Tag Archives: Police Brutality

Outrage After Ohio Cop Kills Unarmed Black Man Donovan Lewis in Bed

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“Columbus police think that they are the judge, jury, and executioner,” said one activist in response to the 20-year-old’s killing. “It’s time that this police department is held accountable.”

By Brett Wilkins  Published 8-31-2022 by Common Dreams

A screenshot from police bodycam footage shows the moment before Columbus Police Department Officer Ricky Anderson fatally shot 20-year-old Donovan Lewis in his bed on August 30, 2022.

An unarmed 20-year-old Black man died Tuesday after being shot by a Columbus officer in the middle of the night while lying in bed—the third police shooting in Ohio’s largest city in about a week.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Columbus Police Department (CPD) released over 24 minutes of bodycam video footage showing officers going to an apartment building in the 3200 block of Sullivant Avenue to serve a felony warrant for Donovan Lewis. Continue reading →

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Two Years After George Floyd Murder, Biden to Issue Executive Order on Police Reform

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“The entire culture and mentality needs to change to bring these words to life, and to save lives,” said one civil liberties advocate.

By Julia Conley  Published 5-24-2022 by Common Dreams

George Floyd Protest in Washington, DC – May 30 2020 Photo: Geoff Livingston/flickr/CC

Exactly two years after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, President Joe Biden on Wednesday is expected to unveil an executive order aimed at reforming federal policing standards and pushing state and local law enforcement agencies to improve their policies as well.

Civil rights groups on Tuesday expressed cautious optimism regarding the upcoming order, which has reportedly changed since a draft document was leaked earlier this year and garnered criticism from police groups. Continue reading →

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Investigation Shows Hundreds of US Cops Being Trained by Far-Right Extremists

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“Bad training is instilling bad behavior,” said one criminal justice reform advocate.

By Kenny Stancil  Published 5-6-2022 by Common Dreams

Photo: Tony Webster/flickr/CC

Hundreds of cops across the United States have been taught by individuals who espouse far-right extremist views, according to a new investigation that was published Friday to sound the alarm on a burgeoning and unregulated private training industry.

Reuters identified five law enforcement trainers who have been hired by police and sheriffs’ departments nationwide despite their support for right-wing militia groups, including the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and Three Percenters; the QAnon conspiracy, which baselessly claims that Democrats and Hollywood stars belong to a cabal of Satanist pedophiles and cannibals; and former President Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen. Continue reading →

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Buffalo Cops Who Shoved 75-Year-Old Peace Activist to Ground Cleared of Wrongdoing

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The arbitrator asserted that Martin Gugino was “definitely not an innocent bystander.”

By Andrea Germanos  Pubished 4-11-2022 by Common Dreams

Police officers in Buffalo, New York walk by the motionless body of 75-year-old Martin Gugino, whose head cracked on the concrete after being attacked by pushed over by officers during a June 2020. (Photo: Screengrab/WBFO)

Two Buffalo, New York police officers were cleared of any wrongdoing on Friday related to their actions knocking an elderly peace activist to the ground, causing him a fractured skull and weeks in the hospital, amid protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd nearly two years ago.

The arbitrator’s decision stems from officers Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe’s actions toward then-75-year-old Martin Gugino at a June 4, 2020 Black Lives Matter protest outside City Hall. Continue reading →

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Major Police Overhaul Goes Down in Minneapolis, But Austin and Cleveland Advocates Notch Wins

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“It’s a long road to liberation and our journey doesn’t begin or end with Question 2,” said one campaign group in Minneapolis.

By Julia Conley.  Published 11-3-2021 by Common Dreams

Protest march against police violence in Minneapolis. Phoyo: Fibonacci Blue/flickr/CC

Advocates of a push to amend Minneapolis’ city charter and replace the city’s police department with a “public health-oriented” Department of Public Safety were undeterred from their fight for far-reaching reform on Wednesday after their proposal failed to win a majority of voters’ support, while activists in other U.S. cities celebrated victories against powerful law enforcement structures.

The grassroots group Black Visions Collective applauded the “historic” Yes on 2 campaign, which helped push nearly 44% of Minneapolis voters to support Question 2 after launching a petition to demand the question be included on the ballot. Continue reading →

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‘A Win for Civil Rights’: Federal Judge Blocks Florida GOP’s Anti-Protest Law

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The court’s decision, said a coalition of civil rights groups, “serves as a powerful reminder that such unjust and unconstitutional efforts cannot stand.”

By Kenny Stancil, staff writer for Common Dreams.  Puvlished 9-10-2021

George Floyd protests in Miami, Florida on June 6, 2020. Photo: Mike Shaheen/Wikimedia/CC

Civil liberties and racial justice advocates are celebrating after a federal judge ruled Thursday that Florida’s anti-protest law is unconstitutional and therefore unenforceable.

In his 90-page decision (pdf) granting civil rights groups’ request for a preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said the law—passed by Florida’s GOP-controlled House and Senate and signed in April by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in response to demonstrations against police violence and racial injustice—violates rights to free speech and peaceful assembly as well as due process protections. Continue reading →

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Palestinian Protesters Recount Harrowing Details of Torture at the Hands of Israeli Police

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Officers wounded the detainees, terrorized them, and whomever dared to lift his head upwards risked more beatings by officers. According to affidavits, the floor of the room was covered in blood from the beatings.

By Jessica Buxbaum  Published 6-25-2021 by MintPress News

Photo: FOBZU

In May, the world watched Israel’s brutal occupation on full display: The forcible displacement of Sheikh Jarrah residents was underway; Israeli security forces attacked Muslim worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan; Israeli rocket fire rained down on Gaza; and Jewish extremists chanted “Death to Arabs!” in the streets.

According to multiple testimonies, Israeli police in Nazareth ran a “torture room” where they ruthlessly attacked Palestinian detainees during the wave of demonstrations against Israel in May.

Now, as international headlines fade on Palestine, Israeli violence continues. Continue reading →

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UN Human Rights Chief Calls for ‘End to All Forms of Violence’ After Troops Deployed Over Colombian Protests

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Dozens of people have died during the past month of demonstrations, which have been met with deadly attacks by the nation’s law enforcement.

By Jessica Corbett, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 5-30-2021

Photo: Joshua Collins/Twitter

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet responded to the Colombian president’s decision to deploy thousands of troops after a month of protests by calling for an end to all violence and urging negotiations over key national policies, which had stalled but were set to resume Sunday.

Bachelet, in a statement Sunday, specifically expressed concern about reports that since Friday, at least 14 people have died and 98 people have been injured in the Colombian city of Cali—one of the primary protest sites over the past month—and that an off-duty judicial police officer and others have fired at demonstrators. Continue reading →

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Hundreds of Palestinians Protesting Evictions in Jerusalem Injured in ‘State-Sanctioned Campaign of Israeli Violence’

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“Israel’s violence has a clear purpose: ethnically cleanse Jerusalem of Palestinians to allow Israeli settlers to take over Palestinian homes.”

By Kenny Stancil, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 5-8-2021

Photo: Faraz Khan/Twitter

More than 200 Palestinians were wounded and at least one partially blinded over night in East Jerusalem when Israeli police fired rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades at thousands of people who were protesting Israeli settlers and security forces’ ongoing effort to dispossess Palestinians of their land in the occupied territory.

Israel’s violent oppression of Palestinians, which has intensified in recent days, continued Saturday.

“What’s happening in Jerusalem and Palestine more broadly is not a ‘clash’ or a ‘scuffle,’ but a state-sanctioned campaign of Israeli violence against Palestinians,” the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) said Saturday. “To pretend otherwise is to minimize the horrors we are witnessing.” Continue reading →

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‘Racist, Unconstitutional, and Anti-Democratic’: Florida Senate Passes GOP Anti-Protest Bill

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“This bill is a disgrace to our state.”

By Kenny Stancil, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 4-16-2021

George Floyd protests in Miami, Florida on June 6, 2020. Photo: Mike Shaheen/Wikimedia Commons/CC

After Florida’s Senate Republicans on Thursday passed an undemocratic anti-protest bill—expected to be signed into law by its chief proponent, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, as early as next week—the state’s ACLU chapter condemned GOP lawmakers for “aiming to shut down political speech they disagree with in a direct attack on the First Amendment and at the cost of Black and Brown people.”

House Bill 1 “is racist, unconstitutional, and anti-democratic, plain and simple,” Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU of Florida, said in a statement. Continue reading →

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