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Tag Archives: racial profiling

Hard Knock Radio: Matt Nelson On the Current State of Police Terrorism and Targeted Communities

16 Tue Aug 2016

Posted by ztnh in Anti-Fascism, Free Speech, Mindfulness, Police State, Political Science, Racism (phenotype), Sociology

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"Nas", Beyoncé, Boyle Heights (Los Angeles), Davey D, Frank Jude (b. 1978), Hard Knock Radio, Jonas Pate, Justice 4 Mario Woods Coalition, KPFA, Mario Woods, Matt Nelson (Presente.org), North Side (Milwaukee), Pacifica Radio Network, police brutality, police terrorism, Presente.org, racial profiling, Sellassie, Sherman Park (Milwaukee)

CopWatchCoverflickrA_SynLUMPENPROLETARIAT—On today’s edition of Hard Knock Radio, Davey D spoke with social justice worker Matt Nelson (Presente.org, Executive Director) about the current state of American police culture, which is often callous, violent, and deadly towards the general public, particularly lower-income communities.  Even when people are cooperative to a fault, they often end up dead once in police custody.  Racial profiling (and socioeconomic profiling) in policing is clearly an important factor in determining how one will be treated, or targeted, by police forces.

Matt Nelson described how police unions control police budgets and, thus, wield power to obstruct or ignore reforms legislated to curtail extrajudicial killings, police brutality, and other abuses of power by police:

“So, [police unions are] able to control huge percentages of city budgets.  And, unless we are able to shift that money into stabilising programmes, jobs, housing, basic needs and real safety, and unless we’re able to push back and fight back on the police union power, we’re not able to, we won’t be able to, change police culture.”

Matt Nelson has been on the copwatch beat for years. [1]  And his experience as a social justice worker allows him to provide us with a broad analysis of police culture, move beyond the immediate trauma of the latest killings by police, and demonstrate the consistently adversarial stance police agencies and their unions often take against civic and community leaders, who try to reign in their abuses of power.  Listen here. [2]

Messina

***

[Working draft transcript of actual radio broadcast by Messina for Lumpenproletariat and Hard Knock Radio.]

MattNelsonEDofPresente

Matt Nelson (Presente.org, Executive Director, since August 8, 2016)

HARD KNOCK RADIO—[16 AUG 2016]  [Greg Bridges introduces the show’s programme.]  “What’s happenin’, folks?  Today on Hard Knock Radio, Davey D talks with activist Matt Nelson about the recent murder by police in Milwaukee and police cultures around the country.  Later, Davey and Dr. Pete talk about health practices.  That’s coming up after these News Headlines.  (c. 1:45)

[News Headlines (read by Mark Mericle) omitted by scribe]  (c. 8:45)

DAVEY D:  “Davey D, Hard Knock Radio, hangin’ out wit’ you this afternoon.  Here, in Downtown Oakland, I ran into a good friend of the show, a good friend of ours.  His name is Matt Nelson.

“We knew a lot of his work from Color Of Change and just being an all-around activist.  He co-authored the book about Ferguson with Jamala Rogers.  And he, incidentally, happens to be from Milwaukee, where a lot of attention is being spent on.

“Matt, the other day, penned an incredible article.  And I’m always one to suggest that we have a historical understanding, an institutional understanding of what’s happening, otherwise we wind up saying the same thing, reinventing the wheel.  And we miss very key points, especially if they have policies, that are still in place, if they have key players, that kind of agitate certain situations.  We may forget their names and just start building without necessarily addressing.

“And one of the things Matt did in his article was he reminded folks about this crazy incident, that happened in Milwaukee ten years ago.

“And, so, when you see unrest taking place in Milwaukee today, it makes sense, if you understand what took place when you were really organising on the ground there.

“So, welcome to the show, Matt.  And, first of all, how are you doing?” (c. 10:18)

MATT NELSON:  “I’m doing well.  Thanks so much for having me and your great work.”

DAVEY D:  “First of all, let’s talk about what was going on in Milwaukee ten years ago, maybe a little bit longer.”

MATT NELSON:  “M-hm.  2006 was in incredible time of organizing in Milwaukee.  As a lot of people may be familiar, that was the year where massive immigrant rights demonstrations were happening in Milwaukee, in Chicago, with tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people.

“And it was also mass mobilisation in Milwaukee’s black community around the acquittal of the multiple officers, who beat Frank Jude within an inch of his life.”

DAVEY D:  “And who was Frank Jude?”

MATT NELSON:  “Frank Jude was a young man, who was at a party, which was in Bayview, which is a white enclave of Milwaukee.  And Milwaukee is, of course, always one of the most segregated cities in the country.  (c. 11:15)

“So, Frank Jude, a black man at a white party, that happened to be hosted by an officer, who was off duty.  And Frank was getting a lot of attention at the party.  He was very charismatic, very active—”

DAVEY D:  “Gregarious.”

MATT NELSON:  “Yeah; yeah.  He was a gregarious person.  And the officers didn’t appreciate that.  So, they claimed that Frank stole a wallet from the party.  And it escalated from there.  And it ended up being more than a dozen officers, who beat on Frank Jude repeatedly, and off-duty officers, plain-clothes officers.

“And it was a public torture of Frank.  He suffered multiple fractures of his face and just a lot of other torturous activities.

“In the article, I point to the ringleader of the cops, who was known for his other forms of brutality.  He was known for choking somebody, killing multiple people.  He ordered a new cop, a rookie cop, to take his fountain pen and stab it in the ear of Frank Jude.  When the cop hesitated, the officer ordered him.  And, then, when the new officer continued to hesitate, the ringleader took the pen and stabbed it in both of Frank’s ears, where he was lying on the ground bleeding from his ears and from his face.  He had been slashed with a knife and just stomped on from head to toe.  (c. 12:45)

“The thing about that case is; that happened in 2004.  And it actually didn’t break news until weeks later.  It was a massive, massive police cover-up.  It wasn’t until the early part of 2005, where the news started to cover it.

“And then, from there, seven officers were charged.  But they all were acquitted in 2006, which sparked thousands and thousands of people to take to the streets of Milwaukee.

“Again, this—and it—you know, we saw a lot of unity there.  We saw a lot of black unity with Milwaukee’s North Side unified with Milwaukee’s South Side, which is a Latino neighborhood.

“And, so, on that day of protest, after a week of protests after Frank Jude‘s—the people, who nearly killed him, were acquitted, every body was out on the streets.”  (c. 13:32)

DAVEY D:  “So, how does this connect now?  You know?  Because understanding what took place there, the climate, that existed, the brutality, the cover-ups.  We know that there has been a lot of work to do—police reform.  But how do you see it over those past ten years?”

MATT NELSON:  “So, the organising has the power to bring a substantial policy shift to the city, to how policing happened.  And, so, they went through all their regular motions, that we see.  There was federal oversight.  There was DOJ intervention.  There was a strengthening of the civilian review board. [3]

“So, it seemed like there was a police monitoring similar to how Oakland has it.  There seemed to be reforms, that were actually voted on, passed, and began to be implemented.  That actually resulted in—well, what they didn’t cover was changing police culture and changing police budgets.

“So, while the reforms are in place on paper, police unions, who hold the power of the culture of police, didn’t comply.  They didn’t comply.  They fought the [police] chief.  They fought the mayor.  And you saw a break of the chain of command in that the public had won these policy reforms.  But the police culture, that incentivises brutality and that funds—and then the funding streams, that fuel that culture of violence were not addressed.”  (c. 15:06)

DAVEY D:  “And that seems to be the case, not just in Milwaukee, but all over.”

MATT NELSON:  “Right.”

DAVEY D:  “I mean we see that in San Francisco most egregiously, where they recently put out an ad or a picture in their newsletter with a black and white dog and talked about all labs, or labradors, matter.  And it seemed to flaunt in the face of attempts to reform, you know, whether it’s coming from the mayor or the city council, or I mean, in their case, supervisors.  It seemed to flaunt that they’re not gonna do that.

“We’ve seen ’em show up a hundred, a hundred-and-fifty deep to police commission meetings and storm out like troopers.  And we see that resistance, obviously, in New York City.  We see that in Oakland.

“So, these unions, there’s never been any bringing them to task?”  (c. 16:00)

MATT NELSON:  “Police unions control the culture in police departments.  And, also, the power of police unions controls the budgets of law enforcement.

“And, so, so much money is being—”

DAVEY D:  “Through their political power, they scare politicians.”

MATT NELSON:  “So, they’re able to control huge percentages of city budgets.  And, unless we are able to shift that money into stabilising programmes, jobs, housing, basic needs and real safety, and unless we’re able to push back and fight back on the police union power, we’re not able to, we won’t be able to, change police culture.

“And, in Milwaukee, we see an example of this.  Through the leadership of the police union, the police department is asking for $28 million more dollars this year in their budget to support things like weapons and intensified policing, when really there should be an effort to move that money into other programmes.”

DAVEY D:  “Do you have an understanding of how that can happen?  You talked about this unity, this black-brown unity.  We’re starting to see that, in terms of how people have been gelling together around police brutality incidents.  We’ve seen this in San Francisco, where they had a [marrying] of Latino organisations in the Justice 4 Mario Woods Coalition. [4]  We’ve seen concerted efforts, here, in Oakland as well.  And, you know, you talked about this happening in Milwaukee.  How do you see that now?  And, especially, in lieu of what we saw, a very highly publicised, very similar type of shooting, that took place in Los Angeles with Jesse Romero, maybe about a week or so ago?” [5]  (c. 17:44)

MATT NELSON:  “These are two recent examples, that are gonna be a test on whether or not communities can elevate and get together.  The Boyle Heights example and Milwaukee—you know, Milwaukee’s south side, Latino neighborhoods need to come out.  Latino organisers need to come out and support what’s goin’ on in Sherman Park and the North Side and show up.  I think that’s the first step.

“People have to show up, show their solidarity, and, from the Latino community, be really clear that our interests are met when police stop killing black people, that our interests are met when there is true safety in all of our neighborhoods.

“And the same with Boyle Heights, another very much segregated area in L.A..  And it’s gonna be up to Boyle Heights to show the same type of commitment and passion to stopping police brutality, that we see from our brothers and sisters in the movement for black lives.  (c. 18:47)

“So, one is, like, showing up in solidarity.  The other one is showing the leadership and the commitment to police accountability, greater community control over police, that we’ve seen in a lot of the uprisings in black communities across the country.”  (c. 19:04)

DAVEY D:  “How do people deal with the concerted efforts to divide and conquer?  And we see this in terms of—in some cases, some of the people, that have been killed by black folks, including the one in Minneapolis, Latino officers.  Sometimes it’s black officers.  Sometimes, it’s insensitivity.

“And then there’s the on-the-ground stuff, that happens behind the scenes, you know, the disrupting of peace attempts by police, which you often hear gangs, or organised tribes, street tribes, talk about that their peace efforts were undermined.  And you hear this over and over again, whether it’s in Newark or L.A. or you pick a city.  And I often talk about police spend a lot of time trying to disrupt these attempts at unity.

“How do we start to move beyond those attempts?”  (c. 19:58)

MATT NELSON:  “And that’s always gonna be a pressure, is to divide, is to get your own at the expense of others.  And one of the important things is to be truthful and bold and courageous around what we’re saying about these things.  You know?

“There’s also always a pressure to criminalise the victims, to criminalise the corpses, and to wait for the ideal person to get killed by police, this ideal form of innocence.  And I think we really have to push back on that, talk more about the systemic problem.  And, in Milwaukee, the example is this debate around: Oh, did he have a gun or not?

“But this case, like so many others, he was stopped in, what they’re calling, a routine traffic stop.  But everybody in that part of Milwaukee and Sherman Park.  knows that routine traffic stops are racial profiling.  They are targeting.  They are targeted attempts to, like, trip people up with tickets, to trip people up with bogus warrants, and extract money, to continue to surveil and harass and intimidate the entire black community.

“So, that’s the context.  This young man was stopped, probably, unlawfully.  And he was harassed by the police, like he, most likely, was dozens of times in the past.

“And we have to call that out.  We have to talk about how it’s that type of policing, that leads to situations, that can escalate to people getting killed.”  (c. 21:34)

DAVEY D:  “Right.  So, when people say: Well, if you have nothing to hide, nothing would happen.  That is very much—we found this is in the reports in Baltimore; we found this in the reports in Ferguson, you know, the DOJ reports—that it’s furthest from the case, that if you’re stopped it’s more than likely to be an unpleasant encounter.  And, if they can’t find anything, by the time they’re done, they will have found something, you know, if not, you will have been humiliated.

“So, it’s a thing where people try to avoid that at all costs no matter what.”

MATT NELSON:  “And, you know, I think there’s an important discussion to be had about policing.  And: What kind of policing do we need?

“You know.  The example in the NYPD, when they were getting tremendous pressure.  And the union ordered the police department to, not only, turn their back on the mayor, but to say: We’re only gonna do essential police work.  This is their words: “essential police work”.

“And the policing went down 90%.” (c. 22:35)

DAVEY D:  “Even the crime went down.”

MATT NELSON:  “And the crime went—no!  The actual policing went down, and the crime went down.  It was, like, one of the safest moments in New York history.

“So, if, by their own account, only 10% of what they do is ‘essential police work’, then cities should consider moving 90% of their budget into much needed services, that people can benefit from.”  (c. 23:01)

DAVEY D:  “And, in Milwaukee, where do you see things headed now?  You know?  What do you think people, from afar, could be doing?  You know?  How do we tie in local efforts, whether it’s here in Oakland and other places, to what we see unfolding in Milwaukee, so that it doesn’t become just the same old same-old.”

MATT NELSON:  “I think folks need to help tell the story.  They need to help tell the story of Milwaukee and help tell the story of a community, who is in struggle, a community who is trying to rebuild, and to also make sure that we are addressing the systemic issues with the police, police culture, police unions, police budgets because this goes far beyond policing.

“It does go into the conditions, the undervelopment, the neglect of a community.  And that ties back to policing.  If law enforcement, militarised law enforcement, take up so much of the city budget, Milwaukee could do a lot more.

“And, if police violence didn’t impact communities so deeply, not just the person who is killed, not just their family, but the entire apparatus, that leads to these incidences, which make communities unsafe, surveilled, targeted, constantly harassed, and that’s what young folks learn.  Young folks learn that the police are out to create a situation where, either, they are harmed or they are put into the mass incarceration apparatus.  And those are lessons, that people carry generationally.

“And, so, this is the moment where Milwaukee needs support, needs love, needs resources to be able to counter the really horrible media stereotypes and criminalisation that’s coming out of there; and really tell the story of the city as a whole, that’s been abused by the police at the individual level and at the societal level.”  (c. 25:20)

DAVEY D:  “That’s real talk.  Matt Nelson, we appreciate you taking time out this afternoon.  The work, that you’re currently doing allows you some of this leeway to start connecting dots.

“How do people get a hold of you?  And what is your org?”

MATT NELSON:  “Presente.org.  And to reach me at Matt@Presente.org.  ”

[End of Matt Nelson interview.]

[(c. 26:20) music break: hip hop song, “Cops Keep Firing” by Sellassie cites Kenneth Harding, Trayvon Martin, Donald Johnson, and others murdered or killed by police, or died while in the custody of police.]

“Cops Keep Firing” (2016) by Sellassie

“Frisco 5 March to City Hall” (circa MAY 2016)

“Cops Keep Firing” (2008) by Nas

“Don’t Shoot” by The Game (with Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, et al.)

[SNIP]

[Greg Bridges gives us the news that Bobby Hutcherson has died; and he encourages us, if we don’t already know, to bring some of his music into our lives.]

[SNIP]

Learn more at HARD KNOCK RADIO.

[This transcript will be expanded as time constraints, and/or demand or resources, allow.]

***

[1]  For example, see:  https://hardknockradio.wordpress.com

Also see the following recent Presente.org press release and relevant links (below):

Presente.org announces new Executive Director Matt Nelson, veteran organizer, to lead National Org.

Group continues to surge in growth and impact

Aug. 8, 2016

Presente.org, the nation’s largest online Latinx organizing group, announced Matt Nelson as its new executive director.  Nelson helped launch Presente in 2009, served as managing director of Presente for the past year, and is now taking over as executive director from Favianna Rodriguez and Oscar Chacón, who had served as interim executive directors.  Rodriguez and Chacón will continue serving as board members of Presente.

“Matt is well known as a tireless, dedicated, courageous and generous leader who is unafraid to take on the most powerful corporations, government officials, police unions, and media giants in the country,” said Rodriguez.  “He pours his heart and soul into the work of building a more just, equal and prosperous world for all of us.”

“Matt knows that to create lasting change, we need to create movements that are bigger than any one person or group,” said Chacón.  “He is the kind of rare leader who knows how to be strategic, focused and effective without compromising our ideals and values.  This combination of vision, strategy, and heart has shown up throughout his work as an activist and organizer.”

“Presente has an amazing team, an incredible community of members, and a powerful network of allies,” said Nelson.  “Now more than ever, our work is vital to protect the rights, safety, and well-being of Latinx communities.  At the same time, there are unprecedented opportunities to create meaningful and lasting power for Latinx people.  Presente is uniquely positioned to meet these challenges, and I’m honored and thrilled to lead the organization forward.”

Nelson, a Colombian-born Midwesterner, is a veteran Latinx organizer with deep experience building grassroots power in Latinx communities.  He has worked for years at the forefront of digital organizing, leading groundbreaking campaigns that have created real victories for Latinxs, Black people, refugees, workers, and other marginalized communities.

Inspired by his parents’ deep commitment to justice and fairness, Nelson worked as a journalist at a bilingual newspaper, ran a pizzeria in Milwaukee’s Southside, and worked for years as a grassroots organizer in Latinx and Black communities.  He advocated for police accountability, the rights of refugees, and helped mobilize people for the massive immigrant rights marches in 2006.  He also started several successful small businesses with innovative models that empower workers and give them ownership in the business.

Nelson helped lead ColorOfChange – the country’s largest Black online political organization – for five years.  As Organizing Director, Matt led the organization’s criminal justice, grassroots organizing, and member relations work, managing a team of campaign managers, associates, member services specialists, and contractors.  He played a critical role in many of the organization’s significant victories, and his efforts dramatically expanded ColorOfChange’s membership and fundraising capacity.  He also led ColorOfChange’s launch of several new online platforms for grassroots organizing and police accountability: IAmColorOfChange.org (now OrganizeFor), CopWatchNYC, and KilledByCops.

Just over a year ago, Nelson left his position at ColorOfChange to work on the first major book about the Ferguson Uprising – entitled “Ferguson is America: Roots of Rebellion” – and shortly thereafter became the Managing Director at Presente.

# # # # #

Presente.org is the nation’s largest online Latinx organizing group; advancing social justice with technology, media, and culture.

*

Also see:

  • “California Coalition Launches Groundbreaking New Campaign To Evaluate Legislators; Hold Them Accountable for Not Representing Their Districts”, press release by Courage Campaign, 5 APR 2016.
  • “At Flint Debate, Clinton and Sanders Avoid Talk of Environmental Racism” by Lisa Song, Inside Climate News, 8 MAR 2016.
  • “Coalition Delivered Over 130,000 Signatures to White House to Ban the Box”, press release by Color Of Change (Washington, D.C.), 26 OCT 2015.

[2]  Terrestrial radio broadcast, 94.1 FM (KPFA, Berkeley, CA) (also broadcast simultaneously across much of the national Pacifica Radio Network) with online simulcast and temporary digital archiving:  Hard Knock Radio, this one-hour broadcast hosted by Greg Bridges and Davey D, Monday, 16 AUG 2016, 16:00 PDT.  [For some unfortunate reason, Hard Knock Radio usually removes their digital archives from public access two weeks after the initial broadcast date.]

[3]  For more on civilian review boards, see “Citizen oversight“:

Citizen oversight is the act of an assembly of citizens, a form of citizen participation, who review government activities.  Activities may be deemed as government misconduct.  Members of the group are civilians and are external to the government entity.  These groups are tasked with direct involvement in the citizen complaints process and develop solutions to improve government accountability.  Responsibilities of citizen oversight groups can vary significantly depending on the jurisdiction and their ability to become influential.  Oversight should not criticize but improve government through citizen support for government responsiveness, accountability, transparency, and overall efficiency.

Proactive citizen oversight improves transparency and demands accountability at all levels of government.  Reporting and monitoring (financial records, performance measures, and open records,… etc.) are now regarded as fundamental governance responsibilities.  Citizen Advisory Boards are a way for citizens to be involved in government oversight. Other forms of government oversight include citizen committees, citizen panels, citizen juries, citizen initiatives, negotiated rulemaking, and mediation.  Citizen oversight shares similar aspects with Demarchy and the Jury system.

An effective citizen oversight committee is structured to take on the following responsibilities: create processes for risk governance, monitoring and reporting; create clear defined duties to improve effectiveness and avoid overlapping work; recruit/retain members that are knowledgeable and engaged about policy; develop critiques that result in improved service outcomes; assign oversight responsibilities to designated individuals or groups for specific government functions; and reviews rolls regularly.

Citizen oversight committees brainstorm ideas to improve transparency and create policy proposals.  Most proposals regarding citizen oversight have been with respects to police activities, healthcare, non-profit and private sector.  Proposals since the 1970s about police misconduct or government corruption have universally been met with resistance from authorities and did not gained much traction.

*

Also consider the following passage from a United States Commission on Civil Rights report on police misconduct in West Virginia:

“A civilian review board is an entity external to the police department’s internal affairs, and consists of citizens from outside the department, appointed by the mayor or other senior government officials. A civilian review board is generally charged with the duty of reviewing complaints and making recommendations as to disciplinary action after the police department has completed its own investigation and made a disciplinary recommendation.

“A civilian review board is usually charged with reviewing the same materials or a redacted version of what the internal affairs division examined, although a civilian review board could be given investigative power in order to conduct its own inquiry into the complaint. Such authority could include subpoena power, and the ability to administer oaths and compel the production of documents. The sufficiency of individual case files, and thus the accuracy of a subsequent review, may depend heavily on what information the board is given and whether it can supplement these files on its own initiative.

“A key concern with instituting a civilian review board has to do with how much weight the recommendation of the board is accorded by law, that is, how binding. The activities of the board may be symbolic, as it has indeed been suggested that civilian review boards end up “agreeing with the police department in almost all instances.”[citation link] The importance of the civilian review board, therefore, rests on whether the disciplining officer is forced to accept or to provide a public account of why the recommendation is not accepted. For civilian review boards to be effective, they should be provided the authority to override the recommendations of the police, although such prospects are somewhat unrealistic.

“A study of 17 law enforcement agencies found that citizen review boards sustain police brutality complaints at a higher percentage than do the police themselves, suggesting that such boards operate more fairly, although the “sustained” rate is only one means by which to measure possible success of civilian review boards.[citation link] It is important to note that it is unclear exactly what power the examined civilian review boards had, such as whether they could overrule the recommended sanctions of the internal affairs division.

“The suggestion of a civilian review board will likely be met by considerable opposition from the law enforcement community in West Virginia, as it has in the past.[citation link] External recommendations will be viewed not only as an imposition from outsiders who are less knowledgeable in police affairs, but as another bureaucratic layer that does not aid in securing a final disposition with the police. Opposition or resistance will be proportionate to the power accorded to a civilian review board.”

*

[4]  Mario Woods (killed by police, 2 DEC 2015, aged 26).  Also see:

  • “Beyoncé back up dancers held ‘Justice 4 Mario Woods’ sign at Super Bowl”, by Evan Sernoffsky, SF Gate, 7 FEB 2016.
  • “The Shooting of Mario Woods Brings Ferguson to San Francisco, Activists Say” by Katy Steinmetz, Time, 16 DEC 2016.
  • “SFPD Shooting Of Mario Woods ‘Could Have Ended Differently If We Had Tasers’ Says Chief” by Caleb Pershan, SFist, 7 DEC 2015.
  • “List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, December 2015”, Wikipedia, accessed 18 AUG 2016.

[5]  Jesse Romero (killed by police, 9 AUG 2016, aged 14).  Also see:

  • “Officer fatally shoots a person in South L.A. after an emotional Police Commission meeting” by Kate Mather, Los Angeles Times, 16 AUG 2016.
  • “Family of 14-year old boy shot by LAPD calls for release of body cam footage” by Ruben Vives and Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 12 AUG 2016.
  • “Suspect shot dead by police in Boyle Heights was 14-year-old boy, coroner says” by Veronica Rocha and Brittney Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 10 AUG 2016.

***

[17 AUG 2016]

[Last modified  15:43 PDT  19 AUG 2016]

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Police State Terrorism: The Murder of Alex Nieto

07 Mon Mar 2016

Posted by ztnh in Anti-Fascism, Mindfulness, Police State, Racism (phenotype)

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Benjamin Bac Sierra, Bernal Heights, Buddhism, City College of San Francisco, CopWatch, cowboy cops, Dennis Bernstein, Flashpoints, gentrification, Justice4AlexNieto, KPFA, Mission District (San Francisco), Pacifica Radio Network, Phillip Burton Federal Building, racial profiling, racial residential segregation, San Francisco, San Francisco Bay Area, Sergeant Jason Sawyer (SFPD), transcript

AlexNieto-ryns-wedding-3-copy1LUMPENPROLETARIAT  Some, such as Dr. Michel Chossudovsky, have argued that corruption, having reached saturation point, had now entered the age of inquisition, where the state openly kills in broad daylight, not by accident, but by design and with the intent to intimidate the general public and send a message of horror, to show the people what the state is now capable of doing.

Messina

 

JUSTICE FOR ALEX NIETO—[accessed 8 MAR 2016]  Who was Alex Nieto?

Alex Nieto was born and raised in the Bernal Heights and Mission districts. He was a beloved son and brother, and an active peaceful member of the community. He was an accomplished:

ryns wedding (3) - Copy

  • Full-time scholarship student at CCSF, earning a criminal justice degree and applying for transfer to a 4 year college program
  • Full-time security guard at El Toro nightclub
  • Provider for his family
  • Practicing Buddhist pacifist
  • Prior intern at the Youth Guidance Center’s Probation Department
  • Member of the Mission Peace Collaborative
  • Campaign volunteer in federal and local elections (Tom Ammiano, Bill Clinton, etc.)
  • Volunteer at youth organizations (Coleman Advocates, HOMEY, etc.)
  • Community event participant and organizer (Carnaval, poetry readings, etc)

Alex dreamt of helping guide youth in a positive direction, which is why he aspired to become a probation officer. He had a gigantic heart, and everyone loved him for his intellect, gentleness, and kindness.

Alex is survived by his loving parents and brother. [Learn more about the Nieto Family.]

SFPD MURDERED ALEX NIETO

On Friday evening, March 21, 2014, Alejandro “Alex” Nieto, 28 years old, was killed when he was struck by 14 to 15 bullets (of a total of 59 shots) fired by four San Francisco Police Department officers, on Bernal Hill Park, without justification. The officers who killed Alex Nieto are: Sgt. Jason Sawyer (then lieutenant), Officer Roger Morse, Officer Richard Schiff, and Officer Nathan Chew. (Read more about the 9 month struggle to obtain their names here.)

Alex was enjoying his dinner near a bench with a sunset view to Twin Peaks, dressed for his security guard shift with his licensed taser at his hip. He was also wearing his elegant new 49ers jacket, and minding his own business.

A dogwalker called 911 simply because he didn’t like the sight of this young Latino working class man on Bernal Heights. Police confronted Alex as he was walking downhill on his way out of the park, and killed him with two sequential volley of shots. The first volley took him down to the ground. The second volley of over ten shots killed him.

New Justice for Alex Nieto Banner!

A KEY FACT: NO THREAT REPORTED

Alex Nieto posed no threat to anyone on Bernal Hill on the clear sunset evening. A witness told reporters: “…he wasn’t threatening to me. He seemed like a guy just eating a burrito.” [Source: ABCLocal; SFBG]

In the 911 Call (narrated by Chief Suhr at the Town Hall Meeting) and in dispatch audio, Alex is simply described as eating sunflower seeds or chips with his taser “at his hip”, never drawn. He is never described as threatening anyone.

All the same, a battalion of officers was sent to the hill to confront him.

A Bernal Heights native, Alex routinely ate dinner in Bernal Park, before going to his security guard shift. He had been with his parents before going out.

WHAT WE BELIEVE HAPPENED: A POLICE COVER-UP

Greg Suhr refuses to release names of officers involved in Alex's shooting

Officers racially profiled Alex as a gangbanger exclusively based on his description as a Latino male wearing a red jacket. Racial profiling is illegal and a violation of civil rights.

Officers gave Alex no chance to respond to warning before they shot him to the ground with two or three shots. With Alex injured on the ground, officers decide—without any evidence of danger—to continue shooting at him, until he stopped moving. 59 bullets were fired.

This looks to us like an unjustifiable police murder —a deliberate execution— of an innocent man.

We also believe SFPD and the City and County of San Francisco are involved in a cover-up of an unlawful killing. We believe they fabricated a false narrative of events and have hid or tampered with evidence.

OPPOSING VERSION OF EVENTS:

WHAT CHIEF OF POLICE GREG SUHR SAYS HAPPENED*

WHAT FEDERAL CIVIL LAWSUIT SAYS HAPPENED**

* [Source: Chief Suhr, Town Hall Meeting 3/25/2014.] [Listen to KQED audio of Town Hall Meeting.] ** [Source: Civil Federal Lawsuit filed 8/22/2014. Read Case Status & original filings.]

EYEWITNESSES PRIOR TO SHOOTING

  • Alex is reported behaving erratically by eyewitnesses.
  • Witnesses recount seeing Alex at the park peacefully sitting alone on the bench enjoying his burrito.

911 CALL

  • 7:11pm: 911 dispatch receives a call reporting a Latin male adult with a red jacket, black pants, and a handgun on his hip, pacing near a bench close to a chain linked fence on Bernal Hill.
  •    7:14pm: Caller (who stays on the line while police arrive) reports Alex eating chips or sunflower seeds.
  •    7:18pm: Calling party hears shots fired by police.
  • A couple -Timothy Isgitt and Justin Fritz- called 911 and erroneously reported Alex as having a black gun on his hip.
  • Alex was carrying his licensed *holstered* taser.
  • The caller does not report that Alex is bothering anyone or posing any type of threat.
  • The caller simply reports Alex is walking near the bench, and eating.

THE TASER

  • Alex was wearing a holstered taser that looks like a gun.
  • When drawn, this type of taser emits a red dot.
  • Alex  was dressed for work, wearing a *holstered*, licensed taser, as part of his security guard uniform.

THE SHOOTING

  • A Sergeant and Officer from Ingleside are the first to arrive on scene.
  • Alex is engaged 75 feet away up a hill, with his back to the west, Officers looking towards horizon.
  • An SFPD Patrol car entered the park and drove up a fire trail before stopping approximately 75 to 100 feet away.
  • Alex at that time was casually walking down the trail to the Park’s entrance, with his hands in his pockets.
  • Two Officers emerged from the patrol car and immediately took cover using their car for protection.
  • Two other Officers arrive.
  • Several other Officers had also gathered on the jogging path, appeared to be carrying rifle-type guns and were positioned behind Alex. (i.e. not facing western horizon as SFPD says.)
  • Alex has his hands behind him. Officers asked him “to show his hands.”
  • Alex responded “you show me your hands.”
  • Alex drew his taser, and tracked officers with the red taser dot.
  • Officers shoot him.
  • Alex wounded, goes down in a prone and tactical position.
  • One of the Officers behind the patrol car called out and ordered Alex to “stop.”
  • Within seconds a quick volley of bullets were fired at Alex.

Ear and eye witness’ revelations say:

  • No additional orders or any other verbal communication was heard between the first Officer yelling “stop” and the initial volley of gunfire that rang out.
  • Alex did not threaten anyone nor verbally resisted Officers.
  • Alex did not attempt to grab or point any object at the Officers prior to being shot.
  • Alex falls to the ground after the initial shots.
  • Prone, wounded, and on the ground, Alex continues to “track” Officers with the red laser dot.
  • Eye witness’ revelations do not see Alex point any object at the Officers, before or after Officers shoot him to the ground.
  • Eye witness believes Alex to be mortally wounded after the initial shots, and says Alex falls over his hands.
  • Officers say they feared for their lives and shot him repeatedly, until he stopped moving.
  • After a brief pause of just a second or two, another barrage of shots were fired.
  • The Officers’ bullets struck Alex in his forehead and at least nine other places leaving his body grossly disfigured and mortally wounded.

THE AUTOPSY REPORT:

Nearly six months after Alex was killed, the Medical Examiner released an autopsy report that deems his death a homicide. The autopsy confirms fourteen to fifteen bullet wounds (one entrance wound is for two shots, therefore, at least 15 shots hit Alex.) Eleven out of the fifteen shots caused downward trajectory wounds. That is, eleven shots are fired from above Alex into his face, temple, chest, shoulders, and back. Seven of those shots are in a head to toe downward trajectory indicating that Alex was in a completely defenseless position when officers fatally wounded him. This could imply criminal intent and murder.

Please check our Diagram and Analysis of the Autopsy Report, for more information.

Alex Nieto Autopsy Side w Title_001

AUDIO:

Audio from a home security camera reveals TWO initial shots fired  (possibly a 3rd), followed by a 6 second pause. Then a continuous volley of at least 10 shots. (We now know that there was a total of 48 bullets fired at Alex.)

The pause between the first and second series of shots is relevant because officers made a deliberate decision to barrage Alex with the shots that actually killed him. This could imply criminal intent and murder.

Learn more at JUSTICE FOR ALEX NIETO.

***

[Partial transcript by Messina for Lumpenproletariat and Flashpoints] [2]

FLASHPOINTS—[7 MAR 2016]  Today, on Flashpoints, we update you in the federal civil trial of the murder of Alex Nieto by  San Francisco police.  Also, an update on Haiti with [Flashpoints] senior producer Kevin Pina.  And, later, we’ll hear from a Canadian writer and activist on Canadian general Roméo [Antonius] Dallaire and his prominence in Canadian national mythology.  My name is Mike Biggs, in for Dennis Bernstein.  All this, straight on Flashpoints. Stay tuned.  (c. 1:00)  [brief music break]

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “In Berkeley, I’m Dennis Bernstein.  You’re listening to Flashpoints on Pacifica Radio

“We turn our attention back to the police murder of Alex Nieto.  There is a federal trial taking place, right now, in San Francisco.  This is an incredibly important case, in which the police shot down—one more time—shot down somebody, who—I guess—they just felt like killing a person of colour.

“Joining us to talk about this situation is a spokesperson for the Justice4AlexNieto; his name is Ben Bac Sierra.  And he joins us from San Francisco.  It was a busy day in court.  And, I wanna hear all about that.

“But first of all, for people who don’t really understand what happened here, please set the scene.  (c. 01:42)

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “I will.  Thank you for inviting me to talk, Dennis.  Alex Nieto was a security guard, a City College of San Francisco student, a beloved son, community activist.

“He was a security guard who was going to work on Friday, March 21st of the year 2014.  He had bought a burrito and some chips.  And he was eating it at a very peaceful, beautiful place to enjoy the view called Bernal Heights, which was only one block away from his house.

“And, so, he had gone up there to relax, to meditate, to eat before what was, probably, going to be a pretty busy night at the nightclub where he worked as a security guard.  He was already dressed for work.  He was wearing black pants, his work boots.  And he also had his licensed Taser holstered at his hip.

“Now, the people who called the police on him do not even claim that Alex Nieto ever even looked at them.  But they called the police anyway because they thought Alex had a gun on his hip.

“And the police come in a military, tactical fashion, very aggressive.  And why did they come in such an aggressive fashion?  Well, even though Alex Nieto has done nothing wrong, they get over the radio a description that he is a Latino male, six-foot tall, wearing a red jacket.  And, with that description, they immediately profile Alex Nieto as a gang member, even though Alex Nieto has never been arrested in his life.  He has actually volunteered at the Juvenile Correctional Facility to help out youth.  I knew him very well.  He was a practicing Buddhist.

“He had no idea anybody had called the police on him.  He walks down the hill.  The police are approaching him in a very aggressive fashion.  In fact, we now know, based on the testimony in court, that they think they are cowboy cops.  They do not wait for any type of back up.  They actually bypass other police officers, that are near them.  And they go to kill whoever is on the hill that fateful, unfortunate night.

“They see Alex Nieto, a neutral witness claims, that Alex Nieto was casually walking.  The officer, the lead person in charge that evening, Sergeant [Jason] Sawyer, he actually claims when he sees Alex Nieto, Alex Nieto was eating from a bag of chips, walking down a hill.

“Now, you figure it out.  That, in no way, is any type of menacing figure, yet they jumped out of their car with their weapons drawn.  And the witness states that they simply shouted, Stop!, once.  Then, they immediately began firing.  (c. 5:06)

“And the testimony today is even more specific about what happened.  But that is the general story of what happened to Alex Nieto.  It is:  He was shot at 58, 59 times, struck at least 14 to 16 times.  And numerous of those shots were while Alex Nieto was face down on the ground.

“And, so, this is a fight, that we’re fighting, that we’ve been fighting for approximately two years now.  March 21st is coming up soon.  March 21st, and that will be the two-year anniversary of his killing.

“We made it to federal court.  And, so, this is a very rare event because we usually do not get this.  They dismiss the case.  Or they will settle out of court.  And, in this case, we actually get to hear the evidence, present it.

“And that’s what I’ve been doing for the past two days now in court. (c. 6:09)

“Yesterday, we had a rally with hundreds, if not a thousand, people in front of the federal court building in San Francisco. [1]  And we did poetry.  We did singing.  We had Aztec danzantes, Buddhist chanting.  And, so, this is a very beautiful, revolutionary moment.  We look forward to all of the evidence coming out.

“But I do have an update for you about the evidence.  But I’d like to ask you if you have any further questions.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “Yeah, well, let me come in here.  And, before we get the latest breaking news, I think it’s very important for people listening outside of San Francisco—and we broadcast across the country—that they understand the context here.  That there is an attack on the Mission District, this beautiful, historic Mission District, that is really a part of Central and Latin America, has played a very important role in the City.  People love the Mission District.

“But, of course, now a certain kind of 1% and the people working for the 1% are moving in.  So, there is a major battle going on, a major gentrification, all kinds of crazy fires, every kind of attempt to gentrify and get rid of the people who made the Mission what it is.  You want to talk a little bit about that?  The sort of, the social context.”  (c. 7:41)

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “Dennis.  Dennis, Alex Nieto was killed specifically because of gentrification.

“I did not fully explain the context of why somebody called the police.  Alright?  We have two new gentrifiers, new as a far as new to the neighborhood, who come into Bernal Heights.  And Bernal Heights was a working class, blue-collar neighborhood, full of African-Americans, Latinos, working class whites, Filipinos, Samoans, multicultural, diverse.

“Alex Nieto had lived there his entire life.  However, he was able to live there because of rent control.  Now, unfortunately, what happened is, starting in the ’90s, that area began to become gentrified.  And, not, it’s thought to be one of the most expensive places to live in the United States of America.  Places where you could buy a house, back in the ’70s, for $35,000 are now—the same, exact piece of property, the wood hasn’t changed, right, it’s not made of gold now—those same houses are now worth $1.7 million dollars.

“And, so, these new people came into the neighborhood.  And they see Alex Nieto.  And they think of him as being out of place.  And they end up calling the police because they have never had to have a security guard job.  They don’t understand.  What?  A Latino with a red jacket and he has a gun on his hip?  He’s not even facing them.  He’s actually peacefully eating a burrito.  But, supposedly, these people see him with his hand resting on his hip.

“And they, actually, they do not both see it.  Only one of them sees this.  And he tells his friend: Hey, did you see the guy with the gun?  His partner tells him:  No, I don’t see the guy.  I didn’t see a guy with a gun.  And the guy who supposedly saw the weapon first, he doesn’t even have the guts to call the police, himself.  He tells his friend:  Well, I saw a guy with a gun.  You call the police.

“This is total gentrification, racial profiling, and, unfortunately, it was part of the reason why Alex Nieto was killed because he was profiled by the people who called the police.  And he was also racially profiled by the police, who came and killed him.” (c. 10:20)

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “Let me also ask you to describe how the police treated the family of Alex Nieto.”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “Oh, what a horrible story.  A very horrible story, here, is that we what have is the police understanding immediately after they killed Alex Nieto, unjustifiably killed Alex Nieto.  Because right after they killed him, they knew that this man did not have a hand gun.  And they claimed that Alex Nieto—it seems like they were just concocting the story.  And we’re proving this right now.

“But I will go over what the police narrative is.  The police narrative is that this person, Alex Nieto, who has never been arrested in his life, who has less than two hours before he has to go to work, is walking down the hill.  And, notice here, the police officer, himself, Officer Sawyer, said:  He’s eating from a bag of chip.  This person, he’s eating from a bag of chips.

“Now, think about that.  When we think about a stereotypical person relaxing, we think about:  Well, that person is a stiff.  You’re on your couch, eating a bag of chips.  This person is walking down the hill, eating from a bag of chips.  There’s absolutely no reason to regard this person as a menace.  And this person, eating from a bag of chips, would have the mind set to, then, know that two officers, who jump out of their vehicle and point their weapons at him is going to, then, throw his bag of chips on the floor, go into his holster, point a weapon at them, and, you know, with a Taser, that doesn’t even fire more than 15 feet—and they’re supposedly 100 feet away—and he’s gonna do this.  Right?

“So, they immediately concocted this story.  And this was all in the mainstream media.  You have the police spokesperson saying:  The person who was killed in Bernal Heights had a gun.  They knew immediately that he did not have a gun.  The knew he only had a Taser.  And they knew immediately who he was.  (c. 12:32)

“Yet, it took them 18 hours to, I guess, think about what they were gonna say.  And try to find out as much dirt, as they could on Alex Nieto and try to go ahead and—18 hours later—go to the parents, and then begin to question the parents without an interpreter.  The parents speak only Spanish.  Without an interpreter, they go over there, start grilling them about Alex Nieto.  And, about 45 minutes into this interview, these very humble, beautiful people, the father ends up asking them.  He had invited them into the house already.  They start rummaging through the house, without a warrant.  And he asked them:  Why are you here?”  (c. 13:30)

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “The father asked the cops?”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “Why are you here? 

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “The father asked the cops.”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “Yes.  And it is only, then, that the police officers tell them.  Well, we’re here because your son was killed by the police.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “Wow.”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “And that is just horrific.  There is absolutely no justification for that.  But it leads to us.  It leads us to understand the totality of these circumstances, which is cover up.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “That’s right.”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “Cover up!  Cover up.”  (c. 14:03)

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “Alright.  Let me jump in here because we’re running out of time.”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “Yeah.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “We’re speaking with Ben Bac Sierra.”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “M-hm.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “We’re talking about a federal civil trial, that’s taking place in San Francisco now on behalf of the late Alex Nieto, who was gunned down, brutally, by police, a Buddhist, somebody who was actually interested in law enforcement—”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “Yes.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “—worked with young people, an upstanding member of the community, gunned down.  Give just—we only have a few seconds left.  But, what’s new in the—was it powerful in the courtroom?”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “What we understood is all of the officers, for one, are professional testifiers, even the rookie, who was on the stand, at the beginning of today.  He has claimed that he has testified already over 50 times.  His father is a San Francisco Police Department officer.  And this person is well-groomed on how to stay consistently accurate with concocted types of stories.

“Yet, we saw that the story is being broken down by excellent attorneys from the law offices of John Burris.  Adante Pointer noted that, very important here, the rookie officer, who first started firing at Alex, claims that he first started firing at Alex because Alex Nieto was walking purposely down; and he made eye contact with Alex Nieto.  He saw into his eyes and saw Alex was angry.  And he also saw his forehead scrunching.  Note, here, it was proven by the evidence today that Alex Nieto had sunglasses on!  And that he had a baseball cap on!  So, it would be impossible for him to have seen his forehead scrunching.  (c. 15:54)

“These are all pieces of evidence, that will show the inconsistency and the illogic; and also I have to say the physical evidence will also prove that the police are–just.  It’s impossible for us to believe their narrative.

“I invite you all, listening today, to follow on Justice4AlexNieto.org.

“You could also Google my name, Benjamn Bac Sierra.  I am posting daily updates about the specifics of the testimony.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “Alright.  Were gonna leave it right there.  But Ben Bac Sierra, we’re gonna stay in touch with you.  We appreciate the great work you’re doing.  And we will remember and celebrate the life and times of Alex Nieto, how he died.  And we will cover that moment when that justice comes.

“Thank you so much for being with us on Flashpoints.”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “Thank you, Dennis.  Have a great night.  Goodbye.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “Bye bye, now.”  (c. 16:52)  [SNIP]

[SNIP]  (c. 59:59)

Learn more at FLASHPOINTS.

[This transcript will be expanded, as time constraints allow.  Contact us to help transcribe important free speech radio broadcasts.]

***

[1] RALLY!  THE TRIAL: ALEX NIETO VERSUS THE SFPD, MARCH 1st, 2016

The rally was held on day one of the trial in front of the United States federal courthouse in San Francisco’s Civic Center at 450 Golden Gate Avenue.  The federal court building is also known as the Phillip Burton Federal Building.

[2]  Terrestrial radio transmission, 94.1 FM (KPFA, Berkeley, CA) with online simulcast and digital archiving:  Flashpoints, hosted by Dennis Bernstein, for Monday, 7 MAR 2016, 17:00 PDT.

***

[8 MAR 2016]

[Last modified 16:45 PDT  10 MAR 2016]

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