Another White Guy In Black Face - 2009 Style

Here is an interesting post about George Barich. You see, this guy has made a name for himself, with controversy over his "blackface" photo. H/T Antoinette a regular at my blogtalkRadio program for the link. Another Post-Racial Moment?






Now it appears that residents are asking for Barich's resignation after this city councilman got dressed up and played out his fantasy of being a black man. One has to wonder what other fantasies he wants to play out?


He now writes in his blog: Keeping Cotati "funky" brought outrage from the Cotati Chamber of Commerce. What appeared to be an orchestrated move by a far-left fringe group of the Cotati Chamber of Commerce, three chamber members called for Barich's resignation at a city council meeting but failed to articulate exactly the reason why.

3-25-09: For fear of looking like racists themselves, speakers John Moore, Andre Morrow, and Cheryl Nixon stopped just short of offering an explanation as to what it is about this blog that offended them so much. It was very obvious that none of them wanted to begin to discuss who is "white", who is "black", and who really gives a damn while our town heads closer to bankruptcy each day. Perplexed faces from the audience confirmed that a political witch hunt was being performed right before their eyes. The Chamber has yet to come up with a plan to promote more economic development in Cotati, and appeared to be upstaged by a lone council member who is single handedly doing their job for them by recycling an old bumper sticker as a new slogan for the town, Keep Cotati Funky.

At the meeting recess, Barich supporters and other chamber members thanked Barich for bringing attention to the blatant racism of people like Andre Morrow who claims to hold a monopoly of being the only Afro-American in the audience. For a town that strives to be more "color blind", it was clear Cotati city leaders were again, deeply disturbed by Morrow's comments.

Morrow had been chastised by Mayor Guardino in the past for bringing racist comments into a city meeting earlier in the year. Cheryl Nixon embarrassed herself further by suggesting that other council members control the free speech of Barich on his private blog who will not conform to the far-left political agenda which is losing favor in town.

No council action was taken.

John Moore, who has previously promised Barich to run him out of town for his fiscal conservatism and for exposing John's Moore's Marxist's views, appeared sober, and suffered another huge personal defeat by not getting the support from the audience he had hoped for.

What do you think?

Cross posted on African American Political Pundit.com

Dallas Police Officer Should Be Fired!

AAPP: More heartless bullying of black men by police, again ... caught on tape. This time it's Police delaying an NFL player from seeing his dying mother-In-Law. The NY Times says it best when they said, a Dallas police officer makes death even worse. The Dallas News is also on point when they write, Editorial: Dallas cop doesn't deserve his badge.

As reported by the Associated Press, A Dallas police officer was put on desk duty after pulling over an NFL player rushing to see his dying mother-in-law in the hospital and holding him in the hospital parking lot as she died. Dallas Police Officer Robert Powell stopped Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats' SUV outside Baylor Regional Medical Center during the early hours of March 18 after Moats rolled through a red light.

The Dallas Morning News provides an unedited Dallas police dashboard camera video shows traffic stop of NFL player Ryan Moats. The Dallas Morning News provides the nearly 17-minute video shows the entire incident involving Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats and Dallas police officer Robert Powell. Moats was rushing his wife and two of her family members to a hospital, where his mother-in-law lay dying. She died while Moats and his wife's grandfather waited outside the hospital for the officer to issue a ticket. Edited

Moats and his family had gotten a call saying his mother-in-law was dying.
Video from a dashboard camera inside the officer's vehicle, obtained by Dallas-Fort Worth station WFAA-TV, revealed an intense exchange in which the officer threatened to jail Moats.
He ordered Moats' wife, Tamishia Moats, to get back in the SUV, but she ignored him and rushed inside the hospital to see her mother, Jonetta Collinsworth, 45, and was by her side when she died a short time later. She had breast cancer.

"Get in there," said Powell, yelling at 27-year-old Tamishia Moats, as she exited the car. "Let me see your hands!"

"Excuse me, my mom is dying," Tamishia Moats said. "Do you understand?"

Moats explained that he waited until there was no traffic before proceeding through the red light and that his mother-in-law was dying, right then.

Moats couldn't find his insurance paperwork, and was desperate to leave.
"Listen, if I can't verify you have insurance...," Officer Powell said. "My mother-in-law is dying," Moats interrupted.

As they argued, the officer got irritated. "Shut your mouth," the officer said. "You can either settle down and cooperate or I can just take you to jail for running a red light."
By the time the 26-year-old NFL player received a ticket and a lecture from Powell, 25, at least 13 minutes had passed.

When he and Collinsworth's father entered the hospital, they learned Collinsworth was dead, The Dallas Morning News reported in today's editions.
The Moatses, who are black, said they can't help but think that race might have played a part in how Powell, who is white, treated them.

"I think he should lose his job," said Ryan Moats, a Dallas native.

Powell was placed on disptach duty pending an investigation. The ticket issued to Moats was dismissed, Lt. Andy Harvey told WFAA-TV.

"There were some things that were said that were disturbing, to say the least," he told the Dallas Morning News.

Powell told police officials he believed he was doing his job, said Dallas Police Assistant Chief Floyd Simpson.

AAPP: What do you think should happen to this cops job? Should he be fired? Was he just doing his job?

Cross posted at African American Political Pundit.com

Black Women get Double Life Sentence for $11.00!C

Mississippi gave Gladys and Jamie Scott each a double-life sentence in an armed robbery where no one was murdered or harmed and the amount alleged to have been taken was a whopping $11.00.

This is a damn shame and a total injustice, says, African American Political Pundit. Can we get a post racial review of this injustice in Mississippi?







H/T and Shout Out to Nancy Lockhart, M.J.
Website: www.freethescottsisters.com


Scott County, MS ---- In a trial fraught with legal malpractice and witness coercion, Mississippi Judge Marcus Gordon oversaw one of the most blatantly corrupt trials in history, culminating in the staggering over-sentencing of sisters Gladys and Jamie Scott to double-life each in an armed robbery where no one was murdered or harmed and the amount alleged to have been taken was a whopping $11.00.

On December 24, 1993, the Scott County Sheriff’s Department arrested the Scott sisters for armed robbery even though three young males, ranging from ages 14 to 18, confessed to committing the crime. Despite this, the corrupt Mississippi sheriff used coercion, threats, and harassment to compel them to turn state’s evidence against the Scott sisters due to a long-standing vendetta against a family member. The 14-year-old male would later testify that he did not read the statement and was pressured to sign a written statement prepared by the sheriff without an attorney being present.

As if that weren't bad enough, these young women received incompetent legal representation at the lower court trial. Their attorneys, Firnist J. Alexander, Jr. and Gail Shaw-Pierson failed to interview and subpoena witnesses, only calling one witness when there were several. Incredibly, the jury never even heard any testimony from the alleged victims. The sisters were advised to not testify on their own behalf by their attorneys, Alexander and Shaw-Pierson, denying them the opportunity to speak for themselves.

In October of 1994, Jamie and Gladys Scott were sentenced to extraordinary double life terms each in prison, even though neither sister had prior convictions and there was no violence involved in these charges.

The four State’s witnesses provided conflicting testimony and one alleged accuser was not called to testify – he was not questioned or subpoenaed by defense attorneys Firnist J. Alexander, Jr. or Gail Shaw-Pierson. Witnesses admitted however, that reports prepared by the Sheriff, of their descriptions of the event contained no such claim. In other words, the sisters were not present. Jamie and Gladys Scott were not involved in the armed robbery and they did not conspire to plan such. Witnesses all testified that they were coerced and threatened by Deputy Sheriff Marvin Williams. Testimony also revealed that Marvin Williams prepared statements of the events from the night of December 24, 1994 BEFORE obtaining signatures and BEFORE the witnesses were brought into his office. In other words, the statements were not written by witnesses. (1) Three affidavits exist – they all state that the Scott Sisters were not involved in this robbery. One affidavit is written by a trustee of the local jail, his account of the facts reveal that a wallet was located a few days after this alleged robbery and that wallet contained the photo ID of one of the alleged victims of the trumped up robbery and three twenty dollar bills. The trustee also reveals that there was NOT a robbery, he was also threatened to be sent to Parchman Penitentiary if he told the truth.

According to the Request for Commutation of Sentence and/or Pardon prepared by attorney Chokwe Lumumba, the Scott Sisters challenged their convictions on direct appeal; arguing that there was insufficient evidence to convict them, and the guilty verdict was against the overwhelming weight of evidence, which should have exonerated them. The court of appeals found no error and affirmed the convictions on December 17, 1996. As a result, they filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court, which was denied on May 15, 1997. They consequently filed an Application for Leave to File Motion to Vacate Conviction pursuant to the Mississippi Post Conviction Collateral Relief Act. The Supreme Court also denied that application.

This family is shell-shocked, yet determined to fight on. They have tried to have faith that at some point this unbelievable travesty would be corrected and their upside-down lives righted. Yet 14 long years later nothing has changed, the women's five children are still being raised by their now ailing mother, and their father has died of a massive heart attack because of this. The emotional strain this burden has placed upon their family is immeasurable.

Jamie Scott writes, "What began as an implication and outright miscarriage of justice, has catapulted to destroy an entire family. Gladys was a 19 year old pregnant mother, and myself, Jamie, a 22 year old mother during the time of our arrest, conviction and sentencing for a crime we did not commit." She continued, "We are convinced that once this chain of events is exposed and unraveled, the events that occurred, the lives that have been destroyed, the pain and suffering the citizens of Scott County have endured; everyone will be utterly amazed, astonished and compelled to assist us in our plight for freedom. We pray that the people would insist upon an investigation into their misconduct and miscarriage of justice."

Gladys and Jamie’s older brother has recently returned from Iraq and has served in the US Army for 22 years, while his sisters remain victims of wrongful convictions in the very country that he proudly represents. The defendants and their family are wholly depending on support from the press, organizations, and all those dedicated to justice in making this debacle as public as possible.

Information source:

THE COMMITTEE TO FREE THE SCOTT SISTERS
CONTACT: NANCY LOCKHART, M.J.
P.O. BOX 389
Green Pond, SC 29446
Phone: 641-715-3900 Extension ~ 99222
Website: www.freethescottsisters.com
E-Mail: thewrongfulconviction@gmail.com


What You Can Do

Please Call The Governor's Office For The Scott Sisters

Please call the Governor’s office and ask to speak with Governor Haley Barbour. Please relay the message below.

1-877-405-0733 or 601-359-3150

Hello Governor Barbour I am calling in support of The Committee To Free The Scott Sisters.

My name is:________________

I would like to bring to your attention the case of Jamie and Gladys Scott.
The Scott Sisters have served 14 years 5 months of a double life term where no one was murdered or injured. State’s witnesses have testified to their innocence.

Their MDOC numbers are 19197 and 19142. Please free the Scott Sisters.

Thank you for your attention to this matter Governor Barbour.

If you choose to mail a letter to the governor via US mail the address is:
Governor Haley Barbour
P.O. Box 139
Jackson, Mississippi 39205

Thank you for your assistance in The Campaign ~To Contact The Governor Of Mississippi!

Black Man Tased and Beaten in Peoria, IL.

No Post Racial HERE.

A Peoria man was punched in the face, kicked, stomped on at least 20 times and repeatedly stunned with a Taser during his arrest by police after leading them on a brief chase in May.

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Peoria Police Officers (above) Andrew Smith, left, and Gerald Suelter, were charged Wednesday with multiple counts of official misconduct and other charges in connection with the beating of another man.

Two of at least seven Peoria police officers involved in the arrest were formally charged Wednesday with multiple counts of official misconduct as well as mob action and battery for the alleged beating of then 33-year-old Bryce Scott.

Officers Gerald W. Suelter, 39, and Andrew R. Smith, 29, each face four counts of official misconduct and one count each of battery, mob action and aggravated battery. Both men appeared in court via video from the Peoria County Jail, where they have been held since their arrests on Monday.

Assistant State's Attorney Steve Pattelli on Wednesday offered details of the May arrest, both seen and those not caught on tape from an in-car video camera, that began after Scott stopped his SUV near Abington and Perry streets after a brief chase.

"One officer punched the driver at least twice in his face, and while three officers were handcuffing the driver, Peoria police officer Gerald Suelter approached and drew his electronic Taser . . . Suelter removed the air cartridge from his Taser and began to repeatedly stun the driver," Pattelli said, noting Scott was Tasered by Suelter at least three times.

"Peoria police Officer Andrew Smith was the last of the officers to arrive . . . after (Scott) had been pulled from the vehicle and was on the pavement with five other police officers above him," Pattelli continued. "When Smith arrived, he began to kick and stomp the driver at least 20 times, at one point repositioning himself for leverage." MORE HERE

By Denise Jackson at WEEK-TV reports:

Two Peoria police officers arrested for allegedly beating a man last May remain in custody tonight. They face a barrage of charges including aggravated battery and mob action.

The officers, Andrew Smith and Gerald Suelter (SEWL'–ter) are among six police officers named in a lawsuit filed by the victim Bryce Scott.

Dan Cusack is the attorney for Bryce Scott the man allegedly beaten by Peoria police officers last May after a chase in the North Valley.

The chase was captured on videotape in the squad car. After pulling over Scott put his hands out of the window as instructed by police and got out of his vehicle. The tape shows officers approaching Scott who is on the ground . Scott's attorney says without the videotape they would not have a good case against the police.

"To me it's just absolutely wrong. It's not about lawsuits. It's about a constitution and it's about activity and Bryce Scott is entitled to the constitution as much as Mother Theresa and he wasn't doing anything wrong at that point," Cusack said.

In January of this year Bryce filed a lawsuit against the police officers and the city. Cusack says his office has received about 30 complaints since the Scott incident. He is not sure if there is a pattern of excessive force among some Peoria cops.

He does not expect the civil lawsuit to go to trial until next year. The two police officers Smith and Suelter (SEWL'–ter) are scheduled to appear in Peoria County court tomorrow. More HERE

Now we learn that Taser International has a plan to gain millions in Obama stimulus money. More on this later!

Cross posted on African American Political Pundit and the blog Tasered While Black

Wash. State Video Shows Black Teen Being Beaten By Deputy.

Assault on Black America

As reported by the Washington Times a surveillance video released in an assault case against a King County, Wash. sheriff's deputy shows him kicking a black young girl, slamming her to the jail cell floor and striking her repeatedly. Check out the reports, on the Wash. State Video Shows Teen Being Beaten By Deputy.

The Washington Times reports King County sheriff's deputy kicks a 15-year-old girl, slams her to the floor of a jail cell, strikes her and pulls her hair in violence captured on videotape.

Prosecutors released the surveillance video Friday in the assault case against Deputy Paul Schene, who is accused of using excessive force on the girl. Schene, 31, pleaded not guilty to fourth-degree assault in Superior Court on Thursday.

The incident last November began after the girl was brought in for an auto theft investigation, according to court documents. The footage shows the attack beginning after the girl enters the cell at suburban SeaTac City Hall and kicks off one of her shoes toward the deputy. More Here

More on the black girl beat by police king county

Cross-Posted on African American Political Pundit