Society's ChildS


Sheriff

Denver mother called police because her son had a warrant, cops showed up and killed him

woman and son
© The Free Thought Project
Calling law enforcement for assistance has been a fatal mistake for thousands of American families — but that painful reality didn't occur to Colorado mother, Tobi Ferguson, until her son joined the astonishingly long list of those killed by police.

Instead of the much-needed assistance Tobi hoped her call to officers would provide for her troubled son, Michael, police showed up and killed him.

Knowing Michael had several outstanding warrants, including a felony, his mother naively felt calling the cops was the right thing to do. But instead of straightening out his issues, Tobi's call to police became cause for planning Michael's funeral.

"My son was in trouble a little bit, I'm not defending my son in any way," she emphasized, according to the Denver Channel. "We were trying to help him and bring him in safely."

Michael took a truck from his mother's workplace — but failed to return the vehicle by the agreed upon 5 p.m.

Knowing Michael would be headed for her best friend's house in the now-stolen truck, Tobi alerted police to his whereabouts — though she informed them of various extenuating circumstances in an attempt to thwart potential misunderstandings at the scene.

"I let them know that he was unarmed, I let them know that he was scared, I let them know that he would try to run," she recalled.

Her caveats, however, weren't heeded by responding officers.

Comment: It doesn't matter the color of you skin, your age, your gender, or how sincere and well-meaning your intentions - everyone is in danger of "law enforcement" over-reactions. Call the police at your own risk.


Handcuffs

Video shows callous officer stand and watch as 16-yo girl gasped for air and died right in front of him

Gynnya McMillen
© LaChe Simms via Facebook
A Kentucky family has now filed a lawsuit after a 16-year-old girl took her last breaths inside a cell at a juvenile detention facility — while a guard stood outside, watching.

Gynnya McMillen coughed and gasped for air in her cell as she suffered a seizure on January 11, according to the lawsuit cited by CBS News. Those coughs alerted youth worker Reginald Windham, who, at 11:39 p.m., went "to check on her to make sure she had not thrown up or was choking or something like that."

For a full 18 seconds shown on surveillance video cited in the lawsuit, Windham appallingly stood outside McMillen's cell, witnessing "her last gasps and dying breaths and final uncontrollable movements and seizure" — before turning and callously walking away.

Ambulance

Primary school kids 'struck down with flesh-rotting skin disease'

leprosy at Indian Hills Elementary
Worried parents and kids, pictured, are demanding more info after letters were sent home warning of leprosy at Indian Hills Elementary
Parents and students in Jurupa Valley could be dealing with a rare disease from the Middle Ages.

Scared parents were demanding more information Tuesday after letters were sent went home to parents saying two students at Indian Hills Elementary in Jurupa Valley "might" be sick with leprosy. School officials say the letter was sent Friday out of what they called, an abundance of caution.

Some parents refused to send their children to school Tuesday after receiving the warning from the Jurupa Unified School District.

It was unclear whether the students are related to each other.

Handcuffs

First person arrested under Louisiana's 'Blue Lives Matter' law protecting cops

Raul Delatoba
© Orleans Justice Center jailRaul Delatoba
New Orleans police have arrested a man for shouting slurs at officers, charging him with a hate crime under Louisiana's unique "Blue Lives Matter" law. This the first case involving the new statute protecting cops, firefighters and emergency responders.

Raul Delatoba was arrested early Labor Day morning after a reports came in of a drunk man banging on a window of the Royal Sonesta Hotel, located in the city's French Quarter.

Two Louisiana State Troopers showed up at the scene in order to restrain Delatoba, 34, who refused to comply with requests to stop, and instead started shouting obscenities against hotel staff, witnesses and the police.

He was taken to the police station, where he continued to verbally "attack members of the New Orleans Police Department," according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Delatoba allegedly called an African-American male officer a "dumb n****r" and a female police officer a "dumb c**t."

Heart - Black

Former veteran and charity boss claims soldiers fake PTSD to win respect - UPDATE

soldiers
© James Vellacott / Reuters
Military charities are sensationalizing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to receive funding while some veterans actually want the mental trauma diagnosis because it lends them kudos, the head of a charity for wounded soldiers has warned.

Ed Parker, head of Walking with the Wounded, told the Times on Friday he believes "the PTSD label has become one that is very engaging."

"We have all got to raise money. We have all got to maintain a front to the public and as the conflict disappears into the past our ability to talk about the physical injuries actually declines."

Comment: This charity founder and former veteran seems to have little empathy for the suffering of his fellow wounded veterans. The mental scars of PTSD are a very real and natural response of a normal human being to the horrors of war.

UPDATE:

Military charity blasts claims of veterans 'exaggerating' post-conflict mental trauma
Britain's leading military mental health charity has attacked claims made last week that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among veterans is being "exaggerated."

Sue Freeth, head of Combat Stress, told the Telegraph on Friday that PTSD referrals were up 71 percent since 2010/2011 and delivered a stark warning that "untreated PTSD can have a devastating impact on veterans and their families and, in the worst cases, lead to people taking their own lives."



USA

Nonviolent protest: Teacher punished after forcing student to stand for Pledge of Allegiance

US flag and Pledge of Allegiance
© Yuri Gripas / Reuters
A high school teacher has been suspended after trying to physically force a 15-year-old student to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. The teen had been harassed by staff for his decision to sit, despite being protected under the First Amendment.

After launching an investigation into accusations that a teacher at Dwight D. Eisenhower High School in Blue Island, Illinois, had pulled a student out of his seat to stand for the Pledge, an attorney for the district has announced that the teacher will face punishment. The student, Shemar Cooper, first had to defend his decision on August 26, WGN reported.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat during the national anthem in protest over a similar issue later that same day, coincidentally.

Comment: Nonviolent protest making a mark.


USA

'Recurrent' abuse in US Marine Corps as Muslim recruit's death ruled suicide

marine
© Finbarr O'Reilly / Reuters
A Muslim Marine recruit threw himself off three stories to his death after an alleged assault and hazing by an instructor, the US Marine Corps has ruled. As many as 20 Marines are currently under investigation for "recurrent" physical and verbal abuse.

Recruit Raheel Siddiqui, 20, from Taylor, Michigan, died 11 days after arriving in Parris Island, South Carolina and joining Third Recruit Training Battalion. He succumbed to his injuries after falling out of the window during boot camp training on March 18.

On Thursday, the US Marine Corps revealed that Siddiqui's death was not accidental, but rather a suicide.

His death triggered ousters of a number of commanders and senior enlisted advisers as well as suspension of several instructors, but officially remained a mystery for nearly six months.

Heart - Black

Judge tells sexual assault victim it wasn't rape because "sex and pain sometimes go together"

Justice Camp
© Unknown
A Canadian judge is in hot water because of inappropriate comments he made to a female rape victim in his courtroom.

According to Claire Lampen of News Mic, The Canadian Judicial Council held a hearing Tuesday to determine whether the words of Federal Court Justice Robin Camp during a 2014 sexual assault trial warrant his removal from the bench.

"Sex and pain sometimes go together," Camp told the victim during the trial, according to court transcripts. "That's not necessarily a bad thing."

"Sex is very often a challenge," he added.

Proceedings were initiated by four law professors with a complaint against Camp, in which they alleged that the trial had been "threaded through" with antiquated "myths" and "stereotypes" about sexual violence that caused him to misinterpret Canada's sexual assault laws.

The judge also illegally admitted testimony about the victim's sexual history and said, "a woman cannot be raped against her will," showing his fundamental misunderstanding of the crime. Camp disregarded the rape as a misunderstanding, in which "a very unhappy thing happened."

The defendant, Alexander Wagar, was only given a warning for his crime. Camp's outdated, sexist logic left the victim deeply shaken, with thoughts of suicide.

Handcuffs

Toddler bitten over a dozen times at Bradenton daycare, teacher fired & arrested


Sheriff's detectives and child welfare authorities have arrested a day care employee at a Manatee County day care center after an 18-month-old boy was repeatedly bitten by another toddler.

Manatee Sheriff's spokesman Dave Bristow said Wednesday that an employee at J's Bright Learners day care center in Bradenton is facing charges of child neglect.

The mother of the child, Amanda Beebe, said she was told her little boy had been bitten once before on August 26th by another child. She figured it must have been a common occurrence. Then, three days later, they called her saying had been bitten again, many times, and that "it was bad."

Attention

$3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline: Iowans sue, while North Dakota calls in National Guard (VIDEOS)

Dakota pipeline
© Andrew Cullen / Reuters
As the Dakota Access pipeline faces high-profile opposition in North Dakota, including in federal court from Native tribes, another state's residents are suing over the crude oil transportation project. Landowners in Iowa want its eminent domain status voided.

The $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline is being built across 1,172 miles, from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa into Illinois. That is, unless a court order prevents the project from moving forward, and that is a possibility in multiple court cases.

Bill Hanigan represents 15 Iowan farmers in their suit against Dakota Access LLC. What's different about this case, compared to the one in North Dakota, is its focus on eminent domain law, which codifies the government's power to seize private property for the public good.

"In North Dakota, they're arguing about Native American artifacts. In Iowa, we're arguing about the application of the Constitution," Hanigan explained on Democracy Now! in an interview Tuesday.

The pipeline's defenders "can't prove" they are serving a public purpose, Hanigan plans to show in an Iowa district court. He hopes Judge Jeffrey Farrell will override the Iowa Utilities Board's decision to grant eminent domain status for the project.

Bold Iowa Director Ed Fallon told RT America's Ashlee Banks that the costs of the pipeline to the environment and private property owners outweigh any promised benefit.

Comment: See also: Dakota pipeline: Sioux tribe wins partial halt in federal court