BREAKING: Maryland DA Charges Six Cops In Custody Death Of Freddie Gray

Charges include second-degree murder, manslaughter, assault, and police misconduct.

Tweet Of The Day

Baltimore Protests Spread To Manhattan

Via AM New York:

Several hundred vocal demonstrators marched through Manhattan streets Wednesday night to protest the death of a Baltimore man in police custody that has sparked widespread riots and looting across Maryland’s largest city. Police said dozens were arrested throughout the evening in Manhattan after they resisted officers trying to keep them on sidewalks and off streets clogged with rush-hour traffic. A demonstration that began peacefully in Union Square at about 6 p.m. with signs and demands for an end to police brutality got increasingly aggressive as the sun set and more people joined the protest. “Our streets,” the protesters shouted at NYPD officers trying to contain them. Demonstrators said the death of Freddie Gray, 25, after his arrest by Baltimore police April 19 led them to take to Manhattan streets Wednesday night.

NYPD Caught Making Dozens Of Edits To Wikipedia's Police Brutality Entries

Capital New York has the scoop:

Computers operating on the New York Police Department’s computer network at its 1 Police Plaza headquarters have been used to alter Wikipedia pages containing details of alleged police brutality, a review by Capital has revealed. “The matter is under internal review,” an NYPD spokeswoman, Det. Cheryl Crispin, wrote in an email to Capital after examples of the changes were presented to the NYPD.

The edits and changes were linked to the NYPD through a series of Internet Protocol addresses, or IP addresses, which can be publicly tracked by various websites. (Here, for example, is one website that shows a number of IP addresses registered to the NYPD.) IP addresses can locate where a computer is when it connects to the Internet.

Computer users identified by Capital as working on the NYPD headquarters' network have edited and attempted to delete Wikipedia entries for several well-known victims of police altercations, including entries for Eric Garner, Sean Bell, and Amadou Diallo. Capital identified 85 NYPD addresses that have edited Wikipedia, although it is unclear how many users were involved, as computers on the NYPD network can operate on the department’s range of IP addresses.

Hit the link for examples of the changes.

FLORIDA: Fort Lauderdale Cop Suspended After Abusing Homeless Man

Via the Miami Herald:

A Fort Lauderdale police officer was “relieved of duty with pay” Monday afternoon after a video surfaced on YouTube showing the officer pushing and slapping a homeless man at a Broward bus terminal, Fort Lauderdale police confirmed Monday night. The video, posted by chitownchico87able, shows the officer — being identified by WSVN-7 as Victor Ramirez — throwing the man, identified by police as Bruce Laclair, to the ground. The officer can be seen sporting bright blue gloves and holding Laclair’s arm before throwing him to the ground. “Relax. I am telling you right now what’s going to happen,” he said as Laclair, wearing gray sweats, sat on the ground. “I’m escorting you out right now. You are not going to go pee. You are not supposed to be here.” The officer tells him to get up and then he can be seen slapping him in the face. Laclair falls over. “I’m not fucking around with you. Don’t fucking touch me,” he said. “Put your hands behind your back.” The incident unfolded Monday at the Broward Central Bus Terminal off Broward Boulevard and Andrews Avenue Monday.

If not for the YouTube user, nobody would know about it.

Pussy Riot - I Can't Breathe

From their clip description:

Pussy Riot's first song in English is dedicated to Eric Garner and the words he repeated eleven times before his death. This song is for Eric and for all those from Russia to America and around the globe who suffer from state terror - killed, choked, perished because of war and state sponsored violence of all kinds - for political prisoners and those on the streets fighting for change. We stand in solidarity. Pussy Riot's Masha and Nadya are being buried alive in the Russian riot police uniforms that are worn during the violent clashes of police and the protesters fighting for change in Russia. A pack of "Russian Spring" brand cigarettes is on the ground at the beginning. "Russian Spring" is a term used by those who are in love with Russia's aggressive militant actions in Ukraine, and the cigarettes are a real thing.

Jon Stewart On Eric Garner

Via Gothamist:

Sharing the same outrage that many felt after an NYPD officer was not indicted for choking Eric Garner to death, a disgusted Jon Stewart appeared on The Daily Show last night. He said, "I honestly don't know what to say. If comedy is tragedy plus time, I need more fucking time. But I would really settle for less fucking tragedy to be honest with you." He also pointed out there's video with Garner's death, whereas with Michael Brown's death in Ferguson, Missouri, there were conflicting witness accounts and forensics, "None of the ambiguities of the Ferguson case exist here in the Staten Island case... the guy's not acting threatening, and we know that not through witness testimony, unreliable bystanders, but because we are fucking watching it."

UPDATE: The clip has been pulled. Watch it here.

Sen. Rand Paul Blames Cigarette Taxes For The Death Of Eric Garner

(Via Igor Volsky at Think Progress)

Tomorrow's New York Daily News

Eric Holder To Launch Justice Department Probe Into Death Of Eric Garner

Via The Hill:

Attorney General Eric Holder announced Wednesday night that the federal government is launching a civil rights investigation into the chokehold death of Eric Garner, a black man who was killed by a white police officer in July. A New York grand jury decided earlier in the day that it would not charge the officer. “Our prosecutors will conduct an independent, thorough, fair and expeditious investigation,” the outgoing attorney general said. The Justice Department had been monitoring the case since Garner was killed in July, Holder noted, but waited to initiate a probe until the local investigation concluded. Federal investigators will also review the material used by local law enforcement in the case. Holder said that he had spoken to Garner’s widow, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, and President Obama about the investigation. A statement from Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) indicated that Loretta Lynch, Obama’s nominee to replace Holder and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, would lead the probe.

Obama Reacts To Garner Decision

De Blasio Urges Calm As Protests Over Garner Decision Are Planned Citywide

From his press release:

“Today’s outcome is one that many in our city did not want. Yet New York City owns a proud and powerful tradition of expressing ourselves through non-violent protest. We trust that those unhappy with today’s grand jury decision will make their views known in the same peaceful, constructive way. We all agree that demonstrations and free speech are valuable contributions to debate, and that violence and disorder are not only wrong – but hurt the critically important goals we are trying to achieve together. The grand jury is but one part of the process. There will still be an NYPD internal investigation. And we know the US Attorney is continuing her investigation. Should the federal government choose to act, we stand ready to cooperate."

Protests will take place tonight in Times Square, Union Square, and other areas with more planned for tomorrow. De Blasio has elected to skip tonight's tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center where the police presence has been "significantly strengthened."

UPDATE: A die-in is underway at Grand Central.

STATEN ISLAND: No Charges For NYPD Officer Who Choked Black Man To Death

Eric Garner's crime was selling loosies. Using chokeholds to bring down a suspect is against NYPD policy.

Iranian Leader Uses Ferguson To Denounce Race Relations In United States

Missouri Police Release Name Of Shooter

Via PBS NewsHour:

Police announced Friday morning that Darren Wilson is the officer who is being investigated in the shooting of Micahel Brown. In a halting and sometimes disorganized statement, Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson announced that his department was releasing details of a strong-arm robbery that had occurred in the area prior to the shooting of Michael Brown. Police were responding to a 911 call about the robbery when they encountered Mr. Brown. No details about the officer’s or Mr. Brown’s actions were released during the press conference. Packets containing some information requested by the press through FOIA were distributed at the statement.

New Yorkers Protest Missouri Shooting

President Obama Calls On DOJ & FBI To Investigate Missouri Shooting, Denounces Police For Bullying Journalists, Urges Calm

President Obama made a statement this afternoon on the continuing chaos in Ferguson, Missouri.

President Obama said Thursday that he tasked the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate the circumstances that led to the shooting of an unarmed black teen in a St. Louis suburb that prompted violent protests and tension between police and the community. Obama, who was speaking from Martha’s Vineyard where his family is vacationing, said he was updated on the events in Ferguson by Attorney General Eric Holder, and the federal government will work with local authorities to see that "justice is done."

The president kept a measured tone and urged calm. He said that law enforcement officials on the ground should not be arresting journalists and allow protesters to form peacefully, but also told protesters that they should not target police officers. "There is never an excuse for violence against police or those who would use this tragedy as a cover for vandalism or looting," Obama said. He also urged police transparency in the investigation, which has been criticized by protesters.

PITTSBURGH: Investigation Launched After Cop Punches Teen Girl At Pride Fest

A Pittsburgh police officer has been placed on administrative duty pending an investigation after he was caught on video punching a teenage girl who had been confronting Christian protesters during the city's gay pride event.

According to the criminal complaint, Ariel Lawther was fighting with a man named Eric Moore. The officer involved said when he went to break the fight up, he was pushed and kicked. The complaint stated that the officer, “pulled the woman out and grabbed her hair and punched her in the stomach a few times.” Channel 11’s Pamela Osborne spoke with Jenny Kenny who recorded the alleged incident. From the very beginning, he grabbed her neck and he shouldn’t have done that,” said Kenny. Channel 11’s Rick Earle reported that sources say the woman involved was arrested and is facing several charges, including resisting arrest. Lawther posted $5,000 bail and has since been released from the Allegheny County Jail. Lawther’s family said she plans to take the incident to a lawyer.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto: "I just want to reassure the people that this is a new day. We won't look the other way when incidents like this happen, and we want to assure everybody -- and that includes both the public and the police -- that we want fairness. We will work diligently to make sure that justice is not delayed and that we will be able to proceed over the next month to find out exactly what happened, and to take the proper action."

Witnesses claim that the girl did not assault the police officer. A much longer clip surfaced yesterday afternoon, but bystanders block the beginning of the incident.

RUSSIA: Cossacks Whip Members Of Pussy Riot At Sochi Demonstration

NBC News reports:

Russian Cossacks used whips and pepper spray Wednesday to attack members of Pussy Riot, the protest punk band opposed to President Vladimir Putin, a filmmaker traveling with the band said. The filmmaker, Simon Ostrovsky, said on Twitter that members of the band were putting on their trademark colorful balaclavas, getting ready to do a song in downtown Sochi, when they were jumped. The Associated Press reported that police arrived and questioned witnesses but made no arrests. One male member of the band was left bloodied after the attack by the Cossacks, militia sometimes used by Russian authorities to patrol streets, the AP said. On Tuesday, police in Sochi detained two members of Pussy Riot for several hours to question them about a theft at their hotel. They were released and left a police station singing and raising their fists.

Russians and ugly Americans are cheering the attack at the below YouTube clip.

UPDATE: The original clip by Russia Today has been yanked, doubtlessly at the demand of the government. Here's the same video from Britain's Telegraph.


UPDATE II: The IOC doesn't seem very bothered.

IOC Backs Arrests Of LGBT Activists

Yesterday dozens of LGBT activists were arrested across Russia for staging pro-gay demonstrations. While in custody, one of the activists arrested in Moscow's Red Square tweeted that Russian police had beaten them and threatened them with sexual assault. Which the IOC apparently has no problem with.

The International Olympic Committee has said Russia was acting in accordance with its laws when police detained 14 protesters in Moscow and St Petersburg on the day of the Olympic opening ceremonies. Some of those held in Moscow report being beaten while in police custody. “We understand that the protesters were quickly released,” Emmanuelle Moreau, the IOC’s head of media relations, said in an email to BuzzFeed. “As in many countries in the world, in Russia, you need permission before staging a protest. We understand this was the reason that they were temporarily detained.” The speed of the police response in both cases made organizers believe police may have been tapping their phones to monitor their movements. Russian police arrested at least 61 protestors nationwide on Friday — some protesting for causes other than LGBT rights — according to a count by the New York Times.