Minneapolis based Communities United Against Police Brutality
Mn Police/ Judicial Corruption atrocities Exposed
Now a Crime to Report Police Brutality in Minneapolis if cannot be ‘Proven”- a case has not been proven in decades…http://www.petitiononline.com/cuapb02/petition.html During its 2005 session, the Minnesota legislature passed a law making it a crime to “falsely” report police brutality. If found guilty, a person could be jailed for up to a year…This new law is a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment right of free speech and right to criticize a branch of the government and demand redress of grievances…clearly meant to frighten people away from filing complaints against abusive police officers.”
Communities United Agaisnt Police Brutality: http://www.charityadvantage.com/CUAPB/3-19-04Newsletter.asp “The proposed amendment violates the United States and Minnesota Constitutions. Americans have a right under the First Amendment to criticize government, including making complaints about police conduct.” (Note: At the time of this URL it was just that - still a proposed amendment- it has now been taken up into "LAW")
Communities United Against Police Brutality EMAIL NEWSLETTERAugust 20, 2007**********************************************
END THE LEGACY OF INJUSTICE ON THE NORTH SIDE
Support Proactive Urban Initiative's "No More" Rally
For decades, people on the North Side of Minneapolis have suffered all manner of injustices and indignities while corrupt politicians, exploitative businesses and institutions, fake leaders and "sinister ministers" used the misery of the people to line their own pockets. … To top it all off, police brutality and police state measures are at an all-time high on the North Side.The Proactive Urban Initiative is a group of neighbors who are saying "no more" to the corruption and injustice that have ruled civic life on the North Side. They are tired of crumbs and broken promises and they are working for real solutions. CUAPB supports their struggle for justice. They are holding a kick off rally and anyone from any part of the Twin Cities who is concerned about justice is invited to support this important effort.
Proactive Urban Institute's "No More" RallyThursday, August 23, 20074:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.Minneapolis Urban League Parking Lot2100 Plymouth Avenue North
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HOLDING COPS ACCOUNTABLE: An Introduction to Copwatch
Saturday, August 253:00 p.m.Walker Church3100 16th Ave S, MinneapolisCUAPB has spent the summer "cop watching" the downtown club scene, the area around Block E, and around homeless shelters. We have filmed some truly disgusting examples of racial and economic profiling, harassment, brutality and police state measures… However, people in the area have told us how helpful it is to have someone there recording police activity. call 612-874-7867
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COURT (READ INJUSTICE) WATCH OPPORTUNITIES
Dwight YoungAugust 22, 9:00 a.m.Hennepin County Government Center
Dwight's case is one of many we have received related to activities on Block E. Dwight was on his way home and had time to kill between buses so he stopped in at Game works. He was there for no longer than five minutes when a security guard told him to leave. Dwight couldn't quite believe it since he wasn't doing anything wrong but he did as the security guard instructed--he left. The guard followed him down the escalator to the street and then was walking behind him toward the bus stop. Dwight turned and said "I'm doing what you said, why are you following me?" The security guard flagged down two Minneapolis cops--Clark Goset #2354 and Jer Yang #7889--who jumped out of their car and immediately handcuffed Dwight. When he asked why he was being arrested, they told him to "shut up." When he asked again, Dwight felt the sting of a Taser in his back. He was taken to jail and charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing.
Dwight knows he did nothing wrong and he has vowed to take his case allthe way to trial.
His case goes to court on Wednesday, August 22 at9:30.
We need to be there to support him. If you attended our Survivor, Family and Friends dinner, you'll remember that Dwight was the entertainer that evening. He's turned his personal quest for justice into a demand for justice for all. Please be there for him.
Demetrius Cooper
Civil Trial
September 5, 9:00 a.m.
Hennepin County Government Center
Demetrius was driving on I-694. Minneapolis police were chasing another vehicle and that vehicle crashed into Demetrius' car. He pulled off at the next exit and was getting out to inspect the damageswhen he heard a Minneapolis cop say, "get your f*cking hands in theair or I'll kill you." That cop dragged him out of the car and kneed him in stomach, slammed him on the ground, cracking his teeth,stomped his head, and Tased him many times. When he asked anofficer on the scene "why did they do this to me?" the reply was "you were fleeing." He was taken to jail and held for 36hours. Besides arresting him and impounding his car, one of the officers on the scene stole money from Demetrius.Demetrius is trying to get some measure of justice for his injuries andfalse arrest. His case goes to civil trial on September 5th. If you've never attended a police brutality civil trial, they can be veryexciting--sometimes some pretty interesting truths come out in opencourt.
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FREE SPEECH WORKING GROUP IS ANYTHING BUTWorking Hard to Repress Free Speech in Preparation for RNC Protests
When the Minneapolis city council proposed joint sponsorshipof the Republican National Convention, some council members rightly expressed concerns about free speech. Cam Gordon proposed a "free speech working group." While perhaps a good idea on paper, this is yet another one of Cam's working groups with no community members on it. Instead, it is populated with city officials who are mostly either out-of-touch or openly hostile to free speech. (The ACLU is represented on the working group but, as they say, their client is the Constitution. They have made no effort to involve the movement or keep us informed.) To make matters worse, the working group has been meeting in secret and hasn't published their agendas or minutes. The community had to go to great lengths to get the date and location of their most recent meeting.We had gotten word that the working group was looking at a really terrible ordinance that would repress free speech for all but the most wealthy and mainstream groups. Props to the about 20 activists who showed up to the working group meeting and let it be known how the community feels about that proposed ordinance. It's a good thing they were there because a revised and even more repressive version of the ordinance was presented at that meeting.
The proposed ordinance would require all groups holding public events involving 25 or more people to go through a cumbersome permitting process, in which a city agency could decide if the location the group has chosen is "suitable." This would eliminate the ability to call emergency demonstrations. The ordinance would ban demonstrations downtown 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.--primetimes for reaching commuters. Protests would also be banned from neighborhoods--a huge issue for us, since many serious police brutality cases occur in neighborhoods. Advertising an event before the permit is approved would be a misdemeanor. Even if an event had a permit, under the ordinance cops could show up and revoke the permit on the spot and arrest everyone present for being at an un-permitted event, which would also be a misdemeanor. This would undoubtedly lead to abuse by police.
Quick actions by activists at that last meeting may have given the working group members pause about bringing forth this bad ordinance, which appears to have been authored by the city attorney's office.
Still, even if the working group doesn't recommend it, the Public Safety and Regulatory Services committee of the city council could take it up on their own. We can't let that happen. Call the mayor and your city council member and let them know we don't want any new ordinances that will limit free speech, especially with the Republicans coming to town. Contact info can be obtained at http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/government/ If something like this becomes law, we will have our free speech rights repressed for years to come. Use your free speech now--while you still have it--to let city officials know how you feel about their attempt to end run the First Amendment. As soon as we have confirmation of the next so-called "Free Speech" working group meeting, we will let the community know so you can plan to attend.
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MIKE "$3.3 MILLION" SAURO POISED TO BECOME 4THPRECINCT INSPECTOR
CUAPB MINNEAPOLIS NEWSLETTER READS:
“Even as Minneapolis police chief Tim Dolan is "whiteifying" the police command structure (see http://www.spokesman-recorder.com/news/article/article.asp?NewsID=81377&sID=16&ItemSource=L ),word on the street is that he is preparing to appoint notorious cop Mike Sauro to the position of inspector over the 4th precinct.You'll recall that Sauro, who has been the acting inspector for the last few months, has cost the city $3.3 million in lawsuit settlements and payouts for brutality incidents. With the North Side already a hotbed of police brutality and misconduct, does anyone besides Dolan and Sauro think he's the right guy for the job? Putting Sauro in charge will send a very wrong message to 4th precinct cops.We're working with people on the North Side to craft a strategy to address this outrageous appointment. Law breakers and abusers have no business being in charge of any police precinct. We strongly urge you to contact the mayor and your city council member to express your concerns over this appointment. Contact info can be obtained at http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/government/ . ”
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SECURITY GUARD TASERS FATHER HOLDING NEWBORNAug 14, 2007 Juan A. Lozano
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/246245 HOUSTON
In a confrontation captured on videotape, a hospital security guard fired a stun gun to stop a defiant father from taking home his newborn baby, sending both man and child crashing to the floor.Now the man says the baby girl suffers from head trauma because she was dropped."I've got to wonder what kind of moron would Tase an adult holding a baby," said George Kirkham, a former police officer and criminologist at the University of California-Berkeley. "It doesn't take rocket science to realize the baby is going to fall."The trouble began in April when Williams Lewis, 30, said he and his wife felt mistreated by staff at the Woman's Hospital of Texas so they decided to leave. Hospital employees told him doctors would not allow it, but Lewis picked up the baby and strode to a bank of elevators.The elevators would not move because wristband sensors on each baby shutoff the elevators if anyone takes an infant without permission.Lewis, who gave the video to The Associated Press, said his daughter landed on her head, but it cannot be seen on the video. He said the baby seems injured since the episode."She shakes a lot and cries a lot," Lewis said, noting doctor shave performed several MRIs on the child, Karla. "She's not real responsive. Something is definitely wrong with my daughter."It was not clear whether the baby received any electrical jolt.The hospital and the Houston Police Department did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment.David Boling, an off-duty Houston police officer working security at the hospital, and another security guard can be seen on the surveillance video arriving at the elevators and trying to talk with Lewis. Lewis appears agitated as he walks around the elevators holding his daughter in his right arm.Within 40 seconds of arriving, Boling is holding the Taser. He walks around Lewis and whispers to the other guard, who moves to Lewis's right side.About a minute later, Boling can be seen casually standing near Lewis, not looking in his direction, when he suddenly raises the Taser and fires it at Lewis, who was still holding his daughter.Lewis drops to the floor. The other guard, who has not been identified, scoops up the baby and gives her to the child's mother, who was standing nearby in a hospital gown.The guard then pulls Lewis to his feet with his arms locked behind him. Lewis's T-shirt has two holes under the left side of his chest where the Taser prongs hit him.Lewis said he did not see the stun gun."My wife said we want to leave and then he just Tasered me,"Lewis said. "He caused me to drop the child."Lewis was arrested and charged with endangering a child. A grand jury in May declined to indict him on that charge, but charged him with retaliation, accusing him of making threats against Boling.Lewis also has been charged with a second count of retaliation alleging he made a threatening call to Boling at his home.Lewis denies both charges. He said he is considering suing the hospita lbut has not filed any legal papers.Some 11,000 U.S. law enforcement agencies use Tasers, which have been officially listed as a contributing factor in about 12 deaths countrywide, according to Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Taser International Inc., which makes the weapon.
___________________________________________________________ Communities United Against Police Brutality 3100 16th Avenue SMinneapolis, MN 55407 Hotline 612-874-STOP (7867)Meetings: Every Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Walker Church, 3104 16th Avenue Southhttp://www.CUAPB.org
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