Nutcase Prague Oklahoma High School Principal David Smith Withholds Valedictorian Student’s Diploma For Saying “Hell” In Speech

PRAGUE, OKLAHOMA – There’s a bit of diploma drama going on between a local high school and that school’s valedictorian.

David Nootbaar is furious his daughter’s school is keeping her diploma.

He said, “She has worked so hard to stay at the top of her class and this is not right.”

Kaitlin Nootbaar graduated from Prague High School, the Red Devils, in May and was named valedictorian.

When tasked with writing the graduation speech, her dad said she got her inspiration from the movie “Eclipse: The Twilight Saga.”

Nootbaar said, “Her quote was, ‘When she first started school she wanted to be a nurse, then a veterinarian and now that she was getting closer to graduation, people would ask her, what do you want to do and she said how the hell do I know? I’ve changed my mind so many times.’”

He said in the written script she gave to the school she wrote “heck,” but in the moment she said “hell” instead.

Nootbaar said the audience laughed, she finished her speech to warm applause and didn’t know there was a problem.

That was until she went to pick up the real certificate this week.

“We went to the office and asked for the diploma and the principal said, ‘Your diploma is right here but you’re not getting it. Close the door; we have a problem,’” Nootbaar said.

He said the principal told Kaitlin she would have to write an apology letter before he would release the diploma.

A move her dad believes is illegal.

“She earned that diploma. She completed all the state curriculum. In four years she has never made a B. She got straight A’s and had a 4.0 the whole way through.”

Kaitlin starts college in a few days on a full scholarship, making the administrators’ decision even more appalling to her family.

We tried to get the school’s side of the story.

Superintendent Dr. Rick Martin said in a statement, “This matter is confidential and we cannot publicly say anything about it.”

Kaitlin doesn’t plan on writing an apology letter because she doesn’t feel she did anything wrong.

Her family supports that choice.

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Nutcase Former New Haven Connecticut Police Officer John Kelly, Facing Weapons Charge, Arrested Again And Charged With Burglary And Larceny After Stealing Generator From Man’s Garage

MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT — A former New Haven police officer recently arrested on a weapons charge was arrested again over the weekend and charged with burglary and larceny for allegedly stealing a generator, state police report.

John Kelly, 45, 1 Brookside Ave., Old Lyme, was in Middletown Superior Court on Monday and Judge Susan Handy set bond for $25,000 cash or surety, which he posted through a bail bondsman. According to court personnel, Kelly will be held on a suicide watch and is due back in court July 20.

State police responded to call of an accident on June 23 around 10:45 a.m. and found a pickup truck in the middle of the travel lane on New City Street in Essex. The truck came back as registered to Kelly, and the trooper found him a short time later, walking back to the truck.

Kelly told police he had run out of gas and was pouring gas from a Dunkin’ Donuts cup into the truck, police said. He was disheveled and dirty, wearing one shoe and hobbling around, stating he had sprained his ankle, police said.

Kelly was able to start the truck and told police he was going home. Less than two hours later, troopers responded to a call from Kelly’s ex wife, saying Kelly was on Dennison Road limping and “acting strange.”

Troopers reported seeing the truck in the roadway again, and Kelly, “sweating profusely” said he was out of gas again, according to police. While waiting for a tow truck to arrive for Kelly, police were approached by a man who said he lived on the road and said he found a cup of water in his garage.

Police asked Kelly if he had been in the man’s house, and Kelly allegedly said he went into the garage for water and gas. Kelly had a newer Honda generator in the bed of his truck and the man identified it as his generator, police said. Kelly, however, told police he had found it in the bushes behind the man’s house and had tried to get gas from it, then placed it in the back of his truck. After investigating, police determined the generator had been in the back of the man’s garage.

When police arrested Kelly, he became irate and yelled “cops are supposed to take care of each other,” police said, and that “the state police were out to get him.” He tried to minimalize the incident by saying he had only gone into the garage a few feet, police said.

Kelly, who was a New Haven police officer for 21 years and has also served in the U.S. Navy, said he had a stellar career as a police officer in New Haven, according to state police. According to statements made in court, Kelly suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

While in the cell at the state police barracks, Kelly was yelling, banging on the cell doors and walls, and covering himself in water from the sink, police said. He was unable to post the $5,000 bond and was taken to Hartford Correctional until his arraignment Monday.

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No Bath Salts Or Other Hallucinatory Drugs Found In Savage Black Beast Who Was Killed In Miami While Eating Another Man

MIAMI, FLORIDA – Rudy Eugene, the Causeway Cannibal who ate the face off a homeless man he attacked along the MacArthur Causeway, was apparently not high on bath salts or any other exotic street drug at the time of the attack, according to a report released Wednesday by the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner.

The news leaves law enforcement officials wondering what drove Eugene to strip off his clothes, attack homeless man Ronald Poppo, and chew off pieces of flesh from Poppo’s face.

Speculation about the cause of Eugene’s rampage on Poppo’s face centered on drugs, specifically Bath Salts, after police union officials claimed a increase in bizarre behavior among people on the street using such drugs.

The much-anticipated toxicology report released by Miami-Dade Medical Examiner Dr. Bruce Hyma found marijuana in Eugene’s system, something CBS4 News had previously reported, but no evidence of any other street drugs, alcohol or prescription drugs, or any adulterants found in street drugs.

The report said this includes cocaine, LSD, amphetamines (Extasy, Meth and others), phencyclidine (PCP or Angel Dust), heroin, oxycodone, Xanax, synthetic marijuana (Spice), and many other similar compounds.

Hyma’s office specifically ruled out Bath Salts, a class of synthetic drugs that have been known to cause bizarre behavior and overheating of people who use them, two things that made some believe Eugene’s cannibalistic behavior was to blame on the drugs.

“The department has also sought the assistance of an outside forensic toxicology reference laboratory, which has confirmed the absence of “bath salts,” synthetic marijuana and LSD,” the report said.

“Within the limits of current technology by both laboratories, marijuana is the only drug identified in the body of Mr. Rudy Eugene.”

The news from the medical examiner sends investigators back to square one as they look for what caused Eugene’s bizarre behavior.

PHOTO GALLERY: NOTORIOUS CANNIBALS IN HISTORY

A girlfriend and a friend who had seen Eugene hours before the attack said he had used Marihuana, but had seen him use no other drug before traveling to the Urban Beach Weekend on Miami Beach the morning of the attack.

Eugene abandoned his car on the beach and walked back to Miami on the MacArthur Causeway, stripping off his clothes during the 3 mile trip, at one point spotted swinging from a lamp post.

Once on the Miami side of the causeway, he encountered Poppo where the MiamiMover crosses the causeway, in view of security cameras on the Miami Herald building. Those cameras detailed how the naked cannibal attacked the much older Poppo, knocked him to the ground, and stripped him of his clothing.

Once overcome, Eugene chewed flesh from Poppo’s face, but a later autopsy report found he did not actually eat it.

A police called to the scene by people who spotted the bizarre attack tried to intervene but was forced to use his gun, killing Eugene and apparently striking the badly wounded Poppo.

Poppo, who was taken to Ryder Trauma Center, survived the attack but has no memory of it. His face was virtually destroyed but doctors say much of it can be repaired.

Eugene’s family and friends say they are clueless about why he attacked Poppo, claiming the former high school football player and car wash employee had never shown such violent tendencies. Many believed drugs were to blame, but with Wednesday’s report the search has begun for a new cause for one of South Florida’s most bizarre crimes.

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Nutcase Mt. Healthy High School Ohio School Principal Marlon Styles, Jr. Withholds Well Known Student’s Diploma Because People Cheered At His Graduation

CINCINNATI, OHIO – Winning football teams are used to a lot of cheering.

But for the second leading tackler of the Mt. Healthy Fighting Owls, cheering has earned Anthony Cornist a penalty he doesn’t think he deserves.

“It’s crazy how somebody can do that to you,” he said from his family’s living room Monday.

When Anthony walked across the stage at his high school graduation, his family made some noise.

“It was my dream to graduate,” he said.

“I’m very proud of my son,” Traci Cornist said.

Apparently, so were a lot of others.

“Teachers, other students and other family members who weren’t with us were also cheering for him also. He’s well known,” Traci said.

The excitement proved too much for the administration.

Instead of a diploma, Anthony got a letter from the principal, Marlon Styles, Jr.

“I will be holding your diploma in the main office,” the letter said, “due to the excessive cheering your guests displayed during the roll call.”

“I did nothing wrong except walk across the stage,” Anthony said.

The school demands 20 hours of community service before he can graduate.

Those hours can be split between Anthony and his family, or the senior can perform them all himself.

“I don’t understand how he’s being punished for something he has no control over,” Traci said. “I just thought that was ludicrous… I have no clue where the logic comes in.”

Calls to the principal, the district superintendent as well as a visit to Mt. Healthy High School have all gone unanswered.

Anthony’s mother says so will the penalty.

“He’s definitely not doing the community service,” she said. “I’m definitely not doing the community service.”

That strategy could spell trouble for Anthony’s game plan.

“I have a college right now that definitely needs my diploma,” he said.

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Crazed New York City Mayor Bloomberg Tries To Ban All “Sugary” Drinks Over 16 Ounces

NEW YORK, NEW YORK — Every single menu in New York City could soon be getting a major overhaul if Mayor Michael Bloomberg has his way.

The man behind calorie counts is set to announce a new public health initiative to battle obesity, taking aim at super-sized sugary drinks.

In other words, it may soon be time to say goodbye to those Big Gulps, those Slurpees or even Venti at Starbucks, CBS 2’s Derricke Dennis reported.

“That’s okay,” one person said.

No it’s not, according to Mayor Bloomberg, who is set to propose a ban on sugary drinks over 16 ounces everywhere, all across the city.

“I disagree with it, because it’s the right to choose. If you want to drink a Slurpee, you should be allowed to drink a Slurpee,” said Jamie Sawyer, a tourist from Oklahoma.

“Stupid, he did a lot of good things, but this he shouldn’t do,” added Art Lensvelt, a tourist from Amsterdam, Holland.

Dennis found Lensvelt enjoying his sugary iced coffee. He then found police officers actually fighting over Slurpees. Other items that figure to be banned are Gatorade, those fountain drinks at the movies, and, yes, the popular Big Gulp.

“That’s a good idea. A lot of obese people are in New York,” Canarsie resident Jillian Russell said.

And the mayor apparently agrees, taking aim at the sugar in sodas and some juices in an effort to reduce New Yorkers’ waistlines.

However, the NYC Beverage Association is opposed, saying in a statement: “The city is not going to address the obesity issue by attacking soda, because soda is not driving the obesity rates. The overall American diet is.

Either way, lovers of sugary drinks said Bloomberg should take a dip.

“Mayor Bloomberg, let us have our Slurpees, please,” one resident said.

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Crackpot “Minister” Louis Farrakhan Predicts “Allah” Will Bring Down America’s Skyscrapers, Praises Sharia Law, And Threatens Death Unless America Submits

CALIFORNIA – The Minister Louis Farrakhan isn’t one to avoid controversial language. In his Sunday address in San Diego, the Nation of Islam leader slammed Israel, lamented Mexico’s loss of land at the hands of American “trickery” and derided President Barack Obama for his endorsement of same-sex marriage. But that’s only a portion of what was uttered in his nearly three-hour address. During the last 10 minutes, the fiery Farrakhan erupted with fervency, applauding the violence of sharia law and giving some cryptic warnings to America regarding Iranian intervention.

In speaking to his “Arab brothers,” Farrakhan said that they should not kill their children who shame them. But rather than merely lambasting those who participate in honor crimes, he turned the discussion into a referendum on America (in all fairness, while making these comments, he did say that “Islam needs reform,“ and that his Arab brothers need ”mercy from God“ so they can get ”strong enough to live sharia” — but both statements came without proper explanation).

“To my Arab brothers, you should not kill your children in this honor killing after you bring yourself and them into a country that is a modern Babylon and they get sucked up into the culture of decadence,” he said. “They you’re angry with them because they brought shame on the family. Let me tell you, shame on you for looking to America for your health and bringing your children into this and not creating a world for them to revolve in that will keep the decency that you taught them in the old country.”

From here, the conversation turned into a rant about what goes on in the Islamic holy city of Mecca. Farrakhan explained that, following Jumu’ah prayer on Fridays, if someone is guilty of stealing something, locals don’t wait for that individual to go to jail where he or she will be fed and cared for. Instead, he says the offender has his or her hand cut off in the middle of the prayer square and in front of everyone.

If the man or woman steals again, the other hand is lopped off, he said. This would essentially serve as an example of the punishment that one would encounter if entering into crime. Farrakhan then moved on to another story in which he discussed a Filipino man who apparently raped a Muslim woman in Saudi Arabia. This man, too, faced a harsh retribution for his alleged actions. Here’s his commentary on the matter:

“Oh they couldn’t wait. I mean after they find you guilty ain‘t nobody that’s law-abiding feeding a guilty person. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with you people. The taxpayers gotta come out of their pocket to feed murderers, thieves, cutthroats. ‘Ah Farrakhan now that is kind of harsh.’ Yeah, but what you do to people — if you’re innocent that is harsh — but if you’re guilty, brother — see, you expect mercy, but you don’t show it to those whom you rob and kill and rape — see. So, in our world, that man that raped that sister, his head came off. Oh it was quick too. They called it poke chop, that’s right…and when that head goes off, it rolls down the street, you know…”

Farrakhan went on to claim that stealing, fornicating and committing adultery “blinds the eyes, deafens the ears and dumbs the tongue.” Committing such actions, he contends, is as if one’s “head is gone,” as this is indicative of destroying the family — an action that is “worthy of death.”

Then, Farrakhan’s tough message for America was weaved into his closing, as the faith leader warned of potential calamity if the United States decides to take military action against Iran. This danger, he contends, would be thrust upon America by Allah.

“So, America I close. I tell you, you’re on your way to war and if you declare war on Iran at the behest of Israel and you bomb Iran and some of you are saying we should invoke Hiroshima again on Iran, meaning drop an atomic bomb on Muslims — I have even heard that they’re talking about even bombing Mecca…,” he continued.

Of course, there was no mention of where Farrakhan heard that Mecca, a city in Saudi Arabia, was on the U.S.’s list of bomb targets, but that didn’t stop him from making the allegation. He progressed, going on to explain how important it is that someone warn Mecca of the potential danger and that “somebody gotta do what God needs done.” Then, Farrakhan went on to say that he’s willing to give his life, if needed, to properly warn of the danger that will befall the world if America attacks Iran. His words for the U.S. were cryptic.

“So I’m warning you, America, if you bomb Iran, I’m looking at San Diego, I’m looking at your beautiful cities — the God that I represent is going to take out some of your cities with earthquakes,” he proclaimed. “You live in the city, I live in the city, but some of us are going to die, because we agree with them, agree with evil. So the God of judgement and justice, he’s going to kill a lot.”

And he wasn’t done there. Farrakhan continued:

“I’m sorry to have to tell you, but I’m saying this to our president and the warmongers [at another point in the speech ‘warmongers’ was used to describe Israel]. We can‘t stop you from bombing Iran if that’s what you want to do, but as you take out somebody else’s cities — as you destroy the lives of innocent people like you did in Baghdad on the basis of a lie — then what are you doing for the American people? You’re sentencing them in the weight of justice to the same death you have dealt to other people in other nations.

I am warning you: Take it or let it alone. He will take down cities and when I look at the skyscrapers in some of these major metropolis. He’s not going to take the big ones down first. He’s going to show you his power. In the meantime, one calamity after another until you submit, America, and know that judgement is here. You can escape it but you gotta do right by this people. And if you don’t do right by them, you can’t do right by the people outside of America, if you won’t do right for those who have…built your country.”

This, of course, was the conclusion to his conflagrant speech, as he showcased his distaste for America and the impending wrath he believes the nation is going to potentially face. While it’s not surprising to hear extreme rhetoric coming from Farrakhan, there are certainly some troubling — and new — tidbits embedded here.

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Nutcase Maricopa County Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Sends Detectives To Hawaii In Search Of President Obama’s Birth Certificate

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – In a major development in his probe of Barack Obama’s eligibility for Arizona’s 2012 presidential ballot, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has dispatched his lead Cold Case Posse investigator and a deputy detective to Hawaii.

The mission to Obama’s purported birthplace comes as the Hawaii Department of Health continues to resist efforts by Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett to verify that the Honolulu agency has a valid birth certificate on file for Obama.

Former Bergen County, N.J., detective Mike Zullo and his volunteer team were commissioned by Arpaio last September to investigate Obama’s eligibility after citizens raised concerns about the authenticity of the birth record the White House posted on its website. Zullo’s team announced March 1 that it found probable cause that the document is a forgery.

Sign the petition now to show members of Congress how many Americans demand constitutional integrity.

Zullo’s investigation is a volunteer effort, but the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has sent him to Hawaii with an MCSO deputy detective for safety reasons and to act as a liaison between MCSO and local law enforcement.

WND reporter Jerome Corsi is embedded with the investigators in Hawaii with the provision that reporting during the trip be curtailed to protect the investigation.

Arpaio told WND Friday that the Hawaii Department of Health’s refusal to confirm to Bennett that it has a valid Obama birth certificate on file makes it look like Hawaii officials “are hiding something.”

Bennett has said that he might keep Obama’s name off of the state’s presidential ballot if he doesn’t receive the confirmation.

Eight weeks ago, the secretary of state asked Hawaii officials merely for an email confirming the Department of Health has a certified copy of the birth certificate, but Hawaii officials have not complied.

Zullo told WND Friday that Hawaii’s refusal to comply “is just another outright, glaring display of stonewalling that the Sheriff’s Office has encountered since Day One conducting this investigation.”

Zullo said “common sense at this point should be everyone’s guide.”

“If this was a non-issue, it wouldn’t be going on eight weeks waiting for the state of Hawaii to verify anything,” he said.

Over the weekend, KTVK-TV in Phoenix reported the Hawaii attorney general’s office has told Bennett he needs to take certain steps to confirm Obama’s birth records.

The steps include Bennett proving that he “legitimately needs confirmation to update records at his office.”

Zullo told WND that Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office investigators have spoken at length with Bennett regarding the president’s birth record. Zullo said his team spoke with Bennett as recently as last week.

“We are in the beginning stages of enlightening him to critical information that the sheriff has acquired during this investigation,” Zullo said.

‘It looks like they’re hiding something’

Arpaio’s team also is investigating the president’s Selective Service registration form, which his team also found probable cause to be a forgery.

He told WND he’s not getting much cooperation with federal and state governments.

“But that doesn’t matter; we’re still going to continue our investigation and see if those documents are forged,” he said.

Does anyone really know where Obama is from? Find out the startling truth from New York Times best-selling author Jerome Corsi.

Regarding the Hawaii Department of Health, Arpaio noted he’s said since the beginning of the investigation last fall, “Show me the microfilm.”

“They won’t do that, so it looks like they’re hiding something,” he said.

Arpaio said he will continue his investigation regardless of whether or not Obama gets on the ballot.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio

In an interview last Thursday with Phoenix radio host Mike Broomhead of KFYI, Bennett was asked if he would remove Obama’s name from the ballot if Hawaii won’t reply to his request.

“That’s possible. Or the other option would be that I would ask all the candidates, including the president, to submit a certified copy of their birth certificate,” Bennett said.

Bennett explained that under Hawaii law, government officials can request verification that the state has possession of a valid birth certificate.

“They could say yes tomorrow, and the whole thing goes away,” Bennett said. “If they can’t say yes to that simple question, then it makes me wonder if we have to take it to another level.”

Bennett said that regardless of Hawaii’s response, he needs “to have to have some simple verification that people are qualified for the office if they’re going to be on the ballot here in Arizona.”

The Arizona official insisted he’s not a “birther” and denied he’s trying to appease “birthers” because he wants to run for governor.

“I believe the president was born in Hawaii – or at least I hope he was,” Bennett said.

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Black Spencer North Carolina Teacher Tanya Dixon-Neely Nuts Up And Tells Student He Can Be Arrested For Speaking Ill Of President Obama – Follow YouTube Link To Hear Nutcase Teacher Flipping Out

SPENCER, NORTH CAROLINA — After reviewing a video in which a North Rowan High School teacher tells a student he can be arrested for speaking ill of President Barack Obama, the Rowan-Salisbury School System said it can be a learning experience.

Meanwhile, an expert on politics at Catawba College says the social studies teacher just doesn’t have her facts straight when she insists speaking your mind about a president can get you charged with a criminal offense.

Although two students provided the name of the teacher, the Post is not publishing it because officials within the school system would not confirm her identity and she could not be reached for comment.

The video captures audio of the dispute but does not show the teacher or anyone else. It appears to have been shot with a phone or other device as the camera pointed at the ceiling the entire time.

Rowan-Salisbury spokeswoman Rita Foil confirmed the teacher is still employed with the district and has not been suspended for disciplinary reasons. Foil emailed this statement to a Post reporter Friday on behalf of the school system:

“The Rowan-Salisbury School System expects all students and employees to be respectful in the school environment and for all teachers to maintain their professionalism in the classroom. This incident should serve as an education for all teachers to stop and reflect on their interaction with students.

“Due to personnel and student confidentiality, we cannot discuss the matter publicly.”

The nearly 10-minute video, shot by a student and uploaded to YouTube on Monday, had been viewed more than 1,000 times by Friday afternoon.

It begins with a classroom conversation about a recent news story detailing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney allegedly bullying a classmate in prep school. It turns into a heated, sometimes confrontational debate.

One student asks, “Didn’t Obama bully someone though?”

The teacher responds: “Not to my knowledge.”

In response to the Romney story, conservatives have recently been pointing to a passage in Obama’s book, “Dreams from My Father,” in which the president writes that while in grade school he shoved a little girl, the only other black student in his grade, after other students called him her boyfriend.

When the student tells the teacher that Obama admitted to bullying a girl in school, the teacher goes on the defensive.

“Stop, no, because there is no comparison,” she says. Romney, she says, is “running for president. Obama is the president.”

When the student says they’re both “just men,” the teacher continues to argue that Romney, as a candidate for president, is not to be afforded the same respect as the president.

The teacher tells the class Obama is “due the respect that every other president is due.”

“Listen, let me tell you something, you will not disrespect the president of the United States in this classroom,” she says.

The student replies that he’ll say what he wants.

“Not about him you won’t,” the teacher says.

Later in the conversation, the teacher tells the class it’s criminal to slander a president.

“Do you realize that people were arrested for saying things bad about Bush?” she says of former President Bush. “Do you realize you are not supposed to slander the president?”

The student responds by saying being arrested for talking badly about the president would violate the right to free speech.

“You would have to say some pretty f’d up crap about him to be arrested,” he says. “They cannot take away your right to have your opinion. … They can’t take that away unless you threaten the president.”

Principal Darrel McDowell referred questions about the video to Foil.

Michael Bitzer, a political science professor at Catawba College and a widely known political analyst, weighed in on the video.

“I think what this broke down to was a perceived personal slight by an instructor against someone she sees in a positive view, and things just went out of control from there,” Bitzer said in an email to the Post.

Bitzer said he thinks the teacher did go a “bit overboard in being rude towards the student.”

“I think the student was also trying to pick a fight, honestly,” he said.

Bitzer said it appears the teacher’s attempt to make a point about showing respect for the office of the president gets overshadowed by her personal feelings for Obama.

“Her point about not being able to say anything ‘disrespectful’ about the president does fly in the face of the First Amendment, and while she may wish to enforce that edict about ‘respecting’ the president, the issue seems to have gotten personal on her part,” Bitzer wrote.

“Granted, she apparently tried to ensure that a respectful conversation was had about the president, but she seems to have taken things a bit too personally — and it appears the student was set on making a confrontation in the guise of raising a question about ‘who bullied who — both Romney and Obama?’ ”

Referencing former president George W. Bush, Richard Nixon and Abraham Lincoln, Bitzer said the fact that there are a lot of “mean, derogatory things said about our elected officials” is part of American history.

Bitzer said he has “no idea” what the teacher is talking about when she claims people were arrested for saying bad things about Bush.

“I have never heard of anyone arrested for saying derogatory things about George W. Bush , which I am assuming she is referring to,” he said. “Her belief that if one slanders the president is not very accurate — if you ‘threaten’ the president, that is another story, and that is a criminal offense.”

Searches on YouTube don’t bring up the video because it is classified as unlisted.

The full link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjpWaESn_9g&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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Lawsuit Filed After Nutcase Culpeper Virginia Police Officer Harmon-Wright Threatened, Shot, And Killed Unarmed Female Motorist Who Rolled Up Window

CULPEPER, VIRGINIA – The husband of Patricia Cook, 54, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Culpeper, Virginia police officer who shot her to death on February, 9, 2012.

Gary Cook is asking for $5 million in damages from Officer Daniel Harmon-Wright (a/k/a Daniel W. Sullivan).

Patricia Cook was shot multiple times in her Jeep Wrangler in a parking lot of a school annex on North East Street in the Town of Culpeper.

The lawsuit, filed on May 11, 2012 in Culpeper County Circuit Court, says Officer Harmon-Wright carried through on his threat to shoot Mrs. Cook if she did not stop rolling up her car window and do as he demanded. It says he shot her at close range and continued firing at her as she attempted to depart.

The lawsuit says “Defendant Harmon-Wright did not have his hand or arm trapped inside the car window of Mrs. Cook’s Jeep at any time during this incident.”

It also says the officer was not dragged by Mrs. Cook’s vehicle and that he suffered no injuries as a result of Mrs. Cook’s actions. It says she did not user her vehicle as a weapon and did not try to strike or injure the defendant.

The lawsuit says, “When Defendant Harmon-Wright attempted to bully and coerce Mrs. Cook into complying with his commands by raising his voice and threatening to shoot her, she was lawfully entitled to refuse to comply with his commands and was was lawfully entitled to depart unharmed and unhindered.”

Virginia State Police first said that the officer fired in self-defense because she had caught his arm in her window and was dragging him. But an eyewitness told WUSA 9 News that he clearly saw the officer’s left hand on the door handle and his right on on his gun. The witness said that the officer’s arm was not caught as he yelled at the woman to stop. The witness said he was stunned when he saw the officer shoot and continue shooting as Cook drove away.

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Nutcase Middleborough Massachusetts Police Chief Bruce Gates Has Never Heard Of 1st Amendment, Wants To Issue $20 Tickets To Anyone Who Swears Downtown

MIDDLEBOROUGH (CBS) – Public swearing is so bad in Middleborough that they’re considering a plan to start enforcing a longstanding but rarely-used law.

Folks in town have had enough of kids and some adults who think it’s OK to drop high-volume obscenities in their otherwise bucolic downtown.

“It’s intimidating to my customers,” says business owner Paulette Lilla, “to the people who are out here downtown, and I think it’s a good thing that they’re doing something to try to curb it.”

Former Middleborough Selectwoman Mimi Duphily says, “I don’t think it will solve the problem but it will make them understand what is acceptable behavior and what is not.”

The town’s police chief has proposed to give $20 tickets to vulgar loudmouths as a deterrent to downtown air pollution.

“We have a lot more important things to do,” says Chief Bruce Gates, “but these are things that are quality of life issues, community policing issues that a lot of people don’t want to see downtown.”

The chief will make his case for a more easily enforceable system of fines for public cursing before Town Meeting in June.

If you think a $20 ticket for swearing seems stiff, consider the fine some townspeople told me they’d prefer to see levied: $100 per curse.

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Obama Lawyer Worried That Inforcing AZ State Laws, That Parallel Federal Laws, Will Result In “Mass Incarceration” Of Illegal Immigrants And Will Cause “Significant Foreign Relations Problems”

WASHINGTON, DC – The lawyer arguing for the Obama administration against provisions in Arizona’s controversial immigration law said Wednesday that if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds S.B. 1070 “mass incarceration” of Latinos would cause “significant foreign relations problems.”

During oral arguments before the high court on the law – which allows state police to check the immigration status of individuals stopped, detained or arrested for other reasons – Solicitor General Donald Verrilli responded to Justice Antonin Scalia’s remarks that Arizona seems to be merely enacting laws that are already federal statutes.

“Well, what I think they are going to do in Arizona is something quite extraordinary, that has significant real and practical foreign relations effects,” Verrilli said. “And that’s the problem, and it’s the reason why this power needs to be vested exclusively in the federal government.”

Verrilli said Arizona’s “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act” takes that power away from the government and gives it to the state.

“And so – so, you’re going to have a situation of mass incarceration of people who are unlawfully present,” he argued. “That is going to raise – poses a very serious risk of raising significant foreign relations problems.

“And these problems are real,” Verrilli continued. “It is the problem of reciprocal treatment of the United States’ citizens in other countries.”

Justice Anthony Kennedy responded: “So you’re saying the government has a legitimate interest in not enforcing its laws?”

“No,” Verrilli replied. “We have a legitimate interest in enforcing the law, of course, but it needs to be – but these – this court has said over and over again, has recognized that the balance of interest that has to be achieved in enforcing the immigration laws is exceedingly delicate and complex, and it involves consideration of foreign relations, it involves humanitarian concerns, and it also involves public order …”

Of two million Latinos in Arizona, Verrilli told the court, “only 400,000 at most are there illegally.”

Scalia suggested that the government could take action to prevent the incarceration of illegal aliens.

“Well, can’t we avoid that particular foreign relations problem by simply deporting these people?” Scalia asked. “Look, free them from the jails.”

During the one-hour session both conservative and liberal justices seemed skeptical of the government’s case. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was nominated by President Obama and is the first Hispanic to serve, told Verrilli at one point that she was “terribly confused” by his remarks.

“It seems to me that the federal government just doesn’t want to know who’s here illegally,” commented Chief Justice John Roberts.

Attorney Paul Clement, arguing on behalf of Arizona, said the Ninth Circuit federal court decision that set in motion the case coming before the Supreme Court was “inverting fundamental principles of federalism.”

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 into law two years ago. Several groups, including the Department of Justice, challenged the law in court.

Only eight justices will decide the case since Justice Elena Kagan recused herself because of her work on immigration during her tenure as Solicitor General.

The court is expected to rule on the case by the end of its current term this summer. Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Indiana and Utah have proposed or enacted similar legislation.

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Utah Highway Patrol Officer Sgt. Andrew Davenport Fired After Brutally Beating 60 Year Old Female Motorist – Now An Ogden Police Officer, But Faces “Possible Decertification” By State

UTAH – A seasoned police officer has been terminated for repeatedly punching a woman in the head with a closed fist at a traffic stop.

Utah Highway Patrol Sergeant Andrew Davenport pulled over 60-year-old Darla Wright after a police chase through Ogden in August, 2010.

Davenport, 37, claimed he was using ‘distraction blows’ because the woman refused to get out of her vehicle, and had disputed allegations he used excessive force.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports Davenport was dismissed on January 19, 2011 after a five-month internal investigation. He appealed the decision to the board and was put on paid administrative leave.

A Utah Career Service Review Board report was released to the newspaper after a state open-records request.

According to the report, the board on October 26 upheld the firing of Davenport, who now works as an Ogden patrol officer.

The board found Davenport ‘violated numerous department polices regarding use of force, ethical conduct, use of mobile recording equipment and assault’, according to the Tribune.

The report said that Davenport failed basic skills on how and when to use force, and ‘could not be trusted to use it properly in the future.’

Officers claimed in an incident report that Wright was driving erratically and tried to avoid being pulled over.

During the chase, they finally managed to spin her vehicle to a halt by hitting the back of her car and sandwiched it between two police cars.

Dash camera footage shows Davenport running up to Wright’s vehicle, shouting, ‘Get out of the car!’ and asking her to roll down the window; but she refused to let go of the steering wheel.

‘The suspect was still trying to escape, she had the accelerator floored and engine revving in an attempt to push our vehicles out of the way,’ Davenport wrote in the incident report.

It was then that the video shows him smashing the driver’s side window and beginning to punch the woman, striking her repeatedly in the head and face.

Another officer is seen pointing a Taser at the startled woman from the back window.

The shocking images were captured by the camera on the police vehicle dashboard were released by the Utah Department of Public Safety in January, 2011.

‘She refused to comply with commands to give us her hands’, Sergeant Davenport wrote in his police report.

‘Due to my close proximity to the suspect and my experience with Taser failure at such close distances, I delivered three close hand strikes to her head in an attempt to gain compliance with our commands.

‘I did this to distract and stun her and to stop her from trying to drive off and strike our vehicles or possibly run us over. The strikes worked and we were able to grab her hands,’ he added.

According to the board report, Davenport shut off his microphone during the incident, and did not give directions to troopers about how to approach the vehicle.

One trooper is seen jumping over the hood of Wright’s car with a handgun, pointing it at her with Davenport in the line of fire.

Another trooper pointed a Taser in Wright’s direction through the back passenger side window.

The board said that closed-fist punches were not encouraged in the force, although strikes with a forearm or open hand are viewed as acceptable in force is needed to get someone out of a vehicle.

Wright was taken into custody on suspicion of DUI, reckless driving, eluding police, resisting arrest and assault on a police officer. She was taken to hospital and required stitches.

The charges against her were dismissed in January, 2011; she reached a reported $25,000 out-of-court settlement with the state.

Davenport was employed by the Utah Highway Patrol as a trooper for ‘several years’ and was promoted to sergeant in 2007, according to the Tribune.

A spokesman for the board said the Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training Council was looking into Davenport’s conduct for possible decertification; however, no criminal charges have been filed.

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Crazed Wichita Kansas TSA Agent Detained And Accused 4 Year Old Girl Of Having Gun – Declared Her A “High Security Threat”

WICHITA, KANSAS – Of all the many complaints about airport security and the TSA, one of the most common is that they make little distinction between plausible security threats and passengers unlikely to be doing anything wrong.

And a recent incident in Wichita, Kansas has reinforced that argument, as a four-year-old girl was apparently subjected to a humiliating ordeal after she hugged her grandmother while she was waiting in line.

The girl was accused of having a gun and declared a ‘high security threat’, while agents threatened to shut down the whole airport if she could not be calmed down.

When asked about the overbearing treatment the girl received, a TSA spokesman did not apologise and insisted that correct procedures had been followed.

Four-year-old Isabella’s horrific experience in Wichita earlier this month was recounted on Facebook by her furious mother Michelle Brademeyer.

The family was in Kansas for a wedding, and was travelling home to Montana with Ms Brademeyer’s mother.

Ms Brademeyer and her two children had passed through security when the grandmother was detained after triggering an alarm on the scanners.

Isabella then, according to her mother, ‘excitedly ran over to give her a hug, as children often do. They made very brief contact, no longer than a few seconds.’

The young girl was immediately detained by security agents, who apparently shouted at her that she would have to be frisked too, and refused to let her mother explain what has happening.

Ms Brademeyer wrote: ‘It was implied, several times, that my mother, in their brief two-second embrace, had passed a handgun to my daughter.’

In her terror, Isabella tried to run away rather than face a full body pat-down, which unsurprisingly enraged the TSA officers further.

One officer even told the girl’s mother that the airport would have to be shut down and every flight cancelled if the four-year-old did not co-operate.

They also apparently described the little girl as a ‘high security threat’.

As Isabella was taken into a side room for a pat-down, accompanied by her mother, she could not stop crying and refused to let the agents touch her.

An officer repeatedly said she had ‘seen a gun in a teddy bear’ in the past, in an apparent attempt to justify the situation.

Ms Brademeyer continued: ‘The TSO loomed over my daughter, with an angry grimace on her face, and ordered her to stop crying.

‘When my scared child could not do so, two TSOs called for backup saying, “The suspect is not cooperating.” The suspect, of course, being a frightened child. They treated my daughter no better than if she had been a terrorist.’

Isabella continued to cry, and officers said the family would have to leave the airport as the TSA was unable to frisk the four-year-old.

When a manager was called, he decided that the distraught Isabella could be checked alongside her mother, and let the family pass through security at last.

But their nightmare was not yet over, as on a connecting flight in Denver, an airport employee demanded to know which of the family was Isabella – and ‘looked really confused’ when the girl was pointed out to her.

Ms Brademeyer concluded her Facebook post by drawing attention to TSA rules against separating children from their parents, and added: ‘I feel compelled to share this story in the hope that no other child will have to share in this experience.’

When The Consumerist approached the TSA for comment on the bizarre incident, a spokesman said: ‘TSA has reviewed the incident and determined that our officers followed proper current screening procedures in conducting a modified pat-down on the child.’

Last month the agency came in for criticism when a video of a three-year-old boy in wheelchair having a full pat-down and being swabbed for explosives circulated on the internet.

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Nutcase Abingdon Virginia Vocational School Teacher Manuael Ernest Dillow Arrested After Lining Up A Dozen Students, Pulling Blank Gun, And Firing At Them

ABINGDON, VIRGINIA – A Kingsport man who teaches at a vocational school in Abingdon, Va., has been arrested after allegedly pulling a blank firing gun on his students, pointing it their direction and firing multiple times.

The incident occurred April 4 at William H. Neff Center. Manuael Ernest Dillow, 60, of 840 Liberty Drive, Kingsport, was arrested Wednesday for the alleged incident and charged with 12 felony counts of brandishing a firearm on school property.

The Washington County Sheriffs Office reports the charges are class 6 felonies, with each count punishable up to five years incarceration and a $2,500 fine.

Washington County Sheriff Fred Newman reports School Superintendent Jim Sullivan notified the Sheriff’s Office of the incident. An investigation reportedly discovered Dillow “gathered” the attention of the 12 students in his welding class and lined them up near a garage door in the shop.

“He then pulled a ‘blank firing handgun,’ black in color, from the back waistband of his pants and discharged the weapon between four and ten shots in the direction of the line of the students,” states a Wednesday afternoon press release. “The ‘report’ of the firearm was similar to that of a firearm that fires a projectile, thus placing the students in fear, according to statements. No students were physically injured as a result of the incident.”

Dillow was released on a $20,000 unsecured bond with a hearing date scheduled for May 7.

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Incompetent President Bankrupting The United States – Federal Debt Has Increased 4.3 BILLION Dollars Per Day Under Obama – Now Totals Over 5 TRILLION – $5,027,761,476,484.56

WASHINGTON, DC – In the 39 months since Barack Obama took the oath of office as president of the United States, the federal government’s debt has increased by $5,027,761,476,484.56.

Although he has served less than a term, Obama is now the first American president to see the federal government’s debt increase by more than $5 trillion during his time in office.

During the full eight years that George W. Bush served as president, the federal government’s debt increased by $4,899,100,310,608.44. (Rising from $5,727,776,738,304.64 to $10,626,877,048,913.08.)

The $5,027,761,476,484.56 that the debt has increased during Obama’s presidency equals $16,043.39 for every one of the 313,385,295 people the Census Bureau now estimates live in the United States.

At the close of business on Jan. 20, 2009, the day Obama was inaugurated, the federal government’s debt was $10,626,877,048,913.08, according to the U.S. Treasury. By the close of business on April 16, 2012—as many Americans were working to finalize their 2011 tax returns to meet an April 17 filing deadline—the debt had reached $15,654,638,525,397.64.

The $5,027,761,476,484.56 in additional debt that the U.S. government has taken on during the 39 months that Obama has been president is more debt than the federal government accumulated in the first 219 years of the Republic.

The total federal debt did not exceed $5,027,761,476,484.56 until March 14, 1996, when President Bill Clinton was in the last year of his first term in office. On that day, the national debt rose from $5,025,887,531,178.79 to 5,035,165,720,616.33.

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Weston Florida Ordinance Outlaws Dance Halls, Nightclubs And Skating Rinks

WESTON, FLORIDA – Where’s Ren McCormack when you need him?

A new ordinance passed in the city of Weston has effectively banned all hope of local nightlife, including the construction of any future dance halls, nightclubs and skating rinks.

Mayor Eric Hersh handed down the decision recently, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

“This is something that we thought would protect the city,” he told the paper.

The neighboring towns of Pembroke Pines and Davie still offer dancing and skating for Weston residents in search of a good time after the sun goes down.

And for children, school dances are still allowed, as well as gatherings at the YMCA, school extra-curriculars and city parks.

City officials reportedly became concerned after noticing that gunfire, gang activity, stabbings and brawls have all been occurring with increasing frequency throughout Broward and Palm Beach Counties.

In response to the spike in crime at social spots in the area, Weston decided to take preventative action against similar activity happening in its backyard.

Hersh referred to the ordinance as a non-issue for Weston to the Sun-Sentinel, as those sorts of businesses have always been informally discouraged.

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Attention Whore And Nation Of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan Nuts Up And Claims Jesus Was BLACK And A MUSLIM

ALABAMA – With a former U.S. Congressman in the audience, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan made his anticipated, controversial appearance Tuesday night at Alabama A&M University. Surrounded by a security detail of dark suits and bow ties, it was Farrakhan’s white suit that commanded the stage.

Speaking to a cheering crowd that filled most of the auditorium, Farrakhan touched on sensitive religious and racial issues while using his infamous vernacular to hammer some astounding points.

The minister began by referring to the national controversy that had been built around his appearance at the university. ”Here in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, and even in other parts of the country, they didn’t like outsiders coming to disturb the plantation. So when an outsider came that master thought might upset the plantation mentality, he would threaten the slave and go, ‘don’t you listen to him, he’s a hater.’ Well you just met me! Who taught you to hate your black self? It wasn’t Farrakahn.”

On the topic of religion and race Farrakhan got personal, ”If He made us black – with kinky hair, broad nose, thick lips – if I don’t like me, how could I like the God who created me?”

Paul Gattis, a reporter for The Huntsville Times who was in the audience wrote, “[Farrakhan] also repeatedly said that it is not known if Jesus was a Caucasian, as He is typically portrayed. Farrakhan made the same point about Elijah, the Jewish prophet.”

Farrakhan referenced the Jewish Seder holiday and specifically the Jewish tradition of the Prophet Elijah’s arrival to each doorway on Passover night: “If Elijah was at the door and he was black, you would call 911 and say there’s a n****r at the door, claiming he’s Elijah! Send the police!”

Why would Jewish people be so shocked? “Because you are not trained to accept wisdom from a black person, no matter how wise that black person is” the minister explained, “Jesus was a black man.”

Most astoundingly, Farrakhan made the argument that Jesus was not Christian. “Because Jesus said ‘Not My will, but Thy will.’ You know what we call that in Arabic? Islam. He was a Muslim.”

Farrakhan: Jesus Was a Black Muslim & Elijah Would Be the N***er at the Door

More religious piety was to come. The controversial minister launched into a diatribe on the story of Cain and Abel, with his own additions.

“When Cain came to present his offering before God as a tiller of the ground, the scripture says God did not respect his offering. I don’t believe that. I’d like to offer a correction. Well who are you? I’m better than those who have revised your Bible. I’m better than those who have translated it out of the original tongues and revised it to fit their purpose! What makes you better? Because I am taught of God.”

A large portion of his speech targeted black education and the poor quality of opportunities for blacks in America. Farrakhan pushed the predominantly black audience to have greater achievements and goals in the world, and not be obligated to whites or Jews to find their success.

“White people suffer from the false notion that white skin makes them superior,” Farrakhan said. “And we suffer from the falsehood that the blackness of our skin makes us inferior. So we’re bowing to white supremacy and manifesting black inferiority.”

“Because most of you that have something , you have it because there’s a white person that has befriended you in some way. Am I saying the wrong thing? So they are the controller of the ceiling, and you only go as far as they permit. And in order for you sometimes to crack that ceiling, you have to genuflect, bow.”

Taking in the full message from the front row was the former Republican Congressman Parker Griffith, who represented Alabama’s fifth district in Congress from 2008-2010.

Several area pastors and rabbis rebuked the Alabama A&M administration for allowing the controversial minister to use school facilities to address the student community. Some of the faith-based leaders unsuccessfully asked for university officials to reconsider Farrakhan’s invitation. Administrators distanced themselves from the event, noting that an assortment of student groups, including the A&M Poetry Club and A&M Democrats, were responsible for Farrakhan’s invitation to come speak.

Farrakhan has previously called white people “potential humans who have not fully evolved” and referred to Jewish groups as a “synagogue of Satan.” The Anti-Defamation League also reports that Farrakhan has accused white Republicans of praying for President Obama’s death

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Disgraced And Out Of Touch With Reality – US Attorney General Eric Holder Unconcerned With In-Person Voter Fraud As He Attacks Voter ID Laws – Video Shows Man Walking Into Holder’s Voting Precinct And Being Handed Holder’s Voting Ballot

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has declared that there is no proof that in-person voter fraud is a problem. He’s about to see proof that even he can’t deny.

In a new video provided to Breitbart.com, James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas demonstrates why Holder should stop attacking voter ID laws–by walking into Holder’s voting precinct and showing the world that anyone can obtain Eric Holder’s primary ballot. Literally.

The video shows a young man entering a Washington, DC polling place at 3401 Nebraska Avenue, NW, on primary day of this year–April 3, 2012–and giving Holder’s name and address. The poll worker promptly offers the young man Holder’s ballot to vote.

The young man then suggests that he should show his ID; the poll worker, in compliance with DC law, states: “You don’t need it. It’s all right. As long as you’re in here, you’re on our list, and that’s who you say you are, you’re okay.”

The young man replies: “I would feel more comfortable if I just had my ID. Is it alright if I go get it?” The poll worker agrees.

“I’ll be back Faster than you can say Furious,” the young man jokes on his way out, in a reference to the Fast and Furious gunwalking scandal that has plagued Holder’s Department of Justice.

Holder has maintained that voter fraud is not a major problem in the United States, and that voter ID would not curb voter fraud in any case.

As Project Veritas has proven, voter fraud is easy and simple–and may be increasingly common in the absence of voter ID laws.

Project Veritas has already shown how dead people can vote in New Hampshire, prompting the state senate to pass a voter ID law; they’ve also shown people can use celebrity names like Tim Tebow and Tom Brady to vote in Minnesota, prompting the state legislature to put voter ID on the ballot as a constitutional amendment.

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Nutcase Maricopa County Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Tells US Justice Department To F*ck Off

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio has rejected a U.S. Justice Department demand for an independent monitor to address allegations of rampant discrimination against Latinos in his office’s police and jail operations.

The controversial Maricopa County sheriff and the DOJ had been preparing to negotiate ways to remedy alleged discrimination found in a three-year federal investigation of the sheriff’s office, The Arizona Republic reports.

A top Justice Department attorney told Arpaio’s lawyers this week that agreement on an independent monitor was critical for continuing negotiations and avoiding a lawsuit.

Arpaio, however, flatly rejected such a monitor Tuesday, calling it a political attempt by President Obama’s administration to take control of daily operations in his office.

“I feel that turning my office over to the federal government would be a dereliction of my duty,” Arpaio said.

Arpaio and his supporters also believe the civil rights investigation is a ploy by the Obama administration to curry favor with Hispanic voters, the newspaper says.

The Justice Department declined to comment Tuesday, but a letter to Arpaio’s lawyers from Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney General Roy Austin indicated that he believes the sheriff’s office had previously agreed to a court-ordered monitor and that the latest move calls into question “whether you were ever interested in settling this matter,” The Republic reports.

Austin called the establishment of an independent monitor an “absolute necessity” to meaningful overhaul of the sheriff’s office.

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Lunatic New York TSA Screener Lateisha El Arrested After Attacking Pilot With Cup Of Hot Coffee

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – An airport security worker was arrested after throwing a cup of hot coffee over a pilot who told her to stop swearing.

Transportation Security Administrator (TSA) Lateisha El, 30, was in the middle of a conversation with work colleagues at a JFK Airport terminal when she was interrupted by the American Airlines pilot.

Off-duty airman Steven Trivett, 54, was exiting terminal 8 when he overheard El swearing and asked her to tone down the profanity.

Trivett, of Butler, Tennessey, told them they should ‘conduct themselves more professionally in uniform and not use profanity or the n-word,’ according to the New York Post.

One TSA screener told Trivett to ‘mind his own business’ and swore at him.

Trivett then identified himself as a ‘TSA officer’ – an armed pilot – before trying to grab the ID tags of screener El to get her name.

But Port Authority police sources told the newspaper that El responded by hurling a ‘full cup’ cup of hot coffee over the pilot.

Trivett was not seriously injured. El, of Brooklyn’s East New York, was charged with harassment and misdemeanor-assault for the incident at 5am on March 28.

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Feds To Sue Nutcase Maricopa County Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio For Targeting Hispanics

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – The Obama administration on Tuesday said it was preparing to sue Arizona county sheriff Joe Arpaio and his department for violating civil rights laws by improperly targeting Latinos in a bid to crack down on illegal immigrants.

The sheriff’s high-profile crackdown on illegal immigrants has helped thrust the issue onto the national political stage with some states passing tough new laws aimed at pushing out those in the country illegally.

The administration’s Justice Department and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office have been in settlement talks for months over allegations that officers regularly made unlawful stops and arrests of Latinos, used excessive force against them and failed to adequately protect the Hispanic community.

Those negotiations have broken down because of a fight over the Justice Department’s demand that an independent monitor be appointed by a federal court to oversee compliance with the settlement, which has now reached 128 pages in draft form, according to the Obama administration.

“We believe that you are wasting time and not negotiating in good faith,” Roy Austin, deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s civil rights division, said in a letter to the lawyer for Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO).

Austin said in the letter that Arpaio’s team demanded that a meeting slated for Wednesday include for the first time negotiations over the monitor and previously had demanded that the Justice Department provide more details about its findings.

“MCSO’s refusal to engage in good faith negotiations requires us to prepare for civil (court) action,” Austin said. He added that the Justice Department has recently discovered more information about the “failure to reasonably investigate sex crimes” by Arpaio’s office.

The Justice Department in a December report outlined numerous alleged civil rights violations, including that Latino drivers were four to nine times more likely to be stopped than non-Latinos by Arpaio’s force.

The sheriff has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing and lashed out at the Obama administration for targeting his department and failing to deal with the problem of illegal immigration with some 11.5 million believed to be in the United States.

In a strongly worded statement on Tuesday, Arpaio said the appointment of a monitor would force him to abdicate responsibility for his police force, including decisions about policies, operations, jail programs and enforcement.

“To the Obama administration, who is attempting to strong arm me into submission only for its political gain, I say: This will not happen, not on my watch!” Arpaio said in the statement.

Arpaio’s force has been under investigation by federal authorities since 2008 during the Bush administration. Obama’s Justice Department spent months fighting for access to documents and to some of his deputies. Arpaio was interviewed twice during the probe.

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A-Hole South Carolina State Trooper D.P. Boulware Targets Motorist With Intimidating Letter To Lawyer Demanding He Plead Guilty Or Go To Jail

YORK COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA — A harshly worded letter written by a South Carolina state trooper is raising concerns with the state Highway Patrol.

Eyewitness News obtained a copy of the letter after a man was stopped for reckless driving in York County. That driver did not want to talk about the incident, or have his name used in this story.

The letter is from South Carolina Trooper D.P. Boulware of York County to the offender’s lawyer. The lawyer’s name has also been marked out on the letter, so Eyewitness News was not able to contact the attorney for comment.

Here’s what the letter says:

“Please advise your client that he has until the 16th of March to enter a guilty plea to the pending charge. If there is no plea entered by this date, I will request jail time in lieu of a fine. Even if a guilty plea is entered after this date I will still request from Judge Grayson that your client spend time in jail as opposed to a fine. This is a case of your client wasting the time of both myself and the court presiding. I would never oppose anyone who questions their guilt requesting the verdict of a jury. However, this is an obvious attempt by your client to avoid responsibility for an offense of which he knows he is guilty. A copy of this letter will be on file with the presiding court.”

Eyewitness News brought that letter to the attention of commanders at the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

“I can tell you that’s not what we expect from our troopers,” said spokesman Bryan McDougald. “That letter was worded harshly, and strongly.”

In South Carolina, state troopers don’t just write tickets and stop drunk and reckless drivers. They also act as lawyers, and must prosecute their own cases in court.

Cases are often delayed or repeatedly continued for many reasons. McDougald said sometimes that’s frustrating to keep showing up for court and not being able to present a case. Still, he said that doesn’t mean a trooper’s attitude can change.

“If we’ve been to court 25 times this year, it should be no different than if it’s the first time. Even it’s the same person because that’s their day in court. They have a right to a fair trial.”

McDougald said the letter is being sent up the chain of command for a review. It’s not clear if any action will be taken, but Channel 9 learned that Trooper Boulware remains on active duty while the Highway Patrol investigates.

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Crazed French President Wants To Imprison Those Who Visit Anything His Government Calls “Extremist” Web Sites

PARIS, FRANCE – France’s president proposed a sweeping new law Thursday that would see repeat visitors to extremist web sites put behind bars – one of several tough measures floated in the wake of a murderous shooting spree.

The proposed rules, unveiled by Nicolas Sarkozy after the death of an Islamist fanatic wanted for a horrifying series of execution-style murders, have alarmed journalists and legal experts, who say they risk pulling the plug on free expression.

Sarkozy, who is only a month away from an election, argued that it was time to treat those who browse extremist websites the same way as those who consume child pornography.

“Anyone who regularly consults Internet sites which promote terror or hatred or violence will be sentenced to prison,” he told a campaign rally in Strasbourg, in eastern France. “Don’t tell me it’s not possible. What is possible for pedophiles should be possible for trainee terrorists and their supporters, too.”

French law calls for up to two years in prison and (EURO)30,000 (roughly $40,000) in fines for repeat visitors to child porn sites, although whether the proposed anti-terror rules would carry similar penalities isn’t clear.

When asked, Sarkozy’s office directed a query seeking details to the Ministry of Justice, which didn’t immediately offer clarification.

Journalists and lawyers are concerned.

“Trying to criminalize a visit – a simple visit – to a website, that’s something that seems disproportionate,” said Lucie Morillon, who runs the new media bureau of journalists’ watchdog group Reporters Without Borders.

“What’s especially worrying for us is how you are going to know who’s looking at what site. Does this announcement mean the installation of a global Internet surveillance system in France?”

Media lawyer Christophe Bigot seconded her concerns, saying that any such law – if passed – would be a serious blow to the democratic credentials of a country that considers itself the home of human rights.

“I don’t see how you can assume that a person who connects (to an extremist website) not only shares the ideas that are being expressed there but is ready to act on them,” Bigot said. “That seems to be a very dangerous shortcut – a real step back in terms of individual liberty.”

Bigot said it wasn’t clear to him to what degree Sarkozy’s proposals were serious. In any case, France’s Parliament isn’t in session, but could be called back for urgent legislation. Otherwise, an eventual law would be contingent on Sarkozy’s reelection.

The tightening presidential race has been upended by the shooting rampage blamed on Mohamed Merah, a 23-year-old Frenchman of Algerian descent who allegedly killed three French paratroopers, three Jewish schoolchildren and a rabbi before dying in a violent confrontation with police in the southern French city of Toulouse earlier Thursday.

Sarkozy has France’s far-right nipping at his heels, so he’s been under pressure to appear tough. A poll released Thursday by the CSA firm suggested that Sarkozy may benefit politically from a hardening of attitudes toward extremist violence.

Morillon said she understood the emotional appeal of a crackdown on online radicalization in the wake of such atrocities.

Still, she said, “you have to be careful not to attack the wrong target.”

“Once more it’s the Internet that’s being blamed, as if the Internet was the source of all evil.”

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New Jersey Office Of Homeland Security Riding 9/11 Hysteria – Warns State Workers And Residents About Anyone With Goosebumps, Staring, Or Yawning Suspiciously

NEW JERSEY – Infowars has obtained a document from the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security & Preparedness that lists banal bodily activities such as yawning, staring and goose pumps as “suspicious activity” indicative of terrorism.
DHS Terror Document Lists Yawning, Goose Bumps As Suspicious Behavior yawn 2

The document (PDF), entitled Terrorism Awareness and Prevention, is presented as a guide for both “residents and workers of New Jersey,” along with employees of federal, state and local agencies, on how to “assist in combating terrorism” by identifying “unusual or suspicious activities and behaviors.”

The guide encourages participants to “look for signs of nervousness in the people you come in contact with.” “Signs will become particularly evident in a person’s eyes, face, next and body movements.”

The document then lists examples of suspicious behavior indicative of terrorism, which include, “Exaggerated yawning when engaged in conversation,” “glances,” “cold penetrating stare,” “rigid posture,” and “goose bumps”.

Of course, any of these behaviors could be explained by a million other circumstances and the likelihood that they are indications of terrorist activity is virtually zero.

However, as we have seen from recent literature put out by the DHS or related law enforcement bodies, the standard for being characterized as a potential terrorist is getting broader and broader all the time.

Last month we reported on the FBI’s Communities Against Terrorism (CAT) program, which encourages store managers and staff of numerous different businesses to report examples of suspicious activity to the authorities.

A d v e r t i s e m e n t

In a flyer handed out to Internet Cafes, workers are encouraged to report people who use cash to pay for their coffee as potential terrorists.

Expressing an interesting in protecting online privacy when surfing the web in public is also characterized as a suspicious activity.

In a flyer issued to Military Surplus stores, the purchase of storable food supplies in bulk, an increasingly popular trend amongst “preppers,” is also defined as a potential indication of terrorism.

Even more chilling, the feds have also begun to characterize perfectly legitimate political and economic beliefs as those held by terrorists, effectively denouncing them as thought crimes.

As Reuters reported in February, authorities are now treating those who “believe the United States went bankrupt by going off the gold standard” as extremists who are a potential violent threat to law enforcement.

Characterizing behavior which millions of Americans engage in every day as a potential indication of terrorism only serves to breed paranoia and distrust. If anything, it actually helps terrorists to blend in and not be identified, by increasing the chances exponentially of innocent Americans being mistaken for terrorists.

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Veteran New York City Subway Attendant Attacked Customer – Who She Violently Beat Over 10 Cents

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – A New York City woman says she was attacked by a subway station attendant for taking too long to find cash.

She spoke exclusively to CBS 2’s Pablo Guzman on Thursday.

Janet Ojeda admitted she exchanged words with the woman in the token booth, but when the clerk allegedly came out and picked her up by the neck, choking her, well, even a few hours later, Ojeda got emotional talking about it.

“Cause she was choking me, like … I couldn’t get no air. She was looking at me like she wasn’t gonna let go. I felt like I was [going to pass out] ’cause I couldn’t even move my legs. She lifted me up from the ground by the neck,” Ojeda said.

“It was scary.”

Ojeda showed Guzman the bruises she claims were the result of the alleged assault. Police and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the station agent inside the booth at the 138th Street station in the Bronx as Phylathia Monroe, 45. The MTA said she has nearly 20 years on the job.

The confrontation began at around 5:30 a.m. Ojeda was going to work and was, she said, 10 cents short on a MetroCard when Monroe called for the next customer through. Ojeda said she found the dime, but that’s when the argument began. She claimed Monroe got out of the booth, put her finger in her face and punched her.

“I told her to let me go, and I was like … you’re gonna get arrested right now,” Ojeda said.

Ojeda said she eventually got free and then went from the station to a local NYPD precinct and filed a report.

Four officers went into the station and arrested Monroe on a misdemeanor assault charge. Ojeda hired attorney Justin Blitz.

The MTA suspended Monroe pending an investigation. If convicted on the assault charge, Monroe could face a year behind bars.

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Philadelphia Pennsylvania Mayor Michael Nutter Lives Up To His Name Banning Feeding The Homeless Outside

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has announced a ban on the feeding of large numbers of homeless and hungry people at sites on and near the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Mayor Nutter is imposing the ban on all outdoor feedings of large numbers of people on city parkland, including Love Park and the Ben Franklin Parkway, where it is not uncommon for outreach groups to offer free food.

Nutter says the feedings lack both sanitary conditions and dignity.

“Providing to those who are hungry must not be about opening the car trunk, handing out a bunch of sandwiches, and then driving off into the dark and rainy night,” Nutter said.

The city’s leading homeless advocate, Project Home’s Sister Mary Scullion, voiced tentative support for the mayor’s announcement. She said the mayor is “between a rock and a hard place” on the issue of outdoor feedings.

“I really want to thank the mayor for this courageous … this is not an easy position. But I do think it’s a great opportunity,” Scullion said.

Among the groups unhappy with the mayor’s announcement is Brian Jenkins of Chosen 300 Ministries, a homeless outreach group that does both indoor and outdoor feedings.

“The fact that city of Philadelphia is saying now that the homeless don’t have the right to eat on the Ben Franklin Parkway or eat around Center City is a clear violation of civil rights,” Jenkins explained. “It says that people that have … can eat in a certain place. But people that have not, can’t.”

Nutter’s aides will work with the homeless groups to encourage more indoor feedings.

In the meantime, the groups will be allowed to offer food on the north apron of City Hall, provided they register with the city.

The ban on parkland feedings takes effect in 30 days. Groups that violate the outdoor feeding ban would face two warnings and then a nominal $150 fine.

Nutter says large family gatherings in the park are not affected by the ban.

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Defendant In Jefferson County Texas Criminal Trial Shot At Least Three People Outside Courthouse During Lunch Break – Killing Elderly Woman

JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS – At least one person was killed and at least two others were injured in a shooting Wednesday at a Texas courthouse, a judge said.

The shooting occurred outside a courthouse in Jefferson County, Texas, Judge Larry Gist said.

Witnesses saw an elderly woman dead on the sidewalk in front of the courthouse, said Kevin Steele, a reporter for CNN affiliate KBMT-TV.

“There was a defendant on trial. It was break time, lunchtime, and he apparently shot three people, maybe four,” Gist told CNN.

A witness in the case against the suspect was one of those shot, said Gist, who had left the courthouse for lunch and heard shots fired from a block away.

Police shot the suspect, and the courthouse was evacuated after the shooting, Gist said.

The suspect was in police custody Wednesday afternoon, Steele told CNN.

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Mount Sterling Ohio Police Chief Mike McCoy Suspended And Force Disbanded After Nutcase Officer Scott O’Neil Twice Used Taser Weapon On 9 Year Old Victim Who Wouldn’t Put On His Shoes

MOUNT STERLING, OHIO – Officials in the Madison County village of Mount Sterling expect a packed house tonight when the village council meets for the first time since suspending Police Chief Mike McCoy and essentially disbanding the police force on Friday.

Mayor Charlie Neff issued the suspensions after he was told that a village police officer had shocked a 9-year-old boy with a Taser earlier in the week during an arrest. Neff said McCoy should have immediately reported the incident to Neff and council members. He did not.

Officer Scott O’Neil, who used the Taser twice Tuesday morning on 9-year-old Jared Perry, did not respond to calls on Friday for comment. Village officials, however, released a copy of O’Neil’s report this morning.

The sheriff’s office had requested an officer check the boy’s S. Market Street address on because there was an outstanding unruly juvenile complaint filed against him because he was truant from school.

According to O’Neil’s written account: He arrived at the home just before 8:30 a.m. to take the boy into custody. Jared refused to cooperate and wouldn’t put on his shoes to go with the officer. He begged his mother, Michelle Perry, to let him go to school rather than with the officer, but Perry told her son it was too late.

O’Neil wrote that after repeated warnings, he pulled Jared from the couch but the boy “ dropped to the floor and became dead weight … flailing around.” The officer wrote that Jared — who is listed as between 5 foot 5 and 5 foot 8 inches tall and between 200 and 250 pounds — laid on his hands to prevent being handcuffed.

The report indicates that O’Neil warned that he would use the Taser, and demonstrated the electrical current into the air “as a show of force” to gain the boy’s cooperation. He wrote that Jared’s mother was telling her son to do as O’Neil said or else he would be shocked.

O’Neil wrote that after he shocked Jared the first time, he still refused to cooperate and so he was shocked a second time.

It took both O’Neil and the boy’s mother to get Jared to his feet, once handcuffed. He was breathing heavily but uninjured, and Perry signed a waiver of medical treatment. Jared was taken to the sheriff’s office and charged with delinquency counts of unruliness for his truancy and resisting arrest. O’Neil wrote that Jared’s mother thanked him for his help.

O’Neil said that he immediately notified Chief McCoy about what had happened. McCoy has not publicly commented since his suspension. Perry has not been able to be reached for comment.

The Madison County sheriff’s office is patrolling the village while it all is sorted out. Council President Lowell Anderson said council will have to decide tonight whether to permanently disband the force.

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Crazy TSA Agent Forced Woman To Prove Breast Pump Was Real By Filling Empty Bottles

LIHUE, HAWAII – A Hawaiian mom says she was humiliated when asked to prove her breast pump was real at an airport.

The woman says she was flagged for additional screening at the Lihue Airport Wednesday because of her electric breast feeding pump.

She claims agents told her she couldn’t take the pump on the plane because the bottles in her carry-on were empty.

“I asked him if there was a private place I could pump and he said no, you can go in the women’s bathroom. I had to stand in front of the mirrors and the sinks and pump my breast in front of every tourist that walked into that bathroom. I was embarrassed and humiliated and then angry that I was treated this way.

When the bottles were full, she was allowed back on the plane.

The TSA is apologizing, saying the agent made a mistake.

The agency released a statement, saying in part: “We accept responsibility for the apparent misunderstanding and any inconvenience or embarrassment this incident may have caused her.”

The TSA recently changed screening procedures to allow women to carry breast milk onto planes without testing it.
However, breast pumps may require additional screening.

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Broward County Florida Judge John Hurley Orders Man To Take Wife On A Day With Bowling And Meal At Red Lobster

MIAMI, FLORIDA – Judge John Hurley ruled that a man involved in a dispute with his wife must take her out to dinner and bowling and then get counseling.

Judge John Hurley ruled that a man involved in a dispute with his wife must take her out to dinner and bowling and then get counseling.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a Florida judge ruled on Tuesday that a man involved in a scuffle with his wife treat her to an evening at a local bowling alley and a romantic meal at Red Lobster.

Judge John Hurley ordered that Joseph Bray, 47 and his wife Sonja, 39, also visit a marriage counselor.

Hurley handed down this ruling instead of setting bond or slapping Bray with a prison sentence after he deemed domestic violence charges leveled by Bray’s wife to be “very, very minor.”

According to Bray’s arrest affidavit, Bray and his wife got embroiled in a spat after he failed to wish her a happy birthday. Bray’s wife claims that her husband shoved her against a sofa and grabbed her neck.

The judge, citing Bray’s otherwise clean record and the incident’s apparent lack of serious violence, did not consider Bray’s behavior a major offense. However, Bray must follow the stipulations of Hurley’s ruling very closely if he wants to avoid potential jail time.

“He’s going to stop by somewhere and he’s going to get some flowers,” Hurley said at a hearing, according to Florida newspaper Sun Sentinel. “And then he’s going to go home, pick up his wife, get dressed, take her to Red Lobster. And then after they have Red Lobster, they’re going to go bowling.”

Hurley noted that he would not typically treat a domestic violence charge in a similarly jocular or light-hearted manner.

“The court would not normally [make this ruling] if the court felt there was some violence but this is very, very minor and the court felt that that was a better resolution than the other alternatives,” Hurley said.

According to Google Maps, there is a Red Lobster conveniently located in Plantation, Florida—Bray’s city of residence—adjacent to a Kohl’s and nearby the Broward Mall.

Fortunately for Bray and his wife, the Plantation Red Lobster receives high marks in Google Maps’ Review section.

Google user Georgia Valente writes that “of all the Red Lobsters in South Florida,” the couple’s dinner destination is “quite possibly the best.”

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Nutcase U.S Park Ranger In California Attacked Man Walking Dogs Without Leashes With Taser Weapon

CALIFORNIA – A Montara man walking two lapdogs off leash was hit with an electric-shock gun by a National Park Service ranger after allegedly giving a false name and trying to walk away, authorities said Monday.

The park ranger encountered Gary Hesterberg with his two small dogs Sunday afternoon at Rancho Corral de Tierra, which was recently incorporated into the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, said Howard Levitt, a spokesman for the park service.

Hesterberg, who said he didn’t have identification with him, allegedly gave the ranger a false name, Levitt said.

The ranger, who wasn’t identified, asked Hesterberg to remain at the scene, Levitt said. He tried several times to leave, and finally the ranger “pursued him a little bit and she did deploy her” electric-shock weapon, Levitt said. “That did stop him.”

San Mateo County sheriff’s deputies and paramedics then arrived and Hesterberg gave his real name, the park spokesman said.

Hesterberg, whose age was not available, was arrested on suspicion of failing to obey a lawful order, having dogs off-leash and knowingly providing false information, Levitt said.

He was then released. He did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Witnesses said the use of a stun gun and the arrest seemed excessive for someone walking two small dogs off leash.

“It was really scary,” said Michelle Babcock, who said she had seen the incident as she and her husband were walking their two border collies. “I just felt so bad for him.”

Babcock said Hesterberg had repeatedly asked the ranger why he was being detained. She didn’t answer him, Babcock said.

“He just tried to walk away. She never gave him a reason,” Babcock said.

The ranger shot Hesterberg in the back with her shock weapon as he walked off, Babcock said.

“We were like in disbelief,” she said. “It didn’t make any sense.”

Rancho Corral de Tierra has long been an off-leash walking spot for local dog owners. In December, the area became part of the national park system, which requires that all dogs be on a leash, Levitt said.

The ranger was trying to educate residents of the rule, Levitt said.

The park service is investigating the incident, he said.

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Fort Lauderdale Police “Peacemaker” Intimidates And Harasses Residents

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA – Tania Ouaknine is convinced the police are watching her.

She’s not paranoid — it says as much on the red sign painted along the side on the hulking armored truck that’s been parked in front of her eight-room Parisian Motel for several days.

“Warning: You are under video surveillance,” reads the bold message on the side of the truck.

From the front bumper of the menacing vehicle, another sign taunts: “Whatcha gonna do when we come for you?”

The truck is a new weapon for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department in the fight against drugs and neighborhood nuisances, and it looks like a Winnebago on steroids. They call it “The Peacemaker,” and it may be a first in South Florida.

Mixing high tech with simplicity, the in-your-face strategy is straightforward: load an out-of-service armored truck with some of the latest surveillance equipment available and decorate it with police emblems. Then, simply leave it parked in front of trouble spots.

“Make no mistakes about it,” said Detective Travis Mandell. “We want people to know that we are watching the bad guys.”

In August, police got the first of their two Peacemakers after paying the Brinks company $10 for a discontinued armored bank truck. They retrofitted the vehicle with cameras that can stream live video back to headquarters. With its cameras hoisted on each bullet-proof window, the truck can gather panoramic footage for up to 700 hours.

Last month the department added a second truck to its arsenal, converting a former SWAT vehicle into the second Peacemaker. Police park the unmanned trucks in front of the homes of suspected drug dealers and at crime-plagued street corners.

On a recent afternoon, a Peacemaker had at least one of its eight cameras trained on Ouaknine’s one-story establishment.

“They say I am running a whorehouse,” said the 60-year-old innkeeper. “I run a motel. The only thing that I don’t have is the five stars.”

Police wouldn’t say why they parked the Peacemaker last week in an abandoned lot directly across Ouaknine’s Parisian Motel in the 500 block of Northwest 23rd Avenue.

Police and city records show Ouaknine and her motel had been the subject of an undercover operation targeting prostitution starting in September. Ouaknine was arrested on Oct. 28 on three counts of renting rooms to prostitutes for $20 an hour. Her case is pending.

The city’s nuisance abatement board sent her a warning letter and summoned her to appear for a hearing in February based on the investigation. It’s the second time since 2008 that the board has targeted the motel, city records show.

She says she’s doing nothing illegal.

“They’ve tried everything to shut me down and have failed,” she said. “Now they bring this truck to intimidate me and my customers.”

Some neighbors surrounding the Parisian Motel say the truck is another form of constant police harassment.

On a recent afternoon, Leo Cooper watched as two undercover street-crime officers jumped out of an unmarked Ford Crown Victoria just yards from the Peacemaker. They began questioning a group of men gathered at the corner. Within minutes, one of the men ran away. A second man was charged with loitering.

“This is what happens here every day. We can’t sit outside without being harassed,” said Cooper, 27. “Now we have that truck. Most of us are not doing anything wrong. We can’t be outside?”

The police department has met the allegations of harassment with skepticism.

“People who are abiding by the law should have no problems with this,” said Mandell. “People may feel that their privacy is being infringed on, but when you think about it, every day you walk down the street you are being watched by 20 to 30 cameras from private businesses and homes.”

The feedback is much different in a neighborhood less than a mile east of the motel, close to where Sistrunk Boulevard is undergoing a major refurbishing project. In December, residents rallied at city meetings to get more police presence after a rash of daytime home burglaries, including one on New Year’s Day, said Anthony Lucicero, a neighborhood leader.

“We had all sorts of people walking up and down this street at all hours,” he said. “Prostitutes, junkies, everyone.”

In early January, police parked the Peacemaker at an empty lot on Northwest Fifth Court between 10th and 11th avenues. Neighbors say it’s already making a difference.

“Before the truck, we were afraid to go to work knowing your house might be robbed in the middle of the afternoon,” said Lucicero’s neighbor, Tangerine Davis. “Now we go to work in peace.”

Their biggest worry now, they say, is what happens when the Peacemaker drives away and the police are no longer watching.

“I wish they had another one out here,” Lucicero said. “I have an empty lot right there they can use.”

A check with the region’s major law enforcement agencies indicate Fort Lauderdale’s Peacemakers may be the first in South Florida, but not the first in the nation. News reports show that agencies in Green Bay, Wis., Lafayette, La. and St. Louis, Mo., have been using them for at least a year.

“We are definitely not doing something like that right now,” said Deputy Eric Davis, a spokesman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. “I would love to see this for myself. Sounds pretty novel.”

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Crazed Hercules California School Officials Accuse 6 Year Old With Bogus Sexual Assault Charge – Held In Principal’s Office 2 Hours Until He “Confessed”

HERCULES, CALIFORNIA – An East Bay dad claims a game of tag on the playground resulted in his 6-year-old son being accused of sexual assault – a decision he said was an overreaction by school officials.

The parent, who asked only to be identified as Oswin, said his son was accused of brushing his best friend’s leg or groin while the two were playing on the playground at Lupine Hills Elementary in Hercules two months ago.

Oswin said his child was kept in the principal’s office for two hours until he confessed. He was suspended, and a sexual battery charge was placed on his permanent school record.

“To me, I think it’s an overreaction,” said Marilyn Cheeks, a Lupine Hills Elementary parent

Legally, there’s no such thing as sexual assault for a six year-old in California.

It wasn’t until Oswin and his wife got a lawyer that the school backed off. District officials declined to discuss specifics. They did confirm that an investigation was conducted, and that the child could not be charged with sexual battery. The claim was removed from the boy’s record.

Oswin’s son is attending another school now. He said he only hopes no one else will have to go through what his family did.

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Los Angeles County California Deputy Sheriff Brutally Beat Special Needs Woman On Bus – Threatened Soldier Who Caught It On Video

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – When Jermaine Green and his fiancee Violet Roberts got on a Metro bus in Bellflower Monday night, they took notice of another passenger.

“The lady got on the bus with a stroller full of pillows, she was very polite, said hello to everyone and sat down,” Green said.

At the next stop, two LA County sheriff’s deputies, one male and one female, boarded the bus and called the passenger by name.

“They said get off the bus. She then started cursing at (the female deputy). You could tell she had special needs. After that they grab her, she curses him out, calls him a big shot, next thing you know he gives her a big shot,” Green said.

“It was like they were tired of dealing with her so they didn’t try to talk to her or anything,” Roberts said.

“I couldn’t believe it. He seen me taping. He looked up at the camera a few times, and he still hit her like that, and I can’t believe he didn’t try to diffuse the situation at all,” Green said.

Green recently returned home from serving six years in the Army, including tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“In the Army, they gave us extensive training for rules of engagement. There’s proper protocols and steps you take. This lady didn’t do anything, she wasn’t combative and he actually turned combative on her,” Green said.

Green claims the deputies then tried to intimidate him when he refused to hand over his cell phone.

“He comes to me and says you can be under arrest if you don’t give me that video,” Green said.

Green said the deputy then asked if he had any warrants.

“I said no, I’m a veteran, I just came back, I have six years, I have no record, and he said ‘We’ll see about that.'”

Why didn’t Green want to hand over this video to the deputies involved?

“I think they would try to cover it up. I think a lot of things get covered up and people need to come forward if they see something, report it because it can’t be fixed unless it’s brought to the public’s attention,” Green said.

A sheriff’s department spokesman told NBCLA over the phone the department would not comment on this case and would not look at the videotape, but the spokesman said the department does investigate all use of force claims.

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Alabama Postal Worker Went Postal In Montgomery Post Officer – Two Guns

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA– A 29-year-old postal employee was charged with two counts of attempted murder Friday after authorities said he used two guns to fire shots inside the main post office in Alabama’s capital city.

No one was injured in the shootings Thursday night. Officials weren’t disclosing a motive or whether the employee was targeting any specific employee.

Officials said the employee, Arthur Lee Darby Jr., was in the Montgomery County Jail with bond set at $1 million.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Clark Morris, said the man showed up for work in the mail sorting area and began firing shots about 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Witnesses said a supervisor yelled that a man had a gun, and employees scurried outside.

Police took the man into custody within 10 minutes of getting a 911 call from the post office.

Police Chief Kevin Murphy said many officers were able to respond quickly because they were on holiday patrols at a nearby mall and shopping centers and many had special training on how to handle such incidents.

“The best news is that nobody was hurt and the local police responded quickly,” Postal Service spokesman Tony Robinson said Friday. “Management quickly had the building evacuated, which helped minimize the potential threat to the people.”

The post office, located on the city’s east side one block away from Auburn University Montgomery, reopened Friday morning with counselors available to talk to employees, Robinson said.

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Crazed Lee County Florida School Officials Go Nuts After Elementary School Girl Kissed A School Boy – Tried To Report A “Sex Crime”

LEE COUNTY, FLORIDA – A sheriff’s deputy was dispatched last week to a Florida elementary school after a girl kissed a boy during a physical education class.

School brass actually reported the impromptu buss as a possible sex crime, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

The assistant principal of Orange River Elementary School called in the cops after a teacher spotted the smooch Wednesday at the Fort Myers school. In fact, Margaret Ann Haring, 56, initially called child welfare officials, who directed her to contact the sheriff, according to a report.

The kiss apparently occurred after two girls debated over whom the boy liked more. That’s when one of the girls “went over and kissed” the boy. The redacted sheriff’s report notes that Haring “stated there were no new allegations of sexual abuse as far as she knew.”

Deputies do not appear to be further probing the preteen kiss.

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Crazed Genesee County Michigan Sheriff Robert Pickell Sets Up Illegal Checkpoints On Interstate And State Highways

GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN – Motorists driving on expressways around Flint are getting surprised by a stunning tactic that the Genesee County sheriff has been using to fight the flow of illegal drugs — one that legal experts said will not withstand a court challenge.

At least seven times this month, including Tuesday, motorists have said they have seen a pickup towing a large sign on I-69 or U.S.-23 that depicts the sheriff’s badge and warns: “Sheriff narcotics check point, 1 mile ahead — drug dog in use.”

The checkpoints are part of a broad sweep for drugs that Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell and his self-titled Sheriff’s Posse said are needed, calling Flint a crossroads of drug dealing because nearly a half-dozen major roads and expressways pass in and around the city. Pickell said he decided to try checkpoints when he learned that drug shipments might be passing through Flint in tractor-trailers with false compartments.

“We’re doing everything by the book,” Genesee County Undersheriff Christopher Swanson said. “We think there’s major loads (of drugs) coming through here from all over, every day. And this is one of the tools we use — narcotics checkpoints.”

He said the dogs are used to sniff around the vehicles to check for drugs.

The practice has legal experts on searches and seizures at two law schools in Michigan, a constitutional law expert in Lansing and the American Civil Liberties Union calling the practice out of bounds and out of touch with state and U.S. Supreme Court rulings that ban such practices.

Based on a case out of Indianapolis, the U.S. Supreme Court held in 2000 that narcotics checkpoints where everyone gets stopped on a public road are not legal and violate Fourth Amendment protections against illegal searches and seizures, professor David Moran at the University of Michigan Law School said.

Wayne State University Law School professor Peter Henning said police can set up roadblocks to search all who pass by, but only if a crime has just been committed.

And Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton, who said he was not consulted by Pickell about the checkpoints, said that after a court challenge, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in 1990 that so-called “sobriety check lanes,” put in place to nab drunken drivers, were illegal.

The new practice of narcotics checkpoints “certainly brings up probable-cause issues,” Leyton said Thursday.

Leyton said he has no power to stop the practice, however. That, he said, would require someone arrested at a checkpoint to contest the evidence in court.

The checkpoints have caused an uproar, officials said. And, as a result, the sheriff’s office has altered its methods: Instead of using the checkpoints daily — even Sundays when they started at the beginning of the month — they are used sporadically. And instead of stopping everyone, law enforcement has been putting the signs out and waiting for a motorist to make an illegal U-turn in the freeway median to try to avoid the checkpoint, thus giving them cause to pull the driver over and search the vehicle.

But even that method raises question, U-M professor Moran said. The technique has not been tested in Michigan courts, he said. But judges would take a dim view of it because “it’s perilously close to entrapment,” he said.

“It’s just the kind of shabby treatment that the Fourth Amendment was designed to prevent,” Moran said.

Among the groups of motorists most stunned by the checkpoints are state-registered medical marijuana users and caregivers. Pickell and Swanson said the checkpoints weren’t meant to target medical-marijuana users, but word of the new tactic spread quickly through that community.

Many registered users and caregivers told the Free Press they now fear driving near Flint, even when they possess their medical-marijuana registry cards.

At a checkpoint Tuesday afternoon just west of Flint on I-69, officers pulled over only those who saw the checkpoint sign, then made an illegal U-turn on the freeway, Jamie Fricke, 31, of Lapeer said.

“But my buddy went through this on Monday and he said they were pulling over all enclosed trailers. They had drug-sniffing dogs out that day,” on I-69 east of Flint, in Burton, she said.

Fricke, a state registered medical-marijuana user, said she had a small amount of the drug with her, but her car was not searched.

Larry and Diane Foster, both of Muskegon, said they saw a checkpoint Oct. 5 in which officers were stopping every motorist on eastbound I-69.

“We were going in the opposite direction or we would’ve been stopped,” said Diane Foster, 55, a state-registered medical-marijuana user and caregiver. “I had medication (marijuana) on me, so I don’t know what the outcome would’ve been.”

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Crazed Norfolk Virginia School Security Guard Assaulted At Least 37 Children Using Pepper Spray

NORFOLK, VIRGINIA – A middle school security guard used pepper spray on children after a food fight broke out in the cafeteria.

Schools officials are investigating after the unnamed female guard used the powerful weapon to break up a fight during lunch at Lafayette-Winona Middle School in Norfolk, Virginia.

Parents were horrified by the heavy- handed approach, which caused some children who suffer from asthma to get sick.

Violent: A security guard at Lafayette-Winona Middle School in Norfolk, Virginia used pepper spray to regain control after a food fight broke out in the cafeteria

Violent: A security guard at Lafayette-Winona Middle School in Norfolk, Virginia used pepper spray to regain control after a food fight broke out in the cafeteria

37 students complained of physical symptoms following the pepper spray.

They were examined by the school nurse, and their parents were contacted. Five parents contacted the school after the incident.

‘It was just terrible in there,’ 12-year-old Derrell Hairston told Wavy.com

Derrell’s mother Tyheshia Hairston said: ‘He stayed up all night coughing and gagging.

‘I just feel like you can’t treat these kids like animals … they’re going to act like animals.’

Norfolk Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Richard Bentley said. ‘I’d be upset absolutely I don’t blame the parents for being upset I understand that.’

He added: ‘We’re still investigating the facts, we don’t have all the facts yet okay and it would be inappropriate for me to speak about that until we completed the investigation.’

According to school policy, the security officer only use the pepper spray when less forceful methods don’t work. They must also warn pupils.

Derrell Hairston said: ‘She just started spraying pepper spray. She didn’t warn nobody or nothing.’

The principal Tracey Flemings yesterday sent a letter to parents, which read: ‘Yesterday during your child’s lunch period, one of our school security officers determined that it was necessary to use pepper spray to end a food fight.

‘Children who were in the vicinity of the incident, or any who complained of physical symptoms, were examined by the school nurse. We contacted their parents.

‘Please be assured that Norfolk Public Schools has specific policy and procedures regarding the use of pepper spray by our school security officers, and all officers are thoroughly trained.

‘I am working in partnership with the Norfolk Public Schools Department of Pupil Personnel Services to determine whether yesterday’s use of the pepper spray met our policy and procedures.

‘If we find that the protocols were not followed, appropriate steps will be taken to ensure that it does not happen again.’

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New York City Police Chief Ray Kelly Claims His Department Could “Take Down A Plane”

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – The chief of the New York Police Department says city police could take down a plane if necessary.

Commissioner Ray Kelly tells CBS’ “60 Minutes” that after the Sept. 11 attacks, he decided the city couldn’t rely on the federal government alone. He set about creating the NYPD’s own counter-terrorism unit. He says the department is prepared for multiple scenarios and could even take down a plane.

Kelly didn’t divulge details but said “obviously this would be in a very extreme situation.”

Other measures include sending NYPD officers abroad, using radiation detectors and creating a network of surveillance cameras in Manhattan.

The interview airs Sunday evening. It comes two weeks after the tenth anniversary of 9/11, when hijackers flew planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

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Lawsuit Charges Nutcase Chicago Ilinois Public School Security Guard With Handcuffing 1st Graders For Hours For Talking – Told Them They Were Going To PRISON And Would Never See Their Parents Again…

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – The attorney for a family suing Chicago Public Schools over the alleged handcuffing of a first-grader in 2010 said Tuesday that the boy was among several 6- and 7-year-olds who were detained and handcuffed for hours for talking in class.

In an email to the Tribune, attorney Michael Carin said school officials at Carver Primary School on the Far South Side authorized the on-campus security guard in March 2010 to discipline some first-graders who were being disruptive.

Giving details not disclosed in the lawsuit filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court, Carin said the school’s security officer removed the students from class and held them in another office on campus where there were no other adults present. Carin said the students were handcuffed for hours and told that “they were going to prison and would never see their parents again.”

“There appears to be no reason for an officer to isolate 6- and 7-year-old children, place them in handcuffs and threaten them for hours during a school day, or any other day,” Carin wrote.

Carin said the Chicago Board of Education had ignored attempts to resolve this case outside the courtroom.

“Unfortunately, we had to file a lawsuit because the Chicago Board of Education ignored my client on the day of the imprisonment and every day thereafter,” Carin wrote. “We hope the Chicago Board of Education acknowledges its responsibility and resolves the matter quickly.”

In the complaint, the boy’s mother, LaShanda Smith, describes the guard’s action as “reckless” and said her son suffered injuries both “permanent” and “personal” during the incident. Smith, who is seeking more than $100,000 in damages, accuses the officer of acting “in conscious disregard” of her son’s safety.

CPS, along with the Board of Education, are defendants in the case. Neither the security officer nor school administrators are named as defendants.

CPS spokeswoman Becky Carroll said again Tuesday that school officials have not yet seen the complaint and need to review it before commenting. Calls to Carver Primary School were not returned.

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Drunk Washington DC Police Officer Kenneth Furr Crashed Into Car, Opened Fire On Transsexuals

WASHINGTON, DC – The D.C. police officer accused of drunkenly shooting at transgendered people has been punished at least twice before for alcohol-related incidents, records and sources said.

Charging documents released Monday described how Kenneth Furr crashed his Cadillac into another vehicle early Friday morning, stood on the hood of the victims’ vehicle and shouted, “I’m gonna kill all of you.”

There were five people in the other vehicle, police said. One person suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the arm and hand, and two others were hurt in the attack.

Police said Furr, a 20-year-veteran, blew a 0.15 on an alcohol breath-test machine after the shooting — nearly twice the legal limit for drivers in D.C.

He remains held on charges of DWI and assault with a deadly weapon. His first court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday, and he has been segregated from the other prisoners.

Furr’s attorney said he could not comment about the case or Officer Furr, who police say is on paid leave.

According to charging documents, Furr got into an argument with several transgendered people outside the CVS pharmacy at 400 Massachusetts Avenue at about 4:40 a.m. Friday. He pulled a gun on one of the victims, who then reported the incident to an off-duty D.C. police officer working security at the pharmacy, charging documents said.

The CVS officer determined that Furr was an “off-duty officer, and therefore no further action was necessary,” the charging document said.

The victims later saw Furr driving his Cadillac and followed him in their car, police said.

Furr got out of his vehicle, pointed the gun at the driver. The sequence of the events that followed is unclear is unclear. Patrol officers nearby said they heard the cars crash and then rapid gunfire. The victims said Furr fired first and then the cars struck.

Officers found Furr standing on the hood, pointing his off-duty service weapon at the windshield. Police recovered five shell casings that matched Furr’s weapon.

A spokeswoman said she could not comment about whether police are looking to see if Furr might be connected to the two early morning shootings of transgendered people in Northeast Washington earlier this summer.

It wasn’t the first time Furr has gotten into trouble.

He was arrested in 2004 for driving while intoxicated and operating while impaired, according to court records. He pleaded no contest and the charges were dropped after he completed a diversion program.

He was suspended for between 30 and 90 days in that case, according to city records.

On Christmas Day 1996, Furr and another officer were on duty when they got into a drunken argument with a mother and son. Police brass placed Furr on administrative leave and tried to fire him, but he was reinstated in 1998 after a change in police chiefs.

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Nutcase Ohio Congressman Steve Chabot Has Police Officer Confiscate Cameras From Those Attending Town Hall Meeting – “To Protect The Constituents” While He Answered Pre-Screened Questions

OHIO – A congressman from Ohio had cops grab the cameras of constituents during a town hall meeting. Steve Chabot, a Republican, had cell phones and cameras confiscated in order to “prevent an embarrassing Youtube video from making the rounds,” according to Carlos Miller, who runs a blog documenting efforts by the state to stifle the First Amendment rights of photographers.

Police said the cameras were taken “to protect the constituents.” A local television station, however, was allowed to videotape the meeting and the brazen move by Chabot and the cops.

Think Progress, the Soros-funded media operation, also reported the incident, primarily because Chabot is an establishment Republican and protesters outside the event called for more taxes. The Democrat blog reported:

Media were permitted to record the event, making the ban on citizen cameras all the more baffling. Clearly no “security” threat existed; rather, as one of Chabot’s staffers told ThinkProgress, they wanted to “prevent” people from “making a show” of the event. Indeed, Chabot and his staff were worried enough about citizens voicing their anger at his policies that they only accepted pre-screened questions chosen by the congressman’s staff.

This should not be perplexing – the controlled corporate media can be trusted to not embarrass Rep. Chabot, at least not on points that matter, while citizens cannot.

It is also interesting that Think Progress attributes the current economic implosion to Chabot and the Republicans when Democrat Obama is in the White House and allegedly in control.

In fact, neither Obama or the Republicans control the economy. It is controlled by a Federal Reserve that has doubled the monetary base since last August.

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Crazed New York City Mayor Bloomberg Wants Red Light Cameras On Every Corner

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Mayor Bloomberg wants to blanket the city with red light cameras – and maybe even publish the names of scofflaws who blow through intersections.

“I think we should have ’em on every corner if we could,” the mayor said of the controversial cameras that trigger tickets to drivers caught running red lights.

“If people didn’t go through red lights, you’d save a lot of lives of elderly and kids,” Hizzoner told reporters Monday during a press conference.

Bloomberg was responding to a Daily News report on the $52 million in fines the city issued last year to drivers caught by cameras – really a $55 million haul with penalties included.

Bloomberg wants Albany to increase the number of cameras permitted on city streets to 225, up from the current 150.

A bill to hike the number of cameras passed the state Senate in June, but stalled in the Democratic-controlled Assembly.

The city is allowed to put up as many cameras as it wants but needs state approval to fine drivers for the related infractions.

The mayor mused that the city could put up the cameras – then try to embarrass the rule-breakers.

“Maybe what we should do is do it and start publishing in the paper who does it and then a list of the senators and assemblymen who keep us from having cameras \[that can levy fines\],” the mayor suggested.

“Every time there’s somebody hit, it would be nice to say ‘Ok, assemblyman and senator so-and-so didn’t think that person’s life \[was important\] … This is our lives of our people we’re talking about! This is not something cute and we’ve got to do something about it.”

Bloomberg said he would also support speed cameras to catch drivers going too fast – a proposal that’s the subject of an Assembly bill but has not yet been introduced in the Senate.

“We cannot afford to put a cop on every corner,” Bloomberg said. “We’re going to have to do more with technology.”

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Los Angeles California Police Officer Jeff Stenroos Pleads Not Guilty After Shooting Himself Outside School, Claiming Car Burglar Did It

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – A Los Angeles police officer charged with staging a victimization hoax by shooting himself outside a public school pleaded not guilty Friday to a six-count indictment, prosecutors said.

Jeff Stenroos, 30, entered the plea before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg after an indictment was returned a day earlier by a grand jury, said spokeswoman Jane Robison of the Los Angeles district attorney’s office.

Stenroos is on paid administrative leave from the school district, Robison said in a written statement.

The indictment supersedes a felony complaint, which will be dismissed when Stenroos is scheduled to return to court on May 18 for a pretrial hearing, prosecutors said.

Stenroos allegedly faked his own shooting while on duty at El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California, on January 19, Robinson said. His injury was discovered by a person who saw him lying on the ground near his open car door, she said.

Stenroos allegedly told other officers that a car burglary suspect shot him once in the chest as he was patrolling the campus perimeter, prosecutors said.

More than 550 law enforcement officers from throughout Southern California responded and conducted a 10-hour search, shutting down an eight-square-mile area in the San Fernando Valley and keeping students on lockdown in eight campuses, authorities said.

The indictment charges the school police officer with five felony counts, including insurance fraud, workers’ compensation fraud, preparing a false police report, preparing false documentary evidence and planting false evidence; and with one misdemeanor of falsely reporting an emergency, Deputy District Attorney Paul Nunez said in a statement.

The superseding indictment adds two new counts — insurance fraud and planting evidence — and drops a prior charge of perjury, prosecutors said.

The city is seeking $361,289 in restitution from Stenroos, and the Los Angeles Unified School District is seeking $58,000 in medical costs, prosecutors said.

If convicted, Stenroos would face up to five years and eight months in prison, Robison said.

Stenroos, who was treated and released from Northridge Medical Center the day he was shot, is accused of insurance fraud for seeking medical treatment for the injuries, prosecutors said.

The weekend after the shooting, Stenroos checked himself into Henry Mayo Hospital in Santa Clarita for ongoing complaints of pain, prosecutors said.

Police investigators found that Stenroos allegedly created false evidence when he claimed he was shot, authorities said.

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Crazed California State Lawmakers Propose Spending $10 Million On Internet Police To Closely Monitor Residents Web Activities For Out Of State Purchases

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – With California deep in debt, a controversial plan has emerged that calls for private vendors to monitor what you buy on the Internet.

The Board of Equalization (BOE) says it could raise a billion dollars a year in previously uncollected use taxes, but critics call it haunting to hire “Internet Police”.

One of those critics is Monique Bell, who started My Kid Sister Clothing Company, three years ago in Stockton.

“If you wear it, we sell it,” Bell told CBS 13 inside her Stockton home.

Bell is the owner of My Kid Sister Clothing Company, an Internet portal that allows her customers to find clothes for kids – and the whole family at a discount. She’s concerned by the BOE plan – a staff proposal to identify Internet buyers who use her site and others, to purchase things from out-of-state vendors.

“I think it’s like Big Brother. It’s definitely very chilling,” said Bell. The Internet entrepreneur told CBS 13, “I think our customers are just going to stop buying from us. We’re going to see a dramatic drop in sales.”

Under state law, if you buy something online from an out-of-state company with no physical presence here – since you are not paying sales tax, you are supposed to pay a use tax to the State of California, but many people never do.

That could change however, under the BOE proposal, which would authorize California to spend up to $10 million to hire private vendors to track down what you purchase over the Internet.

“This is just a fishing expedition as far as I’m concerned,” said George Runner, an elected member of the Board of Equalization.

Runner is fighting the Board’s staff proposal. CBS 13 asked him to explain how it was pitched to the Board:

“One of the ideas is well, we think there might be some people who will sell us data,” Runner warned about the proposal. “That will tell us what kind of credit card transactions or private transactions that a Californian may have made in purchasing something out of state,” he told CBS 13.

Under the plan, California could generate up to $1.1 billion in uncollected taxes by monitoring what you buy online. Anyone purchasing more than $5,000 a year would be fair game. But active Internet users like Dan and Amber Campbell of Sacramento worry about government watching over their shoulders.

“I just really think it’s an invasion of privacy and it should be back in the hands of the retailer, not the consumer,” Amber Campbell told CBS 13. Her husband Dan Campbell has similar concerns.

“It would kind of be more of a Big Brother type scenario,” Campbell told CBS 13 “And I really don’t feel like we need one more person watching what we do online or what we purchase.”

Keeping tabs on Internet purchases is so controversial the Board of Equalization has pulled the proposal from the calendar for now – and asked for further study.

“This item was pulled from the calendar for further review,” said BOE Spokesperson Anita Gore via e-mail. “It was not ready for discussion at the time it was pulled from the agenda and is not ready for discussion at this time. There is no one available from BOE for an on-camera interview at this time,” she told CBS 13 in the statement.

California’s Use Tax law has been on the books since 1935.

Last year, the state took in more than $3 billion – but there’s still more than a billion dollars that go uncollected.

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Judge Puts Nutcase Yolo County California Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Davis In Her Place – Reduces Mentally Ill Man’s $3 Felony Theft (Candy Bar) Case To Misdemeanor Over Her Objections, Despite Los Prevention Officer’s Feeling Getting Hurt…

WOODLAND, CALIFORNIA – A Woodland man faced petty theft, with a series of prior convictions which enhanced the charge to a felony, for stealing a candy bar from JC Penneys in the Woodland Mall.

The defendant, Ovan Taylor, apparently suffers from schizophrenia and has a long history of mental illness. Following a preliminary hearing, Judge Paul Richardson reduced the charge to a misdemeanor in the interest of justice, over the protests of Deputy DA Jennifer Davis.

Ovan Taylor was in the mall in Woodland when he allegedly walked into a store, picked up a Godiva candy bar worth $2.95 and put it in his pocket. The loss prevention official called mall security and then followed Mr. Taylor out the store and confronted him, asking for the candy bar. He asked Mr. Taylor about the bar and Mr. Taylor denied knowing what he was talking about.

Mr. Taylor began to curse at Lopez and pulled out the candy bar and make up from his back pocket and threw it at him. Taylor then ran to the movie theater. The loss prevention official called the police while following Taylor to the theater. Mr. Taylor turned around and ran toward Burlington Coat Factory, before he was detained by mall security.

The loss prevention official said on the stand on Tuesday that he felt disrespected by Mr. Taylor because of the yelling, cursing and not giving the candy back.

It was only under cross-examination that it became clear that Mr. Taylor was nervous and sweating and acting a bit weird. It was at that point when it became known that the defendant suffered from schizophrenia.

Officer Randall Krantz of the Woodland Police Department was the arresting officer who responded to the police call. The officer indicated on the stand that Mr. Taylor acknowledged taking the candy.

Defense then asked if something seemed off or wrong with Mr. Taylor, and the officer testified that he had been moving his mouth as if he were talking to himself.

Defense Attorney Amber Poston tried to see if the loss prevention official made it personal, to go after Mr. Taylor and press charges. The officer said that it was due to the circumstances, and he would want to press charges. The official felt like he was disrespected and that Mr. Taylor was not cooperating.

Defense argued to the Judge that Mr. Taylor has a history of mental issues. He has other felony cases pending and a violation of parole pending. The defense argued for reducing the charge to a misdemeanor despite the other cases, as it was only a candy bar.

Deputy DA Jennifer Davis, however, argued that it should not be reduced to a misdemeanor because of his record with the other felony cases, along with the violation of probation.

Judge Richardson argued, on the other hand, that this was just a candy bar that was worth $2.95. There was no need for this case to be a felony. He reduced it to a misdemeanor in the interest of justice.

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Nutcase Florida State Senator Jim Norman Proposes Bill To Make Photographing A Farm A Felony Criminal Offense

TAMPA, FLORIDA – State Sen. Jim Norman, a Republican from Tampa, is very concerned about a farm’s right to privacy, while showing little regard for the First Amendment. He has filed a bill in the Florida Senate that would make it a first-degree felony to photograph or videotape farms without express written consent of the owner. Better hurry up and take a picture of some farm’s bull’s shit to express your feelings about the bill while you still can.

You might have heard of these laws forbidding people from trespassing. For some reason, the first section of the bill just wants to establish a special farm trespassing law.

But the second half of the bill would prohibit photographing a farm even from off the property. So let’s say you’re cruising along some highway in Central Florida on your way to Disney and spot some cows grazing on farmland. Don’t take out your cell phone camera to snap a pic, because that would make you a felon!

Here’s the specific text of the bill:

A person who photographs, video records, or otherwise produces images or pictorial records, digital or otherwise, at or of a farm or other property where legitimate agriculture operations are being conducted without the written consent of the owner, or an authorized representative of the owner, commits a felony of the first degree.

Salon.com legitimately wonders if this would make Google Earth or Google Maps images of Florida’s vast agriculture land illegal.

Though Norman hasn’t clarified the exact intentions of the bill, many observers think it was filed at the behest of agriculture special interests who want to prohibit animal rights activists from filming possible animal mistreatment.

Photography is protected in most cases under the First Amendment, and Norman’s bill, as it is written now, flies in that basic right’s face.

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Crazed U.S. State Department Officials Propose Requirement For List Every Job And Every Residence With Passport Application – Mistakes To Be Used As Evidence To Prosecute Applying Citizens

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of State has proposed a new questionnaire that would make it almost impossible for some people to get a passport.

The new document (PDF) would require that certain applicants submit a list of every residence and every job they’ve ever had since birth.

In February, the department published a request in the Federal Register allowing 60 days for comment before the new rules go into effect.

“The Biographical Questionnaire for a U.S. Passport, form DS-5513, is used to supplement an application for a U.S. passport when the applicant submits citizenship or identity evidence that is insufficient or of questionable authenticity,” according to a supporting statement (PDF) issued along with the request for comment.

“This form is used prior to passport issuance and solicits information relating to the respondent’s family, birth circumstances, residences, schooling, and employment,” the statement added.

“In addition to this primary use of the data, the DS-5513 may also be used as evidence in the prosecution of any individual who makes a false statement on the application and for other uses as set forth in the Prefatory Statement and the Passport System of Records Notice (State-26).”

The document also requires some applicants to submit information about the mother’s pre-natal and post-natal care, the mother’s residence one year before and after the birth, the persons in attendance at the birth and religious or institutional recordings of the birth.

“The State Department estimated that the average respondent would be able to compile all this information in just 45 minutes, which is obviously absurd given the amount of research that is likely to be required to even attempt to complete the form,” Consumer Traveler’s Edward Hasbrouck noted.

The Consumer Travel Alliance opposes the new form as “exceeding the statutory authority of the DOS, unconstitutional, and in violation of U.S. obligations pursuant to international human rights treaties to which the U.S. is a party,” according to draft comments (PDF) prepared by the group.

“[C]hoosing to require an applicant for a passport to complete the proposed Form DS-5513, which few if any applicants could complete, would amount to a de facto decision to deny that applicant a passport. And that decision would be standardless, arbitrary, and illegal,” they added.

The State Department had not returned a call asking for comment at the time of publication.

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Nutcase Maricopa County Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Starts Online Mugshot Of The Day Competition

ARIZONA – He is known for dressing inmates in pink underwear and feeding them green baloney.

And now America’s toughest Sheriff has come up with a new initiative to give the public a voice in law enforcement – an online Mugshot of the Day competition.

The Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff says he hopes the increased Web traffic will highlight the work of his employees.

He also says more crimes may be uncovered if the public can view the photos.

The top picks so far aren’t unexpected: They’re the most dishevelled, unusual looking people among those booked into an Arizona jail.

And while the new scheme may be controversial, it has the overwhelming backing of those using the site, with 4102 out of the 4964 people who have voted so far agreeing with Arpaio.

Visitors to the Sheriff’s page mcso.org are greeted with the day’s current most popular shot.

The top seven most popular pictures are displayed first.

Users can also sort those arrested by crime, picking via a menu ranging from sexual offences to assault.

Last month Arpaio was criticised for raiding a suspected cock fighting farm with a SWAT team, a bomb robot, two armoured vehicles, and action movie star Steven Segal.

Jesus Llovera, 42, was arrested for cockfighting after the operation involving Steven Seagal, 58, who drove a tank onto the property as he shot a reality television show.

The Sheriff also came under fire in 2008 for his controversial stance on illegal immigrants.

He was accused of dispatching teams of sheriff’s deputies into Hispanic communities where they stopped and arrested anyone who could not prove he or she was a legal U.S. resident.

The tactic drew heavy criticism from Hispanic activists, local lawmakers and the Phoenix mayor, who called the crackdown on immigrants a clear case of racial profiling in which only people who looked Hispanic were targeted.

And this month an examination of Maricopa County’s finances found that the sheriff’s office, inappropriately spent $99 million from two jail funds over the last eight years to pay for other law enforcement operations – including immigration patrols.

The $99 million figure is an update to an estimate made in September by budget officials who said the sheriff’s office was believed to have used $60 million and $80 million over four or five years from a jail tax on other purposes.

Since then, officials said they discovered that the sheriff’s office had inappropriately spent money from a second jail.

The findings by county budget officials discussed at a meeting Wednesday were sent to federal prosecutors who were already investigating Arpaio on abuse of power allegations.
Work: Members of the female chain gang fill in graves at Maricopa County’s White Tank cemetery

Work: Members of the female chain gang fill in graves at Maricopa County’s White Tank cemetery
Smile: Another top seven mugshot seen here on the MCSO.org website. It is hoped the initiative will increase awareness of police work

Smile: Another top seven mugshot seen here on the MCSO.org website. It is hoped the initiative will increase awareness of police work

The mugshot initiative is just one of a long list of unorthodox methods employed by the notorious Sheriff.

According to the Maricopa County website, Arpaio served in the U.S. Army from 1950 to 1953 before working as a policeman in Washington, D.C. and Las Vegas.

He rose to worldwide fame In August 1993, when he started the nation’s largest Tent City for convicted inmates.

Nearly two thousand convicted men and women now serve their sentences in the temporary canvas city, sweltering in the unrelenting heat.

During the summer of 2003, when outside temperatures exceeded 43 °C, Arpaio famously said to complaining inmates, ‘It’s 120 degrees in Iraq and the soldiers are living in tents, have to wear full body armor, and they didn’t commit any crimes, so shut your mouths.’

He is also known for bringing back chain gangs to carry out road repairs, painting public buildings and even working as part time undertakers burying the county’s dead.

His tough line on stealing led to perhaps his most memorable stunt, making inmates in the county’s prison system wear pink underwear.

He has also banned smoking, coffee, movies, pornographic magazines, and unrestricted TV in all jails.

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Audit Finds Nutcase Maricopa County Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Misused Nearly $100 Million In Taxpayer Funds

MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA – The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office misused nearly $100 million in taxpayer money over the past 8 years, according to an audit released Wednesday.

The findings came from the Office of Management and Budget and were presented to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors during a Wednesday morning meeting.

“It’s a disaster for the county,” said Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox.

Auditors claim the Sheriff’s Office used $99.5 million to pay deputies’ salaries from the Detention Fund, which is voter protected for detention related expenses only.

READ SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO’S RESPONSE ON THE NEXT PAGE

Deputies working in court security can be paid with monies from the Detention Fund while deputies working in the field on patrol cannot. Deputies on patrol are to be paid with money from the General Fund.

“We paid deputies’ salaries out of the jail tax fund because they were originally assigned to the detention function of court services,” said Interim Chief Deputy Sheriff Jerry Sheridan. “As we transferred them out, the paperwork didn’t follow.”

Sheridan chalked the error up to a basic bookkeeping problem but Wilcox hinted at possible criminal mischief.

“This is not an issue we take lightly and you cannot just write it off as accounting errors,” Wilcox said.

It is still unclear how or when the monies will be repaid to the Detention Fund.

“At my direction, Interim Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan has worked feverishly with county officials to examine and fix this payroll discrepancy issue. His knowledge of the problem undoubtedly made him the most appropriate person to answer questions from the Board at today’s meeting. He understands the origins of the problem and has assured me we can fix it without any direct impact to the taxpayer.

There is now an elevated degree of collaboration and trust between my office and the county administration. My only disappointment came from comments by two Board members indicating that some bitterness on their behalf remains. I hope those two Board members will put their personal feelings aside and join the rest of us as we endeavor to improve county government.”

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