16 Year Old Latino Boy Stomped in Alley by Denver Police Officer was Handcuffed, Unarmed
Police Report says Officer Jumped on his back at least 4 Times
A Denver Police officer was arrested Thusrday after being accused of beating a 16-year-old boy. The officer in question is Charles Porter, a member of the Denver Gang Unit. Porter, 40, was arrested and booked into jail Thursday. He is now facing second degree felony assault charges in the beating of Juan Vasquez. He has since bonded out. He has also been suspended without pay. Porter's accused of kicking, punching and beating Vasquez three weeks ago in an alley in North Denver while Vasquez was handcuffed and on the ground. The statement of probable cause signed by police Sgt. Paul Jimenez states that on April 18, a foot chase ensued after Porter saw Vasquez consuming what appeared to be alcohol in the 1500 block of West 37th Avenue. The statement adds that two Denver police officers witnessed the incident and identified Porter as the officer who jumped up and down on Vasquez's bac his older brother, Felipe Vasquez.
"They beat him bad. If I did that to a 16-year-old kid, I'd be in jail right now. They beat my little brother inside out. They kicked him, they kicked his body and made his liver bleed," said Felipe. He said the beating was so brutal, the family posted fliers all over the neighborhood asking anyone who may have witnessed the beating for more information,.
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PrintEdwards says Obama could beat McCain
Former Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards on Friday declined to make an endorsement in the Democratic presidential battle, but said Barack Obama could unite the party and win in November. In an interview on NBC's "Today" show, Edwards said Obama appears set to win the nomination. The former North Carolina senator refused to say who he voted for in his state's primary this week, won by Obama. Edwards said both Obama and Hillary Clinton could beat Republican candidate John McCain in November. "What he brings to the table is the capacity, number one, to unite the Democratic Party. Number two, to bring in new voters, to bring in people who haven't been involved in the process over a long time and to get people excited about this change," Edwards said. [MORE]
Conyers 'worried' about Clinton's impact on Dems' presidential chances
Rep. John Conyers said Saturday he is "very worried" that Hillary Clinton's continued campaign will make it more difficult to unify the Democratic Party this fall, but told fellow supporters of Barack Obama that the best way to end the nomination race is with kindness. "Here's how we close this thing down early," the Detroit Democrat told 100 or more Obama supporters. "We are going to be real nice to anybody who did not support Sen. Obama. Real nice. Super nice. "It's the most difficult thing one can do in the political system: Beat the crap out of your opponent, and then be nice and friendly after you do it." He acknowledged that some Democrats, including many African-Americans, have been upset by comments Clinton made this week to USA Today. Clinton, citing an Associated Press story, told the newspaper "Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again" -- remarks that were taken by many as racially divisive. But Conyers refrained from commenting on Clinton's remarks: "I haven't heard it. I haven't read it. Because I have to be nice to her. I just finished telling everyone that." [MORE]
Videotaped Philadelphia Police Beating of Black Men a Case of Mistaken Identity, Cover-Up Alleged
Attorneys for three men beaten by Philadelphia police claim the officers concocted a story that the trio were shooting suspects to cover up a case of mistaken identity , an allegation police vehemently deny. The lawyers said their clients , Brian Hall, 23, Dwayne "Lionel" Dyches, 24, and Pete Hopkins, 19 , were not involved in a shooting. Police chased their car and beat them because they mistook Dyches, a passenger, for a man allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of an officer last weekend, the attorneys said. Dyches' attorney, Eldridge Suggs, showed photos of Dyches and suspect Eric Floyd at a news conference Friday and called the resemblance "uncanny." Floyd was eventually captured and charged in the murder of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski. "All they've done is make up some facts to account for the beating," Suggs said. "And the reason why they beat this man is because he looked so much like the cop-killer."
Police and city leaders have denied a cover-up.
Frederick County (MD) Deputy Won't Face Criminal Charges for Killing Black Man with Taser
(AP) The attorney for a Frederick County sheriff's deputy who delivered a fatal electronic shock to a 20-year-old man says his client is gratified that he won't face criminal charges. A grand jury ruled Friday that Corporal Rudy Torres was justified in using his Taser to subdue 20-year-old Jarrel Gray after Gray did not obey commands to show his hands last November. Gray was shocked twice and died three hours later. Torres' lawyer, Patrick McAndrew, says his client's actions "were legally justified and in accordance with agency procedures." Ted Williams, a lawyer hired by Gray's family, says he wasn't surprised the grand jury did not pursue charges.
He says no Frederick County deputy has ever been indicted for, in his words, "murdering a black man." Williams says the family may take the case to the Justice Department.
Deceptive Anti-Affirmative Action Drive Fails in Missouri; Uncle Tom Ward Connerly paid $10 per Signature
While the struggle for the Democratic nomination has dragged on and taken up the attention of the progressive movement, there has been a sharp battle fought out in five states over the deceptively-titled Civil Rights Initiatives (CRI), which would ban Affirmative Action programs. This past weekend, the progressive movement in Missouri scored a major victory and stopped this reactionary initiative from making the 2008 ballot. This past Sunday, the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative (MOCRI) failed to submit the signatures necessary for qualification for the 2008 general election ballot. Unlike in other states where the CRI’s have failed to qualify because signatures were disqualified, in Missouri they didn’t even bother with turning in signatures. Why? Community, labor, faith, and other progressive minded forces organized quickly and effectively, to educate the voters about what MOCRI was really about. MOCRI was the Missouri right’s favorite choice for a wedge issue on the 2008 ballot. With the Democratic nominee assured of being either an African-American or a woman, mobilizing reactionary anti-civil rights voters was seen as a key piece of their electoral strategy in many swing states.
Judge reinstates Notorious B.I.G. lawsuit
A judge has reinstated a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the family of slain rapper Notorious B.I.G., reversing an earlier decision to dismiss the case. U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper threw out the lawsuit March 21 after determining the family missed a state deadline for bringing a claim against the city and two former police officers. The lawsuit was originally filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, then moved to federal court. The family appealed, and the judge reversed her decision after finding federal claims in the case can proceed, according to court papers obtained Thursday. Cooper gave the family 20 days to file a new lawsuit and drop the state claims. B.I.G., whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was gunned down March 9, 1997, while leaving a party at a Los Angeles museum. The 24-year-old performer's killing remains unsolved.
Rep. Jefferson lawyers ask for Change of Venue in Corruption Case - No Black Jurors
Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-La.) lawyers have asked a federal judge to reconsider a ruling denying a change of venue for his corruption trial. The attorneys want to make their case for the venue transfer on June 13 before Virginia District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III. They argue that the case should be tried in Washington, D.C., because there likely will be fewer black jurors where the case is located now in Alexandria, Va. to evaluate the charges against Jefferson, who is black. Moreover, the lawyers contend, most of the alleged activities took place in Washington, D.C., not Northern Virginia. “The center of gravity of the case as a whole is the District of Columbia, not the Eastern District of Virginia,” they wrote in the motion.
A 7-2 Supreme Court ruling in March ordered a new trial for convicted murderer Allen Snyder of Louisiana because there was evidence that a prospective juror was excluded from the all-white jury for racial reasons.
Rep Donald Payne, others Get on Obama Bandwagon/ Rangel still tripping
From the The Jersey Journal Barack Obama all but erased Hillary Clinton's once-imposing lead among national convention superdelegates on Friday and won fresh labor backing as elements of the Democratic Party began coalescing around the Illinois senator for the fall campaign. Obama picked up the backing of nine superdelegates, including Rep. Donald Payne of New Jersey, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus who had been a Clinton supporter. "After careful consideration, I have reached the conclusion that Barack Obama can best bring about the change that our country so desperately wants and needs," Payne, whose district includes parts of Hudson County, said Thursday. Obama picked up the backing of eight more superdelegates yesterday, as well as the support of the American Federation of Government Employees. The union claims about 600,000 members who work in the federal and Washington, D.C., governments. As Obama secured one victory after another, "I did certainly have a great deal of pride in the fact that an African-American would do so well," said Payne.
Charles Rangel Tripping says Hillary says Dumb things but can Still Win
Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), among Hillary Rodham Clinton's top African-American supporters, was none too pleased with Clinton's comments this week to USA Today that she has broader appeal with white voters. The statement was "the dumbest thing she could have said," Rangel told reporters before a Clinton fundraiser in a midtown hotel ballroom Saturday. He called her statement "very poorly worded" but acknowledged there may be some truth to it. Rangel said Clinton should leave it to others to make the case that she has more appeal to white voters. "That is rough campaign talk. That is not presidential talk. You leave that stuff to the boys in the backroom," said Rangel, the dean of New York's congressional delegation. He insisted that Clinton can still defeat Obama for the Democratic nomination. "Why the hell would I be here at a Clinton rally if I didn't think she could win?" he asked reporters. [MORE]
E-Mail Shows Racial Jokes By Secret Service Supervisors
Secret Service supervisors shared crude sexual jokes and engaged in racially derogatory banter about blacks, and passed around an anecdote about a possible assassination of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, according to internal e-mail disclosed in a federal court filing on Friday by lawyers for black Secret Service agents.
The filing includes 10 e-mail messages that were among documents the agency recently turned over to lawyers for the black agents as part of an increasingly bitter discrimination lawsuit. The messages were written mainly from 2003 through 2005, and were sent to and from e-mail accounts of at least 20 Secret Service supervisors. The messages offer a glimpse into the darker recesses of an agency known for protecting presidents and other dignitaries but whose culture is regarded as one of the most insular in federal law enforcement. The disclosure of the messages follows an incident last month in which a noose was found in a room used by a black instructor at a Secret Service training facility in Beltsville, Md. Agency officials said that episode was under internal investigation.
Supreme Court Justice Changes Mind says Death Penalty is Inhumane
Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens says the euthanized Kentucky Derby horse Eight Belles probably died more humanely than death row prisoners do. Stevens's comments Friday night came a month after he voted with a majority of the Supreme Court to approve the most widely used method of lethal injection, while saying for the first time that he now believes the death penalty is unconstitutional. According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Stevens told an audience of judges and lawyers that he checked into the procedure used to kill Eight Belles and was surprised to learn it is against the law in Kentucky to kill animals using one of the drugs in a three-drug lethal injection cocktail that many states, including Kentucky, use to execute prisoners.
Stevens drew a round of applause for the comments to the 50 federal judges and more than 800 attorneys at the 68th conference of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Obama Disagrees with Black Caucus on legislation on Cherokees
Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, has weighed in against legislation proposed by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) that would punish the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. CBC lawmakers have proposed a number of provisions this year that would cut off federal funding to the tribe because of its decision in March 2007 to remove the Freedmen — descendants of freed slaves once owned by tribe members — from Cherokee membership.
But Obama disagrees with those measures. In a statement to The Hill provided by his Senate office, the Illinois Democrat said that although he opposes unwarranted tribal disenrollment, Capitol Hill should not get involved.
“Discrimination anywhere is intolerable, but the Cherokee are dealing with this issue in both tribal and federal courts . . . I do not support efforts to undermine these legal processes and impose a congressional solution,” said Obama. “Tribes have a right to be self-governing and we need to respect that, even if we disagree, which I do in this case. We must have restraint in asserting federal power in such circumstances.”
US Rep. Kilpatrick to face primary challenge in August
Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick is from Detroit and leads the Congressional Black Caucus. She has faced little opposition since she was first elected to Congress in 1996. A message seeking comment from her was left Saturday by The Associated Press.
U.S. Attorney's Office Investigating Sharpton for Overdue Taxes
Big corporations give him money. Presidential candidates seek his endorsement. He has influential friends in Congress and the governor's mansion. The Rev. Al Sharpton has emerged over the past decade as perhaps the nation's most prominent civil rights leader, a status that was demonstrated again this week when he led protests against police brutality that briefly shut down six of Manhattan's major bridges and tunnels. Government records obtained by The Associated Press indicate that Sharpton and his business entities owe nearly $1.5 million in overdue taxes and associated penalties. Now the U.S. attorney is investigating his nonprofit group, a probe that an undeterred Sharpton brushes off as the kind of annoyance that civil rights figures have come to expect from the government. "Whatever retaliation they do on me, we never stop," he told the AP. "I think that that is why they try to intimidate us."
Certified Final Vote Tally in Indiana: More Funny Math for Clinton?
Hillary Clinton: 637,814 / 50.4%
Barack Obama: 626,642 / 49.6%
Diff. = 11,152 votes (less than 1 %) [MORE]
uh, huh So What happened in Lake County Again?
From BlackBoxVoting[HERE] and [HERE] and [HERE] In April 2008 at least 1.1 million voter registrations in Indiana had been changed or cancelled. One quarter-million of them come from just two northwestern Indiana counties: Lake and Porter. Lake County reports purging 137,164 voters and neighboring Porter County cancelled out 124,958 voters. Lake County, the state's second most populous with nearly 500,000 people and the home of Gary, Indiana, which has one of the heaviest concentrations of African-American voters in the country (and it borders on Obama's home district in Chicago). Lake County reported partial results and delays several hours after the polls closed as a large number of absentee ballots and a record turnout delayed the tallies. If we are to believe the presumed results, Obama won 56% to 43% in Lake County. [MORE]
Clinton Plays the Hillbilly Card
The NY Post states: Hillary Rodham Clinton played the race card yesterday as she dismissed Barack Obama as a candidate who will have a hard time winning support from "white Americans." It was the most starkly racial comment Clinton has made in the campaign, and drew quick condemnation from some Democrats. "I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she told USA Today in an interview published yesterday. She referred to an Associated Press story on Indiana and North Carolina exit polls "that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hardworking Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me." She added, "There's a pattern emerging here." The Rev. Al Sharpton told NY1 there's no scenario where Clinton can become the nominee without the "total destruction" of the party, adding, "It's over . . . Come sing another day, but this show is over, Sen. Clinton." [MORE] and [MORE]
Eugene Robinson from the Wash. Post said: Here's what she's really saying to party leaders: There's no way that white people are going to vote for the black guy. Come November, you'll be sorry. How silly of me. I thought the Democratic Party believed in a colorblind America."
Uneducated White Folks does not necessarily equal "hardworking, working class people"
The media keeps regurgitating Clinton's spin that working class, "hardworking people" are voting for her. Get it straight- uneducated white people like her. Believe it or not they are actually millions of hardworking, working class Americans who are Black or Latino. In fact the largest union in the country, S.E.I.U., which has nearly 2 million members, is 40% Black and Latino. SEIU endorsed Obama. [MORE] The U.F.C.W. with 1.4 million members also endorsed Obama. [HERE]
Rep. Clyburn: Obama now ahead on superdelegates & says Clinton Argument about White Voters is Crap
May 9--U.S. Rep. James Clyburn said sources in the "Obama camp" have told him that U.S. Sen. Barack Obama from Illinois has taken over the lead among unpledged Democratic delegates, the so-called "superdelegates." During a conference call with reporters Clyburn said Obama has converted a number of superdelegates previously pledged to U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton from New York, and that Obama took the lead in superdelegates this morning. Clyburn could not remember where the information had come from. Many news agencies' latest survey of the roughly 700 superdelegates showed Clinton holding the lead by just a few delegates. The Associated Press had the superdelegate count Friday morning as Clinton with 271.5 superdelegates and Obama 266 superdelegates.
From the Hotline [HERE] Clyburn also said that he and other members of U.S. House leadership had no plans when they would endorse a candidate as superdelegates, but that he, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland and other House leadership would decide together when to endorse.
U.S. Rep. James Clyburn tells NJ Contributing Editor Linda Douglass that any backroom deal that swipes the Dem nom from Barack Obama would devastate young people and blacks. He also argues that Hillary Clinton's pitch that Obama will do poorly with white voters is bunk. Unless HRC believes, too, that her take of the black vote during the primaries represents how she'll perform in the general.
Philadelphia Police Officers Suspended After Brutal Taped Beating of Unarmed Black Men - What will Black Mayor Do About it?
See Video [HERE]
Seven more police officers were taken off street duty Thursday as investigators look into the videotaped police beating of three shooting suspects during a traffic stop. Thirteen of the estimated 15 officers on hand during the Monday incident have been taken off the streets as investigators pore over the television news footage, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told a news conference Thursday. The officers were videotaped beating three unarmed African American men. A local television news helicopter captured the scene of around a dozen officers pulling the victims from their car and kicking and punching them as they lay on the ground. The beating occurred after the shooting death of a police officer who had been pursuing three robbery suspects, two of whom were later caught. The three victims have all been charged with assault, conspiracy and endangering another person. The officers who beat them have not been charged.
The commissioner pledged to send the department's preliminary investigation to prosecutors by next week. If prosecutors decline to file charges, he will deal with the officers involved internally, he said. The Internal Affairs unit is still working to enhance the tape and identify all of the officers in the footage, a department spokesman said. [MORE] and [MORE]
Black Mayor & Black Police Chief say Race was not a Factor
"There's no excuse for that type of behavior, and we certainly want to take action," Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said. Mayor Michael Nutter said he was "tremendously disappointed" by the officers' behavior and vowed to deal with the matter. "The conduct was unacceptable," he said. "It did not live up to the professional standards we have set for the police department." He added that the incident has "virtually nothing to do with race; it has to do with crime." "This is about proper police conduct, regardless of the race or ethnicity of the individuals involved," Nutter said. "We are not satisfied with the activity; it does not matter what the race of any particular defendant is." [MORE]
Facing Pressure Black Governor vows to Examine Undercover NYPD Procedures
Gov. David Paterson pledged to examine undercover police conduct on Thursday, a day after more than 200 people were arrested protesting the acquittal of three detectives involved in the shooting death of an unarmed man. Paterson said he understood the activists' frustrations as he stood with the slain man's fiancee and the Rev. Al Sharpton, who were among the demonstrators arrested while disrupting evening rush hour traffic. But the governor stopped short of endorsing their actions. "No civil servant can condone civil disobedience," Paterson said, but he added: "They felt that they had no other choice but to take the action that they took, and I respect the decision that they made to take that action."
The governor's involvement was a measure of the emotion and unrelenting attention surrounding the shooting of Sean Bell, who was gunned down hours before he was to be married in November 2006. The gunfire stirred complaints about police tactics, and the acquittals on April 25 in state court prompted some activists to question the prospects of justice for minorities. Bell was black as were two of his friends wounded in the shooting; the officers are black, Hispanic and white.
Denver Police Officer Arrested in Beating, Stomping of Latino Teenager
A 12-year veteran of the Denver Police Department was arrested Thursday on a felony charge of second-degree assault after accusations that he used excessive force against a 16-year-old. Officer Charles Porter, 40, has been suspended without pay from the department. He had been assigned to the gang bureau prior to the charges.
The suspension is in connection with alleged excessive force against Juan "Willie" Vasquez, who suffered a lacerated liver, kidney injuries and broken ribs on April 18 near West 37th Avenue and Pecos Street. An incident report was unavailable late Thursday. Vasquez has undergone at least two surgeries at Denver Health Medical Center and still has a tube inserted into his back to expel bodily fluids, said his brother Felipe Vasquez, 27. "He said they jumped on him with both feet," the brother said. "He said they beat him and hit him with a flashlight, and they left him there and gave each other high-fives, and then the ambulance came. Then they said, 'What happened, did you fall?' "
Maryland Agrees to settlement in Central Booking Beating Death of Unarmed Black Man - Attacked by 25 Officers
The Maryland Attorney General's Office has agreed to a settlement with the relatives of a man who was beaten to death at the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center after a struggle involving correctional officers. Relatives of Raymond Smoot have agreed to drop their $130 million wrongful death lawsuit in exchange for the settlement. Dwight Pettit, an attorney who represents the family members, says it was the family's decision to settle. He wouldn't disclose the amount. The settlement will have to be approved by the Board of Public Works.
Smoot was killed in May 2005 after a struggle broke out involving 25 to 30 correctional officers. Relatives of prisoner Raymond Keith Smoot said he was "savagely beaten" by guards. At a news conference they arranged at a niece's home, family members provided photos they took after Smoot's initial treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital; the photos show his face covered in bruises, his eyes blackened and blood-soaked gauze in his mouth.
"They cracked my uncle's skull," said the niece, Delvonna Smoot. "They crushed his face. This did not look like the Raymond Smoot we knew." [MORE] and [MORE]