Tag: new york police

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Politics

James Blake Says Officer Who Tackled And Arrested Him Should Be Fired

In an interview with the New York Daily News, the retired Tennis star James Blake, said that the officer who tackled him while he was standing outside a hotel waiting for a ride to the U.S Open, does not deserve to “have the same title as officers who are doing good work.”

“I want him to know what he did was wrong, and that in my opinion he doesn’t deserve to ever have a badge and a gun again, because he doesn’t know how to handle that responsibility effectively. He doesn’t deserve to have the same title as officers who are doing good work and are really helping keep the rest of the city safe.”

Blake was an apparent victim of “mistaken identity” by the New York police officer. He was tackled to the ground and arrested, then released after his identity was known. Blake is promising to use his celebrity status to bring to light a common police tactic of assuming that everyone is guilty and must prove their innocence.

The Mayor of New York and the Police Commissioner have issued formal apologies to James Blake.

“I’m lucky to be in the position I’m in, but I also talked to a lot of people the last few days that have had similar situations happen to them. Those are the people that deserve to be apologized to.”

James Blake is considering a lawsuit if changes aren’t implemented by the NYPD. Meanwhile, the officer, James Frascatore, who is white by the way, has been placed on desk duty.

Categories
Politics

New York Police Officers Salute Mayor DeBlasio at Slain Officer’s Wake

The first time around when the mayor went to pay his respects to one of New York’s fallen heroes, the rest of the New York police department allowed their union leader to get the best of them, and showered the mayor with the uttermost disrespect – turning their backs on the man as he attended the funeral.

But something has changed, and today as the mayor made his way through the wake of the second fallen officer, he was saluted by other police officers at the scene, thanks in part to a stern letter written by Police Commissioner, Bill Bratton.

Ahead of the wake for Wenjian Liu, Commissioner Bill Bratton told officers to refrain from the “act of disrespect” seen at the funeral of Liu’s partner, Rafael Ramos, when thousands of officers turned their backs on de Blasio.

“A hero’s funeral is about grieving, not grievance,” Bratton wrote in a memo to be read on police roll calls over the weekend. The funeral is set for Sunday.

Liu, 32, and Ramos, 40, were shot to death on Dec. 20 as they sat in their squad car in Brooklyn. Their killer, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who killed himself soon after, had said he was seeking to avenge the deaths this summer of two unarmed black men at the hands of white police officers.

On Saturday, a few hundred mourners, most of them police officers in dress blue uniforms, lined up outside the funeral home on a frigid, snowy afternoon.

De Blasio and Bratton entered the funeral home together shortly after it opened, with officers standing guard by the entrance saluting both men as they went inside. The wake was closed to the public.

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Politics shooting

Eric Garner’s Daughter offers Support to Families of Slain Police Officers

Earlier this year, her father was killed when a police officer applied an illegal chokehold, causing the suffocating man to say, “I can’t breathe” eleven times before he died. A grand jury later ruled that the officer did nothing wrong, sparking outrage and protests nationwide.

But today, Emerald Garner came and spoke out in support of the families of two police officers who were executed by a crazed gunman on Saturday.

“I just had to come out and let their family know that we stand with them, and I’m going to send my prayers and condolences to all the families who are suffering through this tragedy,” she told ABC News. “I was never anti-police. Like I said before, I have family that’s in the NYPD that I’ve grown up around, family reunions and everything so my family you know, we’re not anti-police.”

And although the gunman implied that his execution – style murder of the officers was in retaliation to Eric Garner’s deatg, Emerald showed nothing but class as I’m sure she is still grieving her father’s death.

The New York police union and other leaders like Rudy Giuliani with their over-the-top foolish statements should take note on how decent human beings should behave.

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occupy wall street Politics

Sgt. Shamar Thomas Shames New York Police Department

He fought in Iraq, did tours in Afghanistan. But what got Sgt. Shamar Thomas mad as hell was the beatings peaceful civilians took from the New York Police, as they demonstrated their first amendment rights to peacefully assemble.

“These are citizens!” Sgt. Thomas proclaimed, as the NYPD stood listening. “Why are you hurting these people? If you want to kill or hurt people, go to Iraq!”

Watch below, as Sgt Thomas fight for the Constitutional rights of American citizens to assemble.

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Politics Wall Street zuccotti park

An Emergency Call From Occupy Wall Street

At 7AM tomorrow – Friday, the owners of Zuccotti Park, formerly “Liberty Plaza Park” – where the Occupy Wall Street movement has set up headquarters – plan to clean the park. This move, according to the occupiers, is just another effort by the Bloomberg administration to end the protest.

Occupy Wall Street  Released the following:

EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION: Keep Bloomberg and Kelly From Evicting #OWS
Posted Oct. 13, 2011, 2:14 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt

EMERGENCY #OWS EVICTION DEFENSE:
Prevent the forcible closure of Occupy Wall Street

Tell Bloomberg: Don’t Foreclose the Occupation.
NEED MASS TURN-OUT, SHOW UP NO LATER THAN 6 A.M.

This is an emergency situation. Please take a minute to read this, and please take action and spread the word far and wide.

Occupy Wall Street is gaining momentum, with occupation actions now happening in cities across the world.

But last night Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD notified Occupy Wall Street participants about plans to “clean the park”—the site of the Wall Street protests—tomorrow starting at 7am. “Cleaning” was used as a pretext to shut down “Bloombergville” a few months back, and to shut down peaceful occupations elsewhere.

Bloomberg says that the park will be open for public usage following the cleaning, but with a notable caveat: Occupy Wall Street participants must follow the “rules”.
NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has said that they will move in to clear us and we will not be allowed to take sleeping bags, tarps, personal items or gear back into the park.
This is it—this is their attempt to shut down #OWS for good.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION

1) Call 311 (or +1 (212) NEW-YORK if you’re out of town) and tell Bloomberg to support our right to assemble and to not interfere with #OWS.
2) Come to #OWS TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT to defend the occupation from eviction.

For those of you who plan to help us hold our ground—which we hope will be all of you—make sure you understand the possible consequences. Be prepared to not get much sleep. Be prepared for possible arrest. Make sure your items are together and ready to go (or already out of the park.) We are pursuing all possible strategies; this is a message of solidarity.

Click here to learn nonviolent tactics for holding ground.

Occupy Wall Street is committed to keeping the park clean and safe—we even have a Sanitation Working Group whose purpose this is. We are organizing major cleaning operations today and will do so regularly.

If Bloomberg truly cares about sanitation here he should support the installation of portopans and dumpsters. #OWS allies have been working to secure these things to support our efforts.

We know where the real dirt is: on Wall Street. Billionaire Bloomberg is beholden to bankers.

We won’t allow Bloomberg and the NYPD to foreclose our occupation. This is an occupation, not a permitted picnic.

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