Pennsylvania: State of Embarrassment

Greetings from the Great State of Pennsyltucky!

Time was when Pennsyltucky used to only refer to the more rural "T" section of our Commonwealth, the place where guys like this reside. But, after the last couple of weeks, I think that we can agree that we're all Pennsyltucky now:

A Pittsburgh jury refuses to find fault with three police officers in a civil trial for doing this:

to honor student, Jordan Miles, who was simply walking down the block from his mom's house to his grandmother's house (no criminal charges were ever filed against the officers).

Allegheny County's GOP chair and former county executive Jim Roddey makes a joke that anyone who would vote for President Obama is "mentally retarded."

And, The Daily Show mercilessly (and rightfully) mocks our new Voter ID law. Jon Stewart shows the clip of House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) admitting that the new law was created to elect Mitt Romney. He also mentioned that the state's attorneys stipulated that there was no known cases of voter ID fraud in PA. However, he didn't mention that both our Governor and Secretary of State admitted they didn't actually know what's in the new law -- I guess they'd need to rename it Tragedy Central for that...

If you missed it last night, here's the clips:

Today: Rally for Justice for Jordan Miles and Trayvon Martin!

Via Facebook:

Taking A Stand Against Police Brutality and Injustice! 

Please join APA (Alliance for Police Accountability) for a rally to take a stand against police brutality and the murders of everyday citizens in America as we demand justice for Jordan Miles, Trayvon Martin and all of those who have fallen victim to gross injustice. 

When: Saturday, April 21 @ 1:00pm
Where: Mellon Park across from Bakery Square

Call D.A. Zappala @ 412-350-4400 and
Tell him to PROSECUTE the three officers that brutalized Jordan Miles OR RESIGN!

We want a world safe for our children and families! Help us create it by first taking a stand and demanding it and then doing everything within our power to ensure it!!

Contact:

Alliance for Police Accountability: Bsfish27@aol.com or 412-628-5849 or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alliance-for-Police-Accountability/172738296112833.

For information on the Jordan Miles case: www.justiceforjordanmiles.com

For information on the Trayvon Martin case:
www.justicefortrayvonmartin.com/

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The Write-in Vote for DA

There were 3,496 write-in votes for Allegheny County District Attorney last night. We're going to assume that a lot of those votes looked like this precinct's did:

Let's shout this whisper

In case you haven't already heard, there's a "secret whisper" write-in campaign for next week's election:

Start spreading the news to the people…

Go to the polls and vote…but when you get to where the District Attorney candidates are listed on the ballot, instead of voting for Zappalla—who is always unopposed and who refuses to investigate the police beating of Jordan Miles—write in Jordan Miles!

Send a message to the city that Officers Saldutte, Sisak and Ewing must be fired and prosecuted!

And, it has its own Facebook page too.

Sounds good to me.

Song of the Day: "Jordan Miles"

Here's the full video for "Jordan Miles" by Jasiri X (directed by Paradise Gray) that we mentioned last week.


Call Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala, Jr. at 412-350-4400 and demand he file charges against the three police officers -- Richard Ewing, Michael Saldutte and David Sisak -- who brutally beat Jordan Miles.

For more info go to http://justiceforjordanmiles.com
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Jasiri X's "Jordan Miles" Premieres Today

There will be a premiere of Jasiri X's "Jordan Miles" today:

WHAT: One Hood Media presents: "Jordan Miles" World Video Premiere and Forum on Police Brutality
WHEN: 7:00pm, Thursday June 30th
WHERE: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - Homewood Branch, 7101 Hamilton Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15208 (map)

Here's a snippet of the new video:



Pittsburgh rapper Jasiri X is probably best know for "What if the Tea Party was Black?"

March for Justice for Jordan Miles: Today at 1:00pm

Time: Saturday, June 25 · 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Location: Freedom Corner (Center and Crawford) Across from old Civic Arena

March for Justice for Jordan Miles
June 25 at 1:00pm
Gather at Freedom Corner (Crawford and Centre)

*Please forward widely*

Join the Alliance for Police Accountability to demand:
Prosecute Richard Ewing, David Sisak, and Michael Saldutte!
Release the Office of Municipal Investigations report to the public!
Fire the three officers!

On January 12, 2010, Jordan Miles was attacked by three undercover police officers while he was walking to his grandmother’s house in Homewood. The officers punched and kicked Jordan, and even ripped the dreadlocks off of his head. Jordan was not committing any crime; he was targeted simply for being a young Black man in Homewood.

The Department of Justice announced on May 4th that it would not press federal charges against the officers guilty of this racist act of brutality: Richard Ewing, David Sisak and Michael Saldutte. The same day, Police Chief Nate Harper announced that they would be reinstated and put back on the streets. However, the struggle for justice for Jordan Miles is by no means over.

Regardless of the Department of Justice’s decision, District Attorney Stephen Zappala still has the power to prosecute Ewing, Sisak and Saldutte, and has not yet announced what he intends to do. Hugely successful demonstrations were held every week in May, but the people of Pittsburgh need to continue to mobilize and keep up the pressure on city officials. The DA could make a decision at any time, so this is an especially critical moment in the struggle for justice. Join the Alliance for Police Accountability and its allies for a march from Freedom Corner to the Allegheny County Courthouse.

For more information: bsfish27@aol.com or 412-628-5849

In addition to marching, call DA Zappala at 412-350-4400 and demand that he file criminal charges against the police who brutalized Jordan Miles

Facebook RSVP: Here
http://justiceforjordanmiles.com/

Jordan Miles Rally Today

(Click to enlarge)
Today, the third in a series of rallies will be held to seek justice in the Jordan Miles case. The first was at Police Headquarters and called for the three police officers to be fired. The second was at the Office of Municipal Investigations and asked for the release of OMI's internal report on the beating to be released to the public. Today's rally calls for the prosecution of officers Richard Ewing, David Sisak, and Michael Saldutte.

Justice for Jordan Miles
Today, Sat, May 28, 1pm
Allegheny County Courthouse
436 Grant Street, Pittsburgh PA
There's more at justiceforjordanmiles.com

In case you missed it, Pittsburgh City Paper interviewed Miles in a cover story last week and Miles also spoke out in public for the first time at last week's rally:

Pittsburgh Police Transparency Public Hearing

Head on over to The Pittsburgh Comet for lots of video.
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One Thought On Potter's Update

Potter's Slag Heap's been doing a great job following the FOP Press Release for sometime now.

Today he had a most interesting update:

Also, just for those of you who are fans of this hoax -- and I know you're out there ... a sharp-eyed reader has pointed out that the faked press release also contains another secret message, in addition to the one we've previously noted.

If you look at the very first letter of each line of the release, it spells out the following message:

"Fuck da pigs in pgh."

The previously noted secret message is found in the logo at the top of the hoaxed press release. Instead of the Latin "Jus Fidus Libertatum" (translation: Law is the safeguard of liberty), the logo in the hoaxed press release reads "Justicia Volutabrum".

"Volutabrum", Potter dutifully tells us, is Latin for "pigsty".

Back to the second secret message. If you look at the hoaxed release, you'll see that what Potter wrote is not the only plaintext hidden in the first letters of each line. The complete plaintext is:

"fuckda pigs inp gh tdj"

(The spaces above align with the paragraph breaks in the hoaxed release.) I do have to wonder why there's a space between the "p" and the "gh" though. Given the amount of time it must've taken to compose the message, surely a little more consistency might have been achieved.

It's my guess is that too much work was put in composing the whole thing for "TDJ" to just fill out the last (and unconnected) paragraph. It's necessary otherwise so it must be a part of the message.

How much you wanna bet the police really want to speak to someone with the initials TDJ? Or three people whose initials are T, D, and J?

Of course, I could be completely wrong. It's just a guess on a frickin' cold Saturday afternoon.

Completely Absurd

I'm guessing we all remember the Jordan Miles case, right? He's the CAPA honors student who was brutally beaten by three Pittsburgh police officers nearly a year ago. The officers were placed on paid administrative leave and are still on paid administrative leave with overtime.

The Pittsburgh City Paper estimates, "by year's end the officers will collectively have earned $233,882 while on paid leave."

Over a quarter of a million dollars...SAY WHAT?

Read it and weep here.
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KDKA: "Feds Won't Pursue Charges Against Officers" in Jordan Miles Case

KDKA News is reporting that the federal investigation into the brutal beating of CAPA honors student Jordan Miles is over and that the Pittsburgh police officers involved will not be charged.

They quote Justice Department sources as saying:

"We don't believe we can get a conviction."

[snip]

"It's three against one..."

So does that mean that if only one police officer had brutalized Miles that they'd be more likely to pursue charges? By that logic, if Miles had been attacked by five officers, they'd be handing out medals to them.

And speaking of handing things out, the three officers have not only been on paid leave since February, they've also been receiving overtime pay.

Even more depressing:

Sources close to the investigation tell the KDKA Investigators if the Justice Department will not pursue charges, the district attorney's office won't either -- and the criminal investigation will soon be closed.

A reminder that this is what Miles looked like after the attack:



.....
And, that the officers went after him in the first place because they claimed that Miles was standing against a building "as if he was trying to avoid being seen" and that they believed he had a gun which they later said was a a bottle of Mt. Dew in his winter coat pocket which they couldn't even produce.

Miles' attorney said, "We plan on filing a civil rights violation case against the Pittsburgh Police Department obviously."

It would be a crime if they didn't.
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Pittsburgh's St. Politics Day, I mean St. Patrick's Day Parade

Pittsburghers know that our city holds one of the nation's largest St. Patrick's Day parades. We also know that -- coming as it does two months before primary elections -- it is chock full of politicians looking for votes. This year will be no exception, however there will also be activists targeting politicians:

Pro Health Care Reform
Undoubtedly Rep. Jason Altmire will be there. Why not let him (and all the pols) know that you want TO FREAKIN' PASS HEALTH CARE REFORM NOW. Make your own sign or pick up one today at Organizing for America Office, 5170 Butler Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15201 and make your voice heard.

Pro Police Beating Up Innocent Teens

Via The Trib:

Pittsburgh police plan to use tomorrow's St. Patrick's Day Parade to show support for three officers accused of beating a Pittsburgh teen.

In a memo dated today, the Fraternal Order of Police Fort Pitt Lodge No. 1 encouraged its members to come out in "unprecedented" numbers during the parade and to purchase T-shirts for $12 stating "We Support Our Three Brothers."

On the front of the shirts are the numbers 3599, police code that represents the officers' zone number and status as being assigned to plainclothes duty

[snip]

FOP President Dan O'Hara wouldn't say what the sales of T-shirts tomorrow would benefit.

It's "really not relevant," he said. "This is something we want to do to show support for our officers, and that's what we're going to do."

Guess it beats the Blue Flu . . .

Parade Info:
Saturday, March 13, 2010
10:00 AM
Route here
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All Charges Dismissed Against Jordan Miles But More Needs to be Done

Via the P-G:

A judge today dismissed all charges against Pittsburgh high school student Jordan Miles, who claims he was badly beaten by three police officers during his arrest in Homewood.

Miles was originally charged with walking while black aggravated assault and resisting arrest.

While it is of course great news that the charges have been dropped, more can and should be done while the Office of Municipal Investigations and the FBI investigate this case:

Training

Pittsburgh City Police have enrolled in the Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation Program but still haven't attained accredited status. Why?

And, speaking of training (and violence), back in 2007 when the Police Dept. was facing heat for promoting three offices with histories of domestic violence, the department was offered free (foundation-paid) training on domestic violence from David Thomas an expert on the subject at Johns Hopkins. I do not believe that they have ever availed themselves of this training.

Citizen Police Review Board

For all the great work they do, they seem to have no teeth.

Charles Hanlon, Fraternal Order of Police vice president, recently said of the board that they were biased by nature." With that sort of negative attitude, it shouldn't be surprising that their recommendations and queries are often ignored.

For example, when Sgt. Eugene Hlavac was accused of recklessly endangering a group of bicyclists and having anger management issues, the Brass rejected the CPRB's call that Hlavac "be suspended for seven days, undergo retraining and anger management, and possibly face prosecution by the district attorney." Hlavac was later fired after he dislocated his ex-girlfriend's jaw. He was also one of the three officers mentioned in the above promotion controversy.

One of the reasons the police cited in not following the CPRB's recommendations was that they came so late after the original incident. The CPRB complained at the time that, "It would be incumbent upon the city to facilitate an expedited release of documents from the Office of Municipal Investigations."

We see this foot-dragging behavior again with the CPRB being compelled to go to court to seek police records from the Group of 20 summit where charges of improper police conduct have been made.


It's hopefully clear to anyone reading this that there are systemic and global problems that go far beyond the Jordan Miles case.
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Officers Suspended in Jordan Miles Police Brutality Case

From the Post-Gazette:

Three officers under investigation by the city for allegedly beating a Homewood teen during his arrest last month have been placed on paid administrative leave, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said this afternoon.

Good! I will be blogging more on this later today.
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Action Items for Jordan Miles Police Brutality Case

Something went terribly wrong on January 11th in the predominantly African American neighborhood of Homewood in Pittsburgh.

Teenager Jordan Miles, a violinist and senior Honor student at Pittsburgh's Creative and Performing Arts high school (CAPA), said he was walking that evening from his mother's house to his grandmother's house.

He never made it.

Instead, he ended up at the hospital looking like this:

.....
Jordan Miles account is that he was attacked by three men screaming "Where's the money? Where's the gun? Where's the drugs?" who he only later found out were undercover police officers.

What do the police say? From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (P-G):

According to the police criminal complaint, three officers on undercover patrol on Tioga STreet saw Mr. Miles at 11 p.m. Jan. 11. Seeing a heavy object in his coat and indentifying themselves as police, they ordered him to stop.

Mr. Miles ran and the three officers, suspecting he might have a gun and be under the influence of drugs, shot him with a Taser and struck him with their knees and fists. The complaint said the heavy object in his coat turned out to be a bottle of Mountain Dew.

So, there's some law against carry heavy objects? I must have missed that one. Moreover, Miles says he wasn't even holding Dew (and last time I checked, if he had consumed some, it doesn't leave you in a drug-induced-like state). The police complaint also claims that he was standing against a building while black "as if he was trying to avoid being seen". Obviously, also against some law that I'm unaware of...

According to the P-G:

Jordan Miles, 18, had a hearing scheduled this morning on charges of aggravated assault and resisting arrest for an altercation Jan. 11 with three plain clothes Pittsburgh Police officers, but it was suspended when the officers did not appear. Mr. Miles was going to defend himself from the charges by describing the beating he took from police, which included a tree branch impaling his gums and a chunk of hair pulled from his head, his attorney said today, in addition to repeated blows to his head. [Emphasis added]

Pittsburgh's Office of Municipal Investigations is investigating the incident and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said he is "very troubled" by Miles' claims of police brutality.

If you're equally disturbed by this story, B-PEP (Black Political Empowerment Project) Black and White Reunion, and CAV (Coalition Against Violence) suggest the following actions you can take:

Action Plan in support of CAPA Honor student Jordan Miles
1. Attend the 9:00 a.m. news conference on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at the City-County Building, Fifth Floor in front of City Council Chambers.

2. Drop off (in person) letters of protest, with regard to the incident, to the Mayor’s Office.

3. Speak to City Council Members at the 10:00 a.m. January 26, 2010 regularly scheduled City Council hearing.

4. Speak to the City Police Review Board at the 6:00 p.m. hearing in City Council Chambers on January 26, 2010

There's also a Facebook support page for Jordan here.

The story has received national coverage including CNN and The Huffington Post.

It bears repeating what First Lady Michelle Obama said when she visited CAPA last year bringing spouses of the G-20 Summit dignitaries with her:

We're here because I wanted to introduce them to some of America's finest, most creative, most accomplished young people."

Apparently the police could not view Jordan in the same light as our First Lady saw him.
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