Scoring political points is to be expected from political parties, it is how they gain traction, it is how they forge ahead. There must however be some things that are above being politicized, national crises like the continued escalation of violent crimes and pandemics like the COVID ‑19 virus. I understand the need to find issues on which to disagree with the government if you are in the opposition party, but opposing for the sake of political traction is bad for our country.
Gone are the days when media houses reported the truth and were places that the population looked to for credible information. Nowadays, media entities are merely organs of special interest, tools of the wealthy and powerful. Their pronouncements are [their truths], not the truth. Once upon a time, entire media empires were state organs of propaganda but that was only in totalitarian states. Today entire radio and television networks have become untrustworthy places to look to, if you seek the truth. In The United States FOX and Sinclair Broadcasting are two of the worst offenders. In our Island home, it would be unfair to suggest that at least editorially, all of the media outlets do not have political slants. Nevertheless, the Gleaner Company and others have over the years become less and less credible and seem to be more, mere organs of the People’s National Party.
As much as we loathe that people would publish things that are demonstrably false. We should not be so incensed that we react in ways that may be more harmful to the freedoms we so stridently cherish and defend. We must not over-react by demanding that they are shut down, or as I have seen in some hysterical social media posts, that they are taken out and shot. These kinds of incendiary outbursts serve no useful purpose other than to satisfy our uncontrolled anger impulses. When we find ourselves at this level of anger, we need to imagine that the Government in power is not of our political party. Imagine that power to shut down free thought, and to take people into the streets and shoot them. I understand that your response is going to be that you are not promulgating false information. If you believe that unscrupulous leaders with that much power will be judicious with the use of that arbitrary power you give them, then I have a bridge to sell you. The way to fight fire is not with fire, it is to find what works to put it out and use it. Water, foam, sand, whatever it takes. It all depends on what kind of accelerant is fuelling it. The way to fight lies is the use of truth to counter it. Truth like light, will always chase away the darkness of lies..
Mike Beckles is a former Jamaican police Detective corporal, businessman, researcher, and blogger. He is a black achiever honoree, and publisher of the blog chatt-a-box.com. He’s also a contributor to several websites. You may subscribe to his blogs free of charge, or subscribe to his Youtube channel @chatt-a-box, for the latest podcast all free to you of course.
Crises like the COVID-19 gives us all the opportunity to demonstrate to our fellow man the humanity within us. This is certainly not a time for taking, it is a time for giving, it is in all of us to look deep within ourselves and find the spirit of God in us, not just to find him within us but to act upon his quiet voice. Some refer to it as conscience, me, I call it the voice of the holy spirit. It does not matter if you are theist, agnostic or even an atheist, there is a certain joy that comes from giving. Whether we give tangible things at this time, or we give of our time it is crucially important that we look out for each other in whatever we do..
It is understandable that you may say, “but how can I do what you are asking when the authorities are saying we should all engage in social distancing”? Scripture commands in Roman 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. There is no mutual exclusivity between obeying the commands of earthly authorities and doing what Yeshua commandeth, both are doable at the same time. Civil authorities say stay at home as best as you can, but people are allowed to go to the supermarket, to the pharmacy, to get gas for their cars, to pick up food from restaurants and so on. We can take the time to drop off some food for an elderly person in need of food. We can find out if an elderly widower or widow is able to get their medication? We can ask if they have food, or if they have an errand they would like us to run for them. Of equal importance, we may give them a few dollars, just a few extra dollars to people who are on fixed incomes are extremely important to them.
Matthew 25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. James 2:14 – 18 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have worked.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. Proverbs 28:27 Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse. 1 John 3: 17 – 18 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. Let us remember at this time that the church is not in any building, it is in our hearts. In times of crisis, the interest of God’s work is not served by dressing up and going to worship in a building, it is demonstrating to the unsaved what God is all about. He is calm in a time of uncertainty, a refuge in a time of turmoil, a port in a storm. People see the work of God in what we do not in what we say.
As brothers and sisters, cousins aunts and uncles, mothers and fathers, friends and neighbors we have a duty to look out for each other. To look after each other. As Christians, we have a higher calling, a greater duty, not just to preach how much we care, not just to preach how much God cares, but to let our light shine so that the unsaved may see how much we care, just how much God cares, through our actions. They must see God in us in times of turmoil, but they can also see the fraud in us. The forces of darkness are busy at work, telling you that you should look at what the churches are doing. They are telling you that the church is silent in this your hour of need. They are telling you that the church was always a fraud. That all they care about is taking money from you. They are telling you that this is a seminal moment for you to walk away from the concept of God forever. That is what the enemy wants you to believe, it is what the enemy wants you to do. Sadly, some of us within the body of Christ is doing exactly what they are accusing us of doing. Matthew 5: 14 – 16 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Someone joked that the greatest problem for Christianity is Christians. If we think about it a little bit, it does make sense. Us Christians are judgemental, greedy, rapacious, self ‑righteous, preachy, holier-than-though, and we do everything we shouldn’t do. We do everything except the things Yeshua says we should do, visit the sick, look after the widow, visit the incarcerated, look out for the poor. This too shall pass.
Baltimore, MD — During this time of the coronavirus pandemic, senseless violence has continued to increase in Baltimore, Maryland. Mayor Jack Young is appealing to the residents to stop the mass shootings so local hospital can be better used to treat those infected with COVID-19 instead of the victims of crime.
To date, the city of Baltimore has 8 confirmed cases, but the city has also seen an increase in violent crimes. Last Tuesday, seven people were shot in the Madison Park neighborhood and all were taken to local hospitals.
Young urged people to stop the violence because “we cannot clog up our hospitals and their beds with people that are being shot senselessly because we’re going to need those beds for people infected with the coronavirus. And it could be your mother, your grandmother or one of your relatives. So take that into consideration,” Young told CBS News.
Commissioner Michael Harrison said the incident that happened on Tuesday is still being investigated. A city officer reportedly chased the alleged suspect in the shooting as he was fleeing the scene.
The officer tried to shoot the suspect, but it has yet been known if the suspect was struck. The officer, however, sustained some minor injuries.
The police department said they are increasing their visibility in the areas where the crime has increased.
“For those of you who want to continue to shoot and kill people of this city, we’re not going to tolerate it,” Young said. “We’re going to come after you and we’re going to get you.”
It is hard to believe these things happen, that these people who are paid by taxpayers could under any circumstances do these things to the very people they are sworn to protect and serve. In this video you will see for yourselves, two members of the NYPD not only plant evidence on a totally innocent man but physically brutalized a man who was still recovering from a stab wound to his abdomen.
After planting marijuana into the car they brutalized the injured man who had to be taken to the hospital where to add insult to injury the man was handcuffed to a hospital bed for five days. Not knowing that the video existed the man plead guilt to the possession of marijuana charge. The video was obtained through a freedom of information request done by the [Intercept]. The tragic thing is that the NYPD knew that the two criminals planted evidence and brutalized this poor man, yet the department did nothing and allowed a totally innocent man to plead guilty to a crime he never committed. Both criminals are still on the NYPD.
THE PNP’s CONTINUEDPROPENSITYTOBE A STUMBLINGBLOCKTOPROGRESSISCOSTINGJAMAICADEARLY.
Crises can be tremendously harmful, but despite the fallout from them, they offer great opportunities for rebirth and the creation of new and innovative opportunities for the future. If we are to become a first world country we must have an idea who our citizens are. The last debate about a national database of our citizens was defeated because one political party demonized the measure, resulting in uninformed conspiracy theories and hysteria surrounding the issue. It is not the first time that the PNP had done harm to our country in ways that are deeply consequential and long-lasting.
The 22-years of absolutely failed PNP leadership has set Jamaica back in ways that are incalculable. We could go further back and examine the Manley régime’s damage to the country from 1972 to 1980 and if we are honest with ourselves we will agree that this political party has been more harm than it is worth. The anti-NIDS’ demagoguery by the PNP will now have consequences as the government battle this COVID-19 pandemic. We simply do not know who our citizens are, and so even if tested we will have no real idea whether we are treating the same people over and over as many people do not have proper identification. But that is hardly the issue, you cannot account for what you do not know. In addition to that, the leader of the opposition Peter Phillips’s revelation that he approached the Cubans and tried to source a drug to fight the virus should give Jamaicans another window into the soul of Peter Phillips.
Jasmine Deen
It is not the first time that Peter Phillips has betrayed the Government & people of Jamaica. He even betrayed the government of his own party, of which he was a cabinet minister, when he went behind Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and her cabinet’s back, and signed a secret MOU as minister of national security with the United States Government. Anyone with the most basic understanding of the workings of the American Government knows that nothing like that could have occurred in the United States. Testifying before a Commission, Phillips argued that he did not need Cabinet’s approval to sign the secret memoranda that only came to the public’s attention during the Tivoli commission of inquiry. In response to claims that his actions placed the constitutional rights of Jamaicans in deep jeopardy, Phillips said the agreements only targeted the communication of Jamaicans where there is a threat to national security and under prescribed conditions. My personal feelings on whether his signing of the memoranda helped or hurt Jamaicans are rather agnostic. Where I had a problem with Peter Phillips’s actions, was the secret ways in which he did it without the approval of the cabinet, not whether it was done at all. It is exactly Phillip’s Modus operandi, and we saw that in the way in which he confessed to having approached the Cubans outside the protocols of government and was rightly rebuffed.
Actions have consequences, Opposition parties are not supposed to torpedo the positive things the governing party does out of rapacious desires to gain power. But that is exactly what Peter Phillips & the PNP are doing, even at a time when the nation needs a total coalescing around the common good. The Peter Phillips led PNP just scuttled a deal that would have seen a substantial investment project in Ocho Rios, by Palace Resorts a Mexican investment company. The police have a person of interest in the disappearance of UWI student Jasmine Deen, if the country had a national database of its citizens there would hardly be a need for them to be begging for citizens to step forward to help in identifying the suspect. These are critical things that can be a matter of life and death. It is time for the People’s National Party to stop playing cheap political games with our country in order to gain power. Subverting the efforts of the government as it struggles to keep the country safe is not patriotic, it is treasonous.
Mike Beckles is a former Jamaican police Detective corporal, businessman, researcher, and blogger. He is a black achiever honoree, and publisher of the blog chatt-a-box.com. He’s also a contributor to several websites. You may subscribe to his blogs free of charge, or subscribe to his Youtube channel @chatt-a-box, for the latest podcast all free to you of course.
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office is under fire over a viral video that appears to show a police officer planting drugs on a suspect.
The arrest of a Black male in Bridge City that was caught on camera has sparked fury and debate across social media after a cop is seen moving what appears to be small baggies of narcotics near the suspect, who was reportedly selling drugs in the neighborhood.
JPSO spokesman Capt. Jason Rivarde said deputies were called to the area Monday afternoon over the illegal activities and found a male fitting a 911 caller’s description of a drug dealer near the intersection of Fourth St. and Westewego Ave., Fox8live.com reports.
The Sheriff’s Office issued a statement after facing backlash on social media, noting that the suspect —identified as Dominique Griffin — bit one of the officers while resisting arrest.
“The video in question is part of the evidence that has been collected in this case. It has been alleged by third parties that evidence on the scene was planted by one of our deputies. Our on-scene deputies have been interviewed in this matter and gave reasonable explanations to the actions depicted in the video,” a statement from the JPSO said.
JPSO spokesman Capt. Jason Rivarde said deputies were called to the area Monday afternoon over the illegal activities and found a male fitting a 911 caller’s description of a drug dealer near the intersection of Fourth St. and Westewego Ave., Fox8live.com reports.
The Sheriff’s Office issued a statement after facing backlash on social media, noting that the suspect —identified as Dominique Griffin — bit one of the officers while resisting arrest.
“The video in question is part of the evidence that has been collected in this case. It has been alleged by third parties that evidence on the scene was planted by one of our deputies. Our on-scene deputies have been interviewed in this matter and gave reasonable explanations to the actions depicted in the video,” a statement from the JPSO said.
Sheriff Joseph Lopinto stated during a press conference that the deputies involved in the arrest maintain that the baggies in question contained pills, which were removed from Griffin’s pocket during the arrest and placed on the ground. But Black Twitter ain’t buying it. Meanwhile, a search warrant obtained for Griffin’s cell phone allegedly revealed messages about planned drug transactions.
Continued reports that members of JATOO the Jamaica Association of Transport Owners and Operators, (taxi operators to be precise), are refusing to transport nurses out of ignorant fear of the COVID-19 virus must be met with decisive governmental action. The Government had issued a warning to taxi operators who were engaging in this practice, but warnings are not enforceable if there are no laws to hold people accountable. In times of crisis, worthwhile governments leap into action and quickly draft legislation to deal with new eventualities. It is out of crisis situations like the COVID-19 that loopholes in our criminal codes are exposed and also exploited. This pandemic is a war, it is forcing people to change their ways of thinking and their ways of living. As a consequence, the parliament must also spend extra time to come up with new legislation and get them to the Governor-General to be signed into law. Warnings will not cut it, in the same ways that begging criminals not to commit crimes does nothing to stop violent crimes.
Some taxi operators are decent people trying to make a living. But it is undeniable that among them, is a hardcore cadre of criminals who are extremely disruptive, and lawless. They fight & injury police officers when they try to enforce the nation’s traffic laws, and what obtains as a parliament has done nothing to add teeth to the laws which would protect our police officers. They kidnap rape and murder women and little girls and turn their passengers over to be robbed and killed. They block streets and create pandemonium, resulting in major disruptions across the economic front of the country. It is for those reasons that as this crisis intensifies, these criminals not be allowed to continue to have their way and be a law unto themselves by refusing to transport our health workers. In order to bring this insanity to heel, the Parliament must go into an emergency session as if this is a shooting war, and enact legislation to ensure the smooth running of the country. Leaders lead, not beg or threaten lawless people to obey laws that do not exist. Draft new legislation now that makes it a crime to refuse to carry our nurses & other health workers, punishable by a stiff fine on the first offense. Any other breach of the law should result in imprisonment and the total revocation of all privileges to ever operate a public passenger vehicle again.
Mike Beckles is a former Jamaican police Detective corporal, businessman, researcher, and blogger. He is a black achiever honoree, and publisher of the blog chatt-a-box.com. He’s also a contributor to several websites. You may subscribe to his blogs free of charge, or subscribe to his Youtube channel @chatt-a-box, for the latest podcast all free to you of course.
Police corruption is a major reason that there is a lack of trust between law enforcement and the public. As a former police officer myself, I always try to understand the point of view of officers. Over the many years after leaving law enforcement I have continued to give my support to the rule of law, abide by laws wherever I live, and to support law enforcement to the best of my abilities. This man wearing the uniform in this story is not an isolated individual or a bad apple in an otherwise good barrel. More and more it is becoming clearer and clearer that these types of behavior are not the exception but more the rule when it comes to African-Americans. At a time when (a) we see innocent black people released after spending decades in prison for crimes, they did not commit. And (d) people are executed in some states even when their guilt is in serious doubt it is critically important that the government stop protecting these racist criminals.
There is no group of people who are all bad, but when the people who are given the responsibility to enforce the laws use those powers in unscrupulous ways, they are no longer deserving of respect or deference. In actuality, the proliferation of cell phone videos of police acting in ways that are blatantly thuggish and criminal should not be protected by the government.
This criminal was reportedly given a secretive sweet deal of a whopping $123,000 by West Linn city leaders, even as he was accused of the allegations he confessed to as well as drunk driving allegations against him by two of his own patrol officers.
wrongfully accursed African-American man
In another reporting by [koin.com], this disgraced cop even tried to extort a city leader, demanding an additional $40,000 to $50,000, more than was approved, or else he would go public with embarrassing personal information about her. https://www.koin.com/local/clackamas-county/west-linn-new-fbi-probe-of-ex-chief-sought/
Every day people of the color redacted persuasion argue that racism in America is a thing of the past or, at the very least, a thing largely exaggerated by the media and by us disgruntled blacks. Yet every other day it seems we see recorded reports of unsuspecting black people walking into instances of blatant racism while in the process of minding our own damn business.
WSB-TV reported that in Cobb County, Ga., last Monday, a white man pulled a gun on two black women and their 1‑year-old godson after causing a minor accident and being asked by the women to pull over and deal with what he had done.
It all started when 59-year-old Stephen Abbot reportedly clipped the side mirror of Asia Lewis and Kimberly Carter’s car as they were riding with their godson. After Abbot didn’t immediately pull over, the women caught up with him and called out for him to do so, at which point he reached for his gun, the women told officers.
“He grabbed his gun and just put it on his dash like he was trying to scare us or something,” said Lewis.
According to Carter, the two of them made an attempt at de-escalating the situation telling officers, “I yelled out, ‘You don’t have to do all that, we’re not pointing a gun at you, or doing anything to you, we’re just trying to let you know that you hit my car.’”
And just in case any of our melanin deficient readers were thinking, “Oh come on, the guy was probably just really in a hurry. I’m sure it was an emergency. You’ve seen the movie Changing Lanes, people get carried away sometimes. How do we know this had anything to do with race at all?” WSB-TV got ahold of a 911 recording from a call made by Abbot proving that the only emergency he faced was fear of black people in traffic.
“I don’t know who these people are. I have no idea what they’re doing, but I am not going to stop in traffic for two black people in a beat-up old car,” Abbot told 911 dispatch.
Later on in the recording, Abbot can reportedly be heard saying the two women insulted his “family heritage.” (Likely translation: “Those darkies wanted me to pull over my car like their ancestors wanted mine to pull over white power!”)
Abbot was arrested about nine miles from the scene and charged with misdemeanor hit-and-run and pointing a gun, according to WSB-TV.
Abbot will likely not be charged with any hate crimes, but Lewis and Carter know that hate is what informed Abbot’s every action that day.
“We shouldn’t be treated differently because we’re black,” Lewis said.
Both women say they never mentioned race (because, honestly, we never have to), all they spoke of was the damage to their car which they’re still hoping to have repaired. Abbot is now out on bond. Originated @the rt.com
Amidst the scare and the turmoil of everyday living, today I decided to walk through some of the woods surrounding our home with my Dog Bud. In the height of turmoil, let us step back and enjoy what God has already done, not just what we would like him to do.
In the midst of the turmoil there is much beauty if we take the time to see it.
We are blessed beyond measure
Bud enjoyed not been on a leash or locked inside.
We do not need to panic, when challenge comes, what we need is to look to God.
I love walking these woods.
Even in the dead of winter there is beauty if you care to look
The water is all gone today.Back home the flowers have begun to bloom.
At a time when nations are looking to find ways to claw their way out of poverty and create better opportunities for their people, it is critical that those with whom we have given the power to act on our behalf, do so responsibly. Jamaica has no oil like Guyana now discovers it has, neither do we have hi-tech companies bringing in tens of thousands of new jobs. What we do have is tourism, which is a highly competitive industry that is beholden to worldwide eventualities. Aluminia is a raw material that is plentiful around the world and therefore insufficient for us to depend on. We all understand the vulnerability of local agriculture, our food may be more wholesome but we cannot compete when it comes to price. So what we are left with, is our proximity to the Panama Canal and the possibilities inherent in that proximity.
Jamaica is geographically ideal for becoming a massive trans-shipment hub as a result of its proximity. Whether we find ways to exploit those possibilities is totally up to Jamaicans. We have the 7th largest natural harbor in the entire world. As a transshipment hub, Jamaica will see a whole industry of possibilities spring up around that infrastructure, potentially creating tens of thousands of high paying jobs and improving the lives of our population, as well as injecting valuable foreign exchange into the national economy. Drug dealers and other transnational criminals have always understood the importance of this geographical proximity. Fortunately for Jamaica, we now have a political administration that is conversant and attuned to these logistical possibilities. The present administration has been forward-leaning and has begun to cultivate and nurture relationships and investment opportunities. If allowed to develop, those relationships will present immense economic opportunities for the nation and the Jamaican people.
Lambert brown
Unfortunately for Jamaica, we have a political opposition that has mastered the art of subversion, a tactic it learned from the ’70s and has stuck to it as a means of gaining and holding political power. The People’s National Pary has demonstrated that the sole reason for its existence in Jamaica is to be in power to enrich its functionaries. It is for this reason that Jamaicans must understand the damage the PNP has recklessly done to the Palace Resorts deal negotiated by the Palace subsidiary, Puerto Caribe Properties Limited with the UDC, without one scintilla of evidence of wrongdoing or corruption. Palace Resorts is a Mexican hotel chain that has the vision to see the future need for infrastructure in a rapidly changing world. And so they entered into a deal to build hotel infrastructure. The deal with the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) was to build in the town of Ocho Rios, a multi-billion-dollar hotel property. As a result of wild and unsubstantiated aspersions of corruption by the leader of the PNP Peter Phillips calling for a forensic audit, and other PNP functionaries including Lambert Brown, Palace Resorts has scrapped the deal and is demanding that the UDC now buy back the land sold to Palace Resorts.
Dirk Harrison
It is absolutely shocking that a political party could be so inherently irresponsible and downright reckless. It is perfectly logical and proper for an opposition party to be vigilant on behalf of the people. To ensure transparency in Government. To ensure that there is fidelity in the process. It is not the duty of the political party to look to create chaos in the public sector to better its chances at the polls. It shouldn’t be that the political opposition gets to cry fire in a crowded theater and walk away from the bodies left trampled in the resultant stampede. I call on the leader of the opposition Peter Phillips to present to the nation the evidence he has of corruption in the deal that was negotiated. I call on Lambert Brown, present to the nation the evidence you have of corruption that has resulted in this deal being scuttled. I call on former Contractor General Dirk Harrison, to explain how he arrived at the conclusion that the sum that the property was sold for was below market value. Not just that it was below market value, but that if verified to be below market value, it was so done for corrupt reasons. In the interest of common sense and clarity, sometimes a deal may be done on the front end for lesser value in order to secure the deal. This is easy to understand because securing the deal will potentially yield incalculable windfalls on the back end. I have no information whether or not my theory is applicable to this case, much less whether the property was sold below market value, to begin with, as property value is usually both subjective and subject to myriad issues. I urge the government to take this issue to the people and let it be known what this reckless action by Phillips and his bunch of regressive idiots have cost the country.
Mike Beckles is a former Jamaican police Detective corporal, businessman, researcher, and blogger. He is a black achiever honoree, and publisher of the blog chatt-a-box.com. He’s also a contributor to several websites. You may subscribe to his blogs free of charge, or subscribe to his Youtube channel @chatt-a-box, for the latest podcast all free to you of course.
Pikesville, MD — Rena Mellerson, a 76-year old grandmother from Maryland who was violently arrested by police, is no longer facing any charges. All charges against her including second-degree assault, resisting and interfering with an arrest, and obstruction have been dropped.
The incident that happened in January stemmed from officers trying to arrest her granddaughter at her home. Officers responded to a 911 call about two women allegedly having an argument in public. Body camera footage of the incident was recently released. After clearing the scene, Baltimore County Police Corporal Brennan followed one of the women identified as Mellerson’s granddaughter who went to Mellerson’s home. Brennan told Mellerson that Floyd was under arrest for disorderly conduct, but she refused to let him in. A struggle between the two then ensued. Brennan then pulled out a Taser and told Mellerson that she is also under arrest for interfering with the investigation. Ms Mellerson tried to convince Floyd to go with the police but she refused.
Brennan continued to force the door open and even used his pepper spray. He successfully entered the house with his gun drawn as Mellerson tried to run. He then grabbed her arm and another officer forced her to the ground. A video of the altercation taken by a witness went public and has caused a backlash against the department. An investigation regarding the apparent excessive use of force is reportedly underway.
Madison, WI — Jarrett Adams, who was wrongfully convicted of sexual assault for which he served 10 years in prison, has now become an attorney and has opened his own law firm in New York City. His primary goal is to help other incarcerated men and women who have been wrongfully convicted like he was before.
Adams was only 17-years old when was sentenced to 28 years in prison. That sentence was later reduced to 10 years, and he was exonerated and released in 2007.
After his exoneration, Adams attended Loyola University Chicago School of Law where he earned a law degree. He then served on the Innocence Project after admitting to the New York State Bar four years ago.
Most recently, Adams admitted to the Wisconsin State Bar and was sworn in by Keith Findley, the co-founder of the Wisconsin Innocence Project who helped in overturning his conviction.
Having experienced the injustices in the justice system, he knew firsthand how having low income would greatly affect a person’s chances of getting incarcerated. Like him, most people who were falsely accused don’t have access to better attorneys as well.
Now, he is coming back to Wisconsin to help overturn wrongful convictions in the state’s inflated prison population.
“I really want to live a life as an example of what can happen when people are given the opportunities and the tools to reintegrate successfully back into our society,” he told WPR. “We can’t repair what is going on in our impoverished areas in the state of Wisconsin by locking everyone up.” Story originated @BN.com
The Democratic presidential campaign is still not yet decided, but the voting trends since the South Carolina Primaries have given former Obama Vice-president Joe Biden a lead, many observers theorize will only get more insurmountable for his rival Vermont (I) Senator Bernie Sanders. As if wanting to end the primary as soon as possible, Democratic primary voters have since sent a strong message in state after state that has already voted, that Joe Biden is their choice to go up against Republican Donald Trump. Donald Trump obviously thought that Biden would be the Democrat’s eventual nominee, and as far as the evidence indicated, Trump’s preemptive actions to muddy Biden’s character to aid his own reelection efforts got him into serious trouble. Those actions got him added to the infamous group of two other American presidents ever to be impeached.
Stacy Abrams
So now Biden has to build out a national campaign, pundits say it would be a good idea for him to hire a great deal of the Sanders staff in order to demonstrate to Sanders supporters, (mostly younger voters) that he intends to include them in his vision, not just for the Democratic Party, but for America. The challenge for Biden as it was for Hillary Clinton, is that Bernie Sanders is not a man who is going to bow out of the race anytime soon, or go quietly into oblivion, this is his last shot at the big leagues. And so the question remains, when is it a good time for Biden to hire away staff that is already employed to the Sanders campaign? Already there are on some social media platforms trending “Never Biden” hashtags. I would caution that these trending hashtags should not be viewed as any real fissure within the Democratic party per se, neither should they be believed to be coming from Bernie Sanders supporters. These trending hashtags may very well be part of the Russian influence campaign designed to open a split within the Democratic party in order to reelect Donald Trump in November. The mainstream media can always be counted on to take the bait and propagate these nonexistent rifts by repeating them over and over again as they did in 2016.
(US) Senator Kamala Harris
Amidst all of that Joe Biden needs to consider a running mate, and that is the focus of this article today. Pundits and prognosticators have always held that the choice of a running mate that a presidential candidate makes, is his or her first presidential decision. Let it be remembered that Joe Biden’s very existence as a Presidential candidate did not come just from Jim Clyburn & black voters saving his hide in South Carolina, it started with Barack Obama’s presidential decision in choosing him as his running mate in 2008. Prior to this black revival of Joe Biden, he had twice before run for the Democratic nomination for president. On neither of the two previous occasions had Joe Biden won a single state primary or caucus. The knack on the Democratic Party from some young people in the African-American community, is that the party has repeatedly taken the black vote for granted. They argue that the Democratic Party only gives a fleeting acknowledgment to African-Americans when it’s time to vote, after which it is back to the status quo. There is much truth to that, nevertheless, that does not mean that blacks have an optional home or even a temporary sanctuary in the Republican Party. The Republican party that has demonstrably been hostile to us and the issues we care about.
Rep Val Demings (Florida)
Joe Biden’s choice of a VP candidate will reveal Joe Biden’s character, not just whether he is capable of making solid presidential choices but whether he can make choices that are both honorable and presidential. At present, he has been saying all the right things, but presidential candidates generally have advisers and special interests pulling and tugging at them to do what they want, sometimes based on the checks they are writing. It is for that reason that he should never forget who got him here, and oh, by the way, winning the primary is not winning the presidential elections. Already some in the peanut gallery are pushing names like Sally Yates, the former deputy assistant general who was fired in 2017 for refusing to implement Trump’s anti-immigrant executive order. Democrats Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan from the state of New Hampshire are also two of the names being bandied about by the mainstream media.
Rep Karen Bass
I am yet to understand the reason behind their names being floated other than that they are women, and God forbid that anyone neglect to bow down to the feminist agenda. African-American women are the most loyal voting bloc in the Democratic party. For that reason, Joe Biden must choose a black woman as his running mate. It does not matter that he said that a Biden administration would look like the country. Talk is cheap actions matter. There is no shortage of eminently qualified black women who are ready to step into the role of president, much less vice president. In fact, after 2016 the presidency holds no mystique any more, at least not for me. Biden’s choice of a running mate should be a black woman, not because she is a [woman], but because loyalty and commitment to the party have earned them that right.
As a follower of Jesus Christ, I find it remarkable that one of the greatest weaknesses of the modern Christian Church, and the Black church, in particular, is its failure to connect faith to everyday life. In the interest of full disclosure, I am not a theologian, neither am I formally educated in Christian teachings. Nevertheless, it seems to me that if we purport to be followers of Jesus Christ, (Yeshua the Messiah) the person from whom our faith is named, then we ought to recognize that standing around in pious supplication, heads to the heaven, begging for God to do for us what he already empowered us to do for ourselves is being silly, to say the least.
Paul speaking, in Philippians 4: 13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Speaking to his disciples Yeshua said in Matthews 17: 20, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.“ Now I never intended for this brief article to be a religious sermon, I’m no Pastor or minister of the faith. However, as I said earlier I see Christian Pastors preaching pie in the sky sermons that may be okay if you are dying today, but if you have to live here on earth you better take your life and that of your children into your own hands for your own survival. In every miracle, Yeshua demonstrated that the recipient of that miracle had it in them to do for themselves using a combination of faith and works. (Simply put, it is not magic, but faith made possible through works). Fill the jars with water, as he wrought his very first miracle. Stretch forth your hand to the man born with a crooked arm. To the leper, “Go show yourself to the Priest”. Pick up thy bed and walk. Go wash thyself in the river. On and on we see the miracles happen as the recipients participated in their own healing by doing what they were told to do. In Matthew 8:13, with an abundance of faith that Yeshua could heal his servant, a Roman centurion went to the master for help. Knowing his faith Yeshua said to him, “Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee”. The centurion turned and went home, and so it was done, his servant was healed. Even the dead got up to his command“Lazarus, come forth”, he commanded and the dead Lazarus got up walked out of the tomb.
A Black Christian Pastor in the deep American Southern state of Mississippi traveling with his infant son got pulled over by the police. The cops asked permission to search his vehicle which he correctly denied. That did not prevent them from ordering him from his vehicle leaving his 2‑year-old infant son in the backseat as one cop proceeded to search his vehicle without his consent. All this time while his infant son was sleeping in the car. The cop searching the vehicle did not notice the baby until the poor infant sneezed. They were too busy looking for something, anything, with which to nail this black man who was driving a so-called luxury vehicle, because as you know, the only way black people in American can own property or nice cars is if they are drug dealers. So they allowed the pastor to retrieve his son from the vehicle, but not even the sleeping child and his protestations that he was a man of the cloth did anything to dissuade the cop searching to say “okay we are done here”. All the while he was there literally bowing down to them, referring to them as ‘sir”, even as they violated the law, violated his constitutional rights, and potentially traumatized his infant child. Despite anything that you may hear about this case, whether from this not to bright pastor or the police chief, the cop talking to the pastor said it all. That the search was precipitated not by some hit by the dog, but by his refusal to give them permission in the first place. In the end, they found nothing, but that is hardly the point. In the video, the pastor addressed his congregants and explained what had happened to him. And then the pastor said this after a lengthy explanation to his congregation. “You all know that I’m not a preacher who preaches about social justice and all of that.”[sic]
Wait, what? You got me there dog.…… Wasn’t Doctor King slaughtered by these very people at the tender age of 39 because he did the social justice thing, or am I missing something? How do you live in America and is not sensitized to the thick cloud of racial injustice that blankets the country and manifested through the thousands of police departments nationwide? Wasn’t Jesus Christ,(Yeshua) murdered because he did the social justice thing? You know, standing up for the dispossessed, standing up for women’s rights, looking after the poor, visiting and healing the sick, feeding the hungry, comforting the widowed, caring for the fatherless, standing up to the oppressors raising the dead? And oh, while we are on that subject, didn’t Peter carry a sword, and didn’t he use it to slice the ear of one of the guards who came to arrest Yeshua? Yeah …sure Yeshua, according to [scripture], replaced the guard’s ear, but having searched the scriptures, I could not find any evidence that Yeshua ever admonished Peter for carrying a sword. In fact, even after Peter had severed the ear from the guard, Yeshua told him to put up his sword, he never chastised him for having it. So when you hear a so-called pastor say,”“You all know that I’m not a preacher who preaches about social justice and all of that.“ Ask yourself the question, “what was he preaching about? Because if you are not preaching about social injustice you are not preaching the word of Jesus Christ (Yeshua the Messiah). Yeshua was a social justice warrior who laid it all on the line for those without power. How convenient for this pastor, (Mike Pembleton) that all of a sudden he sees the light, right after he came under the bootheel of the oppressor and was humiliated? What was he preaching about before this.….. his inevitable humiliation?
Pastor Mike Pembleton Jr, who in addition to his role as a pastor sells insurance, was on his way to meet with a customer when he was pulled over by Richland, MS police officer W.R. James for having windows that were tinted too darkly. #WRJames would not tell #MikePembletonJr if he was being detained or not but threatened him with arrest if he didn’t exit the video. James asked if he could search the car, and Pembleton told him no. Pembleton proceeded to let James know three times that he didn’t consent to the search, but James searched his vehicle anyway. Pembleton’s son was asleep in the back seat for 5 minutes while James searched. This could have ended in tragedy if James had been startled, knowing how trigger-happy the police are when Black people are around.
This is unacceptable. Police are all about arresting and killing as many Black people as they can, and they do not care about breaking the law. The only thing they care about is possibly facing some consequences, which, because police are left to investigate themselves most of the time, rarely ever happens. #DrivingWhileBlack is a serious offense in the Oppressive States of America and needs to be closely investigated. Pembleton is filing a civil rights complaint in response to the unlawful search. @OfficialMikePembletonJr mentioned that up to this point he didn’t focus much on social justice. With this hitting home, he is planning on focusing on that more. Hopefully he takes a page from #VernonJohns book.
Now here is a man who claims to be a pastor chatting away with the police, calling them “sir”, even as they violate the laws, violate his constitutional rights, potentially placed his child at serious physical risk, and potentially traumatized him, in addition to damaging his vehicle. Now if you look at the cop car behind the pastor’s vehicle the tint on the police car is equally as dark or potentially darker than that of the pastor’s vehicle. A strong case of “do as I say but not as I do, because I am the law and there is nothing you can do about it”. And oh yes, after they did not find what they thought they would surely find in a car driven by a black man, they settled on the factory tint of the car he was driving.
The pastor then tells the cops talking to him what he does for a living, which by the way is none of the cop’s business. He then tells the cop (where he stays,) I suppose that is where he lives-.……reminiscent of the enslaved who had won their freedom and walked around with their so-called freedom papers. This pastor who never [bothered to get involved in social justice stuff], ran up into a slave patrol that did not care a [damn] about his freedom papers. By virtue of the color of his skin, he had no expectation of freedom, regardless of what a piece of paper said. The cop talking to him all but said it, he’s searching the vehicle because you did not give permission to him to search it. So even though the law dictates that if the motorist objects to a search a police officer may not search the vehicle, these cops use the constitutionally protected right of black citizens to say “no” as a reason to initiate a search of this pastor’s vehicle anyway. Of course, they lie every time that the canine detected something on the outside of the vehicle and that gives them the right to violate your rights. The last time I checked dogs react to the smell of everything, from other animal’s scent, food, shit, and everything in between. In other words, though you have a constitutional right to object to a search of your vehicle or home, police can violate your rights because a dog reacted to food, another dog, or even feces on the outside of your car. And that is enough to give them the right to violate your rights. If you are black.
In an (npr) report it was revealed that the Chicago Tribune sifted through three years worth of cases in which law enforcement used dogs to sniff out drugs in cars in suburban Chicago. According to the analysis, officers found drugs or paraphernalia in only 44 percent of cases in which the dogs had alerted them. When the driver was Latino, the dogs were right just 27 percent of the time. Dog-handling officers and trainers argue the canine teams’ accuracy shouldn’t be measured in the number of alerts that turn up drugs. They said the scent of drugs or paraphernalia can linger in a car after drugs are used or sold, and the dogs’ noses are so sensitive they can pick up residue from drugs that can no longer be found in a car. The Tribune spoke to a few dog experts and they almost universally blamed the handlers:
Dog handlers can accidentally cue alerts from their dogs by leading them too slowly or too many times around a vehicle, said Lawrence Myers, an Auburn University professor who studies detector dogs. Myers pointed to the “Clever Hans” phenomenon in the early 1900s, named after a horse whose owner claimed the animal could read and do math, before a psychologist determined the horse was actually responding to his master’s unwitting cues. Training is the key to eliminating accidental cues and false alerts, said Paul Waggoner of Auburn’s detector-dog research program. “Is there a potential for handlers to cue these dogs to alert?” he asked. “The answer is a big, resounding yes.”
POLICEPRESSCONFERENCEOFTHEINCIDENT
The truth of the matter is that, power-crazed cops who want to show who is boss after being denied permission to search a vehicle, definitely cues the animals to give them a false reason to invade people’s personal spaces. Get into the social justice fight pastor or surrender your robe, you thought you were exempt now you know.
African-Americans have not always been the backbone of the Democratic party, and yes, we must concede that not all of the people within the party love black people. Let us dispense with the pretense and face reality. The existential threat to black men and even our women and children, is the threat posed by white supremacists wearing police uniforms with the backing and power of the laws at their command. At the same time, that this threat as been entrenched from as far back when blacks first walked off the plantations, the Democratic party has been eerily silent on the issue. Today the Democratic party is as silent on race as is the Republican party. Nevertheless, blacks can hardly be mad at the Republican party, the party has made it clear it does not want the black vote. It has made it clear from its purgings, it’s utterances, and its silence, that blacks are not welcome, it has not tried to hide its disdain for African-Americans. Sure, there is a single Republican US Senator, Tim Scott in South Carolina and not a single black in the house on the Republican side after Will Hurd departs. Apart from the seemingly lost Tim Scott, a self-hating Candace Owens and a couple other black crackpots like the comical carnival barker of a former sheriff from Wisconsin who awards himself medals, blacks have avoided the party like it is the plague. But the disdain Republicans harbor for the 40 plus million black people in this country goes farther than a lack of representation in their party, it goes to the racist exclusionary and destructive policies they have enacted in local & state legislatures and the US congress. Voter suppression laws. Laws giving police departments cover even when they murder innocent unarmed blacks. Onerous voter ID laws. Supporting police misconduct against African-Americans, regardless of blatant police crimes. The list is long and varied so when people ask why do black people overwhelmingly vote Democratic, they are either being facetious or they are being ridiculous, in light of the evidence.
Make no mistake about the facts here when it comes to the existential crisis blacks face, the Republican party is at the heart of every issue that has caused pain to the African-American community. Unfortunately, like in every issue, we can think of on this seminal issue, there are many people in black skin who will quickly tell you that Donald Trump has done great things not just for America, but for the African- American community. One such [coon] told Trump to his face at a sit-down that he was the best president for blacks since Abraham Lincoln. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel laughed at him upon which he did a video detailing why he believes Trump has been good for black people. The metric that the “pastor” used to define Trump’s greatness, just happened to be Barack Obama’s economy. I found it amusing that these very same black pastors found it incredibly difficult to give president Barack Obama any credit for being a [great and exemplary president], but is willing and eager to heap on Trump accolades he hasn’t earned and doesn’t deserve.
But then I remembered that when Moses led our people out of Egypt they turned on him because they did not have meat or leeks. I remembered that Harriet Tubman carried a pistol, reportedly for the negroes who would run back to the slavers and report on where the safe houses were. So I am not surprised by the so-called pastors who could not support Barack Obama because he did not come from the trenches like a Jesse Jackson, or Al Sharpton. Neither am I annoyed that because of Religion, not knowing who they are, they cling to a brand of Christianity that enslaved them, and still have them mentally shackled to the very party which houses en-masse, the descendants of their ancestor’s tormentors. Most importantly I am not bothered by them, because they could not bother to educate themselves outside the theological brainwashing they were given to learn some American history, rather than bow down to [his-story]. To learn how the Democratic party transformed from the party of the Dixiecrats. To learn how the Democratic party gave Blacks the civil and voting rights act. To learn how the Republican party has become a white nationalist party. Or bother to learn that the so-called greatness of Lincoln was centered on the preservation of the Union, and not on freeing a damn enslaved black.
Written during the heart of the Civil War, this is one of Abraham Lincoln’s most famous letters. Greeley, editor of the influential New York Tribune, had just addressed an editorial to Lincoln called “The Prayer of Twenty Millions,” making demands and implying that Lincoln’s administration lacked direction and resolve.
President Lincoln wrote his reply when a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation already lay in his desk drawer. His response revealed his concentration on preserving the Union. The letter, which received acclaim in the North, stands as a classic statement of Lincoln’s constitutional responsibilities. A few years after the president’s death, Greeley wrote an assessment of Lincoln. He stated that Lincoln did not actually respond to his editorial but used it instead as a platform to prepare the public for his “altered position” on emancipation.
Executive Mansion, Washington, August 22, 1862.
Hon. Horace Greeley: Dear Sir.
I have just read yours of the 19th. addressed to myself through the New-York Tribune. If there be in it any statements, or assumptions of fact, which I may know to be erroneous, I do not, now and here, controvert them. If there be in it any inferences which I may believe to be falsely drawn, I do not now and here, argue against them. If there be perceptable in it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend, whose heart I have always supposed to be right.
As to the policy I “seem to be pursuing” as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt.
I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be “the Union as it was.” If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do morewhenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.
I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men every where could be free.
Yours, A. Lincoln. (From-Abrahamlincoln.org)
Yea.… A little perspective is sometimes refreshing. Will it change minds, will the truth alter long-held idealistic misconceptions? Probably not, nevertheless, even if now revealed truths are not enough to erase past lies and misinformation, the truth will from henceforth stand as a light for future generations not yet exposed to manufactured truths. As the moral conscience of the Democratic Party, it is now time for African Americans to take hold of this party and ensure that they leverage it for what they are worth, not just to the party, but also to America. No amount of romanticized whitewashing can change the facts that Abraham Lincoln did not free the enslaved people out of moral conviction he did what he had to do to save the Union.
A Harvard University police officer is facing major criticism for his use of force in three recent incidents involving young homeless Black men on its main campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
According to The Harvard Crimson, the school’s student-run newspaper, Officer Anthony T. Carvello, 61, first received criticism in September of last year when he put his hand on a man’s neck at the Smith Center and the man said he couldn’t breathe. According to an incident report, Carvello, who is white, approached Terry T. Jackson, 20, to whom he had previously given a trespass warning. In his report, Carvello said that he told Jackson that he was violating his trespass warning and that Jackson used expletives to describe him while Carvello waited for backup to arrive.
Carvello claimed he pushed Jackson’s head down after he allegedly refused Carvello’s order to put his hands behind his back for an arrest. According to video that captured the incident, Carvello put his hand on Jackson’s neck before placing him in handcuffs. Three backup officers also eventually arrived on the scene.
Jackson told The Crimson that he was unable to breathe when Carvello grabbed his neck and explained that he had an anxiety attack during the incident. Jackson’s girlfriend Aryana S. Watkins, 22, told The Crimson that she witnessed Jackson crying as he was placed in the back of a Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) car. Two other people who witnessed the arrest also said they believe Carvello used excessive force while apprehending Jackson, and one of the witnesses said she called the department’s station later that day to express her concerns. Her efforts didn’t seem to work, however, because four months after the arrest, Carvello was selected by the department to be one of its two patrol officers of the Smith Center.
“The central and open nature of the SCC’s public spaces lends itself to increased activity, including behaviors that do not abide by the rules of the space,” wrote HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano. “Our officers assigned to the SCC are required to respond to more issues than they might otherwise in another part of campus.”
Three HUPD officers familiar with the incident felt it was inappropriate for Carvello to put his hands on Jackson’s neck and they argue that the department should have removed him from the Smith Center pending investigation.
The second incident involving Carvello occurred in January. He was dispatched to the Smith Center to respond to a report of an “unwanted guest” on the second floor, according to a publicly available incident report Carvello penned. As Carvello ascended the steps to the second floor, he came upon Isaiah L. Scott, 22, to whom he had given a trespass warning the previous day.
Scott walked away and Carvello pursued him with his pepper spray drawn, according to his incident report, because Scott had allegedly been “non-compliant” the day before. According to the report, Carvello approached Scott near the elevators and told him he was under arrest for trespassing and he told him to place his hands behind his back.
Carvello wrote that Scott was non-compliant and he repeatedly asked to speak to Carvello’s supervisor. This is when Carvello said that he threatened to pepper spray Scott. Carvello said Scott still wouldn’t comply and eventually he sprayed in Scott’s direction. Scott dodged the spray and attempted to flee Carvello.
I followed him and repeated commands to stop and put his hands behind his back,” Carvello wrote. “I sprayed two more times hitting him once on the side of his face and once directly in his eyes. I secure[d] him against the wall and waited for backup to arrive.”
Eventually, six HUPD officers came to assist with handcuffing Carvello, who was eventually moved to the ground to finish the arrest.
HUPD Sergeant James P. Pignone, 53, arrived at the scene and wrote in a report, “Scott said that he was being harassed by Officer Carvello, that he (Scott) had done nothing wrong, that he wasn’t trespassing and that Officer Carvello had just walked up to him, called him a ni**er and sprayed him with pepper spray.”
“By Department policy, officers are allowed to use Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray,” Catalano wrote of the incident. “HUPD officers are instructed to use only the amount of force that is reasonably necessary to deescalate the incident and bring it under control. If de-escalation does not work, officers may apply an escalating level of force to meet the level of resistance.”
Despite Catalano’s statement and a report by Pignone saying Carvello’s arrest was appropriate, three officers in the department familiar with the case said they believe Carvello used excessive force while arresting Scott. An investigation into this arrest is ongoing.
Finally, the third incident involving Carvello occurred on Feb. 20, on the first floor of the Smith Center. At 11 a.m., he approached Tyrique D. Simmons, 21, who had an active trespass warning for all Harvard University property, according to two internal HUPD incident reports written by Carvello.
arvello wrote that he approached Simmons and as Simmons attempted to leave, Carvello “put [his] hands on [Simmons’s] chest and shoulder area and guided him toward the wall,” according to the first report.
The two of them had a bit of a scuffle near a column across the elevators, according to the police report. Simmons then tried to run away and Carvello grabbed Simmons and backed him into the column where Carvello stated that he was under arrest. Carvello wrote that once he said this, Simmons’ resistance intensified and he punched Simmons to prevent an assault. Simmons corroborated the punch in an interview with the Crimson.
According to Carvello’s reports and video footage, Simmons told Carvello “I didn’t do anything” during the incident. On the day of the arrest, three witnesses said Carvello used excessive force when apprehending Simmons and one of the witnesses said she filed a complaint with HUPD that day.
Simmons told the Crimson that he feared for his life during the incident and since then, he’s suffered heightened stress. His mother, Tanya L. Simmons, 42, even said her son has avoided physical contact since the arrest occurred.
According to The Crimson, Carvello submitted two different reports detailing the incident to an internal HUPD database. In the second report, Carvello is more detailed in describing Simmons’ behavior and the incident, adding details such as how he drew his pepper spray after he forced Simmons to the floor. A partial video of the arrest corroborated these claims where Carvello repeatedly threatened to use the spray. Two HUPD officers eventually arrived on the scene to assist with handcuffing Simmons, according to both versions of the report.
nce again, with this third incident, three officers familiar with the situation believe Carvello used excessive force with Simmons. Former Boston Police Department lieutenant and current Emmanuel College sociology professor Thomas Nolan even called the allegations against Carvello unusual.
“You’ve got three instances of excessive force allegations in six months,” he said. “That’s a lot. That’s more than most police officers will accrue over the course of a 25 or 30-year career.”
In a recent meeting, Harvard’s student government condemned Carvello’s actions, demanding that the HUPD drop the trespassing charges against the man in the February incident. They also demanded HUPD “release its code of ethics and budget, and that police issue an apology and discipline the officer involved.” this story originated in [Newsone]
Wall Street suffered its biggest one-day loss since the 2008 financial crisis on Monday and recession worries loomed large as tumbling oil prices and ongoing coronavirus fears prompted investor panic on the anniversary of the U.S. stock market’s longest-ever bull run.
By Stephen Culp
NEWYORK, March 9 (Reuters) — Wall Street suffered its biggest one-day loss since the 2008 financial crisis on Monday and recession worries loomed large as tumbling oil prices and ongoing coronavirus fears prompted investor panic on the anniversary of the U.S. stock market’s longest-ever bull run. So deep has fear pervaded that you will rarely see someone without an N95 Safety Face Mask sauntering the streets.
All three major U.S. stock averages plunged sharply at the opening bell, triggering trading halts put in place in the wake of 1987’s “Black Monday” crash. The Dow plummeted a record 2,000 points out of the starting gate on a day that marked the current bull market’s 11th year.
S&P 500 futures declined about 1% after the bell, briefly extending their loss to just over 20% from their record high on Feb. 19 and suggesting the bull market may have ended. Investors generally consider a drop of 20% from a recent high to signify a bear market, raising the expectations of a drawn out period of negative sentiment.
“There’s a lot of fear in the market and if the price of oil continues to move lower it’s an indication that a global recession is not far away,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. Read the full story here: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/wall-street-clobbered-as-crude-plummets-virus-crisis-deepens-2020 – 03-09 – 0
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