Occasionally at the end of blog entries, I will leave a link to the website Killed By Police. I've been doing this on a semi-regular basis since 2015, when I first found out about the site. Killed By Police itself first began in May 2013, doing what the government fails to do: keep accurate up-to-date numbers of US citizens who die in police custody or during police interactions, on a daily, monthly, and annual basis, in real time.
While listening to radio program Press Watch this morning (Thursdays 9am KBOO 90.7fm), host 'Theresa' cited an article by British media service The Guardian on the number of American citizens murdered by cops this year. A visit to that article titled 'The Counted' will show a running tally of 751 people murdered by cops (at the time this entry was published). That is for 2016 alone, with four more months to go. The KBP site has that death toll at 806, as of September 8th 2016. On KBP's representative Facebook page, you will see the claim that at least 3,897 people have been killed by American cops since May 1st 2013 - the day the crowd-funded data base was founded.
Counting: A tiny snapshot of police murder victims.
A slight disparity between The Guardian's numbers and the US-based KBP. The fact is, The Guardian - a British news outlet - keeps a far better data base on Americans killed by cops than the American govt. does!
You see, this sort of thing ought to be shocking. The American empire is up everybody's ass with deep-state surveillance, wire taps, meta-data mining, electronic dragnets, facial recognition implanted in every camera, and every camera installed in every electronic and mobile device starring right back at YOU. But... the govt. can't tell you how many of its own citizens are gunned down by rampaging cops... OUTRAGEOUS! It is outrageous that a crowd-sourced data base and a foreign news outlet keeps track of these numbers, but the US govt. does not. Despite the fact that in the *horrendous Crime Bill of 1994, Congress mandated that the US Attorney General collect data from the use of excessive force by police departments nation-wide, and publish annual reports based on that data. This was never done, however, because state and local governments refused to volunteer such info. and the federal govt. never compelled them to do so. Uncle Sam did decide to wholesale much of its military surplus to despotic police regimes - from major cities to the smallest villages, every police regime got its own BearCat YAY!
Armored military anti-personnel vehicle known as the "BearCat". It has been slightly re-modeled to police specifications and is commonly deployed for "urban pacification" purposes.
Obviously, the massive increase of govt. subsidized military hardware to cops since the mid-1990's, combined with draconian provisions from that *1994 crime bill, have directly lead to sharp increases of murders by police gestapo. It goes without saying that People of Color have bore the full brunt of these militarized Death Squads... uh oh, I just called American police "death squads", oh nooo. Well, frankly, what the fuck else would YOU call them? Because if police in another country had murdered hundreds of citizens every year with virtually no accountability, you would call them DEATH SQUADS! If another sovereign nation had employed its police forces to kill hundreds of its own citizens every year, with minorities and the underclass being targeted specifically, and the govt. refused to keep track of those numbers, you would call that nation a DICTATORSHIP! Its police forces would be death squads, and you wouldn't assume for a moment that most of the victims were "mostly criminals who deserved it".
Let's be real - America is not a democracy. It is a quasi-dictatorship where people's so-called "rights" are not nearly as solid nor guaranteed as they've been indoctrinated to believe their whole lives. The police forces here are ROAMING DEATH SQUADS with govt.-backed authority to murder most citizens - whether on the street or in their homes - and not face any repercussions. You can be killed by police with or without having ever been charged with a crime. And in almost all cases, that pig will get away with it!
THAT is a dictatorship and American police are death dealers that do the bidding of both their governmental and corporate masters. They do not serve the public trust - that is a LIE you've been indoctrinated to believe. And after they kill you, the only ones who will even bother to document your death are a crowd-funded data base/Facebook page and a foreign news outlet. This is the state of affairs in America... FUCKING PATHETIC!
*The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act is a crime bill originally written by current vice president Joseph Biden and signed into effect by then president Bill J. Clinton. Clinton's wife Hillary R. Clinton, has already been anointed Empress-In-Chief. In '94 when she was still First Lady, Hillary championed her pederast husband's crime bill - largely by declaring war on Black people. The Crime Act of 1994 has proven to be an unmitigated disaster for People of Color, women, children, and the poor. The results have been: massive incarceration rates, a private prison explosion, three-strikes laws, mandatory-minimums, greatly expanded death penalty, militarized police, etc. etc. etc.
"They are often the kinds of kids that are called 'SUPER-PREDATORS'. No conscience, no empathy, we can talk about how they ended up that way. But first WE HAVE TO BRING THEM TO HEEL." - Shillary Rodham Clinton, during a 1996 speech touting her husband's horrific '94 crime bill.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/1/8/1467336/-Hillary-Clinton-Gangs-of-kids-are-super-predators-with-no-conscience-no-empathy
Many people have been gleefully egging on a race war this year, especially in wake of recent events. Clearly, some of these so-called "race warriors" can't wait, though.
Hate-Crimed: Larnell Malik Bruce, pictured here. R.I.P.
http://www.portlandmercury.com/news/2016/08/31/18533371/a-black-teen-was-run-down-in-gresham
Larnell Malik Bruce had recently moved in with family in Gresham,OR (a modest municipality adjacent to Portland). Bruce was at a 7-Eleven store on 188th and E. Burnside close to midnight on Wednesday August 10th 2016. He was reportedly charging his phone and talking with a friend. It was at this moment that Bruce was attacked by two white supremacist thugs without provocation. The two pieces of white trash were later identified as 38 year old Russell Courtier and his girlfriend/whore 35 year old Colleen Hunt. Bruce was standing outside the convenience store when the two white thugs drove up in a 1991 Jeep Wrangler. According to witnesses, within seconds a fist fight had broken out between the two men, with Hunt egging her boyfriend on. At one point, Courtier smashed Bruce's head into the store window, cracking the pane. Bruce pulled out a knife (which had been falsely reported in a few articles as a "machete") to defend himself. That's when the two Nazis decided to back away and use their vehicle as a weapon, instead. Bruce ran from the scene, with Courtier giving chase in his jeep - a coward true to form. Courtier attempted to run Bruce down, but missed the first time. The skinhead then jumped a sidewalk and darted across on-coming lanes of traffic, before hitting Bruce head on. The victim was found on the street moments later by cops and EMT personnel. He was bleeding profusely from his head. Bruce died from his injuries two days later. He was just 19 years old. The apartment where he had lived with his mother and younger brother was mere blocks from that 7-eleven.
White Cowards: Russell Courtier and his Nazi rat bitch Colleen Hunt, mug shots pictured.
On August 18th, Courtier and Hunt were both indicted for murder. As of now, they are not facing enhanced hate crimes charges, despite the fact that the criminals are both white supremacists and the victim was Black.
Courtier is a member of European Kindred - a white terrorist prison gang first founded at the Snake River correctional Institution in 1998. Its membership is small but known for extreme violence, and are mostly based here in Oregon. Far from disciplined soldiers fit for Hitler's Reich, however, EK are more white trash brutes culled from some of the most wretched ghettos in the state. Many EK members are drug addicts, most are functionally illiterate at best. Many end up as homeless retches after leaving prison, surviving merely by victimizing others even more weak and vulnerable (usually other whites).
Despite all this, Courtier has benefited from his white privilege. One must keep in mind that Amerikkka does not typically punish its citizens for white supremacist politics or even white terrorism, per` say. And Courtier's rap sheet shows this:
- In 2011 he fired a gun illegally from his car, but was not at all punished due to police searching his vehicle without the proper warrant (something only whites get away with. Black people are illegally searched with impunity).
- In 2012 he smashed a woman's head in a windshield. For this aggravated assault, Courtier received only probation.
- And on the night he attacked and murdered Bruce, Courtier was already on parole, having recently served two years in prison for attacking another woman with a knife.
Just three prime examples culled from a long criminal history. A proven violent thug and menace, repeat criminal offender Russell Courtier should've been taken off the streets long ago. But he's been given break after break by a good-for-nothing legal system that coddles white supremacists like children. And of course, no harm came to the Nazi couple when Gresham cops finally apprehended them - having just committed a violent premeditated murder. Courtier and Hunt are both in jail now, facing murder charges but no hate crimes. They enjoy decent meals, protection, free shelter, a lawyer, and due process. This is all much more than Larnell Bruce ever got. It's much more than victims of police murder ever get.
And it's awfully strange too, how such a brazen act of racial violence happened on August 10th, yet not make major headlines until damn near two weeks later. White supremacy/terrorism is REAL! It is the TRUE terrorist threat in this rotten country. Hopefully, Courtier and his rat girlfriend never make it out of jail alive. They both deserve to die, but there are many more out on the streets just like them. And they're not all covered in shitty prison tattoos, either. Many of these ticking time-bombs wear a policeman's uniform.
It seems like every day now brings forth a new police atrocity. Whether it be in massive urban areas or smalls towns, the epidemic of authoritarian-state mayhem continues on unabated. But increasingly, the citizenry is refusing to accept police-state terrorism as the norm. Beware to all cops who think they can murder people at will and think that they can simply get away with it unscathed.
On Saturday August 13th in Milwaukee, WI A 23 year old Black male was gunned down by a gang member of the Milwaukee Police Gestapo(MPG). The victim has been identified by family members as Sylville K. Smith. The pig who murdered Smith has not yet been identified. The incident occurred during a traffic stop, in which Smith was said to have ran from the vehicle, attempting to flee certain police violence. Smith was then shot in the back and died from his injuries. To absolutely no one's surprise, official police accounts have claimed "self-defense" and that Smith had been armed, officer's lives were in "danger", etc. Accounts from eyewitnesses have completely contradicted police lies, however. Claims from citizens on the scene range from Smith not having a gun at all, to Smith having one, but never pointing it at any cops. All this is really beside the point though, since racist gestapo cops are trained to kill Black citizens on sight... whether or not they flee, are armed, or are any threat at all. There is apparently police body-cam footage of the shooting, but has not yet been released to the public.
As a result of Smith's murder, unrest broke out in down town Milwaukee by later that evening. It's been reported that several cop cars were set on fire. A gas station was also torched. Several cops have also been said to have suffered minor injuries. At least 17 citizens had been arrested during street clashes with terrorist cops over the weekend.
Milwaukee murder: Sylville K. Smith seen here, Rest In POWER!
#BlackLivesMatter: local residents bravely stand off against Police gestapo in Milwaukee.
As always, these things are never simple isolated incidents, but have loads of context from which they spring. Milwaukee is said to be the most segregated cities in the country, with a long rich history of systemic racism and brutal state-violence. And many residents have said that the unrest and alleged riots were not just a direct result of Smith's murder, but had been a long time in coming. Milwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin, with a core population of about 600,000 people. Whites have a modest majority of 44% over Blacks with 39%, according to current statistics. So, things to keep in mind while dredging through the many media reports about this over the next several months.
According to http://killedbypolice.net/, Sylville Smith was the 721st person to have met his death at the hands of American police in 2016.
The summer of 2014 was a bloody one. The choking murder of Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York City have just occurred on July 17th. Within weeks, at least two more innocent Black men would have their young lives cut short by by sadistic, racist cops. John Crawford would be gunned down inside a Walmart in Beavercreek, OH on August 5th. Michael Brown would be gunned down in the street in Ferguson, MO on August 9th.
Rest In POWER!
Earlier this month, OD covered (among other things) the police murder of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, LO. Sterling's murder had been captured on both a citizen's cell phone video and by CCTV footage from the corner store, in front of which Sterling was killed. The owner of that store, Abdullah Muflahi, has faced his own police terrorist retribution, including the illegal seizing of his store's footage. Now news comes out of another man, in another state, who shared the cell phone video of Sterling's murder... and has been retaliated against himself!
https://blackmattersus.com/10959-man-arrested-by-10-militants-for-posting-video-of-police-shooting/
34 year Christopher LeDay had widely shared the graphic video of Sterling's murder on July 6th. It was sent to him by a friend who lives in Baton Rouge, where LeDay also has roots. LeDay, a musician and current resident of Atlanta, GA, was one of the first people to have helped make the video go viral, sharing it with thousands of followers on social media. For this, police terrorists took revenge on him. LeDay is also an Air Force veteran who is/was employed at Dobbins Air Reserve base. One day after LeDay posted the video, he went into work only to be illegally detained by military cops. He was handcuffed, shackled, and told that he had a warrant for an "assault and battery" charge. This was ludicrous, as LeDay had never been arrested, charged , nor summoned to court for an assault charge. So even before we get down to the meat of the matter, these loathsome pigs are already fucking with him... out of sadistic pleasure, one can only assume. After a short while, LeDay was finally told what the real pretext had been: traffic tickets. That's literally it. A sting operation was set up, involving nearly a dozen military cops, to arrest a man right before entering work, handcuffed and shackled - as one would've shackle a slave in olde plantation Georgia - all over unpaid traffic tickets from two years ago... let that sink in for just a bit.
HERO: Chris LeDay seen here recounting his unjust experience with Democracy Now!
HERO: Abdullah Muflahi seen here in front of his 'Triple S' store where Sterling was murdered.
LeDay was held in custody at a DeKalb County gulag for 26 hours until he paid a $1200 extortion fee. But that's not all this is costing him. LeDay's job at Dobbins Air Reserve base requires high security clearance. Not easy to get. The 34 year old LeDay had never been arrested, with those allegedly delinquent traffic tickets having been his only infraction. He is also an Air Force vet with an honorable discharge. Yet, this humiliating and vengeful arrest on bogus charges has not only cost LeDay his security clearance, but it has also cost him his job altogether. This is what you get here in America: tell the truth, expose terrorist cops for their crimes, and you get falsely arrested. You get humiliated. You get FIRED.
Of course, this isn't the first time criminal cops have retaliated against a citizen for daring to expose police crimes. Ramsey Orta captured what has since become one of the most graphic and high-quality police snuff murders of an innocent man ever. Orta's cell phone video of Eric Garner's murder by NYC police terrorists invoked global outrage and massive protests. For this, Orta and his family have faced contentious harassment and terror tactics by cops to this day. To date, Orta himself has been falsely arrested multiple times on a variety of bogus trumped up charges. Orta is the only person involved in Garner's brutal murder, who has ever faced criminal charges as a direct result... and he's the guy who RECORDED it! Currently, Orta is suing the city of New York for $10 million. Here's hoping he wins every dime! Garner was killed on July 17th over two years ago. To this day, none of the pigs involved have faced criminal charges, and none have lost their jobs.
http://muslimvillage.com/2016/07/16/119333/abdullah-muflahi-chris-leday-bravery-police-injustice/
https://www.facebook.com/chris.leday
Last week OD covered the police shooting of a Black health care worker and therapist in Miami, FL named Charles Kinsey. Kinsey was attempting to calm down an autistic man who had run out into the street from a mental health facility. That's when an anonymous cop-caller made a false report to 911 of "a suicidal man with a gun". Of course this was far from true, and when cops showed up, Kinsey did everything in his power to chill the situation. For his troubles, Kinsey was shot in the leg, handcuffed, and forced to lie on the street in 90+ degree weather for 20 minutes with a bullet wound. At the time, the pig responsible for this attempted murder had not yet been identified. Now he has!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLNiUYbMnq8
Bastard-ass pig Jonathan Aledda is a gang member of the Miami Police Gestaspo(MPG). He is 30 years old and is reported to have been aligned with the Miami police regime for four years. Aledda is the pig who can be seen in [now famous viral] video barking orders at both Kinsey and the 23 year old autistic man. The 47 year old behavioral therapist pleads with cops, telling them that neither he nor his patient have any weapons, that guns are not needed. The young autistic man (still officially unidentified, but in video Kinsey can be heard referring to the young man as 'Renoldo') was playing with a toy truck. This is what was apparently mistaken as a "gun". In the video, Kinsey can clearly be seen laying down with his back on the pavement, arms out stretched to show cops he is of NO threat. Despite all this, pig Aledda fires his weapon at Kinsey, hitting him in the leg. Aledda was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle. The Miami police regime released a statement later, saying that [officer]Aledda was actually trying to fire at the autistic man in order to "protect" Kinsey, but "accidentally" hit Kinsey in the leg instead.
That's the best excuse these bastard-ass pigs can come up with. That they were really trying to kill a heavyset retarded man playing with a toy truck, but almost killed another totally innocent man by mistake. OOPS! OUR BAD! Jesus fuck, these goddamned pigs are beyond despicable!
And like most of these horrific cases, the more you find out, the more goddamned awful it becomes. According to news reports, Aledda was a member of the SWAT unit in Miami. The filthy pig also has academic qualifications in nursing and health studies! Aledda reportedly earned his nursing certificate in 2008. Yet despite his certification, Aledda went ahead with his "standard arresting procedure" of Kinsey. This involved turning Kinsey on his stomach, handcuffing him, and forcing him to lie there in the street for at least 20 minutes, until medical aid was rendered. A gunshot victim with a bullet hole in his leg this whole time.
[Eventually] Kinsey was taken to a hospital, treated, and released. His has not faced any criminal charges, as he has done nothing wrong. So far as is known, no harm has come to the 23 year old retarded man. For his direct role on the attempted murder, pig Aledda received paid vacation while an investigation is underway. A second cop on the scene that day - commander Emile Hollant - has been suspended without pay. This was reportedly because pig Hollant provided misleading statements to investigators. So basically what that shows is this: the pig who actually SHOT an innocent person, because he missed while trying to murder another innocent person, gets paid vacation. But the pig who LIED about it gets suspended - no pay. Does that not demonstrate how twisted this whole system is???
The questions few folks seem to be asking are these: WHY were cops even present in the first place?! WHY would someone call 911, claiming that a retarded man with a toy truck was "suicidal"?! Who on Earth would even mistake a toy truck for a gun?!?! Who is the 911 cop-caller? Why has this asshole not been identified yet, and WHY is he/she not facing criminal charges for filing a false report... if not as an accessory to attempted murder?!?!?!
http://killedbypolice.net/
For fuck sakes.
Here we are in the lovely state of FLORIDA once again! The state where racist vigilante murderers get rewarded, retired geezer cops get to shoot up movie theaters, and infanticide killers get completely exonerated (so long as she's a passably good-looking White woman). FL has been at the top of the crazy list for too long now, giving historically nutter states like TX and AL a run for their money. Now FL is also the state where a Black licensed therapist can lie down on his back, put his arms up, follow every officer's command... and still be SHOT!
North Miami: on Monday July 18th 2016 47 year old Charles Kinsey, a behavioral therapist, was shot by a gang member of the Miami Police Gestapo(MPG). This happened as Kinsey was trying to assist a 23 year old autistic man. The young man had ran away from a near-by group home for adults with learning disabilities. The man had sat down in the street playing with a toy truck, when Kinsey attempted to calm the autistic man down. An unidentified anonymous cop-caller had made a false report to 911 dispatch about a "man waiving around a gun, might be suicidal". This description did not even remotely resemble what was actually the case, but nonetheless.
A by-stander's cell phone video captured most of the incident, but not the shooting itself. This video was released online on Wednesday July 20th and quickly went viral. That video, along with a second video tacked on, can be viewed here. In the video, Kinsey can clearly be seen lying down on the street on his back, his arms out stretched. Kinsey can be heard pleading with officers to "NOT SHOOT!" "I'M NOT ARMED!" "THERE'S NO NEED FOR GUNS HERE!". The shooting itself was not captured on video, and so far little is publicly known about the exchange between Kinsey and the cop who shot him. The fact is, even after having pleaded with the cop, Kinsey was shot anyways, in the leg. The pig son-of-a-bitch who shot the therapist has not yet been identified. He was reported to have been armed with an AR-15 assault rifle. Kinsey says he asked why he was shot, to which the cop replied, "I don't know". After this, an injured Kinsey was flipped over on his stomach, cuffed, and made to lie there on the street for 20 minutes, until medical aid was finally rendered.
Charles Kinsey seen here, demonstrating to reporters how he continued to have his hands up, even as cops shot him for no apparent reason.
Talking to local reporters from his hospital bed in Miami, Kinsey recounted the entire near-fatal interaction: "I was really more worried about him (the autistic man) than myself," Kinsey said. "I was thinking as long as I have my hands up... they're not going to shoot me. This is what I'm thinking, they're not going to shoot me. Wow, was I WRONG!"
At the time of this entry, Kinsey recovers from a police gunshot wound to his leg. He faces no criminal charges. No harm is known to have come to his autistic patient, who also remains unidentified. The pig who shot Kinsey is on paid vacation, while the incident is under investigation. Kinsey is very lucky to still be ALIVE and able to tell his story. Kinsey was no doubt acutely aware of the epidemic of innocent Black men having been arbitrarily murdered by terrorist cops all over the country. Even though he was doing nothing but his job, Kinsey's survival technique of lying down on his back with his hands up the moment cops appeared is almost certainly what saved his life. It's more difficult for a cop to aim "center mass" when a person is lying down.
More on this later...
