An 18-year-old Sebastian River High School senior is reportedly being charged with a felony and expelled from high school as a result of a consensual relationship with another female student. Kaitlyn Hunt started dating a 15-year-old student from her high school basketball team when she herself was 17. Kaitlyn’s father, Steven R. Hunt Jr., claims his daughter was kicked off the basketball team because the coach feared a same-sex relationship would bring unwanted drama. Steven Hunt explained, “The girl’s mother found out about the relationship, and, as the track coach and Criminal Justice teacher told me, the girl’s mother said that there’s no way her daughter could be gay. The mother then took reigns and is now attempting to place felony charges upon my own daughter.” According to her family, Kate’s girlfriend was a freshman student enrolled in courses with upperclassmen and a fellow player on the varsity basketball team with Kaitlyn. Although Kaitlyn was three years older than her girlfriend, they were friends in the same social circle.
After Kaitlyn’s 18th birthday, her girlfriend’s parents sent the police to the Hunt residence, where she was arrested. Kaitlyn’s mother told The Examiner, “They are out to destroy my daughter, because they feel like she ‘made’ their daughter gay. They see being gay as wrong and they blame my daughter. Of course, I see it 100% differently. I don’t see or label these girls as gay. They are teenagers in high school experimenting with their sexuality — with mutual consent. And even if their daughter is gay, who cares? She is still their daughter.” Kaitlyn’s father wrote about the arrest, “My daughter was ripped out of her mother’s arms, hysterical. The police finally told us she was being arrested on probable cause.”
NYDaily News reports that Kaitlyn has been charged with two felony counts of, “lewd and lascivious battery on a child 12 – 16 years of age.” She has reportedly been offered a plea bargain of house arrest. Under these conditions, Hunt would be sentenced to two years house arrest and allowed to attend school or work only during that time. She would also endure one year of probation and attend sex offender counseling. Hunt’s mother, Kelley Smith, has until next Friday to accept what she calls the “outrageous plea offer” or take the case to trial.
If convicted, Hunt could face up to 15 years in prison and be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life.
Kaitlyn’s family took her story public on May 17 on a “Free Kate” Facebook page. Her mother wrote this personal message:
“Anyone who knows me, even a little, knows what kind of person I am. Anyone who knows my daughter Kate, knows how wonderful she is. Kate is an 18 year old senior about to graduate from SRHS. She has an exemplary record at school and home. She has always been a wonderful student, respected and well liked. She has cheered on the varsity cheer team all throughout high school, shes sung in chorus and was voted most school spirited. She has never been in trouble, ever, she truly is the model student and child. At the beginning of this school year, she started dating a fellow student, who happened to be another female. This girl also played varsity sports, was in the IB program, so she was in classes with upperclassman. There was an age difference between my daughter and the other girl, of 3 years, my daughter was older, however you would have thought it was the opposite by just looking at the girls. My daughter is tiny, looks very young, and the other girl looks much older and is much taller, either way there was a 3 year age gap. They were both students in the same high school, it was a mutual consenting relationship on both parts. This was unusual for Kate, she has always dated boys, but being the kind of mother I am, I didn’t want to make it a big deal. I talked to her about it, and figured it was just a social thing, times have changed and a lot of kids are experimenting, so I didn’t make much of it.”
Their family’s “Free Kate” Facebook page has more than 19,000 members.
In addition to the Facebook page, her family has also launched a website to share Kate’s story.
In response to those claiming the Hunt family is expecting special treatment because Kaitlyn is in a same-sex relationship, the Facebook page stated:
“The law needs to change, not only to protect Kate, but to protect the millions of teenagers, boys and girls, straight and gay, whose lives are regularly ruined because parents disapprove of their children’s sexual choices. We want justice for all 18-year-old high school seniors who have undergone criminal prosecution for exercising poor judgement in their dating life. Such students are not predators. They’re just kids.”
Under Florida’s 2007 “Romeo and Juliet” Law, an “offender” can petition the court to remove the need to register as a sex offender if the “victim in the case” is between 14 and 17 years old, “a willing participant in the sexual activity and no more than four years younger than the offender.” This law does not make it legal to have sexual relations with minors, but prevents the accused from being held as a sex offender. Historically the law has never applied in cases dealing with same-sex relationships.
BIG Announcement: We’re going to be moving the CopBlock Radio Show to a new day and time. Why, you may ask? Well, because we’re going to be doing the show LIVE on the Freedom Phalanx Radio Network (FPRNradio.com) which will not only give us the ability to have a better produced show but we’ll be able to take live phone and Skype calls. We’ll probably be doing one or two more shows at the current time on YouTube before we move over. We’ll still upload the audio there if you want it and YouTube will still be the place we do special midweek interviews. We should have an exact date soon and our tentative time slot will be 9:30pm on Wednesdays. Make sure to like our Facebook page so you know the second we know. Also if you have something you’d like to promote on the show please go visit FPRNradio.com to see about advertising with them. Rates are awesome and it’ll really help out the show a lot.
We were joined by Copblock Co-founder Ademo for Episode 6 of the Copblock Radio Show. We had a good conversation with him including what he’s been up to and what the future may hold. Make sure to like us on Facebook so you get the latest news about the show and when special guest interviews will be happening or are available https://www.facebook.com/Copblockradioshow.
Also this past week we had two interview. The first was with Peaceful Streets Project – Sandusky and the second was Derrick J from the movie Victimless Crime Spree and his current project PeaceNewsNow.com.
If you have a question or story you’d like us to talk about on the show or you’re with a local chapter of CopBlock or any other police accountability organization and you want to tell us what’s been going on in your neck of the woods be sure to email us at Copblockradioshow@gmail.com
This story was shared by Nisemono by way of CopBlock.org’s ‘submit‘ page.
This isn’t something I ever thought would happen to me. The truth is, I read your web site and Facebook page all the time, so I thought I was prepared. I should have stood my ground, but I was caught off guard and didn’t remember everything this really kick ass site taught me. My mom and me moved to Utah from Arkansas last year and everyone is really nice here, except the police.
I was just exiting the gym in SLC on Saturday May 18th 2013 at about 7:30 PM. I was walking to my truck, then standing outside my car taking a phone call when a SLCPD (Salt Lake City) officer asked me why I was loitering in a parking lot.
I explained that I was just leaving the gym and taking a phone call, and I’d be on my way soon. He told me to basically shut up and made me give him my ID. I asked if I was under arrest and I was about to leave. He said that he didn’t like my “SHITTY” attitude and he took my phone away, which was still connected to my mom, and spun me around to face his police car where he started patting me down. I asked again if I was under arrest and if I could go; That’s when he handcuffed me. When I was illegally handcuffed, he ran his hand ran over my side where my insulin pump is and he asked what it was. I told him it was my insulin pump. He looked at it and said he never saw one like that before; I said that they all look almost identical. I also told him right away that a tube runs from the pump to the port in my belly, and to please be very careful. He told me to shut up and look forward. His hand went over the port and I instinctively moved my hand to guard it. He literally ripped the pump off my belt, pulled the tube out of the port and smashed me into the hood of his car. He yelled into my ear that if I moved again I would get “the shit tazed out of me.” He went through my gym bag and found my stash of vitamins and other stuff I use, (no, not drugs!) like protein powder in a shaker jug and a soft sided cooler where I keep a spare insulin tube, glucose and other medications. I even have a tattoo that says that I am diabetic, and an indent bracelet that says the same thing.
I told him that I need continuous insulin, to which he said that the device is not an insulin pump and that I probably use it for steroids. I asked, “Does it look like I use steroids?” and he got even madder at me. Thankfully, a buddy from the gym came outside and tried to help, but the cop told him to, “Get the fuck back,” and started walking me to the back seat of his car. I asked what I was arrested for. He said that I wasn’t under arrest, but that I was being detained until he could verify the prescription on my insulin and other medicine.
My mom showed up, all mad, and started yelling at the cop. She saw my insulin pump on the ground, picked it up, and asks why it was not attached to me. He said that it was for steroids. My mom pulled out her nursing credentials and said that insulin is a hormone, not a steroid, and that I need it or I could die. She called 9-1-1 to get an ambulance on the scene and to get a supervisor there to get me out of there.
Long story short, the supervisor showed up and made the cop give me back my pump. The ambulance showed up and I went with them because I was then bleeding where the port is.
I completely forgot to record this with my iPhone, but I will get the police reports and share those. I really would like to hear what the people on the website have to say, in case it happens to me again, or to anyone else – especially when it comes to medical devices like an insulin pump.
Marketplace (May 9, 2013): Does fair trade clothing help the consumer and the retailer?: NPR’s Marketplace features a short story on Fair Trade certification for clothing, and efforts to address the working conditions in Bangladesh sweatshops. Along the way, there’s a couple quotes from my co-editor on Markets Not Capitalism, Gary Chartier, about the supply-chain practices that many clothing-industry TNCs use to displace responsibility and insulate themselves from accountability for lethal working conditions in their factories.
Cathy Reisenwitz @ Sex And The State (May 15, 2013): Fighting Sexism, SexilyI’ve long contended that libertarians have a habit of downplaying or denying certain problems when they don’t like the proposed solutions. For example, when people talk about sexism, or the wage gap, it’s common for a libertarian to retort that the wage gap isn’t real, or can be explained by individual choices. I understand this desire to avoid the coercive solutions many people suggest for fighting sexism . . . The thing is, Rothbard was super bothered by a state monopoly on force. We libertarians need to get really bothered by sexism. And then we need to come up with cultural, and not state, solutions. . . . (With an example of creative thinking and guerrilla theater, featuring a cheesecake pin-up poster of Bro-sie the Riveter.)
Marja Erwin (April 23, 2013): I still think market anarchism has a lot to contribute to the rest of anarchism. This too. I think it’s important to have a system where people can communicate what they need, and what they want, and what they don’t need, and what they can do to help, and I think it’s important to have systems where people can work things among themselves, if for some reason they can’t work things out through the community or union or federation orgs. . . .(Against all monopolizations of social capital.)
Mark Stoval @ On the Mark (May 7, 2013) claims that he is going to take A look at Mutualism. In comments, Roderick Long points out that he ought to have looked harder. Or, really, tried looking at any mutualist writing at all, rather than just doing what he seems to have done, which was to scan ahead until he reached a fixed phrase (labor theory of value,occupancy and use) that convinced him that he already knows everything that he needs to know about the rest of the book. Nearly everything that Mark claims about Mutualists is a ridiculous travesty of Kevin Carson’s views; and evidence that he knows nothing about Mutualists other than Kevin Carson. But Roderick’s intervention in the comments section is right-on.
Forbes (May 15, 2013): Suit Alleges IRS Improperly Seized 60 Million Personal Medical Records. You know what the worst part of this story is? The part about having an Internal Revenue Service, to surveill daily expenses and seize personal data, all in order to investigate and police tax payments. Seriously, there is no possible way to square that with basic civil liberties, and it ought to be abolished.
BBC (May 6, 2013): Lauryn Hill jailed for tax evasion. Partly this is a story about the government’s tax-policing. Partly it’s a story about the financial traps that are imposed by the structure of state capitalism, and the ways in which tax structures systemically confine people — both very wealthy people, like Hill, and very poor people as well — to high-liquidity, cash-producing business and employment. The Grammy-winning singer, 37, also faces three months of home confinement, after pleading guilty last year. Hill failed to pay taxes on about $1.8m (£1.2m) of earnings between 2005-07. In a statement to the judge, Hill said she had intended to pay the taxes but could not after withdrawing from public life and ending her music career to raise her children. . . . I am a child of former slaves who had a system imposed on them, Hill said in court. I had an economic system imposed on me. Free Lauryn Hill and all political prisoners.
Jim Epstein @ reason.com (May 7, 2013): Government Assault on the Chinatown Bus Industry Fueled By Bogus Federal Study. In which the government takes care of Greyhound’s competitors for them, using an error-ridden bogus safety study, which uses Greyhound’s own crashes to prove that their curbside competitors are less safe. The study is like a matryoshka doll of clumsy errors and statistical malpractice; every time you spot them one error and set it aside for the sake of argument, you find another error, just as atrocious as the last one, nested inside of it.
Home School Legal Defense Association (May 14, 2013): German Family Denied Asylum, HSLDA Appeals. The judge’s decision to deny asylum is appalling. From the press release: The court said that the Romeikes had not made a sufficient case, and that the United States has not opened its doors to every victim of unfair treatment. Well no, no they haven’t. But they say that like it ought to be a problem for the victims of unfair treatment. Actually, it is a problem with the United States, which needs to stop acting as a gatekeeper and get out of the way. It is appalling that any peaceful immigrant should be turned away, for any reason. Solidarity with all people without papers, and all immigrants without status.
A disturbing video shows Greece, NY Police officers arresting a young African-American teen, on Wednesday May 15, 2013, for no other reason other than him walking on a public sidewalk.
The video, recorded by a brave Greece Olympia High School student begins with a female Greece, NY Police officer telling an African-American teen to “Keep walking.”
A male GPD officer dressed in plain clothes, then yells at the young man “Keep walking! Keep walking or you’re going to jail!”
“I’m not doing nothing”, the young man is seen and heard telling the officer .
“You’re blocking the sidewalk!”, the officer yells.
The young man then tries to explain to the officer that he wasn’t blocking the sidewalk, and that if anything, the officer is the one who is walking towards him.
The angry Greece Police officer then says “Fuck it, you’re under arrest!”, and grabs the young man, twisting his arms, as bringing him down on the ground
The female Greece Police officer is then seen on the video yelling at the young man who is recording, “Keep walking!”
“I’m waiting for my friend”, the teen recording the video is heard saying.
“Your friend is going to jail!”, a plain clothes officer replies.
According to the teen who recorded the video, there was a fight at the high school, that did not involve the young teen who was arrested.
“They followed us off the property, and then the undercover officer came out of nowhere”, said the teen.
This is a guest post by IVPN’s Christopher Reynolds. IVPN (www.ivpn.net) is a virtual private network, and Electronic Frontier Foundation member, dedicated to protecting online privacy.
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The U.S. is in the middle of an upheaval when it comes to monitoring citizens’ online activities. Over the last few years, law enforcement agencies have been pushing for unprecedented powers of surveillance and access to your private online communications. While it’s true that surveillance laws need to be updated for the internet age, it’s clear law enforcement is simply using this opportunity to achieve its Holy Grail – the ability to spy on citizens without any judicial oversight.
Although it hasn’t yet been made law, we’ve already seen warrantless surveillance of online communications. The NSA wiretapping controversy saw the Bush administration collect web logs and emails, directly from Internet Service Providers, without any judicial oversight and largely in effort to silence critics of the government (instead of the stated aim of defeating terrorism) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_controversy). Rather than reverse this practice, the Obama adminstration instead sought to continue it under new FISA guidelines (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/us/01nsa.html?_r=0).
Not content with accessing information from ISPs, legislators introduced CISPA to make it easier for law enforcement to access your information from private companies (https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/04/cispa-passes-out-house-without-any-fixes-core-concerns). CISPA attempted to allow companies, such as Google and Facebook, to spy on users’ personal information and share data with not just the government, but anyone, without fear of legal repercussions. While CISPA passed the House convincingly, it was thankfully defeated due to a the threat of a veto by Obama. But the issue of online surveillance remains and another bill will undoubtedly be drafted to take CISPA’s place. Remember, unlike the data stored in your house, emails stored on a server are not protected by the Fourth Amendment (http://digitaldueprocess.org/index.cfm?objectid=37940370-2551-11DF-8E02000C296BA163).
On top of CISPA-esque legislation, the growing threat of a data retention bill in the US also looms large. Data retention is the practice of ISPs storing customers’ online data. This data includes every website you’ve visited, all your email logs, and your billing information. In Europe a ‘Data Retention Directive’ has been in place since 2006, forcing every ISP to retain online data for at least 1 year following cancellation of their service (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Retention_Directive). The US currently does not have a state-mandated data retention policy. But the Obama administration is clearly pushing for such a law (https://www.cdt.org/blogs/john-morris/doj-looking-mandatory-internet-data-retention-law?quicktabs_4=0). At the moment ISPs are free to set their own policies. As this article shows, some ISPs retain data for around a year, while others like AT&T refuse to even disclose how long they store your information (http://torrentfreak.com/how-long-does-your-isp-store-ip-address-logs-120629/).
Protecting your data
Make no mistake, abuse of power by law enforcement extends to the online world. But there are tools you can use to protect yourself. Here’s a quick rundown of the three most popular ways to keep your data private.
The Onion Router (TOR) is a free-to-use privacy platform, which obscures your IP address and lets your surf the web (almost) anonymously. The only problem with TOR is that you have to place some trust in the individuals running the exit nodes which help protect your IP address. Also because it’s free, TOR frequently suffers from slower connection speeds and is not suitable for downloading large files.
L2P is another free-to-use platform, which helps anonymise your data. L2P is generally considered harder to use than TOR, mainly because it’s less common and there’s less support for beginner users. However, L2P is well-suited to sharing files directly between users and arguably offers greater privacy than TOR.
Virtual Private Networks
Full disclosure: I work for the Virtual Private Network and privacy service IVPN (www.ivpn.net). Commercial VPNs offer a privacy service usually on a subscription pricing-model. There are loads of VPNs out there, but not all of them are genuine privacy services. Some retain customer data in exactly the same way as an ISP and are therefore compelled by law to hand over that data if requested. Before signing-up to a VPN make sure you check their data retention policy. The benefits of using a VPN over TOR is that they’re generally easier to set-up and offer faster speeds. You can find out more on choosing a VPN that protects your data right here (http://www.ivpn.net/blog/when-law-enforcement-knocks-on-a-vpns-door-what-happens) and here’s a great list of VPNs that take privacy seriously (http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-that-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2013-edition-130302/).
Almost two years after she made international headlines, shortly after she was arrested by Rochester, NY Police officer Mario Masic for video recording him conducting a racially profiled traffic stop of an African-American motorist in front of her home, Emily Good will announce she is running for Monroe County, NY Sheriff.
Good will run on the Green Party ticket, in what is sure to be a tough battle to upset incumbent Republican Patrick O’Flynn who has been Monroe County Sheriff since 2001.
Among her top priorities if elected Sheriff, Good says she will refuse to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or I.C.E.
“As Sheriff I would pledge non-cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement because I believe that we are a country of immigrants, we are a county of immigrants, and it is no place in our job to harass our neighbors and fellow workers, so I would not cooperate at all with I.C.E. as several Sheriffs throughout the country have done.”
Good also said she would call for mandatory video recording of all interrogations, as well as installation of dash cams in all Monroe County Sheriff’s vehicles.
“We know that police and sheriffs and law enforcement are legally allowed to lie… videotaping confessions and interrogations would help us keep an eye on potential abuse, manipulation, lying and false confession signing that happens”, said Good.
As for having dash cams installed in Monroe County Sheriff’s cruisers, Good sums it up best in one sentence.
“We’ve seen in many cases that dash cams can provide some accountability for our law enforcement, which we really need, here in Monroe County”, Good said.
Emily Good will hold a press conference, officially announcing her candidacy, Tuesday morning at 10:30 a.m. in the Civic Center Plaza, between the Hall of Justice and the Public Safety building.
A Rochester, NY Police officer, driving ‘K9-3″ cruiser, left his partner “Hawk”, inside the hot Durango SUV for over an hour, on Monday, as he went to an appointment, inside an air conditioned doctor’s office, behind the Calkins Corporate Park office complex, off Red Creek Drive in Henrietta, NY, arriving at approximately 1:25 p.m., and leaving around 2:45 p.m.
Although the rear windows in the police SUV were down, leaving the cages to allow some air to flow in, and the front windows were rolled down a bit, the vehicle was parked under direct sunlight, with no shade whatsoever.
Patients and staff walking by the RPD SUV were startled when “Hawk”, a beautiful German Shepherd greeted them with loud barking
There are actually two disturbing stories here.
First, this officer’s behavior show yet another example of Rochester Police officers misusing taxpayer dollars, in this case, driving outside the RPD’s jurisdiction, to another town, for personal reasons.
Second, leaving an innocent dog in a hot vehicle, for over an hour, with no shade, albeit, windows down.
A call to dispatch confirmed RPD K9-3 unit was “on duty”, and the dispatcher said they had no knowledge the officer was out in Henrietta.
CALL ROCHESTER, NY POLICE CHIEF JAMES SHEPPARD (585) 428-7033
I thought it worth sharing some of Gaillard’s efforts as I think it’s good to laugh at the aggressors, as that leaves no room for peddled fear-tactics to find purchase.
That enables one to be more open to the idea that self-government is preferable to external government, and that it’s more realistic that a community free from violence will come not from the top-down provision of policing, which demands that a certain group of people have the “legal” right to initiate force, but from the bottom-up, when we each police ourselves and each other.
I certainly don’t believe a stranger operating on stolen money and claimed double standards can provide justice. For more on that angle check-out http://CopBlock.org/Library
The video above is somewhat timely to myself as I recently learned “the City of Keene” (whom I have yet to meet in-person) has threatened suit in legal-land. A couple related-links:
RE: Fort Worth man dies after being shocked by police Taser Commentary by Eddie Griffin
A disabled African-American man was tasered to death by the Fort Worth Police Department. Jermaine Darden, age 34, a 300-pound asthmatic on a breathing machine, was wrestled to the floor and tased, after police kicked in his unlocked front door on a “no-knock” warrant. Officers claimed he was resisting arrest when he would not comply with their order to roll over on his stomach. But family members claimed the man was having breathing problems, which were especially aggravated when he tries to lie on his stomach.
Darden’s mother, Donna Randle describes what happen: “When they came in, they had their weapons drawn like we were members of a drug cartel. There were six people who told the police the man had health problems, yet they continued to do what they did.”
She is now asking why the police had to “use such excessive force.”
The incident took place in the same neighborhood where Michael Jacobs, Jr., a 24-year old mentally challenged African-American, was tasered to death by police in April, 2009. The City of Fort Worth eventually had to pay a $2 million settlement to the family.
Darden would be the seventh taser related death in the city’s history.
There have been several attempts by the community to reconcile with the FWPD over racially charged excessive force issues. The problem with taser related deaths should have been settled when Chief of Police Jeff Halstead negotiated with TASER International, the maker of the stun guns, to modify the design of their taser product, which would allow an automatic shut off after a 5-second burst. But change the weapon’s shut-off system does not change police abusive practices in its deployment. Tasers still kill, with or without a 5-second shutoff. And Darden is the second taser related death since Michael Jacobs, Jr.
It should be evident here of a violation of police policy. According the WFAA 8 Jim Douglas report, the weapon was deployed multiple times. What is not clear is whether one officer used the override on the 5-second cutoff or whether several tasers were deployed at once. The incident is still under investigation.
Besides FWPD policy, whether officers complied with it or not, there are serious human rights and constitutional questions about the right of the accused, and the nature of the heavy-handed gang buster tactics.
Human Rights advocates have always contended tasers to be torture in violation of the Eight Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment. A victim being stunned by 50,000 volts of electricity is equivalent to being electrocuted by high voltage utility wires, or comparable to the electric chair.
More importantly, however, is that a person has the right to life. No one should be summarily executed by electrocution at the whims of a law enforcement officer. This violates the First Amendment Right to life, and the Sixth Amendment Right to Due Process.
It would be fruitless, however, to argue constitutional rights issues with the same agency guilty of the violations. If the agency cannot enforce its own policy and the City unable to protect the public, then monetary retribution should be exacted as heavily as possible. Corrections can and will be made, if liabilities for abuses of authority began to cost more than the City can willingly afford.
Of course, little defense can be offer for Derrick Anthony Birdow who was tasered to death while in the act of killing a preacher. Some might rationalize his death as justifiable in the heat of the moment. But the point still stands: Tasers kill. And multiple jolts of 50,000 volts of electricity will kill with surety, something every FWPD officer should know. Thus, the killing of Darden should not have come as a complete surprise to the deploying officer or officers.
Someone needs to be held accountable. First, there is the officer or officers who deployed the weapon or weapons. Was he or she or they criminally negligent? If they had full knowledge of the Michael Jacobs tragedy, then they cannot claim ignorance.
Then there is the FWPD itself. Do loopholes in its policy allow for and exonerate such on-the-spot street summary execution of suspects, contrary to the constitutional rights of the suspect? The officer who tased Michael Jacobs to death claimed she did not know that holding the taser trigger down continued to shoot electricity into his body. Nobody ever told her, and TASER International never educated officers about the risks. What excuse can they offer now to exonerate them of their legal and criminal culpability?
The third party is the City of Fort Worth, who are obligated to back the police action and cover their liabilities in cases where excessive force is employed. Shouldn’t they have learned something from the Jacobs’s case? Didn’t they assure the community that this would never happen again where an innocent person would be tasered to death?
Fourth, there is TASER International who falsely advertises tasers are non-lethal weapons. They are the guiltiest insofar as they leave cities, like Fort Worth, to pick up the pieces, pay off the wrongful death suits, while they continue marketing their product as if it does no harm.
There is a memorial south of Fort Worth filled with crosses for those killed by tasers, named the Michael C. Jacobs, Jr. Memorial. The official death count now stands at 779, with a cross for Jermaine Dardento be added. Here is a list of those who died by tasers in Fort Worth:
· November 2, 2004: Robert Guerrero, 21, Fort Worth, Texas · April 3, 2005: Eric Hammock, 43, Fort Worth, Texas · June 24, 2005: Carolyn Daniels, 25, Fort Worth, Texas · August 23, 2006: Noah Lopez, 25, Fort Worth, Texas · April 18, 2009: Michael Jacobs Jr., 24, Fort Worth, Texas · October 29, 2012: Derrick Birdow, 33, Fort Worth, Texas · May 17, 2013: Jermaine Darden, 34, Fort Worth, Texas
As for the investigation by the FWPD’s major-case unit and the Department’s heavy-handed “no knock” tactic that allowed the police to kick open a family’s “unlocked door”, under the pretext of a big drug raid that eventually cost this disabled man his life, let’s see what they were after and what they netted for their effort:
Five people who were arrested: • [Suspect No. 1], age 25, suspected of possessing 1 to 4 grams of a controlled substance and 2 to 4 ounces of marijuana. • [Suspect No. 2], age 22, suspected of possessing less than 2 ounces of marijuana. Police also found that [Suspect No. 2] was wanted on two warrants from other jurisdictions. • [Suspect No. 4], age 27, accused of evading arrest and detention. [Suspect No. 4] also had a warrant. • [Suspect No. 5], age 29, and [Suspect No. 6], age 29, both with class C warrants from Fort Worth. [Suspect No. 6], who identified herself as Darden’s cousin, said she has an unpaid ticket for talking on a cellphone while driving in a school zone.
In a police report, Officer N.B. Danford was the one who drafted the probable-cause warrant to search for cocaine at the house. The “no-knock” warrant was signed by Tarrant County Magistrate Cheyenne Minick at 3:35 p.m. Thursday, according to the report.
The investigation should not begin with the suspects, because there was never any really “big fish” in this expedition, only a few misdemeanor guppies at worst. So they kick down an unlocked door and kill a man for the above probable-causes.
No, the investigation should begin at the determination level of probable cause and a criminal justice system that allows a magistrate who signed off on a “no-knock” (kick-the-door-down) raid to bag a few petty misdemeanor offenders.
