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The State
| *Warning: the following article contains news mostly taken from mainstream sources. Apologies if any of the statements contained below misrepresent John T. Williams life in any way.
In the last week alone, 5 people were killed in “officer-involved” shootings in the Puget Sound region. On August 31, John T. Williams became the first of this last string of killings by police. John Williams, age 50, was a native man from the Dididaht, Nuu Chan Nulth nation on the west coast of Vancouver Island. He was shot four times in the chest by Seattle police officer Ian D. Birk, age 27.
The police say that Ian D. Birk shot Williams from a distance of at least 9 feet after Williams did not put down a knife as told to by police. According to Williams' family he was deaf in one ear and partially deaf in another. At the time of his death Williams was carving. A photo of the knife recovered by police show the blade is 3-inches -- a knife that is legal to carry in Seattle. |
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| Welcome to Chile, society of jails and jailers.
This past Saturday the 14th of August, in the cities of Santiago and Valparaíso, an action coordinated by police of all types (special task forces) violently raided three squatted social centers and many private homes in fives communes. The police intimidated people with weapons of war, broke windows and doors, and took many personal items with them from all of the houses.
14 people were detained being informed of the reason for their detention for three hours.
Later? Six people were released on probation for lack of evidence against them. As for the people that remained imprisoned, they were put in isolation cells in maximum security jails where they were awaiting a 180 day long investigation process and potentially a 20 year sentence for alleged illegal terrorist association. They have alleged that these people were involved in making and blowing up the bombs that have erupted lately in the capital. According to the prosecutor, this association was a hierarchical organization directed by key ringleaders. |
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| From the Arctic Circle Collective.
At 4:15 PM today, a Seattle cop shot to death a man whose identity has not yet been released.
According to mainstream media, the cop claims he confronted a man who was sitting and whittling with a knife on the corner of Howell and Boren. The cop claims the man stood up and refused to drop the knife; the cop then fired three to five shots, killing the man. The only witness quoted other than the killer cop says the victim had no knife.
Cops are liars and do plant evidence—we see no reason to believe the cops’ claim that the victim was holding a knife. But we would be missing the point to focus so narrowly. After all, we know all know well that cops are experts at using violence to escalate simple situations—like whittling or jaywalking. Cops believe, often correctly, that they will ultimately get away with any attack—even murder. And so they pepper spray, taser, beat, stomp, and shoot, wielding violence to maintain the systematic order of misery in which we find ourselves—to keep us under control. But as their attacks become more apparent to more people, even mainstream news internet comments (typically rather conservative) have begun to question their authority to do so. Here is a selection of comments from the PI coverage: |
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| From The Star
It resembled a scene from a dystopian Hollywood movie.
The date was Sunday, June 27 and the setting was Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave. A crowd of about 200 people stood huddled beneath dark grey skies, drenched from the pouring rain. They looked frightened yet defiant.
Forming a tightening black circle around them were hundreds of riot police. One by one, they picked people off and arrested them.
This was the image on television sets across the city. Among those watching was Bill Blair, Toronto’s chief of police.
The G20 summit would be the biggest security operation of the chief’s career. But from June 25 to 27, his presence was minimal inside the Major Incident Command Centre — the beating heart of Toronto’s security operations. |
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| From Modesto Anarcho
Last night, police and secruity guards had to eject people calling for an investigation into the police murder of 16 year old James Riveria at a city council meeting. James was killed by Stockton police in July after a high speed chase that ended with a van crashed into a house in a residential neighborhood. Chants of "No Justice, No Peace!" filled the halls and City Council members rallied police to remove those chanting, including Riveria's family.
Police continue to paint James as a violent criminal (although when we escaped from juvenille hall, he was only in minimum secruity), even though it was the Stockton Police who raided James home the day before his murder, telling his family that they "would be going to a funeral." This struggle continues to unfold and be sure to stay tuned to this blog for more updates.
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| On Wednesday July 28th, , 5 Police Officers of K5 (criminal investigation department – political Police) accomplished a house search at 'black mosquito – anarchist mailorder' in “Senffabrik” (house project) in order to find stickers which allegedly “call for incendiarism”. The degree of penalty for this is at least 1 year jail sentence.
The sticker shows a stylized police car with a stylized flame and the headline: “burn a car!” - police found 18 copys.
Into the bargain, 2 hours later a court case took place against the same person which is indicted to distribute these stickers. |
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| From Conspiracy Tour
Chicago Police said that the Conspiracy Tour "came on their radar" and demanded that DePaul Law School hire private security to "keep us contained" during our puppet show and presentation. The school agreed, and was going to charge us for the privilege of our own repression!
We say no thanks to that--we're here to argue that people should not let the state contain them, no matter how much repression they try to unleash on us. And that is why we have the state running scared.
So we're moving! The event tomorrow (7/28) will be at 7pm at Locked Out, 3951 W. Fullerton St. in Logan Square. |
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| From KTVU
SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco Police Department will launch a new, 6-month pilot program to train civilians to investigate some non-violent, non-emergency crimes, a police spokesman said Monday.
The Police Department plans to begin hiring 15 civilians for the pilot program in January 2011, police spokesman Albie Esparza said.
The civilians will be trained at an academy and in the field and will be subjected to a background check before they hit the streets.
They will respond to non-violent calls for service, such as reports of burglaries, which are not considered a priority, Esparza said. |
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| From Mostly Everything
Wednesday afternoon, a dozen or so of us journeyed one last time(hopefully!) to Petersburg, Indiana with Gina (Tiga) and Hugh to sign the plea agreement that was offered by the prosecution. The plea was accepted by the court, and thus begins the end of this insane situation.
As has been the case with other court appearances, the event was far from serious. Rather, it felt fun and social as we played games and told jokes in the courtroom while waiting for the judge to arrive. But that doesn't mean it was all easy, as it was still really emotionally difficult hearing our friends state "guilty" when asked how they plead.
Details of the Agreement: Hugh and Gina each pled guilty to 2 counts of trespassing (class A misdemeanor) and were each sentenced to two years non-reporting probation and a $10 fine, plus court costs. According to the deal, if they don't violate their terms of probation, they will be able to move to have it terminated at 15 months and this motion will be accepted. |
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| From RNC 8
July 20th: Dinner = Good. Jail = Bad.
Join us for a free meal prepared by the RNC 8 and friends, Tuesday, July 20th. This is a great opportunity to stop on by to enjoy tasty free food and continue to show your support over the summer as we prepare for a trial in the fall.
As always, gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian options will be available.
When: Tuesday, July 20th
Time: 6:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Where: 3104 16th Ave S. (Walker Church basement) |
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