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REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS
16 Shots
Wednesday, November 25, 2015 6:34 PM
WHOZIT
Wednesday, November 25, 2015 9:16 PM
THGRRI
Wednesday, November 25, 2015 9:32 PM
REAVERFAN
Thursday, November 26, 2015 8:58 AM
RAHLMACLAREN
"Damn yokels, can't even tell a transport ship ain't got no guns on it." - Jayne Cobb
Thursday, November 26, 2015 11:39 AM
Thursday, November 26, 2015 3:55 PM
Quote:Originally posted by whozit: He could have dropped him with a stun gun, instead he gunned him down like a rabid dog. That guy is evil or insane or both, if that video hadn't been released the city may have let this blow over.
Friday, November 27, 2015 10:51 AM
SIGNYM
I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.
Friday, November 27, 2015 12:42 PM
Quote: SIG I guess that's how we treat mental illness and intoxication in the USA.
Quote: SIG I really think we need to rethink our whole approach to crime, criminality, and punishment in the USA. We have the highest incarceration rate in the whole world, exceeding China, Russia, and other "repressive" states by a wide margin, and yet we still have a really high crime rate. Why do we keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting that it will work THIS time, as opposed to the last 100 million times?
Friday, November 27, 2015 1:47 PM
Friday, November 27, 2015 3:18 PM
Quote:Originally posted by SIGNYM: I guess that's how we treat mental illness and intoxication in the USA. I really think we need to rethink our whole approach to crime, criminality, and punishment in the USA. We have the highest incarceration rate in the whole world, exceeding China, Russia, and other "repressive" states by a wide margin, and yet we still have a really high crime rate. Why do we keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting that it will work THIS time, as opposed to the last 100 million times? Are we incapable of learning? -------------- You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.
Saturday, November 28, 2015 4:38 AM
1KIKI
Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.
Saturday, November 28, 2015 8:57 AM
Sunday, November 29, 2015 12:16 PM
Quote:July 2104 Rahm Emanuel, mayor of Chicago, begins his re-election campaign in a hotly-contested 3-way race between a white (Emanuel), a union-supported Chicano (Jesus "Chuy" Garcia), and a black businessman (Willie Wilson). October 20 2014 Laquan McDonald is shot 16 times by a Chicago police officer, Jason Van Dyke, and killed.
Quote:Police say Laquan McDonald had lunged at officers with a knife.
Quote:Nov. 4, 2014 Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez obtains the video and begins investigating the incident. Dec. 8, 2014 Journalist Jamie Kalven and Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago Law School professor, release a statement calling on Chicago police to release the dashcam video of the incident. Futterman and Kalven had been alerted to the video's existence by a whistleblower, who told them the video was "horrific". Officer Jason Van Dyke is put on desk duty at full pay.
Quote:Feb 2015 first vote for mayor (no majority) April 7 2015 runoff election
Quote:April 2015 The Chicago City Council approves a $5 million settlement with McDonald's family before they even file a lawsuit
Quote:March 2015 The Chicago Tribune files three separate Freedom of Information Act requests to Chicago's law department, the police department and the Independent Police Review Authority Board. All three requests are denied. April 2015 Officials also confirm that the FBI and the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois are conducting a criminal probe into Van Dyke. May 2015 A Burger King district manager tells NBC Chicago that he believes police deleted security footage from the restaurant that captured moments surrounding the incident, which McDonald's family attorney claims would have given some context for the shooting. In a statement at the time, the Independent Police Review Authority Board says it has no credible evidence to believe that police officers deleted footage.
Quote: May 26, freelance journalist Brandon Smith files a Freedom of Information Act request with the Chicago Police Department requesting the video, and the department asks him for an extension on his request until late July.
Quote: July 25 2015 Chicago Just Fired An Investigator Trying To Hold Cops Accountable For Unjustified Shootings. The supervisor says he was requested to "change his findings" on three separate occasions. Of several hundred police shooting cases the IRPA has reviewed since its creation, only a few were found unjustified, the Chicago Reader reports. The supervisor complains that the Independent Board - which is a separate Department of the City of Chicago and reports to the City Council- is staffed primarily by civilians with long, close ties to the police department, and is not truly independent
Quote:August 2015 After Smith's Freedom of Information Act request is denied, he files a lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department to force them to release the video, claiming that the department is simply refusing to do so for public relations reasons. In a piece explaining why he's suing the city, Smith says that CPD told him they had denied at least 15 Freedom of Information Act requests for the footage.
Quote:Nov. 18, 2015 (Wed) The office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D) sends a letter to police saying that they cannot withhold the video, and saying that claims that releasing it would interfere with an ongoing investigation or jeopardize a fair trial are "unsubstantiated." She orders the Chicago PD to release the video no later than Wednesday Nov 25.
Quote:Tuesday, Nov 24, 2105 Jason Van Dyke is charged Tuesday with first-degree murder.
Quote:Nov 25 2015, Freelance reporter Brandon Smith, whose lawsuit over the summer forced release of Laquan McDonald video, is barred from news event
Sunday, November 29, 2015 12:28 PM
Quote:Lacking official numbers, KPCC journalists decided to compile them independently. Our team obtained summaries from the L.A. district attorney, which investigates every use of lethal force by the county’s 45 law enforcement agencies, and added material from other public records, interviews and other research. The findings offer the first countywide look at patterns among 375 civilians shot by police officers from 2010-14, offering a starting point for conversation. For instance, we found that unarmed people make up 25 percent of those shot by law enforcement officers across the county, and that mental health issues factor into a significant number of shootings.
Sunday, November 29, 2015 12:46 PM
Quote:Originally posted by SIGNYM: BACK TO THE WHOLE "SYSTEMIC" PROBLEMS VERSUS THE "ONE BAD APPLE" APPROACH So I decided to make a timeline of all relevant events around this shooting, and the timeline reveals failures of MANY systems. Let me count the ways ... TIMELINE Quote:July 2104 Rahm Emanuel, mayor of Chicago, begins his re-election campaign in a hotly-contested 3-way race between a white (Emanuel), a union-supported Chicano (Jesus "Chuy" Garcia), and a black businessman (Willie Wilson). October 20 2014 Laquan McDonald is shot 16 times by a Chicago police officer, Jason Van Dyke, and killed. What a bummer for Mayor Rahm and his race. He needs the black vote. NOW what is he going to do? Quote:Police say Laquan McDonald had lunged at officers with a knife. There were other police officers there who knew the truth. None of them came forward. Quote:Nov. 4, 2014 Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez obtains the video and begins investigating the incident. Dec. 8, 2014 Journalist Jamie Kalven and Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago Law School professor, release a statement calling on Chicago police to release the dashcam video of the incident. Futterman and Kalven had been alerted to the video's existence by a whistleblower, who told them the video was "horrific". Officer Jason Van Dyke is put on desk duty at full pay. Chicago PD refuses to release the video. The County DA is still investigating, and so is the PD. Quote:Feb 2015 first vote for mayor (no majority) April 7 2015 runoff election A lot of Rahm Emanuels campaign money is going to black-community patronage. Emanuel wins. Quote:April 2015 The Chicago City Council approves a $5 million settlement with McDonald's family before they even file a lawsuit Right after Rahm is re-elected, the City Council votes to pay off Laquan's family. Because nothing makes trouble go away like money. Quote:March 2015 The Chicago Tribune files three separate Freedom of Information Act requests to Chicago's law department, the police department and the Independent Police Review Authority Board. All three requests are denied. April 2015 Officials also confirm that the FBI and the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois are conducting a criminal probe into Van Dyke. May 2015 A Burger King district manager tells NBC Chicago that he believes police deleted security footage from the restaurant that captured moments surrounding the incident, which McDonald's family attorney claims would have given some context for the shooting. In a statement at the time, the Independent Police Review Authority Board says it has no credible evidence to believe that police officers deleted footage. So, what about that Independent Police Review Authority Board? More later. Quote: May 26, freelance journalist Brandon Smith files a Freedom of Information Act request with the Chicago Police Department requesting the video, and the department asks him for an extension on his request until late July. About that Board ... Quote: July 25 2015 Chicago Just Fired An Investigator Trying To Hold Cops Accountable For Unjustified Shootings. The supervisor says he was requested to "change his findings" on three separate occasions. Of several hundred police shooting cases the IRPA has reviewed since its creation, only a few were found unjustified, the Chicago Reader reports. The supervisor complains that the Independent Board - which is a separate Department of the City of Chicago and reports to the City Council- is staffed primarily by civilians with long, close ties to the police department, and is not truly independent Was this a little pre-emptive housecleaning? The promised July deadline for the release of the video comes and goes. The Independent Board gets a little spruced up, and Officer Jason Van Dyke is still getting full-pay desk duty. Quote:August 2015 After Smith's Freedom of Information Act request is denied, he files a lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department to force them to release the video, claiming that the department is simply refusing to do so for public relations reasons. In a piece explaining why he's suing the city, Smith says that CPD told him they had denied at least 15 Freedom of Information Act requests for the footage. Why is this freelance reported the only one to file a lawsuit to obtain the video's release? Where's the rest of the press? The Chicoago Tribune and the remainder? Quote:Nov. 18, 2015 (Wed) The office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D) sends a letter to police saying that they cannot withhold the video, and saying that claims that releasing it would interfere with an ongoing investigation or jeopardize a fair trial are "unsubstantiated." She orders the Chicago PD to release the video no later than Wednesday Nov 25. And amazingly, HOURS before the mandated release of the video ... Quote:Tuesday, Nov 24, 2105 Jason Van Dyke is charged Tuesday with first-degree murder. And finally ... Quote:Nov 25 2015, Freelance reporter Brandon Smith, whose lawsuit over the summer forced release of Laquan McDonald video, is barred from news event So, what failed...? Hmm... Van Dyke, who ... 50 seconds into a scene, shoots a young man who is staggering away from him. The other on-duty police officers, who knew the truth but backed up the false claim that Laquan was "lunging" at them Rahm Emanuel, who chose to bury the incident rather than address it. The City Council who paid off Laquan's family without addressing the issue. Whoever is in charge of the Independent Review Board, for attempting to manipulate the board even more than its already manipulated, by painting one of its members as a "troublemaker" and an "outlier" (Very similar to the LAPD review board.) The Chicago PD, for refusing multiple times to release the video under FOIA. Most of the "free press" who sat on their hands after their FOIA requests were denied, instead of filing a lawsuit. Most especially the District Atty's Office, which dragged its feet until the last POSSIBLE moment, before charging Van Dyke. -------- The entire Chicago PD-related city and county bureaucracy, from the the Mayor down thru the City Hall, the police officers up thru the PD officialdom, the "free press" thru the Police union, closed ranks. If it had not been for one Uber-using freelance journalist and one judge, none of this wold have come to light. Van Dyke would probably still be on desk duty, and the DA's office would still be dawdling with their charges. Personally, I think everyone involved- from Rahm Emanuel all the way down to the beat cops who closed ranks - should resign. Not gonna happen, tho. -------------- You can't build a nation with bombs. You can't create a society with guns.
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