Some Cops Fired.

Riot police holding their position during a protest in Baltimore, Maryland against the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, on April 25, 2015 (AFP Photo/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds).

Riot police holding their position during a protest in Baltimore, Maryland against the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, on April 25, 2015 (AFP Photo/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds).

Some Baltimore bigots have been fired, which is a good thing, but I want to address a different part:

Baltimore police have fired some officers in the wake of a scathing review by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Kevin Davis, the city’s police commissioner, said Wednesday that the department has already fired officers who committed the most egregious violations outlined in the federal report, the Associated Press reported.

The report found that Baltimore police officers routinely target and discriminate against black people, use excessive force and are not adequately disciplined for misconduct.

The Justice Department is seeking a court order to force the police department to commit to improving its procedures to avoid a lawsuit.

There, that last sentence. Why does the justice department need a court order and the threat of a lawsuit to get one cop shop to do the right thing? If this does not highlight how utterly rotten the police system is, I don’t know what will get through to people, to make them wake the fuck up. Considering the current state of police – citizen relationship right now, I’d think they would be eager to clean house without being threatened, if for no other reason, for appearance’s sake. Naturally, there was the all too expected mealy-mouthed cop response:

Davis said the department was committed to making meaningful changes, but he said those could take some time.

Right. Go fuck yourself, Davis, and after that, clean house.

Via Raw Story.

Lethal Incompetence.

Mary Knowlton.

Mary Knowlton.

A 73 year old librarian was shot to death by a cop in what I suppose you could call friendly fire, but is a clear case of lethal incompetence. It is quite clear that cops cannot be trusted with guns, anymore than they can be trusted with cameras, or trusted to tell the truth.

Mary Knowlton arrived at the Punta Gorda, Fla., police station Tuesday night to learn how to be a community steward.

The 73-year-old was there as a student in the citizen police academy, a two-hour course intended to give an intimate look at what makes the department in the quaint Florida town work. On this night, the group of 35 would tour the station and talk with officers, an essential part of academy curriculum that has gained popularity across the country amid a heated national debate about police violence.

When it came time to get involved, Knowlton volunteered.

The hosting officers chose two students to role-play in a lethal force simulation, a scenario intended to demonstrate how and when officers decide to pull the trigger. Knowlton played the victim, Charlotte Sun photographer Sue Paquin told the newspaper, and a Punta Gorda police officer played a “bad guy.” These scenarios are usually safe, acted out with either fake or empty weapons.

But when the officer’s gun was fired, Knowlton — a mother, wife and career librarian — was hit with live ammunition.

She was rushed to a local hospital and pronounced dead.

The article goes on, much “deeply shocked, prayers”, along with a remarkable use of the passive voice, as if this just sort of happened, without any cop involved. It’s also noteworthy just how protective the statements are of the shooter. Cops and guns, a seriously bad combination.

Via the Washington Post. UPDATED.

Black Lives Matter Is Silly.

Getty Images.

Getty Images.

So sayeth former NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly.

“I think these demonstrations are counter-productive, they’re silly,” Kelly said.

Speaking on John Gambling’s AM 970 radio show, Kelly specifically addressed last week’s demonstrations outside City Hall, during which protesters organized in part by Millions March NYC called for the divestment of the NYPD, paid reparations to the families of victims of police shootings, and the resignation of Commissioner Bill Bratton (the last of which actually happened).

When asked, Kelly characterized the protests as “so ridiculous and myopic. If there’s on group that’s concerned about black lives more than any other group it clearly is the police department not only in New York City but really throughout America.” He also complained that rallies and marches criticizing police conduct can really “depress” working cops.

People get damn depressed over cops committing willful murder at a very high rate, commish. People who lost a loved one to aggressive, bigoted, hyped up stormtroopers just might get damned depressed. Angry, too. Angry enough to make the point that murderous cops must go, and that policing as it stands here in uStates has to change. The current model breeds bias, bigotry, and corruption. Let’s not forget about all those murderers being churned out from cop school.

“[Police] think they’re doing a good job, and then you see these demonstrations,” he said.

It’s worth noting that that under Kelly’s leadership, NYPD officers routinely violated New Yorkers’ constitutional rights.

Well, there’s a surprise. :eyeroll:

Later in his interview, Kelly—who now makes an undisclosed salary as an executive at K2 Intelligence—blamed some cities’ rising crime rates on the so-called “Ferguson effect,” in which officers frightened by investigations and national calls for justice apparently refrain from doing their pledged duty of policing neighborhoods and keeping civilians safe. Kelly also reiterated his affection for stop-and-frisk. “Stopping and questioning people who are acting suspiciously,” is “perfectly reasonable and authorized in the law,” he said.

Actually, commish, crime rates are down, except for all the ones being committed by cops. Those are going up. The “Ferguson Effect” was waking people the fuck up, and no, cops don’t like that. You’re at least right about something.

Via Gothamist.

Imagine.

London police brawl with men during traffic stop (YouTube).

London police brawl with men during traffic stop (YouTube).

A video showing British police officers brawling with a group of unruly men shows how violent attacks can be stopped without gunfire or even serious injury.

The video shows officers arguing with a group of increasingly aggressive men during a traffic stop in London, reported the Independent.

The men surround the officers as they try to remove two friends from police custody, and then a fight breaks out.

One officer is pulled to the ground during the fracas, and police use chemical irritant spray to subdue the men until backup arrives.

Online commenters at Reddit noticed how the officers were able to take the assailants into custody without shooting or seriously harming anyone.

“Imagine how differently this would have been if this happened in America,” said one Reddit user.

Another commenter pointed out that police even warned the men they would use chemical irritant despite the lengthy scuffle.

“Top of Form British police officers making American police officers look unprofessional, as usual – after 5 minutes of scuffle, the police STILL warns the guy ‘One more step and I will spray you.’ Nobody got seriously hurt that day,” the Reddit user said.

Two of the police constables were treated for minor injuries, and four of the men were arrested on a variety of charges, including assault on police.

[Read more…]

Cops: High Fivin’

5

The behaviour of the cops who murdered Paul O’Neal just get worse. They actually high fived after murdering an unarmed young man, and it was this moment that one cop expressed annoyance over a probable 30 day suspension. These people are utterly despicable, and placing them on administrative leave is not nearly enough. This is outright murder, and the murderers should be punished.

CBS Chicago’s Charlie De Mar saw the video and reported that it shows one officer high fiving another before saying “F***, I’m going to be on desk duty now for 30 days”; and one officer saying to another, “Make sure this (body-camera) is off.”

“We just came from watching Chicago police officers execute Paul O’Neal. … It is one of the most horrific things that I have seen, aside from being in a movie. These police officers decided to play judge, jury and executioner,” he said. “It is amazing to me. It is horrific, it is tragic, that these officers did what they did and took their street justice in their own hands—the things that they are trying to prevent, or supposed to prevent.”

I seriously advise people to avoid the comments on that tweet. There’s a whole lot of poison there. Full story here.

Cops and Body Cams.

Screen shot of video footage of Chicago police shooting of 18-year-old Paul O'Neal | Video provided by IPRA.

Screen shot of video footage of Chicago police shooting of 18-year-old Paul O’Neal | Video provided by IPRA.

Video footage released Friday by the Independent Police Review Authority doesn’t show the gunshot that killed 18-year-old Paul O’Neal eight days ago, but it does give a cop’s-eye view of the chaotic moments that led up to his death — and the dying teen being handcuffed in a growing pool of blood.
IPRA head Sharon Fairley described it as “shocking and disturbing” in a Friday morning press release, and the lawyer representing O’Neal’s family against the city called the images “beyond horrific.”

[…]

On the video, gunshots can be heard from behind the closed gate. After one officer helps another to scale the gate, the pair circle around to a neighboring house in the 7400 block of South Merrill Avenue and sprint to the backyard, where three officers already have a bleeding O’Neal pinned to the ground. The officer who shot O’Neal did not activate his camera before joining the chase, and IPRA has said there is no other camera angle that shows the fatal shot.

“You f—-ing shoot at us?” one officer asks the prone O’Neal as he is handcuffed. Another, searching the teen’s backpack, asks: “Have you got anything on you?”

O’Neal does not appear to respond before the camera turns away. He would die of his wounds during surgery.

Emphasis mine. It’s obvious cops can’t be trusted with body cams as they are.

Police have said O’Neal was unarmed.

Later, in footage recorded from a camera worn by a sergeant who responded to the scene, the senior officer instructs officers to shut off their body cameras, and warns one officer — apparently one who fired shots during the melee — not to talk about what happened in front of officers who are wearing their cameras.

“Here’s the thing,” the sergeant says. “Any statements you’re making in front of peoples camera and stuff like that are just killing you.”

In all, IPRA released video from nine cameras, but is reviewing footage from multiple other cameras. In her statement, Fairley said the investigation is “still very much in the early stages,” but investigators had determined that releasing the videos would not compromise their investigation.

Emphasis mine. Can we just get rid of the evil stormtroopers now? “Killing them”. No, sarge, it’s you killing all those brown people. In spite of this incredibly damning statement, FoP has rushed right in to tell people not to ‘rush to judgment’. I think I’m fine on the judgment front, it’s quite clear to me who needs to be condemned, in the harshest terms.

Dean Angelo, president of Chicago Lodge 7 of the Fraternal Order of Police, issued a statement cautioning against a rush to judgment.

“While there are multiple aspects to consider pertaining to the released videos, it is important to be mindful of how rapidly this event unfolded. Due to the fact that this chaotic incident occurred in a matter of moments, each individual perspective needs to be taken into consideration,” Angelo said.

Except for the perspective of Paul O’Neal, who can’t provide his, being murdered by cops.

After watching video with O’Neal’s mother and sister Friday morning just hours before the video was released, the family’s attorney, Michael Oppenheimer, said the recording of officers as their adrenaline subsides was equally disturbing: one officer remarks that the shooting likely means he will face a 30-day suspension.

Fuck the cop’s perspective. I don’t care about their perspective on anything.

Full story at the Chicago Sun Times.

It takes a woodchuck…

shutterstock_238513723-800x430

What does it take to get bad cops fired? The death of a woodchuck.

Tyler Sammon, a 3-year member of the force, and officer Matt Spath are accused of intentionally chasing down an exhausted woodchuck — also known as a groundhog or a whistlepig — on a Troy golf course until it collapsed, and then running it over as horrified witnesses looked on.

Saying an investigation is ongoing, Police Chief Rick Fusco has suspended both officers — with pay — but said that is not the end of it.

“If in fact this alleged situation happened, I will be recommending they be terminated,” he said. “There is no room in any police agency for a person like this to be carrying a badge and a gun.”

[…]

Although Spath was only a passenger in the cart, Fusco said he was equally culpable.

“The other officer has an obligation to come forward if something intentionally was done like that,” Fusco said before adding, “It’s awful. It’s humiliating. I’ve been through a lot in this department and this is the most humiliating.”

I’m all for these two assclowns being fired, and I agree with the Police Chief, but…how is it that two cops can get busted for wanton cruelty to a woodchuck, and not be held responsible in any way whatsoever for the countless deaths of Persons of Colour? Right now, a review is going on of the cops who murdered Paul O’Neal, and I’m hoping to hell those cops are going to get much more punishment than simple suspension, but I won’t count on it. Just like in the case of the murder of Loreal Tsinginge, the body cams were somehow magically off when the shooting took place.

Via Raw Story.

Cops: now we DEMAND IT!

Shutterstock.

Shutterstock.

Boston cops are very unhappy, and have drafted a long letter of complaint and demands. They want more weapons, more ammunition, more body armor, and no accountability. Boston is about to implement a body cam program, and the cops are absolutely against it. This is only a 6 month pilot program, and they are still adamantly against it. You really have to wonder why this is such a problem for Boston cops. If, as the letter states, they are truly frightened every moment for their lives, I’d think they would be enthusiastically in favour of body cams.

“You can sing cumbia (sic) ’til the cows come home, but that won’t stop a Rifle Round Aimed at a Police Officer’s Chest,” the letter stated. “We live in a world where a sitting President has basically ‘fanned the flames of Police hatred’ with political rhetoric and now a sitting Governor is politically afraid to speak.”

The letter, which was signed by the presidents of the Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society, Boston Police Superior Officers Federation, and Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, demands not only an increase in department staffing but the issuing of long guns with “ample ammunition” for use by patrol officers, as well as ballistic shields and helmets and “extra-loaded” magazines.

The full, 3 page letter can be read here (pdf). This is yet another example, like the ‘blue lives matter’ bills, which clearly demonstrates that all the majority of cops want is unquestioning obeisance, a cowering fear in the face of their well-armed authority, and complete respect, without ever having earned that respect. When you’re busy bristling over wanting more weapons and refusing body cams, the implications are quite clear.

Via WFXT, WCVB, and Raw Story.

SFPD: All Labs Matter.

Photo: Michael Noble Jr., The Chronicle.

Photo: Michael Noble Jr., The Chronicle.

The union representing San Francisco police officers published a photograph of two dogs in its monthly newspaper that critics say belittles the Black Lives Matter movement and raises questions about the police force’s commitment to repairing its relationship with communities of color.

The picture, which appeared on the back page of the August issue of the San Francisco Police Officers Association Journal, shows a pair of Labrador retrievers, one black and one white. The black dog has a sign around its neck reading, “Black Labs Matter,” while the white dog sports a sign reading, “All Labs Matter.”

[…]

The dog photo “once again shows a severe lack of understanding,” said Sgt. Yulanda Williams, president of Officers for Justice, an organization within the San Francisco police force representing African American and other nonwhite officers. “It’s so inflammatory, and they still don’t get it. They still choose to inflame situations, and it’s just really insulting.”

Union officials did not immediately comment to a request for comment on the journal photo, but Union President Martin Halloran pointed to a radio ad put out by the union about the recent attacks on police officers.

“In light of the rising violence against police officers, we hope everyone can start to turn down the volume,” Halloran says in the ad. “Anti-police rhetoric has been cited as a contributing factor to the violence against police officers. I think we can all do better and the police will do our part. We will continue with our best efforts to build bridges of communication and understanding between us and the community that we serve.”

The headline of the lead article in the August issue of the union journal reads, “Persevering the violence and blame: America’s cops have been there before.”

The union published the photo amid questions about whether the department has a systemic problem with racism, following the emergence of two separate sets of racist text messages exchanged between officers. Halloran has repeatedly said no such problem exists, calling the department one of the most culturally and racially diverse in the nation.

The U.S. Department of Justice is in the midst of a collaborative, top-to-bottom review of the police force that was launched after officers shot and killed a stabbing suspect, Mario Woods, in the Bayview neighborhood in December.

Mario Woods was shot more than 20 times by cops.

A panel of retired judges, assembled by District Attorney George Gascón to investigate potential police misconduct and bias, has questioned whether the union holds too much power in the department, and many activists have accused the union of standing in the way of reforms.

[…]

Anand Subramanian, executive director of the panel of judges investigating bias, also criticized the publication of the dog photo, saying, “It shows a severe lack of judgment and empathy for the real and justified pain and outrage that black communities are feeling.”

Sgt. Williams, who drew ire from the union when she testified before the judges’ panel about racism she experienced in the Police Department, said the photo demonstrated “blatant unwillingness to speak up for black lives.

“The POA is as good at sticking their foot in their mouth as Donald Trump,” she said. “So much for reform, that’s what that looks like. Reforms aren’t going to happen until you get them to concede that they’ve been doing things wrong, and this does not look like a concession or even an understanding or a desire to understand.”

Full story is at SFgate and Raw Story. Cops keep managing to demonstrate just how bigoted they are, and also how determined they are to stay that way, making every narrative all about them. Sorry, stormtroopers, you want respect? Fucking earn it.

NYC: ‘Blue Lives Matter’ Bill.

CREDIT: eddtoro/Shutterstock

CREDIT: eddtoro/Shutterstock

New York has become the latest state to introduce a Blue Lives Matter bill, which would classify assaulting an officer as a hate crime. The bill was introduced today by New York Assemblyman Ron Castorina (R), with support from Council Member Joseph C. Borelli (R) and NYPD Sergeant Joe Imperatrice, the president and founder of Blue Lives Matter NYC.

Hate crime legislation currently only applies to attacks based on race, sexual orientation, national origin, and religious affiliation. But this new legislation would classify cops as a protected class, aligning them with ethnic and religious minorities and the LGBT community.

In an interview with the New York Observer, Castorina noted the recent attacks on cops in Baton Rouge and Dallas this past month as a driving force for the bill. He also blamed Black Lives Matter protests for provoking violence against law enforcement.

“It’s based on this climate in this country right now where police officers are being abused and they’re being disrespected, and we’re seeing they have a target on their back, in Louisiana and in Dallas,” Castorina said. “You can envision this happening at a protest, where somebody might throw a rock or a bottle or a punch.”

Talk about a bad, knee-jerk reaction. This is completely unnecessary, as punishments for assaulting a cop are much higher than assaulting a non-cop, and everyone knows that cops will already do whatever they need to in order to tack on a resisting arrest charge, so now they’ll be busy finding ways to tack on an assault charge, too. Oh, this won’t lead anywhere bad, no, of course not. :Insert spine popping eyeroll here: Honesty would be welcome. Why not just call this what it is, a brutal enforcement of bowing down to authority? Being a cop is nowhere near as dangerous as a number of other jobs, and the majority of cops are killed in traffic accidents. The stats are quite clear as to there being many more civilians shot and killed by cops, then cops being shot by civilians.

Civilians get killed by police far more often. Law enforcement officers shot and killed some 990 people in 2015 and another 491 in the first half of this year, according to the Washington Post’s award-winning tracking of police shootings.

That’s almost 1,500 police killings in 18 months, compared to 305 law enforcement officers attacked and killed in the line of duty in the six-year span of numbers in the new report. Police officers have shot and killed about 82 people each month nationwide since the start of last year, and have been killed by attackers roughly 4 times per month going back to the start of 2010.

So of course, cops must be made into a protected class, oh my yes! As these bills pass, and they will, we can all look forward to many more people dying unjustly at the hands of cops, and those who don’t die may well end up with extended prison sentences because of cops who will claim assault. Just what our already over-burdened, fucked up penal system needs. Fuck stormtroopers.

Via ThinkProgress.

Facebook, Oh Facebook, Part IV.

636052187367160635-Amy-Pollpeter

A longtime Iowa Department of Public Safety criminalist who publicly posted her personal fears about black people on social media earlier this month is no longer employed by the state, the agency confirmed Wednesday. […] Pollpeter was a criminalist assigned to DPS’ Division of Criminal Investigation.

Rant

What no one from the “blacklivesmatter” seems to remember is that the cold-blooded killer of 5 cops was ONE OF THEM! The movement has not come out and denounced what he did (some have even condoned/supported it). If you are supporting “Black Lives Matter” – You are supporting, even applauding a cop-killer. These men put their lives on the line for your safety EVERY SINGLE DAY! They are rarely respected and even more rarely thanked. The cops in Dallas had never shot a black man, they had nothing to do with the other incidents – we don’t even know what their feelings about blacks were. But yet, the black lives matter movement seems to think it is OK to remain silent about what one of their people did – he shot cops in cold blood. It’s interesting – until a few years ago, I never really saw the color of a person’s skin. They were all just people to me. But BECAUSE OF BLACKS – I do now notice the color of skin – and frankly, I no longer feel safe around them. Yes, not every black person is going to shoot me because I look at them wrong, or because I happen to be attending a training so I’m wearing a DCI shirt that day – but I know that there is a stronger chance that they will today than they would have 5 years ago. BLACKS have effectively created a MORE RACIST environment rather than working to be equal (and let’s face it, I’ve never seen a political statement from blacks that actually wants equality – they want special treatment, special rights, and to be above the law – they want superiority). So yes, if I’m on a sidewalk and you are black, I will now move to the other side of the street and will be watching for whether you have a gun. No, I won’t shoot you, but I won’t trust you either. This is not from some long held belief or teaching that whites are better than blacks, it is purely because there aren’t a bunch of white people running around (instead of working) rioting, looting stores, and shooting cops. The hatred that blacks are experiencing – they have brought on themselves by their actions. I’m sorry that some blacks will suffer for the actions of others – but then again, I’ve seen no apologies from blacks for the suffering that the cops families are going through because of the action of someone else who happened to be in the same profession. #COPSLIVESMATTER.

And this woman was a criminologist, someone who handled evidence. I hope to fuck you remain unemployable for your whole life, Ms. Pollpeter. “I am not a bigot! I’m not! Oh, those people made me one!” Fuck, that was pure bigot bingo. You can tell she was wanting to write nigger rather than black, as she just couldn’t bring herself to attach ‘people’ or ‘person’ to Black. Darn those uppity Black people, if they’d just stay in their proper place and work some shit job, everything would be okely dokely, you bet.

“The Iowa Department of Public Safety has a strong commitment to integrity, impartiality and professionalism in every aspect of our work,” said Commissioner Roxann Ryan. “We have adopted these policies in order to ensure that the public has trust in all that we do, and our policies reflect the high standards that we maintain,”

Gary Licht, a DPS supervisor who oversaw some of Pollpeter’s work, denounced the posts during a Register interview Wednesday.

“What we’re talking about was made public on Facebook. They’re offensive and they do not reflect my thoughts or actions,” Licht said.

Licht said one employee’s comments on social media are not reflective of the department.

“It doesn’t tarnish the rest of us,” Licht said about Pollpeter’s posts. “It’s one person speaking.”

Pollpeter had worked as a DPS criminalist for about 10 years.

Full story is here.

Justice Department to Investigate Fatal Shooting of Loreal Tsingine.

Loreal Tsingine with her Daughter Tiffany.

Here’s hoping this investigation will result in some form of justice, rather than the usual lack of it. Unsurprisingly, the cop who killed Ms. Tsingine had a highly questionable character, but the Winslow cop shop took him on anyway.

The Justice Department will investigate the police shooting of a Native American woman in Arizona, a spokesman said on Friday, a day after footage released by the Winslow police department raised concerns about racial bias in the fatal shooting.

The department’s civil rights division will review the local investigation into the March 27 shooting death of Loreal Tsingine, spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle said.

Tsingine, 27, was shot and killed by the Winslow police officer Austin Shipley in late March after officers suspected her of shoplifting in a local store and confronted her. Silent body-camera footage, first obtained by the Arizona Daily Sun, shows a police officer trying to restrain Tsingine then shoving her to the ground and finally drawing a gun on her as she approaches him.

In the video, Tsingine gets up and walks toward Shipley with a small pair of medical scissors in her left hand, and another officer quickly approaches her from behind. Shipley draws his gun and directs it at Tsingine, and the footage is cut off before he fires the fatal shot.

[…]

Tsingine’s aunt, Floranda Dempsey, said her niece was 5ft tall and weighed 95lbs. “They should have been able to subdue her with their huge size and weight,” she said. “It wasn’t like she came at them first. I’m sure anyone would be mad if they were thrown around.” She added a question: “Where were the tasers, pepper sprays, batons?”

The family filed a $10.5m wrongful death lawsuit against the city at the beginning of the month, claiming that “the city of Winslow was negligent in hiring, training, retaining, controlling and supervising” the officer who killed Tsingine.

Shipley’s training records show two of his fellow officers had serious concerns that he was too quick to go for his service weapon, that he ignored directives from superiors, and that he was liable to falsify reports and not control his emotions.

A day before Shipley’s training ended, nearly three years ago, a police corporal recommended that the Winslow police department not retain him.

I cannot be the only one who wants an answer as to why in the hell this person was hired in the first place, then why in the hell he was kept on, and why he was not red-flagged all over the damn place. What is the point of cops trying to do the right thing, when they are simply ignored? This is how cop shops get a well deserved reputation of being rotten to the core.

This is a photo of Shipley, wearing a three percenters shirt, which might go a long way to answering why Ms. Tsinginge is dead, and why Shipley is so damn trigger happy:

Austin Shipley, a three-year veteran of the Winslow Police Department, shot and killed Loreal Tsingine on Easter Sunday. Photo from Facebook.

Austin Shipley, a three-year veteran of the Winslow Police Department, shot and killed Loreal Tsingine on Easter Sunday. Photo from Facebook. Source.

[…]

Nationwide, Native Americans are disproportionately killed by police. Based on data from the Counted, the Guardian’s database of police killings in the US, fatal police shootings of black, white, Hispanic and Asian Americans have all gone down slightly or remained roughly the same from 2015 into 2016, but twice as many Native Americans have been killed over the same period.

Because the number of Native Americans, relative to other racial and ethnic categories, is quite small, just a handful of incidents can dramatically change the per capita rate. Still, 13 Native American people have been killed just over halfway through 2016, more than the 10 that were killed in all of 2015.

Tsingine is one of four Native Americans killed in 2016, representing about 30% of the incidents in contrast to the rate among all racial groups, in which women represent victims in about 3% of fatal shootings. For comparison, only one Hispanic or Asian American woman has been shot and killed by police in all of 2016, even though they represent a much larger portion of the population than Native American women.

[…]

Simon Moya-Smith, an activist and Oglala-Lakota tribal member, said it was “unfortunate that Native Americans are routinely excluded from this conversation” about racialized police violence. Moya-Smith noted as an example that in her Democratic nomination acceptance speech Thursday night, Hillary Clinton did not mention systemic racialized violence or discrimination against Native Americans.

“We know that many people don’t see us as human. We’re relics of centuries of lore,” Moya-Smith said. “We first need to get the cops to recognize us as human, and hopefully then they won’t think of themselves as the judge, the jury and the executioner.”

5 feet tall. 95 pounds. A pair of tiny medical bandage scissors. Two big ass cops, batons, pepper spray, tasers. And Ms. Tsingine ends up with 5 fucking bullets in her tiny body. How the fuck anyone could rule that justified, I do not know. Also, I’m thankful for The Guardian picking this story up, and getting word out. So, U.S. media, where the fuck are you?

The Guardian has the full story.

Video Released of Loreal Tsingine’s Death.

Winslow Police Department via YouTube

Winslow Police Department via YouTube.

A recently released body camera video of a 27-year-old Navajo woman who was shot five times after allegedly being involved in a shoplifting incident in Winslow, Arizona, shows the altercation between the police officer and Loreal Tsingine. Tsingine died, while the officer was cleared of any wrongdoing earlier this week.

No audio was available in first seconds but the video portion shows how the officer aggressively pushes Tsingine to the ground. A pair of scissors is seen in her hand as another officer is seen behind her. The officer pushes her again and something falls out of her pocket, which looks like medication. She gets up and walks toward the officer with the pair of scissors in her hand as he lifts his gun and aims directly at her. The video then fades to black and the audio kicks in. After the sound of heavy, labored breathing the officer says, “She came at me with those scissors.”

“I don’t care if she stole copy,000 worth of merchandise or whether she was brandishing a knife or scissors. In the larger historical context, I see this as a violation of an Indigenous woman and her space was violated,” said Brandon Benallie of the Border Town Justice Coalition of the video. “She responded appropriately. In this larger historical context, she acted bravely. She dared to defend her body.”

Benallie also questioned why the other officer did not get involved. “There was no point for him to shoot. This other cop could have taken her down. (Officer) Shipley chooses to murder her rather than create a situation where Loreal would be alive today.”

Benallie, the family of Tsingine and other members of the Border Town Justice Coalition will line the streets of this small town near the Navajo Nation today in efforts they say will hold the city’s police department accountable for crimes towards Indigenous people after Officer Austin Shipley shot Tsingine on Easter.

“Join us and make sure the Winslow Police Department and the City of Winslow, a bordertown settlement, are held accountable for their inhuman crimes towards Indigenous people and other people of color,” read a Coalition news release.

The group is protesting a recent decision by an independent ruling by the Maricopa County Attorney’s office, which stated that no criminal wrongdoing occurred. The Winslow Police Department requested an independent investigation into the incident by the Arizona Department of Public Safety, which turned over its report to Maricopa County at the request of Navajo County Attorney’s office.

Loreal Tsingine’s death at the hands of cops didn’t make the news anywhere much, outside of local news and Indian news outlets. Indigenous people are killed at high rates by cops, and they are subject to the same harassment as other people of colour. I doubt much will be done in this case, but here’s hoping anyway. My thoughts are with the family, friends, and protesters.

Bodycam footage Winslow Arizona shooting.

Full story at ICTMN.