Society's ChildS


Sheriff

Report finds almost 7,000 detainees died in Texas from 2005-2015

handcuffs
© Eric Gaillard / Reuters
Almost 7,000 individuals in Texas died while in prison or police custody from 2005 to 2015, nearly 2,000 of whom had not been convicted of a crime, according to a new report. Latinos died of justifiable homicides at higher rates.

According to the Wednesday report from the Texas Justice Initiative, there were 6,913 total incidents of people dying in custody in the state over the course of the decade.

Seventy percent of those individuals died of natural causes, 11 percent committed suicide, and 8 percent died in a "justifiable homicide." Another eight percent died from either drugs and alcohol, accidental injury, or other reasons.

The Texas Justice Initiative was created by University of Texas at Austin postdoctoral fellow Amanda Woog.

"We can't have an informed conversation about who's dying at the hands of police or who's dying in jails, if we don't literally know who's dying and how they're dying," said Woog, according to ABC affiliate WFAA.

"I think this information can help us get to the bottom causes of mortality in the criminal justice system and with that lead us to solutions," Woog added.

Cult

Catholic priest arrested and charged with 500 counts of child pornography

Felix Broussard
© Louisiana State PoliceFelix Broussard
A Catholic priest from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana was arrested and subsequently released on bail for possessing a large quantity of child pornography.

The Rev. Father Felix Broussard, pastor of St. Bernard Roman Catholic Church in Breaux Bridge, was arrested on Wednesday by Louisiana State Police on 500 counts of possession of child pornography.

Broussard was released on a $25,000 bond, according to the Associated Press.

Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel of the Diocese of Lafayette said that Broussard was "immediately" placed on administrative leave by the diocese pending the criminal investigation.

"If he's guilty, he needs to follow the penalties of the state for what was done," Deshotel said at a Wednesday press conference. "Then there are also ecclesiastical steps, church steps, that have to be taken with regard to his future ministry, and, whether or not that's possible."

Ambulance

Police choke man to death for failing to pay child support - 8 years ago

darius robinson
The murder of a man was captured on video, the death was ruled a homicide by "manual compression of the neck," and the person who perpetrated the killing is a free man. After being unable to pay his child support, Darius Robinson was choked to death in a jail cell.

The incident began when Robinson, a father of seven, was arrested in April on a warrant from 2008 for failing to pay child support. While locked in a cage for three days, Robinson suffered what his family called a "manic episode."

According to the Daily Beast, a video released by the jail to the Robinson family's attorneys shows him waving around a blanket, tearing up pieces of paper, and writhing on the floor.

When jailers came in to check on him, Robinson appears compliant and non-violent.


Pistol

Freedom overload! Cops ignore real crimes to unlawfully hold innocents at gunpoint

police
© Paul Sableman
After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012, Connecticut passed gun laws in April 2013 that made it amongst the most restrictive states in the country. However, residents can still traverse their way through the bureaucratic red tape and legally obtain a permit allowing them to open carry and conceal carry a firearm.

It is the legal right of Connecticut residents to be able to move about freely while open carrying a firearm.

In spite of this legal right and permitting process, Manchester police officers were captured on video unlawfully detaining and handcuffing three individuals. The result is nothing short of infuriating as multiple Manchester police officers are recorded ignoring actual crimes taking place, in order to harass, threaten, and detain three innocent individuals who had committed no crime.


Extinguisher

Police in southern France open arson inquiry after fire at mosque

mosque fire muret
© Ruptly
Police opened an "arson inquiry" after firefighters were dispatched to battle a blaze at the mosque under construction in Muret, a suburb of the French town of Tolouse. No injuries were reported.

Forensic experts were also called to the scene. The final cause of the incident has yet to be established, as the investigation continues, French news magazine L'OBS reports.

The fire broke out "in the early hours of Wednesday" the French outlet adds. Officials say no one was harmed in the incident. The building itself sustained "only minor damage," Europe1 reported.

This is already the second time the same mosque was set ablaze. In 2012 the building caught fire, with arson suspected as well.

Evil Rays

Man who carried out attack at Leytonstone subway station last year believed Tony Blair was his guardian angel

knife attacker Muhiddin Mire
© Crown Prosecution ServiceLeytonstone knife attacker Muhiddin Mire
A man who carried out a knife attack at London's Leytonstone Underground Station last year has a history of mental illness and believed Tony Blair was his guardian angel, a court has been told.

Lawyers defending Muhiddin Mire, 30, told the Old Bailey that their client had experienced paranoid schizophrenia for several years before attacking an Underground passenger last December.

Medical experts recommended the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) sympathizer receive further psychiatric treatment, warning he posed "a very severe" risk to the public.

Mire, who worked as a taxi driver, was found guilty of attempted murder last month, but the court is now trying to determine his sentence. He attempted to behead a member of public and slashed another man's neck in Leytonstone Underground Station last December, shortly after the British Parliament voted to extend airstrikes against IS from Iraq into Syria.

Bomb

'I'll blow you up': Manhunt in Bremen after 'pro-ISIS psycho' escapes psychiatric hospital shouting threats

Cops
© Reuters
German police have arrested a 19-year-old Algerian asylum seeker who fled a psychiatric hospital after threatening to blow up people. A shopping mall in Bremen was evacuated during the manhunt. Police have tried to downplay the man's links to Islamists.

Although police confirmed that the man had previously expressed admiration for the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terror group, hailing the recent shooting attack at a Munich shopping center that left 10 people dead, police refused to call the hunt an anti-terror raid.

"One can speak of rather an extensive operation," Bremen's police spokeswoman said, adding that "there is no evidence that he had connections to the IS or concrete attack plans," as cited by Die Welt.

However, the spokeswoman admitted that, due to the nature of the beliefs allegedly harbored by the suspect, police had to "proceed from the assumption that the missing person is dangerous."

Handcuffs

2K terrorists known to UK police, just 1 held under special measures

UK police
© Luke MacGregor / ReutersTPIM terrorists: 1 in custody, 1999 to go.
Only one suspect is being held under the UK's highly restrictive Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measure (TPIM) program, despite a heightened national alert and fears of extremist attacks. The TPIM program, which came into effect in 2012, can include intense restrictions on suspects such as curfews and electronic tagging.


Former senior counterterrorism officer Chris Phillips told the Daily Mail that just one person being held under TPIM contrasts starkly with the fact that up to 2,000 terror suspects are known to police. He said, however, that the sheer number of suspects makes the risk hard to manage. "How on earth you could ever monitor 2,000 people, let alone the fact that the number that we have got now has probably increased," he said.

Lord Carlile, an independent reviewer of UK terror laws told the Daily Mail: "It is surprising and worrying that we are down to just one Tpim given the situation appertaining all over Europe. We know that there is a severe risk of terror attack. I hope that the Government is examining the possibility of increasing the use of Tpims or toughening them up...it is absolutely essential that the authorities should have the powers they need." The UK terror threat level stands at "severe," the second highest category available, which means an attack is thought highly likely.

Comment: Terror attacks, real or facsimiles, make the rounds these days to stir the pot; keep Europe on the edge and politicians in line.




Airplane

Columbia Airport, California: 4 dead in fiery plane crash

plane crash and fire
© www.modbee.com
Cause of crash unknown; NTSB to begin investigation

Four people died Wednesday afternoon at Columbia Airport when a twin engine Cessna 310, landing from the north, veered off runway 17 and was engulfed in flames. By the time emergency services arrived on the scene at shortly after 4:30 p.m., "the plane was fully engulfed," said Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Andrea Benson, adding that the identities of the victims were not yet known on Wednesday evening and that the Sheriff's coroner's office would attempt to identify them. Authorities removed the four bodies from the plane about 6:30 p.m.

The crash, which was reported to have occurred at shortly after 4 p.m., also sparked a small vegetation fire that consumed about 100 square yards of low-lying grass and was quickly extinguished by Cal Fire crews. A yellow dump truck, blackened by the flames, stood parked approximately 75 yards from the crash site.

For much of the afternoon and into early evening, dozens of law enforcement officers and emergency crew members congregated near the crash site. There were no reports on what may have caused the crash. Benson said that a team from the National Transportation Review Board would arrive from Colorado on Thursday to conduct an investigation.

Arrow Up

DNC circus continues: Obama speech upstaged by protests, wolf whistling and cowbell noise

obama speech DNC
© Mike Segar / Reuters U.S. President Barack Obama speaks on the third night at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 27, 2016.
President Barack Obama's speech on Wednesday highlighted the need for party unity and long term commitment to changing the political system. However, his speech was upstaged by TPP protesters and other noisy audience members.

Early into his speech, Obama covered many of the tragedies that have befallen the nation during his presidency. "There are pockets of America that never recovered in factory closures," he said as one loud voice shouted out "No more TPP!" Quieter protesters held up anti-TPP signs during his speech.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is supported by Barack Obama; so much so that some have speculated that he had hoped it would be a lasting legacy of his administration.

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