Gangsters in Blue

In 1993, I watched the Waco, “Standoff” live on the NBC Nightly News as a young man while eating meatloaf in front of the TV with my family. What exactly is a, “Standoff?” In my early years, I understood a standoff  as an incident which one party was wrong and the State comes in to correct or murder them.  I had a hard time comprehending why the military blazed in with tanks and burned a bunch of kids alive but understood that if the government takes such action, it must be justified. I also vaguely remember, “Ruby Ridge.”

My old man is a Navy Veteran. He served 4 years during the War In Vietnam.  He worked on the ship’s engines to insure plenty of Vietnamese were killed by artillery from the Destroyer he occupied.  He was just under ten when the last known US Civil War Veteran passed. He grew up in a time when government mandated reefer madness prevailed and The US Public Health Service was busy secretly infecting impoverished Black Americans with syphilis. We kept a flag flying on the front porch to show our unwavering support for our government, almost without question.

I’ve attempted to expose my father to the idea that just because this government is ours doesn’t mean it has our best interests in mind, to little avail. I believe he’s too conditioned to understand the idea of True Liberty.

I guess this is why I wasn’t overly surprised when he told me about a standoff a few blocks from his and my mother’s home in Janesville WI. He had told me that the previous evening they were walking the dog when the neighborhood erupted with screeching tires, sirens, and heavily armed men. He of course wasn’t able to walk up the street he’s lived near for almost 40 years because some twenty-something cop said he couldn’t.

We try not to talk about political issues due to our differences but I couldn’t help but notice that after 4 days with nothing in the paper he seemed concerned with what may have happened.  I suggested he call the PD but after a week he hadn’t so I stepped in.

I contacted JPD about the incident in Oct. 2011 on Forest Park Blvd. Robin picked up the phone and I posed my question. She didn’t object to glancing at the log and dismissed it as a potential gun call where no gun was found.  I persisted with questions and she stated that a twelve year old had been taking out the garbage around dusk and saw a person in a car with a gun. He ran back into his home and told his mom who called it in.

In WI concealed carry is legal. Open carry is also legal and it isn’t uncommon to see people on the side of  the State Highways standing around with their shotguns or rifles heading into the fields to hunt wild game.  People occasionally walk the grocery store isles with a sidearm on their hip and there usually aren’t problems.

I continued to question Robin at the PD despite her increasing reluctance to answer my questions.  What’s the big secret? She reiterated that no gun was found and nobody was arrested so it wasn’t a big deal. I asked if the gun, “Suspect” was pulled out at gunpoint or searched. She stated she didn’t know. I asked if the dispatch actually vetted this child personally, again, no apparent answer. She stated I wouldn’t be able to obtain the police reports because none exist. Just a brief dispatch log.

It turned out that the gun was actually a cell phone.  And the two alleged “gunmen” were 17 year old-ish boyfriend and girlfriend stopping by the house quick.  My Dad said the cops were yelling but he couldn’t hear exactly what was being said. I’m guessing this is an experience these young people will never forget. It may seem like a funny story in hindsight but on the other hand, I’ve never had multiple guns pointed at my torso.  I have been inadvertently swept by a live firearms and it really pisses me off.

Waukesha Standoff Society

On a regular basis the Waukesha Police play soldier in our neighborhoods. They call in the county tank and halt our outdoor activities by the sounds of cops yelling on a PA system.  I’ve done several videos of these standoff when I happen upon them. I don’t use a scanner but every month and a half or so I can usually find one by just cruising.

They bring the shields and AR’s but overwhelmingly just hang out and soak up the overtime. I don’t often see anything in the news other than the fact that one of these occurred.  It seems that if the police call these incidents, “Medicals” they can get away without scrutiny or further information.  I’ve taken video of three in the last year or so.

I don’t need to ask what precipitates a standoff. Pretty much anything in this area. Perhaps a neighbor hears an argument and you choose not to answer the door for the cops? Maybe you’ve had a few drinks and throw on your favorite Metallica CD. As we all know the police have no legal duty to, “Protect us.”  What if an, “Emotionally disturbed person who is potentially armed” is greeted by the mom or brother instead of a heavily fortified militarized sect of the police. Perhaps a well known,  friendly, willing,  neighbor would produce better results than flash bang grenades and sub-machine guns.

As is common,  in the video above, no gun, according to local YouTube friends, and no real threat by the female suspect. I’d love to tell you the whole story but it seems to be a secret.

It appears standoffs will be entrenched in Waukesha culture for the time being.

John Freeman – Milwaukee area Copblock

Wisconsin Standoff Society is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Guest post by Damon

This is a video of the most reasonable man I know being booked in for “disorderly conduct”. This man has applied for a press pass which was later revoked by the corporate media representatives  in charge of distributing all press passes. He has attempted to use footage from Wisconsin Eye, a government-funded media service. They made him take down the footage because it is the property of said 501c(3) corporation.

He has filmed legislators committing voter fraud through the windows of the gallery. They took that as a sign that they needed to post black plastic over the windows. These are the lengths he has gone to in order to report on the blatant corruption of our State Government during the last session.  In direct contradiction of  State Statute 19.90, which states that we have the right to film our public officials, our legislature has deemed filming a violation of their own rules of conduct and are prosecuting, “Offenders” under disorderly conduct statutes. This day he wasn’t filming.

Being known for excising one’s rights is now enough to warrant detainment in Wisconsin.

This is not my video and I cannot claim credit for it.  I got it off my buddy’s youtube channel(arthurkr222).

Illegal Possession Of A Camera, Disorderly Conduct In The WI Assembly is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

By Guest Writer Jacob Crawfird

Miami’s Homeland Security is keeping tabs on Carlos Miller, why? Not because he is any terrorist threat or some subversive radical. Rather because he runs the website, “Photography Is Not A Crime!” which documents police attacks on copwatchers, journalists, and ordinary citizens who catch heat for filming police interactions. He’s been supportive of my police accountability work with copwatch and I’ve appreciated his coverage of police issues over the last few years.

—Jacob Crawford
ladderfilms@gmail.com

Carlos Miller Under Surveillance for His Website, “Photography is Not a Crime” is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

I was recording police from across the street on a public sidewalk. Keep in mind I do nothing that is against the law. I have every right to film them in their duties. I in no way addressed the officer OR the guy the officer was talking too. The passenger, who is not engaged by the cop starts the conversation with me. It turns out that I knew the passenger. After the traffic stop was over I get stopped, detained, then threatened. The cops realize they have nothing to hold me on and let me go but not before threatening me that he will arrest me if I do this behavior again.

Afterwards I went looking to record them again but came up empty handed.

Muscatine, Iowa USA aka Nazi Germany. “Show me your papers please” is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

The growth of the police state means into an increased likelihood that someone wearing a badge will attempt to violate your rights. One of the surest way to safeguard your rights is to document such interactions. Innovation and competition means cameras are cheaper than ever. We compared a number of sub-$100 devices to help you make a decision.

Mini 300 Spy Glasses – $35
Records in .AVI, 30fps, 720×480 video, 1280×1024 picture, Lithium battery, 1+hr record time, ~2hrs standby time, power on then press camera button once for picture or hold until flashing for video
+novel, leaves hands free, after 45sec of inactivity powers-down,
-set time via .TXT file wasn’t accessible on MAC
Overall: decent entry-level option, a bit bulky to be discrete (may be able to lessen profile by wearing a hoodie or hat, or my just leaving glasses sitting on a shelf or table, as if they’re regular shades)

Cobra Digital Spy Pen – $50
+inconspicuous, functional (pen writes), Lithium-ion battery, USB-ready, video and picture modes, 4GB internal memory
-reliability is questionable, time-consuming to switch between picture/video mode, unable to set time via MAC (told to create .TXT file with current date/time, rename, drag to root directory)
Overall: ok but not the first device I’d recommend

Philips Digital Voice Tracer LFH0622 – $60
+Lithium Ion battery, specific use, easy to use, lots of storage time, USB-ready, 2GB means hours of storage
-none known
Overall: easy to navigate and performs without error, solid

Olympus VG-120 Digital Camera – $75 (used)
+14megapixel, 5x optical zoom, 3″ LCD screen, can load with big SD card and store lots of content
-uses propitiatory cord (included) rather than regular USB cord to export
Overall: solid for still pictures, good for video, slim so apt to carry

Venon Snake Eye Micro Sports Cam – $85
records in .AVI, 25fps, 640×480
+Li rechargeable 2hr run-time (records at 1GB/40min), VOX 250hr standby (65db+), lots of mounts, micro SD or USB,
-doesn’t take pictures
Overall: a pretty good option though you’ll sacrifice some quality for small size

Flip Slide HD – $100 (used)
simple to use, upload directly to YouTube, Facebook
+12hr of video storage, reliable
-despite calling the microphone “wide-range” it isn’t the best, zoom isn’t the best, can’t use gloves while using
Overall: solid option, portable, easy to use,

BarryCam Key Camera – $100
keyfob camera, take pictures 2560 x 1920 and video 720×480 at 29FSP, records in MPEG, 90min battery
+2GB microSD included (~75min record time), offers returns and has warranty, offers package with personal analysis, comes with USB cord
-was initially sent two and the spring in the key wasn’t functioning, it was replaced with a model that didn’t operate as advertised
Overall: not recommended in current iteration, hopefully bugs will be worked out in future models

More:
ZionEyez – more discrete than the Mini 300 Spy Glasses above, you can Bluetooth the video stream to your phone and share it in real-time using a free livestreaming application
Your own drone – opportunities abound
Handbrake.fr – convert .AVI content to .m4v to edit via a Mac

Sub-$100 Camera Comparison is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

There’s been a back and forth going on in the Keene court system. The state pushes activists (with aggression)  and the activists push back (peacefully). The activists were doing rather well until the courts BANNED cameras from the buildings/courtrooms. Since then several acts of violence haven’t made YouTube but I thought that changed when the 1st District Court of Appeals ruled on Gilk v. Commonwealth of MA.

That ruling states that ALL PUBLIC OFFICIALS can be filmed while in the course of their duties, in public space. So I decided to head down to Superior Court in Keene, NH to notify the bailiff’s there of the ruling. My goal was to get them to understand that taking people’s cameras at the gate is now illegal, no matter what the judge’s ruling on the wall says (the 1st district court of appeals overrides it).

This is how it went…

After the video ended I went back into the building gave the ruling to a sheriff and said, “the next time I come here you’ll have a choice to make and I will sue you if you arrest me. The choice is yours.” I’m not sure when I’ll be back in Keene but when I am, I’ll be stopping by the courthouse with several cameras.

*It should be noted that the whole building seen in this video is under surveillance and all those inside are already being recorded*

Keene Bailiff Doesn’t Care About Your Rights is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

Like many other people, I will never forget what I was doing on the morning of September 11, 2001.  I was returning home after visiting my brother and his new roommate (unbeknownst to me at the time, my future husband) at college.  I listened to the events unfold on the car radio.  The initial reports were chaotic and confusing, and I wanted to get home to see the images for myself.  I got to my apartment just in time to see the first tower fall.  I was in an utter state of shock, completely numb.  This numbness would last for two weeks, and then I finally sat down and cried.

The memories of that day are so vivid that it is hard to believe that 10 years have passed. Personally, I have experienced great joy in the decade since that day.  Shortly after 9/11, I fell in love with an amazing man.  I have had career success, traveled to and worked in one of the most remote places on earth, and I have welcomed two beautiful children into the world.  It has been the best decade of my life, but there are many things that have happened in the last decade that bring me sadness and many times, outrage.

The death toll on that day was staggering.  But the death toll and the steady erosion of individual rights since that day is beyond comprehension.  In the quest for vengeance, there has been more than 25,000 innocent Afghans killed, at least 100,000 innocent Iraqis killed, hundreds of innocent men, women, and children killed by drone attacks in Pakistan, 6,026 U.S. soldiers killed, and millions of people injured or displaced.  In the quest for security, we have been given The Patriot Act, warrantless wiretapping, torture and the suspension of Habeas Corpus, The Department of Homeland Security, The Transportation Security Administration with their naked scanners and “gate rape”, and the undeniable militarization of the police.

For the last decade the American people have been force fed a big dose of fear and the overwhelming majority has eaten it up.  In the wake of the immense vulnerability most of us felt on 9/11, Americans seemed willing to let the government do anything in the name of security.  Most have turned a blind eye to the death and destruction abroad and welcomed the intrusive nature of the War on Terror at home.  Few have batted an eye at invasive pat downs at the airport or border checkpoints nowhere near the border.  Few have shown concern with the fact that police departments across the country are procuring armored vehicles, military grade assault rifles, grenade launchers and unmanned drones that are far more likely to be used against Americans than terrorists. Few have protested the inevitable and rapid increase in paramilitary raids for nonviolent offenses that has occurred as the police have become more militarized.  Even fewer have called for the one thing that is most likely to bring us both security and prosperity; the pursuit of peace.

If we learned anything from the bloody history of the 20^th century it should be that war will not bring peace; it will only bring more violence and more war.  World War I, the war to end all wars, led to the rise of Hitler and World War II.  World War II led to the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and half a century of a meddling foreign policy that culminated in the events of 9/11.  Even the domestic War on Drugs has led to nothing but more dangerous drugs and more violence, committed by street gangs and gangs wearing badges.  If history really does repeat itself, the War on Terror will not be our salvation, but our downfall.

Individuals in the government have not learned the lessons history has taught.  We should not make the same mistakes.  From time to time, comments on this site, call for reacting to the violence of the police with more violence.  It is easy to see the aggression and the atrocities committed by individuals in the government who purport to protect us both at home and abroad and want to lash out and return violence with violence, but we should be careful not to become what we despise.  Violence is the refuge of thugs and tyrants.  Violence is the tool of religious zealots who fly planes into buildings, murdering 3000 people.  It is the tool of generals who order bombs dropped on civilians.  It is the tool of presidents who order drone attacks on houses full of children.  It is the tool of thugs in blue who cage peaceful people.  Let it not be our tool.

This is not a call for pacifism.  You have every right, perhaps even a moral obligation, to proportionally defend yourself from aggression.  But wholesale aggression against an entire group of people, whether it is a group defined by their borders, their uniforms, or a shiny piece of metal on their chest, in response to the actions of individuals who belong to the same group cannot withstand any moral reasoning. You have every right to seek justice when you have been harmed.  The victims of 9/11 had every right to seek those responsible for the death and destruction of that day and hold them accountable for their actions.  You do not need to be a pacifist to live in peace with your neighbors, any more than the U.S. government needs to be isolationist or pacifist to live in peace with theirs.

On the tenth anniversary of September 11^th, we will no doubt once again face the images of that terrible day.  We will hear the names of the dead and we will be reminded to never forget. We should also take the time to reflect on the images of 10 years of war.  We should reflect on not just the names of those who died in those towers that terrible Tuesday morning, but of the unknown, nameless people who have been killed by our bombs and bullets abroad.  We should take time reflect on how we can be the peace that we seek.  We should take time today and everyday to remember that “There is no way to peace, peace is the way.”

Peace is the Way: Remembering 9/11 and the Decade Since is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights

This video gives some helpful tips for keeping personal information stored on your cell phone private in the event that it is seized by the police:

Alyona Show: How to cop proof your cell phone is a post from Cop Block - "Something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun"

We’re still working on the footage from our trial, hopefully we’ll be able to publish it later today, but we wanted to give folks a sneak peak. Below is a playlist created by Jason Talley, of Talley.tv, consisting of live updates  taken from the trial.

Thanks again to Talley.TV, NeverTakeAPlea.org and FreeKeene.com for teaming up with us to highlight this injustice.

Live Updates From Pete and Ademo’s Greenfield, MA Trial is a post from Cop Block - "Something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun"

That question, even without an answer, makes most “law-abiding taxpayers” go into knee-jerk conniptions. The indoctrinated masses all race to see who can be first, and loudest, to proclaim that it is NEVER okay to forcibly resist “law enforcement.” In doing so, they also inadvertently demonstrate why so much of human history has been plagued by tyranny and oppression.

In an ideal world, cops would do nothing except protect people from thieves and attackers, in which case shooting a cop would never be justified. In the real world, however, far more injustice, violence, torture, theft, and outright murder has been committed IN THE NAME of “law enforcement,” than has been committed in spite of it. To get a little perspective, try watching a documentary or two about some of the atrocities committed by the regimes of Stalin, or Lenin, or Chairman Mao, or Hitler, or Pol Pot, or any number of other tyrants in history. Pause the film when the jackboots are about to herd innocent people into cattle cars, or gun them down as they stand on the edge of a ditch, and THEN ask yourself the question, “When should you shoot a cop?” Keep in mind, the evils of those regimes were committed in the name of “law enforcement.” And as much as the statement may make people cringe, the history of the human race would have been a lot LESS gruesome if there had been a lot MORE “cop-killers” around to deal with the state mercenaries of those regimes.

People don’t mind when you point out the tyranny that has happened in other countries, but most have a hard time viewing their OWN “country,” their OWN “government,” and their OWN “law enforcers,” in any sort of objective way. Having been trained to feel a blind loyalty to the ruling class of the particular piece of dirt they live on (a.k.a. “patriotism”), and having been trained to believe that obedience is a virtue, the idea of forcibly resisting “law enforcement” is simply unthinkable to many. Literally, they can’t even THINK about it. And humanity has suffered horribly because of it. It is a testament to the effectiveness of authoritarian indoctrination that literally billions of people throughout history have begged and screamed and cried in the face of authoritarian injustice and oppression, but only a tiny fraction have ever lifted a finger to actually try to STOP it.

Even when people can recognize tyranny and oppression, they still usually talk about “working within the system”–the same system that is responsible for the tyranny and oppression. People want to believe that ”the system” will, sooner or later, provide justice. The last thing they want to consider is that they should “illegally” resist–that if they want to achieve justice, they must become “criminals” and “terrorists,” which is what anyone who resists “legal” injustice is automatically labelled. But history shows all too well that those who fight for freedom and justice almost always do so “illegally”–i.e., without the permission of the ruling class.

If politicians think that they have the right to impose any “law” they want, and cops have the attitude that, as long as it’s called “law,” they will enforce it, what is there to prevent complete tyranny? Not the consciences of the “law-makers” or their hired thugs, obviously. And not any election or petition to the politicians. When tyrants define what counts as “law,” then by definition it is up to the “law-breakers” to combat tyranny.

Pick any example of abuse of power, whether it is the fascist “war on drugs,” the police thuggery that has become so common, the random stops and searches now routinely carried out in the name of “security” (e.g., at airports, “border checkpoints” that aren’t even at the border, “sobriety checkpoints,” and so on), or anything else. Now ask yourself the uncomfortable question: If it’s wrong for cops to do these things, doesn’t that imply that the people have a right to RESIST such actions? Of course, state mercenaries don’t take kindly to being resisted, even non-violently. If you question their right to detain you, interrogate you, search you, invade your home, and so on, you are very likely to be tasered, physically assaulted, kidnapped, put in a cage, or shot. If a cop decides to treat you like livestock, whether he does it “legally” or not, you will usually have only two options: submit, or kill the cop. You can’t resist a cop ”just a little” and get away with it. He will always call in more of his fellow gang members, until you are subdued or dead.

Basic logic dictates that you either have an obligation to LET “law enforcers” have their way with you, or you have the right to STOP them from doing so, which will almost always require killing them. (Politely asking fascists to not be fascists has a very poor track record.) Consider the recent Indiana Supreme Court ruling, which declared that if a cop tries to ILLEGALLY enter your home, it’s against the law for you to do anything to stop him. Aside from the patent absurdity of it, since it amounts to giving thugs with badges PERMISSION to “break the law,” and makes it a CRIME for you to defend yourself against a CRIMINAL (if he has a badge), consider the logical ramifications of that attitude.

There were once some words written on a piece of parchment (with those words now known as the Fourth Amendment), that said that you have the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures at the hands of ”government” agents. In Indiana today, what could that possibly mean? The message from the ruling class is quite clear, and utterly insane. It amounts to this: “We don’t have the right to invade your home without probable cause … but if we DO, you have no right to stop us, and we have the right to arrest you if you try.”

Why not apply that to the rest of the Bill of Rights, while we’re at it? ”You have the right to say what you want, but if we use violence to shut you up, you have to let us.” (I can personally attest to the fact that that is the attitude of the U.S. “Department of Justice.”) “You have the right to have guns, but if we try to forcibly and illegally disarm you, and you resist, we have the right to kill you.” (Ask Randy Weaver and the Branch Davidians about that one.) “You have the right to not testify against yourself, but when we coerce you into confessing (and call it a ’plea agreement’), you can’t do a thing about it.” What good is a ”right”–what does the term “right” even mean–if you have an obligation to allow jackboots to violate your so-called “rights”? It makes the term absolutely meaningless.

To be blunt, if you have the right to do “A,” it means that if someone tries to STOP you from doing “A”–even if he has a badge and a politician’s scribble (“law”) on his side–you have the right to use whatever amount of force is necessary to resist that person. That’s what it means to have an unalienable right. If you have the unalienable right to speak your mind (a la the First Amendment), then you have the right to KILL “government” agents who try to shut you up. If you have the unalienable right to be armed, then you have the right to KILL ”government” agents who try to disarm you. If you have the right to not be subjected to unreasonable searches and seizures, then you have the right to KILL “government” agents who try to inflict those on you.

Those who are proud to be “law-abiding” don’t like to hear this, and don’t like to think about this, but what’s the alternative? If you do NOT have the right to forcibly resist injustice–even if the injustice is called ”law”–that logically implies that you have an obligation to allow ”government” agents to do absolutely anything they want to you, your home, your family, and so on. Really, there are only two choices: you are a slave, the property of the politicians, without any rights at all, or you have the right to violently resist “government” attempts to oppress you. There can be no other option.

Of course, on a practical level, openly resisting the gang called ”government” is usually very hazardous to one’s health. But there is a big difference between obeying for the sake of self-preservation, which is often necessary and rational, and feeling a moral obligation to go along with whatever the ruling class wants to do to you, which is pathetic and insane. Most of the incomprehensible atrocities that have occurred throughout history were due in large part to the fact that most people answer “never” to the question of “When should you shoot a cop?” The correct answer is: When evil is “legal,” become a criminal. When oppression is enacted as “law,” become a “law-breaker.” When those violently victimizing the innocent have badges, become a cop-killer.

The next time you hear of a police officer being killed “in the line of duty,” take a moment to consider the very real possibility that maybe in that case, the “law enforcer” was the bad guy and the “cop killer” was the good guy. As it happens, that has been the case more often than not throughout human history.

When Should You Shoot A Cop is a post from Cop Block - "Something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun"