Kidnapping Victim Found Bound and Gagged in NYPD Cop’s Garage

NEW YORK - Detective Ondre Johnson, a 17-year veteran with the New York Police Department, has been suspended without pay after a kidnapping victim was found bound and gagged in his Queens, New York garage, reports NBCNews.com.

Johnson is being questioned about the crime by internal affairs. Allegedly, 25-year-old Brian Karikari was snatched off the street Friday morning and a $75,000 ransom was sought. Ping emitted from the his cell phone led police to Johnson’s address. Arriving with the intent to question people, they heard Karikari’s cries from the garage. When they knocked on Johnson’s door, the detective answered and upon entering on a search warrant, officers also discovered a safe and fake credit card machinery in the home.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Johnson has not charged with kidnapping; however, his cousin, Hakeem Clark, 30 — who lives in the other side of the two family home — has been charged along with Jason Hutson, 27, with kidnapping and forgery. They were arraigned Saturday night and remain in prison. Alfredo Haughton, 24, and James Gayle, 27, were initially suspected as well, but have not been charged at this time.

The investigation is still ongoing and Johnson, who was assigned to Brooklyn North gang-investigation unit,  has been stripped of his gun and badge. Unfortunately, said one official, “he found himself running with a questionable crowd.”

Video shows NYPD officer assault during Stop & Frisk

From The People's Record
July 27, 2012

The video shows a police officer striding toward a young man standing on a platform at the 45th Street subway station in Brooklyn. A few seconds later, the officer pats him down. Shortly afterward, the young man appears to fidget against a wall and the officer slams him to the ground, ripping a subway ad from the wall in the process. The officer does it again, then puts the young man in a headlock and handcuffs him.

That scene was captured by David Galarza, a local activist, who said he recorded it last Thursday night. At a news conference on Thursday in Brooklyn, Mr. Galarza and other local activists said the officer’s confrontation with the young man, Sean Pagan, 19, was another example of the police’s mistreatment of the predominantly Hispanic and Asian residents of Sunset Park.

This time, however, they say they have a video to support their contention.

“These are young people of color who are victimized many times, and this kind of excessive force, sometimes it’s captured, sometimes not,” Mr. Galarza said before screening the video for reporters at a Latino community center in Sunset Park. “There was an arrest of a young man, but not of the officer who did the groping, and who did the choking.”

Source

What a shocking video that shows the horror people of color in NYC endure if they are stopped & frisked.

According to NYCLU, in 2011 New Yorkers were stopped by police 685,724 times.  
- 605,328 were totally innocent (88 percent).
- 350,743 were black (53 percent).
- 223,740 were Latino (34 percent).
- 61,805 were white (9 percent).
- 341,581 were aged 14-24 (51 percent).

Mural Critical of the NYPD Buffed by the NYPD

By Bucky Turco | July 25, 2012 - 06:00PM

From Animal

A politically-charged mural in Inwood that spelled the word “Murderers” and criticized many issues and organizations — the NYPD included — was painted over only days after it went up. And it wasn’t a paint a crew that that did the buffing, it was plainclothes police officers from the 34th Precinct reports DNA Info. The wall, which is owned by New Edition Cleaners and adjoins Asham Park, was done with permission by graffiti writers KET, NOXER, and TRES on Thursday, but by Monday it was covered in black paint because the police apparently weren’t happy about its message.



“I have been painting that wall for over six years. The owners have also always been on board with all the murals I’ve painted there,” said KET to ANIMAL. “They were uncomfortable with a public message calling the NYPD murderers.”

The owner of the store apparently didn’t want to get into it with the police, telling DNA Info:

I can’t confront them, because I don’t want problems,” New Edition Cleaners owner Marina Curet, who has owned the business for five years, said in Spanish. “There is no freedom of expression.”

The NYPD has yet to respond to our request for information about the incident.

(Photos: Alan KET and Isham Alley Garden/Facebook)

Dallas police shooting leads to neighborhood protest

By Arturo Garcia

Wednesday, July 25, 2012 10:57 EDT

In a scene that nearly mirrored the recent unrest in California, a fatal police shooting in south Dallas led to angry residents confronting police, KXAS-TV reported Tuesday.

Dallas Police Chief Dave Brown said at a press conference that one of his officers shot and killed James Harper following a chase and what Brown described as “three separate physical fights,” during which Harper allegedly told the officer, Brian Rowden, “You’re gonna have to kill me.” Brown said Harper had an extensive criminal record.

The chase started while police were investigating what Brown said turned out to be a fake kidnapping report at a house in south Dallas, part of a feud between neighborhood gangs. Brown said Harper was one of four people officers chased on foot while trying to escape. He also said no weapon was found on Harper and that no officers were fired upon during the pursuits.

According to The Dallas Observer, many of those who gathered on the street after the shooting were friends and relatives of Harper, joining residents who said they were tired of an increase in police violence.

“Police are always killing people, and it’s always our people getting killed,” said one resident. “Every time you look around one of us is dead.”

Harper’s mother, Sandra Harper, told KXAS she believed police had shot her son in the back. Brown told reporters James Harper was shot in the stomach and head.

Unlike similar protests against police shootings in Anaheim, California, no physical altercations were reported between police and residents.

The Observer reported that Rowden will be on paid leave pending an internal investigation. The shooting will be referred to a grand jury. Dallas City Council member Dwaine Caraway also called for an investigation into Harper’s death.

“Under the circumstances, emotions are very high out here,” he told KXAS. “And for everyone’s safety, we need to first allow the police to do their job to try to bring peace and calm to this community so that the family can do what they need to do, what they should be able to do, and that’s grieve their loss.”

Riot police, protesters clash in Anaheim for 4th night over police shootings

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Riot police fired bean bag rounds and pepper balls into a crowd of protestors late Tuesday outside City Hall as council members inside voted unanimously to ask the U.S. attorney's office to investigate recent officer-involved shootings, including one of an unarmed man.

About 250 riot police were called in by officials to quell the more than 600 demonstrators before restoring order. Twenty-four people were arrested in the unrest.

The back-to-back weekend shootings have sparked four days of protests. A crowd of protesters who
were shut out of the council meeting because there was no more room grew violent, tossing rocks and bottles at police and ignoring warnings to disperse.

Officers formed lines to try to contain the crowd as residents set fire to trash cans, loudly taunted police and swarmed a Starbucks, breaking windows.

Police helicopters hovered from above as colorful fireworks from nearby Disneyland lit up the sky.
CBS station KCAL reports that some of the people in the crowd were trying to hold a peaceful demonstration, but others began chanting, swearing and yelling at police officers.

A protester screams at police blocking the doorway to Anaheim City Council Chambers, July 24, 2012.

"We want a peaceful demonstration, but when the cops are pushing us off because they want to show that they have control, then they start hitting us with their batons," one demonstrator told CBS2/KCAL9 reporter Louisa Hodge.

"They hit a woman when we were just standing there voicing our opinion," he said.

The killing of Manuel Diaz and another man on Sunday have taken the tally of shootings by police officers in this Orange County city to six so far this year, up from four a year before. Five of the incidents have been fatal.

Diaz's family on Tuesday filed a civil rights lawsuit seeking $50 million in damages from the city of Anaheim and its police department, claiming he was shot while running away, said lawyer James Rumm.

Mayor Tom Tait said a description from court papers relayed to him by a reporter that Diaz had been shot in the leg and in the back of his head was "unsettling."

Theresa Smith, whose son was killed Dec. 11, 2009, by Anaheim officers at a Walmart store, said she went by the scene of Saturday's shooting and was astounded by what she saw.

"There were pieces of brain on the ... darn grass, in front of all these children, in front of all these people," Smith said. "This traumatizes people, and these people are angry."

The police union issued a statement defending the officers involved in the shootings and said both men killed were gang members who had criminal records.

The union also said that just before Diaz turned toward officers during Saturday's confrontation, he pulled an object from his waistband -- a common place where gang members hide guns.

Anaheim is a city of contrasts that ranges from upscale, hilltop homes to packed, gritty apartment complexes. The city 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles is known as home to the Angels baseball team, and above all, to world-famous Disneyland.

As California's Hispanic population has grown, so has the city's, hitting nearly 53 percent in 2010, census figures show.

Residents' concerns about the use of police force in the city aren't new. Last month, Anaheim decided to look into hiring an independent investigator to review shootings by police amid protests by relatives of those killed in officers' gunfire.

But Latino activists say that isn't enough and want federal officials to investigate the Saturday shooting in broad daylight.

Benny Diaz, state director of the League of United Latin American Citizens in California, said he wants a citizen review commission to keep tabs on the police department, officers to undergo sensitivity training and federal officials to investigate.

"People are saying, `You know what? We have to stop this,"' said Diaz, adding that residents' past requests for a probe of officer shootings have gone nowhere. "As an organization, we are trying to find peace but there comes a point where you have to stand up strong."

Tait, who has called for state and federal agencies to investigate the shooting, urged the community to remain calm. "If the Latino community is saying there is a rift, then there is rift, and we need to address that," he said.

On Saturday, demonstrators hurled rocks and bottles at officers who were securing the scene for investigators, and police responded by firing bean bags and pepper balls at the crowd.

On Sunday, protesters swarmed police headquarters during a morning news conference and later set fire to a trash bin and pushed it into the street outside the apartment complex that was site of one shooting. On Monday night, Diaz's mother joined the relatives of others killed in police shootings in a march near where her son was shot.

Police Chief John Welter said the shooting occurred after two officers approached three men who were acting suspiciously in an alley before running away. One officer chased Diaz to the front of the apartment complex.

The chief would not say what led the officer to shoot Diaz. But he failed to heed orders to stop and threw something on the roof of the complex that contained what officers believe to be heroin, Welter said.

Both officers were placed on paid leave pending an investigation.

The second shooting occurred Sunday when anti-gang officers spotted a suspected gang member in a stolen sport utility vehicle. A brief pursuit ended when three people jumped from the vehicle and ran.

One suspect fired at an officer and the officer fired back, killing the gunman, 21-year-old Joel Mathew Acevedo, authorities said.

Both incidents were under investigation by the county's district attorney office, which asked witnesses to come forward with information or video footage of Saturday's shooting.

Anaheim police fire on media as unrest continues

By Arturo Garcia
Wednesday, July 25, 2012 8:50 EDT

Anaheim Police officers reportedly fired pepper balls and bean bags at demonstrators and journalists Tuesday night during the latest round of protests against last weekend’s police shootings.

Freelance journalist Tim Pool posted a video of himself and another journalist, Amber Lyon, being fired upon, an incident he first mentioned while live-streaming the protests Tuesday night. Pool also said during his live-stream that he was fired at after identifying himself as a media member. Staff members at KFI-AM also reported via Twitter that they were fired upon.

A video posted by KPFK-FM reporter Amber Stephens shows protesters gathered outside Anaheim City Hall Tuesday afternoon, chanting “no justice, no peace” at the officers guarding the door. Riot police eventually emerged from the building. According to KNBC-TV, the crowd measured in the hundreds, with at least five people being arrested.

Tuesday’s protests were the latest response to the fatal shooting of Manuel Diaz on Saturday. Diaz was killed while running away from police, which triggered a confrontation between residents that culminated in police firing similar riot-control weaponry into a crowd of women and children and a police dog, which Police Chief John Welter later said escaped from its vehicle, attacking a woman and her baby. Residents’ outrage intensified after police shot and killed another man, identified by The Los Angeles Times as Joel Mathew Acevedo, after Acevedo allegedly fired at officers during a chase.

You can watch video from last night’s protest, posted by the Associated Press on July 25, below:

Anaheim police 'kill another man', cops filmed firing on women & children

Police kill man in Frankford

Philadelphia--Officials were investigating the shooting of an 18-year-old man by a Philadelphia police officer early Saturday in the city's Frankford section.

The victim was identified as Jose Torres of the 2200 block of Cambria Street, said Lt. Ray Evers, a police spokesman.

Evers said police arrived in the 4600 block of Worth Street to disperse a large crowd that had gathered outside Timmy's Bar. Torres bolted from the crowd, and in the process dropped a 9mm semiautomatic pistol, Evers said.

Police gave chase, and when they saw the man reach into his waistband, they believed he was preparing to pull out another weapon.

An officer fired, killing Torres.

No second weapon was recovered, Evers said.

The officer, who was not identified, has been assigned to administrative duties pending investigations by the District Attorney's Office and police Internal Affairs units.

Police Kill Suspect; Occupy SF Activists Falsely Linked

From Truth-Out:

Once again, the media have stumbled upon a case of law enforcement malfeasance, printed the police's official line and falsely insinuated that Occupy was somehow involved in a killing.

The case, in which a San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) officer shot a 32-year-old Oakland man, Pralith Pralourng, to death, garnered articles from Bay Area media sources consisting of little more than the account offered by SFPD Chief Greg Suhr. Huffington Post's dispatch included this scintillating clue to the thrilling whodunit: "Occupy SF pointed out that the shooting occurred blocks from their encampment, but it's unclear if the movement is related to the incident."

Hmmm ... suspicious. In fact, the only way Occupy SF was involved in the shooting was by beating Huffington Post and the rest of the press to the scene. Huff and every other news outlet was stuck reporting its stenography of Chief Suhr's tortured claim that a cop shot the suspect as he lunged at her with a box cutter, whereupon, the cop shot him twice in the chest, then handcuffed him "for safety reasons" and then uncuffed him and performed CPR. Meanwhile, Occupy SF activist Robert Benson had already gotten people on film testifying that they had seen the man shot while handcuffed.

This is not only the Ockham's razor explanation for a man with cuff marks shot to death with two bullets to the chest, but also something of a sore spot for Bay Area law enforcement. In 2009, footage of Bay Area Rapid Transit police officers shooting one of Pralourng's fellow Oaklanders, 22-year-old Oscar Grant III, while in police custody spread on the Internet and sparked huge community backlash. Despite this history, The Huffington Post raises its eyebrow not at the chief's official account, but at the activists with the superior journalism.

This is just the latest in a mounting series of insinuations by the liberal press that Occupy activists around the country are lethal. A week earlier in New York, a brief sensationalist headline orgy ensued when cops fed the press an "OWS Murder Link!" The story, sourced to police, held that a chain used in the Fare Strike (on which Truthout has previously reported) contained traces of DNA found at the scene of an eight-year-old unsolved murder. Turned out it was a lab error. Whoops.

In February, The Huffington Post's headline "Horrifying Murder in Berkeley - Is Occupy to Blame?" also turned out to be complete bunk. The story faithfully reprinted the Berkeley, California, Police Department's (BPD) excuse for turning up late in response to a 911 call: they were "being reconfigured in order to monitor a protest," according to a BPD spokesman. Andy Stepanian of The Sparrow Project tweeted photos backing up his contention that "there was no police presence" on the march. After much hounding, The Huffington Post eventually corrected the record that it was not the "community," as the report had previously read, but "police" who blamed Occupy for the murder.
In case after case in which the police blow it - failing to respond promptly to an emergency call, tainting lab results and now killing a guy - the media write the reports police tell them to and hints wind up in the copy that Occupy protesters are involved.

Police in Cleveland and Chicago have already drawn gullible protesters into bogus plots in order to charge them with terrorism. The criminalization of dissent will require considerable media cooperation and it continues to seem as though the media are willing to do their part.

Stabbing Suspect Fatally Shot By San Francisco Police Identified

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — A stabbing suspect who was fatally shot by a San Francisco police officer in the city’s Financial District on Wednesday has been identified by the medical examiner’s office as 32-year-old Oakland resident Pralith Pralourng.

Pralourng allegedly slashed a coworker with a box cutter around 10:15 a.m. Wednesday at the TCHO New American Chocolate factory at Pier 17, police said.

The coworker suffered defensive wounds as he raised his arm to block the apparently unprovoked attack, police Chief Greg Suhr said Wednesday.

After the attack, Pralourng ran south on The Embarcadero and the victim chased him, leaving a trail of blood as he ran, Suhr said.

Police responded and tried to stop Pralourng but he would not comply with their demands. At Washington and Davis streets, he lunged at a female officer with the box cutter and she fired two shots at him, according to Suhr.

Pralourng went down on his stomach and officers handcuffed him, but immediately removed the cuffs after seeing that he had been shot in the torso, Suhr said.

He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries later Wednesday.

The female officer who fired the shots has been placed on paid administrative leave, as is protocol with officer-involved shootings. Suhr said Wednesday that a preliminary investigation determined that the officer’s actions were within department policy.

The Police Department is holding a town hall meeting on Friday morning to discuss the case.

The meeting is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. in the Bay Side One Room at Pier 1, located near the intersection of The Embarcadero and Washington Street.

Lake County Police Fatally Shoot Wrong Man While Hunting Murder Suspect

Lake County, Florida--Police in Florida fatally shot an innocent man over the weekend after they mistook him for an attempted murder suspect.

Lake County sheriff's deputies were searching for a man named Jonathan Brown when they arrived at the Blueberry Hills Apartment complex in Leesburg early Sunday morning.

When the police banged on the wrong door, Andrew Lee Scott -- who did not expect visitors -- answered armed and ready, only to be fired at by the surprised officers.

"When we knocked on the door, the door opened and the occupant of that apartment was pointing a gun at deputies and that's when we opened fire and killed him," said Lt. John Herrell, according to WESH.

Officers admit they never identified themselves to Scott, a 26-year-old pizza deliveryman. Still, Herrell holds the victim at least partially responsible.

"It's just a bizarre set of circumstances," he said. "The bottom line is, you point a gun at a deputy sheriff or police office, you're going to get shot," Herrell said.

Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, responded to the incident in his blog.

"This is technically not a 'no knock' search," Turley wrote. "In such searches, there is no knock but the officers are supposed to announce their identities in going into the property... Indeed, I have criticized the increasing use of 'no knock' warrants."

Police later arrested Brown and another suspect at a second apartment building. The two are currently at the Lake County Jail, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the incident and police authorities placed the officer who shot Scott on administrative leave.