Swipe Monster: Bolivia, Venezuela, torture — US anti-democracy at work

Many Americans are shocked at Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s comments.  Just as they are shocked if some other speaker should encroach upon the mythos of US exceptionalism – the belief in this country’s perpetual goodness that has been instilled since childhood.  These incidents sadly display how deeply divorced American popular consciousness is from the reality of the nation’s actual history, at home and in foreign policy.  

Here we go…. a round up of stuff you might have missed…. the US empire at work:

Summary (News):

• US backs eastern secession in Bolivia (video)
• United States maneuvers to carve up Bolivia with autonomy vote
• Spinning the News – The FARC-EP Files, Venezuela and Interpol
• Latin America has ‘created its own neighbourhood’
• More Doubts About Colombia’s “Magic Laptop” and its Allegations Against Hugo Chavez
• Kids in America(n Torture Camps): Why Does the Media Cover Up War Crimes?
• Where Is the Outrage?

Extra (info for reference)

• National Endowment for Democracy
• The School of the Americas
• September 11, 1973 in Chile
• 1954 in Guatemala
• 1961 in Brazil
• Venezuela in 2002
• William Blum’s Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II
• http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/KillingHope_page.html
• http://www.killinghope.org

Bolivia

As has happened many times, particularly in the Western hemisphere, people have democratically voted for a leader and for reforms that run counter to US economic interests.  The US response is typical – subvert the will of the people.  Historically, US responses have ranged from funding political opposition (see: the National Endowment for Democracy for example) and spreading propaganda all the way up to training killers and torturers (see:  The School of the Americas for example) and supporting coups to overthrow elected governments (see:  September 11, 1973 in Chile , 1954 in Guatemala, 1964 in Brazil … Venezuela in 2002…. the list goes on.  For many examples please see William Blum’s Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II) .  (And all of this is not even counting the ways the World Bank, IMF and various trade deals are used to keep weaker countries in line).

Bolivia has nationalized its natural gas industry.  There are plans to redistribute land and the wealth that comes from it.  The region is being encouraged to separate from Bolivia has 97% of Bolivia’s natural gas reserves and the US is funding the campaign.

The Real News: US backs eastern secession in Bolivia with Forrest Hylton reporting

United States maneuvers to carve up Bolivia with autonomy vote by Roger Burbach 

While the US embassy inLa Paz blandly declares its support for “unity and democracy” in Bolivia, the government’s Interior Minister Alfredo Raba states what is widely known, that the United States ”has an agenda more political than diplomatic in Bolivia, and this agenda is linked to opponents of the current government.” Evo Morales, the first indigenous president of the country, bluntly declares: “The imperialist project is to try to carve up Bolivia, and with that to carve up South America because it is the epicenter of great changes that are advancing on a world scale.”

 

 

Venezuela

The US (with the help of Colombia, its main ally in the region) continues to try to destabilize Venezuela and the American media continues to help spread the message.  All three stories are lengthy but very informative.  

Spinning the News – The FARC-EP Files, Venezuela and Interpol By Stephen Lendman

On March 1, the Colombian military (with US Special Forces help) illegally attacked a FARC-EP rebel camp inside Ecuador. US satellite telephone tracking located the site. Washington signed off on the mission. Over 20 people were killed, including 16 or more FARC-EP members while they slept. Key among them was Paul Reyes, the FARC-EP’s second-in-command, key peace negotiator and public voice, and lead figure in the Chavez-led hostage negotiations with Colombia.

The action was a clear act of aggression and premeditated murder. It’s not how the dominant media played it. Hostile verbal exchanges took place between Hugo Chavez and Ecuador’s Raphael Correa on the one hand and Colombia’s Alvaro Uribe and George Bush on the other. US presidential candidates, as expected, supported the White House and Bogota.

Latin America has ‘created its own neighbourhood’ by Federico Fuentes 

According to (Eva) Golinger, the policy of Colombian government was never to promote a serious negotiation to release hostages and “give the FARC some kind of political platform in the country”. She argued it was always a manouevre aimed at working towards the goal of “eliminating the FARC”.

Demonstrating his position on the internal conflict, Uribe announced the extradiction of 14 warlords involved with right-wing Colombian paramilitaries that were facing charges in Colombia to the US. There, they will not face the charges of murder against them in Colombia, but merely drug trafficking.

“What was extradited was the truth”, Teresita Gaviria, a leader of the Mothers of La Candelaria that represents the families of more than 530 victims of the paramilitaries, told the Christian Science Monitor on May 15.

Aiming to put a halt to the humanitarian exchange process, which was a direct threat to the continuation of Plan Colombia — the US’s project of the militarisation of the region under the guise of fighting “narco-terrorists” — the Colombian government carried out its attack on Ecuadorian soil that killed Reyes, the main contact point not only for the Venezuelan but also the French government in its attempts to secure the release of hostages, specifically French-Colombian prisoner Ingrid Betancourt.

More Doubts About Colombia’s “Magic Laptop” and its Allegations Against Hugo Chavez by Daniel Denvir, NACLA (The North American Congress on Latin America).

Over the last two and a half months, the Colombian government has released–and leaked to the media–a series of documents and photos allegedly found on all the computer devices. The Colombian government has argued, with widespread media credulity, that the documents prove Venezuela and Ecuador’s ties to the FARC, as well as other things. The document leaks have been part of a broader media-driven campaign by the Colombian government to justify the attack and distract public attention away from the violation of Ecuador’s sovereignty.

Interpol’s report contains four central findings:     

• The chief of Interpol said forensic experts discovered “no evidence of modification, alteration, addition or deletion in the user files of any” of the computer devices.
   
• A press release on the investigation noted, “The Colombian Judicial Police computer forensic experts followed internationally recognized principles in the handling of electronic evidence from the time they received the exhibits on 3 March 2008.”
   
• The same release states, however, that “between 1 and 3 of March, direct access to the seized computer exhibits by Colombia’s first responder anti-terrorist unit in order to view and download their contents did not follow internationally recognized principals in the handling of electronic evidence under ordinary circumstances.” But the release then adds, “This direct access and downloading had no effect on the content of any of the user files.
   
• Finally, Interpol found thousands of files with erroneous creation dates, some even dated 2009.

Contrary to most media reports, the scope of Interpol’s investigation was explicitly limited to determining whether the hard discs had been altered. Interpol did not investigate whether the laptops were actually recovered from the FARC camp, nor was the organization charged with determining the significance or authenticity of the documents found within. In fact, Interpol made a point of choosing non-Spanish-speaking experts to ensure the documents’ contents would not influence the investigation.

 

Torture

Kids in America(n Torture Camps): Why Does the Media Cover Up War Crimes? by Ted Rall

….the U.S. government admitted that it has more than 500 children in its torture and concentration camps. More than 2,500 children have gone through U.S. secret prisons since 2002, including at least eight at Guantánamo.

 

Where Is the Outrage? by Robert Sheer

….top-level meetings in 2002 in the White House Situation Room that signed off on the CIA treatment of prisoners — “whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called water boarding. …” 

….the (DOJ) report offers examples of sexual and religious denigration of the mostly Muslim prisoners by female interrogators carrying out an official policy of “invasion of space by a female.” In one recorded instance observed by startled FBI agents, a female interrogator was seen with a prisoner “bending his thumbs back and grabbing his genitals … to cause him pain.” One of the agents testified that this was not “a case of a rogue interrogator acting on her own.” He said he witnessed a “pep rally” meeting conducted by a top Defense Department official “in which the interrogators were encouraged to get as close to the torture statute line as possible.” 

….The New York Times reported, “One bureau memorandum spoke of ‘torture techniques’ used by military interrogators. Agents described seeing things like inmates handcuffed in a fetal position for up to 24 hours, left to defecate on themselves, intimidated by dogs, made to wear women’s underwear and subjected to strobe lights and extreme heat and cold.” 

Killing Hope

If you’re still here, here is the table of contents for William Blum’s Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II - it gives a picture of the scope of US interventions 

The Third World Traveler web site also has many of the chapters online: http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Blum/KillingHope_page.html
Table of Contents (from http://www.killinghope.org)

Introduction
 1. China – 1945 to 1960s: Was Mao Tse-tung just paranoid? 
2. Italy – 1947-1948: Free elections, Hollywood style 
 3. Greece – 1947 to early 1950s: From cradle of democracy to client state 
 4. The Philippines – 1940s and 1950s: America’s oldest colony 
 5. Korea – 1945-1953: Was it all that it appeared to be? 
 6. Albania – 1949-1953: The proper English spy 
 7. Eastern Europe – 1948-1956: Operation Splinter Factor 
 8. Germany – 1950s: Everything from juvenile delinquency to terrorism 
 9. Iran – 1953: Making it safe for the King of Kings 
10. Guatemala – 1953-1954: While the world watched 
11. Costa Rica – Mid-1950s: Trying to topple an ally – Part 1 
12. Syria – 1956-1957: Purchasing a new government 
13. Middle East – 1957-1958: The Eisenhower Doctrine claims another backyard for America 
14. Indonesia – 1957-1958: War and pornography
15. Western Europe – 1950s and 1960s: Fronts within fronts within fronts 
16. British Guiana – 1953-1964: The CIA’s international labor mafia 
17. Soviet Union – Late 1940s to 1960s: From spy planes to book publishing 
18. Italy – 1950s to 1970s: Supporting the Cardinal’s orphans and techno-fascism 
19. Vietnam – 1950-1973: The Hearts and Minds Circus 
20. Cambodia – 1955-1973: Prince Sihanouk walks the high-wire of neutralism 
21. Laos – 1957-1973: L’Armée Clandestine
22. Haiti – 1959-1963: The Marines land, again 
23. Guatemala – 1960: One good coup deserves another 
24. France/Algeria – 1960s: L’état, c’est la CIA 
25. Ecuador – 1960-1963: A text book of dirty tricks
26. The Congo – 1960-1964: The assassination of Patrice Lumumba 
27. Brazil – 1961-1964: Introducing the marvelous new world of death squads 
28. Peru – 1960-1965: Fort Bragg moves to the jungle 
29. Dominican Republic – 1960-1966: Saving democracy from communism by getting rid of democracy 
30. Cuba – 1959 to 1980s: The unforgivable revolution 

31. Indonesia – 1965: Liquidating President Sukarno … and 500,000 others
      East Timor – 1975: And 200,000 more 
32. Ghana – 1966: Kwame Nkrumah steps out of line 

33. Uruguay – 1964-1970: Torture — as American as apple pie 
34. Chile – 1964-1973: A hammer and sickle stamped on your child’s forehead 
35. Greece – 1964-1974: “Fuck your Parliament and your Constitution,” said the President of the United States 
36. Bolivia – 1964-1975: Tracking down Che Guevara in the land of coup d’etat 
37. Guatemala – 1962 to 1980s: A less publicized “final solution” 
38. Costa Rica – 1970-1971: Trying to topple an ally — Part 2 
39. Iraq – 1972-1975: Covert action should not be confused with missionary work 
40. Australia – 1973-1975: Another free election bites the dust 
41. Angola – 1975 to 1980s: The Great Powers Poker Game
42. Zaire – 1975-1978: Mobutu and the CIA, a marriage made in heaven 
43. Jamaica – 1976-1980: Kissinger’s ultimatum 
44. Seychelles – 1979-1981: Yet another area of great strategic importance 
45. Grenada – 1979-1984: Lying — one of the few growth industries in Washington 
46. Morocco – 1983: A video nasty 
47. Suriname – 1982-1984: Once again, the Cuban bogeyman 
48. Libya – 1981-1989: Ronald Reagan meets his match 
49. Nicaragua – 1981-1990: Destabilization in slow motion 
50. Panama – 1969-1991: Double-crossing our drug supplier 
51. Bulgaria 1990/Albania 1991: Teaching communists what democracy is all about
52. Iraq – 1990-1991: Desert holocaust 
53. Afghanistan – 1979-1992: America’s Jihad 
54. El Salvador – 1980-1994: Human rights, Washington style 
55. Haiti – 1986-1994: Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?
56. The American Empire – 1992 to present
Notes 
Appendix I: This is How the Money Goes Round 
Appendix II: Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-1945 
Appendix III: U. S. Government Assassination Plots
Index     

 

Save Philadelphia Wireless: eff the business model

Philly.com reports that the very, very dope Media Mobilizing Project (also on Myspace) is calling on Philadelphia mayor Nutter to save the system. Read Call campaign seeks to save Wireless Philadelphia. I agree, whole heartedly.  And I am calling tomorrow, even though tomorrow is Thursday.

Philly Independent Media Center has the story….ummm why did Philly.com report on the story yet fail to provide the call-in number?  Was it to not upset Comcast and Verizon and their advertising dollars?

Read Save Philly WiFi: Call Mayor Nutter Wednesday and call (215) 686-3000 or (215) 686-2250

This Nutter quote has been making the rounds since the story of Earthlink closing up shop dropped:  a ”wonderful idea, bad business model”.

I fully agree the business model is poor.  But that isn’t the point.  Or is it?  Throughout this revived discussion, the origins of the wireless plan are being ignored.  As I remember it, the municipal wireless system was intended to be a ‘free’ (payed for by taxes) public service available to all.  Cities around the country got excited about the project and were waiting to see what would happen.  Comcast, Verizon, and other telecom companies started to complain and threaten to try to hold up the project in legal tape.  The plan then morphed from a public good to a business and the contract was bid out, with Earthlink winning.  Low-income residents were to receive the service at low or no charge.  Other users would get the service for a higher price (but one still very competitive with the offerings from the large competitors. Various city departments and services were supposed to benefit from the wireless network as well.  That’s how I remember the history.  Any one out there remember differently?  If time permits, I’ll try to back track and really fill this out with citations.

Finish the system.  Keep it going.  Spend what it costs to maintain it.  This should be a true municipal wireless system, owned by the people, for the people.  We got the infrastructure out of the deal.  Now lets make FREE WIRELESS in the city real.

And Mayor Nutter, don’t make this another one of your grudges.  We see you killing every single initiative, budget item, contract, etc started by Mayor Street.  Some of the actions you’ve taken in that regard I’ve agreed with.  Slowing up on the casinos and trying to reform the city planning process, as examples.  But this here is something we should all benefit from.  This is worth funding.  This is worth fighting for.  Information is power and access to information should be democratized and held as a public benefit.

Pull-quote from the Philly IMC story:  

The need for digital inclusion is growing exponentially. Today, it is nearly impossible to register for a university course or even check a train schedule without Internet access. Local residents routinely wait two hours at the Free Library for a 30-minute session on the Web. Even as Mayor Nutter is prepared to walk away from the WiFi network, his administration committed to making government services available on-line. The Philadelphia Police Department already offers downloadable reports, and the Department of Licenses & Inspections website encourages users to download building permit applications. Residents can even notify the Streets Department about potholes via a hyperlink on that agency’s website. 

“But without access to the Internet, Philadelphians are blocked from taking advantage of any of these services,” says Gwen Shaffer, a doctoral student whose research focuses on broadband policy. “The Nutter administration says it values public participation in the political process. But residents need affordable Internet access in order to be engaged in civic life.” 

And shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit (c) Clay Davis, Isiah Whitlock, Jr., The Wire), part of giving Comcast that phony empowerment zone tax exemption (remember, their new Center City building was not in an empowerment zone) should’ve been a demand of hands off our municipal wireless system.  

Respect to the Media Mobilizing Project, featured as the City Paper (March 11, 2008) cover story.  Read The Revolution Will Be Digitized

Swipe Monster: Housing crisis w/ Are you an enemy of the state?

Going to start doing some news roundups here when appropriate to highlight news stories that may have been overlooked.

Housing crisis

Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), notes that Congress’ proposed solution to the housing crisis is one that gives aid to banks and shafts low-income renters.  Pull quote:

Congress has shown little interest in ensuring the new guarantee prices reflect fundamentals, making it likely many of the people “helped” under the program will end up facing foreclosure a second time. However, to make matters worse, they came up with the idea of financing the plan by taking away a stream of funding that had been dedicated to help low-income renters.

That’s right; Congress wants to take away money from low-income renters to help bankers that made bad loans in the housing bubble. As we all know, when the banks are in trouble, it is not the time to talk about the free market.

Read Low-Income Renters to Pay for Housing Bailout.

Are you an enemy of the state?

Satyam Khanna of Think Progress reveals that 8 million Americans have been targeted under a very Orwellian program. Pull quote:

 According to a senior government official…”There exists a database of Americans, who, often for the slightest and most trivial reason, are considered unfriendly, and who, in a time of panic, might be incarcerated. 

Read Govt. May Have Massive Surveillance Program For Use In ‘National Emergency,’ 8 Million ‘Potential Suspects’

 

 

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Alluswe is climbing on thesixtyone

No big point explosion like is sometimes seen but Alluswe has been steadily moving up on thesixtyone.com. The R&B genre doesn’t seem to move as quickly as some other genres on the site.

The numbers:

Currently sitting with 72 points, 13 playlist adds, and placing at #39 of 61 R&B artists.  There’s a big jump in points after #36 and a couple of other tiers as you go up.  Alluswe is aiming to crack the next tier.

As far as ‘activity’ goes, Alluswe places 5 songs in the top 30 for R&B (Note: talking about ‘activity’, not points). Last week’s activity chart was crazy with 5 Alluswe songs in the top 6.

Out of the band’s songs, “So Good” currently has the most bumps

So Good (free download)

Philadelphia Takes Action on Police Brutality

Big applause to Police Commissioner Ramsey and Mayor Nutter for stepping up and taking this seriously.

The Philadelphia Daily News reports today: 4 cops fired for beating in. Wendy Ruderman and Dave Davies did great reporting on this story throughout. What I read from them seemed to be superior to the Inquirer’s coverage. I admit that’s just an impression from the bits that I saw.

Here is a great quote from Ramsey (from the above article by Ruderman):

• “All of us as law-enforcement professionals have to understand that, unlike criminals on the street, we have rules that we have to abide by,” Ramsey said. “We have an obligation to do things the right way. We have a legal authority to use force to take people into custody, but only that force necessary to effect the arrest. If it gets beyond that, then we’ve got an issue, we’ve got a problem and we have to take some action.”

This is what I was saying in an earlier blog that seemed to upset people. Particularly the last two sentences on the appropriate use of force.

Nutter:

• “Today’s announcement represents, I believe, what is required in this matter – swift, direct action,” Nutter said. “I think this represents a new day in the Philadelphia Police Department and how we deal with these kinds of situations.”

Reverend Al Sharpton:

• ….on a radio program with Mayor Nutter yesterday, Sharpton extolled city officials, saying the action was “unprecedented,” according to an article posted on Philly.com. “For you to take this action now shows some real muscle and seriousness about addressing police brutality,” Sharpton said.

Some would like to see the firing of all officers involved. I may lean that way myself. But the reality is these things usually are put off until the furor dies down and the criminal case concludes. Officers are very rarely convicted, and its back to business as usual. This does feel unprecedented. And it does send a message that this type of behavior is not ok.

I was disappointed at some of the initial statements that had come from Ramsey and Nutter but I was obviously getting ahead of things. I was really expecting this to be blue-washed away. The City of Philadelphia has stood up and demanded a higher standard from its paid, professional police.

I will not bother with the idiotic quote from the FOP president. You can read it by following the story link. I do not know the president and I am not calling him an idiot. But his statements are devoid of logic.

Eff it, here we go:

“Every common criminal has the right to due process under the law,” McNesby said. “Here, the officers didn’t get due process. They weren’t interviewed. It was more or less, they were guilty until proven innocent.”

What due process? This action by the police department is not a criminal or civil judgement. Comparing it to legal proceedings is disingenuous at best. The fact is, the evidence is there to show that the officers failed, in a grossly unambiguous manner, to follow appropriate procedures and standards. A resolution of a criminal or civil case is not needed to determine that these officers should not be on the street wielding the powers that we, the people, entrust to law enforcement. Not to mention the officers were effectively denying due process to the “common criminals” by dishing out punishment for their supposed crime.

“They want a war on crime, but they don’t want any casualties,” McNesby said. “These guys” – the three suspects – “just shot up a street corner for God sakes – it’s not like they were coming back from choir practice. We’ll back these officers 150 percent.”

Let’s go back to Ramsey’s quote about when and why the officers are justified to use force. It doesn’t matter that the suspects may have committed a crime. It is not the job of police to deliver punishment and beat people. That has nothing to do with a “war on crime” and is in no way a “mixed message” as the president said elsewhere. There are documented policies and procedures that have not changed due to any mandate on crime. This staggering lack of logic or comprehension of the right role of the officers is scary. Our unions are very important. Hopefully, the union will vote in someone more competent. Quotes like that give the department a bad name. The actions of the officers involved in the beatings give the department a bad name.

I tend to agree with the sentiment expressed that the majority of the police are honorable and trying to protect the community and make the city safer and a better place to live.

I do have some issues with the institution itself. These things happen too often and are too often covered up. Police are also often called upon to break up (many times throughout our nation’s history, violently) union or labor protests or other political protests. Since I also believe the social order of the country is unjust, with ill gotten, concentrated wealth and power, I also see the police as having a role in maintaining that order. Some also cite histories of how different police forces started in order to keep certain oppressed or marginalized groups in check.  I do believe that they function in that capacity today, not necessarily by intention of individuals, but by default.  Its part of the system.

All of that is beyond what I’d like to get into here. I do recognize the good that police do, even when criticizing abuses or questioning larger roles. Allowing officers who have abused their power and broken the public’s trust only casts a bad light on all of the good police who do, in fact, have a dangerous and difficult job. And makes their job harder. And breaks down the community’s trust. An us vs them mentality, on any side, is not a good thing. It is a good thing for the community to come together as one and state that none of us can abide by abusive policing. The way to support police is not to ignore the standards and rules but to remove those who can not be professional and to honor those who truly serve the community.

As the article goes on to say:

Ramsey said he was worried about the morale of his officers and stressed that the discipline against the eight officers was “not a reflection” on the rank and file. “We’ve got people who get out there every single day and they do an absolutely tremendous job,” Ramsey said.

Switching up your story? That’s how liars do (now with twice the beating)

In case you’re just tuning in, earlier this month: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK1B6LgUOBc

I said previously that the official story of a fourth shooter who ran off may have been BS.  Well, maybe they realized that the ‘fourth person’ trick was already used recently in the Sean Bell case.  So they needed a fresher cover up story.

They now proclaim that there was no fourth person, even though they said they had observed said fourth person.  The shooter is said to have returned to the vehicle despite no weapon being found in the car or in the area where they now say one of the three had run off to drop it.

Excellent reporting by Wendy Ruderman and Dave Davies. All quotes (italicized text) come from today’s Daily News story, Police change account of 3 arrests, beatings.

As the defendents’ lawyer, D. Scott Perrine said:  ”It’s absurd. These are highly trained surveillance officers and they claim they can’t even count the number of people who emerge from a car.”

The article goes on to explain:  The absence of a fourth suspect makes even more perplexing the fact that police didn’t recover the gun used in the shooting. Ramsey said police “never lost contact” with the three, “so they are the ones involved.”

In addition we now discover that the shooting victims never saw the car the police say the suspects got out of and returned to and witnesses place the defendants at another location at the time of the shooting.

The craziest bit of news to emerge?  Philly’s “finest” also beat on the shooting victim!  Does brutality, ignorance, unprofessionalism, and an “us vs. them” mentality know no bounds?   This one goes out to all of the people who think the suspects deserved to be beaten.  Crazy.

Brandon Crow, 24, was shot four times. He said he and his friends were hanging on the corner when about 10 guys and at least one girl approached, apparently coming from a memorial for Coach. One of the men asked if they knew anything about Coach’s death. Deangelo White, who was shot once, said “no” and the shooter didn’t believe him and opened fire, Crow said.

Both White and Crow said they didn’t know who shot them and didn’t see a Marquis in the area.

But Crow and his father, Donald Crow, don’t rule out that the arrested men may have been the shooters.

Brandon Crow said he took off running when the first shots rang out. He said that he collapsed a few blocks away and police officers descended upon him, striking him with pistol butts and kicking him in the area of his bullet wounds. Then they realized he was a shooting victim.

 

 

 

Philadelphia Police = violent thugs

A legalized gang.  I’ll save the discussion about the larger role of police in society for another day.  Will officers speak out against this?  I suspect the “blue wall of silence” will be as thick as always.

Note:  The Philadelphia Police Department has a long history of racism and violent abuse of power.  The tragic murder of a police officer does not excuse these actions whether these men were suspects in a crime or not.  The role of police is not to be judge and jury.  What will Mayor Nutter do on this issue?

What will we, the people?

 

Read today’s article on Philly.com here.

Nutter!  Come on.  “The video is the video,” Nutter said. “We have no audio. You don’t know what was going on at that moment when the officers approached the vehicle. There will be an investigation and we will move on.”  What events would’ve justified beatings?  Disgusting, Mr. Mayor.

The truth of the matter:
“Nobody deserves to be beat like that,” said Leomia Dyches, mother of Dwayne Dyches, through streaming tears. “If you do an animal like that, they’ll throw you in jail for treating a pit bull like that, so how can Philadelphia police call themselves officers and treat another human being like this?”