Fire every fucking white cop and start the fuck over with public SERVANTS

AND take every penny, every square inch of personal property, vehicles and belongings from these pieces of shit masquerading as cops and give it to this innocent, abused young man.

It is exactly this kind of stormtrooper behavior that CAUSES the problems these motherfuckers claim they need abuse and torture to deal with.

I am so fucking sick of this SHIT. Fire every white cop in the state, burn the stations to the ground and salt the earth so nothing can be built there again.

From the Courier:

He was homecoming king at Central High School and had just graduated with several scholarships.

He had never been arrested or in trouble before and had a steady job selling new cars at a major dealership.

But 18-year-old Tae-Ahn Lea is black and lives in Park Duvalle, in Louisville’s West End. And when he borrowed his mom’s car to go get a slushie one day last August, he found himself being pulled over by the Louisville Metro Police Department's Ninth Mobile Division for the most minor of traffic violations — making a "wide turn" onto another street.

Before he was let go 25 minutes later, he was pulled from his car, frisked and handcuffed. His car was searched by a drug-sniffing dog, then by police officers who went through his wallet and even looked under the lid of his drink for contraband.

He was forced to stand on the street, embarrassed, as traffic drove by, with the cuffs chafing his wrists, as one officer asked him, "Why do you have this negative view towards the police?"

Nearly 1 million people have since viewed a video of the traffic stop on YouTube, and more than 17,000 have commented on it. Many said it shows exactly why minorities distrust law enforcement.

Louisville is not taking this lying down.

From the Courier:

Civil rights leaders and several Metro Council members said Thursday they were enraged by a traffic stop in which a teenager was pulled from his car, frisked and handcuffed last summer after an alleged minor traffic violation.

Councilwoman Jessica Green, who chairs the council’s public safety committee, said she has asked Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad to appear before Metro Council to answer questions about the stop of Tae-Ahn Lea and the department’s tactic of "hyper-policing" to fight violent crime in the West End.

Green, D-District 1, said the stop described in a Courier Journal story and viewed a million times on YouTube shows how Louisville residents are "hunted down because of the color of their skin and where they live."

Sadiqa Reynolds, president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League said when she watched the video with a group of black parents on spring break, "We found ourselves talking back to the video, holding back tears."

"We understand the violence, we understand the drugs," she said. "But one fact remains, many of our children are innocent. 

"Police need to find a better way."

Conrad has declined to comment on Lea’s stop, saying it is the subject of a pending internal-affairs investigation, although he has defended the department's strategy of aggressive policing in high crime corridors. A police spokeswoman said the department has no plans on dropping the strategy.

I give it three days before Conrad absolves the cops and gives them medals for refraining from killing Lea, which they could have done with no consequences.

The Kroger Shooting Was Racist Violence

White asshole shot just black people, passing up potential white victims, telling one armed white witness "don't shoot me, whites don't shoot whites."

Who do you think he voted for in 2016?

From the Courier:

Minutes before a deadly shooting began Wednesday at the Kroger in Jeffersontown, the shooting suspect is believed to have tried to enter a nearby predominantly black church, authorities said.

Jeffersontown Police Chief Sam Rogers said during a Thursday news conference that surveillance footage from First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown captured an individual attempting to gain access into the church on Wednesday afternoon, about 10 to 15 minutes before the shooting at Kroger started.

Background: Louisville Kroger shooting: Here's what we know

The latest: Victims of the Louisville Kroger shooting have been identified

'Whites don't shoot whites': What one man says Kroger shooter told him

 

Rogers said the individual is believed to have been Gregory Bush, the man arrested and charged with killing two people Wednesday at the Kroger at 9080 Taylorsville Road.

The individual was unsuccessful in entering the church, and possible motives for the attempted entry were not immediately available, Rogers said.

First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown is located at 10600 Watterson Trail, about two miles away from the Jeffersontown Kroger.

The first call reporting shots fired inside the Kroger came into MetroSafe at 2:54 p.m. There were reports of "multiple injuries."

By 4 p.m., authorities said they had secured the scene. Two people were dead: a man in the store and a woman in the parking lot.  

According to Jeffersontown police, Bush, 51, entered the grocery store and "gunned down" the first victim, and then exited the store where he killed the second victim. 

Protester Dumps Mitch's Leftovers

This is really my favorite part of this story.  No take-home empanadas for traitors!

From the Herald:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his wife, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, were interrupted by a heckler who made a scene while the couple dined at a Cuban restaurant in Louisville Friday night.

TMZ first reported the confrontation Saturday morning, sharing a video that shows the man waving his arms and talking loudly, while McConnell sits silently in a booth, hands folded.

“Why don’t you get out of here,” the man can be heard saying, along with the statements, “Why don’t you leave our entire country alone?” and “they’re gonna come for Social Security.”

A woman behind the camera calls out, “Ditch Mitch!”

The Courier Journal reported that a man picked up McConnell’s leftovers and dumped them out on the sidewalk during the incident and that a woman in the restaurant “approached their table” and called McConnell a “traitor” before leaving.

Don't anybody go blaming Havana Rumba for trying to appeal to all of its customers.  As much as I'd love them - and all other Louisville restaurants - to ban repugs from the premises forever, it's not really good business practice.

The Resistance: The Navy Follows Its Own Rules

Sometimes, presidents have to learn the hard way that the military has rules - based on U.S. Constitution - that trump even the Commander in Chief.

Andrew Wolfson at the Courier:

An unspecified number of Navy Special Warfare forces have been punished for flying a Trump flag on a military convoy seen traveling through Louisville last month, igniting fears of an authoritarian state among some motorists.

An inquiry by the unit’s commander found that the service members “violated the spirit and intent of applicable DoD regulations concerning the flying of flags and the apparent endorsement of political activities,” according to a statement issued Tuesday by Lt. Jacqui Maxwell of the Naval Special Warfare Group 2 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

She said “administrative corrective measures” were taken with each individual based on their respective responsibility.” She declined to elaborate on the punishments or how many were punished.

The Navy had previously said flying the flag was inappropriate and that a command inquiry would be initiated.

The spotting of the flag-flying convoy on Interstate 65 on Jan. 29 ignited a furious national debate.

Five Fucking THOUSAND Resistance Fighters in Louisville

UPDATE:  My pictures below.

I was there.  InsiderLouisville has the story and great pictures.

“In Louisville and around the country, these are people who start businesses, join the PTAs, pay taxes and make valuable contributions to their communities,” Mayor Fischer said. “And last week’s travel ban on anyone entering the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries runs counter to the America we know and love — a strong, courageous, outwardly looking, optimistic, multicultural nation.”

He encouraged attendees to get to know one another and “just be a good neighbor.”

Following the ban, some U.S. mayors, including those in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., restated their commitment to serve as “sanctuary cities,” meaning they would not use city funds or resources to enforce immigration laws. Fischer has not declared Louisville a sanctuary city, a largely symbolic title, but said previously that city officials would not start rounding people up.

During his speech at the rally, Fischer again stopped short of calling Louisville a sanctuary city. However, he stated that Louisville Metro Police Department’s main objective is public safety. It is not the police department’s job to enforce immigration laws, and no resources will diverted from public safety initiatives, he said.

Ky. Rep. Attica Scott tweeted out a petition Monday afternoon calling on Fischer to designate Louisville a sanctuary city. The petition had more than 1,000 signatures as of 8:30 p.m. Monday.

It was amazing.  The rally was set up for the plaza in front of the Muhammad Ali Center, but the crowd quicky overflowed the plaza, overflowed the pedestrian bridge across Sixth Street, overflowed the roof of the parking garage, and filled Sixth Street from the river to Main Street.

There was a lady there with a sign saying "Bosnian refugee" and arrows pointing to herself.  I went over and asked if I could hug her, and she said yes, and I hugged her and said "thank you for coming to America, thank you for coming to Kentucky, and thank you for coming here tonight." 

At the end of the rally, we sang the national anthem a capella, then marched down to Jefferson St. and rallied again on the steps of Louisville Metro Hall and around the statue of Thomas Jefferson.

5,000 people.  This is just the beginning.


 

Resistance Rally in Louisille TOMORROW (Monday)

Of course it's Democratic Mayor Greg Fischer, leader of the Rebel Forces in Kentucky.  Monday, 6 p.m., Muhammad Ali Center.  BE THERE.

From the Courier:

Mayor Greg Fischer announced a rally with Louisville civic, faith and other community leaders will take place Monday at the Muhammad Ali Center in response to President Donald Trump's controversial executive orders that kept an untold number of refugees from entering the U.S. on Saturday.

Fischer said in a tweet Saturday evening the event is "to voice support for our nation and our city, which was founded and is strengthened by immigrants."

Trump's executive actions, enacted on Friday, bar Syrian refugees indefinitely while prohibiting refugees from six other predominately Muslim countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen — for 90 days. The presidential decrees have also suspended the entry of all refugees for 120 days.

The decision rumbled through the country on Saturday with refugees being detained at U.S. airports, sparking protests and a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union. It has also been met with a sharp rebuke by Trump's critics.

SNIP

Louisville has seen its immigrant population grow immensely in past 20 years, according to demographers.

Roughly 50,345 Louisville residents were born outside the U.S., which amounts to about 7 percent of the overall population. And about half of the city's foreign-born population originate in one of five countries, the most predominate being Mexico, at 14.3 percent, followed closely by Cuba, India, Bosnia and China.

Fischer's "Rally for American Values" will take place Monday at 6 p.m. at the Muhammad Ali Center, 144 N. 6th St.

 

After Gun Wounds One Child in House, Gun Kills Another Child in Same House

Because letting a four-year-old get and fire a gun is no reason to be forced to lock your guns up, much less forced to give up your guns along with your seriously endangered children.

Like the three-year-old who got and fired a gun that killed him.

No, those parents are pure patriots who need their guns to be in reach at all times to fight tyranny. Children be damned.

From the AP:

Authorities have released the identity of a 3-year-old boy who died after suffering a gunshot wound inside a Louisville home.

Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Rita Taylor said the boy was Anthony Blake Wells. Taylor said in an email that the boy died at 4:25 a.m. Monday at Kosair Children's Hospital of an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Louisville Metro Police Department spokeswoman Alicia Smiley told media the shooting occurred shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday in a residence in the Algonquin neighborhood.

Smiley says other people were home at the time of the shooting but no one else was hurt.

The address where the shooting occurred is the same street where police said a 4-year-old girl accidentally wounded herself with firearm a month ago.

If that is not felony child endangerment at the very least, and reckless homicide in a sensible country, I don't know what is.

Rep. John Lewis speaks:

New Racist Bullshit in Louisille Schools

So, if they can't bar them from school grounds, they'll just bar them from looking ... shall we call it "ni**erish?" 

You know what's distracting? Punishing black students for being proud African-American young people.

You know what's racist as all fucking hell?  Forcing non-white students to obey rules that aren't enforced against white students.

Absofuckinglutely unacceptable, Louisville.  Fix this shit immediately.

Think Progress:

Kentucky state representative elect Attica Scott — the first black woman to serve in the state legislature in 20 years — took to Twitter to express disbelief over a policy at her daughter’s school that doesn’t allow students to wear their hair in cornrows, braids, twists, or dreadlocks. Scott’s daughter attends Butler Traditional High School in Louisville.

Scott tweeted about the policy on Wednesday, which drew ire from many students and parents. The school district, Jefferson County Public Schools, responded to say it was not a district policy — it was established by the school’s “decision-making council,” according to WKYC.com, which first reported the story. Regardless of whether it was an official district policy or not, Scott’s tweet clearly shows that it is being represented as an actual dress code policy. Former students and parents claimed these rules have been enforced at JCPS schools for some time.

According to the text from Scott’s tweet, these hairstyles are considered “extreme, distracting, or attention-getting.” Parents, students, and members of the local community said that the policy seemed discriminatory against black students, considering dreadlocks and cornrows — misspelled “cornrolls” in the dress code Scott provided — are hairstyles traditionally worn by black people.

Attica Scott, by the way, won her seat in the legislature by beating in a primary the last DINO, Blue Dog, Conservadem fake "Democrat" left in the Louisville state house delegation. Beat him bad, too. She's unopposed in the November general election because she represents possibly the single bluest district in Jefferson County, if not in the entire state (downtown Lexington, get your fucking act together!) and repugs never expected their dem mole to lose the primary.

Liberals all over Kentucky went into insane paroxysms of joy when she won in May. Nobody better so much as whisper a non-complimentary word about her, and if it takes the combined throw-weight of Mayor Greg Fischer and Congressman Awesome John Yarmuth to force persuade Butler to change its policy, that's what it takes.

Anti-Terrorism Immunization in Louisville

They're all Americans now.

From the Courier:

The children — from Somalia, Burma and Iraq — had only been in the United States for weeks or days. They're refugees, forced to leave their homes because of war or persecution.

Now they were experiencing their first summer camp.

As part of a five-week Kentucky Refugee Ministries program, more than 40 children, ranging from kindergartners to seventh-graders, are taking morning classes in science, math, art and English. They'll also partake in field trips, an art show and other activities planned by the resettlement agency, which has run the camp for at least a decade.

For the students, the program provides an opportunity to learn English, socialize in the language and experience American classrooms, where they are expected to participate and ask questions.

For parents, who worry about the language barrier their child will face in school, it'll ease their kids' transition this fall.

Refugee children — who numbered roughly 600 last year in Louisville — often struggle to integrate into their schools, said Meagan Floyd, youth services coordinator for the agency.

Many suffer from post-traumatic stress, such as anxiety and learning difficulties, she said. And because their schooling abroad faced frequent disruption, they also begin below grade level, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank in Washington, D.C.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/news/local/article85982022.html#storylink=cpy

Drowning Out the Haters

We were right across the street from the motherfuckers at Fifth and Main.  With their stupid "homo sex is sin" sign and their self-hating closet case screaming through a bullhorn about "penis in rectum" and the brave ones holding up rainbow flags to block them.

Then the first marchers appeared, and the cheers rose and kept rising and you couldn't hear the hate anymore.

From the Courier:

Drag queens in shimmering dresses waved from high atop floats. Families and their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender loved ones marched side by side west down Main to the parade's end at the Belvedere. The mayor, police chief and other city leaders walked beside them, too.

The Orlando tragedy didn't dominate the 15th annual Kentuckiana Pride Parade, but the many groups carrying signs in memory of the victims were a constant reminder.

Fairness Campaign volunteers walked with the names of those killed June 11 at an Orlando gay nightclub, the dead filling their banner. A church group carried 49 red roses attached to papers with the 49 names.

The parade comes nearly one year after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage last summer. Perhaps it was that recent victory, or the aftermath of the prior weekend that brought out thousands Friday, said Jeremy Walsburger.

"It's wonderful to see so many people out here," he said. His mother joined him for her first pride parade, as did many of his coworkers.

"It was never a moment I thought we'd have together," he said. "I'd also never thought I'd see my mayor being so supportive. It's just not something you imagine growing up in a one stoplight town."

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer asked residents this week to march with him in solidarity with the LGBT community.

Toward the end of the parade route, JJ Love, his hair done up in a curly, rainbow Mohawk, watched the parade with his boyfriend Tim Netherton.

Love and Netherton met at a now defunct coffee shop in downtown Lousiville, just across the street from gay bar Tryangles. Netherton had recently ended his 17-year marriage.

Now, more than a decade later, his ex-wife and many of his children and grandchildren came to pride to show their unending support.

"We want individuals to know that it's OK to just be yourself," Netherton said. "No matter what that means."

 This atheist's favorite sign, carried by someone marching with a church group:

"God (heart) U. She Thinks UR Fabulous."

OK, Lexington: You've got a tough act to follow next Saturday.

Anti-Muslim Haters Lose in Louisville

Nice first step, Louisville. But the cure for religious extremism - which in this country is primarily christian extremism - is not more religion however compassionate, but rather un-theist freethought and humanism.

From the Courier:

The vandals' message of hatred that marred the outside of the Louisville Islamic Center earlier this week was relatively easy to paint over Friday by a massive outpouring of volunteers, but the problem of religious intolerance is a much more difficult stain to remove.

As hundreds gathered Friday afternoon at the defaced mosque on River Road, Mayor Greg Fischer told the crowd: "There is a lot of extremism in the world today. But today I'm seeing a lot of extreme love and support and I love it."

The Islamic center, 4007 River Road, is the oldest mosque in Louisville, and vandals left graffiti including messages such as "Stop terrorism" and "Moslems — leave the Jews alone."

Instead of expressing anger, members of the mosque asked on Friday that the vandals come forward and help clean up the graffiti. They said they would welcome them and invite them to learn more about their religion and their mission.

Attendees at Friday's rally, young and old, took turns applying brush strokes as the group collectively painted over the graffiti. Children made art about peace and equality, using their paint to tell a much different story than that of the vandals.

"Luckily we have seen a lot of support from media and everyone," said Farhart Hameed, Islamic Center board vice president and the person behind organizing Friday's rally. "It's been quite scary and disturbing for the kids."

Compassionate Louisville, a volunteer organization committed to making compassion a real part of daily life, dedicated a "compassion bench" at the center Friday, with co-host Tom Williams proclaiming: "Today we pray with paint."

"The vandals don't speak for our community," said Ned Berghausen, a teacher at Mercy Academy who went to Friday afternoon's event straight from work. "It really upsets me when I see this attack on people in our community."

Reena Piracha, who has been part of the Islamic Center for 11 years, said she was overwhelmed by the support in the community.

"I thanked one young man for being here. He said, 'Why thank me for coming here? This is my community,' " Piracha recounted. "Islamophobia is almost becoming normal in different communities. I want people to see what Louisville did today and take this into their communities."

"sophomoric threats in a transparent attempt to try to intimidate and bully"

Michael Aldridge, the executive director of the ACLU of Kentucky - who was at the County Clerk's Office in Louisville today when the first same-sex couple received their marriage license - penned the perfect response to the police declaration of war on the citizens they are sworn to protect.

Consider this an open letter to Louisville FOP Lodge 614 President Dave Mutchler, who chose to send an incendiary letter to Louisville Metro residents shortly after the staggering tragedy in Charleston, S.C., a time of national grief and mourning.

Know this: The ACLU of Kentucky, our coalition partners and allies, community activists, and citizens of this community will not stand on the sidelines while you resort to sophomoric threats in a transparent attempt to try to intimidate and bully those who you view as your political opponents.

If you didn’t know already, rest assured that through our litigation and public policy advocacy, the ACLU will continue to work for meaningful, long-lasting, and systemic reforms of the Louisville Metro Police Department, alongside, and by supporting, communities directly harmed by racial profiling and excessive force.

The ACLU will continue to work to help build community-police partnerships with the shared goals of equality, fairness, dignity, and public safety to prevent future tragedies from happening again.

The ACLU is committed to encouraging de-escalation practices in all instances of community/police interaction.

Armed with the Constitution, the ACLU will protect the First Amendment rights of Louisville activists to question government policy and speak their minds without fear of prosecution.

If people hadn’t spoken up and questioned authority, we would still be living under monarchs, without the freedoms and civil liberties that we prize.

It is obvious to nearly everyone who read your letter that you sought to attack the very citizens you are sworn to serve and protect instead of taking steps to address the real issues — the long-standing and troubling problems of racial profiling, over-criminalization of communities of color, and incidents of excessive force that drive a wedge between community members and police officers here and across the country. And if, as you claim, your letter has received “overwhelming” support from your fellow officers, then the divide between law enforcement and this community is very troubling indeed.

You want our attention? Well you have it. As a starting point, we challenge you to review the Law Enforcement Code of Conduct (page 5 of the Standard Operating Procedures handbook for the Louisville Metro Police Department). You may find the following excerpts particularly helpful:

As a law enforcement officer, my fundamental duty is to serve the community; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation and the peaceful against violence or disorder; and to respect the constitutional rights of all to liberty, equality and justice.

I will maintain courageous calm in the face of danger, scorn or ridicule; develop self-restraint; and be constantly mindful of the welfare of others.

Mr. Mutchler, we need an end to the prevailing Us vs. Them policing paradigm. We hope you will join us in the goal of developing successful police/community partnerships.

Louisville Cops Declare War Against the Public

On your KNEES, peasants!  Obey instantaneously and keep your filthy mouths shut about what nazis we are, or we will HUNT YOU DOWN.

No, that's not hyperbole.


Digby:

This statement was released by Fraternal Order of Police in Louisville Kentucky:

Consider this an open letter to the public we serve, the criminal element in our city, and the self appointed spokespersons who choose to remain blind to reason, who use misinformation and who sensationalize tragedy at every opportunity to forward their political agendas.

Know this: The members of River City FOP Lodge 614, who serve and protect Louisville every day, will no longer stand on the sidelines while anyone continues to assault and demonize us.

To those of you that support us while we serve and protect you — Thank You. Although you are not chosen for media interviews, we know that you understand we are here for you and your families. We know that the vast majority of you see that ninety-nine percent of police officers serve with integrity and courage. Although we know in our hearts that you are the silent majority, sadly, that may not be enough. Soon, we may have to ask for you to rise with us against the small, but very vocal group of people in our city who resist everything we all strive to attain — freedom, safety and the ability to live our lives happily and without fear.

To the criminal element in our community-we do not fear you. We are not your punching bag and we will not simply stand by and accept your verbal or physical assaults. No matter what craziness occurs, we will always protect our citizens and ourselves. No matter how weak our criminal justice system, we will hunt you down again and again until they put you away or you go away. No matter how weak our policies we will find a way to make you understand that Louisville isn't where you want to live. Most importantly, though, take note of the following: If you actively resist or assault us, we will use every option available to take you into custody. If you use deadly force against us or use or attempt to use a dangerous instrument or deadly weapon against us, we will use deadly force against you and we WILL stop the threat to us, our fellow officers or the citizens we serve.

To the sensationalists, liars and race-baiters —we are done with you. At first it was good enough just to sit back and watch your ridiculous spectacle. No more. Now your rhetoric, lies and hate puts all of us, police officers and citizens alike, in danger. From now on we will call you out each and every time you tell a lie, twist the truth or otherwise engage in vile behavior meant to push your selfish agendas. If your behavior or untruths causes harm to us or the public, we will make every attempt to have you investigated, charged and prosecuted at the local, state or federal level. Your idiocy and lies are what caused the destruction in Ferguson and other cities around our country and we won't be tolerating that here. We watched in shock most recently as some of you flat out lied to the media after a critical incident here in Louisville. Many in the media are self serving too, and we watched as they stood on the sidelines and fanned the flames for financial gain.

It is obvious to nearly everyone that you are attacking and lashing out at the police instead of attacking the real problem — those who commit crimes in our city and those who enable the criminal element. Are you not paying attention to what is happening around the country? As police are disempowered the predominately minority areas of cities, including Louisville, are suffering at the hands of killers and violent felons. Yet you continue to attack law enforcement. Your attacks can't stop the truth from shining through. The truth is that every day there are millions of encounters during which police officers interact peacefully with all kinds of people, even during very difficult circumstances.

Your flawed logic and lack of reason regarding events that occur in our society makes you appear stunningly inept. Let me help you. All citizens in Louisville, regardless of race, creed, color, gender or national origin have the SAME rights and responsibilities. No one gets a separate set of rules. Politicians may fear you and your tactics-we do not. You and those you enable must abide by the law and comply with law enforcement like everyone else. If you refuse to comply or even worse, attack a law enforcement officer, expect to be met with force.

Your ridiculous demands and anti-law enforcement attitude has reached a level that is unacceptable. You want our attention? Well you have it. Consider yourselves on notice. We challenge you to have the same integrity and dedication to serving the community that you say you seek in the police. We already have it. You need to get it.

On behalf of the members of RCFOP Lodge 614,

Dave Mutchler

President

River City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 614

There's nothing authoritarian about threatening to hunt down critics of the police. Nothing at all.

This is exactly the type of person you want to be entrusted to ensure public safety, amirite? Level-headed, mature and full of common sense and good judgment. It's hard to imagine that such a person isn't respected by everyone in the community.

 Stay the fuck out of Louisville.  Especially you tourists and conventioneers planning to spend money there.  Call Mayor Fischer and tell him why.

Did Ferguson Report Speed This KY Police Misconduct Settlement?

They arrested the first black kids they came across, and kept them in jail for 70 days.  $1.5 million is a pittance. These kids' lives are ruined.

I doubt this is a unique incident, or that Louisville Metro police procedures could stand up to the glare of a DOJ investigation.

From the Courier:

Metro Louisville will pay a $1.5 million out-of-court settlement to four young black men who were misidentified and wrongly arrested in March 2014 after mob violence downtown, according to attorneys on both sides.

Larry Simon, local counsel for the men, who were dubbed the "Misidentified 4," said details will be announced at 10 a.m. Thursday at a news conference.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Simon said attorneys also will announce a "call to action regarding flawed witness identification procedures that have repeatedly resulted in egregious wrongful arrests and convictions."

SNIP

They were arrested through an identification process that the Metro Louisville Police Department acknowledges in its policy manual is inherently suggestive.

A Courier-Journal story last March described how a woman reported that she was robbed at gunpoint of her cellphone and purse but, with her boyfriend, could only describe the perpetrators as black, ages 16 to 20, and wearing black hoodies.

The story described how Louisville Metro Police confronted the first four black men they found two blocks away — only two of them were wearing hoodies — and violated department policy in allowing the victim and witness to remain together as they identified the men, who were standing on the sidewalk under the glare of a police spotlight.

Wannabe Security Goons Slapped Down in Louisville

People work private security because they couldn't pass even the pathetic excuse for psych tests given by police departments.

And why the fuck are private minimum-wage goons there instead of good federal employees? Austerity strikes again. 

James Bruggers at the Courier:

I guess you might call them the Keystone Kops, those private security officers responsible for breaking up and moving an environmental protest outside Louisville's federal courthouse on Tuesday.

The security guard who told about 75 participants to move along did not have the authority to do so, said Brian Parrish, chief deputy of the U.S. Marshal's office in Louisville.

"I was frustrated by that situation yesterday," Parrish said, adding that he has taken steps to make sure the private security firm, Paragon Systems, doesn't do that again.

The rally had to do with the Keystone XL pipeline, which was being debated yesterday in the U.S. Senate. Environmental advocates oppose the pipeline because they say it will encourage the development of Canadian oil sands, hastening the climate chaos of global warming.

RELATED | Pipeline foes booted from courthouse sidewalk

The security guard worked for a contractor with the Federal Protective Service, part of the Department of Homeland Security. He declined to tell me his name, when I asked yesterday, and he said he was just doing what his boss told him to do. A spokeswoman for the Federal Protective Service said she was looking into the situation.

"Not the first, and not going to be the last"

Anti-police-brutality protesters shut down a major intersection in Louisville.  Get used to it, commuters.

Kirsten Clark at the Courier:

A protest shut down the intersection of Bardstown Road and Eastern Parkway at 1:55 p.m., according to MetroSafe.

The protest began around 1 p.m., the dispatcher said, and cars had been redirecting themselves until law enforcement officially shut down the intersection.

"We had a mock funeral for the victims of police brutality," said Ashley Belcher, one of the organizers.

Watch the video.

No, Greg Fischer is Not a Liberal Democrat

Just your standard bizness motherfucker.

Think Progress:

The Democratic majority on Louisville, KY’s city council plans to vote for a $10.10 minimum wage on Thursday, but the city’s Democratic mayor has promised to veto the measure because he feels it is aggressive. Mayor Greg Fischer has said he would sign an increase from the current federal minimum of $7.25 an hour to $8.50 or $8.75, but the future of the measure is cloudy.

Fischer, who has described himself as “a business guy that just happens to be mayor,” had previously indicated that he might accept a $10 minimum wage if it were phased in very gradually. But Fischer said on Monday that he worries that the council’s bill would cost the city jobs, a claim that is not supported by the most precise studies of how businesses and economies respond to minimum wage laws. Reports vary on whether or not council Democrats are willing to compromise with Fischer and lower their sights from $10.10.

Now Fischer has agreed to a $9 per hour wage to rise with inflation.  Given that inflation is around two percent, that's more insulting than no increase at all.

Shame on the council for caving.

Fire All the White Cops. Do It Now.

No, not Ferguson, MO.  Louisville-fucking-Kentucky. It's just not worth the lawsuits and national embarrassment any more.

Zandar:

Remember, America has a black president, so racism is over.  Especially here in Kentucky.

In a Bullitt County Sheriff’s deputy’s body camera recording obtained by WDRB, Southeast Bullitt County Fire Chief Julius Hatfield can be heard discussing a car accident on I-65 in September. 

Hatfield first goes out of his way to provide assistance to Loren Dicken, who is white.

“You got a jack, ain’t you?” Hatfield asks the driver. “If you show me where them things is at, I’ll get my guys to start changing the tire for you.” 

At first, Dicken turns down the offer, but Hatfield insists, saying, “It will save you a bill.” 

Firefighters working for Hatfield even picked Dicken up from the hospital and took him back to the firehouse, where his car was ready and waiting.

Seems like a nice guy.  Bullitt County is just south of Jefferson County and Louisville, so it's not totally in the boondocks, and I-65 runs north to south through it. It's about a hour and change from here.

Yep, seems like a nice guy, Chief Hatfield.

But Hatfield treats the family of four black motorists completely differently. 

“Well, I’ve got a family of four from Cincinnati, I got to do something with,” the Bullitt County deputy tells Hatfield over the radio. 

“We ain’t taking no n*ggers here,” Hatfield replies, laughing. 

Instead of offering to help driver Chege Mwangi, the deputy recommends that he call the AAA motor club.

SNIP
Oh. I see.  Well then.

Remind me not to take 65 down through Bullitt County anymore.

Ever.

Actually, Bullitt County is just an extension of the all-white suburbs around downtown Louisville.  The ones who spent decades blocking the merger with Louisville.  The ones who torpedoed the school busing agreement that was actually working. The ones black mothers warn their children away from.

The ones that shouldn't get another dime of federal or state tax dollars until they fire all their white cops and hire only non-white ones for the next 100 years.  We'll see how the racist motherfuckers like that.

Blacks Searched Twice As Often in Louisville Traffic Stops; Police Chief Claims No Bias

Confident declaration of false belief in the face of factual proof to the contrary: Does Democratic Mayor Fischer know his police chief is a repug?

Matthew Glowicki at the Courier:

Black drivers are nearly twice as likely to be searched and arrested than white drivers after being pulled over by metro police, according to a vehicle stop study released Friday morning.

Police Chief Steve Conrad called those disparities "areas of concern," but said the report, which was conducted by University of Louisville researchers, does not definitively show racial bias was a factor in vehicle stops.

I see.  The fact that they were searched because they are black does not mean they were searched because they were black.

Blacks are also more likely to be arrested during a police stop, with 5 percent of stops involving blacks resulting in an arrest, compared to 3 percent of stops involving whites and 4 percent of stops involving Hispanics, according to the report.

Well, they have to justify those racially biased completely coincidental searches somehow.

They lie because they know they're going to get away with both the lies and the baseless stops and arrests.  And they're going to get away with the baseless stops and arrests until the residents of Louisville black and white stand up and say No More.

Louisville Council Votes to Ban the Box

While Kentucky legislators compete to suggest more ridiculous and humiliating ways to punish people for paying their debt to society, civilization and humanity manages to prevail in Louisville.

Sebastian Kitchen at the Courier:

Applicants for jobs with Louisville government and for many vendors who work with local government will likely no longer have to fill out applications asking if they have a criminal conviction.

After some contentious debate and eventual compromise, the Louisville Metro Council voted 26-0 Thursday night to approve the so-called ban the box ordinance, which would not allow the city and its vendors or contractors to ask about convictions on the job application.

The city already does not ask about convictions on applications. The ordinance approved Thursday, if signed by Mayor Greg Fischer, would put the practice into law. Fischer, who had expressed concerns about some provisions that later were addressed in amendments, commended the council for the bipartisan passage of the “compassionate legislation.”

Supporters argue that removing the box from applications would give convicts an opportunity to get their foot in the door and have a chance to compete for a job that would help them reintegrate into society. They believe the move is crucial in Louisville with about 160,000 people in the metro area with a criminal record.

“You can’t have a quality of life without a job,” said Carolyn VanZant of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth. She joined several organizations that participated in a rally outside city hall before the vote.

Fischer and council Republicans had expressed concerns about extending the ban to vendors, arguing implementation would be difficult with 26,000 vendors of all sizes. Republicans also disagreed with Louisville dictating policy to businesses.

You know what, Greg Fischer?  The only reason the rest of us in the Commonwealth tolerate Louisville at all is because it is an island of civilization and reason in a red-state hellhole. Don't fuck that up by vetoing this bill.