For the sake of 13-year-old Andy Lopez, we can be silent no more. The Santa Rosa teen was shot dead after two sheriff’s deputies saw him carrying a toy BB gun in public. Lopez was about 20 feet away from the deputies, his back turned to them, when the officers took cover behind their car and ordered him to drop the “weapon.” When Lopez turned around, toy gun in his hand, one of the officers—a 24-year veteran of the force—shot him seven times. The time span between the deputies calling in a suspicious person sighting and shooting Lopez was a mere ten seconds. The young boy died at the scene. Clearly, no attempt was made to use less lethal force.

Rationalizing the shooting incident, Lt. Paul Henry of the Santa Rosa Police Department explained, “The deputy’s mindset was that he was fearful that he was going to be shot.” Yet as William Norman Grigg, a commentator for LewRockwell.com, points out, such a “preoccupation with ‘officer safety’ … leads to unnecessary police shootings. A peace officer is paid to assume certain risks, including those necessary to de-escalate a confrontation with someone believed to be a heavily armed suspect in a residential neighborhood. A ‘veteran’ deputy with the mindset of a peace officer would have taken more than a shaved fraction of a split-second to open fire on a small male individual readily identifiable as a junior high school student, who was carrying an object that is easily recognizable as a toy—at least to people who don’t see themselves as an army of occupation, and view the public as an undifferentiated mass of menace.”

Unfortunately, this police preoccupation with ensuring their own safety at all costs—a mindset that many older law enforcement officials find abhorrent in light of the more selfless code on which they were trained—is spreading like a plague among the ranks of police officers across the country, with tragic consequences for the innocent civilians unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Yet the fatality rate of on-duty patrol officers is reportedly far lower than many other professions, including construction, logging, fishing, truck driving, and even trash collection. In fact, police officers have the same rate of dying on the job as do taxi drivers.

Nevertheless, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 400 to 500 innocent people are killed by police officers every year. That does not include the number of unarmed individuals shot and injured by police simply because they felt threatened or feared for their safety. This is the danger of having a standing army (which is what police forces, increasingly made up of individuals with military backgrounds and/or training, have evolved into) that has been trained to view the citizenry as little more than potential suspects, combatants and insurgents.

...

So what is the answer?

How should we as a society respond when we hear about the Las Vegas police officer who shot an unarmed man at a convenience store whom he “thought” was a homicide suspect, or the Los Angeles cop who shot an unarmed man seen leaving a convenience store where an ATM had been robbed of $40 or the DC cops who killed a young mother in a hail of gunfire? As John Grant notes for Counterpunch: “The ignominious and unnecessary public killing of Miriam Carey should be a human marker that triggers our cultural meaning machine to honestly consider what’s wrong with the picture of a howling pack of cops shooting down a troubled young mother … like a dog.”

The current practice is to let the police deal with it themselves by suspending the officer involved with administrative pay, dragging out the investigation until the public forgets about the incident, and then eventually declaring the shooting incident justified based on the officer’s fear for his safety, and allowing him to go back to work as usual. Meanwhile, the epidemic of police violence continues to escalate while fear of the police increases and the police state, with all its surveillance gear and military weaponry, expands around us.

If ever there were a time to de-militarize and de-weaponize local police forces, it’s now. The same goes for scaling back on the mindset adopted by cops that they are the law and should be revered, feared and obeyed. As for the idea that citizens must be compliant or risk being treated like lawbreakers, that’s nothing more than authoritarianism with a badge. As Grant points out: “As the public killing of Miriam Carey should make clear, a significant part of the problem is cops and the pack mentality they too often resort to. These men and women are encouraged to see themselves on “the front line” protecting us, the people. They are pumped up with post-911 fears and adrenaline and, when it hits the fan, relentlessly determined to get their man or woman. A lot of reality can get lost in this process.”

In other words, it’s time for a reality check, for both the police and the citizens of this nation, and a good place to start is with the words of that gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, who warned: “Coming of age in a fascist police state will not be a barrel of fun for anybody, much less for people like me, who are not inclined to suffer ***** gladly and feel only contempt for the cowardly flag-suckers who would gladly give up their outdated freedom to live for the mess of pottage they have been conned into believing will be freedom from fear.”

According to a federal lawsuit, Eckert didn’t make a complete stop at a stop sign coming out of the parking lot and was immediately stopped by law enforcement.

Eckert’s attorney, Shannon Kennedy, said in an interview with KOB that after law enforcement asked him to step out of the vehicle, he appeared to be clenching his buttocks. Law enforcement thought that was probable cause to suspect that Eckert was hiding narcotics in his ---- cavity. While officers detained Eckert, they secured a search warrant from a judge that allowed for an ---- cavity search.

The lawsuit claims that Deming Police tried taking Eckert to an emergency room in Deming, but a doctor there refused to perform the ---- cavity search citing it was “unethical.”

But physicians at the Gila Regional Medical Center in Silver City agreed to perform the procedure and a few hours later, Eckert was admitted.

What Happened

While there, Eckert was subjected to repeated and humiliating forced medical procedures. A review of Eckert’s medical records, which he released to KOB, and details in the lawsuit show the following happened:

1. Eckert’s abdominal area was x-rayed; no narcotics were found.

2. Doctors then performed an exam of Eckert’s anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.

3. Doctors performed a second exam of Eckert’s anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.

4. Doctors penetrated Eckert’s anus to insert an enema. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.

5. Doctors penetrated Eckert’s anus to insert an enema a second time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.

6. Doctors penetrated Eckert’s anus to insert an enema a third time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.

7. Doctors then x-rayed Eckert again; no narcotics were found.

8. Doctors prepared Eckert for surgery, sedated him, and then performed a colonoscopy where a scope with a camera was inserted into Eckert’s anus, rectum, colon, and large intestines. No narcotics were found.

Throughout this ordeal, Eckert protested and never gave doctors at the Gila Regional Medical Center consent to perform any of these medical procedures.

...

The Lawsuit
David Eckert is suing The City of Deming and Deming Police Officers Bobby Orosco, Robert Chavez and Officer Hernandez.

Eckert is also suing Hidalgo County Hidalgo County Deputies David Arredondo, Robert Rodriguez and Patrick Green.

Eckert is also suing Deputy District Attorney Daniel Dougherty and the Gila Regional Medical Center including Robert Wilcox, M.D and Okay Odocha, M.D.

Video of Good Cop Protecting a Mentally Disturbed Man from Fellow Cops. Now her job is on the line.

I've known Earl Lewis for 35 years and also know more of the details than are shown here.

This abuse to Earl was far worse than this report shows ... although ... Channel 4 (WSMV) did a great job with the reporting of this.

In the words of the legalistas: "This was Egregious and Unconscionable!."

A Pinellas County Sheriff's deputy is out of a job, accused of inappropriate conduct while interviewing a 17-year-old alleged sexual assault victim then not properly filing a report.

Deputy Paul Martin was a 25-year veteran of the sheriff's office, but he had a list of disciplinary problems.

"I'm not going to tolerate it," said Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. "I'm not going to have it. This is the third issue since 2011."

On 8.27.13 between 6 - 6:30 p.m. as I walked from my home to my car in my town house complex parking lot I noticed a white Pontiac Grand Prix and a Canton Michigan police car pull in front of my vehicle blocking me in to the parking space. Without identifying himself a white male wearing all black exited the grand prix followed by an also unidentified uniformed police officer from the police cruiser and begin to order me to produce some identification. Neither person explained to me the situation or why they needed the identification and it was only after I asked why they needed my I.D. did they simply say that I "fit the description". Knowing that I hadn't done anything wrong or illegal I mentioned to them that there was no reason for me to give them my I.D. and conveyed to them that I was still uncertain as to what was actually happening. Therefore I continued to ask questions in order to gain a better understanding as to why they were becoming more and more agitated without provocation from myself. My inquires gained very few answers and only caused them to both raise their voices in an attempt to intimidate me further. Surrounding me in an threatening aggressive manner they treated me as if my guilt was a foregone conclusion.

I told them that I was going to reach into my pocket and retrieve my phone to call 911 because I felt threatened and wanted to speak with a Supervisor. They yelled that they were the cops and to immediately remove my hands from my pockets; an known police tactic to make it seem as if I was being uncooperative in order to warrant them escalating their actions. Still standing at the rear of my vehicle they took a offensive posture preparing to take me down to the ground while implying over the radio to police dispatch that I was being in their words irrational. For my own safety and protection I then moved to the side of my vehicle and began to record the entire incident with my cellphone camera. With me no longer standing between the officers and the rear of my vehicle Officers Champagne and DeYoung began to conduct an illegal search of the my trunks contents until they noticed I had been filming them which caused them to shy away. The only bright spot during this incident was my interaction with an Officer Voet whom calmly and with respect finally explained the on-going situation to me regarding a woman being flashed nearby earlier.

My concern isn't with being stopped or questioned (although clearly it had to be obvious to the officers involved that I didn't match the callers actual description) it was the manner in which Officers Champagne and DeYoung along with their cohorts chose to perform that task. Instead of identifying themselves and explaining the situation in a respectful way they chose instead to use intimidation as a means to gain the desired information/response from me. Even after the 'victim' in the case confirmed that I was indeed not the perpetrator no officer expressed any regret for their actions. They instead continued to try to convince me why their previous harassing activities were justified. This behavior continued was I went to secure a copy of the police report under the Freedom of Information Act on 8.29.13 as I was in the civilian records office a Detective Baugh investigating the case sent an armed officer to demand my identification even though I had already given it to one of the records workers. I told that officer that the Detective himself is more than welcome to come and speak with me if needed which he eventually did. That is when it became apparent to me that intimidating coercive language rather than respectful dialogue is clearly engrained as a communication method within the Canton Police Dept. as the Detective himself tried to convince me that I was overreacting and should "understand" how certain mistakes can be made.

Actually I don't understand how I should bury my head and relent by allowing rogue law enforcement officials use shock and awe type methods instead of good police work to accomplish goals. I don't believe that using the phrase "fit the description" can justify ill treatment of certain citizens. "Fitting the description" shouldn't not allow law enforcement officers to randomly round up persons that fit 2 out of the 8 description characteristics (black & male), which from the police report I learned another citizen in the area (black & male) had suffered this same fate. My hope is that by exposing this incident to public scrutiny it will offer the Canton Police department the opportunity to take a glimpse at how some of the citizens which they are sworn to protect feel about such treatment. Perhaps through mandatory diversity training these officers and the supervisors that command them will in the future choose to express some humility while recognizing all citizens deserve to be treated in a fair manner despite their own preconceived notions.

When it came time for breakfast the following morning, Saffioti is seen on video having a conversation with a guard while holding his tray. Presumably, he was inquiring about any dairy products in the meal. Saffioti had a severe allergy. He's then seen taking a few bites of some oatmeal. (You can watch the video here.)

The awfulness that followed is detailed by KIRO TV.

Within a few minutes, Saffioti was back at the guard desk, using his inhaler.

According to the legal claim, he asked to see a nurse.

Instead, he was sent to his cell.

Over the next half hour, the video shows other inmates looking in Saffioti's cell as he jumped up and down.

The legal claim says he pressed his call button and was ignored.

It also alleges that the guards told him h was "faking."

About 35 minutes after he ate, a guard found Saffioti unconscious in his cell. The guard called for help and Saffioti was dragged out.

Nurses arrived and performed CPR. Everett firefighters took over and rushed Saffioti to the hospital where he was pronounced dead a half hour later.

Seim Studios | Wenatchee, Moses Lake, Chelan. Wedding Photography, Portraits, Fine Art, Education - Gavin Seim | God, America, Liberty | Call Me Gav -On a road trip and not willing to be stopped and question on our highways. We finally just drove away. We were not chased down or arrested. Thanks to my wonderful wife Sondra for her support and for boldly filming.

This is the Long Valley Agriculture Check station on 395N. 10/05/12 at around 3PM - We the people must rid ourselves of this tyranny by refusing to cooperate.

We're working our way home to Washington after a month long trip with my family and my brother working on new pictorials (Gavin Seim - American Pictorialist | American Landscapes | Gavin Seim. American Pictorialist) and our new film, PHOTOGRAPHICS (PHOTOGRAPHICS - A Miniseries About Light, Craft, History & Art)

"When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty" -- Thomas Jefferson

The incident began January 2, 2013 after David Eckert finished shopping at the Wal-Mart in Deming. According to a federal lawsuit, Eckert didn't make a complete stop at a stop sign coming out of the parking lot and was immediately stopped by law enforcement.

While officers detained Eckert, they secured a search warrant from a judge that allowed for an ---- cavity search.

...

1. Eckert's abdominal area was x-rayed; no narcotics were found.

2. Doctors then performed an exam of Eckert's anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.

3. Doctors performed a second exam of Eckert's anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.

4. Doctors penetrated Eckert's anus to insert an enema. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.

5. Doctors penetrated Eckert's anus to insert an enema a second time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.

6. Doctors penetrated Eckert's anus to insert an enema a third time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.

7. Doctors then x-rayed Eckert again; no narcotics were found.

8. Doctors prepared Eckert for surgery, sedated him, and then performed a colonoscopy where a scope with a camera was inserted into Eckert's anus, rectum, colon, and large intestines. No narcotics were found.

Throughout this ordeal, Eckert protested and never gave doctors at the Gila Regional Medical Center consent to perform any of these medical procedures.