Decay In Law Enforcement 30

Liberty In Peril

formerly,

The Llano Ledger

3-27-20

5-25-18

... Hey, Sheriff? Is it true Llano County Attorney Becky Lange has advised you to stay out of the "Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764" fiasco? That right, Bill? Isn't that obstruction of justice? Also true your deputies have advised the Bolens to accept the status quo and not force the no-trespassing issue with Greene? If so, isn't that also obstruction and official oppression? When will you do your job, Bill? As an elected official, you answer to the public, forget? -- No honor? ... No honor at all? If the foregoing allegations are indeed true, didn't you swear an oath to uphold the law and Constitution? Why aren't you doing so? No guts?

Your deputy has been accused of abusing authority. What action have you taken other than ignore the complaint? Why aren't both Rodriguez and the County Attorney under criminal investigation? The County Attorney appears to be obstructing justice, accepting the word of Greene in lieu of two surveyor companies who strongly assert otherwise. Both the County Attorney and District Attorney have ignored complaints. Par for the course in Llano County, isn't it? Failed to do their jobs. No surprise there, right, Bill? Both receiving 'special consideration' up to and/or including a bribe from Greene? Regardless, clearly, no justice in Nazi Llano County. Bottom line? Desperate need for an outside criminal investigation. Conveniently, forget? This County is ruled by men, certainly not rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Precisely, why there is desperate need for a new federal agency whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, and prosecute criminal law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges in a special court whose only mandate would be to adjudicate such cases. Total independence. Until that happens, the criminal bastards who falsely believe they run and own this hell hole County will continue to do as they please.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril

Some salient quotes occurring later on in this edition vis a vis unfinished business County officials continue to ignore:

... "No justice. Precisely, why there is desperate need for a new federal agency whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, and prosecute corrupt, abusive, criminal officers, prosecutors, and judges in a special court that would adjudicate only these cases. Total independence. The only way to rein in these criminals, particularly the murderers in blue.

Sadly, the achingly clueless bastards in law enforcement don't need a legitimate reason to kill. Enjoy carte blanche to murder on the job. Nearly always, with impunity. ... Right, Sheriff? Sue the living shit out of the jackbooted motherf--kers, the department, and the city. Any officer engaged in, or threatening this kind of unnecessary violence needs to be criminally prosecuted. Not protected and coddled. Not put on paid leave, -- no more than a paid vacation. Not sent home without pay to catch up on his beauty sleep.

Firing is egregiously insufficient. How can the law enforcement community be trusted? No foreign power, no terrorist organization, not even the criminal element presents a greater threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties than the criminal jackbooted bastards in law enforcement. ... Right, Sheriff? Madam County Attorney? "Sonny Boy?"

These are extremely dangerous times for our formerly great country. ... Hear the rumble? An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming. -- As our legislators and other government officials figuratively 'fiddle while Rome burns.'

Not good enough. Nowhere near. Short of an unwanted dreaded second American revolution, only one way for these atrocities to end. Again, time for a new federal agency whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, prosecute corrupt, abusive, criminal officers, prosecutors, and judges in a special court whose sole function would be to adjudicate such cases. Total independence.

Local and state authorities are egregiously incapable of handling these cases. Tend to protect their own. ... Right, Sheriff? Goes with the territory, doesn't it, Bill? Precisely, why there is no faith or trust in your criminal jackbooted bastards. Local authorities here in Nazi Llano County have their heads figuratively, securely lodged so far up their clueless ass their eyeballs are turning inside out. Protect and coddle your clueless, out of control officers. Imagine that.

Unadulterated, blatant ongoing horse shit. ... Right, Bill? F--k these jackbooted bastards. Aren't worth a crap. Continually abrogate their oaths of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution. ... Right, Sheriff? Includes not only deputies, but the brass as well. No principles. No honor. Lying, conniving, abusive, murderous jackbooted thieving thugs. The American Civil Liberties Union needs to step up and represent the victims of abusive law enforcement.

To say nothing of innocent civilians all across our formerly great country who are victimized by abusive police. Need far better representation than a public defender. Forget? It's how the bastards in government line government coffers. All too often, looting the innocent. Those on the bottom of the food chain. ... Right, Sheriff?

No justice. The American Way. Nazi America. When is this shit finally going to end? All of it. Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? Two hundred five weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace.

Why are you still sitting on this information? What are you hiding, Sheriff? What is the identity of the officers who killed Wise? Too gutless to release this information to the public that pays your salary and that of your goons? Reportedly, there were three officers involved in the shooting. Who the hell are they?

When will the goddamned 'law' 'enforcement' community finally stop making excuses for engaging in outrageous criminal activity including blatant murder, violent assault, sexual assault, theft, drug trafficking, etc.? List can go on and on. Protecting its own no matter what it does or doesn't do? Convenient, isn't it, Sheriff? Again, no foreign power, no terrorist organization, not even the criminal element presents a greater threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties than all branches and levels of government, -- including law enforcement.

Corruption within law enforcement remains an existential threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. So what else is new? ... Right, Bill? Same old duplicitous, aggressively stupid shit occurs right here in Nazi Llano County. ... Doesn't it, Sheriff?

Think it'll change any time soon? Don't hold your breath, readers. Not how things work in Nazi America, right, Sheriff? Highly reminiscent of how your goons operate though, isn't it, Bill? Forget? 'Stupid is as stupid does.' F--ked up is f--ked up no matter where, no matter how. Problem throughout all law enforcement.

Including right here in Nazi Llano County, right, Sheriff? Too many officers clearly have their heads securely lodged where the sun seldom shines. Egregious insanity continues to be perpetrated by the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue. Ongoing issue. All over our formerly great country.

Not just in Dallas as in the Guyger case, but all over the nation. No end to it. Surprised? Why? In today's increasingly national socialist climate anything goes, right, Bill? Live in a de facto fascist police-state, quickly transitioning to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich. Certainly, a problem here in Nazi Llano County, isn't it, Sheriff? Your goons, however, aren't held accountable when they egregiously f--k up. Ever.

Precisely why you refuse to release information on your deputies to the long-suffering public? That is, employment history, criminal background, results of drug testing, etc.. ... Got to protect your criminal jackbooted thugs preying on the citizenry with virtual impunity, right, sir?

Equally pointedly, why hasn't Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 been held criminally accountable for egregious abuse of power involving denial of property rights to a Kingsland property owner? To say nothing of consequent resultant physical damage done to a motor home on that property. Why are you protecting this clueless son of a bitch, Sheriff?

Why hasn't he been prosecuted for official oppression? Where is financial compensation for the damage this jackbooted piece of human excrement is responsible for? Ferociously pointedly, why are the District Attorney and the County Attorney continuing to protect this jackbooted piece of shit? He and others like him present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

Equally to the point, why are your jackbooted pieces of human excrement refusing to enforce Berardi's property rights? Your goons have failed to take action against Theresa Ahrens when she tore down a no trespassing sign and barrier on Berardi's property. Have you, your goons, and/or Madam County Attorney been bribed by Johnny Greene?

Ahrens frequently drives all the way through Berardi's property. Coup de grace? When Berardi complained to Llano County Deputy Idle about the trespassing, the officer's response was insane. Said the Sheriff told him to tell Berardi since Ahrens believes she owns his property she can't be charged with trespassing. Perfect Catch-22, right, Sheriff? You're not fit for office, Bill. Bribed by Johnny Greene?

Why is Theresa Ahrens allowed by your goons to dictate what vehicles can and cannot be parked on Berardi's property? Ahrens claims she has proof the property belongs to her where the vehicle was parked. Has failed to produce it. Surveyors say otherwise. Back up Berardi. Yet, your jackbooted bastards refuse to enforce Berardi's property rights. Why? Somebody lining somebody's pockets, Sheriff?

Ms. Ahrens micro-mini portable 'house' is parked on an unused unmarked Llano County road. Imagine that. Madam County Attorney well-aware. Has done nothing. Shit squat. Egregiously ignored her oath of office. Someone bribing you, Becky? Lining your pockets, Counselor? Paying you not to sell the unused unmarked County road to Berardi? Doesn't the County want and need the sale money, to say nothing of the resultant tax income?

No question, County and State agencies remain determinedly, concertedly, achingly incapable of criminal investigation of their own. Precisely, why a new federal agency desperately needs to be created whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, prosecute corrupt, abusive, criminal officers, prosecutors, and judges in a special court whose sole function would be to adjudicate only such cases. Total independence. Certainly, go a long, long way to cleaning up this cess pool County. Rein in the outrageously corrupt, abusive, achingly inept, self-serving assholes who run and own this hell hole.

Sheriff, you falsely claim the Kingsland County Commissioner has the authority to resolve this ongoing property rights issue. Clearly, doesn't. You, Madam County Attorney, and "Sonny Boy" are certainly an egregious impediment, continue to determinedly stonewall. Someone's pockets are being lined. Again, where's financial compensation for the damage Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 is directly responsible for to the Pace Arrow? Why hasn't he been prosecuted for this damage, to say nothing of infringement of Berardi's property rights? -- Just getting started, Sheriff. Far more to come.

-- You're not doing your jobs, Sheriff. You've got a loose vicious dog problem in Kingsland, Bill. When will you and the troops finally do something about this ongoing issue? Certainly, a recurring problem on Skyline, particularly on occasion at the intersection of Odessa. Pedestrians, runners, and cyclists are at risk. Too busy lining County coffers with bogus tickets?"

... Small sampling of what's to come in this edition. Read on.

The following email was sent to the District Attorney:

Wiley B. "Sonny" McAfee
District Attorney
33rd and 424th Judicial Districts
Llano, TX 78643

March 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

The enclosed emails were sent to the Llano County Attorney and Sheriff, respectively, vis a vis the above matter. Remain unanswered. The County Attorney appears to be protecting and defending the deputy at behest of Kingsland property owner Johnny Greene. May have received some consideration from Greene up to and including a bribe. Are the County Attorney, Greene, and the Deputy under criminal investigation? If not, why not?

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*********************************

Rebecca Lange, Llano County Attorney
Llano County Attorney's Office
Llano, Texas 78643

February 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

As you're well aware, we have an outrageously corrupt, abusive, achingly inept Llano County Sheriff's Office here in Nazi Llano County. Worse, you and your office aid and abet these SS jackbooted bastards in black. The issue at the moment is the same it's been the last six months.

How is it two surveyor companies, the Appraisal District, the Tax Office, the Precinct 3 Commissioner, even the goddamned Sheriff himself now states Kingsland resident James Berardi owns the lots in contention all these months?

Yet, you ludicrously assert that's not the County's legal position. It's not? Why not? You claim you're not a real estate expert. Rather than accept the advice of two surveyor companies, the Precinct 3 Commissioner, the Appraisal District, the Tax Office, and even the Sheriff himself, you've inexplicably chosen to follow the advice of property owner Johnny Greene, -- who conveniently happens to be reportedly in the oil industry.

Question to be asked. Could you have received any 'consideration' in return, -- up to and including a bribe? Only way to know for sure is for the District Attorney to conduct a criminal investigation. Apparently, there has been none. If not, why not?

Equally pointedly, why hasn't Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 been held criminally accountable for egregious abuse of power involving denial of property rights to this Kingsland property owner? To say nothing of consequent resultant physical damage done to a motor home on that property.

Our achingly useless, worthless, gutless Sheriff has ignored an email vis a vis the damage this jackbooted thug is responsible for. Interestingly, his fellow officers believe him to be an idiot. Yet, the Sheriff continued to defend this piece of human excrement until he realized this entire fiasco would not be swept under the carpet.

Rodriguez is indeed an idiot. Would you believe this piece of crap ordered the motor home to be moved on to an unmarked unused Llano County road? That motor home has indeed been moved back to where it was parked before Rodriguez forced it to be moved. Why hasn't the County paid for the cost of moving it back? To say nothing of the damage.

Equally pointedly, why is it the County has allowed Theresa Ahrens to park and live in her tiny cottage on that very same road? Why hasn't she been evicted by the County? Why was she assessed taxes on an adjacent improvement she doesn't own?

Why is it, Counselor, Johnny Greene is paying for the attorney retained by Ms. Ahrens? Is Greene attempting to make this all go away by bribery? Greene has also informed Berardi he is going to sue. For what? Has Greene lost his mind?

What about Wells who installed a $4500 septic system on a lot turns out he does not own as a result of Greene, an outrageously inept County, to say nothing of the Llano County Attorney who remains equally determinedly clueless?

How about Bolen who hasn't a pot to piss in, but was nonetheless f--ked over by Greene to say nothing of an egregiously inept County, to say nothing of you and your goddamned equally incompetent office?

None of this is going away, Counselor, -- any time soon. Will not be swept under the carpet as all the other crap going on in this hell hole County. Not a chance. Expect a full expose in this publication whether or not this outrageous fiasco finally gets resolved. Including full public exposure of both the Sheriff and his jackbooted thug.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*******************

Bill Blackburn, Sheriff
Llano County Sheriff's Office
2001 N. State Hwy. 16 Suite A
Llano, Texas 78643

August 23, 2017

Re: Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Sheriff:

Archive and retain all reports vis a vis damage to the Pace Arrow resulting from egregious abuse of authority perpetrated by Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764, on the Berardi property in Kingsland on 8-16-17.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

8-30-19

Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.

Llano County DA "Sonny Boy" is in the news. Received an award. The DailyTrib reports:

"The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission recognized District Attorney Wiley “Sonny” McAfee on August 22 for his efforts in prosecuting natural and cultural resource violations as well as environmental crimes. The commission named the 33rd and 424th district attorney the 2019 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Prosecutor of the Year. McAfee serves Burnet, Llano, Blanco, and San Saba counties. Elected in November 2012 and taking office on January 1, 2013, he has been instrumental in a number of high-profile cases involving Texas game wardens and Texas State Park police officers."

The District Attorney has ignored a complaint filed earlier by this publication regarding special treatment accorded Texas oil man Johnny Greene by the Llano County Attorney and Sheriff vis a vis a property dispute involving a local banker, three other local property owners with homes encroaching on land they don't own, one of which is on an unused Llano County road. To say nothing of damage to a Pace Arrow motorhome on that property. All a result of egregious abuse of authority by Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764. The circumstances of this fiasco can be found above in each and every edition of this publication since this happened two and a half years ago. The Sheriff, the County Attorney, and the District Attorney have all determinedly, concertedly ignored this ongoing, unresolved fiasco raising one ferociously pointed question. How much were they bribed?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

3-27-20

Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? Two hundred five weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace. Why are you still sitting on this information? What are you hiding, Sheriff? What is the identity of the officers who killed Wise? Too gutless to release this information to the public that pays your salary and that of your goons? Reportedly, there were three officers involved in the shooting.

Who are they, Sheriff? Their past history? An ongoing investigation remains a lame bullshit excuse. How can you and your goons be trusted when you refuse to disclose information? Two hundred five weeks. Especially, your egregious failure to disclose the identity of the officers who pulled the trigger. To cover your sorry ass, Sheriff? Those of your thugs? The people have a right to know what happened, how it went down. You don't understand that, Sheriff? Sadly, clearly, you answer to no one. Including taxpayers. Especially, taxpayers.

Until you and your goons come clean, doubt will remain this was indeed a good shoot. The longer you drag your feet, the greater the doubt. Think not? Wake up. Your credibility has tanked. Isn't getting any better as this bullshit continues unabated. Two hundred five weeks. Still no identification of the officers involved ... Can't get your stories straight? In line? Discrepancy between LCSO and DPS? Wake up, Sheriff. The public no longer buys the bullshit. No longer trusts you. On this and many, many other issues. You have no credibility. Absolutely, none.

Readers, this is but one of about four other highly questionable killings by law enforcement in Llano County in the last decade or so. There was one within the City of Llano, another in a field near Fuzzy's Corner, Buchanan Dam, yet another in Point Tella, Buchanan Dam, still another in Tow. If there are any others I may have neglected to mention, kindly email.

It's time the public be fully informed. -- Know what we're dealing with here and how 'law' 'enforcement' operates in this hell hole County. If these jackbooted bastards are not reined in, the life lost could be yours courtesy of a law enforcement system that is no longer accountable to anyone. ... Right, Sheriff? TL? "Sonny Boy?" Madam County Attorney?

The Sheriff seems to have no clue the people who pay him and his goons are entitled to know whom is killing whom and why. This shit always seems to be swept under the carpet. Ignored. The attitude of these jackbooted sons of bitches is trust us. They can't be. They've lied too many times. Refuse to be accountable to anyone. We live in a goddamned fascist police-state where law enforcement does as it pleases. Usually, with impunity. That has to change.

The Texas Rangers have become rubber stamp to atrocities committed by law enforcement. This also has to change. No one is holding law enforcement accountable any longer. No one. No one in state or federal government. This is precisely why Ferguson triggered such an uproar. There was no justice there. None here. None anywhere. Officers are abusive, corrupt, inept.

Falsely ticket and arrest the innocent to line County coffers. Court fees charged continue to be horrendous. -- Aren't taxpayers already looted to pay these costs? Aren't you boys not only double f--king those falsely accused, but taxpayers also hellaciously looted to pay the very same costs? Yet, the criminal bastards in power in Llano continue to pile on the fees. This is nothing more than goddamned bullshit. This money finds its way into the pockets of the corrupt, abusive bastards who falsely believe they run and own this hell hole.

Would you believe the last time the Sheriff's Office happened to be 'audited' during the Garrett regime, reportedly, auditors couldn't figure out what went where and why? Yet, surprise, surprise. Nothing was done. There has to be transparency. There is none. Why would these thieving bastards want any? ... Right, Sheriff? TL? How else could they so easily steal and loot with virtual impunity? Worse, this reinforces jackbooted power in this goddamned, godforsaken hell hole County.

The public has a right to know the histories of the Sheriff's goons. Clearly, the Sheriff doesn't think so. That is, where they came from. Why they left where they were. What is happening here is the Sheriff is using 'personnel matters' as a convenient excuse to deny the public access to the history of outrageously corrupt, abusive, inept officers who are no more than criminals themselves.

He's protecting his outrageously corrupt, abusive, inept jackbooted bastards. Worse, the standards imposed by sheriff's offices statewide with the exception of metropolitan counties are well below those of DPS and city police departments. Why? So the corruption, abuse, ineptness, and outright stealing can continue unabated? This has to change. ... Can't have that, can we? Sheriff? TL?

The public should understand Llano County authorities have it all sewn up. Did you know the Texas Attorney General does not have the authority to investigate and prosecute County authorities on his own? The District Attorney has to call for an investigation by the Texas Rangers. Then, the State can prosecute if it so chooses.

Consequently? Guess what? Nothing will happen. Nothing ever does. The goddamned corruption continues unabated until you, the public, pressure authorities. Precisely, why we all enjoy the 'best' government money can buy. Literally. Without question, the corrupt, abusive, inept sons of bitches are all bought and paid for. Firmly clamped to the taxpayer tit. Dependent on money looted from innocent citizens caught in their web. Phony fines and court costs cleverly designed to f--k the innocent and enrich the pieces of shit who falsely believe they run and own Llano County. Right, Sheriff? TL? "Sonny Boy?" Madam County Attorney?

Interestingly, the former Sheriff and District Attorney were reportedly forced to retire after an outrageous scandal involving a drunk driving police officer from out of town. Including special treatment of the drunken son of a bitch that no other citizen caught doing the same would have been afforded. An honest, honorable Llano County Deputy suffered the consequences. Forget? Great officers do not last in this hell hole County. ... Right, Sheriff? TL? "Sonny Boy?" Madam County Attorney?

With all ongoing abuse in this goddamned County, one thing remains for damned sure. We're just getting started, Sheriff. You will continue to be exposed for whom and what you and your corrupt, abusive, inept jackbooted bastards have become, truly are, not what you phonies purport to be, that is, how you continue to f--k over a public you've falsely sworn to protect and defend. -- Exposure, the only way short of an unwanted dreaded revolution to force desperately needed change in a goddamned fascist police-state. The Fourth Reich.

Have your jackbooted thugs been tested for steroids, Sheriff? If you've nothing to hide, Bill, release the results of all drug testing. 'Personnel matters?' Bullshit. Looted taxpayers have the right to know. They're footing the bill for all this goddamned corruption, abuse, ineptness. When will you and the boys end the shakedowns? Looting of the innocent to line County coffers? No honor at all?

Where are your swastika armbands, you fascist son of a bitch? You and your thugs remain out of uniform. Once again, Sheriff, and ad nauseum, did you and/or your goons pressure Schilling to exit the race? Did you steal the election? If so, an aggressively stupid, achingly gutless public gets what it truly deserves. One of the most corrupt, abusive, inept 'law' 'enforcement' agencies in our formerly great country.

3-27-20

Have any information, knowledge of, experience with a purportedly non-profit volunteer clean-up group called Looking Forward In Llano County affiliated with the Llano County Attorney's Office? Email this publication at libertyinperil@protonmail.com to provide information and/or arrange a meeting to discuss this matter. If requested, your identity will be protected. The question is quite simple. Is this group what it claims to be and on the level?

3-27-20

As always, when law enforcement does something heroic, and/or of exceptional benefit to the community, it leads. Always. This is an especially moving story. Seatbelts on. The Washington Post reports:

"On a frigid night this past January, two police officers in Norcross, Ga., spotted a woman standing on a street corner with a small bunch of birthday balloons and asked if she would like a ride home. What happened next is now going viral on social media, thanks to a supervisor at the Gwinnett County Police Department who found out about the officers’ secret kind deed this month while going through a batch of body camera videos.

"During a random audit of police body cam videos, a supervisor found this interaction (Jan. 10) between Sgt. Nick Boney, Ofc. Jimmy Wilson, and a woman whose daughter had just turned one. The woman was holding a bouquet of balloons trying to get home to her family on a cold night. pic.twitter.com/3pZKa2vGbB
— Gwinnett County Police (@GwinnettPd) March 4, 2020

"Sgt. Nick Boney and Officer Jimmy Wilson are seen singing “Happy Birthday” with the single mom and her three daughters in their apartment after the officers bought the youngest girl a birthday cake on Jan. 10 and gave the family a celebration to remember. “As a kid, I remember the cake almost being the best thing about my birthday, so I was more than happy to go find a birthday cake for this 1-year-old,” said Wilson, 34. “It was heart-wrenching that the woman didn’t have enough money for a birthday cake." It was dark and several hours past the dinner hour when he and Boney spotted the woman while patrolling in separate cars on Singleton Road in Norcross (population 16,787), about 20 miles northeast of Atlanta. “It was obvious she was trying to get home, and it was extremely cold out,” said Boney, 38. “I saw the balloons and I just wanted to help her get home quickly. It is quite a walk to the nearest neighborhood or apartment complex, and I didn’t want her to have to walk in the freezing cold that far." After the unidentified woman thanked him for “saving my daughter's birthday” and mentioned that she didn't have a cake, she climbed into the back seat of his patrol car. Boney then called Wilson over and asked him to run a quick errand. “I'm going to give you my credit card — go get her a birthday cake with a number one candle,” he is heard saying on the body cam video. During the ride to the woman's apartment, Boney said he was astonished and humbled to learn that she had walked almost two miles to the store in the cold to get her daughter some balloons. “She never said she didn't have the money, but I made the assumption that was the case,” he said. “It really tugged at my heart." At a nearby market, Wilson picked out a cheerful ice cream cake with “Happy Birthday” written on top in bright yellow, orange and green frosting, then found a No. 1 candle — the last one in the store. On the video, he and Boney are then shown walking with the woman into her apartment, where they are greeted with hugs from each of her daughters. “What she was willing to do for her daughter and how she raised her children speaks volumes to the mother she is,” Boney said. “She obviously was bringing up [her girls] to know that police were their friends and that they could trust and have fun with them." As he and Boney joined the family in singing “Happy Birthday” to the beaming 1-year-old, they said they couldn’t help think of the celebrations they had enjoyed with their own children. Boney has a son who is 1, and Wilson is the father of kids who are 3 and 11. “It was awesome to meet the birthday girl,” Wilson said. “My favorite reaction was seeing her and the rest of the kids blow the candle out. All it takes is a little love and compassion for one another — it was a special moment for me to give that family a memorable experience." Although he and Wilson have received a lot of praise about their night on the “birthday beat,” Boney said he wants all of the credit to go to the mother they helped. “She exhibits a love and caring for her family that people — most of the time — take for granted or never see,” he said. “She walked that far to give her daughter and family something special." “Officers aren’t looking for credit — they just do this out of the kindness of their hearts,” he added. “It’s really what many people do — it’s just not seen all the time.”

Every time it comes to the attention of this publication, it leads. Always. Best in policing. Best in humanity. Indeed, both men a class act.

3-27-20

'Shoot first, ask questions later.' The Kansas City Star reports:

"Kansas City police are continuing their internal investigation of an officer who fatally shot an unarmed man following a traffic stop Thursday, but local activists are demanding more accountability. The officer involved in the shooting death of Donnie Sanders, 47, remains off duty and there was no timetable on when the officer might return to work, police said Wednesday. “KCPD’s officer-involved shooting protocol places the officer on leave from duty for the course of the initial investigation and for psychological evaluation,” according to Kansas City police. Sanders was fatally shot when he raised his arm “in a motion towards the officer as though he had a weapon,” a police spokesman said at the time. However, it turned out that Sanders was unarmed."

Where's the video?

Fox guarding the chicken coop:

"The shooting has prompted More2, a Kansas City interfaith social justice organization, to circulate an online petition demanding more transparency and accountability. “Because of the recent history of Chief (Rick) Smith putting officers who have shot and killed (civilians) back to work in a matter of days, the least we can do is demand any officer who shoots a person be identified publicly and benched until further investigation clears or indicts them,” the group said in its petition. Kansas City Police said in an effort to protect officers’ safety, it is their practice not to name those officers involved in fatal shootings."

How about the safety of the innocent unarmed civilians your jackbooted bastards in blue are murdering, Chief?

“It feels like community trust is no longer important to KCPD,” said Lora McDonald, the group’s executive director. “I would say that when they refuse to tell the public who did this, every officer becomes the potential shooter to the public.” “If they didn’t do anything wrong, what do they need to be protected from?”, McDonald said."

Goddamned right.

"Police Chief Smith has not taken any action to respond to officer-involved shootings any differently than previous police chiefs as it relates to the investigative aspects, Capt. David Jackson, a police spokesman said Wednesday."

Precisely, the problem, Captain. Time for you jackbooted bastards to finally wake up.

More goddamned unadulterated bullshit:

“We respect the right to post petitions and exercise their first amendment rights,” Jackson said in an email. “These are always emotional incidents that we take seriously.” Jackson said because the investigation of the Sanders shooting remains open, they are only allowed to release limited information to the public."

The 'investigation' any more than a ruse to cover your sorry asses, Captain?

“We will release the same information as we do in any other case,” he said."

Same old shit, right, Captain?

"An officer attempted to pull Sanders over at about 11:15 p.m. Thursday near 51st and Prospect. He eventually pulled over between Prospect and Wabash avenues before allegedly running from the vehicle, police said."

Always a mistake to run from the jackbooted bastards in blue. Always. Gives them an excuse to murder.

"Sanders then turned toward an officer and raised his arm in a motion toward the officer."

Did he? Where's the video?

"The officer ordered Sanders to drop the weapon and shot him when he did not comply, police said."

What weapon? There was none according to police 'investigators.'

"Sanders was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died. The officer was placed on administrative leave."

Why wasn't his sorry ass arrested? Especially, in light of the following:

"After processing the scene, police determined that Sanders did not have a firearm or weapon, police said."

Ferociously pointedly, why are these jackbooted bastards protected and coddled after innocent unarmed civilians are murdered by them?

"McDonald said police officers must be held accountable for their actions. “There’s a pattern of about a dozen officers having killed two or more people,” she said. “We want to know if that continues to be a pattern five years later. The only way we’ll know is for their names to be public.”

The public is entitled to know the identity of officers who are killing civilians, and/or beating the living shit out of them, that is, engaging in excessive force, and/or engaging in criminal or any other unauthorized activity in uniform.

"Kansas City has recorded 48 homicides this year, according to data maintained by The Star. That includes four fatal police shootings. McDonald said Kansas City officers who have fatally shot civilians seldom face criminal charges."

Problem throughout our formerly great country. No justice.

"She pointed to Terrance M. Bridges, 30, who was shot and killed by an officer May 26 in the 7000 block of Bellefontaine Avenue in Kansas City. The shooting happened while the officer responded to a report of a domestic disturbance and carjacking. Last December, a Jackson County grand jury declined to charge a Kansas City police officer who shot and killed Bridges. “We mostly just want the broad community to know that this is happening, that officers are able to kill people, return to work in nine days or less and remain anonymous,” McDonald said."

Nazi justice in Nazi America.

No justice. Precisely, why there is desperate need for a new federal agency whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, and prosecute corrupt, abusive, criminal officers, prosecutors, and judges in a special court that would adjudicate only these cases. Total independence. The only way to rein in these criminals, particularly the murderers in blue.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve. Forfeiture of liberty. At the hands of outrageously corrupt and abusive government.

3-20-20

5-25-18

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril

Some salient quotes occurring later on in this edition vis a vis unfinished business County officials continue to ignore:

... Small sampling of what's to come in this edition. Read on.

The following email was sent to the District Attorney:

Wiley B. "Sonny" McAfee
District Attorney
33rd and 424th Judicial Districts
Llano, TX 78643

March 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*********************************

Rebecca Lange, Llano County Attorney
Llano County Attorney's Office
Llano, Texas 78643

February 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Equally pointedly, why hasn't Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 been held criminally accountable for egregious abuse of power involving denial of property rights to this Kingsland property owner? To say nothing of consequent resultant physical damage done to a motor home on that property.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*******************

Bill Blackburn, Sheriff
Llano County Sheriff's Office
2001 N. State Hwy. 16 Suite A
Llano, Texas 78643

August 23, 2017

Re: Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Sheriff:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

8-30-19

Llano County DA "Sonny Boy" is in the news. Received an award. The DailyTrib reports:

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

3-20-20

Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? Two hundred four weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace. Why are you still sitting on this information? What are you hiding, Sheriff? What is the identity of the officers who killed Wise? Too gutless to release this information to the public that pays your salary and that of your goons? Reportedly, there were three officers involved in the shooting.

Who are they, Sheriff? Their past history? An ongoing investigation remains a lame bullshit excuse. How can you and your goons be trusted when you refuse to disclose information? Two hundred four weeks. Especially, your egregious failure to disclose the identity of the officers who pulled the trigger. To cover your sorry ass, Sheriff? Those of your thugs? The people have a right to know what happened, how it went down. You don't understand that, Sheriff? Sadly, clearly, you answer to no one. Including taxpayers. Especially, taxpayers.

Until you and your goons come clean, doubt will remain this was indeed a good shoot. The longer you drag your feet, the greater the doubt. Think not? Wake up. Your credibility has tanked. Isn't getting any better as this bullshit continues unabated. Two hundred four weeks. Still no identification of the officers involved ... Can't get your stories straight? In line? Discrepancy between LCSO and DPS? Wake up, Sheriff. The public no longer buys the bullshit. No longer trusts you. On this and many, many other issues. You have no credibility. Absolutely, none.

3-20-20

As always, when law enforcement does something heroic, and/or of exceptional benefit to the community, it leads. Always. Uncommon Valor. Seatbelts on. CNN News reports:

"A Springfield, Missouri, policeman was killed trying to stop a shooting spree that left three others dead, police said Monday. Two others, including another officer, were wounded, Springfield police Chief Paul Williams said. It appears the gunman killed himself, he said. The incident began about 11:24 p.m. Sunday with several shooting calls, the chief said, the first coming in the southern portion of the city. Officers were dispatched to a busy intersection populated by a chain pharmacy and strip malls. As the officers were en route, more 911 calls arrived: the first regarding a shooting a couple miles north up US Highway 65, then another a little farther north, Williams told reporters. About 20 minutes after the first call, a 911 caller reported that someone had crashed a vehicle near a Kum & Go gas station on the east side of the city, about 4 miles north of the incident spurring the original call, he said. A gunman had entered the convenience store attached to the gas station and begun shooting customers and employees, callers told the 911 dispatcher, according to the chief. Officers Josiah Overton and Christopher Walsh were the first on the scene, he said, and the gunman opened fire, striking them both. More officers arrived and removed the injured policemen from the store. Inside, they found three people dead, another person injured and the gunman dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, Williams said. "Officer Christopher Walsh suffered a gunshot wound and unfortunately passed away at the hospital," he said. Overton suffered injuries that are not life-threatening, the chief said. He's being treated at a local hospital. The injured civilian is in critical condition at Mercy Hospital Springfield, police said. "Both these officers showed significant bravery, were heroic in their actions," Williams said. In a statement, the chief said, "Chris died a hero, rushing in without regard to his own safety to protect members of his community. His courageous actions serve as an example to us all."

Indeed. Uncommon Valor.

"Three victims were identified as Troy Rapp, 57, Shannon Perkins, 46, and Matthew Hicks-Morris, 22. The fourth victim is in critical condition and is being treated at Mercy Hospital. In a statement, Kum & Go said one of its associates was among those killed.

"There are no words to express the shock and sorrow many of us are feeling," the statement said. Overton, 25, is a two-year veteran of the force, while Walsh, 32, has been with the department for more than three years. A US Army veteran, Walsh had been active with the Army Reserve for a decade at the time of his death, the chief said. He leaves behind a wife and daughter, police said."

Uncommon Valor.

"Investigators believe the gunman, who has not yet been identified, was responsible for all four shooting calls, Williams said."

3-20-20

As always, when law enforcement does something heroic, and/or of exceptional benefit to the community, it leads. Always. The following goes above and beyond. An officer with a heart. Seatbelts on. CBS News reports:

"Van Buren, Arkansas — It was one of the biggest nights of the year. A special school dance for fathers and daughters. But one 8-year-old girl in northwest Arkansas had no date until a hero stepped in. Officer Nick Harvey said he was nervous. "I did not want to be rejected by a second-grader," Harvey told CBS News. He had volunteered to escort a child in need to the annual father-daughter dance. "She was sitting at the lunch table and I walked up and said, 'Hey, did you talk to your mom?' And she said, 'Yeah.' And I'm like, 'Would you like to be my date for the daddy-daughter dance," and so she's like 'yes' and I was 'phew,'" Harvey laughed."

Best in policing. Best in humanity. A class act. Certainly, rose to the occasion:

"Avey Cox's father died in January. "I've been wanting to go for a long time, but my dad couldn't take me," Cox explained. Officer Harvey showed up in his police cruiser, they posed for pictures. Another officer ordered a limo to take them to the dance. Cox said the best part, of course, was the dance. What did Harvey learn? "Don't take anything for granted," he said. "Enjoy your kids. Appreciate their childhood because they won't be little for very long." And his gesture may already be having an impact — even more than officer Harvey could imagine. Cox said she wants to become an officer."

3-20-20

... If only the above were all that had to be reported here.

Legal immunity questioned in an age of nazi justice. The Associated Press reports:

"James King had no idea that the men who grabbed him and took his wallet were plainclothes officers looking for a fugitive. So he ran off. And when they caught him, he took a monstrous beating."

-- Precisely, how the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue get their cookies off abusing power in a de facto fascist police-state. Par for the course. Near impunity.

"Bystanders also were confused. One called 911 to report the beating, telling a dispatcher: “They’re going to kill this man.” King, 27, was a college student at Grand Valley State in Michigan in 2014 when he was beaten. He sued the officers who arrested him, but a judge tossed out the case, ruling that the officers were entitled to immunity for their actions."

... Hear the rumble? An unwanted, dreaded second American revolution has been catastrophically looming quite some time as our formerly great country continues to deteriorate.

"King’s case is one of several taken up by the Arlington-based Institute for Justice in an effort to get the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the “qualified immunity” doctrine, which frequently shields police officers and other government agents from lawsuits when they are accused of violating a person’s constitutional rights."

Think that even remotely possible with five Republican national socialists, fascists, nazis owning the majority on the U.S. Supreme Court? Imposing their perverse ideology and religious views on all? With four Democrats on the Court incapable of reining in the nazi element? Give me a break. Likely not going to happen any time soon.

“The biggest problem is, these doctrines have no basis in the history of this country,” said Anya Bidwell, one of King’s lawyers with the institute. “They are inconsistent with our founding principles.”

Indeed, so. The Judiciary was intended by the Founders to be a check and balance on the two other branches of government. Instead, it's now effectively in bed with both.

"The qualified immunity doctrine was first enunciated by the Supreme Court in 1967, and expanded greatly by the court in the 1980s. As it currently stands, officers can only be held liable for their actions if a court has previously found officers liable in an analogous circumstance, Bidwell said."

Called nazi justice. Appropriate for a fascist police-state, not a supposedly democratic republic. We've certainly lost ourselves.

"The Institute also has petitioned the high court to take the case of Shaniz West, whose home in Caldwell, Idaho, was destroyed by officers looking for her ex-boyfriend. They hope to learn as soon as later this month whether the justices will review the cases. One of the officers sued by King is an FBI agent who was participating in a federal-local task force in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The FBI and a Grand Rapids spokesman declined comment. A spokeswoman for the City of Caldwell did not respond to an email seeking comment."

Out of control government:

"In a phone interview, King said he feels lucky to be alive after being beaten by officers who seemed unfazed by the fact that bystanders were witnessing the attack in broad daylight. He said one of his lawyers told him that if he’d been black, he would have been killed. “I thought I was going to be killed,” he said. “And there are people all over the country who deal with this on a daily basis.”

No question. Quite true. This publication is a testament to that. Been so 21 years.

"King was charged with resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. Court records indicate he bit one of the officers who had him in a chokehold. A jury acquitted King on all charges."

As well he should have been. The goddamned jackbooted bastards were in plainclothes, did not identify themselves. Not in uniform. Attempted to kill him. Moreover, should have been criminally prosecuted for attempted murder.

The following is interesting:

"Justices have signaled some interest in the topic. In 2017, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the court should find an appropriate case to reconsider the doctrine. As with other elements of criminal justice reform, a left-right coalition of liberals concerned about police abuse and conservatives concerned about unaccountable government has emerged to agitate for change."

What took so long? Been quite a problem over a half century now. Nazi justice in what is purportedly supposed to be a democratic republic. Yet, these pieces of human excrement continue to abuse authority with near impunity.

-- Status quo nearly impossible to change in our formerly great country. Fascism certainly has exceptionally profound roots:

"While there is strong momentum for reconsidering the qualified immunity doctrine, it has its defenders. In a Notre Dame Law Review Journal titled “A Qualified Defense of Qualified Immunity,” professors Aaron Nielson and Christopher Walker write that the doctrine is entitled to a significant measure of deference now that it has been in place for 50 years, and indeed expanded by the high court over time. “Absent dramatic new information, until and unless Congress says otherwise, qualified immunity should remain our law,” the authors write."

Spoken as national socialists, fascists, nazis. Hitler and Mussolini 'wannabes.'

The following mentality is precisely the problem:

"Cities and local governments also support the immunity, arguing that police need a measure of protection to do their job without looking over their shoulders."

The criminal jackbooted bastards in blue take that as carte blanche to do as they please. One of the reasons why an unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms. ... Hear the rumble?

The following is unadulterated, highly convoluted, abject bullshit. Simply untrue:

"Lisa Soronen, executive director of the State and Local Legal Center, which advocates for local governments before the Supreme Court, said qualified immunity is key to the financial solvency of state and local governments which could otherwise be overwhelmed by lawsuits."

If the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue were not ubiquitously corrupt, abusive, murderous, there wouldn't be all the lawsuits. The executive director conveniently and disingenuously ignores the fact it is extremely difficult to find an attorney willing to take a case on a contingency basis unless it is a slam dunk. Precisely, why many of the victims of these jackbooted criminal bastards never get their day in court.

More disingenuous bullshit:

"Also, it’s important for officers to know they have some legal protection on the job, she said. “You don’t want an officer hesitating,” she said. “They have to act in these hard situations.”

Simply not true. The criminal jackbooted bastards embrace a 'shoot first, ask questions later' mentality. Precisely, why so many innocent, unarmed civilians wind up murdered by these gutless pieces of human excrement.

More abject bullshit from an executive director who is indeed paid to advocate for these criminal bastards:

"She said the doctrine has been under attack since it was targeted by a libertarian think tank, the Cato Institute. But she said changing a doctrine that has stood for decades could end up confusing the immunity issue rather than clarifying it."

It's stood for decades since this country remains a democratic republic in name only. In reality, a de facto fascist police-state bought and paid for by the corporate management suite and top of the food chain.

“Relaxing the idea may sound like a good idea, but where do you draw the line?” she asked."

Quite simple. You start by holding officers criminally accountable for their crimes instead of granting them carte blanche. Currently? No justice. Precisely, why there is desperate need for a new federal agency whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, and prosecute corrupt, abusive, criminal officers, prosecutors, and judges in a special court that would adjudicate only these cases. Total independence.

Certainly, the only way to rein in these criminals, particularly the murderers in blue. Should that happen, would quickly be a reduction in the number of out of control criminal officers. With a reduction in the ranks of abusive officers, there wouldn't be a need for as many civil suits. Would also help if educational requirements of officers were increased. A college degree in law enforcement and then a master's in one of the social sciences. Or, vice versa. A starting salary of $100K.

Would increase the professionalism and competence of officers. Consequently, be a need for fewer officers, which translates into less harassment, corruption and abuse. What exists today is not sustainable. Could lead to the unthinkable, unwanted. A second American revolution. ... Hear the rumble? As our formerly great country continues to quickly deteriorate, sadly, die on the vine.

3-20-20

Ends don't justify the means. Never do. NBC News reports:

"On Feb. 11, 2019, undercover detectives removed the trash from outside a 57-year-old paralegal’s home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in hopes of finding her DNA. Police were led to Theresa Bentaas’ home by a new investigative technique that combines direct-to-consumer genetic testing and genealogical records. The detectives believed they were close to solving a crime that had haunted the city for 38 years: a newborn left to die in a frigid roadside ditch, tears frozen to his cheeks. Once they’d taken the garbage from Bentaas’ home, the detectives pulled out beer cans, water bottles and cigarette butts, according to court documents. They sent the items to a state crime lab, where analysts extracted DNA that they said might belong to the baby’s mother. Citing those results, one of the detectives got a search warrant to obtain a DNA sample directly from Bentaas. When he showed up at her home, Bentaas admitted to leaving the baby in the ditch in February 1981 after secretly giving birth, saying she’d been “young and stupid” and scared, according to an affidavit submitted by the detective. A few days later, according to court documents, Bentaas’ DNA swab revealed her as the baby’s likely mother. Police arrested her for murder."

Carefully, consider the following:

"Bentaas has since pleaded not guilty, and now, on the eve of her trial, she is fighting the charges against her. One of her main arguments is that police violated her constitutional protections against unreasonable searches when they used her trash to find her DNA and develop a genetic profile, without first asking a judge to sign a search warrant. “People do not have a privacy interest in the things they throw in the trash, but they definitely have privacy interest in their DNA that is on those items,” Bentaas’ lawyer, Clint Sargent, said in an interview. “And there's nothing a free person can do to not deposit DNA on the stuff they deal with every day.“ The Minnehaha County prosecutor handling the case against Bentaas did not return a request for comment. Neither did a spokesman for the Sioux Falls Police Department."

Surprised? Why? Carefully, read on:

"The practice of going through a potential suspect’s garbage for evidence is not new. But it is facing new scrutiny from civil liberties groups and privacy advocates who see danger in law enforcement’s unchecked power to obtain people’s DNA — which is unavoidably left on just about everything anyone touches — without them knowing about it. The tactic has grown more frequent with the increased use of investigative genetic genealogy, which relies on DNA and ancestry records to find people with links to DNA left at a crime scene. Police try to confirm the connection by obtaining the person’s DNA, often through surreptitious means. “Without protections, every one of us is vulnerable to having our DNA secretly tested and scrutinized by police without judicial oversight,” said Nathan Freed Wessler, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, who specializes in technology and privacy."

That's a problem. Why? Carefully, read on:

"The ACLU, along with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights nonprofit, filed a joint brief Monday in the Bentaas case in Second Judicial Circuit Court in Minnehaha County, arguing that while it is legal for police to rifle through someone’s trash for evidence, “extracting and sequencing a DNA sample found on that item” should first require going to a judge for a warrant. Not doing that, the groups said, violates the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The filing is the first in what the groups say will be a national effort to challenge cases in which police have used trash and other abandoned items to secretly access a potential suspect’s DNA. Among the cases they are watching is the upcoming trial of an Orlando, Florida, man charged with the 2001 killing of a college student. The goal, they say, is to persuade judges to require police to first come to them for permission, in the form of a warrant. “Our DNA can reveal so much about us that our genetic privacy must be protected at all costs,” an Electronic Frontier Foundation lawyer wrote in a blog post this week."

Readers will recall the following was also covered in this publication recently and elsewhere:

"Police told a mother her DNA would identify a dead relative. They arrested her son instead. Prosecutors say that argument is a stretch. They point out that the Supreme Court has ruled that it is OK for police to search through someone’s garbage, and criminal defendants have largely failed in the past to challenge the collection of DNA from trash and other items. The Minnehaha County state's attorney made those assertions in a brief opposing Bentaas’ motion to suppress the DNA evidence against her. Duffie Stone, president of the National District Attorneys Association and a prosecutor in South Carolina, said police are allowed to go through someone’s trash or collect abandoned objects, regardless of whether they use those items to find DNA. Making it more burdensome to test abandoned items for DNA would slow criminal investigations, which often rely on trying to find DNA not only from things left in the trash but also all sorts of objects found at crime scenes, from guns to gum, Stone said. “They’re trying to extend the expectation of privacy to shedded DNA cells,” Stone said. “I don’t think the courts are going to go with that, and from a practical standpoint it would be impossible for law enforcement to work with that on a regular basis.”

Here's the problem with the above quote. Carefully, consider it:

"Elizabeth Joh, a professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law, who studies criminal procedure and police surveillance, said that as covert collection of DNA becomes cheaper and easier, there need to be more rules — from the courts or lawmakers — covering it. “There is basically nothing regulating or guiding the police on what to do other than their own internal guidelines,” Joh said. On Friday, Bentaas’ defense team and Minnehaha County prosecutors argued the DNA collection issue before Second Circuit Court Judge Susan Sabers, who said she’d make a decision by Tuesday, Sargent, Bentaas’ defense lawyer, said. Bentaas’ trial is scheduled to begin April 20."

Yes, there is no question this woman needs to legally and constitutionally be held accountable for the death of her infant all those years ago. There is, however, the issue of law enforcement abuse of authority and not playing by the rules. Innocent civilians often get caught up in law enforcement fishing expeditions, corruption and abuse of power.

Precisely, why standards must be set up by lawmakers and the courts. Strictly adhered to and enforced by the courts to ensure innocent individuals don't get caught up in this abuse of power perpetrated by police for the sake of expediency, not justice.

"The trial could mark the final chapter in a mystery that has haunted Sioux Falls for nearly four decades. The baby died years before DNA became a crime-solving tool. Residents arranged for a funeral and burial and named the boy Andrew, which was inscribed on his gravestone. In 2009, a detective, hoping to use new DNA analysis methods to find a new lead, arranged for the body to be disinterred, according to court documents. But the baby's DNA profile wasn't closely related to any profiles in the state's crime database. Last year, police turned to investigative genetic genealogy, which seeks DNA links outside of crime databases. Investigators built a family tree that pointed them to Bentaas, according to court documents. Her arrest triggered a wave of relief across Sioux Falls."

This is indeed a sad, sad case. A needless, tragic death of an infant that should never have happened:

"Lee Litz, who found the baby at the side of the road, told a reporter last year that he considered the boy his “long-lost son” and saw Bentaas’ arrest as justice for a community that refused to let his death go forgotten. "There are times when I wish I hadn't found him and there are times that I'm glad I did,” Litz told the Argus Leader newspaper. “I just wish I found him earlier, when he was still alive."

Indeed. Without question.

At the same time, the ends don't justify the means. The judge does need to carefully consider police tactics used in this case and whether or not they are indeed constitutional. Not just for the sake of the defendant, however, but far more so for the sake of others who may indeed be innocent, but falsely accused by the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue who engage in unconstitutional tactics for the sake of expediency.

For you Republican nazis out there who equate abortion with infanticide, there is no equivalency. In the above example of infanticide, the infant had already been born. The mother could have immediately given him up for adoption. No questions asked. She hadn't been forced to carry the fetus to term by nazis intent on forcing their perverse ideological and religious views on her.

3-20-20

Discrimination against lesbian personnel. NBC News reports:

"Michelle Wood worked for the Michigan Department of Corrections for 26 years, and she had hoped to make it an even 30. But Wood, 52, said she was forced to leave her job as a prison guard in October 2018 after being subjected to discrimination and harassment because of her sexual orientation. “The job in and of itself is extremely dangerous and stressful,” Wood told NBC News. “It just made it to the point where there was no joy in going in there anymore.” Wood worked at the Thumb Correctional Facility in Lapeer, Michigan, with her girlfriend, Loretta Smith, 53, who was transferred to the facility in 2015. Wood said she was frequently targeted by co-workers, who she said called her derogatory terms for being a lesbian. “We're people, we’re human beings ... We just happen to be in a lesbian relationship. We have the same feelings and the same emotions as everyone else. I just would like to see them extend the law to cover us as a protected group.”

Sad, isn't it? Why do they have to put up with this crap?

"The harassment was more than just verbal, Wood recalled. “When I would leave the computer, people would go over and change my screensaver when I wasn't looking,” she said. “It just got ridiculous.” Wood took three months of medical leave for stress in 2018 after she was allegedly stalked by a co-worker known to make derogatory statements about gay men. Wood said she was scheduled to make an early morning trip to Flint to get emergency medical care for an inmate when she realized she was being followed. “It was pretty dark, and he was creeping around between the vehicles,” she said of the co-worker. “When my partner was trying to back up, he just jumped right there and scared both of us.” After taking early retirement later that same year, Wood filed a lawsuit in the Wayne County Circuit Court last Monday, in which she alleged that the Michigan Department of Corrections knew about the mistreatment she had been facing and failed to intervene. She said she had reported the incidents to the warden, who declined to get involved, and then eventually escalated her complaints to Heidi Washington, director of the Michigan Department of Corrections. According to Wood, nothing was done and reporting the harassment only spurred retaliation. She said she started being written up for minor infractions, such as carrying an eyeglass case that her superiors claimed was against regulations, and she was investigated for an alleged sexual relationship with a male prisoner. “They knew that I was lesbian,” she said. “I’ve been in a committed relationship for 17 years. It was just an onslaught of anxiety and stress.”

Apparently, this is a growing problem:

"Wood's attorney, Jonathan Marko, said he has handled approximately 30 cases against the Michigan Department of Corrections and claimed his client’s case is the “most heinous, shameful and downright wrong harassment” he’s ever seen. “I represent a lot of people within the prison system,” he said. “A common theme in every case is if you’re a minority, if you’re gay or lesbian, or if you’re different, you’re not going to be treated the same way as everybody else. Clients referred to it as a ‘good old boy’ system. It’s a macho, white-male-dominated environment.” Marko is also representing Wood’s partner, who the attorney said also experienced discrimination and retaliation at Thumb Correctional Facility. After Wood began complaining about mistreatment, Smith was abruptly moved to the “graveyard shift.” “It’s the unwanted shift,” Marko said. “It's the island of undesirables. Nobody wants to have to work overnight. You have to sleep during the day and go to work at night.” Wood said the abuse they both suffered took an extreme toll on their mental health and their relationship. “Our household has suffered greatly,” she said. “It’s very difficult to turn that on and turn off when you get home.”

Get this:

"The Michigan Department of Corrections, which potentially faces six charges of workplace discrimination over the alleged mistreatment Wood and Smith experienced, has declined to comment on the case. However, a representative of the department told local news outlet Michigan Live that harassment and retaliation are “not tolerated in this department.” “The MDOC takes allegations of discrimination in the workplace, no matter what type — race, sex, orientation, identity — seriously and investigates such claims as soon as they become known to the department,” spokesman Chris Gautz told the outlet."

Think so?

"While the couple is seeking damages, Wood said her goal in filing the lawsuit is to help push for fully inclusive nondiscrimination protections in Michigan. The state is one of 29 in the U.S. that has yet to pass a comprehensive state law explicitly banning bias in the workplace on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank. However, last year, the state’s newly elected attorney general, Dana Nessel, who is gay, stated that it is her opinion that Michigan’s 44-year-old civil rights law, the Elliott-Larsen Act, does include sexual orientation and gender identity in its definition of sex discrimination. This case is likely to test Nessel’s interpretation of the law, which her predecessor as attorney general, Bill Schuette, had claimed did not protect LGBTQ people. Wood hopes that her case helps set a precedent to ensure that she and her partner have the same rights as all other Michigan residents. “We're people, we’re human beings,” Wood said. “We just happen to be in a lesbian relationship. We have the same feelings and the same emotions as everyone else. I just would like to see them extend the law to cover us as a protected group.”

Officers in the law enforcement community need to be protected against others in that community who are abusive and/or commit crimes against their fellow officers.

3-13-20

5-25-18

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril

Some salient quotes occurring later on in this edition vis a vis unfinished business County officials continue to ignore:

... Small sampling of what's to come in this edition. Read on.

The following email was sent to the District Attorney:

Wiley B. "Sonny" McAfee
District Attorney
33rd and 424th Judicial Districts
Llano, TX 78643

March 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*********************************

Rebecca Lange, Llano County Attorney
Llano County Attorney's Office
Llano, Texas 78643

February 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Equally pointedly, why hasn't Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 been held criminally accountable for egregious abuse of power involving denial of property rights to this Kingsland property owner? To say nothing of consequent resultant physical damage done to a motor home on that property.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*******************

Bill Blackburn, Sheriff
Llano County Sheriff's Office
2001 N. State Hwy. 16 Suite A
Llano, Texas 78643

August 23, 2017

Re: Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Sheriff:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

8-30-19

Llano County DA "Sonny Boy" is in the news. Received an award. The DailyTrib reports:

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

3-13-20

Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? Two hundred three weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace. Why are you still sitting on this information? What are you hiding, Sheriff? What is the identity of the officers who killed Wise? Too gutless to release this information to the public that pays your salary and that of your goons? Reportedly, there were three officers involved in the shooting.

Who are they, Sheriff? Their past history? An ongoing investigation remains a lame bullshit excuse. How can you and your goons be trusted when you refuse to disclose information? Two hundred three weeks. Especially, your egregious failure to disclose the identity of the officers who pulled the trigger. To cover your sorry ass, Sheriff? Those of your thugs? The people have a right to know what happened, how it went down. You don't understand that, Sheriff? Sadly, clearly, you answer to no one. Including taxpayers. Especially, taxpayers.

Until you and your goons come clean, doubt will remain this was indeed a good shoot. The longer you drag your feet, the greater the doubt. Think not? Wake up. Your credibility has tanked. Isn't getting any better as this bullshit continues unabated. Two hundred three weeks. Still no identification of the officers involved ... Can't get your stories straight? In line? Discrepancy between LCSO and DPS? Wake up, Sheriff. The public no longer buys the bullshit. No longer trusts you. On this and many, many other issues. You have no credibility. Absolutely, none.

3-13-20

Criminal negligence. CNN News reports:

"A young mother limps toward a desk in the booking area of a Massachusetts police department one evening in late September 2018, holding her chest and repeatedly saying she is in pain. Madelyn Linsenmeir, 30, had been arrested for allegedly violating probation on a drug-related offense in another state. "I have a really really really bad chest, like I don't know what happened to it, it feels like it's caving in, I can't even breathe," Linsenmeir tells a Springfield Police Department sergeant, according to surveillance video cited in a wrongful death lawsuit filed Thursday by her estate. The scene marks the start of a series of alleged missteps by the Springfield Police Department, the Hampden County Sheriff's Department and others accused of denying proper medical care to Linsenmeir after she asked for it, according to the suit filed by the ACLU of Massachusetts, Prisoners' Legal Services of Massachusetts and Goulston & Storrs."

No compassion by law enforcement.

"The complaint draws new attention to a story that captured national interest in 2018, when Linsenmeir's sister penned a touching and honest obituary about the young woman who struggled with an addiction to opioids. In the days before she died, Massachusetts police officials and correctional center staff did not take Linsenmeir's vitals, the suit alleges, and instead determined she was suffering from alcohol- and opioid-related effects. They gave her ibuprofen, vitamin B and a drug used to treat symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, it says. Also listed as defendants are three Springfield police employees and five unnamed staffers of the Western Massachusetts Regional Women's Correctional Center, where Linsenmeir was transferred and which is run by the sheriff's department. "Madelyn told them repeatedly she was sick and not 'dope sick,'" the suit says, referring to a term used to describe the difficult process of withdrawing from opioids. "(Women's Correctional Center) staff members told Madelyn that the situation was her own fault for using drugs," according to the lawsuit, which says Linsenmeir's substance abuse disorder is classified as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act."

No compassion. Rampant Aryan arrogance displayed by these jackbooted bastards.

"Linsenmeir's condition "visibly deteriorated" over the days after her September 29 arrest, to the point that other detainees told staff she needed medical attention, the lawsuit asserts. Linsenmeir was found unresponsive in her cell on October 4 at the Women's Correctional Center. She was taken to a hospital, put on a ventilator and died three days later, still in police custody, the suit states. The city of Springfield and Hampden County Sheriff's Department did not immediately respond Thursday to CNN's inquiries about the suit. The Springfield Police Department investigated the matter in 2018, police spokesman Ryan Walsh and city spokesman Darryl Moss told CNN at the time. Weeks after Linsenmeir's death, Hampden County Sheriff Nicholas Cocchi expressed sadness over her passing and wanted to "extend my sympathies to her family," he told CNN in a statement at the time, adding that she was "under the evaluation and supervision of our correctional and medical team."

The son of a bitch failed to do his job. Forget? He's the goddamned sheriff. In charge of the facility. No willingness to take responsibility:

"Cocchi released a statement to CNN, saying he could not comment on a specific death. He said the department has an award-winning method for caring for people with a wide range of health problems who come into their system, and said his department's methods have been replicated by law enforcement around the country. "The Hampden County Sheriff's Department always aims to provide the best healthcare available to everyone who comes into our custody," he said in a statement to CNN. "Often, individuals come to us after many years of poor health care in the community and we strive to provide the best healthcare services given the challenging circumstances of these individuals prior to them arriving in our custody."

Self-serving gutless piece of human excrement.

"An autopsy found Linsenmeir died of an infected heart valve, which the suit claims is "generally treatable through medications and or surgery." "Madelyn's illness was treatable. Her life could have been saved; her suffering could have been spared. She was in the defendants' custody. She begged them for help. Other prisoners sought help on her behalf. But the defendants refused and caused her death," the lawsuit states. "Ultimately, the decision whether Madelyn would go to the hospital did not belong to her." A heart valve infection is a common complication faced by intravenous drug users, said Dr. Chapman Sledge, an internist who, though not a heart specialist, has spent the past 30 years focusing on addiction medicine. Sledge did not treat Linsenmeir but reviewed her death certificate and the facts of her case. "For a person who injects drugs, sterile technique is out the window," Sledge said. "It's virtually universal that you're introducing bacteria into the blood stream." When that happens, bacteria can "stick" onto delicate heart valves and build up into what's known as vegetation, Sledge said. That can cause infections of the heart valve, and that vegetation can shower the lungs with bacteria, causing more infection and difficulty breathing. "It is treatable. I can tell you, without treatment, it would be almost universally fatal," Sledge said. "Without treatment, people don't recover." Even with treatment, the condition can be so dangerous that there's a nearly 25% mortality rate in the hospital, Sledge said. The condition requires lengthy, aggressive treatment, often including IV antibiotics over about six weeks, Sledge said. Sometimes surgeries are required to replace or repair the damaged heart valve. "The sooner one is diagnosed and treated, the lower the mortality," he said. When Sledge evaluates patients who are struggling with IV drug use at Cumberland Heights Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center in Nashville, he pays particular attention to their cardiac examinations, he said."

"In the months before her final arrest and death, Linsenmeir had been kidnapped and subjected to human trafficking in Rhode Island, held captive, drugged, burned, stabbed and raped multiple times, the lawsuit states. After her traffickers were arrested, Linsenmeir was released and diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, the suit states. She also suffered from anxiety and flashbacks."

We have to do better. Addiction is a medical issue. Time to reassess our approach to this problem.

3-13-20

Another egregious example of negligent healthcare. CBS News reports:

"Border Patrol told Congress that officials at a Texas station called for an ambulance "immediately" after a now-deceased man arrested near the border showed "signs of distress." But the local sheriff told CBS News his office, which dispatches EMS, didn't receive a call until up to 26 minutes later."

Goddamned liars. Just like their fuhrer, the Trump nazi.

"At approximately 3:30 p.m. on February 4, Border Patrol agents arrested U.S. citizen James Paul Markowitz "as a suspect in an alien smuggling incident," according to the notice to Congress. More details about the 32-year-old Texan's arrest have not been released."

Covering their outrageously corrupt and abusive jackbooted asses?

"At around 6:00 p.m., during processing at the Brackettville Station, the man began exhibiting signs of distress," the notification said. "EMT-certified agents immediately administered first aid and contacted local Emergency Medical Services as his health deteriorated. At around 6:40 p.m., EMS arrived and transported the subject by ambulance to a local hospital." But according to Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe, who reviewed his office's phone records for CBS News, the call for help didn't come in until 6:26 p.m. Sheriff Coe said Markowitz was described as "sweating" and "fidgety," when the 6:26 phone call was made. He said his office dispatched an ambulance five minutes later, and that the vehicle arrived at 6:37. Markowitz was brought to a hospital, where he later died. His cause of death has not yet been determined."

Desperately trying to get their story straight?

"Until they were contacted by CBS News, some members of Congress — who received the statement because CBP is required to notify federal legislators — appeared to believe that CBP called for help at "around 6:00," and that it took EMS nearly 40 minutes to arrive. In a letter to Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf sent Wednesday, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Joaquin Castro and Immigration Task Force Chairwoman Linda Sánchez asked, "What help did Mr. Markowitz receive during the 40 minutes it took for EMT to arrive to the Brackettville Station?" Castro and Sánchez wrote in their letter that they "remain troubled twenty-eight days after the death of James Paul Markowitz without any further details or relevant information to his case." Informed of the sheriff's timeline that appears to contradict CBP's Congressional notification, Castro said, "If this account is accurate, it raises serious concerns about CBP's actions and decision to wait 20 minutes after Mr. Markowitz started exhibiting symptoms before calling an EMT." "Such a delay could have played a role in Mr. Markowitz tragic death. That is why we need transparency and answers from the Department of Homeland Security. We will continue holding DHS and CBP accountable for all deaths on their watch," Castro said."

Congress needs to do a far better job of holding these jackbooted bastards accountable for all the deaths under their jurisdiction.

"In a statement to CBS News sent after this story was initially published, CBP said Markowitz first showed signs of distress at 6:05 pm and was immediately examined by a Border Patrol agent certified as an emergency medical technician. At 6:11 the agent took Markowitz outside for fresh air, but then decided Markowitz needed medical care. CBP said by 6:26 it was apparent that "more advanced care was required." "It is devastating that besides all the efforts our EMTs and local medical professionals the life of the individual could not be saved. We will continue to work with local law enforcement to identify the cause of death," said Acting Chief Patrol Agent Doyle E. Amidon. The agency said an investigation into Markowitz's death is ongoing."

Fox 'guarding' the goddamned chicken coop.

3-13-20

Outrageously abusive 'arrest.' CBS News reports:

"Video showing New York City police officers arresting a young black man sparked outrage and elicited questions about the amount of force used to make the arrest in a city where mistrust of police remains high more than five years after Eric Garner's death from an officer's chokehold. Fitzroy Gayle, 20, pleads for help in the video, recorded by a woman who then tweeted it, as several officers wrestle him into submission Wednesday evening on a Brooklyn sidewalk. When Gayle asked a lone plainclothes officer why he was being stopped, the officer did not appear to answer before uniformed backup rushed in."

Jackbooted motherf--kers who get their cookies off abusing the shit out of their victims. Apparently, reinforces their threatened, waning masculinity.

"Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said Thursday he was ordering an internal investigation."

Fox guarding the chicken coop.

"This was painful to watch," Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted. "We still need to get all the facts about this case and a full investigation is underway, but I don't like what I saw. It doesn't reflect what we're building in New York City."

Called criminal assault by the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue.

"Gayle's mother and others rallied outside the police precinct Thursday against what they say was police brutality, reports CBS New York. "You're gonna have one person, a young man, on the ground like that, they treat him like he's an animal and it was not necessary," she said."

Again, it's how these bastards reinforce their waning masculinity. Get their cookies off.

"The city's largest police union responded on Twitter, calling de Blasio's remarks "anti-police rhetoric" and accusing him of "inflaming the situation" with a rush to judgment."

Who runs the City, Mr. Mayor? You or the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue?

"Video clips of Wednesday night's arrest had been viewed or shared millions of times on Twitter and was the latest episode in recent months to spark outrage about perceived overuse of force or unjust arrests by New York Police Department officers. The man in the video had fled officers who approached him and another man as they were smoking marijuana in a park around 7 p.m., Shea said. The officers were responding to an automated alert to gunshots, Shea said. Both men were later apprehended, but there is no indication they were linked to the gunfire, he said. Gayle was arrested and charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and marijuana possession. The second man, whom police have not identified, was issued a summons. The episode is under internal review."

Why is law enforcement sitting on this information? Why an egregious lack of transparency? Need time to get their story straight? In line with one another?

Always a mistake to flee officers. Can get an innocent person murdered by these criminal jackbooted bastards. Find a lawyer. Sue the living shit out of them.

"Shea said there were "some disturbing points" to the video."

Surprised?

"One of the officers could be seen standing on the man's ankle, he said, offering a possible explanation for why Gayle screamed during the scrum. Photos of Gayle taken after the arrest showed abrasions to his knee but no apparent injuries to his face or upper body, the commissioner said. "The end is what concerns me," Shea said. A better outcome would have seen officers approaching the men followed by "discussion and no running" from police, he said. "No physical resistance at all. No arrest needed."

Not how things work in an out of control fascist police-state.

"Gayle's lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein, said the video demonstrates "that the era of stop and frisk is not over in New York City. The police officers involved in this brutal assault must be brought to justice."

No such thing in Nazi America.

"Rev. Kevin McCall, a civil rights activist in Brooklyn, said Gayle's family was calling for District Attorney Eric Gonzalez to open his own investigation into the officers' conduct. McCall also said Shea should suspend the officers. The arrest came on the heels of renewed spotlight on stop, question and frisk, a policing strategy once championed by former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who expressed regret for its overuse as he launched his now-suspended campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. At its peak, stop and frisk resulted in millions of police stops of mostly black and Hispanic New Yorkers. A federal judge ruled the practice as unconstitutional in 2012, and the city drastically decreased its use the following year. Data released last month showed such encounters increased by 22% last year. About 66% of the 2019 stops resulted in neither an arrest nor a summons."

This jackbooted shit never ends.

3-13-20

Nazi justice. Get this. ABC News reports:

"Man who claimed innocence for police shooting executed in Alabama. Nathaniel Woods’ execution puts a unique Alabama law at the center of the death penalty debate."

Does it ever. The following is well beyond galling:

"While the family of Nathaniel Woods fumes over his execution and prepares for his funeral, the man who confessed to acting alone in the killing of three Alabama police officers that landed them both on death row is alive and may never be executed, according to his former appellate attorney. As a wave of outrage swept the state and nation over Woods' execution late Thursday, Alabama's death penalty laws are being scrutinized by civil rights leaders and labeled as unjust by Woods' supporters, saying its criminal courts are unfair to minority defendants. But the former attorney for Kerry Spencer, the man convicted of gunning down three police officers in a Birmingham crack house in 2004, said he hopes the execution will put a final nail in the death penalty in Alabama and the 28 other states where it still exists."

Think so? With five Republican nazi justices on the U.S. Supreme Court 'legislating' their perverse religious and ideological views from the bench? With four Democratic justices remarkably powerless to rein in the nazi element on the Court?

"If that can't be a poster case for eliminating the death penalty, I don't know what will," retired defense attorney Charles Flowers III told ABC News on Friday. "The only thing good that can come out of this whole mess is if this particular case is the stimulus to showing people how terrible the death penalty is, because you can't administer it fairly."

So what else is new? Been a problem since the very first execution in the United States.

"Woods was killed by lethal injection on Thursday night at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, despite his family and supporters, including Martin Luther King III, son of the civil rights icon, and Kim Kardashian West, contending there was overwhelming evidence that he was likely innocent. King called the decisions of Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey not to intervene and the U.S. Supreme Court not to halt Woods' death "reprehensible" and a "mockery of justice and constitutional guarantees to a fair trial."

To be expected in a de facto fascist police-state now run and owned by Republican national socialist, fascist, nazis who evolved over the decades from conservatives to national socialists. Sadly, our formerly great country is buying the bullshit, mindlessly embracing this outrageously pernicious ideology.

The irony of the following is well beyond appalling:

"Flowers said that despite Spencer claiming he acted alone in the 2004 Birmingham triple murder, he might end up never being put to death. That's because when Spencer was convicted in 2005, the jury that found him guilty reached a non-unanimous verdict in the death penalty phase of his trail and recommended he be sentenced to life in prison without parole. The judge in the case, however, overrode the jury's decision and sentenced Spencer to death. Then, in 2017, the Alabama state legislature passed a law that stripped judges of their discretion to override non-unanimous jury verdicts in death penalty cases, effectively declaring such decisions in violation of the Sixth Amendment guaranteeing the rights of criminal defendants to a jury finding."

... What webs we weave:

"As one of her first acts as Alabama's governor, Ivey, whose decision condemned Woods to death, signed the bill. While the law stopped short of making it apply retroactively to inmates like Spencer, Flowers and other death penalty experts say it is only a matter a time until it becomes retroactive as more convicts on death row prior to the passage of the law challenge it and eventually force the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the issue. Meanwhile, the jury that heard Woods' trial, which preceded Spencer's conviction, also reached a non-unanimous verdict of 10-2 and recommended a sentence of death, which was accepted by the trial judge. "If what I think is going to happen happens, if the Supreme Court bars Kerry's execution, which I certainly hope they do, and Woods was executed, you're going to have a situation where a man who probably didn't have a thing in the world to do with something was executed, and the man who pulled the trigger is not," Flowers said."

If that turns out to be true, that's goddamned nazi justice worthy of Hitler's Third Reich, not a supposed democratic republic.

"Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., that focuses on disseminating studies and reports related to capital punishment, said Flower could very well be right. "It's inherently arbitrary to say that some practice is so unreliable that it's unconstitutional and then to allow death sentences that were imposed based on that unreliable practice to stand," Dunham told ABC News. "So that is the issue, but so far there hasn't been a declaration that it's unconstitutional because almost everybody else has repealed it and the Supreme Court hasn't yet addressed it." According to the Equal Justice Initiative, a Montgomery, Alabama, nonprofit that provides legal representation to prisoners who may have been wrongly convicted of crimes, Alabama judges have overridden jury recommendations 112 times since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, including 101 times in which they issued death sentences. Dunham said another issue Woods' execution has cast into the national spotlight is that of non-unanimous juries. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to soon make a decision on the constitutionality of non-unanimous verdicts."

That will certainly be a most interesting decision.

"In a decision that only applied to federal cases, the Supreme Court in 1972 struck down the practice as a vestige of the Jim Crow era meant to discriminate against African Americans. The court said the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of a fair trial means jury verdicts in felony trials must be unanimous. Alabama and Oregon are the last states in the nation that allow non-unanimous jury verdicts in felony cases."

... While the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue murder innocent unarmed civilians all across our formerly great country with near impunity. ... Hear the rumble?

3-13-20

No due process. No search warrant. Who's next? NPR reports:

"Starting in April, immigration authorities will start taking cheek swabs to collect DNA from hundreds of thousands of immigration detainees in federal custody each year. The Trump Administration says the policy change will help law enforcement apprehend criminal suspects. The data collected will be transferred to an FBI database, so that in the future, law enforcement officials could check if these samples matched any DNA recovered from a crime scene."

Who's next? Wake up. With a national socialist, fascist U.S. Supreme Court run and owned by five Republican national socialists, think it's not a matter of time before U.S. citizens are subjected to the very same for whatever nazi government deems reasonable and necessary to ensure 'national security,' and/or enforcement of the law?

"Immigrant rights advocates describe it as dehumanizing and a serious breach of privacy against vulnerable populations. "It's about miscasting these individuals, many of whom are seeking asylum in this country ... as people who pose a threat that somehow would justify holding onto the most intimate information about them indefinitely," Naureen Shah, senior advocacy and policy counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union, tells NPR. She notes the ACLU also opposes DNA collection from people arrested or investigated for crimes, due to concerns about the risk of misidentification."

Sue the living shit out of these nazi bastards. ... Too deaf to hear the rumble?

"The Justice Department said Friday that it is formally amending regulations and pushing forward with the DNA collection plan, which was first floated in October. The final rule is scheduled to publish on Monday. The Department of Justice said the final rule is simply implementing a 2005 law called the DNA Fingerprint Act, which gave authorities broad authority to collect DNA samples from people in federal custody. "Today's rule assists federal agencies in implementing longstanding aspects of our immigration laws as passed by bipartisan majorities of Congress," Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen said in a statement. "Its implementation will help to enforce federal law with the use of science." Until now, however, the law allowed the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive the collection of DNA samples from some migrants "because of operational exigencies or resource limitations." During the Obama administration, federal officials decided it was not feasible to collect DNA in this sweeping fashion from individuals in immigration detention. The Trump administration has removed this option, and now requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to collect DNA from immigration detainees. It says that DNA collection has become easier and cheaper since the 2005 law was passed. The final rule says the DNA information that will be collected is a "sanitized 'genetic fingerprint'" that "can be used to identify an individual uniquely, but they do not disclose the individual's traits, disorders, or dispositions." Shah says the Trump administration officials have "tried to downplay what they can do with this information."

Our nazi fuhrer and his henchmen are congenital liars. Following in the footsteps of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini.

"This isn't DNA from information that's going to be looked at once and then disappear from a database. It's going to stay in governments hands," she says, and she's concerned the way it is used could change over time. "That's why we have a lot of concerns about how this particular program, which targets immigrants in detention, actually is a precursor to deploying this kind of surveillance technology to lots of vulnerable ... communities in the United States and ultimately be used as a tool for full scale surveillance," Shah adds."

Sue the living shit out of the nazi motherf--kers. Get it into court.

"The Trump administration says the DNA information collected would not, and could not, be used for surveillance."

They're liars.

Trump and his henchmen present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. Raises the question, who's next?

"According to the final rule, sample collections would be expected to ramp up over several years, eventually reaching about 748,000 new samples annually. The information will be added to the FBI's Combined DNA Index System, known as CODIS, which authorities use to search for DNA that matches traces of biological material found at crime scenes. The data that will be gathered from immigration detainees per year is expected to be more than the entire database from almost any individual state."

Wake up. Far worse yet to come. Just the beginning.

"The Trump administration has repeatedly suggested that immigrants in general pose a criminal threat to the U.S., even though studies have shown that they commit crimes at lower rates than people born in the U.S."

Raw nazism. Think Adolf and Benito are not 'high-fiving' on their fiery perches?

3-13-20

Delusionally believe ubiquitous tracking vis a vis cellphones does not present an exigent threat from out of control law enforcement? NBC News reports:

"Google tracked his bike ride past a burglarized home. That made him a suspect. "I was using an app to see how many miles I rode my bike and now it was putting me at the scene of the crime," the man said."

Think it didn't cost him dearly financially?

"The email arrived on a Tuesday afternoon in January, startling Zachary McCoy as he prepared to leave for his job at a restaurant in Gainesville, Florida. It was from Google’s legal investigations support team, writing to let him know that local police had demanded information related to his Google account. The company said it would release the data unless he went to court and tried to block it. He had just seven days. “I was hit with a really deep fear,” McCoy, 30, recalled, even though he couldn’t think of anything he’d done wrong. He had an Android phone, which was linked to his Google account, and, like millions of other Americans, he used an assortment of Google products, including Gmail and YouTube. Now police seemingly wanted access to all of it."

Wake up.

“I didn’t know what it was about, but I knew the police wanted to get something from me,” McCoy said in a recent interview. “I was afraid I was going to get charged with something, I don’t know what.” There was one clue. In the notice from Google was a case number. McCoy searched for it on the Gainesville Police Department’s website, and found a one-page investigation report on the burglary of an elderly woman’s home 10 months earlier. The crime had occurred less than a mile from the home that McCoy, who had recently earned an associate degree in computer programming, shared with two others. Now McCoy was even more panicked and confused. He knew he had nothing to do with the break-in - he’d never even been to the victim’s house - and didn’t know anyone who might have. And he didn’t have much time to prove it."

Why the f--k should he have had to prove anything? The jackbooted bastards were on a fishing expedition. He was the prey.

"McCoy worried that going straight to police would lead to his arrest. So he went to his parents’ home in St. Augustine, where, over dinner, he told them what was happening. They agreed to dip into their savings to pay for a lawyer. The lawyer, Caleb Kenyon, dug around and learned that the notice had been prompted by a “geofence warrant,” a police surveillance tool that casts a virtual dragnet over crime scenes, sweeping up Google location data — drawn from users’ GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular connections — from everyone nearby."

No question. A fishing expedition.

Wake up. Here's the problem:

"The warrants, which have increased dramatically in the past two years, can help police find potential suspects when they have no leads. They also scoop up data from people who have nothing to do with the crime, often without their knowing - which Google itself has described as “a significant incursion on privacy.” Still confused - and very worried - McCoy examined his phone. An avid biker, he used an exercise-tracking app, RunKeeper, to record his rides. The app relied on his phone’s location services, which fed his movements to Google. He looked up his route on the day of the March 29, 2019, burglary and saw that he had passed the victim’s house three times within an hour, part of his frequent loops through his neighborhood, he said. “It was a nightmare scenario,” McCoy recalled. “I was using an app to see how many miles I rode my bike and now it was putting me at the scene of the crime. And I was the lead suspect.”

Jesus Christ. Why is Google retaining this data? Why? Why isn't it strictly under control of the user to protect user privacy and avoid this bullshit?

The jackbooted bastards clearly went on a fishing expedition. Why? Because they could:

"The victim was a 97-year-old woman who told police she was missing several pieces of jewelry, including an engagement ring, worth more than $2,000. Four days after she reported the crime, Gainesville police, looking for leads, went to an Alachua County judge with the warrant for Google. In it, they demanded records of all devices using Google services that had been near the woman’s home when the burglary was thought to have taken place. The first batch of data would not include any identifying information. Police would sift through it for devices that seemed suspicious and ask Google for the names of their users."

Jesus Christ. Again, no more than a fishing expedition. How many innocent people are dragged into this crap, costing not only undue anxiety and fear, but considerable financial expense? In a goddamned de facto fascist police-state.

"While privacy and civil liberties advocates have been concerned that geofence warrants violate constitutional protections from unreasonable searches, law enforcement authorities say those worries are overblown. They say police don’t obtain any identifying information about a Google user until they find a device that draws their suspicion. And the information alone is not enough to justify charging someone with a crime, they say."

Beside the point. It's a fishing expedition that causes thousands of innocent civilians considerable anxiety and legal expense. Costs the criminal jackbooted bastards nothing. That needs to change.

"Google geofence warrants have been used by police agencies around the country, including the FBI. Google said in a court filing last year that the requests from state and federal law enforcement authorities were increasing rapidly: by more than 1,500 percent from 2017 to 2018, and by 500 percent from 2018 to 2019."

The jackbooted bastards are out of control. Not only are crime victims victimized by the criminals responsible for these crimes, so too are innocent civilians caught in the web of these goddamned dragnets perpetrated by the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue.

These jackbooted pieces of human excrement remain hopelessly clueless:

“It’s a great tool and a great technology,” said Kevin Armbruster, a retired lieutenant with the Milwaukee Police Department, where he oversaw the use of high-tech investigative work, including geofence warrants."

What about the innocent civilians caught in and f--ked over by you clueless bastards in your digital dragnets, Lt.?

Achingly, clueless:

"Milwaukee police have used Google geofence warrants to solve an array of crimes, including homicides, shootings, a string of robberies and kidnappings and a sexual assault involving an abduction, he said. “I would think the majority of citizens in the world would love the fact that we are putting violent offenders in jail,” Armbruster said."

You conveniently ignore all those innocent civilians caught in your web, dearly footing the bill for your nazi tactics, sir. The ends don't justify the means. Never do. Too stupid, short-sighted to understand this, sir? ... Or, don't you give a f--k? What's next?

"There have been very few court challenges to Google geofence warrants, mainly because the warrants are done in secret and defense lawyers may not realize the tool was used to identify their clients."

Further proof positive we live in a fascist police-state where nearly anything goes. No longer a democratic republic. In name only.

Presumption of innocence? No more than a mirage:

"Once McCoy realized his bike ride had placed him near the scene of the crime, he had a strong theory of why police had picked his device out of all the others swept up by the warrant. He and Kenyon set out to keep them from getting any more information about him - and persuade them that he was innocent. Kenyon said he got on the phone with the detective on the case and told him, “You’re looking at the wrong guy.”

Had he the money, his client should have told the jackbooted f--ker to go f--k himself, then sued the living shit out of all involved. The only way to end this shit is to make it prohibitively expensive to go on fishing expeditions.

"For most of his life, McCoy said, he had tried to live online anonymously, a habit that dated to the early days of the internet when there was less expectation that people would use their real names. He used pseudonyms on his social media accounts and the email account that Google used to notify him about the police investigation. But until then, he hadn’t thought much about Google collecting information about him. “I didn’t realize that by having location services on that Google was also keeping a log of where I was going,” McCoy said. “I’m sure it’s in their terms of service but I never read through those walls of text, and I don’t think most people do either.”

Wake up. Ignorance remains no excuse. This is an issue as well a problem covered ubiquitously over the Internet. Where you been?

"Just before the start of his ordeal, he’d listened to a call-in radio debate about the Department of Justice’s fight with Apple over access to an iPhone left by a Saudi national who’d gunned down several people at an air base in Pensacola, Florida, in December. He remembered some callers saying they had no problem with law enforcement having access to phone data, arguing that people had nothing to worry about as long as they didn’t break the law. Now McCoy thought the callers weren’t considering predicaments like his. “If you’re innocent, that doesn’t mean you can’t be in the wrong place at the wrong time, like going on a bike ride in which your GPS puts you in a position where police suspect you of a crime you didn’t commit,” McCoy said."

That's right. Precisely, why users should have control over what data is and is not retained. Not only that, there needs to be robust financial accountability by the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue. Not the near carte blanche enjoyed by and accorded these criminals in uniform to do as they please with near impunity.

"On Jan. 31, Kenyon filed a motion in Alachua County civil court to render the warrant “null and void” and to block the release of any further information about McCoy, identifying him only as “John Doe.” At that point, Google had not turned over any data that identified McCoy but would have done so if Kenyon hadn’t intervened. Kenyon argued that the warrant was unconstitutional because it allowed police to conduct sweeping searches of phone data from untold numbers of people in order to find a single suspect. That approach, Kenyon said, flipped on its head the traditional method of seeking a search warrant, in which police target a person they already suspect. “This geofence warrant effectively blindly casts a net backwards in time hoping to ensnare a burglar,” Kenyon wrote. “This concept is akin to the plotline in many a science fiction film featuring a dystopian, fascist government.”

No shit. Precisely, the point made by this publication in edition after edition over the last 21 years.

"The filing seemed to give law enforcement authorities second thoughts about the warrant. Not long afterward, Kenyon said, a lawyer in the state attorney’s office assigned to represent the Gainesville Police Department told him there were details in the motion that led them to believe that Kenyon’s client was not the burglar. The state attorney’s office withdrew the warrant, asserting in a court filing that it was no longer necessary. The office did not respond to a request for comment. Kenyon said that in a visit to his office, the detective acknowledged that police no longer considered his client a suspect."

All, at tremendous cost to an innocent man.

"Even then, Kenyon wanted to make sure police didn’t have lingering doubts about McCoy, whom they still knew only as “John Doe.” So he met with the detective again and showed him screenshots of his client’s Google location history, including data recorded by RunKeeper. The maps showed months of bike rides past the burglarized home."

Find a set of cajones. Should have told the jackbooted piece of shit to go f--k himself. Nothing has changed. This shit will continue to happen to others. ... Think it couldn't happen again to your client?

"In the end, the same location data that raised police suspicions of McCoy also helped to vindicate him, Kenyon said. “But there was no knowing what law enforcement was going to do with that data when they got it behind closed doors. Not that I distrust them, but I wouldn’t trust them not to arrest someone.”

Law enforcement cannot be trusted. Last half century remains proof positive.

"He pointed to an Arizona case in which a man was mistakenly arrested and jailed for murder largely based on Google data received from a geofence warrant. McCoy said he may have ended up in a similar spot if his parents hadn’t given him several thousand dollars to hire Kenyon. He regrets having to spend that money. He also thinks about the elderly burglary victim. Police said they have not made any arrests. “I’m definitely sorry that happened to her, and I’m glad police were trying to solve it,” McCoy said. “But it just seems like a really broad net for them to cast. What’s the cost-benefit? How many innocent people do we have to harass?”

It's not just the harassment. It's the financial cost. To say nothing of the fact this information remains accessible indefinitely. Not to neglect to mention the damage it does to reputation, career advancement, credit scores, etc.

3-13-20

Negligence. No justice. Nazi America. The Associated Press reports:

"Roylan Hernandez Diaz’s long journey ended inside a white-walled cell in the solitary confinement wing of a Louisiana prison."

Nazi America. Adolf and Benito would have been proud.

"Nearby were the last of his belongings: a tube of toothpaste, a few foam cups, and a sheet of paper explaining how he could request his release from immigration detention. He had already been denied three times. The Cuban man had been placed in solitary six days earlier because he told his jailers he would refuse all meals to protest his detention. The jailers put him there even after medical staff had referred him for mental health treatment three times and documented an intestinal disorder that caused him excruciating pain. And for at least an hour before he was found to have hanged himself, no one had opened the door to check whether he was alive."

Trump and his nazi henchmen couldn't care less.

"His death might have been prevented. An Associated Press investigation into Hernandez’s death last October found neglect and apparent violations of government policies by jailers under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, at a time when detention of migrants has reached record levels and new questions have arisen about the U.S. government’s treatment of people seeking refuge."

Pitiful. Pathetic. Un-American. Right Wing Nazi.

"ICE requires migrants detained in solitary confinement to be visually observed every 30 minutes. Surveillance video shows a jail guard walking past Hernandez’s cell twice in the hour before he was found, writing in a binder stored on the wall next to his cell door. She doesn’t lift the flap over the cell door window or try to look inside. The last person to look in the window was an unidentified jail employee, 40 minutes before Hernandez was found."

Think the guard will be prosecuted?

"A person who works at the jail and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity says the jail later discovered Hernandez couldn’t be seen from the window."

Jesus Christ. No more than a goddamned gulag.

"Yarelis Gutierrez Barrios was Hernandez’s partner. She had been with him for three years as they voyaged through South and Central America, always looking for a way to reach the United States. The man she knew was resilient, she says, determined to win his asylum case, not the kind of man who would give up easily. “I think they let him die,” she says."

Where did we lose ourselves? Where?When? Remain silent? You're gutless. Un-American. Don't like the truth? Don't want the truth? Read another publication.

"Hernandez spent much of his 43 years in rebellion against the Communist government 90 miles from the United States. In his early years, he had refused to join a youth group. Then he refused compulsory military service and protested the regime of Fidel Castro. In 1994, when he was 18, he tried to flee the island in a boat with his father and brother. But they were captured and imprisoned. Hernandez was jailed for about two weeks. When he tried to escape again, in 2001, he was caught and sentenced to nine years in prison. Upon his release, he continued to be denied jobs and harassed by police. In 2016, he left Cuba for Guyana, a tiny country in South America, because he could travel there without a visa. From Guyana, he set off for the U.S. Hernandez and Gutierrez met in Ecuador in 2016. They were among a group of Cubans camping outside the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador’s capital, to demand visas that would allow them to reach the U.S.-Mexico border and request asylum. Mexico refused to grant the visas and Ecuador moved to deport the protesters to Cuba. So they fled. They sold juice from a cart in Argentina, then lived for a year in Peru. In both Argentina and Peru, Gutierrez recalls, they struggled to support themselves and were told it would be near-impossible to be allowed to settle permanently. “In the end, we were going to come to the United States,” she said."

Sadly, with a nazi in the Oval Office and our formerly great country coming apart at the seams, there is nothing here for the bottom of the food chain.

"Through Ecuador and Colombia, they reached the jungle connecting South and Central America known as the Darien Gap. The region is roadless and lawless, controlled largely by gangs who prey on the thousands of migrants who try to traverse it each year. The couple walked several days in light and dark before reaching a village in Panama. They surrendered at a government border checkpoint. But in the jungle, Gutierrez says, Roylan lost the papers he had carried with him from Cuba documenting his imprisonment and political problems -- papers that would be key to proving his asylum case in America. They were detained 10 days in Panama, then taken to a border town in Costa Rica. One by one, they boarded buses and made it through border checkpoints in each country along the way: Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico. They spent several days detained in Mexico. After five months, on May 18, 2019, they arrived at the border bridge between Juarez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas. They waited to be allowed inside. Hernandez requested asylum and was taken into detention. He and Gutierrez were initially taken to the same holding facility near the bridge. Men and women were separated and placed in small, cold cells."

Think a gulag appropriate in a democratic republic?

"She last saw him from across the dining room a few days after they crossed. It was lunchtime, but they weren’t permitted to speak to each other. Gutierrez was eventually released, but an officer at the facility told her Hernandez had been taken to a detention center in Mississippi. After a few weeks, he would be transferred to Louisiana, a state that for thousands of migrants has become synonymous with prolonged detention. He remained jailed, though an initial screening found his asylum claim was credible."

Nazi America. Report goes on and on in great detail. The hypocrisy? Stunning. Readers are reminded our UNDOCUMENTED forebears arrived in this continent centuries ago, STOLE it from its native inhabitants, then BROKE every goddamned treaty signed. The greatest threat to our democratic republic is no foreign power, no terrorist group, not even the criminal element. It is, and remains, the Trump nazi and his henchmen. All failed branches and levels of government as well.

3-13-20

Excessive Force. Abuse of power. The Associated Press reports:

"Lawyers for a 33-year-old man shot and seriously wounded by Chicago police in a downtown subway station filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging officers used excessive force in violation of policies laid out in court-monitored police reforms. Neither officer seeking to detain Ariel Roman — whose Feb. 28 shooting was captured in bystander video — was properly trained before deployment as part of a city bid to reduce crime on Chicago Transit Authority lines, the suit filed in U.S. District Court said. The 12-page suit says the city hired the officer who shot Roman as officers struggled to handcuff him knowing that she’d been arrested in 2015 for assaulting a fast-food restaurant worker. It says her partner should have intervened to stop her but instead could be heard telling her, “Shoot him!” The shooting came the same day Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced in response to a spike in crime on the CTA system that dozens more officers from the 13,000-officer police force would be assigned to trains and platforms, including along the Red Line where Roman was shot. The filing says that Roman — who minutes earlier was seen walking from one subway car to another, which is illegal — wasn’t armed, had nothing in his hands and wasn’t coming at officers when he was shot once in the stomach and once in the buttocks. The lawsuit names the city and the two officers, who will be represented by city lawyers. It seeks unspecified damages for Roman’s injuries, and for pain and emotional distress.

"A federal judge last year approved a far-reaching plan, called a consent decree, for court-supervised reforms of the beleaguered Chicago Police Department two years after a U.S. Justice Department report found a long history of racial bias and excessive use of force. The widely circulated video of police wrestling with and then shooting Roman shows a male officer lying on top of the suspect at the base of an escalator and trying to keep Roman still. Roman can be heard saying, “I did nothing to you,” as the officer keeps telling him, “Stop resisting!” As they stand up, the female officer appears to try to pepper spray Roman’s face, before telling him to show his hands. At that point, the male officer says, “Shoot him!” Seconds later, a shot is heard. Roman begins running up an escalator and moments later, another shot is heard. The lawsuit says the female officer fired both shots. Two days after the shooting, officials said that Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office had dropped resisting arrest and criminal narcotics charges against Roman at the request of interim Police Superintendent Charlie Beck. Beck last week stripped the two officers of their police powers pending the outcome of the investigation into their roles in the non-fatal shooting."

3-13-20

Bogus 'reasoning.' NBC News reports:

In an editorial, "Lawrence Rosenthal, professor of law at Chapman University in Orange, California" opines:

"In the late 1980s, the United States experienced an unprecedented spike in violent crime. Alarmed voters demanded action. Elected officials responded. One of those responses was stop-and-frisk policing. Crime declines followed, and voters applauded."

No demonstrable cause and effect. None. Where's unbiased data in support of your claims, Professor? Appear to engage in a most convenient, self-serving rewrite of history and reality. A sick sycophant of law enforcement sadly determined to 'justify' abusive policing no matter the truth?

"Time has not been kind to the advocates of stop-and-frisk. Today, crime rates have reached historic lows, and voters have turned their attention elsewhere. Stop-and-frisk is now frequently denounced as unjustified and racist, as it was during the recent presidential campaign of former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg. But that should not be the final word. The real story is far more complicated, and it would serve those who criticize stop-and-frisk well to consider the successes that it and other forms of proactive policing achieved, as well as the evidence suggesting that it was necessary and rooted in something other than racism."

Wake up, Professor. You're matching your bogus assessment to your perverse ideology, sir. Any drop in crime is due to a variety of both related and unrelated factors. You oversimplify. Give credit where credit is not due. Even if what you say is true, at what price? Loss of civil and constitutional rights and liberties? Blatant racism?

"The available data make a serious case for stop-and-frisk's ability to drive down crime when deployed with targeted precision."

That's bullshit. Not how it went down. Plenty of evidence direct opposite is the case. In outrageously abusive example after example. Moreover, the corrupt and abusive jackbooted bastards in blue remain incapable of acting in 'precision.' Enjoy too much getting their cookies off abusing power.

"Indeed, consider the case of New York. Criminologists often focus on homicide statistics to track violent crime. In New York, homicide rates rose from 4.7 per 100,000 population in 1960 to a peak of 31.0 in 1991 in waves that roughly corresponded to drug epidemics. The homicide rise was concentrated in firearms-related homicides. In 1991, under Mayor David Dinkins, New York began to expand its police force and adopted a community policing model emphasizing foot patrol and combating low-level disorder. Three years later, after the election of Mayor Rudy Giuliani, New York began to place greater emphasis on stop-and-frisk tactics, in which officers would briefly detain someone they suspected of wrongdoing and perform a pat-down frisk for weapons. New York also adopted a system of statistical analysis known as "Compstat," which targeted enforcement at hot spots of crime and imposed greater managerial accountability on police command staff. The policy was continued by New York's next mayor, Bloomberg, who took office in 2002. Beginning in 1991, New York experienced the broadest and deepest decline in violent crime of any major American city. By 2013, Bloomberg's last year as mayor, the murder rate had dropped to 3.3 per 100,000 population, or 335 in a city of more than 8 million. Chicago, in contrast, with a population less than half that of New York, had 415 homicides in 2013. New York's homicide drop was concentrated in firearms-related homicides committed outdoors. It is difficult to identify any factor unrelated to policing that explains this extraordinary crime decline. Changes in the composition of New York's population or its economic conditions do not explain the drop, according to criminologists who have studied the data. The legalization of abortion and increased incarceration rates probably explain some of New York's crime decline, but not nearly all of it. And although the crack epidemic likely fueled the crime surge, it seems unlikely that drug-related violence abated on its own. There is little evidence, for example, that the demand for illegal drugs lessened in New York during the crime drop. Instead, it appears that New York discovered better ways to prevent drug-related violence."

Wake up, Professor. You don't seem to understand the difference between correlation, -- and cause and effect. Just because you don't see any other explanation for the drop in crime doesn't mean there isn't one. Human behavior is extremely complex. Difficult to predict. History is often not understood for decades after the fact. Sometimes much, much longer.

"New York started expanding its police force in 1991, but the crime decline continued even after it stopped growing, suggesting that policing tactics rather than numbers were the key."

Nonsense, Professor. You don't know that. Could have been, and likely were, many, many other factors. You appear to be matching your assessment to your ideology. Intellectually dishonest at best.

"To understand the role of policing tactics in combating crime, in turn, it is important to focus on the geography of crime."

Far more complex than that. You're oversimplifying to make your point.

More rationalization:

"Areas of concentrated disadvantage with high rates of racial isolation and social instability experience particularly high crime rates. The geographic "lumpiness" of crime, however, is not solely a function of community. Even within what are considered high-crime neighborhoods, crime tends to cluster at discrete hot spots. Hot spots appear in locations where potential offenders believe they enjoy relative impunity. Thus, when street gangs conclude that they can carry guns and drugs without fear of police at locations frequented by drug buyers, profitable open-air drug markets will likely flourish."

More nonsense. Law enforcement is ubiquitous. Especially, in urban areas. Like flies on shit.

Non-sequitor:

"Accordingly, targeted stop-and-frisk policing makes a great deal of sense. When undertaken with frequency and carried out at hot spots of drug- and firearms-related crime, stop-and-frisk tactics can alter the perceptions of potential offenders by making apparent the risks of carrying drugs or guns in public. Once drugs and guns are driven off the streetscape, the risks of violent confrontation decrease and community destabilization driven by open and notorious criminality can be reversed. In contrast, a reactive strategy, which has police appear only when someone calls 911, encourages offenders to intimidate the community so no one calls for help."

What planet do you live on, Professor? You give the criminal element way too much credit. Police concentrate on the bottom of the food chain, -- while virtually ignoring the top, that is, the corporate management suite, government and law enforcement at all levels and branches, to say nothing of the wealthy who virtually do as they please with near impunity. When in a jam, usually buy their way out. Time to wake up, Professor. Not only that, police presence in urban areas is near ubiquitous. There is no escaping this fact. Your assertions are baseless. Not only that, we remain egregiously overpolicied. Forget? Cash cow. Especially, in less-populated areas. Enhances revenue stream. Delusionally believe false ticketing isn't a problem? Think criminals don't remain on the move in an attempt to avoid officers? You have an agenda, Professor. Blatant. Receive remuneration from the law enforcement community, sir, for your 'services?'

"Aggressive patrol at statistical hot spots of crime is the single crime control policy that has generated the most consistent evidence of its efficacy. Indeed, a study by the liberal Brennan Center found that the introduction of Compstat tactics in major cities was the only law enforcement tactic that had a demonstrable relationship to subsequent reductions in crime."

More nonsense, Professor. You conveniently failed to look hard enough. The criminal element simply moves on, stays on the move. It's the criminals in government, the corporate management suite, and the rich that remain sedentary. LOL. Don't need to move. LOL. For the most part, protected, coddled. With rare exception. When in a jam, can usually buy their way out. No equal justice.

Direct contradiction:

"As in all debates about policing and crime, a myriad of factors are at work, and rarely can causal statements be made with complete confidence. Yet the available data make a serious case for stop-and-frisk's ability to drive down crime when deployed with targeted precision, as Compstat envisioned."

Laughable. Ludicrous. Contradictory. As demonstrated in this detailed, lengthy, heated response to your bogus argument. You clearly have an agenda, Professor.

Gets worse. Get this:

"It is also worth remembering that people of color bear the brunt of violent crime. At the peak of New York's crime wave in 1991, the homicide victimization rate in New York was 58 per 100,000 for people of African ancestry, 44 for Hispanics and 8 for whites. By 2007, the black homicide victimization rate had declined to 15.9 per 100,000 population, the Hispanic rate to 4.9 and the white rate to 1.55. Thus, the lives saved by New York's policies were disproportionately those of people of color."

Jesus Christ. So egregious harassment of minorities with no warrant, no probable cause to stop and frisk is justified to 'protect' minorities against criminals? That's laughable. A clear example of aggressive stupidity. Believe your own bullshit, Professor? Ludicrously, think law enforcement is doing minorities a favor by abrogating all civil and constitutional rights and liberties while treating them like animals?

"Critics of stop-and-frisk argue that it produces unwarranted and discriminatory stops and point to the evidence assembled in Floyd v. City of New York, in which federal Judge Shira Scheindlin found that New York engaged in a pattern of unjustifiable and racially discriminatory stop-and-frisk policing. But Scheindlin's reasoning is open to serious question."

His is not. Yours is. Your national socialist, fascist ideology blinds you to reality.

A fascist myopically excuses, worse, justifies abusive authority falsely in the name of security:

"Any policing tactic can be abused by the overzealous officer, and stop-and-frisk horror stories abound. The Supreme Court has ruled, however, that stop-and-frisk is constitutional when based on an officer's reasonable suspicion that lawbreaking is under way, even though that standard "falls considerably short of satisfying a preponderance of the evidence standard" and "accepts the risk that officers may stop innocent people."

Prima facie evidence the United States Supreme Court is ruled by national socialist Republican nazi 'justices' who have no clue what liberty truly is. Not to neglect to mention the four Democrats on the Court who have demonstrated little to no ability to rein in the five GOP fascists on the Court eviscerating all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

3-6-20

5-25-18

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril

Some salient quotes occurring later on in this edition vis a vis unfinished business County officials continue to ignore:

... Small sampling of what's to come in this edition. Read on.

The following email was sent to the District Attorney:

Wiley B. "Sonny" McAfee
District Attorney
33rd and 424th Judicial Districts
Llano, TX 78643

March 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*********************************

Rebecca Lange, Llano County Attorney
Llano County Attorney's Office
Llano, Texas 78643

February 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Equally pointedly, why hasn't Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 been held criminally accountable for egregious abuse of power involving denial of property rights to this Kingsland property owner? To say nothing of consequent resultant physical damage done to a motor home on that property.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*******************

Bill Blackburn, Sheriff
Llano County Sheriff's Office
2001 N. State Hwy. 16 Suite A
Llano, Texas 78643

August 23, 2017

Re: Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Sheriff:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

8-30-19

Llano County DA "Sonny Boy" is in the news. Received an award. The DailyTrib reports:

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

3-6-20

Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? Two hundred two weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace. Why are you still sitting on this information? What are you hiding, Sheriff? What is the identity of the officers who killed Wise? Too gutless to release this information to the public that pays your salary and that of your goons? Reportedly, there were three officers involved in the shooting.

Who are they, Sheriff? Their past history? An ongoing investigation remains a lame bullshit excuse. How can you and your goons be trusted when you refuse to disclose information? Two hundred two weeks. Especially, your egregious failure to disclose the identity of the officers who pulled the trigger. To cover your sorry ass, Sheriff? Those of your thugs? The people have a right to know what happened, how it went down. You don't understand that, Sheriff? Sadly, clearly, you answer to no one. Including taxpayers. Especially, taxpayers.

Until you and your goons come clean, doubt will remain this was indeed a good shoot. The longer you drag your feet, the greater the doubt. Think not? Wake up. Your credibility has tanked. Isn't getting any better as this bullshit continues unabated. Two hundred two weeks. Still no identification of the officers involved ... Can't get your stories straight? In line? Discrepancy between LCSO and DPS? Wake up, Sheriff. The public no longer buys the bullshit. No longer trusts you. On this and many, many other issues. You have no credibility. Absolutely, none.

3-6-20

As always, when law enforcement does something heroic, and/or of exceptional benefit to the community, it leads. Always. Uncommon Valor. ABC News reports:

"Two New Jersey state troopers pulled a trucker to safety just seconds before his burning tractor-trailer exploded. Trooper Robert Tarleton had stopped a vehicle on Interstate 287 on Monday when he saw the truck become engulfed in flames after it hit a guardrail and bridge abutment, state police said. “He immediately returned the driver’s credentials and ran back to his troop car to request for fire and emergency medical services personnel to respond to the crash,” state police said. Tarleton drove to the scene of the crash, where State Police Lt. Edward Ryer, who was headed home from work, was trying to rescue the driver. Police body camera video showed the two troopers worked together to drag the trucker from the cab to safety seconds before it exploded."

Uncommon Valor.

"The driver sustained minor injuries. His name has not been released. The cause of the crash was under investigation."

3-6-20

Appalling lack of justice for Native Americans. CNN News reports:

"Big Horn County, Montana (CNN)On a cloudy winter afternoon, a few dozen people stand outside the courthouse in Hardin, Montana, holding banners and signs bearing the photos of young Native American women. In below-freezing temperatures and against an abrasive wind, they read out the names of 24 women and girls they say have gone missing or been killed. They read the names to remember and to honor, but also to shame local, state and federal officials whom they accuse of ignoring their women when perhaps they could have been helped. Everyone in the group has had a loved one go missing or even found dead. And every one says there has been no help or explanation. "They didn't make it a priority. They blamed her," says Paula Castro-Stops, mother of 14-year-old Henny Scott, who was found dead of exposure with alcohol in her system, weeks after she went missing. "They really didn't act on it," Yolanda Fraser says of the disappearance of her granddaughter, Kaysera Stops Pretty Places. "She had just turned 18 a week before, on August 14th. And they said she's probably just out with her friends or whatever." These families felt driven to set up their own searches, to ask their own questions. And even if they couldn't save their loved ones, they fought to make it different for the next family. Their campaign made it to the desk of the President, and this year, there were finally signs of change. There's no question that life can be hard for both residents and police in Big Horn County, a little east of Billings, which includes parts of the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservations. Law enforcement officials deal daily with a community deep in a substance abuse crisis, still impacted and traumatized by generations of systemic oppression of Native Americans, a crisis that too often manifests as physical and sexual violence that can break up families, research has shown. When called in, the officers face lack of funding and resources for searches across the vast and barren open spaces of eastern Montana. But native families say those challenges have been used as an excuse for a lack of action. Or worse, that there is something unsolvable about why their women are lost or killed. "There's a lot of coverage of this issue that describes it as a mystery, like we don't know what's happening," says Annita Lucchesi, a researcher and descendant of the Cheyenne tribe. "As if native women are kind of like a rabbit and a magic act, like we just mysteriously disappear and that's not real." Native Americans are 6.7% of the population of Montana, yet they make up 26% of missing person reports. Lucchesi, now studying for a doctorate at the University of Arizona, has collected data the federal government lacks to try to get a database of missing and murdered indigenous cases across the country. She says she has now tabulated more than 4,200 cases dating back to the 1970s for the Sovereign Bodies Institute, where she is executive director. She says while each case is different, there are common threads, many pointing to centuries of discrimination that still hurt today. Violence against indigenous women is "a result of colonialism and racism," Lucchesi says. "And how that manifests in the justice system, in law enforcement departments, and even in other systems that contribute to high risk or targeting of native women." In her database are many instances of officials doing little or nothing when a woman needs help."

Report goes on and on. Yet, nothing seems to substantively change.

3-6-20

In follow up to a case covered earlier in this publication and elsewhere, NBC News reports:

"A former St. Louis police officer, accused of fatally shooting his off-duty colleague while playing a game with a revolver, changed his plea to guilty on Friday. Nathaniel Hendren had in April pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action for the Jan. 24, 2019, fatal shooting of Officer Katlyn Alix, who was off duty when she was killed. But Hendren and prosecutors agreed on a guilty plea Friday. Hendren, who was 29 at the time of the fatal incident, agreed to serve seven years in prison, according to NBC affiliate KSDK. Alix's mother met with the judge before Hendren's court appearance. Later, during the guilty plea hearing, Hendren apologized to her."

Rings hollow, doesn't it? What could this cop possibly been thinking? Worse? What could his victim have been thinking when she participated? Paid with her life.

"I hope in some small way it can help heal the brokenness I've caused," Hendren told her."

Pitifully, inadequate.

"Hendren and at least one other on-duty officer with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department were in his house with Alix, 24, when she was shot just before 1 a.m. A probable cause statement said that Hendren and Alix were "playing with firearms when the defendant produced a revolver." Hendren allegedly emptied the cylinder of the gun and then put one cartridge back into the cylinder, spun the cylinder and pointed the weapon away and pulled the trigger. The revolver did not fire. Alix then took the gun and pointed it at Hendren and pulled the trigger, according to the probable cause statement. The revolver once again did not fire. Hendren "took the gun back and pointed it at the victim pulled the trigger causing the gun to discharge," the probable cause statement reads. Alix was shot in the chest. Hendren and the other officer rushed Alix to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. As police investigated, so did the Circuit Attorney’s Office, as is protocol with police shootings. Hendren was charged the next day."

Where was the vetting both before and during employment?

Another irregularity:

"Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner later sent a letter to the police department, accusing them of using an "obstructionist tactic to prevent us from understanding the state of the officers during the commission of this alleged crime. "She alleged that the police department failed to take blood draws on the involved officers, when "drugs or alcohol may be a contributing factor in a potential crime." Gardner also said that police were too hasty to call the incident accidental. In the hours after Alix's killing, St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden called it an "accidental discharge of a weapon.” Hendren’s attorney, Talmage E. Newton IV, had also called the shooting a "tragic accident" while defending his client. At the end of January 2019, the St. Louis police department released an "allegation of employee misconduct report," which said Hendren and the officer with him were drinking on duty when Alix was shot. At the time, Hayden said commanders had been ordered to keep a closer eye on officers in the field. He also angrily responded to Gardner's charges. "Let it be crystal clear that the accusation launched by the circuit attorney to say the least was both offensive and insulting to the force investigative unit and myself," Hayden said."

Jesus Christ. Wake up. Who the f--k gives a shit about your bruised ego? Should have been an immediate criminal investigation conducted by an outside agency vis a vis what appears to be a coverup of precisely what went down the night the officer was shot and killed. Appears the department was desperately attempting to cover its sorry ass, engage in damage control rather than get at the unvarnished truth.

"Alix is survived by her husband, mother, father and sister. The family in October filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Hendren, the officer he was with, the police sergeant on duty, and the City of St. Louis, according to KSDK. "This world lost a lot," her father, Ron Alix, said last year. "When we lost Katie, we lost a lot." The lawsuit alleged that Hendren had suffered from anxiety, depression, PTSD, and suicidal ideation and had "a history of acting recklessly with firearms, forcing previous girlfriends to play 'Russian roulette' and engage in other sexual activity that involved firearms." The suit said the city was negligent when it hired Hendren about a year before the shooting because it should have been aware of his past. Before pleading guilty on Friday, Hendren was under house arrest on a $100,000 bond. He was placed on administrative suspension, which is always unpaid, after the shooting. Later, his peace officer license was later suspended, meaning he cannot work as a police officer."

Why are these pieces of shit nearly always accorded special treatment? Anyone else who killed an officer would have been immediately arrested, jailed, charged, and quickly prosecuted.

3-6-20

The fascist police-state on steroids. United Press International reports:

"The FBI has launched a pilot program in Florida to rapidly match DNA samples from felony suspects with a national database of DNA collected in unsolved crimes, potentially aiding in the arrest of dangerous criminals."

While there is that side of it, there is also loss of privacy suffered by those innocent, unjustly arrested by the criminal jackbooted bastards in the FBI and throughout all law enforcement.

"The new program has an automated "Rapid DNA" system that can return test results, including possible matches, in two hours, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said. "There is no question that DNA testing has made Florida safer, and the use of Rapid DNA will ensure suspects aren't released from jail before DNA search results come back," FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen said in a news conference last week. He said the state had been working to develop the new technology for nearly 10 years. Although other states use Rapid DNA tests in some capacity, the Florida program is the first to be connected directly into the FBI's national database. Other states in the program are California, Texas, Arizona and Louisiana. "We believe this scientific DNA matching tool will greatly enhance all law enforcement agencies ... to more effectively and efficiently solve crimes and bring the perpetrators of crime to justice," said Sheriff Walt McNeil of Leon County, where the program pilot began."

The Sheriff ignores the downside:

"Those opposed to collecting DNA from felons contend it infringes on civil liberties and privacy, and that DNA contains too much genetic information about family disease history and other medical issues to be surrendered without a criminal conviction, the National Conference of State Legislators says on its website. "This may be a good tool for law enforcement, but I think it is also another chipping away at the right to privacy, which is eroding on all fronts today due to technology," said William Allen, professor and co-chair of the University of Florida Ethics Advisory Committee. "This will give law enforcement incentives to hold people they would otherwise release, even if it turns out to be a false match, or if they need more evidence," Allen said. States also have varying rules about how long a person's DNA data can be kept by the government, which Allen said is problematic for human rights on a number of levels, depending on who has access to the data. Moreover, Allen said, DNA testing still isn't perfect. "It depends on the techniques and methods, but there is still some room for error," he said. "There will certainly be people who argue this is for the public good, but to take this kind of information, without probable cause, could be considered a violation of the Fourth Amendment barring search and seizure without probable cause."

Think this won't be abused by the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue? Forget? They get their cookies off abusing power. No foreign power, no terrorist group, not even the criminal element presents a greater threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties than the criminal jackbooted bastards in law enforcement.

3-6-20

Disgraced themselves, the badge, and law enforcement. CBS News reports:

"Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Monday that eight deputies were involved in the sharing of graphic photos of the scene of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and eight others, reports CBS Los Angeles. It was reported on Feb. 28 that at least one deputy had shared photos of the crash site and the victims' remains. By Monday, the number of deputies involved had grown to eight. Villanueva said the department has a policy against taking and sharing photos of crime scenes, but the policy doesn't apply to accident scenes."

Remarkably 'convenient,' isn't it?

"The sheriff said he was disgusted by what his deputies did. "When I first got word of this information, I just felt devastated," he told CBS L.A. "These families of the victims have suffered enough already. "To have any action of our deputies compile their suffering, that breaks my heart. It's a sense of betrayal because these are my own employees." Villanueva said he intends to expand the department's policy to include accident scenes."

Why wasn't the regulation already in effect? Hard to believe this hasn't happened before.

"Vanessa Bryant's attorney released a statement over the weekend saying she was "absolutely devastated" and demanding the harshest punishment possible for everyone involved."

Apparently, there will be none.

"The Los Angeles County Fire Department was also under investigation for taking and sharing photos of the crash site."

Pitiful. What could officers and firefighters possibly been thinking? Sick, ghoulish behavior.

"The helicopter crashed into a Calabasas hillside late last month in heavy fog, killing the retired Laker legend, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others on their way to a youth basketball game."

2-28-20

5-25-18

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril

Some salient quotes occurring later on in this edition vis a vis unfinished business County officials continue to ignore:

... Small sampling of what's to come in this edition. Read on.

The following email was sent to the District Attorney:

Wiley B. "Sonny" McAfee
District Attorney
33rd and 424th Judicial Districts
Llano, TX 78643

March 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*********************************

Rebecca Lange, Llano County Attorney
Llano County Attorney's Office
Llano, Texas 78643

February 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Equally pointedly, why hasn't Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 been held criminally accountable for egregious abuse of power involving denial of property rights to this Kingsland property owner? To say nothing of consequent resultant physical damage done to a motor home on that property.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*******************

Bill Blackburn, Sheriff
Llano County Sheriff's Office
2001 N. State Hwy. 16 Suite A
Llano, Texas 78643

August 23, 2017

Re: Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Sheriff:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

8-30-19

Llano County DA "Sonny Boy" is in the news. Received an award. The DailyTrib reports:

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-28-20

Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? Two hundred one weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace. Why are you still sitting on this information? What are you hiding, Sheriff? What is the identity of the officers who killed Wise? Too gutless to release this information to the public that pays your salary and that of your goons? Reportedly, there were three officers involved in the shooting.

Who are they, Sheriff? Their past history? An ongoing investigation remains a lame bullshit excuse. How can you and your goons be trusted when you refuse to disclose information? Two hundred one weeks. Especially, your egregious failure to disclose the identity of the officers who pulled the trigger. To cover your sorry ass, Sheriff? Those of your thugs? The people have a right to know what happened, how it went down. You don't understand that, Sheriff? Sadly, clearly, you answer to no one. Including taxpayers. Especially, taxpayers.

Until you and your goons come clean, doubt will remain this was indeed a good shoot. The longer you drag your feet, the greater the doubt. Think not? Wake up. Your credibility has tanked. Isn't getting any better as this bullshit continues unabated. Two hundred one weeks. Still no identification of the officers involved ... Can't get your stories straight? In line? Discrepancy between LCSO and DPS? Wake up, Sheriff. The public no longer buys the bullshit. No longer trusts you. On this and many, many other issues. You have no credibility. Absolutely, none.

2-28-20

As always, when law enforcement does something heroic, and/or of exceptional benefit to the community, it leads. Always. The following is an example of Uncommon Valor. The Associated Press reports:

"A part-time janitor killed a worker at a suburban St. Louis community center crowded with around 150 people, before an officer who was outside the building rushed in and opened fire on the gunman, possibly preventing a much larger tragedy, authorities said Tuesday. The 30-year-old gunman had just been told he was being sent home from work Monday night “and he reacted with anger,” killing 45-year-old Maria Lucas, the building’s acting supervisor, Maryland Heights police Chief Bill Carson told reporters Tuesday. A patron ran out and found a uniformed officer in the parking lot. The officer ran into the building, engaged the shooter in a gun battle, leaving the shooter seriously wounded, Carson said. The officer was not hurt. “It’s my belief that the actions of the officer involved were absolutely heroic,” Carson said. “He immediately went and sought out the threat. His actions may have prevented further bloodshed. We don’t know right now the intentions of the gunman.” The name of the shooter has not been released pending formal charges. Carson declined to name the officer but said he graduated from the police academy just 14 months ago."

Many more could have been killed or injured:

"The shooting happened shortly after 8 p.m., when the center was busy with people exercising — pickleball, karate classes, swimming and other activities were going on. Carson declined to say why the janitor was being sent home or if Lucas, a customer service representative who was working the front desk while also serving as the acting supervisor, was involved in the decision. Carson said the worker confronted Lucas at the front desk, then pulled out a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun and shot her in the head. Several other people near the front desk scattered, while the shooter started pacing back and forth, according to Carson."

Timing was fortuitous but exceptionally fortunate:

"The officer had just exited the building after finishing paperwork at a police substation inside the community center. When a woman ran out and told him what had happened, “the officer immediately and without hesitation went inside,” Carson said. The gunman saw the officer coming through a glass door and opened fire, shattering the glass but missing the officer. The officer and gunman then exchanged several shots. The gunman was struck multiple times before becoming incapacitated, Carson said. The officer was not hit. Carson described a chaotic scene as the shooting unfolded. Employees helped children get out or find a hiding place. Adults took refuge in closets and darkened rooms, some clutching weights as weapons in case the shooter found them. Police spent hours after the shooting searching to make sure everyone was accounted for."

Imagine the terror:

"Sasha Kondratyeva told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that she was working out when she heard a series of loud shots. Everyone on the second floor then began running to the back rooms, and Kondratyeva hid with about 20 people in a utility closet, where some called family members to tell them they loved them and parents fretted about children that were in the center’s child care facility. “I thought this could be it,” she said. Carson said investigators were still reviewing the officer’s body camera as well as footage from security cameras inside the center. He planned to meet with St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell later Tuesday in anticipation of charges."

The following loss is the sad, sad consequence of the murderous behavior of the shooter:

"City Council member Susan Taylor recalled Lucas as “sweet and funny.” She said she once ran into Lucas at a pharmacy and their conversation was so joyful they ended up talking in the aisle for 30 minutes. “So when I heard last night that that person is gone ... that’s really hard,” Taylor said."

2-28-20

Jackbooted bastards in blue strike again. NBC News reports:

"On an October morning in 2018, Eleanor Holmes and her husband left home to run an errand and found two men inside their front gate. They introduced themselves as detectives from Orlando, Florida, and said they needed the couple’s help."

Deceptive, lying, obfuscating, treacherous pieces of human excrement:

"Standing in the driveway, the casually dressed detectives said they were trying to identify someone who’d been found dead many years earlier, the Holmeses recalled. They were looking for the person’s relatives, and were using DNA and genealogical records to stitch together a family tree that they hoped would lead them to a name. Friendly and businesslike, they said they’d already got DNA samples from Eleanor Holmes’ sister and an aunt. And now they wanted hers."

How can such treacherous, deceptive, achingly duplicitous motherf--kers ever be trusted? Saddest of all? The goddamned courts allow this shit to go on. In fact, encourage it. Little to no independence between the judiciary and law enforcement. Precisely, why neither can be trusted.

"Holmes already knew about the detectives’ visit to her sister. It worried her that someone in her family had died without anyone knowing about it. She had relatives in Orlando, including a niece whom she hadn’t heard from in more than a decade. So she agreed. “I just did it because that was the only thing on my mind, my niece. That was it, bottom line,” Holmes said in a recent interview."

Could and should have asked for far more information. Had they refused, should have promptly told them to go f--k themselves.

"The detectives, still standing in the driveway, swabbed Holmes’ cheek and put the sample in a container. They thanked her, gave her a business card and drove away. She thought nothing of it until a few days later, when she got a frantic phone call from the girlfriend of one of her sons, Benjamin Holmes Jr. Orlando police had just arrested him for allegedly fatally shooting a college student, Christine Franke, in her Florida home in 2001. They’d used DNA and genealogical records to tie him to the crime. In that panicked moment, it dawned on Holmes that the detectives hadn’t told her the truth. They’d used her DNA to help build a case against her son. “When they arrested him, I knew they were lying,” Holmes said. “They lied to us.”

No kidding. Happens all the time in law enforcement. Precisely, why they can't be trusted. -- Certainly were other ways to build a case against her son without doing what they did to the mother. F--k these assholes. Saddest of all? Worst of all? Such shit destroys all faith and trust in law enforcement.

That's a problem. A big problem. Why? Because we desperately need good law enforcement, can't live without truthful policing. -- Law enforcement that cannot be trusted to tell the truth is less than worthless. Becomes a problem far worse than the criminal element. How can anyone trust a liar? Have faith or trust in that liar?

Police have said that the arrest of Benjamin Holmes Jr., 39, shows their commitment “to do everything we can to solve crimes.” Franke’s family says the arrest has given them long-needed answers about her death and allowed them to stop wondering if the killer was still out there, free to prey on others."

Jesus Christ. At what price? Loss of all faith and trust in law enforcement? Loss of all credibility as a result of tricking a family member or friend into unknowingly betraying another? Ends don't justify the means. Look at the needless damage done to the relationship itself as a result of the deception. Forget? Not only that, there's the other possibility as well:

"Benjamin Holmes Jr. and his parents, though, say he is innocent. He has pleaded not guilty, and his trial, scheduled for June, may be the first to explore how police conduct investigations using genetic genealogy, a largely unregulated technology that has exploded in popularity in recent years."

Refuse to cooperate. Demand a court order.

"Holmes and her husband, who are both in their mid-70s, aren’t the only ones in their family who feel misled by police. In the months before taking her DNA, Orlando detectives visited more than a dozen of her relatives in Florida and Georgia. Several said they were told a similar story before agreeing to provide DNA samples. “It was just deception, not only to me but all my other family members, because they know what they were looking for when they took the DNA,” Holmes said. “They weren't looking for someone in our family that had been killed, or that was dead. They were looking totally to find out whether or not our DNA coincided with Benjamin's. That's what they were looking for.”

Doing it through deception. No better than the criminal who committed the murder. There are other ways police have successfully investigated crimes. Take more time. Involve more work. Tough shit. Do your jobs. When at a dead end, ask for help from the public. Don't lie to them.

"For 17 years, Orlando police detectives had tried to figure out who killed Franke. Although the case had gone cold, each did what they could with the available technology and manpower. But every lead, every potential clue found at the scene, left them, and Franke’s family, without answers. “I thought they’d never catch him,” Franke’s mother, Tina, 70, said."

How do you know you have? Hasn't been a trial yet. Forget?

This is indeed a horrendous murder:

"Franke, 25, was one of four siblings raised in Vero Beach, 100 miles outside Orlando. An aspiring elementary school teacher, she was studying at the University of Central Florida while working as a server at a restaurant near the Universal Orlando theme parks. She lived with her girlfriend about a half hour away, on the north side of town. Early in the morning of Oct. 21, 2001, after working a double shift, Franke returned home to an empty apartment; her girlfriend was out of town. Later that day, after the girlfriend was unable to reach her, she called a neighbor, who found Franke dead just inside the apartment door. She’d been shot once in the head, and her wallet, containing no cash, had been discarded on the floor, according to court documents. Her clothing had been partially removed, and investigators found semen on her body. Police surmised that she had resisted the killer’s attempts to rob and rape her. Police took a sample of the semen and submitted it to the state crime lab, which developed a profile and entered it into a national criminal database. There was no match. They took DNA from dozens of people - potential suspects, as well as friends, relatives, co-workers, neighbors, acquaintances and witnesses - and compared their profiles to the DNA found at the scene. Again, no hits. They tried other forensic methods - lifting fingerprints from the apartment, entering a shell casing into a national firearms database - and found nothing. Years passed with no progress. That changed in April 2018, when California authorities announced that they’d used a groundbreaking technique to identify a man they said was the Golden State Killer, a serial rapist and murderer who’d terrorized the state in the 1970s and the 1980s. Law enforcement officials said they’d solved the case by entering crime-scene DNA into an online database called GEDmatch, where people shared profiles purchased from direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies such as Ancestry.com and 23andMe."

As horrendous as this crime is, the ends don't justify the means. If they did, the accused would be spared a trial and immediately face a firing squad or some other means of execution.

Here's precisely the problem:

"While American courts have ruled that police are allowed to mislead people to obtain evidence, there’s a debate within law enforcement over how honest police should be in seeking DNA from people who aren’t suspected of a crime."

That despite the fact:

"Investigator Matt Denlinger works cold cases for the Cedar Rapids Police Department in Iowa. He used target testing to help solve the 1979 murder of a teenage girl. He says the truth, without including many details, usually works. “You just go up and tell them what you’re doing. No sleight of hand,” he said. “Most people are happy to help. They know they’re not involved. People get excited to help solve a mystery, if you phrase it that way.”

The public is usually more than willing to help. No one wants crime in their community, -- or someone to get away with one. They just don't want to be f--ked over, lied to by jackbooted bastards in law enforcement.

"Jennifer Spears, a cold case investigator with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, said she rarely gets any hesitation from the people she approaches. “I tell them their DNA is only being used in this case to help us determine where we need to be on the family tree,” she said. “Are we on the right branch, or are we way off?”

If you're not lying to them and there is "informed consent," there is no problem. The following is a problem:

"The Department of Justice requires “informed consent” from nonsuspects before collecting DNA for a genetic genealogy investigation, according to an interim policy published last year. If a law enforcement agency decides that getting such consent would “compromise the integrity of the investigation,” then investigators may obtain the sample covertly, but must first get approval from a judge."

That's bullshit. All too often, judges are in bed with law enforcement. Have no true independence. Cannot be trusted to do the right thing.

"The policy covers cases involving federal authorities, so it does not apply to the Franke case, which was handled by local police. It also leaves unaddressed the use of a false story to persuade someone to provide a DNA sample. The lack of uniform rules opens the process to ethical risks, said Christi Guerrini, an assistant professor in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the Baylor College of Medicine. “Unless circumstances compel us otherwise, we generally want people to be informed as to why they’re being asked to provide DNA to help with the investigation,” she said, adding that she didn’t know enough about Orlando police’s actions to evaluate their handling of the Franke case."

Still leaves a chasm a mile-wide for a jackbooted bastard to f--k over an innocent 'perpetrator.'

"The Orlando Police Department and the State Attorney’s Office prosecuting the Franke case declined to comment."

What could they say?

Report goes on and on. This issue is far from resolved.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-28-20

Another abusive Florida officer gets the boot. NBC News reports:

"Newly released police body-camera footage shows a police officer in Orlando, Florida, arresting a 6-year-old girl at school, who had zip ties put around her wrists as she cried to be let go. The footage, provided to NBC affiliate WESH in Orlando on Monday by the attorney for the child's family, shows the incident on Sept. 19, 2019, that resulted in the firing of Orlando police officer Dennis Turner. Dennis Turner was involved in the arrest of two 6-year-olds in a one-week period in September, among them the girl in the video. He was fired within days of the arrest of the girl shown on the body-camera video. In the video, an officer is seen putting zip ties on the child's wrists with her arms behind her back, as the girl asks, "What are those for?," and then cries, "Don't put handcuffs on," and "Help me, help me, please help me." As she is walked outside, she wails, "Please let me go," and "I don't want to go in the police car." In the police report from the incident, authorities say police were responding to a report that the 6-year-old "battered three staff members by kicking and punching them" at her school, the Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy in Orlando."

Readers are reminded this kid is a six-year-old girl with medical problems.

"The child's grandmother has previously told local press in Florida that her granddaughter suffers from a sleep disorder the family was working to resolve, which was why she was experiencing some behavioral issues. The girl was charged with battery, but those charges were not pursued, according to NBC Orlando-affiliate WESH. The video shows that after the child is put in the back of the police car Turner goes back inside the school, where at least one employee is seen wiping away tears. "Are the restraints, are they necessary?" another, visibly upset school employee asks. "Yes," the officer replies. "And, if she was bigger she would've been wearing regular handcuffs."

A bona fide asshole. Head, figuratively, securely lodged up his clueless ass.

The Washington Post reports:

"Kaia Rolle’s wrists were much too small for handcuffs, so when an officer held a white zip tie in his hands, the 6-year-old girl was curious at the sight. “What are those for?” Kaia asked the pair of Orlando officers. “They’re for you,” school resource officer Dennis Turner said, as another officer slipped them over the first-grader’s wrists. “No, don’t put handcuffs on!” Kaia sobbed, pleading with a charter school official feet away. “Help me, help me, please!” The two officers perp-walked Kaia to a patrol vehicle waiting outside Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy, with Kaia crying the entire way, as shown in body-camera footage of the September incident obtained this week by the Orlando Sentinel. The incident, which prompted wide national condemnation after it occurred, led to Turner’s firing after the department concluded he violated arrest policy, Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolón said last year. “I was sick to my stomach when I heard this,” he said then. “We were all appalled. We could not fathom the idea of a 6-year-old being put in the back of a police car.” The extent of trauma from the incident is unknown, but the Sentinel’s release of the video provides a clearer and damning glimpse inside the school where Turner — an officer accused of abusing his own son and of excessive force on the job — led the arrest."

Clearly, a piece of shit unfit to wear the uniform.

“I knew that what they did was wrong, but I never knew she was begging for help,” Meralyn Kirkland, Kaia’s grandmother, told the Sentinel. “I watched her break.” Two burly officers were called in after school officials said Kaia had a tantrum and struck three school workers, prompting a charge of misdemeanor battery, the Sentinel reported. But by the time the officers arrived, Kaia was sitting calmly in an office chair while a school official read a book to her. The child was unprepared to go, and she protested being put in a police car. “You don’t want to? You have to,” the other officer said in the video. “Please, give me a second chance,” she pleaded. After Kaia was placed in the vehicle, Turner returned to an office where three school officials appeared distraught. “The restraints, are they necessary?” one employee asked him. “Yes,” Turner said. Two women looked away from him. “If she was bigger, she would have been wearing regular handcuffs.”

No judgment. Unfit to be in law enforcement.

"The employees appeared baffled a child that young would be restrained, although Turner provided some statistics. The youngest person he ever arrested previously was a 7-year-old boy, he told them, among 6,000 arrests in nearly three decades in law enforcement. “Now, she has broken the record,” Turner said. That remark especially agonized Kirkland. “You’re discussing traumatizing a 6- and 7-year-old — and that’s a boasting right for you?” she told the Sentinel. “These are babies.” The other officer involved, Sergio Ramos, responded as a transport officer and raised multiple concerns with his supervisor about the arrest, department spokesman Sgt. David Baker said in a statement. No one told Ramos to stop the transport, and an investigation exonerated him, Baker said."

Somebody's lying:

"An arrest record said school employee Beverly Stoute wanted to press charges, which the school has denied, the Sentinel reported. The school did not respond to a request for comment. Turner could not be reached for comment. Kaia was processed at a juvenile facility and had to use a step stool for her mug shot, Kirkland told the paper. State attorney Aramis D. Ayala said after the incident that her office never intended to move forward with charges against Kaia. “I refuse to knowingly play any role in the school-to-prison pipeline at any age,” she said afterward."

Get this:

"Another 6-year-old, a boy, was arrested by Turner for battery in an unrelated incident the same day, although the arrest was halted before he was fully charged, the Sentinel reported. Rolón addressed the consequences Tuesday as the body-cam footage circulated in news reports. A new department policy requires any arrest of a child under 12 to be approved by a deputy chief, he said. Before that, a manager was required to approve that kind of arrest. Turner violated that policy. Rolón also mandated more oversight from charter school resource officers."

Too little, too late. Here's why:

"Turner accumulated a voluminous disciplinary file in his career before retiring in 2018. He then became a reserve officer for the department. Early in his career, Turner was arrested and charged with abusing his 7-year-old son, the Orlando Sentinel reported at the time. He was also issued a written reprimand for excessive force after he Tasered a man five times, jolting the suspect twice when he was already on the floor and no longer resisting, the Sentinel reported in 2016. The paper has also reported accusations that Turner threatened his wife over text message and racially profiled citizens."

Think the son of a bitch wasn't getting his cookies off?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-28-20

Yet another detainee dies in ICE custody. United Press International reports:

"Another Mexican detainee has died in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency said Friday -- the seventh since October. Officials said David Hernandez Colula was found unresponsive in his cell on Thursday at the Northeast Correctional Center in Youngstown, Ohio, a privately-run, medium-security facility. Efforts to revive him failed. The agency said the man's death is under investigation, but officials believe he killed himself."

Where were the guards?

"Colula was taken into ICE custody in December after his arrest in Michigan. Officials said he was first apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol in in Rochester, N.Y., in 2014. After reports of inadequate medical attention for migrant detainees, the U.S. Congress opened an investigation into the matter in December. "ICE is firmly committed to the health and welfare of all those in its custody and is undertaking a comprehensive agency-wide review of this incident, as it does in all such cases," the agency said in a statement."

Liars. Facilities no more than gulags.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-28-20

In follow up to a case covered repeatedly in this publication and elsewhere, NPR reports:

"Immigration and Border Patrol issues took center stage at the U.S. Supreme Court in two cases on Tuesday. A sharply divided court first ruled that the parents of a Mexican boy fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent cannot sue the officer who killed their son. Then, the court heard arguments in a free-speech case that will determine whether people who encourage illegal immigrants to remain in the country can be prosecuted. In 2010, 15-year-old Sergio Hernandez and his friends were playing chicken at the U.S. Mexican border, running up and touching the border fence, and then running away and hiding. Video of the scene shows Sergio peeking out from behind a railroad trestle on the Mexico side, as Agent Jesus Mesa Jr. points a gun, fires and kills the boy. When the U.S. government declined to prosecute the agent or turn him over to Mexican authorities to face murder charges there, the boy's parents sued the agent for damages, contending that he violated the U.S. Constitution by depriving Hernandez of his life. The suit was brought under a 1971 Supreme Court ruling that allowed such damage claims against officers who act in bad faith. The panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals found that no reasonable officer would have done what Mesa did under the circumstances, but the full appeals court said that it didn't matter whether Mesa had acted unreasonably, his parents couldn't sue because Hernandez was standing on the Mexican side of the border when he was shot."

Legalized murder by the criminal jackbooted bastards in law enforcement:

"On Tuesday, the Supreme Court threw out the suit entirely and went much further, cutting the heart out of much of the court's 1971 decision. The vote was 5 to 4, with the court's conservative justices refusing to allow damage suits for cross-border shootings and the court's liberal justices castigating the court's majority for giving a free pass to the "rogue actions" of law enforcement officers."

This ruling amounts to the legalization of murder by law enforcement in our formerly great country. ... Hear the rumble?

"Writing for the conservative court majority, Justice Samuel Alito said that in essence, the court has come to realize the folly of its earlier decision and has thus sought to limit its effect. "A federal court's authority to recognize a damages remedy must rest at bottom on a statute enacted by Congress," he wrote, "and no statute expressly creates [such] a remedy."

Where did you lose yourself, Mr. Alito?

"Alito said there is "a world of difference between" allowing damage claims that have been allowed in the past and a case like this one, in which, Alito maintained, there were foreign policy and national security issues at stake. Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, would have gone further and outright overturned the court's 1971 decision and others that followed in its wake."

Raw nazism. Who really won the Second World War European Theater?

"Writing for the dissenters, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that "using lethal force against a person who poses no immediate threat to the officer and no threat to others surely qualifies as an unreasonable" invasion of an individual's constitutional rights. It should not matter "one whit" that the boy was standing on the Mexican side of the embankment, not the U.S. side, she added. Mexico perceives cross-border shootings like this one to be a "persistent problem." The Mexican government, in a brief filed with the Supreme Court, cited U.S. Customs and Border Protection's own statistics showing that its officers reported use of deadly force involving firearms over 200 times through October 2018, with nearly all of the deadly shootings near the U.S.-Mexico border, and "many killings that involved shots fired across the border."

Our formerly great country is out of control. Raw nazism.

"A separate investigation conducted by the Arizona Republic revealed that border patrol agents and CBP officers "killed at least 42 people," all but four of whom were killed along or near the Southwest border between 2005 and 2013. Robert Hilliard, who represents the Hernandez family, was more than disappointed by the ruling, telling NPR that "the path to justice apparently does not travel as far as a bullet."

We are no longer a democratic republic. In name only.

"After the announcement of the ruling in the Hernandez case, the Supreme Court moved on to hearing arguments in another immigration case, but this one involved the First Amendment right of free speech. At issue was a statute that makes it a crime to encourage or advise immigrants in the country illegally to stay. Critics say the law could ensnare grandparents, ministers, lawyers and human rights activists."

Raw nazism.

"The case involves the conviction of Evelyn Sineneng-Smith, a California woman who ran an immigration consulting business that mainly served Filipino home health care workers. Between 2001 and 2008, she collected more than $3 million from clients applying for an adjustment of their immigration status. The adjustment program, however, had ended in 2001, so the clients she applied for were not actually eligible. Sineneng-Smith was subsequently convicted of mail fraud, tax violations and of illegally encouraging or inducing an alien to remain in the U.S. It was this last conviction — for encouraging undocumented people to stay in the U.S. — that was before the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals threw out that conviction, finding it to be a violation of the First Amendment's free speech guarantee. Both liberal and conservative advocacy groups have urged the Supreme Court to follow suit, contending that the statute is so broad that it encompasses lots of perfectly legal expression."

Liberty? What's that? There is none in a fascist police-state.

"Assistant Solicitor General Eric Feigin, representing the Trump administration, took incoming fire from an ideologically diverse set of justices. What about "a grandmother whose granddaughter is in the United States illegally" and "tells [her] granddaughter ... 'I hope you will stay'?" asked Chief Justice John Roberts. Would that grandmother be at risk of federal prosecution? "What about a charity?" followed up Justice Brett Kavanaugh. If it's a charity that "provides food to someone who's in the country unlawfully ... is it covered under the statute?" Feigin acknowledged that it was possible conduct of that sort "might violate the statute" but added that there was no instance of it actually being used in that way. Justice Sonia Sotomayor followed up: "It has been used" to create "a watchlist at the border" for "charitable organizations, people who were giving legal advice at the border ... because they potentially violated this encouragement provision." And, noted Sotomayor, there was a prosecution in the case of a woman who advised her housekeeper that "if you return to your home country, you may not get back." Justice Gorsuch noted that being in the country illegally is not itself a crime, so why is encouraging someone to stay a crime? Arguing on behalf of Sineneng-Smith, the defendant in the case, lawyer Mark Fleming faced a grilling from Alito who wanted to know whether there is any kind of encouraging speech that could be criminalized. For instance, what if a bullied and depressed teenager calls up a friend to say he is going to kill himself, and the friend says, "I'm tired of hearing this from you ... you're a coward, why don't you just do it ... pull the trigger"? Asked Alito, "Is that speech protected by the First Amendment?" No, replied Fleming, because that is inciting imminent harm, which the Supreme Court has said is not protected."

Here's the problem:

"Addressing the government's argument that the statute is not really used to prosecute most speech, Fleming told the justices that while the statute has historically not been used much, the Trump administration has "recently made it a focus of enforcement."

Called engaging in sophistry to 'justify' the unjustifiable:

"Building on Sotomayor's point about government watchlists of charitable organizations and lawyers working at the border, Fleming noted that should the court uphold the law, it could soon be used against "U.S. citizens for their prayer, for their speech, and for their legal advice."

"A decision in the case is expected by summer."

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-28-20

Weinstein convicted. The Associated Press reports:

"Harvey Weinstein was convicted Monday of rape and sexual assault against two women and was immediately led off to jail in handcuffs, sealing his dizzying fall from powerful Hollywood studio boss to archvillain of the #MeToo movement. The 67-year-old Weinstein had a look of resignation on his face as he heard the verdict that could send him to prison for up to 29 years. “This is the new landscape for survivors of sexual assault in America, I believe, and it is a new day. It is a new day because Harvey Weinstein has finally been held accountable for crimes he committed,” District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said. “Weinstein is a vicious, serial sexual predator who used his power to threaten, rape, assault and trick, humiliate and silence his victims.” Weinstein’s lawyers said they will appeal."

Surprised? Why?

The following is beyond pitiful:

“Harvey is unbelievably strong. He took it like a man,” defense attorney Donna Rotunno said. “He knows that we will continue to fight for him, and we know that this is not over.” Another of his lawyers, Arthur Aidala, quoted Weinstein as telling his legal team: “I’m innocent. I’m innocent. I’m innocent. How could this happen in America?”

Jesus Christ. Give me a break. Think Weinstein lives on the same planet as the rest of us? Same universe?

"The jury of seven men and five women took five days to find Weinstein guilty of raping an aspiring actress in a New York City hotel room in 2013 and sexually assaulting production assistant Mimi Haleyi at his apartment in 2006 by forcibly performing oral sex on her. He was acquitted on the most serious charges, two counts of predatory sexual assault, each carrying a sentence of up to life in prison. Both of those counts hinged on the word of “Sopranos” actress Annabella Sciorra, who said Weinstein barged into her apartment, raped her and forcibly performed oral sex on her in the mid-1990s. The sexual assault charge carries up to 25 years in prison, while the third-degree rape count is punishable by up to four years. Sentencing was set for March 11. Judge James Burke ordered Weinstein taken to jail immediately. Court officers surrounded Weinstein, handcuffed him and led him out of the courtroom via a side door without the use of the walker he relied on for much of the trial. The judge said he will ask that Weinstein, who had been free on bail since his arrest nearly two years ago, be held in the infirmary after his lawyers said he needs medical attention following unsuccessful back surgery."

Imagine being a juror have to deal with this:

"The verdict followed weeks of often harrowing and excruciatingly graphic testimony from a string of accusers who told of rapes, forced oral sex, groping, masturbation, lewd propositions and that’s-Hollywood excuses from Weinstein about how the casting couch works. The conviction was seen as a long-overdue reckoning for Weinstein after years of whispers about his behavior turned into a torrent of accusations in 2017 that destroyed his career and gave rise to #MeToo, the global movement to encourage women to come forward and hold powerful men accountable for their sexual misconduct. In addition to the three women he was charged with attacking, three more who said they, too, were attacked by Weinstein testified as part of an effort by prosecutors to show a pattern of brutish behavior on his part."

Saddest of all? Get this:

“Weinstein with his manipulation, his resources, his attorneys, his publicists and his spies did everything he could to silence survivors,” Vance said after the verdict. He saluted the women who came forward, saying they changed the course of history in the fight against sexual violence” and “pulled our justice system into the 21st century.” The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sex crimes unless they grant permission, as Haleyi and Sciorra did."

Report goes on and on. Be interesting to see whether or not the bastard can buy his way out of the conviction.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-28-20

Yet another vicious attack on privacy by our fuhrer, the Trump nazi, and his henchmen. NPR reports:

"The Justice Department has placed a high national security priority on its probe of the shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, insisting that investigators must get access to data from two locked and encrypted iPhones that belonged to the alleged gunman, a Saudi aviation student."

Tough shit. Why should the American public give up its right to privacy by providing the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue a back door?

"The Trump administration has revived the debate over "end-to-end encryption" — systems so secure that the tech companies themselves aren't able to read the messages, even when police present them with a warrant."

Again, tough shit. Provide the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue a back door, think they won't go on fishing expeditions? Think other agencies won't invade privacy? Won't access data with or without a warrant? Think hackers won't hack into these systems? Think the criminal bastards in law enforcement don't have other ways to make their cases against the criminal element?

The following is bullshit:

"It is hard to overstate how perilous this is," U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in a speech last fall. "By enabling dangerous criminals to cloak their communications and activities behind an essentially impenetrable digital shield, the deployment of warrant-proof encryption is already imposing huge costs on society."

The greatest threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties is no foreign aggressor, no terrorist organization, not even the criminal element. Wake up. It is government. All levels. All branches.

The following is additional bullshit promulgated by a national socialist, fascist, nazi chief law enforcement officer of our formerly great country and his equally clueless apologists:

"Barr has been concerned about this for years, but he has become more vocal recently as encryption goes mainstream. It's now built into popular services such as Skype and WhatsApp, and even Facebook may soon be encrypted. Republican senator and Trump ally Lindsey Graham recently floated legislation that would strip tech companies of their liability protection under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act unless they comply with as-of-yet undefined "best practices."

Graham and other national socialists, fascists who think like him present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. Time to wake up. Before too late.

The following is frightening. Highly reminiscent of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, the former Soviet Union, to say nothing of China and North Korea. Again, time to wake up:

"Riana Pfefferkorn, at Stanford University's Center for Internet and Society, says it's a safe bet the best practices would include a requirement that law enforcement get access to encrypted content. "The bill as it's drafted does a bizarre and alarming end run around normal legislative or even agency rule-making processes," Pfefferkorn says, giving the attorney general "the keys for deciding what rules apply on the Internet." Justice Department officials say all they want is a reasonable accommodation for investigators with court orders, similar to the federal law that requires phone companies to make it technically feasible for police to tap phone calls."

At best, disingenuous bullshit. At worst, a blatant lie. This government is out of control. Has been quite some time. Cannot be trusted. No question, our nazi judiciary rubber stamps law enforcement and the executive, both state and/or federal.

"Recent headlines have focused on the FBI's disputes over encryption with Apple, which has refused investigators' requests to "break into" iPhones recovered from high-profile terrorism attacks. But those situations are relatively rare. In practice, it's local law enforcement that more often finds itself frustrated by encryption. "It comes into play at least once or twice every single week," says Capt. Clay Anderson, who supervises investigations at the Sheriff's Office in Humphreys County, Tenn. "Human trafficking and sexual-exploitation-of-minor cases — those are very frequent," Anderson says, "and in those cases you run into dead ends because you can't get past encryption."

There are other far less intrusive methods of investigation then to place the truly innocent public at risk of loss of privacy courtesy of you clueless, criminal jackbooted bastards who constantly abuse authority. Wake up.

You continually, ludicrously, deceptively cry wolf with absolutely no justification:

"There's often little point in getting a warrant for a sexual predator's digital messages, he says, because the messaging company isn't able to produce anything. If they could get those communications, he says, it would be easier to build cases for the prosecution."

Bullshit. What would happen you would routinely use it with or without a warrant to go on fishing expeditions targeting innocent civilians who have committed no crimes. You have no credibility. Constantly, abuse authority. Get your cookies off abusing power. You're determinedly out of control.

"Who needs that kind of encryption, other than maybe the military?" he asks. "We don't even — in law enforcement — use encryption like that."

Wake up, you clueless, lying son of a bitch. We, the majority of innocent civilians need it as protection against corrupt, abusive bastards like you in law enforcement and prosecutors offices.

"Moxie Marlinspike thinks regular people want it. He's the software developer who co-created the encryption system used in WhatsApp and other systems. "People's expectations when they send someone a message is that that message is viewable by themselves and the intended recipient," he says. "And people are always very disappointed when that turns out to not be true." Marlinspike runs Signal, a nonprofit messaging app popular with security-conscious users such as journalists and government officials. He says they rarely get served with warrants anymore because law enforcement agencies have learned there's nothing to get. "That's the whole point," he says. "Not even we, the creators of the software or the operators of the service, are capable of inspecting message content."

Certainly, way it should be. Wake up. Freedom is indeed dangerous. Far more dangerous? Living in a goddamned fascist police-state. The Attorney General has his head figuratively, securely lodged up his clueless, traitorous, treasonous, national socialist, nazi ass.

"It's an anti-government, anti-Big Brother attitude that's common in the tech world, and it was challenged recently by Darrin Jones, assistant director of the FBI's Information Technology Infrastructure Division, at a recent panel discussion with privacy experts. "Most of these folks have never been a victim and have never worked a crime scene," he said. "And if that's not part of your experience, it's easy to make this a philosophical debate."

Beside the point. Forget? Liberty is not free. Always a cost to freedom. Always. Sometimes, the guilty will indeed go free when the criminal jackbooted bastards are reined in, prevented from doing as they please with impunity. No question. Alternative? Far, far worse. Assholes who argue such a backdoor present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

"But the privacy activists also have a technological argument against making encrypted messages available to police: It would require companies to create a secret method for decrypting users' messages — a "back door," as some call it — which could end up being exploited by malicious hackers. Marlinspike says systems such as Signal are secure because they're "open source" software, which means they don't have any secret programming code where one might hide a back door. "I think a lot of people might not expect [transparency] to be a good thing for privacy," he says. But because the software is open source, that "allows experts to review that and make sure there are no vulnerabilities."

That's right. Precisely, as it should be.

"One of those experts is Matthew Green, associate professor at Johns Hopkins University's Information Security Institute. "The crypto that's in Signal is really the best stuff out there," he says. "There's no such thing as a perfect piece of software, but it's really well written, and the authors of Signal have thought through a lot of the important security problems." If even part of the app's software were closed, to conceal a back door for police warrants, independent experts like Green wouldn't be able to vouch for the system's security with the same confidence. But law enforcement officials remain dubious that a secure back door can't be created for their warrant requests. "To suggest that this is not possible, I just can't buy that," says the FBI's Jones."

Simply, because you have an agenda. A not so honorable one. Cannot be trusted. Enjoy getting your cookies off abusing power. Has always been a problem with law enforcement. Always will be.

The following is disingenuous bullshit, achingly beside the point:

"He says the security of everyday encryption has to be weighed against the cost to public safety."

Those who prize liberty remain more than willing to take that risk.

Familiar rhetoric, spoken as a jackbooted lying thug in law enforcement with no credibility:

"[It offers] some small incremental increase in security in my messaging or my Amazon shopping list, but I have to accept the premise that there are going to be people that are victims? No, I can't go there."

Tough shit. You don't have to. Conveniently, forget? You get to enforce jackbooted law. Not make it. Nor do you get to create policy. There is no greater threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties than law enforcement, all levels and branches in government. ... Hear the rumble?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-21-20

5-25-18

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril

Some salient quotes occurring later on in this edition vis a vis unfinished business County officials continue to ignore:

... Small sampling of what's to come in this edition. Read on.

The following email was sent to the District Attorney:

Wiley B. "Sonny" McAfee
District Attorney
33rd and 424th Judicial Districts
Llano, TX 78643

March 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*********************************

Rebecca Lange, Llano County Attorney
Llano County Attorney's Office
Llano, Texas 78643

February 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Equally pointedly, why hasn't Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 been held criminally accountable for egregious abuse of power involving denial of property rights to this Kingsland property owner? To say nothing of consequent resultant physical damage done to a motor home on that property.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*******************

Bill Blackburn, Sheriff
Llano County Sheriff's Office
2001 N. State Hwy. 16 Suite A
Llano, Texas 78643

August 23, 2017

Re: Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Sheriff:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

8-30-19

Llano County DA "Sonny Boy" is in the news. Received an award. The DailyTrib reports:

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-21-20

Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? Two hundred weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace. Why are you still sitting on this information? What are you hiding, Sheriff? What is the identity of the officers who killed Wise? Too gutless to release this information to the public that pays your salary and that of your goons? Reportedly, there were three officers involved in the shooting.

Who are they, Sheriff? Their past history? An ongoing investigation remains a lame bullshit excuse. How can you and your goons be trusted when you refuse to disclose information? Two hundred weeks. Especially, your egregious failure to disclose the identity of the officers who pulled the trigger. To cover your sorry ass, Sheriff? Those of your thugs? The people have a right to know what happened, how it went down. You don't understand that, Sheriff? Sadly, clearly, you answer to no one. Including taxpayers. Especially, taxpayers.

Until you and your goons come clean, doubt will remain this was indeed a good shoot. The longer you drag your feet, the greater the doubt. Think not? Wake up. Your credibility has tanked. Isn't getting any better as this bullshit continues unabated. Two hundred weeks. Still no identification of the officers involved ... Can't get your stories straight? In line? Discrepancy between LCSO and DPS? Wake up, Sheriff. The public no longer buys the bullshit. No longer trusts you. On this and many, many other issues. You have no credibility. Absolutely, none.

2-21-20

Before getting on with the usual fare, can't imagine anything worse than loss of a child. CNN News reports:

"Lucy McBath celebrated her son's 25th birthday on Sunday without him. In 2012, 17-year-old Jordan Davis was shot and killed when Michael Dunn in Jacksonville, Florida, confronted him about how loud his music was. In trial, Dunn used the controversial Stand Your Ground Law for his defense, which says a person does not have to retreat before responding to a threat with force. Dunn claimed that Davis threatened him and that he believed he had a gun, but police never found a gun on Davis or in his car. Dunn was sentenced to life in prison without parole. In the wake of her loss, McBath ran for and was elected to the House of Representatives, where she fights for legislation around gun safety she says could have saved her son."

Loss of her son, devastatingly unbearable. No question. Sadly, no law can prevent a murderer from pulling the trigger. If that were possible, there'd be no murders. The law can only be used to prosecute the criminal after the fact. The problem with gun restrictions is not only such restrictions infringe a constitutional right, they obliterate the last best defense against outrageously corrupt, abusive, tyrannical government.

The following is the heartbreaking "Twitter message Lucy wrote to her son on his birthday more than seven years after his death:

"Dear Jordan,

"Eight years ago, you were stolen from me. The last conversation we had seemed so normal. You told me how much you had enjoyed Thanksgiving, and that you loved being able to see your friends. I had no idea that would be the last time I heard your voice.

"I never got to kiss you goodbye. I never got to give you one final hug. We never celebrated your 18th or 21st birthday because you were stolen from me at just 17 years old. Today would have been your 25th - and I still miss you every single day.

"I want you to know I'm proud of you. If you were still here, I'd tell you how proud I am of the person you've become - how happy I am of the kind & caring man you've grown up to be. You'd have jokingly told me to knock it off. If you were here. If our laws had not failed you.

"We never got to celebrate the big milestones in your life b/c you were taken from us too early. Since then, I've worked to honor you. I've taken your legacy to Congress to fight for common sense gun safety. We're fighting every day, Jordan. We're making a change, together.

"You live on through me. And I live on because of you. Today, you would have been 25 years old. Happy birthday, Jordan. I miss you. I love you so much.

"Your mom,

"Lucy"

2-21-20

Symbolism over substance? The DailyTrib reports

"Former Llano police officer Jared Latta was sentenced to two years of probation after a jury convicted him of official oppression for his role in the May 2017 arrest of Cory Nutt. He was found guilty in January. The judge sentenced him February 11. He is the third former Llano police officer convicted on charges related to Nutt's arrest."

Kangaroo justice. These jackbooted criminal bastards are protected and coddled. Lack of prison time? Appalling. You're not doing your job, 'Sonny Boy.' You're protecting your thugs. Paying lip service to justice:

"A former Llano police officer received probation and a fine on February 11 for his involvement in a 2017 arrest that led to a number of abuse-of-power charges against four officers. Two of the other officers have been convicted in the case. On January 24, a Llano County jury found Jared Latta guilty of official oppression. On Tuesday, he was back in State District Judge Evan Stubbs’ courtroom to learn his fate. Stubbs sentenced Latta to a year-long jail sentence but suspended it for two years of probation and a $500 fine. Llano County District Attorney Sonny McAfee didn’t fight the probation but asked the court to consider some jail time. “But, we didn’t get that,” he said."

Didn't want it anyway, did you, Mr. District Attorney?

"Latta is the third officer to be convicted in connection to the May 2, 2017, arrest of Cory Nutt. Previously, former Llano Police Chief Kevin Ratliff and former officer Grant Harden were convicted on charges related to the incident. A fourth former officer, Aimee Shannon, still faces charges and a possible trial."

Saddest of all? Ms. Shannon was a good officer when she began her career working for the Llano County Sheriff's Office. Good officers don't last in Nazi Llano County. Get forced out of the job if they don't go along to get along. Worse, turn rogue. ... Right, Sheriff?

"Ratliff was convicted in 2018 on charges of three Class A misdemeanors of official oppression and tampering. Harden was convicted on official oppression charges at a later date. Ratliff received one year’s probation, while Harden received two years’ probation. Neither was sentenced to jail time."

Why not? Belong in jail. Weren't even held to the same standard ordinary civilians are held to. Nazi justice in a de facto fascist police-state, quickly transitioning to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.

Egregious abuse of power:

"In Nutt’s 2017 arrest, officers entered the man’s home during an investigation of public intoxication without a warrant, consent, or exigent circumstances to do so, according to officials. While Latta won’t serve any jail time during his probation, McAfee said he cannot work as a police officer or in a similar role. The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement can still revoke Latta’s peace officer license."

Why hasn't it already done so? 'Symbolism over substance,' to quote the Limbaugh nazi.

Here's the problem, real issue:

"The district attorney commended the jury in Latta’s trial. “I’m sure they didn’t like having to consider convicting a police officer,” McAfee said, “but the jury did a great job.” As a former police officer himself, McAfee said investigating and prosecuting a police officer isn’t something he enjoys. “Quite honestly, I don’t like it,” he said. “It’s one of the most distasteful things I have to do."

One of the reasons, Counselor, you remain unfit for office. No equal justice. No equal treatment.

"The men and women in law enforcement have a tremendously difficult job to do, but my responsibility is to the whole community. I won’t hesitate to investigate an officer if they’ve done something wrong.”

You have no credibility, Counselor. The District Attorney has ignored a complaint filed earlier by this publication regarding special treatment accorded Texas oil man Johnny Greene by the Llano County Attorney and Sheriff vis a vis a property dispute involving a local banker, three other local property owners with homes encroaching on land they don't own, one of which is on an unused Llano County road. To say nothing of damage to a Pace Arrow motorhome on that property. All a result of egregious abuse of authority by Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764. The circumstances of this fiasco can be found above in each and every edition of this publication since this happened two and a half years ago. The Sheriff, the County Attorney, and the District Attorney have all determinedly, concertedly ignored this ongoing, unresolved fiasco raising one ferociously pointed question. How much were they bribed?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-21-20

Yet another example of aggressive stupidity. CBS News reports:

"A police officer who was transporting the 6-year-old Florida girl who was forced to go to a mental health facility after an incident at school is heard calling her "pleasant" on body camera footage. She also openly questions why the girl is being taken away."

Good question.

"Nadia King was removed from school under the Baker Act, a law allowing authorities to force a psychiatric evaluation on anyone considered to be a danger to themselves or others. According to a sheriff's report, a social worker who responded to the incident at Love Grove Elementary School in Jacksonville said Nadia was "destroying school property" and "attacking staff."

Consider the following. Consider it carefully. Here's the issue:

"But, the police body camera video shows a Duval County sheriff's deputy leading a seemingly calm Nadia out of school on February 4. Nadia is heard asking the officer, "Am I going to jail?" "No, you're not going to jail," the officer says. Inside the police car, Nadia asks the officer if she has snacks. "No, I don't have any snacks. I wish I did. I'm sorry," the officer says. The deputy is also heard talking to another officer about Nadia's behavior while she is in custody. "She's been actually very pleasant. Right? Very pleasant," the officer says. "I think it's more of them just not knowing how to deal with it," the other officer says."

Remarkable insight. Apparently, the 'other officer' has had some training, and/or experience dealing with mental health issues. Every officer desperately needs such training before putting on the uniform. To say nothing of continuing education during employment. What is truly surprising is that school personnel had apparently not received such training. Nor, apparently, had they received any training/education regarding ADHD and mood disorder:

"At one point, it appears Nadia, who has ADHD and a mood disorder, did not understand where she was going. "It's a field trip?" she asks. "Well I call it a field trip, anything away from school is a field trip, right?" an officer replies. Nadia was held in a mental health facility, away from her mother, for 48 hours. Her mother, Martina Falk, broke down while watching the body camera video. "I can't comment," she said."

Again, apparently, one of the officers, as well as school personnel had not received any training, or insufficient training, dealing with such issues.

"Falk's attorney, Reganel Reeves, said, "She's mortified. She's horrified. Angry."

For damned good reason.

"They argue Nadia should have never been taken to the mental health center. "If you can't deal with a 50-pound child, 6-year-old, then you shouldn't be in education," Reeves said."

No kidding.

"Officials with Duval County Public Schools said student privacy laws prevent them from discussing details of the case. They did not respond to the body camera video, but said in an earlier statement that an initial review showed the school's handing was "compliant both with law and the best interest of this student and all other students at the school."

Bullshit. Empty rhetoric.

"The family now plans to file a lawsuit. "She's going on a field trip to hell. That's where she was going, and her life has forever changed," Reeves said."

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-21-20

What do you think of Amazon Ring? Think it's all it's cracked up to be? NBC News reports:

"Last year, Ring, the doorbell and security camera company — which Amazon bought in 2018 — released a promotional video, centered on the town of Winter Park, Florida. The video opens with an aerial shot of the well-to-do Orlando suburb, where nearly 30,000 people live. “We have Ring cameras in our community,” says Police Chief Michael Deal in the voiceover. “And we understand the value of those cameras in helping us solve crimes.” But the Winter Park Police Department hasn’t made a single arrest facilitated by footage obtained from Ring cameras since it partnered with the company in April 2018, according to a department spokesman, Lt. Edwin Santos."

Was the Chief paid to do the voiceover?

"Since 2018, Ring has signed up more than 800 law enforcement agencies as “partners,” offering them access to video footage recorded by its millions of customers’ internet-connected cameras across the U.S. through an app called Neighbors. Ring promises to “make neighborhoods safer” by deterring and helping to solve crimes, citing its own research that says an installation of its doorbell cameras reduces burglaries by more than 50 percent. But an NBC News Investigation has found — after interviews with 40 law enforcement agencies in eight states that have partnered with Ring for at least three months — that there is little concrete evidence to support the claim."

Fascinating, isn't it?

"Three agencies said the ease with which the public can share Ring videos means officers spend time reviewing clips of non-criminal issues such as racoons and petty disagreements between neighbors. Others noted that the flood of footage generated by Ring cameras rarely led to positive identifications of suspects, let alone arrests."

Yet, Amazon continues to line its pockets.

"Thirteen of the 40 jurisdictions reached, including Winter Park, said they had made zero arrests as a result of Ring footage. Thirteen were able to confirm arrests made after reviewing Ring footage, while two offered estimates. The rest, including large cities like Phoenix, Miami, and Kansas City, Missouri, said that they don’t know how many arrests had been made as a result of their relationship with Ring — and therefore could not evaluate its effectiveness — even though they had been working with the company for well over a year."

Amazing, isn't it?

"Ring’s rise also comes at a time when reports of property crimes, including package theft and burglaries, are already in steep decline across the United States. “We don’t have any research data showing that Ring has a correlation to a reduction,” emailed Jodee Reyes, a spokeswoman for the Carlsbad Police Department, outside San Diego. “Our residential burglary rate began decreasing before Ring gave us access to their portal. There are more than likely many factors that have led to this decrease.” While about a quarter of the law enforcement agencies NBC spoke to said they believed the cameras, discreetly fitted inside internet-connected doorbells, deterred crime, none had data to link the overall drop in property crimes to their deal with Ring. None of the departments said they collect data to measure the impact of their Ring partnership in terms of reducing or deterring crimes, nor did they consistently record when Ring footage was helpful in identifying or arresting a suspect."

Most telling? Get this:

"Amazon declined to share any data on how Ring has impacted Amazon package theft, if at all, but tells customers to use an Amazon locker, or have their packages delivered elsewhere as a possible way to mitigate theft."

Why the lack of transparency?

Coup de grace?

"Ring itself says it does not know how effective its own cameras are in catching theft itself, much less identifying suspects. “We do not track package thefts caught on Ring and defer to local law enforcement for those numbers,” Morgan Culbertson, a Ring spokeswoman, emailed. “There’s a deafening lack of evidence that any city has been made safer,” Liz O’Sullivan, the technology director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a nonprofit that fights excessive local and state-level surveillance, told NBC News. The lack of evidence that Ring reduces crime adds to a list of concerns that have plagued the company in recent months, ranging from bad security practices to privacy questions surrounding the company’s plans to incorporate facial recognition, among other biometric characteristics. Privacy activists also note that wading through the surveillance footage that Ring cameras send to its associated app, Neighbors, makes people believe there is more crime in their neighborhood than there actually is. “They’re stoking the suspicion that we have of one another,” O’Sullivan said."

To what end?

Report goes on and on in great detail.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-14-20

5-25-18

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril

Some salient quotes occurring later on in this edition vis a vis unfinished business County officials continue to ignore:

No justice. The American Way. Nazi America. When is this shit finally going to end? All of it. Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? One hundred ninety nine weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace.

... Small sampling of what's to come in this edition. Read on.

The following email was sent to the District Attorney:

Wiley B. "Sonny" McAfee
District Attorney
33rd and 424th Judicial Districts
Llano, TX 78643

March 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*********************************

Rebecca Lange, Llano County Attorney
Llano County Attorney's Office
Llano, Texas 78643

February 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Equally pointedly, why hasn't Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 been held criminally accountable for egregious abuse of power involving denial of property rights to this Kingsland property owner? To say nothing of consequent resultant physical damage done to a motor home on that property.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*******************

Bill Blackburn, Sheriff
Llano County Sheriff's Office
2001 N. State Hwy. 16 Suite A
Llano, Texas 78643

August 23, 2017

Re: Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Sheriff:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

8-30-19

Llano County DA "Sonny Boy" is in the news. Received an award. The DailyTrib reports:

The District Attorney has ignored a complaint filed earlier by this publication regarding special treatment accorded Texas oil man Johnny Greene by the Llano County Attorney and Sheriff vis a vis a property dispute involving a local banker, three other local property owners with homes encroaching on land they don't own, one of which is on an unused Llano County road. To say nothing of damage to a Pace Arrow motorhome on that property. All a result of egregious abuse of authority by Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764. The circumstances of this fiasco can be found above in each and every edition of this publication since this happened two years ago. The Sheriff, the County Attorney, and the District Attorney have all determinedly, concertedly ignored this ongoing, unresolved fiasco raising one ferociously pointed question. How much were they bribed?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-14-20

Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? One hundred ninety nine weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace. Why are you still sitting on this information? What are you hiding, Sheriff? What is the identity of the officers who killed Wise? Too gutless to release this information to the public that pays your salary and that of your goons? Reportedly, there were three officers involved in the shooting.

Who are they, Sheriff? Their past history? An ongoing investigation remains a lame bullshit excuse. How can you and your goons be trusted when you refuse to disclose information? One hundred ninety nine weeks. Especially, your egregious failure to disclose the identity of the officers who pulled the trigger. To cover your sorry ass, Sheriff? Those of your thugs? The people have a right to know what happened, how it went down. You don't understand that, Sheriff? Sadly, clearly, you answer to no one. Including taxpayers. Especially, taxpayers.

Until you and your goons come clean, doubt will remain this was indeed a good shoot. The longer you drag your feet, the greater the doubt. Think not? Wake up. Your credibility has tanked. Isn't getting any better as this bullshit continues unabated. One hundred ninety nine weeks. Still no identification of the officers involved ... Can't get your stories straight? In line? Discrepancy between LCSO and DPS? Wake up, Sheriff. The public no longer buys the bullshit. No longer trusts you. On this and many, many other issues. You have no credibility. Absolutely, none.

2-14-20

As always, when law enforcement does something heroic, and/or of exceptional value to the community, it leads. Always. NBC News reports:

"A police sergeant in Waynesboro, Georgia, showed some quick thinking when he helped save a baby’s life. Newly released video captures Sgt. Harold Drummond arriving in a store parking lot to find a 6-month-old child not breathing. Drummond performed CPR with his fingers and got the boy to breathe once more. The clip shows the infant crying after Drummond intervened. After the January incident, Drummond said he would rather “look down the barrel of a gun than to look down at a baby in distress.” The child is fine and has since returned home with his parents and twin sister."

Uncommon Valor. Hat's off.

2-14-20

Another highly questionable killing by law enforcement. ABC News reports:

"The family of a stranded motorist who fatally shot a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and was then killed by a passing police officer is demanding answers about what caused a routine traffic stop over a stalled car to suddenly erupt into gunfire. The family of Franklin Reed III expressed condolences to the survivors of Trooper Joseph Bullock, but said Reed was not the type of person who would have randomly shot someone. They say Reed, 30, had a concealed weapons permit, a college degree, no criminal record and no history of mental illness. They want to see dash cam video to understand what led up to Wednesday's shootout on Interstate 95 as cars whizzed past."

Certainly entitled. So is the public.

“He’s being portrayed as this monster, you know who's just on the rage to kill people, to kill officers,” Kamara Jenkins, Reed’s aunt, told WPEC-TV on Thursday. “No. That’s not our Franklin.”

Here are the circumstances:

"Reed's car had broken down as he drove to work Wednesday morning and he had pulled to the side of I-95 near Palm City, about a 45-minute drive north of West Palm Beach. Bullock and a tow truck driver arrived to assist him. After several minutes, authorities say, Reed pulled his gun and fatally shot Bullock, 42, who was a 19-year FHP veteran. Off-duty Riviera Beach police officer Jemel Headings was driving past. Officials say he stopped, confronted Reed and fatally shot him. He has been placed on administrative leave while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates Reed's death. Martin County sheriff's detectives are investigating Bullock's slaying. Firefighter-paramedic DeWayne Watson, the Riviera Beach fire department's spokesman, was also driving past when he saw the commotion and noticed Bullock lying next to his cruiser. He hadn't heard shots and thought maybe Bullock had collapsed. Several drivers had stopped to help the trooper. “People were jumping up and down," Watson told the Palm Beach Post. "The scene was kind of chaotic.” He pulled into the median, grabbed his medical bag from his trunk and ran across the interstate just as Headings shot Reed. “I was 10 to 20 yards away when gunfire erupted,” Watson said. “I can’t say who was shooting who. I just saw people ducking behind cars.” He said that by the time he got to Bullock, he was already dead. “I see a lot of traumatic things. That kind of helped,” Watson said. “But that’s the first time I saw a law enforcement officer that was killed.”

Law enforcement needs to quickly release all video. Without redaction or editing. Let the truth quickly come out. No matter who is or isn't at fault.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-14-20

No justice. An alleged pedophile officer eludes charges. ABC News reports:

"A former Philadelphia Police sergeant has been released after spending more than four years in jail without charges because he failed to unlock two of his hard drives for investigators who suspected he'd stored child pornography on them, his lawyer said Friday. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Thursday that federal law allows the government to hold someone for no longer than 18 months for civil contempt. The appeals court directed that Francis Rawls be set free. Rawls had been in federal custody since September 2015 because investigators could not read a pair of external hard drives that they suspect contain child pornography files. He has maintained that he does not know the passwords, according to his lawyer, Keith M. Donoghue with the Philadelphia-based Federal Community Defender Office."

Hard to believe law enforcement with all its resources had no other way to determine guilt or innocence of this former officer.

"Donoghue said Rawls was released Thursday night, and faces the challenge of rebuilding his life outside jail. He was fired in 2015 after 17 years with the city police force. “It's a daunting prospect,” Donoghue said. A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney William McSwain's office, asked if prosecutors intended to appeal the decision or whether Rawls might face criminal charges, said only that they are reviewing their options."

Fascinating, isn't it?

"A federal district judge ordered in 2015 that Rawls be held in jail indefinitely, but the appeals court said Rawls' status as a witness in a federal court proceeding means the 18-month limit applies to him. “Although Rawls maintains a dual identity — Rawls is a witness for purposes of contempt, while a suspect for child pornography offenses — we find that (federal law) caps Rawls detention for committing civil contempt in his capacity as a material witness at 18 months,” Judge Julio M. Fuentes wrote for the majority. Judge Jane Richards Roth wrote in a dissent that the 18-month limit should not apply to Rawls because he is not a witness but rather someone who has not complied with a lawful search warrant. “If Rawls should contend that he has forgotten his passwords, he is free to file a motion with the district court seeking his release on the ground that his confinement has ceased to be coercive and has therefore become punitive,” Roth wrote. In a previous court filing, Rawls' lawyers wrote that during a district court hearing, a detective “testified it was his ‘best guess’ that child pornography would be found on the hard drives.” They also said Rawls remained jailed “rather than waiving his right against self-incrimination by testifying to his inability to comply with the decryption order.”

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-14-20

In follow up to a case covered earlier in this publication and elsewhere, CBS News reports:

"On October 10, 2015, a seemingly healthy Terral Ellis Jr. turned himself in to authorities in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, for an outstanding warrant for a DUI. Less than two weeks later, Ellis died at the Ottawa County Jail, in Miami, Okla., in October 2015. Now, newly-public surveillance video from the jail, which appears to show workers failing to respond to Ellis' repeated calls for help from just feet away, is shining a light on the controversial case now coming before a judge, who will determine whether the sheriff's office can be held responsible for his death. The jail surveillance video captured the sounds of Ellis' repeated pleas for help over several days from his isolated cell. In the roughly one hour of video obtained by CBS News, several employees can be seen and heard walking by his cell and mocking him as he screams. "If you can't breathe, how can you talk?" one employee said. Twelve days after he arrived, Ellis died of sepsis and pneumonia. He was only 26 years old. "I know he was wanting to turn himself in because he was trying to better himself," said Terral's brother, Garrett Ellis. He told CBS News correspondent Omar Villafranca that his brother wanted to turn his life around for his young son after a string of run-ins with the law, including convictions for driving with a suspended license and drug possession. During his interview with Villafranca, Ellis watched the surveillance video for the first time; he said he couldn't stand to watch it for even a minute. "Why did you stop?" Villafranca asked. "Well, just hearing the voices of my brother is just … it's just too hard to hear him in that much pain," Garrett replied."

Readers will recall from the earlier posting of this story the substance of the following:

"Former jail nurse Theresa Horn is heard screaming at Terral about faking an illness ("I'm sick and tired of f****** dealing with your ass. Ain't a damn thing wrong with you"), less than four hours before he was found unresponsive in his cell. She told Ellis that EMS had found nothing wrong with him.

"Villafranca asked Garrett, "What did you think of the way the nurse was talking to him?" "It was inappropriate," he replied. "Yeah, she completely neglected his health."

"Ellis family attorney Dan Smolen is now leading the wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against the jail, former employees who have since left, and the sheriff's office. "We had contact from inmates. And then we had contact from family members who were really concerned about what had happened to Terral, because he had gone into jail healthy. "I think that the entire jail staff should have been charged with some form of manslaughter." "Criminal?" asked Villafranca. "Criminally, yeah, absolutely. I think that a jury will ultimately find that Terral's civil rights were violated in the most extreme way."

Get this:

"County Sheriff Jeremy Floyd is named in the lawsuit. He wasn't working there when Terral died, but told CBS News the jail's medical protocols are now some of the best around. (The sheriff's office runs the jail.) When asked his reaction upon seeing the surveillance video, Floyd replied, "I was floored." "What does that justice look like?" Villafranca asked. "What should happen to you and your jail, in your opinion?" "In my opinion, I think a civil rights violation investigation should occur," the sheriff said."

Interesting, coming from the Sheriff, isn't it?

"A judge will decide whether to permit a federal lawsuit to advance to trial, to determine whether the sheriff's office can be held responsible for his death. The defense will present its final briefs to the judge today. Several employees in the video, including the former nurse Theresa Horn, no longer work at the jail. But in a statement, Horn's attorney told "CBS This Morning" that "the videos do not show the complete picture and are only one piece of potential evidence." The FBI has contacted attorney Dan Smolen, and is interested in looking further into the case."

System is clearly not working as it should.

No justice. The American Way. Nazi America. When is this shit finally going to end? All of it. Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? One hundred ninety nine weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-14-20

In follow up to a case covered earlier in this publication and elsewhere, NPR reports:

"Holden Matthews, the white son of a sheriff's deputy, has pleaded guilty to federal charges over setting three historically black churches on fire in Louisiana during a 10-day period last March and April. The religious institutions were completely destroyed. "His atrocious actions inflicted severe pain and grief upon these congregations," Bryan Vorndran, the special agent in charge of the FBI's New Orleans Field office, said in a statement. Matthews, 22, has stated that he committed the crimes in an attempt to break into the "black metal" music scene. According to court documents, he was attempting to raise his profile in that scene by copying church arson attacks in Norway in the 1990s. "Holden's actions were motivated by the fact that these were religious properties and in no way were motivated by the racial makeup of the congregations," his defense lawyer Dustin Talbot told NPR. "Today begins the process of Holden accepting responsibility for the destruction of the churches." Matthews had initially pleaded not guilty to each count of his six-count indictment last June. On Monday, he changed some of those pleas. The 22-year-old pleaded guilty to three counts of "intentional damage to religious property," for destroying the St. Mary Baptist Church in Port Barre, La., the Greater Union Baptist Church in Opelousas, La., and the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Opelousas. He also pleaded guilty to one count of "using fire to commit a felony." According to his defense lawyer, prosecutors agreed they will drop two remaining counts of "using fire to a commit a felony" as part of a plea agreement. Prosecutors did not immediately respond to NPR's request for confirmation. Matthews is scheduled to be sentenced on May 22. "All the churches were built in rural areas decades ago and had served generations of predominantly black families through weddings, funerals and religious services," NPR reported last April."

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-14-20

In follow up to a case covered earlier in this publication and elsewhere, ABC News reports:

"St. Louis County has agreed to a $10.25 million settlement with a gay police lieutenant who says he was passed over for promotion 23 times and was told to “tone down” his “gayness." The agreement with Keith Wildhaber was finalized Monday, hours after St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar announced he is retiring, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Although jurors awarded Wildhaber nearly $20 million in October, each side had reason to negotiate because Wildhaber could keep a larger share of the award by settling. Wildhaber, who was a sergeant at the time of the trial, could not be reached for comment by the Post-Dispatch. And his attorney, Russ Riggan, didn't immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press early Tuesday. Belmar promoted Wildhaber to lieutenant in December, placing him in command of a new diversity and inclusion unit. “This lawsuit acknowledges what Lt. Wildhaber survived in the police department and lets us move forward as a county,” County Executive Sam Page said on Monday. “I think it’s important to recognize that this sends a message to everyone in county government and to all of our employers in the St. Louis region, that discrimination will not be tolerated.” After the verdict, Belmar's leadership was called into question, with Democratic Councilwoman Lisa Clancy urging him to resign. Page said he was sticking with Belmar to lead the department through a period of change, but he replaced four of the five police commissioners that have the power to fire him. Page said Monday that Belmar’s retirement was not a condition of the settlement. He said Belmar had confided in him much earlier that he planned to retire this year and said he thought the chief wanted to make sure the county was “on the right track after this settlement.”

Certainly cost the county dearly:

"The county could have avoided the massive verdict by accepting Wildhaber’s offer on April 5, 2019, to settle the case for $850,000 plus a promotion to lieutenant. Instead, the county’s lawyers went to trial under the legal stance that the Human Rights Act does not bar discrimination against gay people — a strategy that Page and the county counselor said offended them. The jury foreman in the case had told reporters after the trial it wanted a big verdict “to send a message.”

Certainly, did.

"Page said on Monday that message was received."

Bet it was.

“This is an opportunity for our department to move forward and to continue to make the progress that has been made and to stay focused on my ... goals for our police department, which is first to keep us safe and second to respect all people,” he said."

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-14-20

ICE again disgraces itself. ABC News reports:

"The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas sued the federal government over a raid near Dallas where immigration enforcement officials arrested hundreds of workers. The lawsuit was a response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s refusal to release the search warrants associated with the April raid in Allen, which is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northeast of Dallas."

... Could it possibly be they had none? LOL. Or, hadn't been properly issued? We'll see. LOL. Or, is it simply Aryan arrogance, that is, refusal to release them to a watch dog hell bent on exposing these criminal jackbooted bastards to the blinding light of day? Might just be. LOL.

"ICE detained 280 workers at CVE Technology Group, which refurbishes and repairs electronics. At the time, ICE said the employees were working in the U.S. illegally. ICE denied ACLU’s open records request for the search warrants used in the raid, which was one of many high-profile busts of businesses around the country as part of an immigration crackdown under President Donald Trump. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Houston, alleges ICE violated the Freedom of Information Act."

Forget? Law enforcement usually does as it pleases. Nearly, always with impunity.

"ICE has 30 days to respond to the lawsuit. The agency didn’t immediately respond to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s request for comment on the lawsuit. David Donatti, attorney for the ACLU of Texas, said reviewing the warrants is crucial to ascertaining whether federal authorities violated people’s civil rights in the raid. “We have serious questions about the way this raid was conducted and whether rights were violated,” Donatti said. While ICE has plausible reason for denying the ACLU’s records request, it has a legal obligation to explain why, Donatti noted. ICE told ACLU in a letter that it denied the request because releasing the warrants would interfere with ongoing investigations. But Donatti said that reason is invalid because the warrants have already been executed. “By filing a lawsuit, we have compelled them to go in front of a court and make that showing to a judge,” he said."

Go for it. Give 'em hell.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-14-20

ICE jackbooted use of force. NPR reports:

"In the early morning of June 12, 2017, a group of eight Central American migrants decided to go on a hunger strike to protest conditions at the immigration detention center where they were being held in California. When detainees arrive at the facility, they're given a handbook that states explicitly, "Detention is NOT prison." Immigration detention is where the government holds people while deciding whether to deport them, and most detainees have no criminal record. But this group said the conditions felt like those of a penitentiary. Among their complaints: The guards were discriminating against them, they lacked access to clean water, the bonds for their immigration cases were too expensive and they were receiving information only in English."

Expect better of nazi SS storm troopers under their fuhrer, the Trump nazi?

"When detention officers ordered them to return to their beds for a routine population "count," the eight men refused to move from tables in the facility's day room until they could speak to a supervisor or an official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Surveillance footage obtained by NPR shows what happened next. Detention officers spent several minutes speaking to the detainees, telling them to return to their bunks. They waived a canister of pepper spray in front of them, then attempted to physically move the detainees. The video shows the detainees trying to remain seated with their arms linked. But detention officers would later claim they were inciting a "rebellion" and "assaulting" staff."

Again, expect better of out of control jackbooted storm troopers?

"Detention officers then sprayed pepper spray at the men at least three times and forcibly removed them from the tables. As they visibly recoiled from the spray, some of the detainees were pushed into walls, pulled to the ground or dragged on the floor by guards."

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini would have been proud. Must be 'high-fiving' on their fiery perches.

Gets worse. Get this:

"Afterward, though not seen on camera, five of the detainees were placed in hot showers. Hot water, however, can worsen the painful burning effect from pepper spray, something an internal oversight office at the Department of Homeland Security noted in a review of the incident. "I couldn't take it," Isaac Antonio Lopez Castillo, one of the detainees, later testified in a deposition. "I was even throwing up from the pepper gas." All eight detainees were then sent to "segregation" — ICE's term for solitary confinement — for 10 days for "engaging in or inciting a group demonstration."

Nothing quite like a de facto fascist police-state, quickly transitioning to the out of control Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.

"NPR obtained footage of the incident from a federal courthouse in Riverside, Calif., where the men sued the two detention officers who used pepper spray, as well as the for-profit company that runs the facility, Florida-based GEO Group. Their lawsuit contended that the guards used excessive force and violated their civil rights and that GEO was negligent in its training. In late January, the two sides notified the court that they had agreed to settle the case "for a confidential amount."

Why the egregious lack of transparency? The public is entitled to know.

Especially, in light of the following:

"The announcement of the settlement ends 20 months of legal proceedings that — through the release of documents, depositions and video from ICE's Adelanto, Calif., processing center — have opened a window into a facility that has come under intense scrutiny from federal inspectors and immigration advocates alike. As NPR reported in January, a previously confidential government inspection found that the facility was failing to meet many of the government's own standards for solitary confinement, mental health treatment and medical care. The report also found that staff at Adelanto had retaliated against detainees. Immigration attorneys and advocates say the conditions at Adelanto are emblematic of problems throughout an immigration detention system that has come to increasingly rely on firms like GEO to help enforce the Trump administration's hard-line immigration policy."

-- Our out of control nazi fuhrer ensconced in the Oval Office.

"The acting director of ICE, Matthew Albence, said in 2019 that the Adelanto facility is "representative of all our detention centers." But he disagreed with the criticisms of immigration detention facilities, saying, "They're safe. They're humane. They're secure."

Jesus Christ. How about that? Day is night, night is day, and shit smells perversely sweet in the psychotic world of the Trump nazi and his henchmen.

"Overall, more than 40,000 people are in immigration detention nationwide. Adelanto can house roughly 2,000 detainees and is set to expand under a new contract."

Gulags.

Nothing quite like delusional bullshit courtesy of out of control, gutless, jackbooted 'guards.' Get this:

"In their depositions, guards at Adelanto described a hostile situation that threatened to spin out of control because of the detainees' refusal to return to their bunks. "It looked like — like a rebellion," said Sgt. Giovanni Campos, one of the defendants. Commotion from the hunger strikers, he said, was leading other detainees to yell and cause a bigger disturbance. Lt. Jane Diaz, another defendant, also referred to the incident as a "rebellion" and said her fellow officers were elbowed by the detainees as the guards tried to move them. "They were assaulting our staff," she said."

They were responding to abusive treatment, horrendous conditions.

"In that environment, the guards say, their use of pepper spray was appropriate. "If they refuse to go to count, if they refuse verbal commands, and they're disrupting our dorm. ... This is why they got sprayed," Diaz said during a May 2019 deposition."

Wake up, Ms. Diaz. You and your fellow goons stupidly elicited the response. Why the f--k didn't you let them "speak to a supervisor or an official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)?" Instead you sons of bitches reacted violently.

None of the human excrement involved in the fiasco will take responsibility:

"In a statement to NPR, a GEO spokesperson wrote, "GEO strongly rejects the allegations outlined in the lawsuit, which is part of a coordinated effort to undermine immigration policies that our company plays no role in setting." Lawyers for GEO have also argued that the use of hot water to remove the pepper spray was appropriate. "Water, which is the method used at the Facility for decontamination purposes, does reactivate the tingling sensation caused by the OC spray," they argued in one legal filing, "however, it is necessary to remove the spray." The GEO spokesperson also stated, "Independent reviews of the incident conducted and commissioned by the federal government found that our employees acted in accordance with established protocols and procedures."

'Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil." Gutless pieces of shit lining their pockets off the taxpayer dime.

"A spokesperson for ICE declined to comment, but an inspector from the Department of Homeland Security who reviewed the incident concluded that the use of pepper spray "was appropriate given the circumstances." However, the inspector faulted Adelanto for failing to provide cold water when it came time to clean the spray off the detainees, writing that "warm water will exacerbate the burning effect of the OC pepper spray."

Time to wake up. The bullshit perpetrated by ICE is un-American, jackbooted nazi:

"Attorneys for the detainees say that facility staff caused the disturbance by escalating the situation and using more force than necessary. "Our clients fled violence and persecution in their home countries, believing they would find safety and security in the United States," said attorney Rachel Steinback in a statement. "Instead, they were subjected to inhumane treatment at Adelanto — and were violently punished for daring to complain."

Nazi America. Wake up.

"The detainees' attorneys cited GEO's own use-of-force policy, which considers pepper spray a "major use of force." According to the policy, officers can only use "major" force when, "Imminent and immediate danger to employees, inmates, or other persons exist." The detainees said they were clear with GEO staff that they were starting a "peaceful" hunger strike to get facility supervisors to discuss their complaints. "We just wanted to speak and we wanted to be heard," said one of the strikers, Julio Cesar Barahona Cornejo. "At no time did I raise my hands to try to hit them or anything." Their actions, they say, were met with hostility, then physical force, then pepper spray."

Nazi America. Wake up.

"According to the lawsuit, one of the detainees broke his nose and had his tooth knocked out after he was pushed into a wall. GEO's attorneys say it is "uncertain" whether the detainee's nose was broken during the incident, because he didn't report it to a doctor that day."

Jesus Christ. Any goddamned excuse to avoid responsibility for criminal jackbooted tactics.

"What they did to us, you don't even do that to an animal," said another detainee, Josue Vladimir Cortez Diaz. The records in the case also raise questions about Lt. Jane Diaz's record at the facility, including an investigation into a separate pepper spray incident from 2019. A declaration filed by Diaz's own legal defense mentions "an April 2019 complaint/investigation related to Diaz's attempt to use chemical agents on a detainee in violation of GEO policy." According to the legal filing, "GEO personnel found that Diaz obstructed the investigation by not providing complete information to the investigator." The incident "ultimately led to her termination from GEO," according to the filing."

Why wasn't she prosecuted?

No willingness to take any personal responsibility:

"Susan Coleman, an attorney representing Diaz, Campos and GEO, stated in an email to NPR, "We can't comment on personnel actions."

Get this:

"Advocates for immigrants say the allegations from the 2017 incident fit a broader pattern of detainee mistreatment at Adelanto. Under the Freedom of Information Act, NPR has obtained and examined hundreds of grievances filed by detainees at the facility. Several of those complaints allege threats, mistreatment and verbal abuse by Adelanto staff. In February 2018, a female detention officer said, "I won't hesitate to drop all this [sic] dumb bitches off their bunks," according to a detainee's complaint. "How am I safe if she comes angry again?" the detainee wrote. "What they did to us, you don't even do that to an animal."

We've lost our country.

"Another detainee complained that when his family was visiting, a detention officer "mocked me and my family's English." When the detainee's wife spoke to the officer about the comment, the detention officer responded, "Welcome to jail." And a series of complaints refer to a guard "harassing" people and saying, "I don't like Mexicans." In each of these three cases, according to the records, GEO found that the complaints were substantiated. But there is no additional information about how the company or ICE addressed these issues. In a statement, GEO said, "Our company took corrective action, including disciplinary action against employees, where appropriate," but it did not provide specifics on these cases. ICE declined to comment."

ICE should be decommissioned and replaced.

"Steinback, from the detainees' legal team, says she hopes the settlement in this case "emboldens others who are being abused and mistreated to come forward and to expose the horrors that are happening in these private immigration detention centers." Regardless of the outcome, the immigration status for several of the detainees remains in flux. One of them has obtained asylum in the U.S., two had their asylum requests rejected and the five others are still awaiting final decisions. Isaac Antonio Lopez Castillo did not receive asylum. He ended up in Tijuana, Mexico, after the incident, where he found work at a hotel. In his deposition, Lopez Castillo said he had sought asylum in the U.S. to escape violence from gangs and police in El Salvador. But after his experience in immigration detention, he said he changed his mind about America. "Not even in my country was I treated as bad as they treated me in the United States," said Lopez Castillo. "They treated me worse than trash when all I was trying to do was start a life."

All perpetrated by our fuhrer, the Trump nazi, and his henchmen.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-14-20

Another atrocity perpetrated by a jackbooted ICE bastard. The Washington Post reports:

"The strangers trying to arrest his mom’s boyfriend weren’t wearing uniforms or badges, and they didn’t have a warrant. So 26-year-old Eric Diaz did the only thing he could think of: Outside his front door, on the otherwise quiet Brooklyn street, he confronted the plainclothes officers. Then, one of them shot him in the face — just below his right eye. “He literally points the gun at my brother and didn’t even hesitate,” Kevin Yañez Cruz, who witnessed the scene on Thursday morning, told WABC. “Just pulled the trigger.”

Legalized attempted murder.

"Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that agents discharged “at least one firearm” in the altercation, which landed two officers and two others in the hospital, agency officials said in statements to local news outlets. Diaz and the man they were targeting are now in their custody in the hospital, activists say. The episode spurred day-long protests and swift backlash in New York, which has been locked in an especially tense battle this week with federal immigration officials on enforcement."

Out of control jackbooted motherf--kers.

Carefully consider the following:

"Gaspar Avendano-Hernandez, the longtime boyfriend of Diaz’s mother, had been deported back to Mexico twice, ICE officials said. On Monday, he was stopped by New York police for allegedly driving with a forged Connecticut license plate, a felony criminal charge, WABC reported. Upon the man’s arrest, immigration officials issued a detainer request, asking that Avendano-Hernandez be held in jail past his release date so that they could take him into custody. New York, like other “sanctuary cities,” does not comply with these orders, which many courts have said violate due process."

Has not been resolved by the Supreme Court.

Here comes the bullshit:

“This forced ICE officers to locate him on the streets of New York rather than in the safe confines of a jail,” ICE spokeswoman Rachael Yong Yow said in a statement to the Wall Street Journal. A team of officers tracked him down to a residential street in Gravesend, an ethnically diverse neighborhood in south Brooklyn, arriving around 8 a.m. Thursday to try to arrest him. He would not budge. “He resisted because they didn’t show him no papers, like, ‘Oh, I’m the police,’ no badge, no nothing, no warrant, no nothing,” Yañez Cruz told WABC."

Not in uniform. Why not? No papers. Why not? How would anyone know who the hell they were dealing with?

"They Tasered him. At that point, two sons of his live-in girlfriend, including Diaz, stepped outside, unarmed, to check on what was happening. The officers didn’t say anything at all, Yañez Cruz told the station."

Why didn't these goons identify themselves as officers?

More bullshit:

"According to ICE, that’s when the two agents were “physically attacked.” The ICE spokeswoman did not identify Diaz or say whether he was among the attackers. Meryl Ranzer, an activist with the group New Sanctuary Coalition, told The Washington Post that officers pepper-sprayed Diaz. Then they shot him, she said. He fell to the ground, unable to talk, the New York Daily News reported. “We didn’t know what to do. We just laid on the floor with him,” Yañez Cruz told the Journal. Avendano-Hernandez sprinted back into the house before surrendering, according to the Daily News."

Not in uniform. No warrant. Did not identify themselves.

"ICE officials said that the incident was being investigated by its Office of Professional Responsibility."

Likely no more than a rubber stamp for the jackbooted bastards.

"Following the altercation, agents took Avendano-Hernandez to a hospital further north in Brooklyn, where they continued to watch over him as he was treated for injuries while in serious condition, Ranzer said. At least seven ICE cars arrived on the scene, and protests involving approximately 200 people continued throughout the day."

People are tired of this jackbooted bullshit.

“Whatever the case is, hospitals are supposed to be safe spaces,” said Ravi Ragbir, director of the New Sanctuary Coalition. “And for ICE to come in here and mistreat our community is wrong,” he said."

Forget? These pieces of shit do as they please. Nearly always with impunity.

"ICE has said that hospitals and other health-care facilities are “sensitive locations” in which it generally must not carry out enforcement activity.

"ICE can try to deport New Yorkers but we are stronger. Even in the rain and cold we fight for our neighbors. #AbolishICE @NewSanctuaryNYC @cpc_nyc pic.twitter.com/JZWeQA0Nv0
— Carlyn Cowen (they/she/siya) (@carlyncowen) February 6, 2020

"Despite the rain, more allies are showing up in support of Brooklyn man shot by ICE, currently receiving care at Maimonides Medical Center.

“DRIVE I.C.E. JAILS OUT OF NYC”#AbolishICE pic.twitter.com/luka5bEgpk
— Make the Road NY (@MaketheRoadNY) February 6, 2020"

It's how the jackbooted bastards get their cookies off.

"Activists said that Diaz had also been taken to the hospital, where he was in serious but not life-threatening condition and appeared to be under ICE custody. According to Yañez Cruz, Diaz was visiting family from Mexico on a tourist visa and had arrived last month. Local officials in New York said that ICE was wrongfully trying to point the finger at police for not honoring the detainer. “If people are coming out, not even identifying themselves, jumping out and trying to jump on people, there is a problem,” Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams told the crowd outside the hospital."

That's right. ... Hear the rumble?

"Reps. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.) and Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), meanwhile, sent a letter to ICE saying they were “concerned by the initial use of force” and calling for a “review of practices and protocol employed by ICE agents in the field.”

"After agents from @ICEgov shot a Brooklyn man today, @RepJerryNadler and I have written the agency demanding answers. Read our letter. pic.twitter.com/0Pg0GRIog5
— Rep. Nydia Velazquez (@NydiaVelazquez) February 6, 2020"

These jackbooted pieces of human excrement refuse to take responsibility:

"New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), a vocal critic of ICE, said that the federal agency was unfairly directing blame elsewhere. “An ICE official shot someone,” city hall spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein told the Associated Press, “and minutes later they attempted to point the finger at the NYPD.”

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-14-20

Yet, another example of abuse perpetrated by ICE. The Associated Press reports:

"The mother of a 5-year-old Guatemalan boy sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the medical care he has received in detention for a head injury suffered before the family was arrested. The lawsuit filed late Friday in California asks a judge to order the child to be taken to a pediatric neurologist or pediatric neurosurgeon. It also seeks to prevent ICE from trying to immediately deport the family. The boy fell out of a shopping cart in December, fractured his skull and suffered bleeding around his brain. About a month later, he and his family were detained by ICE during what they thought was a routine check-in. The boy, his 1-year-old brother and their mother were taken to ICE’s family detention center at Dilley, Texas, while their father was taken to a detention center in California. The child’s relatives and advocates allege that ICE is not properly treating symptoms caused by the accident that began before he was detained. The boy has severe headaches and is hypersensitive to normal levels of sound, according to his aunt and Dr. Amy Cohen, an advocate working with the family. He is also starting to wet himself, according to his aunt. They allege the boy’s mother has pleaded for medical care, but has been disregarded."

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil:

"ICE has defended the care the boy has received at Dilley. The agency says medical staff at the detention center conducted multiple check-ups and found no lasting neurological issues. After The Associated Press first inquired about the case on Monday, ICE took the boy to the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio on Tuesday and Wednesday, where he was found to have a normal MRI and no signs of continued bleeding in his skull. The boy was not seen at the hospital by a pediatric neurologist, according to medical records obtained by his family’s attorneys. According to the records, hospital doctors consulted the neurosurgery department and determined that no follow-up was necessary because the MRI was clear. Cohen said the boy had an appointment to see a neurologist before the family was detained by ICE. The symptoms his family reported began before their detention and could be caused by a head injury even if the initial bleeding is gone, meaning that an MRI would not be enough, she said. The San Antonio hospital also did not have the paperwork from the California hospital that first treated him, according to the latest records. Doctors at the first hospital determined that the boy needed a neurosurgery follow-up within four weeks. In a statement Thursday, ICE said it was determined that “no issues were present that required the need to elevate the case to another neurological specialist.” It declined to comment Saturday on the lawsuit. The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio declined to comment Friday on the case. The AP is withholding the names of the boy and his family because they fear imminent deportation to Guatemala, where the boy’s mother says she was threatened."

In follow up, The Associated Press reports:

"A federal appeals court in California temporarily halted the deportation of a 5-year-old child who injured his head before immigration agents arrested his family and whose advocates say needs to be seen by a neurologist. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order late Monday that prevents the immediate removal of the boy, his 1-year-old brother, and their mother, who are being held at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s family detention center at Dilley, Texas. The appeals court asked for more information from both sides Tuesday and Wednesday. The child fractured his skull and suffered bleeding around his brain in a December fall, a month before his family was detained. The boy’s father is at a jail in California. The family’s advocates say the child still has headaches and trouble hearing normal levels of sound, indicating he could be suffering from the aftermath of a traumatic brain injury. They have asked that he be taken to a pediatric neurologist. ICE has defended the care given to the child, saying medical staff at Dilley and at a San Antonio hospital determined he did not need to see a neurologist. A district judge on Monday sided with ICE, ruling that the family’s lawyers did not prove that deportation would further injure the child. U.S. government agencies “do not have an obligation to continue ... medical care indefinitely,” U.S District Judge Stephen V. Wilson said. Before the appeals court intervened, the mother and two children were told to prepare to leave Dilley overnight in expectation that they would board a deportation flight to Guatemala, said Amy Maldonado, an attorney for the family. The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment because the litigation was ongoing."

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-14-20

Neglect. Egregious. Seatbelts on. CBS News reports:

"Newly surfaced video shows one of the disturbing final days of a mother of five before she died behind bars in a Washington state jail. According to a lawsuit her family filed against the facility, Damaris Rodriguez was suffering from a "mental health episode" in 2017 when they claim she was wrongly arrested. The surveillance footage shows Rodriguez in apparent distress, naked and hallucinating. She is seen at one point undressing, at times crawling and appearing to vomit, and banging on the door. Rodriguez was found dead in her cell after about four days of alleged neglect. "I'd describe it as a window into hell," the family's attorney Nate Bingham told CBS News' Nikki Battiste. The ordeal began when her husband placed a 911 call in 2017 wanting to seek medical help for Rodriguez. In the emergency call, originally placed in Spanish, he described her as "having a psychiatric problem and isn't behaving normal," and went on to say "she's being violent and has already hit me twice, and I need a medic."

Clueless, jackbooted bastards:

"Instead, police arrived and carried Rodriguez into the Washington state jail known as "SCORE." "My mother had never been arrested," Jose Marte, Rodriguez' oldest son said. He acknowledged that she had been diagnosed with a mental disorder in the past. The Rodriguez's lawyer Nate Bingham claimed the facility's staff was unable to communicate with Rodriguez during her incarceration because she was so mentally ill. "When someone is so mentally ill that they can't communicate, then that's a sign of a really big problem," he said. The family's lawsuit states Rodriguez eventually died from "an easily diagnosable and treatable metabolic condition called ketoacidosis," and they said she had previously been diagnosed and treated for bipolar disorder. Jose Marte said his family is now filing the suit "to bring justice to what has happened," and to shine a light on "these type of situations that are happening in these jail systems." "I feel like all of this could have been prevented," he said."

Sadly, lacking:

"In a statement to CBS News, the jail facility extended its "condolences to all involved…" and said "since this incident, our employees have received comprehensive training in crisis intervention." It also pointed out that the police department found "no malicious criminal act contributed to her death."

Pitiful. Conveniently, gutlessly covered their ass.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-14-20

Think Bloomberg fit for office? NPR reports:

"Michael Bloomberg is distancing himself from a 2015 speech in which the former New York City mayor defended aggressive police tactics in minority neighborhoods. Audio of the talk began recirculating online, generating fresh debate over stop and frisk, one of Bloomberg's signature policies as mayor, forcing him to back away from the remarks. Bloomberg, in a statement, noted how he had apologized for championing stop and frisk before kicking off his presidential bid. "I should've done it faster and sooner. I regret that and I have apologized — and I have taken responsibility for taking too long to understand the impact it had on Black and Latino communities," Bloomberg said in the statement. "This issue and my comments about it do not reflect my commitment to criminal justice reform and racial equity."

They don't?

"Bloomberg made the remarks at the Aspen Institute on Feb. 5, 2015. In the audio, he can be heard saying: "95% of your murders and murderers and murder victims fit one M.O. You can just take the description and Xerox it and pass it out to all the cops. They are male minorities 15 to 25." He continues: "That's true in New York. That's true in virtually every city in America. And that's where the real crime is. You've got to get the guns out of the hands of the people that are getting killed." Bloomberg's idea of a solution? Flooding minority neighborhoods with law enforcement. "People say, 'Oh my God, you are arresting kids for marijuana who are all minorities.' Yes, that's true. Why? Because we put all the cops in the minority neighborhoods. Yes, that's true. Why'd we do it? Because that's where all the crime is. And the way you should get the guns out of the kids' hands is throw them against the wall and frisk them," Bloomberg says."

Not fit. No better than our fuhrer, the Trump nazi.

"Both supporters of President Trump as well as progressive activists shared the speech on social media. Its resurfacing has brought new scrutiny about Bloomberg's views on criminal justice and minority communities as he spends hundreds of millions of dollars on his 2020 presidential bid. Indeed, a new Quinnipiac University poll released Monday showed Bloomberg in third place nationally among Democrats, trailing Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden. Much of Bloomberg's gains in the poll come at Biden's expense."

Get this:

"At the time of the talk in 2015, The Aspen Times reported that Bloomberg's representatives sought to have video of the speech suppressed, asking the Aspen Institute to not distribute the footage. The institute agreed, but audio from the event in front of about 400 people was published by the conservative website The Daily Caller. Responding to the comments, Stu Loeser, the former mayor's spokesman, told Newsday in 2015 that Bloomberg made the same kind of remarks while in office, defending the provocative statements as "indisputable, unfortunate facts." "As he said hundreds of times, we need common-sense gun laws in Washington and policing focused on high-crime areas to stop them from getting killed," Loeser said in a statement at the time. Before officially launching his run for the White House, Bloomberg delivered a surprising about-face and apologized for his support of stop and frisk. "I can't change history. History, today, I want you to know that I realize back then, I was wrong," Bloomberg said in November."

A nazi ruling:

"The police tactic was upheld in a 1968 U.S. Supreme Court ruling as long as officers have "reasonable suspicion" that a crime may be afoot. But the practice has been assailed by critics who say officers abuse their discretion and overwhelmingly target minorities on false pretenses. Bloomberg's previous advocacy of stop and frisk has been characterized as a vulnerability in his efforts to court the black and Hispanic vote in 2020. On Tuesday, President Trump tweeted — and then deleted — a post calling Bloomberg "racist." Bloomberg said Trump's now-deleted tweet is Trump's "latest example of his endless efforts to divide Americans." A federal court in New York in 2013 found that stop and frisk systemically violated the civil rights of tens of thousands of mostly black and Hispanic men in New York. The judge called the practice "indirect racial profiling" of young men of color. Compared to 2011 levels, the use of stop and frisk by New York City police officers dropped 98%, the New York Civil Liberties Union found last year."

An outrageous tactic. With no probable cause. Abuse of authority.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-14-20

Whistle blowers need protection. NPR reports:

"A former high-ranking official at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee is suing the organization because he says he was fired last year for raising concerns about its treatment of Olympic athletes. Bill Moreau was vice president for sports medicine at the USOPC for 10 years. In an interview with NPR, Moreau says the USOPC still is not doing enough to prevent abuse, even though the issue has been in the public spotlight for more than three years because of the sexual abuse scandal involving former Olympic gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. Moreau says in the aftermath of the Nassar scandal and the congressional and independent investigations that followed, it was clear significant change had to happen at the USOPC. But Moreau says that wasn't happening at an "appropriate pace." "And I decided that if I don't become part of the solution," Moreau says, "I'm actually part of the problem." Being part of the solution, Moreau says, meant reporting potential abuse and wrongdoing when he found it. Moreau is seeking compensatory and punitive damages in his lawsuit, which lays out in considerable detail instances of abuse Moreau says he raised with the USOPC."

The following is appalling:

"There was a 2018 incident of statutory rape involving a 15-year-old female Paralympic athlete, he says. She was competing at a prominent track and field meet in Iowa but was not accompanied by an adult. "[She] was under the guardianship of the USOPC," Moreau says. "She had traveled from her home [to the event], alone, and the USOPC was supposed to be looking after her. They put her in a hotel room by herself. She's a minor." One night during the meet, according to Moreau, the athlete had sex in the hotel room with an older male athlete. A coach told Moreau that afterward the young woman was depressed to the point of being suicidal. Moreau says when the USOPC found out about the incident, it filed a report with the U.S. Center for SafeSport. "But the problem was," Moreau says, "on the [SafeSport reporting form] it basically asks, 'Was a crime committed?' And they checked 'No.' And I thought, how could that be right? I'm from Iowa. It didn't take me two minutes. I did a Google search for statutory rape in the state of Iowa and found that [the female athlete] is not old enough to give consent. And as a result, I forced [the USOPC] to switch it and change the report so it reflected a crime had been committed."

Consider the following:

"Moreau says another incident, in 2019, involved a male strength coach who was spotted naked in a sauna, but one that was in a public area at a USOPC training center. Members of the Team USA under-18 women's gymnastics group were in the building at the same time. Moreau says he was amazed the coach was only given a verbal reprimand instead of being fired. "You'd think the USOPC would have a hair-trigger on responding to anything having to do with sexual abuse or sexual impropriety," he says."

Get this:

"Moreau's lawsuit also alleges USOPC officials didn't uphold privacy laws relating to athletes' medical records. He says he had an audit done that showed more than 300 occasions where someone who wasn't a health care provider studied athlete's files. "Meaning people acting as athletic directors, [people in] sports performance management, people focused on medal outcomes and [the] performance of Team USA" had access to private records, Moreau says. "It's a violation of the patient's rights, and more important it does have an impact. You can imagine if you were an athlete with an STD, you don't want people not directly involved in your health care accessing that information."

Where's the oversight? Continual vetting of all personnel during entire time of employment?

Even sadder? The following:

"Moreau says one of the troublesome areas of neglect by Olympic officials is athletes' mental health. That was grimly illustrated last year. According to the lawsuit, Moreau became aware an athlete, who's since been identified as Olympic medal-winning cyclist Kelly Catlin, attempted suicide in February 2019. The athlete then disengaged from follow-up psychiatric care. Moreau sensed this was a warning sign officials needed to act on, but instead of immediate help, USOPC officials decided to form a committee to discuss how to help. "I was so exasperated," Moreau says. "I finally said, 'Look, in the next day, next week, next month or next year, an athlete we are responsible for will again take their own life.' That was March 7th." The next day, the athlete died by suicide."

Again, where is the oversight?

"I was just crushed," Moreau says. "I just thought, we didn't do right by her. And I don't know what I should've done or could've done, but something should've been done." Moreau says he said as much in an email to higher-ups at the USOPC about two weeks later. "[It was about] getting serious about mental health," Moreau says, adding, "The communications [with USOPC officials] at that time were frankly dropping because I was raising hell with them that they need to get serious about taking care of athletes." "I didn't even get a reply to that email. In fact, in the last paragraph I said, 'If you're sick of hearing from me, you need to let me know.' " The lack of response was not new. Moreau says at least for the last two years of his tenure at the USOPC, he felt alone and confused by his isolation. "Why won't people engage?" he asked then, and now. "Why won't people listen? Why won't they do the right thing when it's so clear the path to take? And also, it's not that hard. It wasn't that big a lift. But they wouldn't even try. I just couldn't understand it. Still don't."

Was law enforcement brought in to investigate? Not clear in the report if he indeed reported any of this to police.

"In May of last year, two months after he sent that email that wasn't answered, Moreau was fired. "I walked into a meeting," he says, "and they told me, 'We'll no longer be using your services. You're terminated effective immediately.' " Because of strained relationships over the past couple of years, Moreau wasn't surprised. But he didn't think the decision was reflective of his work at the USOPC. "I've been ranked in the top 25% of the company by seven different managers every year," he says. "I've never received an average score." Moreau says he was told his firing was because the USOPC wanted a physician to lead sports medicine. Moreau is a chiropractor by training but says that never hindered his job. "The chief medical officer doesn't actually see patients," he says. "It's a strategic position where you go around the world and build goodwill and develop relationships. [My job] was getting the patient in front of the right physician. Not taking on patients myself."

The following certainly raises alarm bells:

"Despite the USOPC's announced intention of hiring a new vice president of sports medicine with a medical degree, Moreau says a month after his firing the committee promoted another chiropractor to his former position. Someone Moreau says he trained."

Fascinating, isn't it?

"The USOPC didn't make anyone available for an interview to answer the lawsuit's many allegations. The committee did provide a statement from Luella Chavez D'Angelo, USOPC chief marketing and communications officer. "We have not been served with this suit and are just reviewing the complaint now. As to the press release [which accompanies the lawsuit], we regret that Dr. Moreau and his attorney have misrepresented the causes of his separation from the USOPC. We will honor their decision to see this matter through in the courts, and we won't comment on the specifics as that goes forward." Moreau currently is chief medical officer at University of Western States in Portland, Ore. He spoke with NPR Thursday at Portland International Airport before boarding a flight to Colorado Springs, home of the USOPC, and where he lived for 10 years. His lawsuit, filed in Colorado District Court in Denver, seeks a jury trial and damages. Beyond that, Moreau hopes the suit brings to light what he tried to do. "If another kid is raped, or another athlete takes their life," he says, "and I didn't go to the mat and do everything I could to force change, that's something I'd have to live with the rest of my life." After the interview ended, Moreau started to cry. "This is hard," he said. "I'm a nice guy. Until I'm not," referring to his lawsuit. Then he got up to leave for his gate. "I should've done more," he said."

Question remains did you or did you not report any of this to law enforcement during your employment? If not, why not?

Needless to say, this case will be followed.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-7-20

5-25-18

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril

Some salient quotes occurring later on in this edition vis a vis unfinished business County officials continue to ignore:

No justice. The American Way. Nazi America. When is this shit finally going to end? All of it. Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? One hundred ninety eight weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace.

... Small sampling of what's to come in this edition. Read on.

The following email was sent to the District Attorney:

Wiley B. "Sonny" McAfee
District Attorney
33rd and 424th Judicial Districts
Llano, TX 78643

March 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*********************************

Rebecca Lange, Llano County Attorney
Llano County Attorney's Office
Llano, Texas 78643

February 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Equally pointedly, why hasn't Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 been held criminally accountable for egregious abuse of power involving denial of property rights to this Kingsland property owner? To say nothing of consequent resultant physical damage done to a motor home on that property.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*******************

Bill Blackburn, Sheriff
Llano County Sheriff's Office
2001 N. State Hwy. 16 Suite A
Llano, Texas 78643

August 23, 2017

Re: Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Sheriff:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

8-30-19

Llano County DA "Sonny Boy" is in the news. Received an award. The DailyTrib reports:

The District Attorney has ignored a complaint filed earlier by this publication regarding special treatment accorded Texas oil man Johnny Greene by the Llano County Attorney and Sheriff vis a vis a property dispute involving a local banker, three other local property owners with homes encroaching on land they don't own, one of which is on an unused Llano County road. To say nothing of damage to a Pace Arrow motorhome on that property. All a result of egregious abuse of authority by Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764. The circumstances of this fiasco can be found above in each and every edition of this publication since this happened two years ago. The Sheriff, the County Attorney, and the District Attorney have all determinedly, concertedly ignored this ongoing, unresolved fiasco raising one ferociously pointed question. How much were they bribed?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-7-20

Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? One hundred ninety eight weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace. Why are you still sitting on this information? What are you hiding, Sheriff? What is the identity of the officers who killed Wise? Too gutless to release this information to the public that pays your salary and that of your goons? Reportedly, there were three officers involved in the shooting.

Who are they, Sheriff? Their past history? An ongoing investigation remains a lame bullshit excuse. How can you and your goons be trusted when you refuse to disclose information? One hundred ninety eight weeks. Especially, your egregious failure to disclose the identity of the officers who pulled the trigger. To cover your sorry ass, Sheriff? Those of your thugs? The people have a right to know what happened, how it went down. You don't understand that, Sheriff? Sadly, clearly, you answer to no one. Including taxpayers. Especially, taxpayers.

Until you and your goons come clean, doubt will remain this was indeed a good shoot. The longer you drag your feet, the greater the doubt. Think not? Wake up. Your credibility has tanked. Isn't getting any better as this bullshit continues unabated. One hundred ninety eight weeks. Still no identification of the officers involved ... Can't get your stories straight? In line? Discrepancy between LCSO and DPS? Wake up, Sheriff. The public no longer buys the bullshit. No longer trusts you. On this and many, many other issues. You have no credibility. Absolutely, none.

2-7-20

As always, when law enforcement does something heroic, and/or of exceptional benefit to the community, it leads. Always. United Press International reports:

"Authorities in California said a sea lion pup was rescued while attempting to slowly cross a busy stretch of highway in the Los Angeles area. The California Highway Patrol's South Los Angeles division said a driver who spotted the sea lion on the 710 Freeway in Long Beach called 911 and helped a group of troopers capture the wayward animal using a snare and a blanket. "Using a few officers, we were able to corral the seal onto a blanket and get him into a patrol car, which he seemed to enjoy," Officer Adam Phillipson told KABC-TV. The sea lion was taken to Long Beach Animal Control and was later turned over to the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro. Officials said the pup will eventually be released back into the ocean."

2-7-20

Protecting and coddling out of control, egregiously unprincipled, outrageously unfit, determinedly, concertedly, hopelessly clueless, jackbooted bastards in blue. The following is appalling. ABC News reports:

"More than a dozen Dallas police officers have been disciplined for making offensive statements on social media, including posts that were bigoted or made light of police violence."

Unfit for duty. Why weren't they fired?

"The police department announced Thursday that 13 officers whose posts violated department policy would receive punishments ranging from a written reprimand to unpaid suspension."

Delusionally believe these bastards aren't abusing authority while on and off duty?

"Two more cases are still being reviewed and one officer resigned, the department said in a statement and memo on the disciplinary measures. The officers can appeal their punishments."

Extremely difficult to fire a criminal jackbooted bastard in blue no matter what he or she does. Why is that? Why are they nearly always protected and coddled?

“It is imperative that we operate with the highest level of ethics and integrity to ensure that the public is confident in the legitimacy of who we are as a law enforcement agency," Dallas Police Chief U. Reneé Hall said."

Empty rhetoric. Too little, too late. Think these officers haven't done tremendous damage to the credibility, veracity, trustworthiness of law enforcement?

"The officers' posts were among thousands identified by researchers with the Plain View Project as potentially undermining public confidence in police departments around the country."

To say the least, symptomatic of the growing cancer within the law enforcement community.

"Dallas police launched an internal review after the watchdog released its findings in June. Internal affairs investigators reviewed hundreds of posts dating back to 2010, but found 60 of the 169 Dallas officer identified by the Plain View Project were no longer with the department, according to the police statement."

Became another community's problem.

"Some of the remaining officers were found to have not violated department policy and others were given cultural awareness training, police said."

Called bullshit. No amount of 'cultural awareness training' reverses or ameliorates innate long-standing character flaws. Far better vetting of recruits is required.

"In July, the department said 25 officers could face discipline for making offensive posts, including ones that made light of suicide, mocked protesters who were pepper-sprayed and joked about police shooting victims."

Need to be fired. Unfit. Not possible to 'fix stupid.' An innocent citizen could wind up arrested, beaten, or killed by one of these savages.

Insult to injury? Get this:

"The punishments this week follow the department announcing that 20 officers were suspended without pay after a different internal investigation found they failed to account for money won in gambling stings."

Called legalized theft. Why weren't they immediately fired? Why is it so difficult to terminate officers when there is more than sufficient just cause?

"The Dallas Police Association, which represents some city officers, did not immediately respond to a request for comment."

What could they say? How do you justify corruption, abuse, criminal activity, etc., perpetrated by those sworn to uphold and enforce the law?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-7-20

A life lost. A life ruined. ABC News reports:

"Almost 30 years ago, a 33-year-old Asbury Park, New Jersey, man was falsely accused of the 1991 brutal beating, sexual assault and strangulation of a 58-year-old woman. Now, Monmouth County prosecutors are on the hunt to find the victim's family and give them some closure. On March 27, 1991, police found Christa Engel's body underneath a ramp at the Asbury Park Boardwalk near Fourth Avenue. Investigators collected Engel's stockings, slip and dress for testing. All that was known about her was that she was a resident of the Carlton Hotel and prosecutors could not find any immediate relatives to contact."

Sad, isn't it? A life lost three decades ago and no family found to grieve the loss.

A life ruined:

"A few weeks later, Kevin W. Wallace was arrested for the crime and held on $500,000 bond, The Asbury Park Press reported at the time. However, once DNA tests were conducted on some of Engel's items, prosecutors with Monmouth County dropped the charges against Wallace."

While the charges were rightfully dropped, think his arrest and the dropped charges didn't profoundly deny him any semblance of a normal life?

"Engel's case turned cold. Ten years later, prosecutors reopened the case and submitted evidence for retesting to the state's police lab."

Cruelest irony? Get this:

"The national database -- Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) -- identified Clarence W. Turnage as the contributor of the DNA profile taken from Engel's dress, stockings and body. Turnage died in 2014."

No justice.

"Nonetheless, in 2018, when Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office created a Cold Case Unit, they listed Engel's case as "one of several cases selected for immediate review," prosecutors said in a press release issued on Friday. During their reinvestigation, prosecutors discovered that Engel was born in West Germany with the maiden name "Dierolf," prosecutors said. At some point, Engel came to the United States and married Seymour Engel in 1961 in Passaic. "It is hoped that with the release of this information and the conclusion of this investigation, a family member of Ms. Engel may come forward," said Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni. "Anyone with any information pertaining to this case can contact Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Detective John Leibfried at 732-431-7160."

Hopefully, the renewed effort to find relatives will be successful.

"Also during their investigation, prosecutors resubmitted evidence from the case -- including another DNA sample from Wallace -- to a private forensic lab last year to confirm CODIS' earlier findings that Turnage was the actual killer and rapist. After exhuming Turnage's body to get a DNA sample to perform "a direct comparison" it "confirmed the exclusion of the original suspect as the major contributor on the dress and slip," said Gramiccioni."

Yet, nowhere in the above article was any mention made of what happened to the man falsely accused of a murder he did not commit.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-7-20

In follow up to an earlier edition of this publication, ABC News reports:

"A homeless man is suing the Honolulu Police Department and the city after he says officers forced him to lick a urinal in a public restroom."

Readers will recall:

"Samuel Ingall was seeking shelter in the restroom in January 2018 when one of the officers told him in an “aggressive tone” that the “only way he could avoid arrest was by licking the urinal in the bathroom,” the lawsuit said. Another officer stood in the doorway, propping open the door, then closed it so they wouldn't be caught on video, according to the lawsuit filed last week. It said Ingall, “against his will, knelt before the urinal and licked the urinal." John Rabago, who remains on restricted duty, pleaded guilty in December to depriving Ingall of his civil rights. Reginald Ramones, who left the department in August, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge that he knew Rabago committed a civil rights violation but didn't inform authorities. According to Ingall's lawsuit, Rabago followed him out of the bathroom and laughed as he told other officers about Ingall licking the urinal."

Needs to be a special place reserved in Hell for an asshole like this.

“For now, we’ll decline comment on the pending litigation,” city spokesman Alexander Zannes said."

What could they say?

"Rabago wasn't allowed to plead no contest, so he pleaded guilty to accept responsibility, defense attorney Megan Kau said Monday. The guilty plea “potentially puts the city at risk because of the civil lawsuit,” which was expected, she said."

Tough shit. City and taxpayers remain ultimately responsible. Forget? Law enforcement works at the pleasure of the city and citizenry it supposedly serves. Justice demands the victim be compensated.

"Ramones' attorney didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Ramones previously said in court that Rabago persuaded him not to tell authorities what happened and to delete their text messages about it. The lawsuit names Rabago and Ramones individually as defendants. Two other officers were placed on restricted duty when police Chief Susan Ballard turned over the case to the FBI in 2018. Ingall is in a residential substance abuse program and plans to go into a clean and sober house, said his attorney, Myles Breiner."

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-7-20

Justice delayed remains justice denied. In follow up to an earlier case, ABC News reports:

"A Texas judge has recommended that a man who was convicted based on allegedly false evidence from a disgraced former Houston police officer be declared innocent, prosecutors said. Judge Ramona Franklion ordered that Otis Mallet be declared innocent on Monday after prosecutors and defense attorneys submitted a joint filing, claiming the case against him had been built on false claims made by former Houston Police Department Officer Gerald Goines. "Mr. Mallet’s case is significant because it appears that Mr. Goines was operating outside of the law for more than a decade," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement. "There’s no telling how many cases like this may be out there." Mallet was convicted in 2011 after Goines claimed he's participated in a drug deal. Goines testified that Mallet and his brother sold him crack cocaine for $200 in 2008 while he [was] working as an undercover narcotics officer. Prosecutors said Goines’ testimony was "the cornerstone" of the case against Mallet, although four neighbors disputed the story in court. Mallet was convicted based on the the officer's testimony and has served two years of an eight-year sentence."

Outrageous.

"Prosecutors decided to reopen the case last month when Goines was indicted on charges of felony murder and tampering with a government record in connection. The charges stemmed from a botched drug raid that left two people dead and four officers wounded. Attorneys for 64-year-old Otis Mallet allege Gerald Goines lied in trial testimony about buying crack cocaine from their client in April 2008 and failed to disclose evidence that would have been beneficial to Mallet's case. Mallet was sentenced to eight years in prison and later paroled. Upon re-examining the case against Mallet, prosecutors found that Goines had repeatedly lied about nearly every aspect of his testimony, according to court records."

What took so long? Why did it take years to resolve this, finally get it right?

Worse? Get this:

"Ogg said thousands of cases could come under scrutiny in light of the charges against Goines. "Now we know Mr. Goines was lying and using the district attorney’s office as a tool to convict people wrongfully more than a decade ago," Ogg said in a statement. "This case also raises questions about how buy-money was being issued by the Houston Police Department’s narcotics division, and how drug payouts were being supervised and audited." Nicole DeBorde, Goines’ attorney, did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment, but she told the Houston Chronicle that Ogg’s actions were a "media stunt." "The DA’s office is using this as way to bolster their position in the other case," she said."

Nothing quite like a shyster, is there?

"Mallet's case will now go to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for review."

None of this is right or acceptable. While it is indeed encouraging the department and prosecutors finally got it right, an innocent man got f--ked over by an outrageously corrupt and abusive system.

No justice. The American Way. Nazi America. When is this shit finally going to end? All of it. Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? One hundred ninety eight weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

2-7-20

Protecting and coddling sick law enforcement. The Associated Press reports:

"A former employee of a New Hampshire youth detention center continued working with children in a state job for nine months after police began investigating allegations that he held a boy down while colleagues raped him in 1998. James Woodlock went on leave from his position as a juvenile probation and parole officer in November 2017, well after David Meehan told police he had been abused in the 1990s at what was then called the Youth Development Center in Manchester, the state’s only juvenile detention center, the state attorney general’s office told The Associated Press. The attorney general’s office is investigating. Woodlock, who hasn’t been charged criminally, declined to comment when a reporter visited his home."

Think anyone falsely accused of such a heinous crime would have remained silent?

"Officials won’t say whether his leave is voluntary, whether he is being paid or what, if any, action they took before he went on leave. They also won’t say when they learned of the allegations, though law enforcement officials said that in general, such notifications happen as soon as possible unless a delay is crucial to protect the investigation. All that should be part of the attorney general’s investigation, said Lyn Schollett, executive director of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. “The prospect that an abusive adult continued to work with children for decades is incredibly alarming,” she said. “It speaks to the need for ongoing training and oversight of any institution where children live.”

Ongoing vetting of personnel in such sensitive positions needs to occur during entire time of employment.

"As a juvenile probation and parole officer, Woodlock would have supervised paroled youths, conducted presentencing investigations and monitored parental compliance with court orders, according to a posted job description. Such officers also have the authority to arrest youths who violate the law or are fugitives. Four months after his initial leave, Woodlock resumed work with the same job title, but in an administrative office at the Division of Children, Youth and Families, which oversees the detention center. The state would not say whether that role involved work with children."

Why the lack of transparency? If the allegations turn out to be true, think there weren't other victims?

"He went out on leave again July 23, a day after two former counselors at the center were indicted on dozens of rape charges, and two days before the state attorney general’s office announced a broad criminal investigation into the center’s staff and operations from 1990 to 2000. Kate Spiner, a spokeswoman for the office of Attorney General Gordon MacDonald, confirmed Woodlock’s employment status and said he is among the defendants in a class-action lawsuit filed Jan. 11 that alleges decades of abuse at the facility."

Appalling, if true.

"The state is “undertaking a full-scale investigation to ensure justice is served,” Gov. Chris Sununu told the AP."

Why did it take decades? Where's the oversight?

“While the state’s personnel rules prohibit us from talking about individual cases, the Attorney General has assured me the Department of Justice will leave no stone unturned to get to the bottom of every single allegation,” Sununu, a Republican, said in an email. It’s unclear when Woodlock left the Youth Development Center job and became a juvenile probation and parole officer, but publicly available payroll records indicate he has been in the latter position since at least 2009. Five years ago, he was among six state workers nominated for an award for “Exemplary Leadership and Service in Juvenile Justice.”

Fascinating, isn't it?

"But that’s not how Meehan remembers him. Meehan, who spent four years at the center starting in 1995 when he was 14, alleges that Woodlock participated in beating him, held him down during rapes and told him he had “simply misunderstood events” when he spoke up during a group counseling session. “It is frightening to know that this man has been continuously employed by the state and working with this vulnerable population of children since Mr. Meehan left YDC in 1999,” said Meehan’s attorney, Rus Rilee. Meehan, now 38, is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit targeting Woodlock, the two former counselors facing criminal charges, three other former workers, the detention center itself and the agencies overseeing it. His attorneys represent 35 other men and women who say they were abused as children by male and female staffers from 1982 to 2014. Rilee declined to say whether their allegations also involve Woodlock. “Any allegations made by my other clients against Mr. Woodlock are part of the ongoing criminal investigation,” he said."

How does this shit go on decades? Where's the oversight?

"The center, established in the 1850s as a “house of reformation,” is now called the Sununu Youth Services Center, after former Gov. John H. Sununu, father of the current governor. Though its population has dropped to about 30 residents in recent years, it once held upward of 100 children and has come under regular scrutiny over the years."

If so, why was nothing done about this apparent ongoing abuse? Get this:

"A lawsuit alleging overcrowding in the 1980s led to rules requiring youths to be released before completing their treatment plans in order to make room for new residents. In the mid-1990s, the center paid thousands of dollars in fines for violating the terms of that settlement. In 2000 and 2001, the Division of Children, Youth and Families spent seven months investigating 25 complaints of abuse and neglect at the center, including a boy who said he lost the tip of his finger when staff members slammed a door on it and others who accused staff members of wrapping boys’ heads in towels and slamming them against pool tables. It concluded teens had been abused in five of the cases. Former Rep. Patricia Dowling, who led the House Children and Family Committee, remembers the allegations of physical abuse, including a staffer putting a hard ball in a sock and using it to hit a teenager. “I never heard the word sexual abuse. I heard physical abuse, mental abuse, but never, ever sexual abuse,” said Dowling, a Republican from Derry."

The following is abject insanity:

"Joe Diament, who served as commissioner of the Department of Youth and Development Services from 2001 to 2004, said in an interview that previous leaders had good intentions but were running the facility like an adult prison."

Clearly, with all the abuses tolerated in adult prisons.

"More recently, the Disability Rights Center, an advocacy group, has conducted investigations into the use of force and restraints at the facility. In 2018, it alleged that staff at the center routinely violated state law in using dangerous face-down restraint methods, including breaking the arm of a 14-year-old boy with severe anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. State officials called those allegations unfounded and irresponsible, but they ring true to Michael Sanborn, of Claremont, who had a 14-year-old foster son who was sent to the Youth Development Center in 1999. He never heard any allegations of sexual abuse but remembers typing up a list of 18 incidents he witnessed during visits or heard about from his son that would have cost him his foster care license. “Whenever they went into the rooms to search them, they used to have to face the wall, and if you turned around — my guy was a nervous kid — as soon as he did they’d slam him against the wall,” Sanborn said in a phone interview."

In any other circumstances, other than law enforcement, would be called assault, then prosecuted.

"Boys who were locked in their rooms urinated out the windows when they weren’t allowed to use the bathroom. During one visit, he noticed boys walking around in their underwear. “If they give them pants, they’ll run away,” he said his son told him. Sanborn has lost touch with his former foster son, but not the memories of his mistreatment. “You’ve touched on some anger that will never go away,” he said."

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-31-20

5-25-18

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril

Some salient quotes occurring later on in this edition vis a vis unfinished business County officials continue to ignore:

No justice. The American Way. Nazi America. When is this shit finally going to end? All of it. Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? One hundred ninety seven weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace.

... Small sampling of what's to come in this edition. Read on.

The following email was sent to the District Attorney:

Wiley B. "Sonny" McAfee
District Attorney
33rd and 424th Judicial Districts
Llano, TX 78643

March 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*********************************

Rebecca Lange, Llano County Attorney
Llano County Attorney's Office
Llano, Texas 78643

February 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Equally pointedly, why hasn't Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 been held criminally accountable for egregious abuse of power involving denial of property rights to this Kingsland property owner? To say nothing of consequent resultant physical damage done to a motor home on that property.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*******************

Bill Blackburn, Sheriff
Llano County Sheriff's Office
2001 N. State Hwy. 16 Suite A
Llano, Texas 78643

August 23, 2017

Re: Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Sheriff:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

8-30-19

Llano County DA "Sonny Boy" is in the news. Received an award. The DailyTrib reports:

The District Attorney has ignored a complaint filed earlier by this publication regarding special treatment accorded Texas oil man Johnny Greene by the Llano County Attorney and Sheriff vis a vis a property dispute involving a local banker, three other local property owners with homes encroaching on land they don't own, one of which is on an unused Llano County road. To say nothing of damage to a Pace Arrow motorhome on that property. All a result of egregious abuse of authority by Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764. The circumstances of this fiasco can be found above in each and every edition of this publication since this happened two years ago. The Sheriff, the County Attorney, and the District Attorney have all determinedly, concertedly ignored this ongoing, unresolved fiasco raising one ferociously pointed question. How much were they bribed?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-31-20

Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? One hundred ninety seven weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace. Why are you still sitting on this information? What are you hiding, Sheriff? What is the identity of the officers who killed Wise? Too gutless to release this information to the public that pays your salary and that of your goons? Reportedly, there were three officers involved in the shooting.

Who are they, Sheriff? Their past history? An ongoing investigation remains a lame bullshit excuse. How can you and your goons be trusted when you refuse to disclose information? One hundred ninety seven weeks. Especially, your egregious failure to disclose the identity of the officers who pulled the trigger. To cover your sorry ass, Sheriff? Those of your thugs? The people have a right to know what happened, how it went down. You don't understand that, Sheriff? Sadly, clearly, you answer to no one. Including taxpayers. Especially, taxpayers.

Until you and your goons come clean, doubt will remain this was indeed a good shoot. The longer you drag your feet, the greater the doubt. Think not? Wake up. Your credibility has tanked. Isn't getting any better as this bullshit continues unabated. One hundred ninety seven weeks. Still no identification of the officers involved ... Can't get your stories straight? In line? Discrepancy between LCSO and DPS? Wake up, Sheriff. The public no longer buys the bullshit. No longer trusts you. On this and many, many other issues. You have no credibility. Absolutely, none.

1-31-20

Bigotry? NBC News reports:

"An African American man who went to his local bank in Michigan to deposit checks had the police called on him by a branch manager suspecting fraud. Ironically, the checks, totaling $99,000, that Sauntore Thomas, 44, sought to deposit at TCF Bank in Livonia were part of a court settlement for a racial discrimination lawsuit against his former employer."

How about that? LOL. Couldn't be, could it?

"Now Thomas, an Air Force veteran, has sued his bank's holding company, TCF Financial Corp., alleging racial discrimination. The suit filed this week in Wayne County Circuit Court says Thomas has had a checking account at the bank since 2018, and he went there on Tuesday asking the branch manager to open a savings account for him so he could deposit the checks. But the manager became suspicious that the checks were fraudulent and questioned Thomas about where he got them, the suit alleges. The manager told Thomas that the checks would need to be verified, but that the computer system the bank uses to verify checks was not working. In order to complete Thomas' transaction, the manager said she would need to go in the back and "call in the checks," the suit says. Instead of trying to verify the checks, the suit claims that the manager refused to deposit them and then went into the back to call Livonia police. Four officers arrived at the bank and questioned Thomas about the checks."

Jesus Christ. Couldn't the bank have simply put a hold on the checks? That's what was done years ago. No longer legal or sufficient? Or, is racism the problem?

"Thomas called his lawyer on the phone to have her verify where he got the checks from but that still did not satisfy the branch manager. "Defendant still refused to deposit the checks," the suit states. "TCF Bank subsequently filed a police report against Plaintiff for check fraud."

Who the hell would want to do business with this bank under any conditions after this shit?

"Thomas eventually left the bank and went somewhere else to deposit his checks. The lawsuit claims that Thomas' race "was a factor in Defendant's decision to treat him less favorably than other individuals." Thomas reiterated that sentiment during an interview with the The Associated Press. “They did not want to assist me because I was African American. They didn’t want to assist me because they assumed that I had a fraudulent check, which was far from the truth," he told the outlet, adding, "This was no mistake."

None of this sounds right. How can this bank be trusted? Who's next?

"A spokesman for TCF did not immediately return NBC News' request for comment. The bank told the Detroit Free Press in a statement that the police should not have been called on Thomas and that it apologizes for what happened. “We strongly condemn racism and discrimination of any kind,” the bank said. “We take extra precautions involving large deposits and requests for cash, and in this case, we were unable to validate the checks presented by Mr. Thomas and regret we could not meet his needs.”

Above quote does not address the issue. Thomas was attempting to deposit the checks in a savings account, not cash them. Nowhere in the previous quotes before the very last one does the bank claim Thomas was attempting to get any cash.

The bank could have opened the savings account, deposited the checks, put a hold on any cash pay out until they cleared. That, a problem now? Needless to say this suit will be closely followed. Again, question to be asked is who's next?

"The lawsuit says Thomas was humiliated by the incident and suffered mental anguish and emotional distress. He is seeking damages."

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-31-20

Law enforcement 'justification' of murder while on duty goes back decades. NBC News reports:

"How police justify shootings: The 1974 killing of an unarmed teen set a standard. The case, Tennessee v. Garner, established that police cannot shoot fleeing suspects unless they pose immediate danger. Its lessons are still relevant.

"It was late, just before 10:45 p.m., in Memphis, Tennessee. A neighbor called the police to report a possible break-in at the house next door. When Officer Elton Hymon, who is black, and his partner arrived at the house, Hymon saw a figure dash through the backyard and start to climb a chain-link fence, according to court records. Hymon yelled, "Halt, police!" With his flashlight, Hymon could see that the figure wasn't armed, but the person kept climbing, so Hymon fired a single shot. It struck the back of the person's head, splattering his brain across the fence."

Legalized murder perpetrated by the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue.

"When the officers reached the fence, they found Edward Garner, who was just 15 years old and weighed only 110 pounds. He was carrying a wallet stolen from the house. It contained $10. Edward, who was black, died in October 1974, but a lawsuit filed by his father went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and set an important standard for what justifies a police shooting. Many of the elements of the case, the questions it prompted and the statements police and community activists made afterward could easily be mistaken for events in 2020. They remain relevant in a country that continues to grapple with a rate of police shootings far higher than those of other developed countries."

For one reason and one ultimate reason only. The judiciary refuses to enforce the Constitution. Grants near carte blanche to the jackbooted bastards in blue. ... Right, Sheriff?

"Edward's father sued the Memphis Police Department. The case, Tennessee v. Garner, led to a 1985 Supreme Court decision in the family's favor that established that police can't shoot fleeing suspects unless they pose immediate danger. For many states, the Garner decision set the first legal standard for police shootings since the 19th century, shifting notions of propriety in law enforcement and, for a time, reducing the number of people shot and killed by police."

That's the problem. Judicial failure to enforce the law and Constitution on a consistent basis indefinitely. ... Hear the rumble?

"It set the standard, defined a kind of boundary for contemporary lawful policing," said Hank Fradella, a lawyer and professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. But police shootings have continued, including one in Vallejo, California, which is facing new scrutiny after video was released this week. In the decades since the Garner decision, the names of Edward Garner and his father — who pursued justice for an imperfect son — have faded into obscurity. Indeed, the names of many who forced the country and its most senior legal minds to think more deeply about police decisions to shoot and kill aren't widely known. And while Tennessee v. Garner became a fixture of police training, the standard it set also taught officers what they needed to say and do to legally justify shooting a suspect."

That's called nazism. Clear indication the judiciary failed to understand and/or effectively respond to the fact the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue were scamming them.

"Of the 1,000 people police kill on average every year, a disproportionate number are black. (In 2019, 23 percent of those killed by police were black; black Americans make up just 13 percent of the population.)"

That's called racism.

"The Garner case, then, has left a mixed legacy, according to experts in policing, as well as people directly involved in bringing the lawsuit decades ago. "I don't know that the Supreme Court saying we are going to limit police officers' ability to use deadly force against fleeing suspects means there were changes," Fradella said. "I don't know whether that's enough to overcome perceptions of danger, the potential for danger officers feel. I don't think a case actually changes human behavior that much."

That's true. Again, primarily, for one reason and one reason only. The judiciary gutlessly refuses to hold police to the very same standard the public is held to. That's called nazism.

"When Edward was killed, Tennessee's law allowing police to shoot fleeing violent crime suspects — using any "necessary means" to stop them — dated to 1858."

Police are still doing the very same. Incident after incident. The judiciary has failed to do its duty. ... Hear the rumble?

"Edward's father, Cleamtee Garner, was well acquainted with the ways the government can malfunction and leave black Americans in particular peril. He was born in Memphis in 1919, in what the journalist Ida B. Wells would call "The Red Summer," a year when white mobs lynched, burned alive, maimed and terrorized thousands of black people in nearly 40 cities. Hundreds died. As a young man, Cleamtee Garner fought in World War II, earning the American Campaign Medal and the American Defense Medal. He came home to a country so eager to maintain white supremacy that black veterans returning from foreign service, aware of life outside the segregated United States, became frequent targets of violent white attacks. They represented a large number of those lynched and were denied benefits owed them under the GI Bill."

Until our fuhrer, the Trump nazi, took office, the racism was not quite so blatant. Present, but not quite so violent as it is now. Trump has clearly emboldened these gutless, murderous pieces of human excrement.

"By 1974, black people in Memphis were frustrated and infuriated by unchecked police mistreatment and abuse — but many were also afraid, Bailey said. It was a situation not entirely different from the one black Americans face around the country today. Police prosecutions remain rare."

Determinedly, concertedly protected and coddled.

"The Garner case meant officers could shoot fleeing suspects only as a last resort to protect the life of an officer or a bystander. The decision became a front-page story in The New York Times. Cleamtee Garner wasn't quoted. In 1995, 21 years after Edward Garner's death and 10 years after the Supreme Court decision, Bailey persuaded the city of Memphis to settle with the Garner family for $300,000, plus $145,000 in legal and court fees. But Cleamtee Garner, 74, died 15 months before the case could be resolved and was buried with military honors in Memphis National Cemetery. The Garner case toppled the notion that police could shoot and kill people who posed no immediate threat."

Sadly, that protection was short-lived:

"Police shootings, while more plentiful in the United States than in other countries, are still relatively rare. But those factors, along with the Supreme Court's most recent case involving a fleeing suspect in 2007, have created conditions under which police shootings are a leading cause of death for young men. And the 1,000 people, on average, killed by police every year continue to include unarmed, fleeing individuals, a disproportionate share of whom are black. Many come with complications that their families and police view in very different ways."

Never, ever, never run from a criminal jackbooted bastard in blue. Grants the piece of shit near carte blanche to murder. Don't give the son of a bitch the satisfaction.

"In 2014, a Cleveland police officer shot and killed a 12-year-old black boy in a city park after a witness reported that the boy was playing with what the witness said may have been a toy gun. The officers drove their police cruiser onto the park's grass, stopping within feet of the boy and shot and killed him within seconds. The officers weren't told that the item in the boy's hand may have been a toy, and they weren't indicted. In October, a Fort Worth, Texas, police officer shot and killed a 28-year-old black woman after entering her yard, failing to identify himself and then firing through her window without warning. Police say the woman was armed. The officer has been charged with murder. And this week, officials in Vallejo, California, released video that they say shows an off-duty police officer from a nearby city shooting and killing an armed 38-year-old black man after an argument over a parking space in November. Vallejo police have described the shooting as an act of legal self-defense. The officer hasn't been charged, but the investigation continues. The dead man's family has sued."

The following is egregiously insufficient:

"To Winter, the continued spate of police shootings shows the need for a stronger standard for what makes a shooting justifiable. "As big a deal as Garner was, I'm afraid that Trevor Noah, the 'Daily Show' [host], is right," Winter said. "He said the way things currently stand for black Americans is: 'If you don't show your hands, you get shot. You show your hands, you get shot. You have a legal gun, you get shot. You don't, very likely get shot.' Garner was massive, but its impact and influence has faded with time."

No justice. The American Way. Nazi America. When is this shit finally going to end? All of it. Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? One hundred ninety seven weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-31-20

Raw nazism. CNN News reports:

"US border officers working at Canadian border crossings were directed to stop travelers of Iranian descent for questioning following the killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, an unnamed Customs and Border Patrol officer alleged in an email to an immigration attorney. Dozens of American citizens of Iranian descent were stopped at a port of entry in Blaine, Washington, in the days following the January 3 killing of Soleimani. Some were detained for hours and reported they were asked detailed questions about their country of birth. Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington tweeted earlier this month that she was "deeply disturbed" by the reports. At the time, CBP confirmed there were increased wait times "to an average of two hours on Saturday evening, although some travelers experienced wait times of up to four hours due to increased volume and reduced staff during the holiday season." But the agency categorically denied there was any directive to stop and question people of Iranian descent."

They're goddamned liars. Think not? Read on.

"CBP press secretary Matt Leas said in a January 5 statement "social media posts that CBP is detaining Iranian-Americans and refusing their entry into the U.S. because of their country of origin are false. Reports that DHS/CBP has issued a related directive are also false." In a message sent to congressional staff the next day and obtained by CNN, CBP officials reiterated that there was no directive or memo "from DHS or CBP leadership with instructions to detain Iranian-Americans." An email sent to immigration attorney Leonard Saunders by a Washington state CBP officer tells a different story. The officer claimed that there was indeed such a directive which was only lifted, "as soon as it hit the national news." The officer did not provide a copy of the initial directive or the email that apparently lifted the directive on January 5. The officer's email was first reported by CNN news partner CBC and provided to CNN by Saunders, who did not reveal the officer's name. A former CBP officer told CNN the person who wrote the email worked with him at the agency and was told by current CBP officers that the individual is still an active officer at the Blaine border crossing. Saunders, who does not represent the source, said the officer reached out to him, "probably because I was at the border when the Persian 'roundup' happened and have been very vocal about my concerns." "I just know him as an experienced CBP officer," the attorney said. In the email to Saunders, the officer wrote, "I am worried that doing the right thing will get me in trouble" and detailed what he said happened that weekend on the US-Canada border at multiple ports of entry. "This thing that happened was Seattle Field Office wide," the officer wrote. "Multiple Americans of Persian birth were held and interrogated at length." The officer said he was involved in the questioning of Iranian-born travelers. "We asked them standard counter terrorism inspection questions. Was there an Immigration reason for detaining them? No. Was there a Customs reason for detaining them? No. Was the sole reason we detained and questioned them due to their national origin? Yes. Was it the right thing to do? No. Where (sic) their constitutional rights violated? Probably."

CBP continues to stonewall:

"When asked about the officer's claims, CBP spokesman Jason Givens told CNN the agency "stands behind the statements we have previously provided and has nothing further to add." Earlier this month, the National Iranian American Council filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties after reports first surfaced about US citizens being held for additional questioning at the border. The NIAC did not immediately return a CNN request for comment Thursday. Negah Hekmati said she and her family were stopped at a US-Canada border crossing in Washington state for hours. "As soon as they realized that we were born in Iran, they led us to the office and they held us there for five hours. They asked many questions, many personal questions, like our Facebook accounts and like my parents' full names and birth date," Hekmati, a US citizen, told reporters in a news conference on January 6."

Should have told the bastards to go f--k themselves. Endured the bullshit as long as it took, then found an attorney willing to sue the living out of the jackbooted pieces of shit.

"Darian Vaziri, a 21-year-old college student from Los Angeles, had been visiting Seattle when they decided to go to Vancouver for a quick visit. He said they were stopped on the way back into the US. "They took us into a room," Vaziri told CNN. "We noticed it was only minorities in there. As time went on, we realized it was only Iranians in there." At one point he said there were as many as 40 people held in the room, with no food or water available and only one bathroom. Vaziri, who was born in the US, said he was not questioned after they said they were US-born American citizens. But his parents, both born in Iran, were questioned. His mother was apparently asked if she had any cult affiliation. "That's what she said. Was she connected to any Shia group. She just said she had no idea what they were talking about." Shortly after midnight, Vaziri told CNN, "They literally just handed our passports back and said, 'You're free to go.'"

Find an attorney. Sue the living shit out of the traitorous, treasonous nazi bastards in uniform who falsely swore an oath to protect and defend the United States Constitution.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-31-20

A murderous, criminal, jackbooted bastard in blue. ABC News reports:

"An 8-year-old boy with autism died of hypothermia last week after his NYPD cop dad allegedly placed him inside a freezing cold garage as temperatures dropped well below zero, officials said. Suffolk County police arrested 40-year-old Michael Valva and his 42-year-old fiancee, Angela Pollina, on Friday for the second-degree murder of Thomas Valva. Valva called the police on Jan. 17 to report that Thomas fell in the driveway of their home around 9:30 a.m. in Center Morchices, New York, while waiting for the school bus. The child was taken to Long Island Community Hospital where his "body temperature was at 76 degrees," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said at a press conference on Friday. "Thomas Valva was subjected to freezing temperatures in the homes, unheated garage, overnight when the outside temperature was 19 degrees," said Hart. As police investigated Thomas' death, Valva launched an online fundraiser to cover the cost of his son's funeral expenses. The community's donations to the now-defunct fundraiser surpassed Valva's requested $10,000 goal. Police found that the injuries to Thomas' head and face were inconsistent with Valva's description on the 911 call and there was a history of reports to child protective services. "Not only did they fail to render any type of meaningful aid, they lied to the police officers, they lied to the EMTs," Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini told reporters on Friday. "This is one of the worse crimes...he died right in front of their eyes." The medical examiner ruled the boy’s death a homicide and found that hypothermia was a major contributing factor, the Associated Press reported."

Outrageous, isn't it?

"Suffolk County Judge Edward J. Hennessey ordered both Valva and Pollina held without bail. Their case will be presented to a grand jury and the next court date is on Jan. 29. Thomas' mother, Justyna Zubko Valva, told News12 Long Island that she begged a family court judge to remove their children from her ex's custody or they were "going to die." "Every time I kept telling the judge, 'if you're not going to remove the children, they are going to die under his care and custody,'" said Zubko Valva to the station. "There was evidence, hard evidence. Reports filed. Children were telling me too about the abuse." Valva has two other sons, ages 6 and 10, while Pollina has twin 11-year-old daughters and a 6-year-old daughter. Sini said the 10-year-old and 8-year-old boys were both on the autism spectrum and were “at times forced to sleep in the garage.” Valva joined the NYPD in 2005 and, according to online records, he earned $100,000 in 2019. The transit cop has been suspended without pay, the police department said. If convicted, the couple faces 25 years to life in prison."

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-31-20

Murder? Perpetrated by a criminal jackbooted bastard in blue on a man with his hands cuffed behind his back? No video? Why not? Why is it normal procedure for a police department, any police department to cuff a suspect with his hands behind his back in the front passenger seat of the cruiser? Many unanswered questions. ABC News reports:

"TEMPLE HILLS, Md. -- A man who had been handcuffed with his arms behind his back by police in Maryland was shot and killed inside an officer's cruiser. Prince George's County police officers responded Monday night to reports that a driver had struck multiple vehicles near the Temple Hills community, spokeswoman Christina Cotterman told news outlets during a news conference. When officers located the driver, they smelled PCP and believed the man was under the influence, Cotterman said. The suspect was buckled into the front passenger seat of the vehicle, which Cotterman said is normal for Prince George's County police. The officer then got into the driver's seat. Two independent witnesses told police they either saw or heard a struggle, and heard loud bangs coming from the cruiser, according to Cotterman. The man was shot multiple times by the officer's service weapon, the police spokeswoman said. Officers performed lifesaving measures and took the man to a hospital. He died a short time later."

Took multiple shots to subdue/kill a suspect handcuffed with his hands behind his back seatbelted in the front passenger seat of the cruiser?

"Police haven't publicly identified the suspect because family members had not yet been notified. The shooting wasn't caught on body-camera video because the officer didn't have one, Cotterman said. Investigators were looking for surveillance cameras in the area that may have recorded the shooting. The officer involved has been placed on administrative leave. Cotterman said the officer was expected to be identified Tuesday."

Why wasn't he immediately identified?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-31-20

... Needs to be a place reserved in Hell. The Washington Post reports:

"From an isolation cell in the Ottawa County Jail, Terral Ellis begged for someone to help him. He could not feel his legs and he could not breathe, the 26-year-old told jail staff and the on-site nurse at the Miami, Okla., facility. It felt, he said, like his back was broken and he was bleeding internally. “I think I’m dying,” he said just after 10 a.m. on Oct. 22, 2015. Staff mocked him, laughed at a joke about the “boy who cried wolf,” and ignored him as he moaned. When nurse Theresa Horn arrived later that morning, she did not help either — instead threatening to chain Ellis to the ground if he continued to complain. “I’m sick and tired of f---ing dealing with your ass!” she yelled. “Ain’t a damn thing nothing wrong with you!” Hours later, Ellis was dead. Video surveillance footage of Ellis’s 12 days in jail in 2015 became public for the first time last week as part of an ongoing federal lawsuit. The 18 clips taken from 16 cameras — which were edited down from the hundreds of hours of footage given to the Ellis family’s lawyers — show how jail staff repeatedly mocked Ellis and refused him adequate medical treatment. On Oct. 10, 2015, Ellis took the advice of his grandfather and turned himself into the county jail on an outstanding warrant for an old DUI. On Oct. 22, he was rolled out on a paramedic’s stretcher — cold and unresponsive from septic shock brought on by pneumonia, a medical examiner later ruled. Unlike most jail surveillance video from high-profile inmate death cases, these clips have audio. The attorneys representing the Ellis family in the suit said the videos show not just what was done, but what was said, throughout Ellis’s rapid decline."

Nazi America.

“If you don’t have everything I have, this is just some kid who died in jail because he got sick,” said attorney Dan Smolen, who specializes in jail death cases across the country. “I want people to understand this is happening, every day, all day long, in jails across the United States. I think it has just been captured [here] in a really awful way.” Immediately after Ellis’s death, his fellow inmates spoke out about his treatment, and in 2017 the man’s family filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma against the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office, the emergency medical service, Horn and other jail staff, claiming their negligence and gross indifference led to his death. Smolen’s legal team has pieced together witness accounts, staff reports, deposition interviews and now, the hundreds of hours of surveillance video from inside the Ottawa County Jail that show how a healthy young man trying to get right with the law died in government custody, court documents allege."

Nazi justice:

"As of this week, nobody who interacted with Ellis during his time in jail has been criminally charged, nor was anyone formally disciplined, Smolen said, citing their investigation and depositions of those involved. The Ottawa County Sheriff, Jeremy Floyd, confirmed to The Washington Post that the two named detention officers in the suit, as well as Horn, were not disciplined or charged at the time. In the four years since Ellis’s death, all three have left as employees of the jail, Floyd said. Floyd became sheriff more than a year after Ellis died. He is named in the suit in his official capacity, which is essentially the same thing as suing the sheriff’s office. Had he been in charge in 2015, Floyd said he would have asked the state to conduct an investigation of Ellis’s death and not allowed it to be done internally. The video footage was entered into the public record by Smolen’s team as part of the Ellis family’s response in opposition to defendants’ motion for summary judgment in the case. All seven named defendants have asked the judge to dismiss the suit for various reasons."

Another example of precisely why lawyers remain as despised as they are in our formerly great country:

"Ambre Gooch, lead attorney for the sheriff’s office, said in a statement that while Ellis’s death is “of course sad and unfortunate, it was not caused by any action or inaction of the Sheriff in his official capacity.” Gooch said the recently released video “depicts behavior by Jail staff that had never before been seen, heard, or reported up the chain in the Sheriff’s Office” before Ellis’s death. Jail staff’s behavior was “contrary to their training and to Jail policies and procedures,” Gooch said, and “does not accurately depict the Sheriff’s Office’s policies, procedures, standards, or expectations of Jail staff.”

Not credible.

"Ellis’s family is seeking unspecified damages."

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-24-20

5-25-18

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril

Some salient quotes occurring later on in this edition vis a vis unfinished business County officials continue to ignore:

No justice. The American Way. Nazi America. When is this shit finally going to end? All of it. Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? One hundred ninety six weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace.

Why are you stillsitting on this information? What are you hiding, Sheriff? What is the identity of the officers who killed Wise? Too gutless to release this information to the public that pays your salary and that of your goons? Reportedly, there were three officers involved in the shooting. Who the hell are they?

... Small sampling of what's to come in this edition. Read on.

The following email was sent to the District Attorney:

Wiley B. "Sonny" McAfee
District Attorney
33rd and 424th Judicial Districts
Llano, TX 78643

March 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*********************************

Rebecca Lange, Llano County Attorney
Llano County Attorney's Office
Llano, Texas 78643

February 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Equally pointedly, why hasn't Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 been held criminally accountable for egregious abuse of power involving denial of property rights to this Kingsland property owner? To say nothing of consequent resultant physical damage done to a motor home on that property.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*******************

Bill Blackburn, Sheriff
Llano County Sheriff's Office
2001 N. State Hwy. 16 Suite A
Llano, Texas 78643

August 23, 2017

Re: Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Sheriff:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

8-30-19

Llano County DA "Sonny Boy" is in the news. Received an award. The DailyTrib reports:

The District Attorney has ignored a complaint filed earlier by this publication regarding special treatment accorded Texas oil man Johnny Greene by the Llano County Attorney and Sheriff vis a vis a property dispute involving a local banker, three other local property owners with homes encroaching on land they don't own, one of which is on an unused Llano County road. To say nothing of damage to a Pace Arrow motorhome on that property. All a result of egregious abuse of authority by Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764. The circumstances of this fiasco can be found above in each and every edition of this publication since this happened two years ago. The Sheriff, the County Attorney, and the District Attorney have all determinedly, concertedly ignored this ongoing, unresolved fiasco raising one ferociously pointed question. How much were they bribed?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-24-20

Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? One hundred ninety six weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace. Why are you still sitting on this information? What are you hiding, Sheriff? What is the identity of the officers who killed Wise? Too gutless to release this information to the public that pays your salary and that of your goons? Reportedly, there were three officers involved in the shooting.

Who are they, Sheriff? Their past history? An ongoing investigation remains a lame bullshit excuse. How can you and your goons be trusted when you refuse to disclose information? One hundred ninety six weeks. Especially, your egregious failure to disclose the identity of the officers who pulled the trigger. To cover your sorry ass, Sheriff? Those of your thugs? The people have a right to know what happened, how it went down. You don't understand that, Sheriff? Sadly, clearly, you answer to no one. Including taxpayers. Especially, taxpayers.

Until you and your goons come clean, doubt will remain this was indeed a good shoot. The longer you drag your feet, the greater the doubt. Think not? Wake up. Your credibility has tanked. Isn't getting any better as this bullshit continues unabated. One hundred ninety six weeks. Still no identification of the officers involved ... Can't get your stories straight? In line? Discrepancy between LCSO and DPS? Wake up, Sheriff. The public no longer buys the bullshit. No longer trusts you. On this and many, many other issues. You have no credibility. Absolutely, none.

1-24-20

American gulags. NBC News reports:

"A group of 45 Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday demanding the agency release all transgender migrants in its custody. “This already vulnerable population faces a heightened and unique set of injustices while in immigration detention,” the letter stated. “Transgender migrants and asylum seekers are particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment, solitary confinement, physical assault, and medical neglect. At least two transgender migrants have died in ICE custody in the past two years. Roxsana Hernandez Rodriguez, a Honduran, died of complications from untreated HIV in 2018. Rodriguez did not receive antiretroviral therapy while in ICE custody, despite guidelines mandating that all detainees receive the minimum standard of care, which for HIV infection is ARV therapy. Last year, another HIV-positive transgender migrant, Johana Medina León from El Salvador, died shortly after being released from ICE custody, where she had requested medical assistance. After León died last summer, Kris Hayashi, executive director of the Transgender Law Center, called the two deaths “a direct result of U.S. government policy, and will continue unless we force dramatic change."

Need to start prosecuting these criminal jackbooted bastards in uniform.

"Advocates have long accused ICE of improper treatment of LGBTQ migrants, particularly after Hernandez died from a rare, AIDS-related illness at its Cibola detention center in New Mexico. The Cibola unit — touted by the agency as its premiere detention facility for trans migrants — failed to treat Hernandez’s diagnosed HIV infection for 12 days, despite what ICE has claimed is a maximum 24-hour turnaround on sick-call requests."

Unless and until these bastards are criminally prosecuted for neglect, nothing will change.

"The 45 lawmakers in their letter claim that none of ICE’s detention centers — including Cibola — are contracted specifically for housing trans inmates, a requirement set by ICE’s 2015 transgender detention standards. Speaking on background, a congressional staffer noted that at Cibola, ICE’s “compliance is currently voluntary and their standards could slip at any time with no repercussions.” The letter notes that the “pervasive use of solitary confinement has caused particular harm to transgender migrants in detention.” “ICE consistently utilizes solitary confinement for so-called protective purposes or violates its own guidance by using segregation as punishment, placing transgender people at risk of physical and mental health deterioration and vulnerability to sexual assault by ICE guards,” the letter states."

No greater threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties than all levels and branches of American government.

"Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., spearheaded the effort to demand the release of transgender migrants. In a press release shared with NBC News, he said if “ICE cannot provide appropriate and humane accommodations for these migrants, they must release them from detention.”

ICE does as it pleases. Trump and his henchmen are the problem. Direct cause of all this abuse.

“Immigrants who have faced fear and violence in their pursuit of a new life in the United States should not be confronted with more fear and threats of violence when they arrive at our borders,” he stated. “Unfortunately, too often, that is exactly what many transgender immigrants face when placed in ICE detention facilities.”

Precisely, the intention of Trump, his henchmen, and the rest of the Nazi Right in our formerly great country.

"Immigration Equality, an advocacy group dedicated to LGBTQ immigrants, called the two deaths “tragic examples of the consequences of ICE’s mistreatment,” and endorsed the demands of the 45 lawmakers: “Transgender immigrants are not safe in ICE custody and must be released.” “After fleeing horrific persecution in their countries of origin, our transgender clients seek protection in the U.S.,” Bridget Crawford, legal director of Immigration Equality, said. “However, rather than finding safety, our clients are routinely subjected to shocking mistreatment in immigration detention facilities, including sexual assault and harassment, medical neglect and prolonged solitary confinement as a purported means of ‘protecting’ transgender people from abuse.”

Yet, no one is prosecuted. Quite the contrary. Protected and coddled.

"The lawmakers’ letter requests a detailed ICE plan by Jan. 27 outlining compliance, and requests semi-monthly updates to “demonstrate such compliance.”

Unless ICE is criminally prosecuted for its crimes, nothing will change. Expect worse. Far worse.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-24-20

Raw nazism. The Associated Press reports:

"One month after winning her release from immigration detention, a transgender woman from El Salvador was arrested and taken back to the same jail because the U.S. government is appealing the judge’s decision, the woman’s lawyers said Friday."

Expect better of the Trump nazi and his henchmen? Why?

"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement re-arrested the trans woman Monday during what her lawyers expected would be a routine check-in. She suffers from seizures as well as symptoms of a traumatic brain injury and had been released from the hospital days before the check-in, said Wes Brockway, a lawyer with the Santa Fe Dreamers Project. She since suffered another seizure Tuesday, Brockway said."

Are taxpayers paying for her healthcare? Certainly, should be while jailed.

"The Associated Press is identifying the trans woman only by her first name, Joselin, because her lawyers say she faces the threat of violence and persecution if she is deported to El Salvador due to her transgender identity."

Trump and his henchmen couldn't care less.

The following is an ongoing problem across the country in all our jails and prisons:

"The case emerges as a group of congressional Democrats called on ICE to release transgender migrants “at risk of sexual abuse and assault” and to bring jails used to hold transgender detainees into compliance with current standards. “Transgender individuals face persecution that ranges from physical and sexual violence to other forms of mistreatment based on their gender identity and expression,” the lawmakers said. “This already vulnerable population faces a heightened and unique set of injustices while in immigration detention.”

Other than unbridled bigotry, why is this woman being detained? Especially, in light of the following:

"Brockway argued Joselin’s continued detention is unnecessary because she had a place to stay and was not a flight risk. ICE did not respond to requests for comment Thursday and Friday. Joselin is being held at the Cibola County Correctional Center in rural Milan, New Mexico, which has a special ICE unit for transgender detainees. ICE has said it made a significant investment when it opened the section for transgender inmates, known as Unit 900. Milan is 70 miles (113 kilometers) from Albuquerque. The agency also says it provides screenings and round-the-clock medical care."

Reporters need to determine whether or not that's in fact true.

"Another transgender woman detained at Cibola County died in May 2018 at a hospital. A state autopsy found Roxsana Hernandez had a rare disorder that developed quickly due to AIDS. Hernandez’s family alleged that Hernandez had deep bruising on her ribs, contusions on her back, and injuries around her wrists likely caused by handcuffs. A second transgender woman, Johana Medina Leon, died in June shortly after her release from another facility in New Mexico. Brockway says Joselin was sexually and physically assaulted by a group of people in 2008 and was hospitalized for about two months in El Salvador. Since then, she has had intermittent seizures, bouts of asthma, and anxiety and depression."

Family stinks:

"Joselin originally crossed the border in 2012, apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol, and released, Brockway said. He said that when the family members serving as sponsors learned of her transgender identity, they did not want to keep her and eventually pressured her to return to El Salvador. She missed an immigration court hearing in the U.S. and had a removal order placed against her. According to Brockway, Joselin left El Salvador again in January 2019, arriving in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in April. She waited several weeks in Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, to request asylum along with thousands of other people under a U.S. government policy known as “metering,” which has required many people trying to seek asylum legally to wait in often-dangerous Mexican border cities. She was eventually admitted in May and sent to Cibola County. Due to her previous removal order, Joselin could not request asylum. Instead, an immigration judge approved her in December for withholding of removal, which requires a tougher standard than an asylum claim, Brockway said."

Under the Trump nazi, ICE remains out of control. Deliberately, determinedly so.

"ICE has since said they would detain her pending an appeal of the immigration judge’s decision, Brockway said. He intends to ask ICE to grant her medical parole. In the meantime, he said he was concerned for her health and safety, particularly after she had a seizure Tuesday. “She’s primarily relying on other individuals, other trans women, to keep a watchful eye on her,” he said. “She’s relying on them to call the attention of the guards when these seizures are happening. Those are not appropriate conditions for someone in her situation.”

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-24-20

Racism alive and well in law enforcement. The Associated Press reports:

"The president of a predominantly black St. Louis police union said Wednesday that the city prosecutor’s lawsuit is correct in pointing out racial concerns in St. Louis, including biases within the police department itself. Ethical Society of Police President Heather Taylor stopped short of endorsing Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s federal lawsuit, but questioned how anyone could ignore the department’s “long history of racial discrimination.” Gardner, who became St. Louis’ first black circuit attorney in 2017, filed a lawsuit Monday accusing “entrenched interests” of impeding her efforts to reform racist practices, in part by seeking to force her from office. Defendants include the city and the St. Louis Police Officers Association, the much larger rival union to the Ethical Society of Police. While the ESOP has 310 members, 97% of whom are black, the SLPOA has 1,300 members, 30% of whom are black."

The city is certainly not a happy camper:

"Jacob Long, spokesman for St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, called Gardner’s lawsuit “meritless.” Jeff Roorda, the SLPOA business manager who also is named in the suit, called Gardner “the worst prosecutor in the United States,” accusing her of lenient policies that have contributed to the city’s worst-in-the-nation per capita murder rate."

Sour grapes?

"Taylor said in a statement that denying racial bias within the department is “a slap in the face to minority and non-minority officers with whom we are proud to serve.” She said the union has often cited racial disparities in discipline, promotions, and job placement. Taylor also cited issues mentioned in Gardner’s lawsuit, including a watchdog group’s report last year that identified several officers accused of posting racist, violent or prejudiced messages on Facebook. The suit also cited a 2017 incident in which a black undercover officer was allegedly beaten by four white colleagues who mistook him for a protester, leading to their federal indictment. Gardner’s relationship with police has long been strained. She developed an “exclusion list” of more than two dozen police officers who were barred from serving as primary witnesses in criminal cases over what Gardner called credibility concerns, a move that angered Police Chief John Hayden, who is black."

Could it be she has a point?

"In 2018, she hired a private investigator, former FBI agent William Tisaby, rather than working with police to investigate claims that then-Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens took a compromising photo of a woman during an extra-marital affair. An invasion of privacy charge was eventually dropped, but Greitens, a Republican, resigned in June 2018. Fallout from the Greitens case continues and Roorda accused Gardner of filing the suit as a distraction. After weighing evidence presented by Special Prosecutor Gerard Carmody, a grand jury last year charged Tisaby with perjury for allegedly lying during a deposition. The indictment said Gardner failed to correct his inaccuracies or report them, and that she made incorrect statements to defense lawyers and a judge. She was not indicted but the investigation remains open. Gardner’s suit named Carmody and questioned why he was appointed given his long friendship with Edward L. Dowd Jr., one of Greitens’ attorneys."

Be interesting to see where this all goes, -- if anywhere.

No justice. The American Way. Nazi America. When is this shit finally going to end? All of it. Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? One hundred ninety six weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-24-20

TSA remains egregiously out of control. The Washington Post reports:

"The Transportation Security Administration apologized to a traveler at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, who used her social media platform to call out the “unacceptable behavior” she faced Monday from a TSA agent who mimicked using her braided hair as reins during a security pat-down."

Certainly, pulled this shit on the wrong person. Will likely wind up paying dearly for it.

"Tara Houska is an attorney and indigenous rights activist who was in Minnesota to protest the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline project. She had flown from Washington, D.C., where she participated in the Fire Drill Friday climate protest. On Twitter, Houska spoke about her treatment at the security checkpoint. “Going through @TSA at @mspairport, the agent said she needed to pat down my braids. She pulled them behind my shoulders, laughed & said “giddyup!” as she snapped my braids like reins,” she wrote."

Jesus Christ. Give me a break.

"It has long been an issue that women of color face in going through TSA checkpoints, where hair worn in braided, twisted or natural styles leads to flags on scanners that prompt agents to pull them aside for more invasive screenings. It was even addressed in an “Ask TSA” response about hair pat-downs in the case that the “hair area alarms for a potential explosive” or when someone’s “hair looks like it could contain a prohibited item or is styled in a way an officer cannot visually clear it.” “My hair sets off those scanners always, like pretty much every single time,” Houska says. “That’s something I’m very used to, and my hair has been patted down hundreds and hundreds of times.”

Agents get their cookies off abusing power.

"In a statement, the agency said: “TSA was made aware of allegations made by a traveler about her screening experience at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Monday morning. TSA officials investigated the incident and on Tuesday afternoon, TSA Federal Security Director for Minnesota Cliff Van Leuven spoke with the traveler. He apologized for actions and a comment that were insensitive and made by a TSA officer to the traveler during the screening experience.” “TSA holds its employees to the highest standards of professional conduct and any type of improper behavior is taken seriously,” the statement continued. In a letter to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (also known by code MSP) staff Tuesday, Van Leuven confirmed the incident took place. “Did it actually happen? Yes. Exactly as described? Yes.” He described the agent’s behavior as “insensitive” during the screening and said he spoke with and apologized to Houska directly for the treatment she endured. Van Leuven said Houska wasn’t seeking discipline for the agent involved but rather wanted the incident to be a learning opportunity for TSA to “educate staff about the many Native American Tribes/Bands in our state and region to better understand their culture.” Houska said TSA extended an offer for her to come speak to agents or do a training video on sensitivity toward indigenous issues, which she plans to accept."

Certainly, be a wake up call for agents.

“We all make mistakes,” Van Leuven said. “Treating the public we are sworn to serve and protect with dignity and respect is our calling — every passenger, every day. We’ll learn from this.”

Better vetting of personnel during the hiring process is certainly required.

"Houska acknowledged the apology on Twitter and was emphatic that training be taken seriously. Her takeaway is that she wants people to show more empathy toward one another and to highlight the poor treatment indigenous people continue to face to this day. “I really, really hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else moving forward,” she wrote."

This crap goes on because it's tolerated.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-24-20

The following is in update to an earlier edition of this publication. UPI reports:

"The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office arrested a former deputy accused of fabricating a story that he was shot by a sniper last year. Officers arrested Angel Reinosa on Thursday on three counts, including filing a false police report, a misdemeanor, and two counts of insurance fraud related to a workers' compensation claim, a felony. The sheriff's office's Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau arrested Reinosa during a traffic stop in Sylmar. He was released from Los Angeles County Jail on bond Friday. The sheriff's office fired Reinosa in August after officials determined the 21-year-old trainee lied when he reported that he was shot by a sniper as he walked to his vehicle at the sheriff's station in Lancaster. His report prompted a manhunt for a shooter. "He also told investigators he had caused the holes in his uniform by cutting it. There was no sniper, no shots fired and no gunshot injury sustained to his shoulder," Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said. Law enforcement officials told KNBC-TV in Los Angeles that Reinosa had received a poor work evaluation and had been restricted to working inside the sheriff's station in the hours before he made the false report. "Two felonies and a misdemeanor are a sad ending to a promising career," Villanueva said Thursday. "We have an ethical standard for every employee, one that I will always maintain in order to earn the public's trust."

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-24-20

Another example of raw nazism. NBC News reports:

"David Holden, the president of a small synagogue in rural Michigan, had never heard of The Base until his house of worship was defaced last fall. Vandals targeted Temple Jacob, one of the oldest continuously operating synagogues in the state, by spray-painting swastikas and two SS bolts in black, and authorities believed that members of The Base, a neo-Nazi network, were behind the anti-Semitic graffiti. The jarring incident came flooding back to Holden after he learned of the arrests Thursday of three alleged members of the group in a separate case on the East Coast, which has put a renewed focus on the largely decentralized movement spanning chapters in North America and around the world. The FBI's pursuit of alleged members of the group widened, with authorities in Georgia announcing charges Friday against three additional men accused of belonging to The Base and plotting to overthrow the government and murder a couple. Luke Austin Lane, 21; Michael John Helterbrand, 25; and Jacob Kaderli, 19, were charged with conspiracy to commit murder and participation in a criminal gang, according to police in Floyd County. Investigators said the men targeted a couple because Lane, Helterbrand and Kaderli suspected them of being active in the liberal antifa movement. A fourth man was also arrested this week in connection with The Base."

Hundreds of thousands of our best and brightest were killed in action fighting this cancer. Second World War European Theater.

"Yousef Omar Barasneh, 22, from Wisconsin, allegedly traveled to Silver Creek, Georgia, in September to train with other members of The Base, including those arrested Thursday. According to the criminal complaint, Barasneh conspired to vandalize minority-owned properties in what the group called "Operation Kristallnacht," a reference to night raids conducted by German Nazis against Jewish homes and businesses in 1938. Members of The Base allegedly spray-painted at least one synagogue in Racine, Wisconsin, with swastikas and anti-Semitic language, officials said. Authorities suspect the case is linked to the one at Temple Jacob. "We welcome the arrests," Holden said Friday. "As a first-hand witness to their mischief-making, I can easily believe law enforcement has good reason to be concerned."

We all do. This ideology presents an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

"But experts who track hate groups say the vandalism in Michigan is merely a tamer example of the larger, apocalyptic vision that members harbor: Their ideology supports a race war against minorities and the establishing of white ethno-states. The group's name is the English translation of al Qaeda, according to The Soufan Group, a nonprofit security intelligence firm. "Just like al Qeada, The Base does not believe in any political solution to what they see as a threat to the white race," said Mollie Saltskog, an intelligence analyst with the firm. "Violence is the only option." Saltskog said that while the ideologies of a white supremacist group such as The Base and a jihadist organization such as al Qaeda appear disparate, their shared desire for bloodshed only incites their followers. "They feed off each other in a pretty sick way," she added."

Raw insanity.

"The Base, which took root about two years ago, maintains it is not a political organization and denies being a paramilitary group or militia with no formal membership or official leadership. Its membership numbers are unclear, but Saltskog said The Base's chapters extend beyond the United States and Canada, with support in Europe and Australia. One of those arrested in the U.S. this week is Canadian national Patrik Mathews, 27, who was allegedly a main recruiter for the group in Winnipeg. Mathews was a combat engineer in the Canadian Army Reserve, and his disappearance last summer put a spotlight on the group's efforts to attract new blood and its use of paramilitary training camps. Federal prosecutors say Mathews illegally crossed into Minnesota in August, and was picked up by two men from Maryland: Brian Lemley, Jr., 33, and William Bilbrough IV, 19. In December, Mathews and Lemley, a former cavalry scout in the U.S. Army, constructed a functioning assault rifle, according to an affidavit, and the men bought 1,650 rounds of ammunition this month and used the assault rifle at a Maryland gun range. Law enforcement officials said they moved in to arrest the men after learning they planned to attend the upcoming gun-rights rally at Virginia's state Capitol in Richmond. Gov. Ralph Northam has declared a state of emergency for the event after receiving "credible intelligence" that armed militias and hate groups are expected to be present — increasing the potential for civil unrest at a gathering expected to draw thousands. Northam, whose decision to temporarily ban firearms at the Capitol was met with resistance from gun rights groups, is trying to avoid the same deadly violence that marked an alt-right and white nationalist rally in Charlottesville in 2017. The trio arrested this week face various federal charges, including transporting a machine gun and harboring an illegal alien. Their court-appointed attorneys could not be reached for comment Friday. The FBI said during its surveillance, the men communicated about The Base, its activities and membership."

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-24-20

Outrageous miscarriage of justice. ABC News reports:

"Capt. Erin Scanlon says she doesn't know where to begin. Of the numerous setbacks she says she's faced in the last three years, it's hard for her to pinpoint where she feels it all went wrong. Her ordeal, she says, started on the night of Sept. 10, 2016, when Scanlon, a former fire support officer in the Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division who left the military last month, claimed she was raped by another Army service member in Fayetteville, North Carolina. She was a first lieutenant at the time of the alleged assault and made captain in February 2019. But from there her predicament only worsened: The military took over the case from civilian criminal court a week before trial was set to begin, and one of her former special victims counsels, her advocate in the military legal system, was ordered to testify against her about a witness Scanlon didn't disclose until late in the court martial process. Scanlon says she then wasn't allowed to sit in on the trial or see any transcript and that, now, she has no legal recourse to file a suit against the Army primarily because of a controversial 1950 Supreme Court ruling that prevents service members from suing the government."

Nazi justice.

"The man she accused, who had been a sergeant first class in the elite and highly secretive Delta Force, denied the allegations and was eventually found not guilty under military court proceedings. ABC News is withholding his name because he was acquitted. By the end of it all, she says she felt betrayed by the military, which has been trying to combat a surge in sexual assault complaints and create an environment that encourages service members to report assaults. "In my opinion, I really didn't have a chance at justice from the beginning," Scanlon told ABC News in an interview. "I think they went through the motions of giving me a court martial, but they never planned to prosecute." Scanlon filed a $10 million claim against the Army in April 2019 alleging "negligent investigation and handling of sexual assault case by Fort Bragg." The military has since denied the claim, citing the Federal Torts Claims Act, a statute that allows private parties to sue the government or government employees but does not apply to members of the military because of the controversial Feres doctrine, which stems from the 1950 case Feres v. United States. Scanlon and her lawyer opted to not file suit in federal court having concluded further litigation is futile. Her current attorney, Natalie Khawam, has been working to limit how the Feres doctrine is applied. She took her fight to Congress last year with another client in hopes of making it easier for service members to file a claim against the military if they are victims of medical malpractice. They won that fight in December 2019. "Why is it that these men and women who served our country are not having the same rights, the same legal recourse, that everyone else enjoys?" Khawam told ABC News. "People have to be held accountable." A spokesperson for U.S. Army Special Operations Command provided the following statement to ABC News on Scanlon's case: "U.S. Army Special Operations Command referred the criminal allegation to court-martial June 2018. The court-martial panel returned a finding of not guilty." The Army declined ABC News' public records request related to Scanlon's case."

Here are some of the scant particulars:

"The man Scanlon accused, who left Delta Force just weeks before the alleged attack, according to his enlistment record, was arrested on Sept. 30, 2016, by the Fayetteville Police Department after Scanlon filed a police report against him. She told police that after meeting him on Sept. 9, 2016, at a bar in Fayetteville for a charity event, he invited her to an after-party at a nearby warehouse, according to pre-trial documents obtained by ABC News from Cumberland County, the original jurisdiction for the case. As Scanlon was leaving a portable toilet outside, the only bathroom available, he allegedly confronted her. "He immediately started kissing me and I started saying, 'Stop. Don’t. Go find someone else,'" Scanlon told ABC News. Scanlon said she continued to try pushing him away and tell him no, but eventually "had just kind of given up." The sergeant was eventually indicted by a grand jury in Cumberland County on charges of second-degree forcible rape, second-degree forcible sexual offense and misdemeanor sexual battery, according to his indictment, and pleaded not guilty to all charges. The Fayetteville detective who handled Scanlon's case said that when he spoke with her friend, who was with her the night of the alleged assault, the friend "corroborated the victim's story and advised the victim told her, 'I feel like I was just raped,'" according to a search warrant application. In the same application for a warrant, the detective said that he reviewed Scanlon's medical record from her sexual assault kit. Her injuries -- lacerations to her back, legs, and hands, a contusion to her lower back and a small vaginal tear -- "corroborated the victim's statement," the detective stated in the warrant."

Yet, no conviction?

"The sergeant's attorney, who spoke to ABC News on the condition of anonymity, dismissed the allegations against his client, calling indictments "fairly routine." He said Scanlon was an "officer who got caught having sex in a compromising position with an NCO (non-commissioned officer)." The lawyer also said that there were witnesses who said they saw the incident, with one testifying at the court martial that she saw Scanlon with her arms wrapped around the sergeant's neck and legs wrapped around his waist and that the incident appeared to be consensual. Scanlon doesn't deny that a woman saw her and the sergeant during the incident, but she claimed she hadn't remembered it until months later. When she later did tell one of her special victims counsels (SVC), who serve as attorneys meant to help sexual assault victims through the legal process in the military, she also said she felt ashamed that she hadn’t reached out to the witness for help. "I didn't know who she was and she was there and then gone so quickly," Scanlon said. "I thought people wouldn't believe I had been raped if I hadn't yelled out to her for help." Deanne Gerdes, the executive director of Rape Crisis of Cumberland County, where Scanlon sought help, said it's common for sexual assault victims to suppress certain memories of an assault. "In my world, that's very typical," Gerdes told ABC News. "It's trauma." After waiting more than a year for the trial to begin, Scanlon suffered another setback. Six days before the Feb. 26, 2018, trial, Cumberland County said the case was now being handled by the military and there would be no trial in civilian criminal court. She remembers her "anxiety went through the roof." "My life was falling apart," she said. The sergeant's attorney said the case was not moved at the behest of the military, but rather because Cumberland County "didn't want the case." However, court filings appear to tell a different story. In the court record stating the reason for the dismissal and notice of reinstatement, a box reading "other" is checked and specifies "defendant is being prosecuted by the military for this offense." A box reading "there is insufficient evidence to warrant prosecution" was not checked. It was also noted in the Army's records of the case that the trial was moved at the request of the military. At the time, the Army claimed it had only just found out about the case, according to Scanlon and Gerdes, but Scanlon said she notified the Army's Criminal Investigation Command (CID) right after the alleged assault occurred. A case report also shows that the detective handling Scanlon's case had been in contact with agents from CID on four occasions in September 2016 -- about a year and a half before the Army claims to have found out. Scanlon also claimed that when she reported the incident to the CID, she says officers at CID told her to speak to Fayetteville Police because the alleged assault happened there."

Report goes on and on. Ad nauseum. None of this sounds right. None of it. No justice. If this is the way 'justice' works in the military, why would a woman want to sign up and risk being treated like this after being sexually assaulted?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-24-20

Justice? What's that? ABC News reports:

"Federal prosecutors are recommending a 25-year prison sentence for a Coast Guard lieutenant accused of stockpiling guns and targeting Supreme Court justices, prominent Democrats and TV journalists for attacks inspired by racist killers. But defense attorneys are seeking leniency for Christopher Hasson, disputing the government's claim that he is a domestic terrorist. Hasson’s lawyers are urging a federal judge in Maryland to spare him a prison term and sentence him to jail time served since his arrest and three years of supervised release. “Chris is eager to put this chapter behind him and try to rebuild his life,” his lawyers wrote last week in court filing ahead of his sentencing hearing. Hasson, 50, has pleaded guilty to gun and drug charges and is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 31. Ahead of the hearing, the prosecutors and defense lawyers explained their sentencing recommendations in separate memos filed last week."

Here is the problem:

"Prosecutors say Hasson is a white nationalist intent on carrying out mass killings, but they filed no terrorism-related charges against him after his February 2019 arrest. “The defendant — inspired by racist murderers — stockpiled assault weapons, studied violence, and intended to exact retribution on minorities and those he considered traitors. But for the diligent actions of multiple federal law enforcement agencies, we now would be counting bodies of the defendant’s victims instead of years of the defendant’s prison time,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Windom wrote. Hasson’s lawyers provided the court with a report prepared by Stephen Hart, an expert in violence risk assessment. Hart examined the evidence cited by prosecutors and rejected their theory that Hasson intended to carry out an attack. “There is no plausible scenario whereby Mr. Hasson engages in violence that might threaten public safety or public order, including but not limited to mass casualty attacks or domestic terrorism," Hart wrote."

Think so? Consider the following:

"He researched how to make homemade bombs, studied sniper training and used his government computer to search for information about Nazis and Adolf Hitler, prosecutors said. In a 2017 letter he sent to himself as a draft and apparently wrote to a neo-Nazi leader, Hasson identified himself as a white nationalist for over 30 years and “advocated for 'focused violence' in order to establish a white homeland," according to prosecutors. Hasson appeared to be planning attacks inspired by the manifesto of Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian right-wing extremist who killed 77 people in a 2011 bomb-and-shooting rampage, prosecutors said. Hasson’s online history shows searches that included the phrases “how to bring down the us government,” “most liberal fed judges usa” and “how to rid the us of jews,” prosecutors say. In February 2018, Hasson searched whether Supreme Court justices are "protected,” two weeks before he searched for the home addresses of two Supreme Court justices, according to Windom. “There is no question the defendant intended and planned to turn his thoughts into action,” the prosecutor wrote. Hasson pleaded guilty in October to possessing unregistered and unserialized silencers, being a drug addict in possession of firearms and illegal possession of tramadol, an opioid painkiller. In September, U.S. District Judge George Hazel refused to dismiss the gun charges against Hasson. The judge rejected a defense argument that charging Hasson with unlawful possession of firearm silencers violates his Second Amendment right to bear arms.

"Prosecutors claimed Hasson drew up what appeared to be a computer spreadsheet hit list naming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic presidential hopefuls, including Elizabeth Warren. He also mentioned several network TV journalists, including MSNBC's Chris Hayes and Joe Scarborough and CNN's Chris Cuomo and Van Jones. Prosecutors say Hasson spent roughly $12,000 in a three-year period to buy dozens of items “to outfit himself for his ultimate mission,” including smoke grenades, camping supplies, body armor, tactical vests and a $1,300 rifle scope. Windom said Hasson has been a “closet skinhead” his entire adult life. Defense lawyers dispute that their client has any “sincerely held” extremist, racist or white nationalist views. Hasson's attorneys describe him as a disaster “prepper” who stockpiles survivalist gear for "doomsday-type scenarios.” Hasson’s lawyers say he missed the camaraderie of military service after leaving the Marine Corps in 1994 and started hanging out with “people in the punk rock world,” many of whom identified as white supremacists. But his lawyers say Hasson cut ties with most of those people and joined the Army National Guard in Virginia less than six months after he left the Marine Corps. Hasson ordered at least 4,650 tramadol pills from internet distributors and had them shipped to his homes in Maryland and Currituck, North Carolina, according to Windom. The prosecutor said Hasson consumed most of the pills, including at times when he was working at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington. Hasson’s lawyers say his drug use impaired his judgment and led to behavior that was “inconsistent with his true character.” “He is an asset, not a danger, to our society,” they wrote."

Think so?

"Hasson worked at Coast Guard headquarters on a program to acquire advanced new cutters for the agency. He has remained on active duty pending the outcome of the criminal case. “His career, reputation, and life as he knew it are destroyed. And after all of this, the criminal case against Mr. Hasson has turned out to be little more than a run-of-the mill firearms-possession case,” his lawyers wrote."

Certainly, seems like it went well beyond firearms-possession. Needless to say, this case will be carefully followed.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-17-20

Have you seen this woman? The DailyTrib reports:

"The Burnet County Sheriff’s Office is asking the public for help locating a missing 75-year-old woman who was last seen January 6 in Burnet. The woman is Nancy Lord of Silver Creek, located in northwestern Burnet County. According to a BCSO release, she was last seen Monday on foot leaving the La Vista Motel, 502 Buchanan Drive in Burnet. Authorities said she suffers from dementia. She is 5 feet 8 inches tall with blonde hair and green eyes. She was last seen wearing a gray sweater and bluejeans with her hair in a ponytail. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact BCSO Lt. Howard Stinehour at 512-756-8080 or hstinehour@burnetsheriff.com."

The following is in update. If you have information, contact authorities:

"UPDATE 11 A.M. JANUARY 13: Authorities confirmed Nancy Lord, 75, was found dead January 10 in the city of Burnet. The Burnet Police Department, with the assistance of the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Rangers, is investigating her death. No other details are available at this time."

1-17-20

5-25-18

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril

Some salient quotes occurring later on in this edition vis a vis unfinished business County officials continue to ignore:

No justice. The American Way. Nazi America. When is this shit finally going to end? All of it. Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? One hundred ninety five weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace.

... Small sampling of what's to come in this edition. Read on.

The following email was sent to the District Attorney:

Wiley B. "Sonny" McAfee
District Attorney
33rd and 424th Judicial Districts
Llano, TX 78643

March 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*********************************

Rebecca Lange, Llano County Attorney
Llano County Attorney's Office
Llano, Texas 78643

February 9, 2018

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Counselor:

Equally pointedly, why hasn't Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 been held criminally accountable for egregious abuse of power involving denial of property rights to this Kingsland property owner? To say nothing of consequent resultant physical damage done to a motor home on that property.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

*******************

Bill Blackburn, Sheriff
Llano County Sheriff's Office
2001 N. State Hwy. 16 Suite A
Llano, Texas 78643

August 23, 2017

Re: Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

Sheriff:

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

c. Liberty In Peril

8-30-19

Llano County DA "Sonny Boy" is in the news. Received an award. The DailyTrib reports:

The District Attorney has ignored a complaint filed earlier by this publication regarding special treatment accorded Texas oil man Johnny Greene by the Llano County Attorney and Sheriff vis a vis a property dispute involving a local banker, three other local property owners with homes encroaching on land they don't own, one of which is on an unused Llano County road. To say nothing of damage to a Pace Arrow motorhome on that property. All a result of egregious abuse of authority by Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764. The circumstances of this fiasco can be found above in each and every edition of this publication since this happened two years ago. The Sheriff, the County Attorney, and the District Attorney have all determinedly, concertedly ignored this ongoing, unresolved fiasco raising one ferociously pointed question. How much were they bribed?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-17-20

Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? One hundred ninety five weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace. Why are you still sitting on this information? What are you hiding, Sheriff? What is the identity of the officers who killed Wise? Too gutless to release this information to the public that pays your salary and that of your goons? Reportedly, there were three officers involved in the shooting.

Who are they, Sheriff? Their past history? An ongoing investigation remains a lame bullshit excuse. How can you and your goons be trusted when you refuse to disclose information? One hundred ninety five weeks. Especially, your egregious failure to disclose the identity of the officers who pulled the trigger. To cover your sorry ass, Sheriff? Those of your thugs? The people have a right to know what happened, how it went down. You don't understand that, Sheriff? Sadly, clearly, you answer to no one. Including taxpayers. Especially, taxpayers.

Until you and your goons come clean, doubt will remain this was indeed a good shoot. The longer you drag your feet, the greater the doubt. Think not? Wake up. Your credibility has tanked. Isn't getting any better as this bullshit continues unabated. One hundred ninety five weeks. Still no identification of the officers involved ... Can't get your stories straight? In line? Discrepancy between LCSO and DPS? Wake up, Sheriff. The public no longer buys the bullshit. No longer trusts you. On this and many, many other issues. You have no credibility. Absolutely, none.

1-17-20

As always when an officer does something heroic, and/or of exceptional benefit to the community, it leads. Always.

"Amber Leist, a 12-year-veteran of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, was in the Valley Village neighborhood of Los Angeles when she saw an elderly woman fall in the crosswalk, NBC Los Angeles reported. After helping the woman get back on her feet, Leist, 41, was fatally struck by a vehicle at approximately 11 a.m. while returning to her car, the station said. She was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead."

Uncommon Valor. Cost her her life.

"The driver who struck Leist remained at the scene, and the incident is considered to be an accident while police investigate, NBC Los Angeles said. Leist, who was a detective in West Hollywood, was mourned by her colleagues, who said on social media she was an "outstanding detective who led by example." She leaves behind two sons, one of whom is currently serving in the Navy, according to the L.A. County Sheriff."

... No greater love.

1-17-20

The following is a most unusual case. Haven't seen anything quite like it all the years since launch of this publication. NPR reports:

"St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner filed what she called an unprecedented federal civil rights lawsuit on Monday, accusing the city, the local police union and others of a coordinated and racist conspiracy aimed at forcing her out of office. St. Louis' first black prosecutor, Kim Gardner, has sued the city, its police union and five others for what she calls a racist effort to block her reform agenda. "Gardner was elected in 2016 on a promise to redress the scourge of historical inequality and rebuild trust in the criminal justice system among communities of color," reads the lawsuit filed Monday in federal court. "Unfortunately, entrenched interests in St. Louis ... have mobilized to thwart these efforts through a broad campaign of collusive conduct" to protect the status quo and remove Gardner from office."

While not clear yet where and how this will end, one thing for certain. Racism remains alive and well in the United States. Not only that, this case appears to raise a most thorny legal issue as will become evident shortly:

"Jacob Long, a spokesman for Mayor Lyda Krewson, said the city "vehemently denied what it considers to be meritless allegations levied against it," and expected to be "fully vindicated" at trial. Jeff Roorda, a police union official named in the suit, called it "the last act of a desperate woman." The suit has its roots in the 2018 prosecution of then-Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens. Gardner hired an outside investigator to look into accusations that Greitens took a semi-nude photo of a woman with whom he was having an affair and then transmitted it in a way that it could be accessed by a computer. Gardner later dropped the charge after Greitens' attorneys raised questions about the conduct of that investigator, William Tisaby. The defense team wanted Tisaby to testify. When he refused, a judge ordered Gardner to testify instead, something she said she could not do while also prosecuting the case."

The judge had to have been aware of that. How can a prosecutor testify in a case he or she is trying?

"Police investigating perjury allegations against Tisaby asked a second judge in June 2018 to appoint a special prosecutor, a request that Judge Michael Mullen granted. Mullen then named St. Louis attorney Gerard Carmody to that role. Carmody presented the case to a grand jury which indicted Tisaby on seven counts of perjury and evidence tampering. Tisaby has pleaded not guilty. Gardner's suit points out numerous connections between Carmody, his law firm, Gardner's opponents in the 2016 election, Greitens' defense team, and the St. Louis Police Officers Association, which has frequently clashed with Gardner. Gardner accuses the St. Louis police department of delaying investigations into threatening letters she received during the Greitens prosecution."

Eyes glazed over yet? Gets worse:

"Defendants "have conspired for the purpose of impeding, hindering, obstructing, or defeating the due course of justice, with the intent to injure Gardner or her property for lawfully enforcing and/or attempting to enforce the rights of all persons within the City of St. Louis to equal protection of the laws," her attorneys wrote. They are seeking monetary damages, and asking a judge to stop the defendants from "violating Gardner's civil rights." Carmody, the special prosecutor, declined to comment. He is named in the suit — along with his daughter Ryann and son Patrick, who have worked on the case against Tisaby. Charles Lane, the seventh individual sued, is a former police officer who challenged Gardner's authority to pay for outside attorneys using city money. The lawsuit lists just one instance in which Gardner was unable to achieve something because of the actions of the defendants. But Allison Hawk, a spokeswoman for Gardner, said the legal battles over the Greitens prosecution had taken a lot of time and effort. Roy Austin, one of eight attorneys listed in federal court papers, said the advocacy group Mothers Against Police Brutality was covering the cost of litigation. The group did not return a phone call or an email for comment."

Needless to say, this case will be closely followed. Imagine being a juror in such circumstances. Having to be quickly brought up to speed. The law is increasingly complex. Needlessly, so. Too often bought and paid for. All too frequent end result?

No justice. The American Way. Nazi America. When is this shit finally going to end? All of it. Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? One hundred ninety five weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-17-20

The following is also a most unusual case. Never had one quite like this one in nearly twenty-one years. CBS News reports:

"A State Department spokesperson said Friday that extraditing Anne Sacoolas, an American official's wife who was charged in December with killing a teenager in a car crash, would be "highly inappropriate." The comment comes just hours after the U.K. Home Office told CBS News that it had requested Sacoolas' extradition. U.K. authorities say Sacoolas struck and killed 19-year-old Harry Dunn while driving down the wrong side of the road in the summer, she left the country claiming diplomatic immunity. Her departure sparked a movement in Britain to bring her back to the country to face justice."

Understandably, so. Yet, there is the matter of diplomatic immunity.

"The United States has been clear that, at the time the accident occurred, and for the duration of her stay in the U.K., the driver in this case had status that conferred diplomatic immunities. The Foreign Secretary stated the same in Parliament. It is the position of the United States government that a request to extradite an individual under these circumstances would be an abuse," a State Department spokesperson told CBS News. "The use of an extradition treaty to attempt to return the spouse of a former diplomat by force would establish an extraordinarily troubling precedent." "The United States has a strong law enforcement relationship with the U.K. and, in particular, a strong track record of close cooperation on extradition matters," the spokesperson added. "However, under the circumstances of this case, we strongly believe that an extradition request would be highly inappropriate." Earlier Friday, the U.K. Home Office told CBS News that "Following the Crown Prosecution Service's charging decision, the Home Office has sent an extradition request to the United States for Anne Sacoolas on charges of causing death by dangerous driving," "This is now a decision for the U.S. authorities," the spokesperson added."

Should have remained and faced the music. Had the honor and fortitude to do so. Instead, she gutlessly fled. -- This wasn't a trumped up case designed to entrap the diplomat's wife. Not only that, Britain is one of our closest allies. She clearly broke the law driving on the wrong side of the road. Killed a kid in the process.

While enjoying diplomatic immunity, she could still have indeed done the right thing. Taken responsibility. Sought a deal. Considering the circumstances, could certainly have agreed to plead guilty in return for being deported, permanently barred from returning, etc. Given the parents some solace.

"Authorities became aware in September that Sacoolas had left Britain and returned to the United States. But the family of Harry Dunn wasn't informed until 10 days later."

How about that?

"Dunn's family traveled to the United States in December to meet with President Trump. They declined to meet with Sacoolas, who was at the White House at the time of their visit, and they continue to fight for her to return to Britain."

Trump remains an idiot. Sad, isn't it? Particularly, in light of the following:

"This isn't Sacoolas' first driving-related charge. According to court records, the 42-year-old mother of three was convicted of a driving infraction in Virginia in 2006 for "failing to pay full time and attention" behind the wheel. "Anne is devastated by this tragic accident and would do anything she could to bring Harry back. She continues to grieve for Harry and his family," Sacoolas' lawyer said in a statement to CBS News on Friday. "The United States has made clear they will deny any extradition request and will uphold the longstanding agreement of diplomatic immunity between our two countries." "We remain willing to work with the U.K. authorities to identify a path forward," the statement added."

How about like doing the right thing, that is, facing the music? Doing it voluntarily. For one reason and one reason only. Because it is the right thing to do.

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

1-17-20

Sad, it's come down to this. The Associated Press reports:

"Homeless women ordered by a California judge last week to leave a vacant house they illegally occupied in Oakland for two months were evicted before dawn Tuesday by sheriff’s deputies in a case that highlighted the state’s severe housing shortage and growing numbers of homeless people."

The following is appalling. Worst law enforcement has to offer. Wake up. These are homeless women and children. Forget?

"Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies, some dressed in military-style fatigues, escorted two women with the Moms 4 Housing group from the home and bound their hands with plastic ties as dozens of activists on the sidewalk chanted “Let the moms go! Let the moms go!” and recorded the chaotic scene with their cell phones. Two men were also arrested. Video showed one deputy slamming a battering ram against the house’s front door."

Nazi America.

"The women decried the show of force and declared their fight far from over in a city where a one-night count of homeless jumped 47% in two years to more than 4,000 last year and the median house sales price is about $750,000. Deputies boarded up with plywood and a chain link fence was later erected around the property. Deputies who carried out the eviction “came in like an army for mothers and babies,” said Dominique Walker, one of the mothers who was not arrested. “We have the right to housing. This is just the beginning.”

Clearly, not in Nazi America. Goddamned corporate management suite and top of the food chain come first. Forget? Zero-sum, winner-take-all.

"How permanently the women have changed the conversation around what is an intractable — and statewide — problem remains to be seen. An uptick in the U.S. homeless population last year was driven entirely by a 16% increase in California, federal officials have said, and the governor has pledged to tackle the twin crises of homelessness and deep housing unaffordability."

Sadly, how revolutions spawn.

"The Oakland women have said nobody should be homeless when investment companies are buying and fixing up properties to sell at profit. The occupied house in the distressed West Oakland neighborhood is owned by Wedgewood Inc., a Southern California real estate investment group that bought the property at a foreclosure auction last year for just over $500,000."

Laissez-faire. That is, unregulated, or as in the case of our formerly great country, poorly regulated capitalism.

"Squatting is nothing new in the San Francisco Bay Area, said Needa Bee, a homeless mother who works with The Village in Oakland group to shelter homeless people, in some cases inside houses that belong to others. The group identified nine unoccupied homes over the last year for 40 homeless people, she said. Some properties targeted for squatting included homes owned by banks and investment firms. Others were homes owned by people having trouble paying property taxes, and who welcomed the homeless as tenants in exchange for the group’s help paying taxes or making repairs. The group also plans to build homes and a solar shower on a median strip in an East Oakland neighborhood currently used as an illegal trash dump, Bee said."

Here's the problem:

“We live in a society that is pro-property owners and pro-capitalist so when you have that kind of value system, you’re going to have people who live on medians and who are harassed for living on medians,” Bee said. The women who were evicted Monday moved into the three-bedroom house in November with their children, partly to protest the methods of speculators who they have claimed snap up distressed homes and leave them empty despite California’s housing shortage. They also wanted to highlight the plight of African Americans in the U.S. who were historically shut out of owning property and forced into substandard neighborhoods that are now popular with wealthier, and often whiter, residents. “We live in a society that is anti-poverty, that is anti-black,” Bee said."

The attitude of the judiciary is certainly part of the problem:

"Alameda County Superior Court Judge Patrick McKinney ruled Friday the women did not have the right to stay and had to leave within five days. McKinney said the courtroom was not the place to address issues of housing and homelessness."

Where else is there? Charities and the churches pay lip service. No more. No less. Business community? Hopelessly, greedy. Never gets enough. Precisely, why nothing changes for the better.

"Still, McKinney allowed lawyers for Walker, and her recently formed collective, Moms 4 Housing, to make their case. They argued that housing is a right and that the court must give the women the right to possess the house, especially because it sat vacant for so long and because the alternative would be to send the women to live on the streets."

While the judge did the right thing allowing them to make the case, he was no different than the charities and churches. Paid lip service.

"On Tuesday, Sgt. Ray Kelly, spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, called the high-profile eviction a success because authorities feared a potential for violence."

Jesus Christ. Your standards of success that low?

"Officers had to use the battering ram to get into the house because the back and front doors had been fortified, Kelly said. Two women and a man who were inside were arrested after they were given 5 minutes to leave and did not, he said. A fourth person was arrested outside the house."

Should have all insisted on being arrested and jailed. All of them. Let the city provide accommodations in the jail. Piss the taxpayers off enough, guess what? They'll force desperately-needed change city officials and charities remain unwilling to provide.

“There was a tremendous amount of work that went into this and we had to think outside the box a little bit,” Kelly said."

Did a piss poor job. Don't flatter yourself.

"Officers then boarded up the house with plywood and said it is up to Oakland police to arrest anyone caught trespassing. The house did not contain many belongings, Kelly said, and Wedgewood is responsible for returning those belongings."

Good luck. Snowball's chance.

"Kelly said the department is considering billing Wedgewood for the “tens of thousands of dollars” associated with enforcing the eviction."

Jesus Christ. Give me a break. LOL. ... That right? LOL.

"The people arrested will be booked on misdemeanor charges of resisting and obstruction, he said. No children were present during the 5:15 a.m. eviction. Wedgewood said the company was pleased “the illegal occupation of its Oakland home has ended peacefully.”

Bet you are. After all, you bastards are, and continue to be, the problem.

"Moms 4 Housing said after the eviction that its efforts will continue despite the arrests. “We’ve built a movement of thousands of Oaklanders who showed up at a moments notice to reject police violence and advocate for homes for families,” the group tweeted. “This isn’t over, and it won’t be over until everyone in the Oakland community has a safe and dignified place to live.”

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
libertyinperil.com
libertyinperil.host-ed.me
libertyinperil.t15.org
libertyinperil.twomini.com
libertyinperil.wink.ws
libertyinperil@openmailbox.org
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609
United States Of America