Tag Archives: video

This Clever Legal Strategy Could Take Down the Officer Who Shot Laquan McDonald

by gxnlynwood Posted on March 27, 2017

Mother Jones

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Last Thursday, prosecutors announced that Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke is facing new criminal charges in the fatal October 2014 shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Van Dyke was indicted by a grand jury earlier this month on 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm—one count, apparently, for each bullet he fired at McDonald. Van Dyke had previously been indicted on charges of first-degree murder and misconduct in office. Special prosecutor Joseph McMahon filed the new indictment—which included the original charges—to replace the first one.

All of which begs a few questions: Why would prosecutors charge Van Dyke separately for each bullet he fired? How common are these kinds of charges in shooting cases? And how likely is it that a jury will buy the argument that Van Dyke committed 16 separate felonies?

To get some answers, I reached out to Robert Milan, previously the No. 2 prosecutor in the state’s attorney’s office for Cook County, which includes Chicago. Milan has personally tried more than 100 shooting cases, he says, and “I’ve never seen charges shot by shot.”

Prosecutors, he says, may have filed the aggravated assault charges to preempt the defense’s inevitable argument that Van Dyke had the authority to use deadly force to protect himself and others, or to prevent McDonald—who was wielding a knife and had reportedly attempted to break into cars—from committing a violent felony.

Jurors would consider the battery charges in addition to (not in place of) first-degree murder. So prosecutors could ask the judge to instruct the jury to consider Van Dyke’s self-defense claim only for the bullets he fired before McDonald fell to the ground, on the grounds that the claim no longer applied after McDonald was down.

“If Van Dyke gets the total defense instruction for the entire act, I’m sure prosecutors are concerned that it covers all 16 shots,” Milan said. But “if the judge buys it, and Van Dyke doesn’t get that instruction, then that defense goes flying out the window for those shots. I really think that’s what they’re doing here.”

Which means, even if jurors find Van Dyke not guilty of murder and not guilty of the battery charges attached to the first few bullets, they could still potentially convict him on battery charges for the later bullets. The prosecutor’s strategy seems tailored to counter the special consideration a police office usually receives in shooting cases: “He’s covering his bases. Doing what a good prosecutor would do.”

Van Dyke’s attorneys have tried to get the charges in the original indictment thrown out on the grounds that former Chicago prosecutor Anita Alvarez had tainted the grand jury process with “irregularities.” Alvarez—who lost a re-election bid last year in part because of voter dissatisfaction with her handling of the case—was under pressure to secure an indictment against Van Dyke. She filed the charges in November 2015, just hours before the city—under court order—released police footage of the shooting.

Van Dyke’s next court hearing is scheduled for April 20. His attorneys say they intend to file a motion to have the new charges dismissed. Milan says they may argue that Van Dyke should be charged with only one count of battery, since the 16 bullets were part of a single incident—but the judge is unlikely to oblige. “Bottom line is you have this videotape showing what took place. The burden is not high to get somebody indicted and to lay it out there,” Milan says. “I don’t see this case getting dismissed prior to trial.”

If Van Dyke were convicted of multiple battery counts, the sentences—ranging anywhere from 6 to 30 years in Illinois state prison—could be served concurrently. Milan won’t speculate on how a jury might rule, but he agrees that if the prosecutor’s strategy succeeds, it could easily spread to police shooting cases in other places.

Caution: This video of the shooting, while relevant, is graphic and disturbing.

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This Clever Legal Strategy Could Take Down the Officer Who Shot Laquan McDonald

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Here Are Just Some of the Stunningly Bad Moments From Betsy DeVos’ Confirmation Hearing

by VilmaGairdner Posted on January 18, 2017

Mother Jones

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Betsy DeVos’ confirmation hearing to become President-elect Donald Trump’s education secretary was originally scheduled for last Wednesday but was ultimately postponed until late Tuesday afternoon. With an extra week to get ready, Senate Democrats came prepared—and DeVos, oddly enough, did not.

Our latest investigation: Betsy DeVos Wants to Use America’s Schools to Build “God’s Kingdom”

While Republicans on the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions lauded the billionaire philanthropist—and prominent GOP donor—for her commitment to expanding charter schools and voucher programs, committee Democrats barraged DeVos with specific, pointed questions about her attempts to privatize public education, even pleading with Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the HELP chairman, for the opportunity to ask more questions as the three-and-a-half-hour hearing boiled over.

DeVos reaffirmed her support for an education system beyond a “one-size-fits-all” approach that opened up choices—”whether magnet, virtual, charter, home, religious, or any combination thereof.” But when pushed beyond her talking points, she was stiff and often thrown off her game:

“If you were not a multibillionaire…”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) didn’t shy away from challenging DeVos on her family’s large contributions to the Republican Party. “Do you think that if you were not a multibillionaire, if your family had not made hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions, that you would be sitting here today?” Sanders followed up by grilling DeVos on free college education and tax cuts on the richest Americans.

“Do you not want to answer my question?”

During a tense exchange, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) challenged DeVos on whether schools that receive federal funding should meet the same accountability standards, the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, and report the same information on instances of bullying, discipline, and harassment. DeVos…was less than forthcoming.

Growth, proficiency…and conversion therapy:

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) wanted to know if DeVos thought test scores should measure a student’s proficiency (i.e., did she reach a specific standard?) or a student’s growth (i.e., did she improve over time?). After DeVos struggled to clarify the distinction, Franken responded, “This is a subject that has been debated in the education community for years…But it surprises me that you don’t know this issue.” He also pushed DeVos on her family’s past donations to groups that support anti-LGBT causes—including Focus on the Family, a nonprofit founded by evangelical leader James Dobson—and even asked whether DeVos supported conversion therapy.

Campus sexual assault

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) asked whether DeVos would uphold a 2011 Department of Education letter establishing that sexual assault on college campuses was covered by Title IX and school reporting standards. DeVos would not commit to an answer, noting it would be “premature” to do so and that she would work with lawmakers to find a resolution.

Guns—and bears?!

Longtime gun control proponent Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) asked DeVos directly whether guns had any place in schools. “That’s best left to locales and states to decide,” she responded. When Murphy followed up, DeVos referred back to an earlier question about an elementary school from Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.). “I would imagine that there’s probably a gun at the school to protect from potential grizzlies,” DeVos said.

Kids with disabilities

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), whose son has cerebral palsy, questioned DeVos on her knowledge of the Individuals with Disabilities Act—particularly whether DeVos knew that it was a federal law. DeVos eventually said she “may have confused it” with something else.

On the Prince Foundation board or not?

Hassan also asked DeVos about a $5.2 million donation that the Edger and Elsa Prince Foundation made to Focus on the Family. As my colleague Kristina Rizga noted in her new, in-depth investigation, DeVos was listed as a vice president of the Prince Foundation in tax documents through at least 2014. But DeVos denied having any real involvement in her parents’ foundation: “That was a clerical error. I can assure you I have never made decisions on my mother’s behalf on her foundation’s board.”

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Here Are Just Some of the Stunningly Bad Moments From Betsy DeVos’ Confirmation Hearing

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The North Pole Is In Big Trouble. So Is the South Pole.

by HNKStephaine Posted on December 7, 2016

Mother Jones

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For years, climate deniers have been producing charts that use the El Niño year of 1998 as a starting point. Why? Because it was an unusually hot year, and if you start there it looks like global warming has “paused” for a good long time. Here’s a colorful example of the genre from the Daily Mail a few years ago:

These charts are no longer useful to the deniers thanks to the very high temperatures of the past couple of years, so they’ve gone away. But what will take their place? I was amused to discover the answer a few days ago: 2016 doesn’t mean anything because it was an El Niño year.

Hah! Nobody ever said they didn’t have chutzpah. But it got me curious: what does a global temperature chart look like if you pull out just the El Niño and La Niña years? That seemed like a lot of work to get right, so I put it aside. Today, however, I found out that someone else had already done it for me. Here it is:

This comes from a Weather Channel piece titled “Note to Breitbart: Earth Is Not Cooling, Climate Change Is Real and Please Stop Using Our Video to Mislead Americans.” The chart itself apparently comes from skepticalscience.com, but I can’t figure out exactly where to link to it. UPDATE: Here it is. It’s an animated GIF! However, it shows the historical data clearly: El Niño years (in red) are always hot, but have been getting steadily hotter. La Niña years (in blue) are always cool, but have also been getting steadily hotter. And the years in-between (in black) have been getting steadily hotter too. Long story short, every kind of year has been getting steadily hotter for a long time.

And this year is a real champ. Here’s the latest from the National Snow and Ice Data Center:

Both poles are showing massive ice loss compared to trend. We’ve never seen anything like it. You can draw all the misleading charts you want, but it doesn’t change the facts. Climate change is real, and it’s getting worse.

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The North Pole Is In Big Trouble. So Is the South Pole.

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Minnesota Cop Who Killed Philando Castile Is Charged With Second-Degree Manslaughter

by Benito46Kjksdbk Posted on November 16, 2016

Mother Jones

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The suburban police officer who shot and killed Philando Castile during a Minnesota traffic stop is being charged with second-degree manslaughter, John Choi, Ramsey County’s top prosecutor, announced on Wednesday.

Castile, 32, was shot by officer Jeronimo Yanez last July. According to Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, who was also in the car along with the couple’s young daughter, the officer fired his weapon as Castile reached to get his ID, after Castile informed Yanez he had a (legally permitted) gun. Reynolds live streamed the aftermath on Facebook, and her video sparked weeks of protests in Minneapolis and nationwide.

Officer Yanez’s use of deadly force “was not necessary, was objectively unreasonable, and was inconsistent with generally accepted police practices,” Choi said. “No reasonable officer—knowing, seeing, and hearing what Officer Yanez did at the time—would have used deadly force under these circumstances.” Yanez’s discharge of his firearm also put Reynolds and her daughter at risk, Choi added. The officer will be charged with two counts of reckless discharge of a firearm as well.

The charging documents revealed new details about the incident: Through the driver’s side window, Yanez asked Castile for his driver’s license and insurance information. Castile provided Yanez with an insurance card and then informed Yanez that he was carrying a weapon. Yanez said “okay” and told Castile not to reach for it. Castile—apparently still reaching for something—responded, “I’m not reaching for it.” Yanez yelled, “Don’t pull it out!” Castile’s girlfriend assured Yanez that Castile wasn’t reaching for the gun. Yanez again ordered Castile not to pull his gun out, and seconds later, he fired seven shots. Castile died on the scene soon after.

Another document, made public by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department, showed that Castile had a legal permit to carry a firearm.

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Minnesota Cop Who Killed Philando Castile Is Charged With Second-Degree Manslaughter

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What’s going on with the Dakota Access pipeline? Let us explain.

by GustavoHerron Posted on November 4, 2016

With only 25 percent of construction left to go on the contentious Dakota Access pipeline and more than 140 arrests this weekend, the Sioux and their allies are calling for reinforcements to continue blocking the proposed pipeline that could destroy sacred sites and contaminate drinking water.

Let’s rewind a little: After the Standing Rock Sioux lost their legal case against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in September, the Department of Justice announced it would withhold final permits needed for the pipeline to cross under the river near the primary source of drinking water for the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. These permits could still be granted, pending further review of the Sioux’s complaints.

The Obama administration also stepped in to ask Dakota Access LLC to voluntarily stop work on the pipeline. Needless to say, the company declined, and construction continues while tribal members and activists seek to delay them by holding prayer ceremonies and cuffing themselves together with PVC pipe.

In a recent interview, Obama said the pipeline may be rerouted to protect the Sioux’s water and land. But that decision — if it comes — won’t happen for weeks. Meanwhile, Dakota Access continues to creep toward the Missouri River.

What will happen next? Stay tuned.

Watch our video to learn more, and check out our ongoing coverage of Dakota Access here.

Election Guide ★ 2016Making America Green AgainOur experts weigh in on the real issues at stake in this election

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What’s going on with the Dakota Access pipeline? Let us explain.

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Former GOP Chairman: It’s Over for Trump and the Party

by ClarenceMcClear Posted on October 8, 2016

Mother Jones

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In the middle of the political storm detonated by the release of the video showing Donald Trump bragging that he engaged in sexual assault, Republicans have been in chaos. Some have abandoned their party’s nominee, some have stayed silent, some have tried to concoct a plan (probably unworkable) to dump Trump. And Trump weighed in—via a tweet, of course—to proclaim his defiance: “The media and establishment want me out of the race so badly – I WILL NEVER DROP OUT OF THE RACE, WILL NEVER LET MY SUPPORTERS DOWN!”

Trump’s declaration aside, the question of the day is: Is it over for the reality TV celebrity? Has he unintentionally fired himself?

Michael Steele, the former chairman of the Republican Party, believes it is. On Saturday afternoon, I asked him for his reaction to the Trumpocalypse under way. He cut to the chase:

This is a devastating blow to the Trump campaign and to the party, and there is not much either can do to salvage it. It almost doesn’t matter what Trump does in the next debate.

A former GOP chief says the elephant is cooked. As another former GOP official tells me, “This is no longer about what happens on Election Day. It’s about what happens in 20 years—and whether there is still a Republican Party then.”

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Former GOP Chairman: It’s Over for Trump and the Party

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Shonda Rhimes, Norman Lear, and Common Take Aim at Inequality in This New Documentary Series

by BurtonCracknell Posted on September 30, 2016

Mother Jones

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In “America Divided,” a new five-part documentary series premiering tonight on Epix, the nation’s growing inequality—in matters economic, racial, and otherwise—takes center stage.

Headed by executive producers Shonda Rhimes, Norman Lear, and Common, the project looks into the ways inequality underlies so many modern crises, profoundly affecting our schools, our housing landscape, and our political discourse. The correspondents are all household names: Actress Rosario Dawson, for instance, takes us to Flint, Michigan, to meet families affected by lead poisoning. Actor Jesse Williams returns to the classroom to understand the school-to-prison pipeline. Comedian Amy Poehler grills well-to-do families about their relationships with struggling domestic workers.

The actors are invested, and in some cases confrontational. And while it’s a little strange to see them so out of context (especially comedians such as Poehler and Zach Galifianakis) there’s something refreshing about their earnestness. Take Dawson, who displays her humanity when she reaches out to hold the hand of a tearful woman who has been describing the toll Flint’s contaminated water has had on her family. The issues the series explores won’t be anything new to Mother Jones readers, but they are as timely as ever. So if A-list celebs and high production quality will convince you to think more about America’s more entrenched problems, and maybe even to step up and do something, then this series is for you.

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Shonda Rhimes, Norman Lear, and Common Take Aim at Inequality in This New Documentary Series

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Bill Mollison, co-originator of permaculture, dies

by PalmaShupe Posted on September 27, 2016

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Bill Mollison, co-originator of permaculture, dies

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Could It Really Be This Simple to Get Mark Ruffalo Totally Naked?

by ShannaBermudez Posted on September 21, 2016

Mother Jones

A “shit ton” of celebrities just made a video for Save the Day, part of a new campaign to get people to the ballot boxes on election day this November.

The parody of a classic public service announcement was posted to YouTube on Wednesday and was paid for by a new super PAC headed by Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and recent director of the Avengers.

The actors—including Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, and Don Cheadle—give some pretty compelling reasons to register to vote on November 8, especially making sure a certain presidential candidate doesn’t get into office: “You can only get this many famous people together if the issue is one that truly matters to all of us, like… a racist, abusive coward who could permanently damage the fabric of our society.”

Oh, and Mark Ruffalo: Don’t promise what you can’t deliver. Watch it above.

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Could It Really Be This Simple to Get Mark Ruffalo Totally Naked?

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This Former Killer Whale Trainer Is Taking on SeaWorld

by MapleHogan4 Posted on August 28, 2016

Mother Jones

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SeaWorld has been a lightning rod for controversy in recent years, and no one knows that better than John Hargrove. On this week’s episode of the Inquiring Minds podcast, Hargrove—a former SeaWorld animal trainer—recounts his experiences working with orcas in captivity. From heavily medicated killer whales to the tragic death of his colleague, Hargrove paints a picture of an entertainment company in crisis.

SeaWorld, a nationwide chain of parks well known for its displays of marine animals, purports to blend “imagination with nature” and enable visitors to “explore, inspire and act.” It’s perhaps most famous for its orcas. Also known as killer whales, orcas are actually the largest member of the dolphin family. They weigh thousands of pounds and are, in the words of National Geographic, “one of the world’s most powerful predators.” SeaWorld’s treatment of orcas has come under intense scrutiny; the 2013 film Blackfish recounted the death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau and showed the dangers (for both whales and humans) of keeping orcas in captivity. Hargrove appeared in the film.

Hargrove spent most of his time at SeaWorld as an orca trainer. Since he left, he has repeatedly accused the company of mistreating animals and endangering employees. Representatives of SeaWorld have denied these allegations, telling NPR in 2015, “We don’t put any animal in any stressful situation” and calling conditions depicted in Blackfish “a bit of exaggeration.” (You can read the company’s point-by-point rebuttal to Blackfish here.) When Hargrove came out with a book criticizing the company, SeaWorld denied many of his claims and said that he had quit the company “‘after being disciplined for a severe safety violation involving the park’s killer whales’ that resulted in his transfer from the orca stadium,” according to the Orlando Sentinel. (Hargrove denied that he was responsible for the safety violation, according to the paper.) SeaWorld also released a video showing Hargrove repeatedly using the n-word while intoxicated several years earlier. (“We do a lot of things we shouldn’t do when we drink,” Hargrove told the Sentinel. He went on television to apologize for the video.)

On Inquiring Minds, Hargrove tells co-host Indre Viskontas that it wasn’t just his colleagues who were in danger. Hargrove says he had multiple encounters with aggressive killer whales over the course of his career. In one incident, which took place when Hargrove was working at a different park not owned by SeaWorld, he describes escaping a close call with an orca named Freya, who he says had pulled him underwater before. When she wasn’t responding to his signals, Hargrove made a decision that he believes may have saved his life. Rather than swimming like mad for dry land, he moved to the center of the pool and waited for Freya to approach. Trying to outswim an orca is impossible, says Hargrove—it just makes it more fun for the giant predator to hunt you. If he had tried to make an escape, he says, “that would have equaled almost certain death for me.” In the end, Freya’s behavior changed. She followed Hargrove’s instructions and even helped push him out of the pool. (You can listen to the interview below.)

But two other trainers, Brancheau and Alexis Martinez, weren’t so lucky. Both died after being viciously attacked by orcas owned by SeaWorld. Martinez, who worked at a non-SeaWorld park, was killed in December 2009 by a whale on loan from SeaWorld. Brancheau died two months later at SeaWorld’s Orlando park after being violently attacked by a whale named Tilikum. “It was not a shock to me that he had done that to her,” recalls Hargrove. “I know he was capable of it. All the whales are capable of it.”

For Hargrove, SeaWorld was a childhood fantasy gone terribly wrong. While he had dreams of working at the park as a child, he soon discovered that the relationship between man and whale wasn’t what he had envisioned. Hargrove claims he and his colleagues were frequently hurt on the job. And he says he often worked while sick or injured—diving deep into cold water and sometimes emerging spewing bloody sinus tissue.

SeaWorld declined to respond to detailed questions about Hargrove’s allegations on Inquiring Minds, but the company did say in an email that many of Hargrove’s claims are “false.”

Since leaving SeaWorld, Hargrove has become an activist and has written a book called Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish. He’s now a central figure in the campaign to alter the way SeaWorld does business. And that campaign seems to be having an impact. Earlier this year, the company agreed to end its orca breeding program and to change the way it exhibits its orcas.

“Society has changed and we’ve changed with it,” SeaWorld said in an email. “We’re focusing our resources on real issues that help far more animals, like working with the Humane Society of the United States to fight commercial whaling, shark finning, and continuing our efforts to rescue, rehabilitate and release injured and sick animals to the wild.”

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This Former Killer Whale Trainer Is Taking on SeaWorld

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