Society's Child

Violence in Congo: Nearly 50 killed and police officer burned alive during anti-govt protests

RT
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 23:51 UTC

© Kenny Katombe / Reuters
Congolese opposition supporters chant slogans during a march to press President Joseph Kabila to step down in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa, September 19, 2016.

Between 17 and 50 people have been killed in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, after thousands-strong protests against President Joseph Kabila turned violent.

The demonstration against Kabila on Monday attracted thousands of protestors, but clashes with the police and security forces broke out shortly after they began.

NGOs and the opposition have accused police of using tear gas to disperse demonstrators before opening fire with live ammunition. As the situation escalated, protestors burned cars and set up barricades in the streets.

Police officers also fell victim to the violence, with Reuters reporting that one was set on fire by an angry mob in retaliation for the shooting. The attack was later confirmed by Interior Minister Evariste Boshab.

Comment: A little more context to account for the violence:

Many Congolese believe that the Congolese government of President Joseph Kabila is complicit in Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's attempts to annex portions of eastern Congo, and that Kabila needs Kagame and Museveni's support to cling to power beyond presidential term limits. They point to new massacres in Beni that occurred shortly after recent meetings between the three presidents.

ACLU suing Connecticut police after they accidentally record themselves conspiring to fabricate charges against a protester

Jay Stanley
ACLU
Tue, 20 Sep 2016 16:18 UTC

The ACLU of Connecticut is suing state police for fabricating retaliatory criminal charges against a protester after troopers were recorded discussing how to trump up charges against him. In what seems like an unlikely stroke of cosmic karma, the recording came about after a camera belonging to the protester, Michael Picard, was illegally seized by a trooper who didn't know that it was recording and carried it back to his patrol car, where it then captured the troopers' plotting.

"Let's give him something," one trooper declared. Another suggested, "we can hit him with creating a public disturbance." "Gotta cover our ass," remarked a third.

ACLU affiliates around the country have done a lot of cases defending the right to record in public places, but this case (press release,complaint) is particularly striking. I spoke to ACLU of Connecticut Legal Director Dan Barrett, and he told me about how the incident came about:

Our client is a guy who is very concerned with privacy, and who protests DUI checkpoints around the capital region here in Hartford, Connecticut. He feels they're both unconstitutional and a waste of money. He has done public records investigations, for example, and recently found that for every two man hours put into a check point, it yields just one minor traffic citation—almost always for defective equipment. He was well known to the police, who also knew that he is a peaceful privacy and open-carry gun rights activist.

Comment: If anyone thinks this is a rare case of cops creating criminal charges out of thin air, think again:

Hands up, don't shoot: Police dashcam shows Tulsa officers murdering unarmed black man because his vehicle stalled (VIDEO)

Aaron Morrison
Mic
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 15:56 UTC

Police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, released video and audio clips Monday from the fatal shooting of Terence Crutcher, a stranded and unarmed black motorist. The clips, captured from multiple angles on Friday, show the 40-year-old Crutcher with his hands up before he is stunned with a stungun and then shot by Tulsa officers.

Authorities gathered local community leaders — including pastors, state lawmakers and members of Crutcher's family — at Tulsa Police headquarters on Sunday to preview the clips, Ray Owens, a pastor at Metropolitan Baptist Church, said in a phone interview. He was among the 30 people present for the viewing.

"My impression is that the video I saw is among the worst that we have seen nationally," Owens said. "The man who was shot was walking away from police with his hands in the air. That, to me, suggests that he did not present a threat."

(Editor's note: This video contains disturbing footage. View with discretion.)

Israeli forces kill Palestinian teen after attempted stabbing of Israeli soldier

RT
Tue, 20 Sep 2016 15:40 UTC

Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian teenager who tried to stab a soldier at checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, the army has confirmed. The attempted stabbing is the latest in a recent spate of attacks against Israeli soldiers.

The incident occurred at the entrance to Bani Na'im, a village west of Hebron. The area has been security by Israeli forces in recent months, following earlier attacks by Palestinians.

According to the army, the attacker approached the checkpoint with a knife, attempting to stab an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldier.

Journalist who was fired from BBC for not prioritizing birth of Prince George awarded over £50,000 in damages

RT
Tue, 20 Sep 2016 15:28 UTC

A BBC journalist who was allegedly fired in large part for prioritizing a report on the anniversary of violence in Sri Lanka over the birth of Prince George has received £51,428 in compensation after suing the news outlet for unfair dismissal.

Chandana Keerthi Bandara, 57, was in charge of overseeing the publishing of stories on July 23, 2013 - the day after Prince George was born. However, he said he chose not to prioritize the royal birth, partially because it clashed with the anniversary of Black July - a wave of anti-Tamil violence which led to hundreds of deaths in Sri Lanka in 1983.

Although Bandara reportedly resisted pressure from BBC management to cover the story on Prince George, he eventually gave in, the tribunal heard. The article was published online at 12:08 p.m.

Bandara, who had worked for the BBC for 18 years, went through disciplinary proceedings and was found guilty of gross misconduct and given a written warning, The Telegraph reported.

New plan to build trust: Chicago police to undergo de-escalation training, expand bodycam use

RT
Tue, 20 Sep 2016 03:29 UTC

Along with an $8 million plan to add more body cameras, Chicago Police Department Superintendent Eddie Johnson wants to teach officers to de-escalate conflicts. These moves come as the department is under federal investigation.

In a news conference Monday, Johnson told reporters that about 12,500 police officers will report to the Chicago Police Academy to receive a two-day training in de-escalation techniques. The training was developed with both policing experts as well as mental health experts.

Johnson hopes that this announcement will begin to rebuild the department's relationship with the community, telling the press, "That's how we build trust."

"By letting the public know we are doing everything we can to resolve conflicts peacefully," he added.

Comment: See also:

Man who was gunned down by Chicago police made three calls to 911 pleading for help

How low can you go? Citing emotional trauma, cop sues family of teen he killed

Ahmad Rahami: Suspect in Chelsea bomb attack taken into custody

RT
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 20:55 UTC

© FBI / Reuters
An image of Ahmad Khan Rahami, who is wanted for questioning in connection with an explosion in New York City, is seen in a a poster released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on September 19, 2016.

Police in Linden, New Jersey have arrested Ahmad Khan Rahami, named as the suspect in the multiple explosions in New Jersey and New York over the weekend. Though no one was killed, police are treating the blasts as possible terrorism.

Rahami was identified in an unusual alert sent to the general public via mobile devices on Monday morning. The "Be on the lookout" (BOLO) notice described him as 5'6" tall, driving a 2003 blue Honda Civic with New Jersey license plates. It also identified him as a naturalized US citizen, born in Afghanistan in 1988.

Authorities have "directly linked" Rahami to the Saturday evening blast in the Lower Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea, as well as a Saturday morning explosion at Seaside Park, New Jersey, minutes before the start of a Marine Corps charity race.

He was also linked to the Sunday evening blast at the Elizabeth, NJ train station. The FBI declined to disclose the nature of the connection, citing an ongoing investigation.

British intelligence agencies setting up anti-slavery taskforce

RT
Tue, 20 Sep 2016 15:10 UTC

© Giorgos Moutafis / Reuters
Refugees and migrants jump off a boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos, November 26, 2015

British intelligence agencies are set to join the fight against modern slavery and human trafficking for the first time, Theresa May announced at the UN General Assembly in New York as she urged world leaders to band together to "rid the world of this evil."

The heads of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ are setting up a new anti-slavery taskforce, which will begin work next month, May said on Monday night in New York.

Both MI6 and GCHQ will be given additional resources to disrupt networks working in countries most involved in the slave trade, such as Albania, Nigeria and Vietnam. Meanwhile, MI5 will work with police within the UK to facilitate evidence gathering and prosecutions against people smugglers and those who benefit from the trade.

"We owe it to the innocent men, women and children who are being tricked into a life of hard labor and abuse to rid our world of this evil," May said.

Comment: One wonders what took so long. Modern slavery didn't exactly just appear in the UK due to the refugee crisis:

Scammers hit 'every 15 seconds' in Britain as financial fraud soars

RT
Tue, 20 Sep 2016 15:04 UTC

A financial scam takes place every 15 seconds across Britain, according to Financial Fraud Action (FFA), which says fraudsters are increasingly developing sophisticated tactics to trick people out of their money.

FFA says there were more than 1 million cases of card, check, phone or online fraud recorded from January to June. That is a 53 percent rise on the same period last year.

Scammers are directly targeting customers through email deception, known as phishing, and phone and text-based scams, known as vishing and smishing.

Many are pretending to be from legitimate bodies such as banks, utility companies or customs. Other fraudsters are hacking into email accounts and then posing as the builder, solicitor or tradesperson that the consumer has legitimately employed.

Masked intruder with history of stirring up commotion, threatens Utah elementary school with bomb

RT
Tue, 20 Sep 2016 14:50 UTC

A masked man ordered children be evacuated at Eagle Valley Elementary School in Eagle Mountain, Utah, so that "no one will get hurt." The threat prompted bomb squad and sniper-armed police to the scene, where evacuations took place.

The suspect is in custody, the Utah County Sheriff's Department told KSTU.

All children are off the school premises, Assistant to the Superintendent of the Alpine School District Kimberly Bird told KSTU.

Bird told the local Fox affiliate that a man wearing a mask entered the school office shortly after 2:00pm, warning, "Evacuate the kids and no one will get hurt."

The suspect was photographed wearing a flowing, bright green outfit with a white head covering.

more misbehaving phuqqin' jewzskies starring on the sott; speaks for itself

Jibrish

Robert F. Kennedy talks about what is in his book about Fauci: [Link]

parzival

If no pause is forthcoming, then how about those behind these decisions be identified and called out - each specific individual. Publicly. Each...

Buffalo_Ken

If you don't have the right to choose what goes into your body under threat of being deemed an untouchable social and economic outcast, then you...

Artex

How about a pause on this whole give the vaccination to the kids thing? Come on really. How about that. Lets make it happen. Then better decisions...

Buffalo_Ken

Society's Child

Violence in Congo: Nearly 50 killed and police officer burned alive during anti-govt protests

ACLU suing Connecticut police after they accidentally record themselves conspiring to fabricate charges against a protester

Hands up, don't shoot: Police dashcam shows Tulsa officers murdering unarmed black man because his vehicle stalled (VIDEO)

Israeli forces kill Palestinian teen after attempted stabbing of Israeli soldier

Journalist who was fired from BBC for not prioritizing birth of Prince George awarded over £50,000 in damages

New plan to build trust: Chicago police to undergo de-escalation training, expand bodycam use

Ahmad Rahami: Suspect in Chelsea bomb attack taken into custody

British intelligence agencies setting up anti-slavery taskforce

Scammers hit 'every 15 seconds' in Britain as financial fraud soars

Masked intruder with history of stirring up commotion, threatens Utah elementary school with bomb

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