimony during detective Servin's manslaughter trial, Cross demonstrates how Servin fired his weapon over his shoulder at the group of unarmed Blacks.
No justice, PERIOD! Cook County judge Dennis Porter seen here. This is proof that criminal acts and the utter failure of justice simply does not fall upon individual cops. The entire system is GUILTY AS CHARGED!
