Tag Archives: officer

The War on Quentin Tarantino, Arby’s, and the Cleveland Browns

by JanisUnaipon Posted on November 5, 2015

Mother Jones

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A boycott against filmmaker Quentin Tarantino launched in late October by the New York City Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association has been gaining steam with police unions across the country, with groups from Philadelphia to Los Angeles urging the public to reject the Hollywood director’s movies. “New Yorkers need to send a message to this purveyor of degeneracy that he has no business coming to our city to peddle his slanderous ‘Cop Fiction,'” PBA president Patrick Lynch said at the outset. The campaign is a response to remarks that Tarantino made while participating in a peaceful march against police brutality in New York City on October 24. “When I see murder I cannot stand by,” Tarantino told reporters. “I have to call the murdered the murdered and I have to call the murderers the murderers.”

As of November 2, the national chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police is onboard with the boycott, and the National Association of Police Organizations, which represents more than 1,000 unions, has also joined in. On Tuesday, Tarantino responded in the Los Angeles Times: “All cops are not murderers. I never said that. I never even implied that,” he said, adding, “What they’re doing is pretty obvious. Instead of dealing with the incidents of police brutality that those people were bringing up, instead of examining the problem of police brutality in this country, better they single me out.”

He’s just the latest. Ever since officer-involved killings became a major national issue, police union leaders have gone on the warpath, using odd boycotts and over-the-top incendiary statements to defend the ranks and push back on rising pressure for reforms. Tarantino joins a colorful list of people and places under fire from the unions. Here are six others:

Screenshot of Fairfax Fraternal Order of Police Facebook page Washington Post/Facebook

A pumpkin patch. In October, Brad Carruthers, the head of the Fraternal Order of Police chapter in Fairfax County, Virginia, called for the boycott of a local pumpkin patch after he spotted a Black Lives Matter sign in the business’s window. “This is a time in which law enforcement is the target for criticism for almost everything they do and officers are constantly questioned by the public and the media without the benefit of all the facts,” Carruthers wrote on his Facebook page, calling the display a “slap in the face” to the Fairfax County police. “The presence of this sign at Cox’s Farm helps perpetuate this kind of behavior and judgment. I know you have heard it all about a million times but the truth is that ‘All Lives Matter.'” Carruthers later took down the post, explaining that it misrepresented his intent. He told the Washington Post that he felt the Black Lives Matter movement had been “hijacked” by anti-police activists.

Arby’s. In September, police unions in Florida called for a nationwide boycott of the fast-food chain, after an officer in Pembroke Pines claimed that she was denied service while going through an Arby’s drive-thru. According to a police report on the incident, a manager told the officer that she was denied service because she was a cop. “In this case, after the clerk refused to serve the officer, the manager came up to the window laughing and said that the clerk had the right to refuse service to the officer,” John Rivera, the president of the Dade County Police Benevolent Association, said in response. “This is yet another example of the hostile treatment of our brave men and women simply because they wear a badge.” Another local union leader added, “I think the president needs to get to a podium and say ‘This needs to stop,’ that we need to put Ferguson behind us, Baltimore behind us, and we need to start treating officers with dignity and respect.” The Arby’s employee, Kenny Davenport, later explained to local reporters that he couldn’t serve the officer because he was busy with other customers and had asked for his manager’s help. The manager had made the remark as a joke. “We don’t hate cops,” Davenport said. “We don’t hate anybody. We’re just trying to get people out of the drive-thru.”

New York City. In July, the Sergeant’s Benevolent Association lambasted the city comptroller’s office after it announced a $5.9 million payout to settle the wrongful death case of Eric Garner, who was choked to death by a NYPD officer last December when police confronted him on the street for illegally selling cigarettes. Union head Ed Mullins called the settlement “obscene” and “shameful,” arguing that a jury would have awarded a lower figure. “In my view, the city has chosen to abandon its fiscal responsibility to all of its citizens and genuflect to the select few who curry favor with the city government,” Mullins told the New York Post.

Screenshot of bystander’s video footage Ramsey Orta

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Last December, after a Staten Island grand jury declined to indict the NYPD officer who choked Garner to death, de Blasio extended his sympathy for Garner’s family and protesters, adding that he worried about the safety of his own mixed-race son. His comments were met with outrage from Patrick Lynch, the head of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. “What police officers felt yesterday after that press conference is that they were thrown under the bus,” Lynch told reporters. The group then encouraged officers to sign a waiver it posted on its website, entitled “Don’t Insult My Sacrifice,” asking de Blasio and a city council member to not attend the funerals of fallen officers. Tensions further escalated after two NYPD officers were shot execution-style by a gunman in Brooklyn that month. Speaking from the hospital where the officers died, Lynch again railed against de Blasio: “There’s blood on many hands tonight,” he said. “Those that incited violence on the street under the guise of protest to try to tear down what New York City police officers did every day. It cannot be tolerated. That blood on the hands starts on the steps of City Hall in the office of the mayor.” During de Blasio’s visit to the same hospital, and the subsequent eulogies he gave at the officers’ funerals, hundreds of NYPD officers famously turned their backs to the mayor.

The Cleveland Browns. Ahead of a Sunday football game in December 2014, Cleveland Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins entered the field wearing a shirt with the words “Justice for Tamir Rice and John Crawford,” two young black men who were shot and killed by police in Ohio last year. During a pre-game warm-up a week earlier, Browns cornerback Johnson Bademosi had worn a shirt that read “I Can’t Breathe” in protest of the Eric Garner decision. Cleveland Police Patrolman Union president Jeff Follmer sent a letter to a local TV station demanding that the team apologize: “It’s pretty pathetic when athletes think they know the law. They should stick to what they know best on the field. The Cleveland Police protect and serve the Browns stadium, and the Browns organization owes us an apology.”

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins, December 14, 2014. Tony Dejak/AP

The St. Louis Rams. During team introductions at a game last November, five Rams players ran onto the field with their hands up, in a sign of support for Ferguson protesters and Michael Brown, the black 18-year-old who was shot and killed by a police officer in August 2014. The St. Louis Police Officers Association condemned the display, demanding that both the Rams and the NFL apologize, and calling for the players to be disciplined. “It is unthinkable that hometown athletes would so publicly perpetuate a narrative that has been disproven over and over again,” the association’s business manager Jeff Roorda said. “I know that there are those that will say that these players are simply exercising their First Amendment rights. Well I’ve got news for people who think that way, cops have first amendment rights too, and we plan to exercise ours. I’d remind the NFL and their players that it is not the violent thugs burning down buildings that buy their advertiser’s products. It’s cops and the good people of St. Louis and other NFL towns that do. Somebody needs to throw a flag on this play. If it’s not the NFL and the Rams, then it’ll be cops and their supporters.”

St. Louis Rams players, November 30, 2014. L.G. Patterson/AP

Cory Shaffer, Northeast Ohio Media Group

Police unions have also worked to raise money for officers involved in deadly shootings, but some of those campaigns have stirred controversy for their insensitive tone and management. After then-Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson was put on paid administrative leave for the shooting death of Michael Brown, Shield of Hope—a charity arm of the local Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 15—launched a GoFundMe campaign to accept donations from supporters. The page raised more than $234,000 before it was shut down due to a series of offensive comments posted by donors. In July, the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association launched a similar campaign for an officer who was placed on restrictive duty after shooting an unarmed 18-year-old over an attempted burglary. A flyer for the fundraiser advertised several raffle prizes, including a television and a Glock 26 pistol.

Source – 

The War on Quentin Tarantino, Arby’s, and the Cleveland Browns

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Here Is the Audio of the 911 Call Just Minutes Before the Colorado Gun Rampage

by JettGuay830729 Posted on November 5, 2015

Mother Jones

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More MoJo coverage of the Colorado Springs rampage


Did Colorado’s Open Carry Law Delay Police Response to a Mass Shooter?


Police Did Not Treat 911 Call About Colorado Gunman as “Highest Priority”


Open Carry Gun Laws Make It Harder to Protect the Public, Police Chiefs Say

The Colorado Springs Police Department on Wednesday released the audio from two 911 calls placed last Saturday morning just prior to and during a deadly gun rampage. The first call came just 10 minutes before a man shot three people to death and was subsequently killed in a shootout with police. The Colorado Springs PD released the audio and a detailed statement following several stories by Mother Jones and other news outlets focusing on whether Colorado’s open carry law may have played a role in how the police responded.

In the first call, placed at 8:45 a.m. on October 31, resident Naomi Bettis told a dispatcher that she saw a man, later identified as 33-year-old Noah Harpham, walking around a building with a broken window across the street from her house. She said that he was carrying a black rifle and gasoline cans, and she described him as suspicious and “scary” at several points during the six-minute-long call. At one point she told the dispatcher that the man was going in and out of an upstairs apartment in the building. “It may be the guy that lives upstairs because he ran right up there, but he still shouldn’t be holding a gun,” Bettis said.

“Well it is an open carry state, so he can have a weapon with him or walking around with it,” the dispatcher responded. “But of course having those gas cans, it does seem pretty suspicious so we’re going to keep the call going for that.” Bettis clearly sounded agitated during parts of the call: “I went out there to get in my Jeep,” she said, “and I’m scared to death.” When asked by the dispatcher whether anyone’s life was in imminent danger, however, she answered no. “I just hope that this is, you know, not as bad as it is,” Bettis said. Listen to the full call here:

Bettis later told the Washington Post that she was put off by the dispatcher’s comments regarding the state’s open carry law, as if the dispatcher “didn’t believe me.” On Tuesday, Lt. Catherine Buckley of the Colorado Springs PD told Mother Jones that Bettis’ first 911 call wasn’t treated as “the highest priority call for service.” In its statement released Wednesday, the department said the call was originally treated as a “priority 3” call, which “represents in-progress incidents involving property.” One minute into the call, the incident was upgraded to a “priority 2” call, and changed to a possible burglary in progress, according to the statement. The department’s priority scale has six levels, with “priority 1” being the most urgent.

At the time of the first call, all officers in the area were on other calls, according to the department’s statement. Then, one officer who became available during the call was instead dispatched to a disturbance in progress at a senior residential facility: “The call for service near Bettis was the same priority level as the disturbance; however, the disturbance at the senior center represented a threat to human life, while Bettis’ call (a possible burglary-in-progress) was at the time considered a threat to property.”

“He’s laying on the street dead”
After the initial six-minute exchange with the dispatcher, Bettis was told to call back if the situation changed. Ten minutes later, she did. “I just called a few minutes ago, and the guy came back out,” she said, now sounding frantic and her voice shaking. “He fired the gun at somebody and he’s laying on the street dead.” Listen to the full call here: Warning: Some may find the following audio disturbing.

At that point, according to the statement from the Colorado Springs PD, all available police units and an ambulance were dispatched. Less than 10 minutes after that Harpham’s three victims had been shot and he was killed by gunfire from police.

“Upon review of the 911 audio from the initial call for service the (dispatcher) responded in accordance with both the Colorado Springs Police Department policy and national protocols,” the department said in its statement.

The department also released a 2011 training document with respect to how it handles the open carry issue:

“The mere act of openly carrying a gun in a non-threatening manner is not automatically to be considered suspicious behavior. Therefore, if we get a call from a citizen about a person who has a firearm in plain sight and they are not acting in a suspicious manner, they have not brandished it, discharged it, or violated any of the previous conditions; CSPD will not respond.”

Link:

Here Is the Audio of the 911 Call Just Minutes Before the Colorado Gun Rampage

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Here’s What a Store Employee Told 911 After a Milwaukee Bucks Player Tried to Buy a Rolex

by CodyJshmbu Posted on October 27, 2015

Mother Jones

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“I am hiding in the office. I don’t want them to see me out there.”

That’s what a store employee at Schwanke-Kasten Jeweler told a 911 dispatcher last week, after becoming alarmed by the presence of four black men, one of whom was Milwaukee Bucks forward John Henson, who were attempting to enter the Wisconsin jewelry store to buy a Rolex.

The police recordings, which were released on Monday, first began on October 16th when Henson phoned the store to inquire about its closing hours. Convinced the voice on the other end of the line couldn’t possibly belong to a “legitimate customer,” the store employee alerted 911. Here is what the worker said. It was transcribed by NBC Milwaukee:

Store Employee: We just had a couple suspicious phone calls lately at this store, and we were just wondering if for the next hour, one of the Whitefish Bay cops could park in front of the store until we close.
911 Operator: What were the phone calls about?
Store Employee: They were just asking about what time they’re going to close. They just didn’t sound like they were legitimate customers.

When Henson and his friends arrived later that day, they were surprised to discover the store was already closed for the day. Unbeknownst to Henson, a police officer was also stationed nearby. The officer ran his vehicle plates and was unable to confirm the owner of the car.

Henson tried again a few days later, much to the employee’s panic.

Store Employee: The officer told us if they came back, we’re supposed to call again. They’re at our front door now and we’re not letting them in. I am hiding in the office. I don’t want them to see me out there. We’re pretending like we’re closed. They’re looking in the window. They’re just kind of pacing back and forth. I don’t feel comfortable letting them in. I just really don’t at all.

Soon after police identified Henson, he publicized the incident with a message speaking out against racial profiling in a since-deleted Instagram. Just add it to the seemingly unending list of things you can’t do while black— whether you are a professional athlete or not.

You can listen to the 911 calls in their entirety below:

Link – 

Here’s What a Store Employee Told 911 After a Milwaukee Bucks Player Tried to Buy a Rolex

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Disturbing Video Shows School Cop Body Slam and Drag a Black Female Student

by gerdi Posted on October 26, 2015

Mother Jones

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Authorities in Richland County, South Carolina, are investigating a video that surfaced Monday showing a uniformed officer aggressively confronting a high school student. Local station WIS-TV reports that county sheriff’s deputies are investigating the incident, which took place on Monday at Spring Valley High School, according to school officials. The video, which appears to have been recorded on a cellphone by a classmate, shows a white male officer standing over a black female student sitting at her desk; moments later he grabs the student and flips her on her back. After dragging her across the floor, the officer says, “Hands behind your back—give me your hands.” The video has no additional context as to what led to or followed the altercation.

“Parents are heartbroken as this is just another example of the intolerance that continues to be of issue in Richland County School District Two, particularly with families and children of color,” a local black parents group wrote in a statement responding to the video.

Also: Chokeholds, Brain Injuries, Beatings: When School Cops Go Bad

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott told WIS-TV that the school resource officer (SRO) was responding to a student who was refusing to leave class. “The student was told she was under arrest for disturbing school and given instructions, which she again refused,” Lott said. “The video then shows the student resisting and being arrested by the SRO.”

The video is the latest in a series of disturbingly violent altercations involving school cops. As Mother Jones first reported in July, there have been at least 29 incidents in the United States since 2010 in which school-based police officers used questionable force against students in K-12 schools, many of which caused serious injuries, and in one case death. Data on use of force by school cops is lacking even as the number of officers on campus has ballooned over the past two decades, with little training or oversight.

Update, 6:15 p.m. EDT: Here is a statement released by the school district, via local TV reporter Megan Rivers:

Credit: 

Disturbing Video Shows School Cop Body Slam and Drag a Black Female Student

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Are India’s clean energy investments slowing the march of coal?

by KennethU81 Posted on October 19, 2015

Are India’s clean energy investments slowing the march of coal?

By on 19 Oct 2015commentsShare

Chinese investment in the Indian renewable energy sector has skyrocketed recently, and construction equipment manufacturer Sany Group is the latest to join the push. The company announced last week that it will direct $3 billion toward the development of at least two gigawatts of renewable energy capacity in India, largely in the states of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. That’s a lot of cash and a lot of capacity, and announcements like these check a solid handful of other sustainable development boxes: expansion of renewables, money flowing between developing countries, private sector partnerships — chalk it up to a win for the climate.

Right?

Stories of clean energy investment tend to be good news for environmentalists, but in this case, there’s the danger of missing the forest for the banyan trees. The key here is understanding the difference between climate action and pure economic development motives. India currently has upwards of 250 million people without electricity. It would take somewhere on the order of 225 terawatt hours annually to bring them online — making the projected 4.8 terawatt hours from Sany Group’s two gigawatts seem like relatively small potatoes. When it comes to energy policy, the main goal is shrinking that 250 million figure as quickly as possible. Which is exactly what coal power can do.

But wait! With substantial investment, couldn’t rural India leapfrog coal and satisfy climate aims and development goals at the same time? Presumably, the answer rests on the affordability of decentralized solar power. Over at Scientific American, though, Gayathri Vaidyanathan tells a different story:

The fallacy in this position, others argue, is that solar microgrids do not address climate change. The microgrids do not displace coal use because the target villages were never hooked to the central grid in the first place. In fact, in parts of India, microgrids have become a stopgap solution for the energy-poor while they wait for the central grid.

“I’d agree 100 percent this is primarily a development solution, not a climate solution,” said Justin Guay, climate program officer at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation who was previously with the Sierra Club.

That more renewable energy doesn’t necessarily imply fewer emissions is a central truth that’s easy to forget. After China and the United States, India is the third-highest carbon emitter globally, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed no intention of changing that.

In the run-up to the Paris climate negotiations, India submitted a pledge to develop 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022. For reference, the entire world’s 2014 renewable capacity was 181 GW. And vis-à-vis the previous point, renewable energy capacity isn’t necessarily a marker of climate action. Over roughly the same time period, India is expected to build between 170 and 200 GW worth of coal power capacity. Sany Group’s investment is expected to prevent close to 4 million tons of carbon emissions annually, but India is expected to triple its emissions to 5.8 billion tons by 2030. Modi has previously said that he will not announce a peak emissions date for the country.

Of course, India’s per capita emissions are drastically lower than those of most developed and several developing countries. Morally (and financially) speaking, nobody really expects India to stop its coal-driven development unless someone else is picking up the tab. Sany Group’s announcement is a suggestion that China is trying to do exactly that, but China isn’t enough — and Sany Group is presumably investing in India’s renewable sector for economic, not environmental, reasons.

All told, it’ll take at least $2.5 trillion worth of investment for India to meet its energy goals, and these are goals that ultimately have very little to do with a decrease in the country’s carbon emissions. In India, coal is still king, and its reign is far from over.

Source:

Coal Trumps Solar in India

, Scientific American.

China’s Sany Group To Invest $3 Billion In Renewable Energy In India

, CleanTechnica.

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Are India’s clean energy investments slowing the march of coal?

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Shooting at Oregon Community College Leaves at Least 13 Dead, 20 Wounded

by ThereseFornacho Posted on October 1, 2015

Mother Jones

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Update, 8:15 p.m. EDT: Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin says the fatalities are less than originally reported by the attorney general— there are 10 fatalities and 7 injured. There are still no details on the shooter.

Update, 5:03 p.m. EDT: Oregon Gov. Kate Brown confirms that the shooter was a 20-year-old male. “I know I am joined by my fellow Oregonians and Americans in profound dismay and heartbreak at this tragedy at Umpqua Community College,” Brown said.

Update, 4:52 p.m. EDT: Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin confirms that the shooter is dead. “I couldn’t be happier with the officer response today,” Hanlin said.

Hanlin said the scene is still active and being investigated.

Update, 4:08 p.m. EDT: Oregon’s attorney general confirms that at least 13 people were killed and 20 people wounded in today’s shooting.

In response to the shooting, the White House repeated its call for increased gun control laws. “The issue of sensible steps that can be taken to protect our communities from gun violence continues to be a top priority of this administration,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said on Thursday.

Previously:

Multiple media outlets are reporting a shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon.

On MSNBC, Brian Williams interviewed a local firefighter who said he had been on the scene and witnessed “multiple deceased” and “multiple” injured people who were transported for emergency care. He said the campus had been evacuated.

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Emergency responders are in the process of clearing buildings at Umpqua Community College now. Students are being escorted now to get off campus. Wayne Crooch building has just been secured.

Posted by

As news of the shooting first broke, a student tweeted the following:

According to the gun safety coalition Everytown, today’s shooting marks the 45th school shooting in 2015 alone.

This is a breaking news post. We will update as more news becomes available.

Taken from:  

Shooting at Oregon Community College Leaves at Least 13 Dead, 20 Wounded

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Watch These Dudes in Congress Tell Planned Parenthood How to Protect Women’s Health

by Eduardo7272 Posted on September 29, 2015

Mother Jones

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Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards appeared today before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, in the most recent congressional hearing examining the use of taxpayer funds by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. This was Richards’ first appearance before Congress. She had not been invited to participate in either of the two hearings conducted by the House Judiciary Committee earlier in the month, in the wake of the heavily edited and controversial videos released by anti-abortion activist David Daleiden.

Planned Parenthood receives approximately $450 million annually in federal funds, nearly all of which are reimbursements for women’s health services from programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Services. According to Planned Parenthood, last year 41 percent ($528.4 million) of its revenue came from government health services grants and reimbursements.

“The question before us is: Does this organization—does Planned Parenthood—really need a federal subsidy?” said House Oversight chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). “Every time we spend a federal dollar, what we’re doing is pulling money out of somebody’s pocket and we’re giving it to somebody else. What I don’t like, what I don’t want to tolerate, what I don’t want to become numb to is wasting those taxpayer dollars.”

Here are some of the recurring themes from the hearing that attempted to answer his question.

1. Her salary is too high: Chaffetz spent much of his allotted time interrogating Richards about her $590,000 annual salary, which he characterized as “exorbitant.” She corrected him, saying her annual salary is actually $520,000. (Female nonprofit CEOs still make markedly less than male CEOs. In 2013, for example, Laurance Hoagland Jr., chief investment officer of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, made $2.5 million, and John Seffrin, CEO of the American Cancer Society, made $2.1 million.) Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) responded angrily to this inquisition. “The entire time I’ve been in Congress, I’ve never seen a witness beaten up and questioned about their salary,” she said. “Ms. Richards heads a distinguished organization providing health care services to millions of Americans. I find it totally inappropriate and discriminatory.”

2. Her apology was self-incriminating: Several times, Richards was subjected to loud, often aggressive mansplaining about when it is and is not appropriate to issue an apology. Members were referring to a video that PPFA released days after the first sting video in which Richards said, “Our top priority is the compassionate care that we provide. In the sting video, one of our staff members speaks in a way that does not reflect that compassion. This is unacceptable, and I personally apologize for the staff member’s tone and statements.” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) repeatedly asked Richards to justify this. “Why did you apologize?” he asked over and over again. “You can’t have it both ways. If nothing was done wrong, why did you apologize? You don’t apologize if she didn’t say anything that was wrong.”

Richards explained that her apology was more about the setting of the discussion. “I spoke with Dr. Nucatola, and it was inappropriate to have a clinical discussion in a nonconfidential, nonclinical setting,” Richards said. “It was that she used bad judgment to have a clinical discussion in a nonclinical setting.” The conversation in the sting video was over lunch and wine.

3. Planned Parenthood doesn’t provide mammograms: Republican critics of PPFA were also upset that Planned Parenthood clinics don’t provide mammogram services, despite the fact that radiology centers usually offer them because Medicaid reimbursements can’t come close to covering their operational costs. This point seemed to be lost on committee members who considered the lack of mammography as evidence that Planned Parenthood did not really provide women’s health services. Richards explained that when she goes to see her general practitioner and she gets a breast exam, she is referred to a radiologist to get a mammogram. Centers that depend on Medicaid reimbursement are often unable to pay for the equipment and radiologists’ salaries. New 3-D mammography technology is even more expensive. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) saw this as evidence that Planned Parenthood fell short in providing acceptable women’s health services: “Do you acknowledge that community health centers offer a broader range of services, including mammograms?” To this, Richards replied, “I’m not an expert on what all community health centers provide.”

4. Taxpayer dollars are paying for abortions: The repeated expressions of outrage by Republicans over “taxpayer dollars” being used for abortion services was, according to committee member Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.), “exhausting.”

“I know my colleagues are more intelligent than this,” Lawrence said. “This is not a lump sum we give Planned Parenthood. It is a reimbursement.”

Under federal law, no taxpayer dollars are allocated to abortion services. PPFA has submitted its tax filings and reimbursement records, and so far there has been no evidence that it violated this law. That did not stop Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) from expressing concern that “taxpayer dollars are being used to free up services that you provide that are aberrant services in the view of many taxpayers.”

5) Planned Parenthood provides too many abortions: Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) does not understand how the 327,000 abortions Planned Parenthood performed in 2014 amount to only 3 percent of Planned Parenthood’s services. Meadows claimed it was more like 12 percent. But as Richards explained, some patients visit more than once, and for multiple services, bringing the percentage down substantially.

And as my colleague Kevin Drum reported, Chaffetz used a chart from anti-abortion group Americans United for Life that incorrectly claimed that Planned Parenthood’s breast examinations have trended radically downward in recent years, while abortion services have substantially risen. In fact, cancer screenings have declined because, as Richards said, “some of the services, like pap smears, dropped in frequency because of changing medical standards about who should be screened and how often.” Abortion rates for Planned Parenthood have only increased about 2 percent per year since 2006.

6) Planned Parenthood is in cahoots with President Barack Obama: Toward the end of the nearly six-hour hearing, Jordan asked Richards about the internal workings of her staff. “Since the videos, has anyone from HHS, CMS contacted you?” Richards replied that because she has a big staff, she can’t answer that with 100 percent confidence. “Has the Attorney General of the United States Loretta Lynch contacted Planned Parenthood?” Jordan persisted. “Has anyone from the Justice Department contacted Planned Parenthood since the videos surfaced? There are potentially four federal crimes committed here, and all I’m asking is, has the Justice Department contacted you?” Richards repeated that she could not answer his questions with any certainty.

Jordan then escalated his attack. “Have you had any conversations with the president of the United States?” he asked. “Since the videos have surfaced, how many times have you been to the White House? How many times have you been to the White House since Mr. Obama’s been president?” Richards again said she couldn’t be sure, but Jordan was ready with an answer. “Our count shows that you, your board members, and senior staff have been to the White House 151 times in six and a half years.”

Investigations are also ongoing in the House Energy and Commerce Committee and in the House Judiciary Committee. So far, no wrongdoing has been found. Six state investigations that were triggered by the videos have also been closed after finding no evidence that Planned Parenthood violated law.

A subpoena has been issued to anti-abortion activist Daleiden for his investigative materials, and according to Chaffetz, they have been received but not yet opened or examined.

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Here’s What We Know About the Rape Case Rocking the NHL

by LolitaYork Posted on September 28, 2015

Mother Jones

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Back in August, NHL All-Star Patrick Kane was accused of rape by a woman he met on a night out in the small town of Hamburg, New York. News of the resulting sexual-assault case against the Chicago Blackhawks forward has dominated hockey’s preseason, and it took a bizarre turn on Thursday, when the lawyer for the woman accusing Kane of raping her quit following what’s being called an elaborate hoax.

Grand jury proceedings have been delayed, and evidence from the accuser’s rape kit, leaked to the press, have led to plenty of premature speculation about what actually happened. Twists and turns aside, the case has pulled the NHL into what’s become an ongoing controversy over how pro sports leagues handle domestic violence and sexual assault. Here’s the backstory to the Kane case:

Is Patrick Kane a big deal? Yes. Consider this: The Buffalo native joined the Blackhawks as the first overall pick in the 2007 draft, and the team has won three Stanley Cups in the last six years. When the United States earned the silver medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics, Kane, now 26, was the youngest player on the squad.

What’s the case against him about? On the night of August 1, Kane allegedly invited two women to his lakefront mansion in Hamburg after meeting them at Skybar, a popular Buffalo nightclub. An off-duty Buffalo police officer who had been hired as a driver by Kane took the three and Kane’s friend to the home in the early morning of August 2. (The officer, Lt. Thomas English, told the Buffalo News that he hadn’t seen improper behavior at the bar and left after he dropped the group off at Kane’s house.)

The 21-year-old alleged victim told investigators that after the group made it to Kane’s house, “she went by herself into another room, where Kane followed her, overpowered her and raped her,” according to the Buffalo News. The accuser and her friend reportedly left the house and called a relative after the alleged incident. She then went to a local hospital for an examination, and police were called. No charges have been filed against Kane. At a press conference on September 17, Kane apologized for the distraction and said he was confident of “having done nothing wrong.”

What’s the “hoax” controversy? For more than a month, Erie County authorities have been investigating the allegations against Kane. Last Sunday, in an apparent leak to the press, the Buffalo News and the Chicago Sun-Times reported that DNA tests of the accuser’s rape kit “showed no trace of Kane’s DNA was found in the woman’s genital area or on her undergarments.” Kane’s lawyer, Paul Cambria, later told the Chicago Tribune that the rape kit results had been shared with both him and the accuser’s attorney weeks earlier. (The tests also found traces of Kane’s DNA under the accuser’s fingernails and on her shoulders.)

The case took a bizarre twist this past week, when the accuser’s lawyer, Thomas Eoannou, told reporters the accuser’s mother found a “rape kit evidence bag” at her front door. At a press conference, he said the bag had once contained a rape kit and raised concerns that the evidence had been tampered with. Eoannou called for an investigation into how it landed at the mother’s front door.

On Thursday night, Eoannou walked back the claims he made the night before and told reporters he would step away from his client’s case. After hearing the mother’s explanation of how she obtained an evidence bag, Eoannou said, “I lack confidence in the story that was told to me.”

Then, on Friday, Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III pushed back on claims that evidence had been tampered with, telling reporters, “We believe that a person, the complainant’s mother, has engaged in an elaborate hoax.”

Sedita explained that hours after the alleged incident at Kane’s house, the accuser traveled to her mother’s house to change her clothing. She and her mother returned to the hospital to undergo a sexual-assault exam. When the examiner found out the accuser had changed her top, a nurse asked the mother to go home and put it in a sealed bag bearing the hospital’s label, the victim’s name, and her date of birth. Sedita said at the press conference the mother hadn’t told police that the hospital bag had been left at her house. Instead, when investigators stopped by the house to pick up the top, they placed it in their own evidence bag instead of the bag the mother had been given at the hospital. (The accuser’s mother denies the whole situation was a hoax.)

So the “rape kit evidence bag” on the mother’s front steps turned out to be a hospital bag all along. The kit never left the forensics lab. (Sedita showed surveillance video supporting that.) Roland Cercone, another lawyer for the accuser, wrote in a letter to the Chicago Tribune on Saturday that the accuser’s mother would cooperate with investigators in an inquiry into the bag, calling the whole situation a “mess.”

Grand jury proceedings have been delayed. Sports law expert Michael McCann told SI.com that the most recent events lower the likelihood Kane will get charged and raise the possibility of a settlement between the two camps. (Kane’s attorney denies any such talks are taking place.) Or the DA’s office could close the case without a grand jury hearing and without charges.

“The question in my mind isn’t when this case goes to a grand jury…it’s if this case goes to a grand jury,” Sedita said.

How has the NHL responded to the accusations? Following the mess created by the rape kit controversy, a handful of sportswriters have written that it’s finally time for the NHL and the Blackhawks to suspend Kane with pay while the investigation is underway. There’s some precedence for this in the NHL: A year ago, the league suspended Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov pending a domestic-violence investigation by the league itself. (Voynov eventually pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 90 days in jail. This month, he decided to leave the NHL and return to Russia.)

But no sanctions have been brought against Kane, who is currently training with the Blackhawks as the season approaches. In fact, last week, flanked by the Blackhawks’ president, general manager, and coach, Kane read a prepared statement, calling the case a “distraction” and saying he’s “confident once all facts come to light I will be absolved.” And Wednesday, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told reporters he doesn’t “think today’s developments really have any direct impact on Kane’s status from the league’s standpoint.”

How does this case fit in with other recent accusations against pro athletes? The allegations against Kane come amid growing backlash across pro sports over the way leagues and teams handle accusations of violence against women. The NFL faced harsh criticism last year when then-Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was suspended for just two games following his offseason arrest for assaulting his fiancée. After public outcry and the release of video footage of the assault, the Ravens released Rice.

In the post-Rice era, some leagues appear to have taken a more proactive stance against domestic violence. In March, NASCAR suspended (and then reinstated under indefinite probation) Kurt Busch on the basis of domestic-violence allegations; less than a month ago, the Cleveland Browns indefinitely suspended offensive line coach Andy Moeller after an alleged assault against a woman in his home.

But the NHL has so far backed away from any change. In an interview last October, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league doesn’t need to formalize a new policy because “our players know what’s right and wrong,” adding that there are mechanisms in place “to hopefully not get to that point.”

Still, according to some hockey writers, the Kane case is the NHL’s opportunity to redefine their stance on domestic-violence allegations against players.

“Allowing Kane to attend training camp sends a message to the accuser that she does not matter,” wrote five hockey journalists for SB Nation. “If the NHL wants to repair its relationship with female fans, the league needs to send the message that sexual assault allegations will be handled seriously and properly, regardless of who you are or how many Stanley Cup rings you have.”

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Here’s What We Know About the Rape Case Rocking the NHL

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Denver District Attorney Clears Police in Shooting of Native American Man

by JorjaHartigan Posted on September 14, 2015

Mother Jones

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Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey has declined to press criminal charges against a Denver police officer who shot and killed a Native American man in July. The man, Paul Castaway, holding a knife to his own throat and threatening to kill himself, was walking toward officers when Officer Michael Traudt fired three shots into Castaway’s midsection. Along with a nine-page report explaining his decision, Morrissey on Monday released surveillance footage of the shooting.

The shooting spurred protests in Denver this summer, as Castaways’ family disputed the initial police account that claimed Castaway, 35, came “dangerously close” to officers with a knife. At the time, they said officers didn’t have to shoot him, and he was clearly mentally ill and in need of help. Prior to releasing the video publicly, Morrissey had shown it to members of Castaway’s family, who said it showed him holding the knife to his throat—not pointing it in the direction of the police.

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Denver District Attorney Clears Police in Shooting of Native American Man

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"Oppressed People Are Everywhere": A Year After Ferguson, a Conversation With One of the Protests’ Organizers

by HalleyOverstree Posted on August 7, 2015

Mother Jones

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“Nothing in the Civil Rights Movement was accomplished in a day,” says Johnetta Elzie. Courtesy of Johnetta Elzie

When Michael Brown was shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2014, and the city made international headlines for the militarized response to the largely peaceful protests sparked by his death, Johnetta Elzie was was right on the front lines. Her livestreamed video of the demonstrations earned her a massive social media following, and she quickly assumed a role as one of the protests’ lead organizers.

In the year since the Ferguson protests, police treatment of African Americans has come under intense scrutiny. Numerous police killings of unarmed black men in New York, Baltimore, North Charleston, and elsewhere have drawn national attention. And across the country, activists and community leaders have demanded accountability from officers and reforms from lawmakers. These efforts already have had some results. Still, police are on track to kill more people this year than last year—upwards of 1,000 by year’s end. Most of them are black.

I spoke with Elzie, who is now an organizer with the Ferguson-based group We The Protesters. She is co-editor of the This Is The Movement newsletter, and her writing and commentary has appeared in Ebony, the Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeeraâ&#128;&#139;, and the Feminist Wire. She and her fellow organizer DeRay McKesson were the focus of a New York Times Magazine profile in May. Her participation in protests in Baltimore earlier this year prompted a cybersecurity firm to identify her as a “threat actor” in a report it provided to the city. Though she insists the Black Lives Matter movement is a leaderless one sustained by communal anger, the 25-year-old Elzie has been called on to serve as one of its spokespeople at conferences, panels, and meetings with public officials and lawmakers. In our conversation, she reflected on the Ferguson protests, the year since, and what lies ahead for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Mother Jones: Did you have a real goal when you first went to Ferguson?

Johnetta Elzie: My first protest was on August 9th. And after going and talking to people about what they saw at the scene of Michael Brown’s death, I felt like there had to be a next step, something else that I could do. So I searched Twitter and saw there was a protest at the Ferguson Police Department the next day. And because I was looking for a next step, I felt like that was a step in the right direction for me.

Plus, I remembered how I felt after George Zimmerman got away with killing Trayvon. There was a rally on the South Side of St. Louis. I went. I wore my hoodie. But I felt like that wasn’t enough. But I didn’t know what else could be done, especially because I didn’t live in Florida. So remembering how helpless I felt about that, and learning that there was a protest for Michael Brown the next day in my hometown, I decided to go. My friends and I, we all went. The end goal was for me to feel like I was playing a part in the mourning process with my community. And we literally just wanted answers as to why this happened.

MJ: Michael Brown’s killing and the Ferguson protests set off protests nationwide and internationally. Why do you think what happened in Ferguson resonated with so many people?

JE: I didn’t anticipate that. My first help with getting tear-gassed came from Palestine. I would tweet that I just got tear-gassed, my face burns, my mouth burns, my throat burns. And people from Palestine would tweet pictures of tear-gas cannisters saying, “Do they look like this? This is probably the same tear gas that they used on us. Here’s how you fix the burning.” Oppressed people are everywhere. Our situation in America, the way black people are experiencing living in America, is very similar to how Palestinians are experiencing living in their homes by the Israeli government. It’s global. A lot of folks don’t make those connections. But I think it’s just the part that makes humans human. When you see a group of people who are literally standing unarmed against the government, the state, and the state is armed head to toe in military gear. I think for most people it’s quite obvious why they should be moved to action. Even though it might not be happening where you live right now.

MJ: How has the national conversation surrounding police violence changed since Ferguson?

JE: We have more videos now. That has forced the conversation to change. Instead of it just being a blurb, and moving on to the next thing, some news publications and journalists are now asking the hard questions about fatal police shootings or white vigilantes who are taking it upon themselves to act, like in Charleston. They are asking the hard questions that need to be asked of state officials, of law enforcement, about why things are happening, and why they are protecting police through unions and things like that. I think that Ferguson has changed things, so that every fatal police shooting that happens has made some type of headline since August, in a way where people immediately jump on it, get the facts, or are digging for facts, or are following it and holding people accountable, in a new way that hasn’t happened for my generation. And there has been some new legislation that has been introduced across the country.

MJ: Are you satisfied with the progress that’s been made in the past year?

JE: The police are still killing people. Six people died Wednesday. But I think it is so unfair that people expect leaps and bounds to happen in just 365 days. Nothing in the Civil Rights Movement was accomplished in a day. The Civil Rights Movement spanned 10 years. So, for people to expect so much out of one year is really, really wild to me. And that question kind of shows me how far removed people are from this. Proximity matters. So, if you are an onlooker, and you’re just looking for progress and improvements and things like that, then that’s a different conversation to have with someone else who’s not so invested. But for some people, this is their life. They’ve been harmed by the police. They’ve seen their family and friends harmed by the police. And this is emotional work to be doing. So in this one year, I feel like we have accomplished much. But there is still a lot to do because police are still protected by their unions, by the institution of policing in general. And still have been killing people at higher rates than even last year, for example. July was literally the deadliest month of 2015. And that’s a problem.

MJ: If you could impose some major policy changes that would help stem police killings, what would they be?

JE: I would like to see concrete solutions to holding police accountable. There was a deadly force report that came out a month ago, and there are some states that have zero laws on the books to hold police accountable if they use deadly force in any case. That’s something that blows my mind, that there are places in America where police kill somebody and no one asks questions about it at all. I think that’s the top one for me. Body cameras, too. But I don’t put all my faith in body cameras. In Samuel DuBose’s case in Cincinnati, there were body cameras on two other officers who still lied and they’re not being charged. So that’s not the only solution.

MJ: What role do you see police and criminal justice reform playing in the 2016 election?

JE: I don’t have much to say about the 2016 election at this point. There are not any candidates that have piqued my interest. But I do understand that someone will be president. So I’m taking my time and learning and reading some of their proposals. I’m informing myself so I can make an informed decision on who I vote for next election. But at this time, no, no one has piqued my interest in all of the things that we are learning about their campaigns so far.

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"Oppressed People Are Everywhere": A Year After Ferguson, a Conversation With One of the Protests’ Organizers

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