THE PORTLAND POLICE BUREAU is facing heightened scrutiny this week after the fatal shooting of Aaron Campbell in Northeast Portland on Friday, January 29—police have told reporters that Campbell didn’t comply with their orders to put his hands in the air and instead put them behind his head.
Now another similar incident that took place last December has emerged, compounding questions about how well local police are trained to deescalate tense situations and avoid tragedy.
Billie McKenzie, 72, spent four hours driving around downtown looking for her grandson, Calbruce Jamal Green, in her green Toyota Camry on December 7, 2009.
“The jail had called me and said he’d been arrested,” says McKenzie. “But he doesn’t know that you can make a phone call. When I called back down there they said he’d been released, and I was very concerned about what might happen to him.”
Green, 34, is developmentally disabled and has a verbal IQ of 55.
What McKenzie didn’t know was that earlier police had Tasered her grandson twice and pointed a gun at him on a TriMet bus. She didn’t discover the truth until Green showed up at his North Portland home in the early hours of the morning—having walked almost five miles from the downtown justice center.
“He was out of it,” she says. “They hadn’t given him his medication at the jail, even though I’d told them he needed it. And it was cold—you know what it was like in December.”
Earlier that day, Green had ridden the MAX to the Rose Quarter Transit Center after visiting his cousin in Gresham. He and other passengers were not allowed to board a bus after the driver explained that the displayed route number was incorrect. Failing to understand, and shivering without gloves or a hat in the midst of a cold snap, Green boarded a nearby bus hoping to get warm, at about 9:30 pm.
A TriMet bus video (which you can watch on the Mercury‘s website) shows Green boarding the second bus without any apparent problem. Green flashes his Honored Citizen TriMet pass to the driver, who is wearing festive reindeer ears. Ninety seconds later, Beaverton Police Officer Keith Welch boards the bus.
Despite being a Beaverton cop, Officer Welch was working in the Rose Quarter under an agreement between law enforcement from Portland, Beaverton, Troutdale, Milwaukie, and Gresham to patrol TriMet as part of the Portland Police Bureau’s Transit Division.
Welch asked Green to get off the bus, according to his report. He also asked Green to take his hands out of his jacket.
“I just want to go home,” said Green, according to Officer Welch’s report. “I’m not doing anything wrong!”
Green continued to keep his hands inside his coat and stare blankly at Welch, according to the report. Welch threatened to Taser Green, who “appeared to become agitated,” wrote Welch.
Welch Tasered Green, then drew his semi-automatic pistol as he radioed for cover. Portland Police Officer Jack Blazer showed up within a minute, and Tasered Green again before removing him from the bus.
The officers charged Green with interfering with public transportation, interfering with a police officer, and possession of a controlled substance—mistaking his seizure medication for ecstasy. The drug charge was later dropped, and Green’s criminal defense attorney Noah Horst is having him assessed for a possible inability to aid and assist in his own defense on the other two charges.
“It hurt,” says Green, describing being Tasered. “I just wanted to get home. [Being Tasered] was like the first time I had a seizure—I didn’t know what I was getting my ass whooped for. It’s not right.”
This story comes after a recent landmark ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals about Tasering suspects with mental health problems. The court ruled last December that officers should consider whether a suspect poses an “immediate threat” before using the less-lethal weapons.
Green’s attorneys, however, are concerned that the outcome of the situation could have been much worse.
“Given the fact that he did not seem able to understand the reason or seriousness of the commands and was being held at gunpoint by an officer who made the decision to Tase him quickly, it’s not a real stretch to imagine that he could have been shot, in a different scenario,” says Joel Greenberg with Disability Rights Oregon, who has lodged a complaint about the incident with the two police departments, on Green’s behalf.
Police are taught early on that if they can’t see a suspect’s hands, “it’s a big red flag,” says Portland Police Bureau spokesperson Mary Wheat.
“After an incident, it’s easy for people to come back and have all the information,” she adds. “But at the time, the officers are dealing with just what they’re seeing in the moment, and they have to protect public safety.”
Either way, McKenzie has some strong advice for Green in the future.
“I told Jamal if you ever get picked up again they’ll allow you one call,” she says. “Tell them you want to call your grandmother.”
Green’s attorneys are also concerned that recently introduced Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) for Portland police may not be working as well as it could. The new CIT curriculum was introduced across the board to train officers in diffusing situations where mental illness or disability is a factor, after the 2006 death in custody of James Chasse, a man with schizophrenia.
“It appears that the officers failed to recognize that Mr. Green suffers from severe mental disability,” says Horst. “I am concerned that CIT hasn’t effectively prepared our police officers to respond to our mentally disabled and mentally ill citizens.”
Police oversight groups have also expressed concern in the past about allowing officers from suburban jurisdictions like Beaverton to work in Portland, where mental health issues are more common on the streets [“Compelling Testimony,” June 26, 2008]. The city’s Independent Police Review division also has limited power to investigate the actions of officers from other jurisdictions, even if their activity happens here in Portland as part of the bureau’s transit division.
The Portland Police Bureau’s CIT coordinator, Liesbeth Gerritsen, explains that much of Portland’s CIT training focuses on helping officers to recognize suspects’ mental problems. All Beaverton officers are also required to do 24 hours of crisis intervention training a year, and some officers have done additional training, says Beaverton police spokesperson Pam Yazzolino.
“It could be mental health, it could be recognizing drug impairment, it could be about interacting with the elderly,” says Yazzolino. “We’re talking about recognizing some kind of mental impairment. There’s also at least two specially trained officers on duty, per shift, so if we need someone, we can call them to a scene and say, ‘Hey, help me assess this situation.'”
“The whole training is, ‘what are you seeing, and how would you describe it,’ and ‘what are the clues that would tell you, this doesn’t look like everything else that you’d normally see?'” says Gerritsen, with the Portland Police Bureau.
At the same time, says Gerritsen, officer safety comes first.
“So in general terms if somebody is sitting on a bus and he’s got a jacket on and he’s not talking, and he’s got his hands in his pockets, the first concern is always going to be an officer safety concern,” she says. “And then you do all the right things. But that’s always the rub, is that at what point do you recognize that something is off?”
Racial profiling and police brutality – even Beaverton cops know Portland is an open town, because Dan Saltzman has no gonads – an angry mob prevented him from disciplining Chris Humphreys after his latest fiasco.
The police contract is coming up for renewal, and a City Council with some guts would put in: 1.) A disciplinary board with subpoena and contempt power, as well as power to issue punishments from reprimands to firing; 2.) Mandatory random drug testing for cops, for both recreational drugs and performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids; 3.) Mandatory City Council review of all allegations of excessive force, whether by an IPR complaint or a civil suit.
If the tallest building in Portland could talk, when it looked out over the City, it would utter four words: “What a freaking mess.”
Who called the police and why?
This makes me sick. The police are fucking useless when it comes to recognizing someone with a disability or special needs. Maybe if they took their god damned heads out of their asses, they’d see that he wasn’t a threat.
The taser has fast become a Cattle Prod for the mildly uncooperative, instead of the less-than-lethal alternative to guns that was supposed to save lives.
What the police failed to do was recognize Jamal as a human being. As a recent arrestee, I can tell you first hand how our police officers see us “criminals” as sub human and far below themselves. When a “public defender” fails to see its public as worthy of defense, we end up with a police force that feels more gustappo then a facility for the public’s betterment. In their eyes, Jamal was just another warm bodied criminal who didn’t deserve any consideration. Exactly what was his offense? Being cold? Wanting to return to the safety of his home? Or was it that he has an IQ of 50 making him an unworthy citizen in the eyes of law enforcement? My 5$ worth of pot taught me that im a piece of shit and how lucky I am to not be mentally challenged in Portland. Also how lucky I am to not have been shot. It makes me sad.
Nashyra
Why did the officer ask Green to leave the bus in the first place? I don’t understand why this incident even began.
So if I’m riding the bus with my hands in my pockets and not talking to anyone, a transit cop has the “right” to order me to take my hands out of my pockets? On what grounds? Is sitting and not talking now a crime when riding public transit? And I too ask the question offered by Pat (see above comments), who called the police and why? Was all of this just because he was black and the driver was uncomfortable with having him as a passenger? I’d say that the officers involved should be put on suspension (with out pay) and not allowed back to work until they are retrained as to what the law actually says. If the force is trained to tase first and ask questions later, the force needs some retraining.
I don’t understand why it started, either. Doesn’t seem to be any explanation about why the police started talking to him in the first place. That sure seems troubling.
But I also don’t understand why everyone is saying they should have recognized that he had a disability? It’s not like he was wearing a sign. How do you tell the difference – in a few seconds – between someone who’s mentally disabled, someone who’s drunk, someone who’s high, and someone who’s just unresponsive? Can any of the above posters answer that question? Were the cops supposed to use their x-ray vision?
The followup question, of course, is – what difference would it make? He had his hands in his pockets and wouldn’t take him out, so they had to react as if he had a weapon under there. Does a bullet to the chest hurt less, if it’s fired by someone with a mental disability? Is it a game? Should they give him a 2-shot handicap or something? Maybe I shouldn’t use so much sarcasm – but if I’m worried that a guy has a gun and is going to become violent, it doesn’t matter whether he’s a Phd, drunk, stoned, or mentally disabled – I’m going to tazer him and get that gun away from him before he shoots me.
That’s probably all beside the point – point seems to be “why did this even start? – like Graham says. But I’m confused by all the rest of the comments, and by Matt’s call for more training on disability recognition.
Actually Reymont, you’re right. He wasn’t wearing a sign. HE WAS WEARING A FUCKING HONORED CITIZENS’ TRIMET BADGE.
FFS…
My jaw dropped when I got halfway through the article to find that they not only tazed him once, but twice, then mistook his fucking medication for E. My dog would make a better cop than these rat-bastard CIVIL SERVANTS.
“So in general terms if somebody is sitting on a bus and he’s got a jacket on and he’s not talking, and he’s got his hands in his pockets, the first concern is always going to be an officer safety concern,”
Hmm, this describes most people riding the bus in the winter, doesn’t it?
There really needs to be more information here about why this started. The person quoted above seems to say that it’s OK for a PPB officer to ask you to take your hands out of your pockets if it’s winter and your hands are in your pockets and you’re sitting quietly on a bus. This is horrifying.
If a police officer asked me to take my hands out of my pockets on a winter day, you can bet my first reaction would be to say “Why?” and not to immediately take my hands out of my pockets. I think I’d be angry, or at the very least, confused – and I have a college degree. Why wouldn’t this man be confused as to why he was being asked to show his hands? If you’re not up to anything, it’s a strange request.
If this man was sitting quietly on the bus, warming his hands in his pockets and wearing his “Honored Citizen” badge, I really can’t see why his being tasered wasn’t assault. If I had tasered him, that’s what it’d be called. Why is it not assault just because some shmo with a high school diploma and a badge is the one who tasered him?
It never ends with these pigs, does it? The 3rd major local story of racist cops having either murdered, beaten, or tased a Black person. ALL un-armed, ALL non-threatening to cops, TWO having committed NO sort of crime or caused any sort of alarm what so ever!
It really does feel like things are getting even WORSE here. And it’s pretty fucking apparent to me that people of colour are under seige & constantly targeted by these pigs!
Is there some sort corollary to Godwin’s Law in regards to the police? In this case it took 13 comments for someone to “Copwin” this thread.
Matt, can you please get some more information on the genesis of this incident?
Excellent journalism.
“We’re talking about recognizing some kind of mental impairment. There’s also at least two specially trained officers on duty, per shift, so if we need someone, we can call them to a scene and say, ‘Hey, help me assess this situation.'”
There you go reymont. This in addition to the minimum of 24 hours required training for just this sort of situation. Or is this claim another falsehood? I agree that the bus driver must have helped perpetuate this situation. The driver clearly was the person who contacted the police and whether that decision was made on discrimination or the fact they didnt like to be under minded/ignored, it caused the police officers to engage in a situation where they were uninformed of actual circumstance. Why the second tasing? Where’s the justification in that? Wasn’t it pretty clear he was unarmed after the first tasing? I dont know how the police are trained to recognize mental impairment but I know they should admit they cant do it or start actually training these people properly. A minimum of two trained officers for the city of portland is never going to be enough and how are they ever going to get there fast enough if all these officers are convinced that hands in the pocket means a gun? As for “mistaking” his medication for E, another example of the police force being over zealous at the cost of the citizens thier sworn to protect.
Thank god I’m not black, I have nothing to worry aboOOOZZZZZZZZZZZZTTZTTGZGGZZGHAAAHHHH!!!!!!
Shit.
“Is there some sort corollary to Godwin’s Law in regards to the police? In this case it took 13 comments for someone to “Copwin” this thread.”
That reminds me. In addition to being absolute pigs & cowards, cops here in Portland are complete NAZIS as well. Infact, atleast one Portland cop – Sergeant Mark Krueger – is literally a hammerskin neo-nazi.
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2009/10/3…
@DamosA: Aaaah: Indymedia, that bastion of even-handedness and honesty. Try and back up your arguments with something better than sophmoric drivle. Really, you’re in the wrong on this one. Accusing anyone of being a practicing National Socialist without any corroborating evidence is an idiotic asshole move.
Yeah, I have to agree with Graham here.. I’m not down with Nazis or fascism or the like, but referencing Indymedia as a credible source is a surefire way to get people to immediately stop taking you seriously. I didn’t do it, I’m just saying.
Graham, Temblors, here are serveral OTHER sites/articles BESIDES IndyMedia that attest to Sergeant Mark Krueger beng a practising neo-nazi:
http://wweek.com/editorial/3015/4820/
http://www.portlandcopwatch.org/PPR32/krug…
http://outside.in/portland-or/tags/Mark%20…
Here’s a pdf file showing Krueger as a nazi:
http://zinelibrary.info/files/NAZI%20COP%2…
Are they ALL bias?
What can we do to fix this mess? Fire everyone and start over? I don’t get it. I have worked with the disability community for about 10 years and it just makes me sick to see how incompetent our police force is. If I can restrain an adult man without harming him, then why can’t they?
@ DamosA –
There’s some pretty damning evidence of Kruger in there. Read through what I could stand to read. He has quite the history. I’d ask myself “how’s a guy like that get promoted” but I have been there, done that, and know all-too-well how a guy like that gets promoted.
Disgusting. Deplorable.
@ DamosA – the guy probably is a Nazi. He certainly seems like a total f-wad. I was talking specifically about Indymedia.
Who let a severely disabled man roam the night on public transportation all by himself?
Without gloves or a hat?
Why at all did the officer board the bus after him?
If he is so ill with medication why was he not taken to a hospital or medic?
How is this at all similar to the Campbell case, cause they’re both black?
The jail called to say he’d been released and she didn’t get there til after he left?
Ask some questions Matt, your assumptions don’t quite prevent one from falling through all the holes in this story.
@DamosA: I read the “corroborating” evidence that you provided. None of it shows that Krueger is a practicing Neo-Nazi. The link to the WWeek just says that Krueger did some really idiotic crap as a teenager. Nothing in that article actually shows that he has done anything Nazi-ish since 1984. (Original article on Krueger: http://wweek.com/editorial/2948/4381/)
The Portland Cop Watch is just a rehash of the WWeek articles.
The Outside In link doesn’t actually address anything to do with Krueger being a Nazi.
The link to the zine library is biased as all hell and references statements in articles that don’t actually exist. Not a credible source.
I say these things not to defend the police or Krueger; instead I say them so that when you make arguments against the state or their apparatus, you don’t come off sounding like a crazy person. If you’re going to call a cop a pig, you lose 99% of the audience. If you’re going to call anyone a Nazi without unimpeachable evidence, you’re going to lose 99% of the audience.
Make your anti-police arguments from a place of intellectual rigor and not from a place of reactionary ignorance.
In reading further, Graham’s reference to Krueger’s “idiotic crap as a teenager” turns out to be mere shenanigans such as “listening to Hitler’s speeches and yelling racist and homophobic comments to people who were on the sidewalk.”
So, um. Yeah… Kroeger’s probably a real cool guy now.
But Graham, you (purposely?) neglected to point out that, as Kroger’s own lawyer says, he still “does own Nazi memorabilia, but only because he ‘has an avid interest in military history.’
[insert laugh track here]
Dear everyone: please come from a place of “intellectual rigor.” Graham has set the bar.
@Matt: Many historians, World War 2 veterans, and museums also have Nazi memorabilia. What’s your point? Should we consider people who collect Confederate memorabilia to be intrinsically racist and supportive of slavery? No.
If you willfully and completely miss the point of making accusations about people’s motivations and actions then so be it. Krueger has a documented history of excessive force and needless violence. Criticize that. Take the PPB to task for not adequately training the officers for defusing situations. Take the PPB to task for their repeated use of deadly force when it was unwarranted. Take the PPB to task for any number of similar issues.
Calling the police “pigs” and accusing officers of beings Nazis essentially invalidates any of your other arguments in the eyes of many many people. That’s what I’m trying to get at. I am in no way attempting to defend Krueger or the PPB, just trying to get their critics to use methods that are effective.
“the guy probably is a Nazi. He certainly seems like a total f-wad. I was talking specifically about Indymedia.”
Well that’s the awesome thing about the internet – if you don’t like or trust one info. source, you can re-enforce your bias veiw at plenty of other sources.
“Who let a severely disabled man roam the night on public transportation all by himself?
Without gloves or a hat?
Why at all did the officer board the bus after him?
If he is so ill with medication why was he not taken to a hospital or medic?
How is this at all similar to the Campbell case, cause they’re both black?
The jail called to say he’d been released and she didn’t get there til after he left?”
He’s NOT that severely dis-abled. Green seemed well capible of making his way around town all by himself, along with many other folks who’re waaay more disabled than he is.
Without gloves or a hat? I see people walking around all the time in short sleeves, no gloves, no jacket, no hat, etc. as cold as it is – and these are all [seemingly] normal inteligent people. In a town where half the folks don’t use umbrellas as mush as it rains, & you’re gonna make something a guy not having gloves or a hat?
Clearly, that cop was profiling Green.
Don’t have a biased answer for that one, Why wasn’t James Chasse taken to a hostpital or medic… right away?
‘Cause they’re both Black, & ’cause the police are incredibly racist, & they were both innocent men who’d harmed noone.
I personally doubt that aspect of the story. Those jailers/thugs down there won’t even let you make a phone call for YOURSELF many times. I seriously dobt they’d make a call THEMSELVES on an immate’s behalf.
@Graham
Fine mister, whatever. I’ve given you evidence & you’ve choosen to see it how YOU WANT to, so fine. Krueger’s not a nazi at all. He’s just a poor, misunderstood guy.
the guy was sitting in the back of the bus. maybe I am missing something because I am not a trained police officer, but one wonders what threat a sitting man is… anyone who ever participates in a protest of some sort should really be paying attention to this, they appear to have just tased a man for sitting down.
I have to defend Krueger as well. He hasn’t been a practicing nazi for some time, and should be credited with that fact. I understand he quit last June-
“COLOR OF LAW” is a legal term used in OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT CASES. It means that the law enforcement officer acted while abusing the authority given to him or her by reason of his or her employment as a public official.
DOJ Civil Rights Section http://www.justice.gov/crt/index.php
TITLE 42, U.S.C., SECTION 14141 makes it unlawful for state or local law enforcement agencies to allow officers to engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives persons of rights protected by the Constitution or U.S. laws.
THIS LAW, COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS THE POLICE MISCONDUCT STATUTE, gives the Department of Justice authority to seek civil remedies in cases where law enforcement AGENCIES hAVE POLICIES OR PRACTICES that foster a pattern of misconduct by employees.
This action is directed against an agency, not against individual officers. The types of issues which may initiate a PATTERN AND PRACTICE INVESTIGATION include:
1- lack of supervision/monitoring of officers’ actions;
2- lack of justification or reporting by officers on incidents involving the use of force;
3- lack of, or improper training of, officers; and citizen complaint processes that treat
complainants as adversaries.
Under TITLE 42, U.S.C., SECTION 1997, the Department of Justice has the ability to initiate civil actions against mental hospitals, retardation facilities, JAILS, PRISONS, nursing homes, and juvenile detention facilities when there are allegations of systemic derivations of the constitutional rights of institutionalized persons.
FILING A COMPLAINT – To file a color of law complaint, contact your local FBI office by telephone, in writing, or in person. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION SHOULD BE PROVIDED:
1- all identifying information for the victim(s);
2- as much identifying information as possible for the subject(s), including position, rank, and agency employed;
3- date and time of incident;
4- location of incident; names, addresses, and telephone numbers of any witness(es);
5- a complete chronology of events; and
6- any report numbers and charges with respect to the incident.
May also contact United States Attorney’s Office in PORTLAND, OREGON – WESTERN DISTRICT
OR SEND A WRITTEN COMPLAINT DIRECTLY TO:
Assistant Attorney General
Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Avenue,
Northwest Washington, DC 20530
US. DOJ Civil Rights Division CRIMINAL SECTION- FAQs http://www.justice.gov/crt/crim/faq.php
Q. Do all federal criminal civil rights violations require racial, religious, or ethnic hatred? If not, what does “color of law” mean?
A. Official misconduct … (such as police beatings and migrant worker exploitation) do NOT require that the law enforcement officer or exploiter HAVE ACTED OUT OF HATRED FOR THE VICTIM BECAUSE OF the victim’s race, national origin, color, or religion. However, there are several laws that do require that the unlawful acts be based upon such a discriminatory motivation. These include housing and religious interference or acts intended to prevent an individual from enjoying certain federal rights (voting, employment, use of public facilities or access to health care [gender]).
Q. WHAT DO I DO WHEN MY CIVIL RIGHTS HAVE BEEN VIOLATED, AND CAN I MAKE A COMPLAINT ON BEHALF OF SOMEONE ELSE? MUST IT BE IN WRITING?
A. Individuals may report possible violations on their own or on behalf of others if they have sufficient first-hand information about the incident. The information provided should include names of the victim( s), any witnesses, and the perpetrators (if known), a description of the events, and whether any physical injuries or physical damage were incurred. Complaints in writing are preferred, but there may be circumstances when a telephone complaint is appropriate (especially if there is an immediate danger).
“COLOR OF LAW” is a legal term used in OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT CASES. It means that the law enforcement officer acted while abusing the authority given to him or her by reason of his or her employment as a public official.
DOJ Civil Rights Section http://www.justice.gov/crt/index.php
TITLE 42, U.S.C., SECTION 14141 makes it unlawful for state or local law enforcement agencies to allow officers to engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives persons of rights protected by the Constitution or U.S. laws.
THIS LAW, COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS THE POLICE MISCONDUCT STATUTE, gives the Department of Justice authority to seek civil remedies in cases where law enforcement AGENCIES HAVE POLICIES OR PRACTICES that foster a pattern of misconduct by employees.
This action is directed against an agency, not against individual officers. The types of issues which may initiate a PATTERN AND PRACTICE INVESTIGATION include:
1- lack of supervision/monitoring of officers’ actions;
2- lack of justification or reporting by officers on incidents involving the use of force;
3- lack of, or improper training of, officers; and citizen complaint processes that treat
complainants as adversaries.
Under TITLE 42, U.S.C., SECTION 1997, the Department of Justice has the ability to initiate civil actions against mental hospitals, retardation facilities, JAILS, PRISONS, nursing homes, and juvenile detention facilities when there are allegations of systemic derivations of the constitutional rights of institutionalized persons.
FILING A COMPLAINT – To file a color of law complaint, THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION SHOULD BE PROVIDED: 1- all identifying information for the victim(s); 2- as much identifying information as possible for the subject(s), including position, rank, and agency employed; 3- date and time of incident; 4- location of incident; names, addresses, and telephone numbers of any witness(es); 5- a complete chronology of events; and 6- any report numbers and charges with respect to the incident.
May also contact United States Attorney’s Office in PORTLAND, OREGON – WESTERN DISTRICT
OR SEND A WRITTEN COMPLAINT DIRECTLY TO:
Assistant Attorney General
Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Avenue,
Northwest Washington, DC 20530
US. DOJ Civil Rights Division CRIMINAL SECTION- FAQs http://www.justice.gov/crt/crim/faq.php
Q. Do all federal criminal civil rights violations require racial, religious, or ethnic hatred? If not, what does “color of law” mean?
A. Official misconduct … (such as police beatings and migrant worker exploitation) do NOT require that the law enforcement officer or exploiter HAVE ACTED OUT OF HATRED FOR THE VICTIM BECAUSE OF the victim’s race, national origin, color, or religion. However, there are several laws that do require that the unlawful acts be based upon such a discriminatory motivation. These include housing and religious interference or acts intended to prevent an individual from enjoying certain federal rights (voting, employment, use of public facilities or access to health care [gender]).
Q. WHAT DO I DO WHEN MY CIVIL RIGHTS HAVE BEEN VIOLATED, AN
A. Individuals may report possible violations on their own or on behalf of others if they have sufficient first-hand information about the incident. The information provided should include names of the victim( s), any witnesses, and the perpetrators (if known), a description of the events, and whether any physical injuries or physical damage were incurred. Complaints in writing are preferred, but there may be circumstances when a telephone complaint is appropriate (especially if there is an immediate danger).
“I have to defend Krueger as well. He hasn’t been a practicing nazi for some time, and should be credited with that fact. I understand he quit last June-“
Oh, so THAT makes him such a nice freakin’ guy now, right? Because the reports are, Krueger may no-longer be a cop, but he’s STILL a practicing Nazi!
But it’s nice to know that down-trodden, White-Supremist folk like poor ol’ Mark Krueger still have defenders.
DamosA, I took Whistle Blaster’s comment to be sarcasm.
I don’t think he was being “sacastic”.
It’s simple obey the law and try to act civilized, and you will not get tazed or shot.
The police our there to help keep us a civil and safe place take away there rights and you will live in fear of the uncivilized criminal all the time.
You’re an idiot.
What if you’re mentally disabled & don’t immediately comprehend orders being barked at you right away? And since when were the cops here to “protect” us?
Your logic could just as well have been applied to the Jews during WW2: “If ONLY they would have done what they were told & not caused any trouble, terrible things would not have happened to them. The [German Fascist] state was there to protect them & give them a civil & safe place to live. If ONLY they would have done what they were told…”
Damos! I was absolutely being sarcastic by suggesting that if Krueger had quit being a Nazi last June, it would mean nothing. And I agree with you someone who was so blatantly racist as a teenager must certainly still hold some of those beliefs. In fact, by suppressing them as he is obviously forced to do as a police officer, may be more dangerous to the community – like a slow burning fuse.
Damos, I feel what we did by bringing the people of Africa here against their will is reprehensible. But rather than making reparations, which are surely owed to the descendents of this American atrocity, we continue to MURDER your people, the ones we haven’t locked away. I am deeply sorry for what my nation continues to do to people of color. And until my last breath, I will continue to fight this fight against people like Krueger and Frashour with you by marching on Friday afternoon, and by continuing to comment here with sarcasm, humor and wit!
“I have to defend Krueger as well. He hasn’t been a practicing nazi for some time, and should be credited with that fact. I understand he quit last June-“
Whistle Blaster, if you say that this comment was done in pure sarcasm, then please except my apology for jumping on you about it. People say ALOT of nutty shit on-line & they usually mean it. Plus, i don’t have my own unlimited internet access [at this time], so when i do get on-line i [admittedly] don’t always take the time to thuroughly read every single comment i respond to. Mistake on my part.
No problem Damos. I feel your anger, especially toward the racist, bigoted idiots who spill their venom here.
I realize that being a person of color means you are far, far more likely to be mistreated by the police and many of the bus drivers. I remember once a driver told the whole bus that an Hispanic woman who just got off was angry because she “hadn’t gotten any lately”. But living in the southeast, I can tell you the police and many bus drivers aren’t so nice to us either. And there’s absolutely no accountability from Sam Adams, Dan Saltzman or Fred Hansen when these incidents are reported and documented. We need change. What a great march!
By the way, I was offended when James Pitkin told you to find another place to post. Your comment was right on! And you may remember Pitkin, is the guy that did a derogatory article a couple years ago about Paul Stanford, who runs the largest chain of medical marijuana clinics in America. Paul’s a really good guy, although his co-host from Common Sense, Tim Pate, is a real jerk.
In Pitkin’s article he disclosed where Stanford’s kids went to school, and that was outrageous. He should have been fired and WW should have been sued. It says a lot about Paul and his wife – a beautiful, kind-hearted woman, for once again choosing to turn the other cheek.
Damos, keep hammering on these right-wingers and phony-progressives, and keep fighting for Justice, for all of us!
“By the way, I was offended when James Pitkin told you to find another place to post.”
Huh, you saw that too, huh?
Yeah, what’s up with that dumb shit? I don’t feel like i’ve ever been out of line when posting there, but whatever. I wonder if Pitkin told “Joesixpack” to take a hike, too? Btw, too bad i didn’t get dt yesterday until nearly 4:00. It was a very busy day for me.
I was just browsing here and noticed it said that indymedia was not a credible news source. Maybe one of these three links to similar information will suit those who feel indymedia is not credible, Graham
http://www.portlandcopwatch.org/PPR32/krug…
http://blogs.wweek.com/news/2009/10/15/ros…
http://media.wweek.com/attach/2009/10/15/c…
zinelibrary.info/files/NAZI%20COP%20bookle…
So you have a video of him behaving on this bus? While I have ridden the bus in the past two years I have witnessed; pissing on the bus, a gun flashed on the bus, punching, hitting and kicking on the bus, glue in hair on the bus, arguing, crying and even screaming on the bus. Someone is doing it, not mere apparitions. Two wrongs don’t make a right but if he has been one of the Tri Met tormentors maybe something came back…..
If sitting quietly on a bus with your hands in your pockets is seen as a threat to police, then I see police as a trheat to everybody.