Gangsters in Blue

Earlier this month, we covered the Kelly Thomas murder. Cops were allegedly responding to a report of an unidentified man attempting to burglarize cars. Cops stopped Mr. Thomas, who tried to remove himself from the situation. According to multiple witnesses, police then repeatedly beat Mr. Thomas with weapons and shot at him with Tasers. They kicked in his face and crushed a knee or two into his throat as he screamed for god and his father. He died in the hospital several days later.

One witness was purportedly recording the events on her cellphone. Police accused her of “interfering” with an investigation and demanded she cease recording. She refused, and was assaulted and battered. Another witness believes the witness with the cellphone was eventually taken into custody (interview with that witness here). I say assault and battery even though the account of the witness indicates she was grabbed and arrested because that is what assault and battery are, under the legal definitions used by police. Police like to scream assault and battery when you so much as scratch or spit at them, but when they twist arms and drag people off to jail, they like to call it “restraint” or “taking into custody.” Let’s be intellectually honest and call it what it is. If spitting on someone is assault, then certainly grabbing their arms and hauling them off to jail for wielding a cellphone camera is assault and battery.

The cops who seized the video were unnecessarily paranoid. They failed to place due trust in the thoroughly corrupt and evil system that almost always takes their side. Predictably, the vile ranks of law enforcement have treated this whole matter as less than problematic. The District Attorney’s office claims to be investigating, but any idiot can see through their lame and laughably transparent attempts to deceive the public. All of the officers are on paid vacation, while no charges have been filed. District Attorney Tony Rackauckas actually said his office is trying to determine whether officers used excessive force. Hmm, let’s think about that one.

The guy died, didn’t he?

Last time I checked, the penalty for being in the proximity of a car burglary – or even for being an actual suspect of the burglary – is not death. If the penalty for having the misfortune of being near a suspected burglary is less than death, then by definition, death penalty for such a transgression would be excessive.

Legal definitions can put a twist on things. So maybe the force was “excessive” based on a layman understanding, but what about the legal definition of excessive force? Legally, excessive force means the force used was unreasonable. So if this matter is actually debatable in Mr. Rackauckas’ mind, apparently there’s a chance beating a possible burglary suspect to death is “reasonable.” Reasonable if you live under tyranny, I suppose.

According to the Washington Post, “Rackauckas said prosecutors generally can file murder charges if they find that officers acted with such malice that it approached an intent to kill.” Yes, they can. But Rackauckas is being disingenuous here. Intent to kill is not required for a murder charge.

California Penal code 187  defines murder as the “unlawful killing of a human being, or a fetus, with malice aforethought.” Malice aforethought can be express (intent to kill) or implied. Malice is implied if a defendant intentionally committed an act, the natural consequences of which were dangerous to human life, the defendant knew the act was dangerous, and acted with conscious disregard for human life (see CA jury instructions on malice here). Thus, intent to kill is not necessary for a murder charge.

Are we really to believe that when these 6 officers beat the living shit out of Mr. Thomas, they did not intend to beat him? Unless they were all suffering from involuntary epileptic seizures of some sort, this is not a credible claim. The 6 officers intentionally beat Mr. Thomas, which is an act that is dangerous to human life. The officers knew this was a dangerous act (even if you do not think officers are the brightest bunch, surely they know repeated beating and Tasering is dangerous), and consciously beat him until he was almost dead. If this not adequate grounds for a murder charge, I’m not sure what is.

And of course, when they murder someone, the taxpayers foot the bill. Mr. Thomas’ father was offered a settlement of $900,000 from an attorney representing the City of Fullerton. Why completely innocent residents of Fullerton who have never committed violence, much less murdered a man, should have to pay for the crimes of 6 heinous scumbags is beyond me.

This is to say nothing of the fact that if these officers were ordinary people, they would have likely been charged immediately, severely, and probably with additional crimes they didn’t even commit. They would most certainly be in jail, with bail set high. Whoever seized the cellphone would likely be charged with tampering with evidence, obstruction of justice, resisting arrest, etc. However, as they are hallowed members of an elite gang, they are treated with undeserved deference and leniency, and when they destroy evidence, they are just doing their jobs.

For regular updates on this event, visit Friends of Fullerton’s Future. They have an entire page devoted to Kelly Thomas.

Join the forum discussion on this post

Still no justice for Kelly Thomas is a post from Cop Block - "Something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun"

The date Sunday 8-7-2011 11:05 PM. Two sheriff deputies jumped the locked gate of my small condo in Sacramento County CA. and started pounding on my door. We live in a high crime neighborhood so we don’t look through the peep hole. My wife alerted me to the intruder of our private locked garden. I unlocked my gun safe and removed a Remington model 870 shotgun, the magazine was loaded with double 00 buck, and the chamber was empty. A high powered flashlight is mounted under the barrel. I went to the bedroom adjacent to our garden turned off the lights turned on the flashlight and slightly opened the curtain, blinding the intruder. I immediately saw the sheriff uniform and lowered my weapon and put it aside. I went to the door opened the door and went outside to ask why the deputies crossed over the locked gate and threshold, un-announced, and in violation of their standing orders and my constitutional they became very agitated. They stated that they didn’t know what my Condo number is however; it is clearly marked, including another sign to not open the door because the alarm will go off. I demanded a reason for crossing my locked threshold without a warrant. They further said they were looking for another apartment because an elderly lady complained that her air conditioning was not working. They said they didn’t need a warrant and asked if I was armed and I said yes. They started to question me but I ordered them off my property, reluctantly and extremely angry they did leave. I know that they understood that they had violated my constitutional right of unreasonable search and seizure, and violating the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department standing orders to announce “Sheriffs Dept.” when crossing a locked threshold. I fear they will return and attempt entry into my property. I am a retired Sacramento County Building inspector and a law abiding citizen with no criminal history I do not drink or take drugs, I have nothing illegal in my house. My guns are all legally registered, to me and/or my wife. I am however critical of the police on blogs and comments to the local paper the Sacramento Bee. I am also involved in a corruption lawsuit against the County. Either of these issues or both could have brought the deputies to my door in an effort to intimidate me. I am writing this to make a report in the event the Sheriff’s Department chooses to elevate this illegal entry issue.

- Jack Nichols

Sacramento County Sheriff’s Deputies Illegally Enter My Property is a post from Cop Block - "Something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun"

Garry Reed over at Examiner.com recently had this to say in his article Cop killers and killer cops: murderers all:

In early July Kelly Thomas, a homeless schizophrenic man, was beaten and tasered to death by Fullerton, California, police. . .

Libertarians who follow Cop Block and similar pro-freedom sites know these cop murders are not merely “isolated incidents”; they’ve become so commonplace that many almost go unnoticed.

And that’s just how countless police forces want it. Power is addictive, and virtually unlimited and unchallenged police power vested in the hands of dull-witted, ham-fisted, insensitive thugs, as so many cops are these days, takes on the aura of an irresistible aphrodisiac.

Exactly.

Cop Block’s own George Sand weighed-in on Thomas’s murder in the post Seig Heil to the Nazis in Fullerton.

The video below shows a protest that happened on Aug. 6th in Fullerton. Thanks to Crihsotpehr Prohna Aixels for putting the video on my radar.

And much love to the good folks involved with Friends for Fullerton Future who initially got eyes on Thomas’s killing. Ademo and I crossed paths with them at a meetup when on the road with the Motorhome Diaries and Ademo snagged the interview below with Tony Bushala, who started the site:

Garry Reed on Kelly Thomas – Fullerton Man Murdered by Police is a post from Cop Block - "Something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun"

According to Reason:

A little more than a year ago, Rawesome Foods, a health food co-op based in Venice, California was the target of an armed raid by several agencies, and the resulting video went viral.

On August 3, 2011, Rawesome experienced another multi-agency raid, but this one resulted in the arrest of the establishment’s owner James Stewart.

Stewart, and Sharon Palmer, the farmer who supplies him with raw goat milk, are being held on bails in excess of $100,000 and are each charged with four felonies and several more misdemeanors. Some examples of the charges are “processing unpasteurized milk,” “improper labeling of food,” and “improper egg temperatures.”

The government has kept pursuing Stewart and his club for years, despite a lack of any reports of illness or injury from consumption of his foods. Rawesome members argue that they are part of a private club, not subject to government regulation, and that they are being persecuted for their alternative lifestyles.

The FBI estimates that in 2009, more than 30% of criminal homicides went unsolved. Nearly 60% of forcible rapes, more than 70% of robberies, more than 40% of aggravated assaults, and nearly 90% of burglaries and motor vehicle thefts went unsolved. And yet some law enforcement officers believe that their time is best spent harassing people who are just trying to make a living by providing people with products and services that they want.

If you have a free moment, call the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office at 213.974.3525 and demand that they immediately release James Stewart and Sharon Palmer, drop all charges against them, and cease this outrageous campaign of harassment and intimidation.

Cops raid food co-op and arrest manager for selling raw milk is a post from Cop Block - "Something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun"

In early July, a homeless, schizophrenic man named Kelly Thomas was beaten and tasered to death by police. This is what Thomas looked like after his clash with the police (click to enlarge):

John Bussman, a local defense attorney, has been protesting in front of the Fullerton police station for the past 2 Saturdays. “At our first one, only about 20-30 people showed up. I’ve met Kelly’s family a couple times now and helped them hang some signs on Sunday,” said Mr. Bussman. Jon & Ken on KFI AM 640 devoted a segment to the beating on Friday and drew a lot of attention, which may have contributed to the presence of about 200 people there this Saturday.

“The OC Register has been taking a lot of flak for their failure to give this appropriate coverage. The Register basically just said that one guy fought the police, then died a few days later,” said Mr. Bussman. The OC Register’s original coverage apparently gave no indication the guy was unarmed,  was not on drugs, and had his throat and skull crushed by six officers after he was Tasered 5 times.

“I expect that protests at the Fullerton Police Station will be my regular Saturday morning routine until there is some justice for Kelly,” he added.

According to multiple witnesses, the cops repeatedly beat the 135-pound man with weapons and shot at him with Tasers. They kicked in his face and crushed a knee or two into his throat. Friends For Fullerton’s Future, a local blog, broke the story and has followed this tale of police murder and corruption. The blog documents the officers involved were allegedly shown the video as they wrote their reports to ensure matching accounts, and reports were purportedly rewritten repeatedly to satisfy the management. Another officer involved allegedly bragged about the murder the next day in the lockerroom (see their coverage here).

If you are unrealistic and/or ignorant, you are probably horrified at this and may be honestly lamenting how such a thing could have happened – perhaps you’re hoping the DA has charged them with murder, or that the “good apples” are coming forward to do the right thing.

If you are realistic and informed, you know the rest of the story. The mainstream media isn’t too concerned. Google “Kelly Thomas Fullerton” and you’ll find scanty coverage. The DA hasn’t charged anybody with shit. The murdering pig fucks are probably still busy re-writing those reports to paint Mr. Thomas as a dangerous psychopath, and are probably still bragging about beating his brains out behind the secrecy of  the Blue Line. Initially, one pig cop was on administrative leave and the other five were temporarily reassigned to other duties (OC Register coverage here). On August 2, all five were put on paid vacation while a biased and thoroughly corrupt “investigation” continues.

The officers have not been fired. They have not been charged with crimes. The city has offered a $900,000 settlement to Ron Thomas, the victim’s father (i.e. the murderers aren’t paying for their crimes; the taxpayers are). Of course, had they been ordinary people (the ones they pretend to serve), they would all be in jail, with charges piling up against them, probably with gang enhancements alleged.

But not so, because they are pigs cops. Cops are essentially a breed of demi-god in the United States of America. When they commit murder, they receive special treatment, and the public must beg the FBI, plead with local politicians, beseech the police department for accountability, or otherwise engage in boot-licking, humiliating, degradation in the hope they might receive a pathetic shadow of justice.

Americans learn in school that Hitler and the Nazis were the essence of evil, but the only lesson patriotic, state-loving Americans seem to take away from the experience of the Holocaust is that Germans were evil and fucked up. They willingly ignore the real lesson that flows logically from such a monumental disaster, which is that it behooves every citizen to beware of the banality of evil, and a blind deference to government and law.

Nazi Germany suffered not only from evil Germans in stupid costumes, it suffered from systemic support and entrenched infrastructure that condoned, supported and excused the actions of evil Germans in stupid costumes. The Hitler regime was able to continue because of institutional protections for those in government which allowed for failure to punish murder, cover-ups of murder of Jews with false death certificates and use of various excuses such as the Nuremburg defense to morally justify the eradication of people who may have at times broken inconsequential laws (not all Jews were killed merely for being Jewish – some were killed for breaking curfew, failing to wear gold stars, or other minor infractions). The problem was not that the system failed Jewish people – it was that the system was designed to kill Jewish people.

This is no different from Kelly Thomas’ beating. Six members of government savagely murdered a man, and continue  to walk free and take a vacation because the government allowed them to escape criminal charges, the government has cloaked them in civil immunity, and the government has encouraged cover-ups through falsification of police reports, and use of excuses such as “the law is the law” and “if he had kissed the ring followed orders he wouldn’t have been beaten.” The system has not failed Kelly Thomas. The system was designed so that police can kill with impunity.

Despite the logically identical similarities, Americans will employ willful ignorance to deny this reality. I think I’ve got the distinctions figured out. Nazis were evil because they were German, and Americans are not German. Nazis were different because their uniforms were uglier, while American police wear more fashionable uniforms. The vile members of the Fullerton Police Department are different from Nazis because beating a mentally ill person to death is morally superior to frying a person in an oven.

In addition, America is a free society in which people can vote and make a real difference in the political process, so Kelly Thomas could have voted for the right politicians and police chief to prevent his beating. He had this opportunity, and could have left America if he didn’t like the laws, so his beating and untimely death were actually voluntary and completely different from the violent execution of innocent people in Nazi Germany. Sound familiar? I hear Americans say this shit every day. Well, let’s take it to its necessary logical conclusion then – Mr. Thomas wasn’t murdered; he committed suicide, because democracy, the political process, and the social contract makes it all “voluntary.”

On the other hand, a more reasonable person would conclude Kelly Thomas’ death demonstrates that at any given time in the United States, the punishment for perceived lack of respect can be death. This is not freedom, safety, or order. This is tyranny and chaos.

Watch a video of OCTA bus footage of witnesses describing and discussing the event. They agree that Mr. Thomas did nothing to deserve this violence, and appear extremely distraught:

Another witness’s video depicting commentary and Kelly Thomas screaming for his father as he is being beaten to death:

Check out facebook pages Help Kelly Thomas and Justice for Kelly Thomas for more updates.

Fullerton PD information
Chief of Police Michael Sellers — 714.738.6825 — msellers@fullertonpd.org
Uniform Division Capt Dan Hughes — 714.738.6840 — dhughes@fullertonpd.org
Services Division Capt Alex Bastreri — 714.738.6839 — rbastreri@fullertonpd.org
Investigation Division Capt Kevin Hamilton — 714.738.6841 — khamilton@fullertonpd.org
Police Public Information Officer Sgt Andrew Goodrich — 714.738.6838 — agoodrich@fullertonpd.org

Seig Heil to the Nazis in Fullerton is a post from Cop Block - "Something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun"

The below post was submitted by David Freeman.

In the Police State of California, 4th of July means overtime pay for cops. Saturation patrols, and “show me your papers” checkpoints should be expected when traveling by vehicle. If you want to take public transit to a barbecue, the cops may decide to celebrate independence-day-overtime by gunning you down in the BART station. Want to relax at the beach? In order to gain access to San Pedro, Santa Cruz, and other state beaches, individuals are required to submit to searches of their vehicle, bags, and ice chests to prevent injuries related to “fireworks and alcohol.”

Despite these dire circumstances, free individuals celebrating the American spirit of resistance began organizing against the agents of aggression. This year, the holiday weekend debuted with a series of so-called DUI checkpoints funded by federal grants and conducted by law enforcement agencies across California. The first took place in Livermore where an armed group of protesters confronted the LPD Gestapo officers for violating the rights of peaceful travelers. By holding signs ahead of the checkpoint, the group gave numerous drivers the opportunity to avoid the roadblock and prevent harassment by the police. The officers and volunteers from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) were also confronted and questioned as they stole vehicles and operated their for-profit criminal operation. After several hours of confrontation, Sgt. John Hurd (Badge #1000) decided to end the Livermore checkpoint at 1 A.M rather than 2 A.M. This was accomplished with only 5 concerned citizens in attendance. With a group of 10-15, a checkpoint could be entirely neutralized.

Based on published statistics, the Livermore Police Department subjected 1200 drivers to unreasonable searches (and seizures) and only arrested TWO individuals for allegedly drunk driving during their 4th of July weekend checkpoint. That means less than 0.17% of those asked “show me your papers” were drinking! Since 11 vehicles were towed, we can conclude that 82% of the vehicles were stolen from undocumented drivers or people with registration issues. We all know the real reason they have these checkpoints. The cities and law enforcement agencies make millions ($40 million across CA in 2009) by selling stolen vehicles.

Police agencies are required to give advance notice of checkpoints before they occur. Take action by organizing against checkpoints in your area!

Join Abolish Checkpoints on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AbolishCheckpoints

Armed Citizens confront Nazi Checkpoint is a post from Cop Block - "Something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun"

About 5 months ago my girlfriend and I were making a late night dinner, around 9:30pm,when we realized we forgot to buy sauce for the pasta. We hopped in the car and ran to Safeway to get some. While we were in line, I saw that they sold cigarettes, so I left the checkout line and walked towards them to look at the prices. As I returned  to the line where my girlfriend was standing, the man who was in front of us was paying with his debit card. He turned and said, “you know it’s not smart to walk behind someone when they’re putting in their code.”  I replied with,  “seriously f**k off.” To which he replied, “what are you, on parole?” I laughed and replied “no.” The he says, “I’ll see you in the parking lot.”

So, we paid for our sauce and walked out to my car where we see the guy staring at us from inside his white van, 3 parking spots down the aisle. Now, this Safeway (in Roseville, CA on Pleasant Grove) has at least 7 different ways to leave,  yet he chose to get behind my car, blocking our exit. Out of frustration, my girlfriend got out and tried talking to him,  saying “we’re having a bad night.” When I got to the window, I could see in his hand that he was holding a gun and pointing it at my girlfriend and me! At that point, I pulled out my phone and yelled to my girlfriend “he has a GUN!”

My girlfriend froze up, so I walked to the back of the van while calling 911 so I could tell the operator that a man is pointing a gun at us, he’s in a white Toyota Sienna van, and what his license plate number is. At that point, he gets out of the van and claims to be a cop. I ignored this claim (I’m thinking what cop pulls a gun out on a girl that is 5’0 and 107 lbs!), and instead got my girlfriend’s attention, motioning for her to get in the car while simultaneously telling 911what’s going on and trying to drive away all at the same time. The operator asked where I lived, so I told her our address, and within 3 minutes, 4 police cars pulled in to our driveway. We walked out to speak with them and explained to them what happened. Sure enough, the man really was an off duty cop from Twin Rivers Police department in Sacramento. At that point, we had to drive back to Safeway to positively identify him.

He was arrested, and that’s all we heard for the next 5 months.
Just the other day his Lieutenant left a voice mail on my girlfriend’s cell phone asking to interview us. She was stone white and about to cry when she heard it. She’s scared that this Lieutenant is actually the very same guy who pulled the gun on her. We havent had any luck finding out who exactly this Twin Rivers Lieutenant is because, TRPD is a school police department. He also said he can come to her place of work or out to our home to interview us…..

Any information or suggestions about what we should do would be greatly appreciated.

Off duty TRPD cop pulls gun in Safeway parking lot is a post from Cop Block - "Something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun"

Received this morning in my inbox from a friend involved with Nevada Prison Watch. The solidarity e-mail campaign is from Change.org; the notice about the hunger strike comes from California Prison Focus, a member of Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity.

From: A. Parker
Subject: Please sign the petition to support the demands of the prison hunger strikers in Pelican Bay State Prison, California

Please sign the petition to support the demands of the prison hunger strikers in Pelican Bay State Prison, California, who will start an indefinite hungerstrike on July 1st.

http://www.change.org/petitions/support-prisoners-on-hunger-strike-at-pelican-bay-state-prison

Prisoners in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay State Prison (California) are going on an indefinite hunger strike as of July 1, 2011 to protest the cruel and inhumane conditions of their imprisonment. The hunger strike was organized by prisoners in an unusual show of racial unity. The hunger strikers developed five core demands. Briefly they are:

1. Eliminate group punishments. Instead, practice individual accountability. When an individual prisoner breaks a rule, the prison often punishes a whole group of prisoners of the same race. This policy has been applied to keep prisoners in the SHU indefinitely and to make conditions increasingly harsh.

2. Abolish the debriefing policy and modify active/inactive gang status criteria. Prisoners are accused of being active or inactive participants of prison gangs using false or highly dubious evidence, and are then sent to longterm isolation (SHU). They can escape these tortuous conditions only if they “debrief,” that is, provide information on gang activity. Debriefing produces false information (wrongly landing other prisoners in SHU, in an endless cycle) and can endanger the lives of debriefing prisoners and their families.

3. Comply with the recommendations of the US Commission on Safety and Abuse in Prisons (2006) regarding an end to longterm solitary confinement. This bipartisan commission specifically recommended to make segregation a last resort and end conditions of isolation. Yet as of May 18, 2011, California kept 3,259 prisoners in SHUs and hundreds more in Administrative Segregation waiting for a SHU cell to open up. Some prisoners have been kept in isolation for more than thirty years.

4. Provide adequate food. Prisoners report unsanitary conditions and small quantities of food that do not conform to prison regulations. There is no accountability or independent quality control of meals.

5. Expand and provide constructive programs and privileges for indefinite SHU inmates. The hunger strikers are pressing for opportunities to engage in self-help treatment, education, religious and other productive activities…. Currently these opportunities are routinely denied, even if the prisoners want to pay for correspondence courses themselves.

   Examples of privileges the prisoners want are: one phone call per week, and permission to have sweatsuits and watch caps. (Often warm clothing is denied, though the cells and exercise cage can be bitterly cold.) All of the privileges mentioned in the demands are already allowed at other SuperMax prisons (in the federal prison system and other states).

For more information and continuing updates, visit http://www.prisons.org/hungerstrike.htm

PETITION LETTER

Grant the 5 Core Demands of the Pelican Bay SHU Hunger Strikers

Dear Warden Lewis, Secretary Cate, and Governor Brown:

We support the prisoners on hunger strike in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) of Pelican Bay State Prison and those in other units joining them. We strongly urge you to grant their five core demands as soon as possible.

[Your name]

Drug-related police corruption comes in many varieties. We’ve got several this week. Let’s get to it:

In Piscataway, New Jersey, a Piscataway police officer was arrested April 25 on charges he stole cocaine while working as the department’s evidence officer. Albert Annuzzi, 47, is charged with one count each of official misconduct-theft by unlawful taking and tampering with evidence. Prosecutors said he took the cocaine for personal use. They did not announce his arrest until last week.

In Raleigh, North Carolina, one Wake County sheriff’s deputy has been arrested and another is under investigation for the theft of drugs and cash from the department. Deputy Balinda Manley, 34, was fired after her arrest last month when she was charged with two counts of embezzlement and one count of possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana. She went down after a routine audit showed that she signed out drugs and $6,435 in cash last June, but didn’t return it. When prosecuted requested the evidence for trial, she returned drugs, and then, five days later, what she said was the cash. But when investigators opened the package, they found a pile of blank paper sandwiched between two $100 bills. Investigators found a deposit slip for $1,800 in Manley’s care and one for $940 in the car of a second deputy, Chad Hines. He is now under investigation.

In Duanesburg, New York, a University at Albany police investigator was arrested May 16 along with her husband after a search of their property turned up 100 marijuana plants growing in a pole barn. Wendy Knoebel, 48, and her husband face a federal charge of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana. The pair has been released on bail.

In San Leandro, California, a San Leandro Police narcotics officer was arrested last Friday on charges he furnished marijuana to a confidential informant for sale. Detective Jason Fredriksson, 38, allegedly provided more than a pound of pot to the snitch, who planned to sell it, police said. He is also the subject of an internal investigation for having an “improper relationship” with the snitch. He has been on the San Leandro force for nine years, and most recently has been a detective in the vice/narcotics unit and a member of the 14-person SWAT team.

In Phoenix, a Maricopa County sheriff’s deputy and two detention officers were arrested Tuesday on drug and human trafficking charges. Deputy Ruben Navarette and detention officers Marcella Hernandez and Sylvia Najera face felony charges. Seven other sheriff’s employees were being investigated for their possible involvement. The three arrested are accused of being part of a Phoenix-based international drug smuggling ring. Hernandez told authorities she is eight months pregnant with the child of the ring’s leader, a member of the Sinaloa Cartel. Navarette admitted to passing information about the sheriff’s crime-prevention operations to the group. The deputy also was accused of being part of a separate human trafficking ring that smuggled illegal immigrants from Arizona to California. Deputies found two illegal immigrants when they searched his home. He is also alleged to be an active member of the drug smuggling ring that brought loads of heroin from Mexico to Phoenix. Ten pounds of heroin and nearly $200,000 in cash, weapons, vehicles and stolen property were seized during searches. Hernandez, 28, was found with $16,000 cash when she was arrested Tuesday after arriving for work. She is being held on charges that include transporting drugs and money laundering. Najera is charged with money laundering and controlling a criminal enterprise.

In San Antonio, a former Bexar County sheriff’s deputy was sentenced May 19 to six years in prison for trying to smuggle heroin to inmates using barbacoa tacos. Robert Falcon, 48, went down after another deputy found a note in a jail cell with Falcon’s address on it that spelled out a smuggling strategy. A sting was set up in which $50 in marked bills, the taco ingredients and 4 grams of fake heroin were left on his doorstep. The fake drugs were recovered from his lunch bag when he arrived at work, according to court documents. He pleaded guilty in November to bringing drugs into a correctional facility, a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Falcon is on suicide watch after he vowed to kill himself if not granted probation.

This Week’s Corrupt Cops Stories is a post from Cop Block - "Something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun"

By Benjamin Bartholomew

>On Wednesday, April 27, my brother and I were arrested. Our crime was wearing masks while holding a sign that read “TAXES=THEFT”.  We were charged with penal code 185 for wearing the masks.  We wear Guy Fawkes masks as political theater.  The masks act as a force multiplier for our outreach.  We were also charged with PC 602, trespass / damaging State property because we had tied our sign to the fence on a local highway overpass.  As part of the arrest several pieces of our property were taken as “evidence” including our sign, a video camera and the tripod it was on, and both of our cell phones which were Qik enabled.

This incident has convinced us that cameras are not enough and that Qik is more than just handy; it’s essential, as without Qik we wouldn’t have video of what happened, making it our word against theirs.

On Tuesday, May 24, we appeared in court as ordered for an arraignment.  We brought with us a lawyer, and a dozen or more supporters, some of whom were individuals we had never met before.  In order for us to all be easily seen as a group, we all wore 3-inch buttons bearing the image Guy Fawkes and our group’s name “Good Men Do Something”, which were made for us by Robert, another member of our Group.  We didn’t bring in cameras, as our petition to do so was denied since we didn’t know our case number, something we weren’t given until the day of the arraignment.

Luckily, since our last name starts with “B”, we were third in line to be arraigned.  When it was our turn, we were notified that the DA had decided to drop the PC 185 charge and only move forward with the PC 602(f) charge.  We entered a plea of “not guilty”,  and our lawyer setup the next court date, which will be 11:00 am July 13.

Once we were done, we and all our supporters got up and left, leaving what was a standing room only court room of about 50, a quarter empty, something that hopefully caught the attention of those who remained in the court room.

Now having the name of the DA handling our case as well as a case number, our lawyer has begun working to have our property returned to us.

With the mask charge having been dropped, this case now stands as a pure Freedom of Speech case.

Thank you to everyone who came out to support us.  And thank you to the Liberty Activism community for showing us support, giving this incident attention, and for inspiring us to stop merely complaining and start getting active and do something.

Those interested in following us can check us out at www.facebook.com/GoodMenDoSomething

You can donate to our legal defence by chipping in at www.gmds.chipin.com

Video of our arrest www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG0rAkTJDmQ

Penal code 602 http://law.onecle.com/california/penal/602.html

Penal code 185 http://law.onecle.com/california/penal/185.html

Update on Brothers Arrested for Hanging Sign is a post from Cop Block - "Something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun"