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Cop Block Week In Review: May 12 – May 19
Keeping up with all the police related stories, events and more can be a difficult tasks. Therefore, with the intention of keeping the readers of CopBlock.org informed about the most recent stories, videos and happenings – not only at CopBlock.org but the extended CopBlock offshoots as well – we’ve decided to start a “CopBlock Week in Review” series. Each week a CopBlock contributor will publish a post that highlights the blogs published at the site throughout the week, short stories about other CopBlocker activities and more. So without further ado, lets get into this week’s review.
WHAT OTHER COPBLOCK OFFSHOOTS ARE UP TO:
Fresno Cop Blocker Brian Sumner was in the news over the weekend when the local CBS affiliate in Fresno, California did a report on “police accountability activists”
The report mentions two instances, one where in a video you see an unnamed man cursing at (verbally assaulting as it’s called in the article) an officer while he is filming him who says he began when police murdered his cousin last September.
And then there’s Brian who actually had some praise to give to the officers he filmed.
There are others in Fresno who also film police. It’s a trend that came to the forefront about a year ago, when a man named Brian Sumner, and his cell phone camera, began hitting the streets.
26 year old Sumner calls himself a “police accountability activist.” He created a YouTube channel called FreeFRESNO and on it are hundreds of videos documenting police encounters.
Sumner says, “I realized there was little to no punishment for these officers when they acted above and beyond what they are expected of.”
Sumner says he’s trying to hold police accountable and to make sure they’re not doing anything wrong. In some of his videos, he respectfully talks to officers and they respectfully respond. In others, he lets people know their right and exercises is his own. But in a handful of videos, his tone takes a turn.
Sumner takes various tactics in his videos to solicit a rise out of officers. In one montage, he mocks several of them following Deputy Chief Keith Foster’s arrest on federal drug charges and asks where he can find heroin.
He says even though creating police trust is a priority, it’s hard to build when corruption is uncovered.
Chief Dyer says, “I think it’s a terrible trend that we’re seeing in America today, where it’s becoming very popular to criticize police officers, to provoke them, to interfere with them why while they’re trying to do their job.
Chief Dyer says he doesn’t believe Sumner is trying to make a positive difference. After all, he is accused of vandalizing the department’s Peace Officers Memorial, although charges have yet to be filed.
The “vandalizing” he is referring to is an incident where Brian chalked the Memorial in town, which according to who you ask, is not vandalism or graffiti as it can simply be washed off with a rag and water or during a rain storm.
TOP COPBLOCK.ORG STORIES THIS WEEK:
Did Virginia Beach Police Go Too Far?
A recent video being passed around social media – which surfaced on Twitter first – shows three Virginia Beach Police officers attempting to arrest a man. The only problem is, from the video, and witness reactions, it seems that the police might have been a little heavy handed.
As you can see in the short video, two officers have a single male pinned down to the ground with little to no chance of escaping, which it appears he is giving minimal struggle if that. One officer is throwing punches on the man when a 3rd officer comes in and immediately starts kneeing him in the face.
Is this appropriate behavior or police abuse? Watch the video below and decide for yourself.
Colorado Springs Officer Gilbert Lucero Bullies and Intimidates Handicapped Woman!
Officer Gilbert Lucero of CSPD has repeatedly harassed and intimidated a disabled woman who volunteers all of her free time helping abused and neglected dogs, through the National Mill Dog Rescue. He has knocked on her door late at night, thrown things over her fence, filed numerous frivolous complaints through code enforcement, the Humane Society, and even his own Police Department – ALL of which ended up dismissed or dropped. He has been reported numerous times for his ongoing constant videotaping of this poor lady, and complaints to the current Chief of Police Pete Carey, and Commander Ellis, have thus far been met with no real results or correction of Officer Lucero’s behavior.
What was the most recent incident? During a recent storm Terese’s dogs escaped into the neighboring Lucero’s yard. So like most decent people Teresa went to knock on his door but Lucero had other options in mind.
The most recent incident occurred on May 11th, 2015, after a major storm system passed through the Colorado Springs area, which caused significant damage to Terese’s trees and property. One of her dogs jumped her fence into Officer Lucero’s yard (the only time this ever occurred, in 14 years) and she went to his door. He refused to answer, so she opened his backyard gate (WITHOUT actually entering his back yard) to retrieve her dog and immediately left. Officer Lucero chose to videotape Terese, instead of actually helping her, and then immediately filed trespassing charges through the Police Department he works for, AND filed a complaint through The Humane Society! Letters addressed to both the Chief of Police, as well as Commander Thor Ellis, questioned whether or not this type of immature, arrogant behavior is what they wish to be conveyed to the Colorado Springs Community. Is this the type of officer we even want “protecting and serving” our community?
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WEEKLY CORRUPT COPS STORIES
Each week we gather stories about corrupt cops across the country published weekly by StopTheDrugWar.org. This week they did not post a weekly roundup but here is one story from their website that is important to share due to the failure of the drug war and the unintended consequences it brings with it
Two Mississippi Cops Killed in Traffic Stop Turned Drug Search
One major downside to the War on Drugs is that it gets police killed when normally they would have lived to go home to their parents had they not been harassing innocent people who simply possessed a plant or chemical. Such is the case in Mississippi recently when a traffic stop turned wrong when it became a drug search.
The two Hattiesburg, Mississippi, police officers killed last Saturday died after a traffic stop turned into an attempted search for drugs and other contraband. Officers Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate become the 23rd and 24th persons to die in US domestic drug law enforcement operations so far this year.
According to the Associated Press, Officer Deen, the department’s drug dog handler, stopped a car driven by Joanie Calloway for speeding. Also in Calloway’s vehicle were her boyfriend, Marvin Banks, and another passenger, Cornelius Clark.
Officer Deen decided to search the vehicle and called for backup. This is the point the incident turned from a “routine traffic stop” to a drug war incident. (At a Monday eulogy for Deen, his comrades described him as an enthusiastic officer who made “many drug arrests with his dog, Tomi, at his side.”)
When Officer Tate arrived, Deen told the trio to get out of the car. At that point, Banks produced a weapon and shot both officers, Deen in the face and Tate in the lower back.
Both officers were wearing bulletproof vests, but the vests did not protect them from either the head shot or the shot to the back. Both died shortly thereafter.
According to USA Today, Banks has a drug-related criminal history, an ongoing drug habit, and mental issues. He was arrested for both the sale of crack cocaine and possession of a stolen firearm in a three-month period in 2010, and possession of marijuana in 2011. In 2013, he was arrested again on crack cocaine sales charges, and last October, he was arrested for trespass at the University of Southern Mississippi. He had already done two stints on prison, and the drug charge was still pending when he was pulled over.
Banks’s mother, Mary Smith, told USA Today that he smoked synthetic marijuana on a daily basis and that he had been hearing voices since being attacked and struck over the head with a pipe several years ago.
“You could tell something was wrong with him,” she said. “I hate it for these families that he wasn’t in his right mind.”
Now, Banks is charged with capital murder, Calloway is charged with being an accessory after the fact, and Clark is charged with obstructing justice. Deen will be buried Thursday and Tate’s funeral is set for Sunday.
Thanks again to all the donors, contributors and supporters of the CopBlock Network who make it such a huge success
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Cop Block Week In Review: May 12 – May 19 is a post from Cop Block – Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights
Source: http://www.copblock.org/126619/cop-block-week-in-review-may-12-may-19/
