Ah, Pittsburgh you hokey little po-dunk haven for racists where even erudite museum directors give other white people a hall pass for racism. It's deeply disappointing that the director of the internationally-known Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh doesn't see a problem with blackface or white people calling black people the N word. Someone send that boy a Tim Wise DVD. It's also deeply disappointing that queer African Americans who approached Needles in a club to talk about her act, who were called the N word to their face, didn't talk to City Paper about that direct experience, one undeniable horrible part of the Sharon Needles story.
I'm not sure it's fair to credit Koch with "devising" the city's new Snowmageddon policy. It looks very similar to that in other cities, eg. Minneapolis. There really was no need to reinvent the wheel with good models like that in existence, which Pittsburgh's new system clearly (and commendably) borrows from.
Great coverage. Rustbelt Radio covered the legality of the Dreaming Ant raids in a 9 minute piece on Monday Jan 31. Starts at 28 mins in: http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/news/2011/01/36910.php
Jordan Miles is a bad example to argue the necessity of individual police officers equipped with cameras.
If City Paper would print images of Jordan Miles after the police beat himâ€â€which have been part of public record as a media handout since the incidentâ€â€it is immediately apparent why video cameras are totally unnecessary in his case to determine that the three police officers used unnecessary force.
Why does City Paper not print the images of Jordan Miles after the beating? They make us all eyewitnesses: http://justiceforjordanmiles.com
This article is very negligent in telling the Miles side of the story. None of the damning facts about the matter are even mentioned.
Jordan Miles is a 150 pound kid. These were three large, strong men. It's not credible that they did that much visible damage to him merely in the course of trying to arrest him. Oh yeah, but you didn't even print a picture of Miles after the beating.
You say that the officers "saw Miles sneaking around a house on Tioga Street". You fail to say that his mom lives on Tioga Street and he was heading to his grandmother's home at the time.[1]
You fail to note that the homeowner that the cops claimed complained about Miles, Monica Wooding[2], denied that she had, and said she knew Miles and that her son and he hung out. Monica Wooding's testimony, which had clearly initially been falsified by the cops, was one of the main factors that led to the charges being dropped.
You fail to note that the cops tried to spin that there was a "Mountain Dew" bottle in Miles; coat that they "mistook" for a gun. Miles doesn't drink Mountain Dew, denied carrying any bottle, nor was one entered into evidence.[3]
You say "The criminal complaint said the teen ran from the officers after they told him to stop and proceeded to assault the officers as they tried to arrest him." But you fail to note that Miles reported that the "cops" approached him yelling “Where’s the money? Where’s the gun? Where’s the drugs?”[4] which sounds a lot like a robbery.
While you go to some lengths to talk of the "city's best cops", you fail to note that Miles was an honor student at CAPA, had never been in trouble with the law, and has been accepted into Pitt to study... wait for it... Crime Scene Investigations. The kid is planning on becoming a cop.
You also fail to note that officer Michael Saldutte is also accused of brutally beating Jamil Gray, 34, who was arrested in Feb. 2009. According to his attorney, Jenee Oliver, “[Gray's] eyeball was knocked out of his eye socket. The doctor had to insert a plastic screw in order for the eyeball not to fall into his eye socket."
While it's all well and good that the cops are responsible for "making nearly 20 percent of the city's illegal firearms arrests", with additional facts such as the clear manipulation of the innocent Miles' and witness testimony, and the previous beating of Jamil Gray, one has to ask the question exactly how they are "making nearly 20 percent of the city's illegal firearms arrests".
The figure suddenly seems much less impressive given the history of brutality and testimony manipulation.
At the very least, these facts needed to be added, and a picture of Miles after the beating should be mandatory because that image say so much about this shameful case. As the article currently reads, it's a "he said, she said" affair that doesn't make that same mistake with the cops' side of the story.
While the CP investigation into the cops' ridiculous pay rewards is welcomed, you need to be careful to recount the clear facts of the matter. They make clear that the length of this suspension for which the officers are being rewarded is part of the problem too, in such an open and shut case.
The GASLAND documentary makes it crystal clear that hydrofracking/natural gas drilling will make your water and environment unsafe.
State representatives Marc Gergely (D-White Oak) and Garth Everett (R- Muncy) are nothing less than mercenaries paid by corporations to poison your children.
That's not hyperbole. That's the bottom line. Whether this is allowed to happen or not is dependent on people rising up. The politicians have already been bought.
Recent Comments
If City Paper would print images of Jordan Miles after the police beat himâ€â€which have been part of public record as a media handout since the incidentâ€â€it is immediately apparent why video cameras are totally unnecessary in his case to determine that the three police officers used unnecessary force.
Why does City Paper not print the images of Jordan Miles after the beating? They make us all eyewitnesses: http://justiceforjordanmiles.com
http://justiceforjordanmiles.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/zapella-petition-teaser.jpg
Jordan Miles is a 150 pound kid. These were three large, strong men. It's not credible that they did that much visible damage to him merely in the course of trying to arrest him. Oh yeah, but you didn't even print a picture of Miles after the beating.
You say that the officers "saw Miles sneaking around a house on Tioga Street". You fail to say that his mom lives on Tioga Street and he was heading to his grandmother's home at the time.[1]
You fail to note that the homeowner that the cops claimed complained about Miles, Monica Wooding[2], denied that she had, and said she knew Miles and that her son and he hung out. Monica Wooding's testimony, which had clearly initially been falsified by the cops, was one of the main factors that led to the charges being dropped.
You fail to note that the cops tried to spin that there was a "Mountain Dew" bottle in Miles; coat that they "mistook" for a gun. Miles doesn't drink Mountain Dew, denied carrying any bottle, nor was one entered into evidence.[3]
You say "The criminal complaint said the teen ran from the officers after they told him to stop and proceeded to assault the officers as they tried to arrest him." But you fail to note that Miles reported that the "cops" approached him yelling “Where’s the money? Where’s the gun? Where’s the drugs?”[4] which sounds a lot like a robbery.
While you go to some lengths to talk of the "city's best cops", you fail to note that Miles was an honor student at CAPA, had never been in trouble with the law, and has been accepted into Pitt to study... wait for it... Crime Scene Investigations. The kid is planning on becoming a cop.
You also fail to note that officer Michael Saldutte is also accused of brutally beating Jamil Gray, 34, who was arrested in Feb. 2009. According to his attorney, Jenee Oliver, “[Gray's] eyeball was knocked out of his eye socket. The doctor had to insert a plastic screw in order for the eyeball not to fall into his eye socket."
While it's all well and good that the cops are responsible for "making nearly 20 percent of the city's illegal firearms arrests", with additional facts such as the clear manipulation of the innocent Miles' and witness testimony, and the previous beating of Jamil Gray, one has to ask the question exactly how they are "making nearly 20 percent of the city's illegal firearms arrests".
The figure suddenly seems much less impressive given the history of brutality and testimony manipulation.
At the very least, these facts needed to be added, and a picture of Miles after the beating should be mandatory because that image say so much about this shameful case. As the article currently reads, it's a "he said, she said" affair that doesn't make that same mistake with the cops' side of the story.
While the CP investigation into the cops' ridiculous pay rewards is welcomed, you need to be careful to recount the clear facts of the matter. They make clear that the length of this suspension for which the officers are being rewarded is part of the problem too, in such an open and shut case.
FOOTNOTES
1. http://justiceforjordanmiles.com/?page_id=4
2. http://justiceforjordanmiles.com/?tag=monica-wooding
3. http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A75374
4. http://justiceforjordanmiles.com/?p=81
State representatives Marc Gergely (D-White Oak) and Garth Everett (R- Muncy) are nothing less than mercenaries paid by corporations to poison your children.
That's not hyperbole. That's the bottom line. Whether this is allowed to happen or not is dependent on people rising up. The politicians have already been bought.