Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Cop Watch

  • Brooklyn, New York - Three members of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Lumumba Bandele, Desaw Floyd, and Djbril Toure were arrested in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn early this morning a attempting to witness and document police as they allegedly beat another individual. They were charged with assault and obstruction of governmental administration. The three's attorney Kamau Karl Franklin stated that "they were involved in completely legal activities" and their "arrest is outrageous."
  • Bronx, New York - Michael Soguero, the Bronx principal who was arrested last week while trying to mediate an altercation between an unruly student and a police officer, who wanted to arrest the youth, has received an outpouring of support from parents and faculty. Many believe that the arrest was payback for filing a civilian complaint against the arresting officer after a previous incident involving another student. "Flooding schools with police officers and safety agents, particularly when there is this divided responsibility where the principal does not have authority of the building, has always struck me as a potentially dangerous strategy," said Eva S. Moskowitz, chairwoman of the City Council's Education Committee, at a committee hearing yesterday.
  • San Antonio, Texas - The niece of a high ranking police official at the San Antonio Police Department has accused her uncle of raping her multiple times over the past year. According to a police report, the woman was "frightened and shaking" after driving herself to a local hospital, were she told officers that her uncle had threatened her life. The woman also said that the officer told her, "Nothing will happen anyway, because of who I am." The officer remains on the job and no charges have yet been filed.
  • Jacksonville, Florida - Four high-powered sniper rifles with scopes and 80 rounds of 308 ammunition were stolen out of an unmarked FBI van early Sunday morning. A spokesperson for the FBI said that they are doing everything possible to try and find whoever took their weapons.