Society's Child
Cleveland officer Michael Brelo, 31, faced two counts of voluntary manslaughter after mounting the hood of the suspects' car and firing shots into their windshield in 2012. He faced up to 22 years in prison if found guilty.
But Cuyahoga County Judge John P. O'Donnell ruled on Saturday that Brelo's "entire use of deadly force was a constitutionally reasonable response to an objectively reasonably perceived threat of great bodily harm."
The verdict was met with protests from those who say the shooting was racially motivated, as Brelo is white and the motorists were black. Standing at the doors of the Justice Department where Brelo was found not guilty, the demonstrators shouted "No justice, no peace."
A line of police officers in riot gear was initially shown at the doors, though officers later retreated inside.
Brelo was one of 13 officers who fired 137 shots at a car with Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams inside, following a high-speed chase on November 29, 2012.
French supermarkets will be banned from throwing away or destroying unsold food and must instead donate it to charities or for animal feed, under a law set to crack down on food waste.
The French national assembly voted unanimously to pass the legislation as France battles an epidemic of wasted food that has highlighted the divide between giant food firms and people who are struggling to eat.
As MPs united in a rare cross-party consensus, the centre-right deputy Yves Jégo told parliament: "There's an absolute urgency - charities are desperate for food. The most moving part of this law is that it opens us up to others who are suffering."
Supermarkets will be barred from deliberately spoiling unsold food so it cannot be eaten. Those with a footprint of 4,305 sq ft (400 sq m) or more will have to sign contracts with charities by July next year or face penalties including fines of up to €75,000 (£53,000) or two years in jail.
"It's scandalous to see bleach being poured into supermarket dustbins along with edible foods," said the Socialist deputy Guillaume Garot, a former food minister who proposed the bill.
In recent years, French media have highlighted how poor families, students, unemployed or homeless people often stealthily forage in supermarket bins at night to feed themselves, able to survive on edible products which had been thrown out just as their best-before dates approached.
On May 4th, David Washington was driving his car down Route 1 near the University of Mary Washington when he experienced a medical emergency. The emergency caused him to black out, hit a jeep, and cross over the median striking a road sign.
The driver of the jeep called 9-1-1 to report the crash and officer Shaun Jergens arrived on the scene. Body cam footage shows that Jergens cared not about the man in obvious medical distress.
As Jergens approached the car, the distressed and barely responsive Washington was blasted pepper-sprayed and tasered.
"Get out the car or I'm going to fucking smoke you," says Jergens after assaulting Washington.
Jergens then dragged the sick man out of his car and continued his assault by laying him on the hot asphalt. As if being pepper-sprayed, tasered, thrown on the ground and handcuffed wasn't enough, police allowed the car to roll on top of Washington's foot.
Washington was then taken to the hospital to be treated for his assault and doctors discovered that he had in fact been experiencing a medical emergency.
After reviewing the incident in accordance with department policy, Command Staff determined that the force used by the officers involved in the incidence was "not appropriate," according to WJLA.
Jurgens resigned from the department on May 14."The use of force demonstrated in the incident involving Mr. Washington was not in compliance with department policy or training," said Captain Rick Pennock in a news release. "We take matters such as these very seriously and require that officers at all times exercise appropriate restraint and good judgment in their dealings with citizens."
No charges have been filed against Jergens for his abuse. None of the officers involved face charges for failing to stop this assault either. However, Washington was charged with hit-and-run, hit-and-run (property damage), reckless driving, and driving on a revoked or suspended license. Is this justice?
Below are the three different body cam videos from the officers on the scene.
Comment: Heartbreaking that someone was treated this way, and to know this is how anyone of us can be treated at any time. Everyone is considered a threat to the police at all times.
[Israel] wants Palestinians to shut up and be quiet, to accept the occupation. Israel is trying to deliver a message that any Palestinians - whether from Hamas, Fatah or the Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine] - can be arrested.Iyab Shalabi has only been allowed to visit his father, Omar, in prison once since December, when he and eight other Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem were arrested by Israel for posts they wrote on Facebook and other social media outlets.
~Iyab Shalabi, Son of jailed Palestinian activist
"Several months went by before they actually gave me a permit to visit my dad," Iyab, 22, told Al Jazeera. "My mother has been completely banned from visiting him till now."
Earlier this month, Omar, 44, was sentenced to nine months in an Israeli prison for charges related to incitement and "supporting terror" against Israelis. He is the former secretary-general of Jerusalem's branch of Fatah, the Palestinian political party that dominates the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.
"It was very clear from the beginning that my father was targeted because he is still an influential activist and has a lot of support and respect in the community," Iyab continued.
The court cited several of Shalabi's Facebook postings about Muhammad Abu Khudair, a 17-year-old Palestinian kidnapped and burned alive by Israeli settlers in Jerusalem last July, as well as "statuses" he wrote supporting Palestinian attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians in the city.
Iyab rejects the assertion that his father's Facebook postings posed any threat to Israel's security. "They don't have any real evidence that he presented any danger to anyone's safety," he argued. "Of course, this is oppression and discrimination. Everyone writes their opinion on Facebook."
His name and the date of liquidation were not disclosed.
On the video men in masks and camouflage with Ukrainian markings performed a cold-blooded execution of two people by hanging on a specially constructed gallows in the woods. A vehicle "Niva" was used as a scaffold. The event was recorded by the executioners on a cell phone camera.
One of the victims - a pregnant woman. The executioners put bags on the heads of the victims. The video had no sound.
NewsFront commented that it does not guarantee the authenticity of this video. The only sure thing is that the video was found on the phone of a murdered punisher, noted the agency. Judging by the twitches of the executed man, it is not likely to be staged.
Comment: The MSM rants about Islamic militants wanting to bring us back to the Middle Ages. Well, Ukraine is already there, and it's got nothing to do with Islamic ideology. This psychopathic barbarism is here to stay, and it is fully supported by the United States.
There were no obvious signs of foul play, but it has not been ruled out, said Diane Richardson, a spokeswoman with the Charles County Sheriff's Office.
Richardson said authorities are trying to trace the 24-year-old woman's movements over the past several days "to find out what was going on in her life, what led to this moment."
Sheriff's deputies went to the park in La Plata, Maryland, about 7 a.m. after being called to check on the welfare of the woman and child, Richardson said. The officers went to remove the boy from the swing and give him first aid, but "it was instantaneously clear the child was dead," she said. There were no signs of trauma to his body.
Of course rising minimum wages can also have the rather counterintuitive side effect of harming those they're meant to help because after all, when the cost of labor goes up, employers may simply fire people or, as we saw yesterday when McDonald's pledged to reduce the number of company-owned restaurants by 10% over the next several years, resort to other measures aimed at getting around pay floor hikes.
So while one can debate pros and cons of addressing abysmal wage growth by legislating a non-market-driven solution, what is not up for debate is this: it's getting harder and harder to subsist above the poverty line for low-income workers.
In fact, as the following map shows, in no state can a minimum wage worker afford a one bedroom apartment.
Residents discovered the brains on Beck with Street near railroad tracks and called the police.
Gouverneur police collected one of the brains and brought it to a local veterinarian for an examination, WWNY TV 7 reported. The veterinarian determined the brain had been professionally removed -- likely from a dog -- and preserved in formaldehyde.
The veterinarian told North Country Now that the brain was consistent with a beagle-sized brain and was in very good condition with no damage.
But a chemistry professor at Clarkson University told North Country Now the specimen was possibly from a sheep, not a dog.
Regardless, police told both news outlets there was little to fear. The nine brains are believed to have been part of a collection for educational or research purposes and no criminal activity, other than littering, is suspected, police said.
As unusual as it might seem, mishaps with preserved brains do happen. Last year the University of Texas in Austin said dozens of human brains stored in jars of formaldehyde and reported missing were actually destroyed in 2002. The brains had been donated for teaching and research.
Those words of Officer Mary O'Callaghan were said as Thomas was handcuffed and her legs restrained.
The video clearly shows Thomas getting punched in the throat, as well as kicked in the groin over and over by Officer O'Callaghan, in the video that surfaced nearly three years ago.
Watch the full report in the video below...
In the video we can clearly see Officer O'Callaghan punching Thomas' throat.
Thomas is seen tied with a nylon restraint, saying "I can't" over and over.
The video showed O'Callaghan raise her boot and strike Thomas, whose body shook in response. A few minutes later, Thomas' eyes closed and her head fell backward, the video showed. The recording then cut off.
She died at the hospital that evening. The video of her being assaulted was just released for the first time in court and can be seen below.
To any sane person, the sheriff's department would be responsible for the damage inflicted on this child. Not only were there no drugs in the house, but the suspect they were looking for was found elsewhere. And despite their claims that they had the house under surveillance for two days prior to the raid, somehow they had no idea that there were children who lived there.
Still, the family had to fight the county tooth and nail to have their $1 million in medical bills reimbursed. Last month they settled with the county, and received $964,000, half of which will be given to them now, and the rest will be given to baby after he turns 18. While it's great to hear that the family is getting something out of this, it's shocking to see how defiant the sheriff's department was, right to the very end. They never once admitted culpability for their gross negligence, and in a bizarre twist, their defense statement in court basically blamed the infant for his own injuries.
Comment: It is beyond belief that anyone could even think to mount such a ridiculous defense. The actions of the SWAT team were completely indefensible, but like any psychopath, completely lacking the capacity for empathy or a moral compass, they prefer to fight rather than own up to their own malfeasance and compensate the family.















Comment: With extreme weather, the collapsing global economy, and the destruction of the ecosystem of our planet, food waste will soon be the least of France's worries.
See also: UN warns of looming worldwide food crisis in 2013: Collapse of global food supply inevitable