Robbery Victim Arrested for Using the N-Word

Barbara Boyer
Philadelphia Inquirer
August 8, 2009

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A Bucks County woman who had been robbed and left bleeding outside the Tweeter Center in Camden just didn’t behave well as a crime victim, or so police thought.

Camden Detective Maurice Gibson, who alleges that Kimberly Halpin made racial slurs in describing her assailants, decided that she should be handcuffed, arrested, and jailed.

Their he-said, she-said trial landed before U.S. District Judge Renee Bumb this week. And a jury of five women and three men unanimously decided yesterday that the detective fabricated information to justify the June 19, 2004, arrest.

Halpin, 29, who is white and now works as a substance and alcohol abuse counselor, sued Camden police for false arrest after she was charged with disorderly conduct while trying to report that she had been mugged as she left an all-day music festival at the Tweeter Center.

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URL to article: http://www.infowars.com/robbery-victim-arrested-for-using-the-n-word/

You’re (Probably) a Federal Criminal

Brian Walsh
Fox News
July 24, 2009

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With all the attention that’s been paid lately to long federal sentences for drug offenders, it’s surprising that a far more troubling phenomenon has barely hit the media’s radar screen. Every year, thousands of upstanding, responsible Americans run afoul of some incomprehensible federal law or regulation and end up serving time in federal prison.

What is especially disturbing is that it could happen to anyone at all — and it has.

We should applaud Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), then, for holding a bipartisan hearing today to examine how federal law can make a criminal out of anyone, for even the most mundane conduct.

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URL to article: http://www.infowars.com/youre-probably-a-federal-criminal/

DNA database: who’s watching your genes?

The National DNA database in the UK currently holds information on five percent of the population, proportionally ten times bigger than its US equivalent, and there are no signs of it being discontinued any time soon.

It was created in 1995 as a crime-fighting tool, and has never been far from controversy. This intensified in 2004, when a law was passed allowing the DNA of innocent people to be retained by the police.

Now, anyone who is simply arrested (and not necessarily cautioned or convicted) has their genetic code entered into the database.

In December, it was ruled that this contravenes the European Convention on Human Rights, but still the database keeps growing.

“We think the DNA database is really out of control,” Helen Wallace, the director of GeneWatch UK, told RT.

“It was set up to keep the DNA of convicted criminals, but now it contains about five million people’s profiles, about a million of whom may well be innocent and many of whom are children.”

Research has shown that the database is racially biased. Three out of every four young black men have their genetic DNA code stored, suggesting the police arrest far more black people than white, even though statistics say whites have a higher rate of offending. Matilda MacAttram, the director of Black Mental Health, argues this effectively criminalizes an entire community.

“Statistically, the genetic heritage of every black citizen in the UK is on a criminal database, even though this group doesn’t have a higher propensity to commit a crime,” she said.

“And in this country, which is held up as a bastion for civil liberties and human rights, one is innocent until proven guilty by a court of law, and until the law changes, that’s what the police who are supposed to be upholding the law should adhere to.”

The organization Black Mental Health UK hopes a change of government at parliamentary elections (which must take place by June next year) will bring about a change in policy concerning the national database.

Opposition parties support the system that currently exists in Scotland where the law on genetic information storage is different from the rest of Britain. There, DNA is collected on arrest, but automatically deleted from files in the vast majority of cases if no charges are brought.

“We need a different system. We need a system where the reality is if you are arrested for an offence and you’re cleared, that your samples are cleared off the system,” David Burrowes, the Shadow Justice Minister pointed out.

“But only in particular circumstances such as those who are charged with serious violence or sexual offenses should they have their samples kept for a period of up to five years, as happens in Scotland,” he added.

In the meantime, the database continues to grow, and introducing the Scottish system isn’t even under discussion by the ruling Labour party.

Despite a decision by the European Court of Human Rights that retaining innocent people’s DNA is illegal, the police are still adding 400,000 profiles to the database every month.

In August, a consultation on the future of the database will be held, but police chiefs at Scotland Yard and the Home Office, responsible for British internal security, still proposes keeping the DNA of innocent people for up to 12 years

URL:

http://www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-07-23/DNA-database–who-s-watching-your-genes.html

Honduran President Ousted in Coup

ELISABETH MALKIN
The New York Times
June 28 2009

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MEXICO CITY — The Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, was ousted by the army on Sunday after pressing ahead with plans for a referendum that opponents said could lay the groundwork for his eventual re-election, in the first military coup in Central America since the end of the cold war.

Soldiers entered the presidential palace in the capital, Tegucigalpa, and disarmed the presidential guard early Sunday, military officials said. Mr. Zelaya’s private secretary, Eduardo Enrique Reina, confirmed the arrest.

Mr. Zelaya flew into exile in Costa Rica, telling a local television station, “They are creating a monster they will not be able to contain.”

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Iranian authorities arrest eight British embassy employees in Tehran

Borzou Daragahi
Los Angeles Times
June 12, 2009

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Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Iranian authorities arrested eight local employees of the British embassy in Tehran, accusing them of “playing major parts” in the recent unrest over a presidential election, the semi-official Fars news agency reported today.

The move comes amid deteriorating relations between Iran and the West in the wake of a crackdown against Iranians opposed to the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Iranian president rebuked his American counterpart Saturday as the two countries fell back into a familiar pattern of back-and-forth barbs that may imperil the Obama administration’s plans to open a direct dialogue with Tehran over its nuclear program.

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URL to article: http://www.infowars.com/iranian-authorities-arrest-eight-british-embassy-employees-in-tehran/

“If I didn’t confess to 7/7 bombings MI5 officers would rape my wife”

Matthew Hickley
Mail Online
June 25, 2009

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A British man who claims the Government colluded in his arrest and torture abroad has accused MI5 officers of forcing him to confess to masterminding the July 7 bombings.

Jamil Rahman claims UK security officers were behind his arrest in 2005 in Bangladesh where he says he was stripped naked and beaten repeatedly by Bangladeshi officials – who threatened to rape him and his wife if he refused to answer questions.

Mr Rahman, who is now suing the Home Office in the British courts, said a pair of MI5 officers who attended his torture and interrogation in Bangladesh would leave the room while he was beaten – and then return and continue questioning him.

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URL to article: http://www.infowars.com/if-i-didnt-confess-to-77-bombings-mi5-officers-would-rape-my-wife/

FBI Operative Hal Turner Arrested

Infowars
June 4, 2009

FBI operative Hal Turner has been arrested for inciting violence, according to The Hartford Courant. Turner allegedly incited Catholics to “take up arms” and singling out two Connecticut lawmakers and a state ethics official. He was arrested by state Capitol police in Connecticut.

	In 2008, Turner was exposed as an FBI operative.

Turner was charged in a warrant with inciting injury to persons or property and will be presented in a New Jersey courthouse today for extradition to Connecticut.

Remarks on Turner’s blog “were a reaction to the recent controversy over a bill that would have changed the way the Roman Catholic Church is governed, taking power away from church officials and turning it over to lay members. It was pulled in mid-March following an outcry from Catholics across the state and questions about its constitutionality,” according to the newspaper.

“It is our intent to foment direct action against these individuals personally. These beastly government officials should be made an example of as a warning to others in government: Obey the Constitution or die,” commentary on Turner’s blog stated. “If any state attorney, police department or court thinks they’re going to get uppity with us about this, I suspect we have enough bullets to put them down, too.”

Turner promised to publicize the home addresses of the Connecticut officials Wednesday night, but was taken into custody before that could happen.

Hal Turner is no stranger to controversy and has issued threats in the past.

In 2005, he publicized the names of three federal court judges. He posted the judges’ names and addresses on his Web site. “We may have to ASSASSINATE some of the people you elect on Nov. 7! This could be your LAST ELECTION CHANCE, to save this Republic… Sorry to have to be so blunt, but the country is in mortal danger from our present government and our liberty is already near dead because of this government. If you are too stupid to turn things around with your vote, there are people out here like me who are willing to turn things around with guns, force and violence. We hope our method does not become necessary,” Turner declared on the website.

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On April 4, 2008, Turner encouraged violence against Lexington, Massachusetts school superintendent Paul Ash for establishing a new curriculum supporting gays and lesbians. “I advocate parents using FORCE AND VIOLENCE against Superintendent Paul B. Ash as a method of defending the health and safety of school children presently being endangered through his politically-correct indoctrination into deadly, disease-ridden sodomite lifestyles,” Turner wrote. He went on to provide Ash’s personal information, including his address.

Turner claims to be a white supremacist and nationalist. He advocates antisemitism, including rounding up and killing Jews. He has also advocated assaulting and killing African-Americans.

Hal Turner’s arrest feeds into the Department of Homeland Security’s effort to conflate Second Amendment advocates, “antigovernment” activists, and veterans with white supremacists. As Infowars reported today, the DHS and “terrorism experts” are attempting to portray those maligned by the DHS as dangerous terrorists in league with al-Qaeda and a demented Islamic “thinker” who has proposed launching an anthrax attack on the White House.

In 2008, Turner was exposed as an FBI operative. “Hal Turner, rising in fame as the most blatant hate talk radio host, self-proclaimed neo-nazi, antisemite, racist who hinted at the need to eradicate Jews — turns out to have been fronting a typical FBI COINTELPRO sting operation,” writes Richard Evans. Hackers managed to gain access to his forum server and revealed correspondence with an FBI agent who was apparently Turner’s handler.

The FBI is notorious for subsidizing, arming, directing and protecting the Klu Klux Klan and other so-called right-wing groups under COINTELPRO in the late 1960s and early 70s.

URL to article: http://www.infowars.com/fbi-operative-hal-turner-arrested/

Taser Torture as Summary Punishment for “Non-Compliance”

William Grigg
The LRC Blog
June 3, 2009

The official rationale for issuing Tasers to police officers is that the electro-shock devices represent a “non-lethal” alternative to the use of a firearm in dealing with situations that threaten the life or safety of an officer or innocent bystanders.

In practical terms, however, the Taser — which is proving to be a reliably lethal weapon — has become an instrument of “pain compliance.” In unadorned terms, this is summary punishment through torture for those who pose no threat to anyone, but who refuse to cooperate instantly with orders issued to them by police officers.

The recent arrest of 72-year-old Austin grandmother Kathryn Winkfein, who was assaulted with a Taser during a traffic stop, illustrates this perfectly.

After a police officer stopped Mrs. Winkfein for allegedly driving 60 in a 45 MPH zone, the grandmother refused to sign the ticket stub. Under Texas “law,” motorists are required to sign traffic tickets under threat of arrest.

According to the police officer, Mrs. Winkfein not only refused to comply, but she “swore” and became “violent” with him. Palsied with terror over the threat posed by a frail septuagenarian woman, the officer hit her with a blast from his Taser. Mrs. Winkfein disputes every element of the official account, and intends to file a lawsuit.

Mrs. Winkfein might be encouraged by the $40,000 settlement reached between the State of Utah and Jared Massey, who suffered a Taser assault at the hands of Utah Highway Patrolman Jon Gardner during a 2007 traffic stop.

Massey refused to accept the traffic ticket. Under Utah law, he didn’t have to; Trooper Gardner could simply have shrugged his shoulders and mailed it to Massey. But following that approach would mean that Gardner had failed to compel a “mundane” to submit to his Authoritah:

In this dashcam recording taken from Gardner’s cruiser, it’s important to note how — beginning at roughly 11 seconds into the video — we see Gardner pull over to the side of the road, thereby obstructing Massey’s view of the sign announcing the speed limit of 40 MPH. After Massey passed, Gardner pulls him over almost instantaneously.

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At that time Gardner pulled over, Massey was not speeding, and Gardner had no reason to pull over — unless he wanted to manufacture a traffic stop by preventing the motorist from seeing the speed limit sign.

Massey, who didn’t see the sign, was understandably outraged by Gardner’s asinine stunt, and his mood didn’t improve when the tax-feeder threatened his pregnant wife.

Predictably enough, the UHP ruled that Gardner’s unnecessary use of the reliably lethal Taser against Massey was “justified” — despite the fact that Massey was merely uncooperative, not “threatening,” and despite the fact that Massey had no legal obligation to accept the ticket from Gardner.

In a tacit admission that Gardner acted improperly by needlessly escalating the confrontation, the Utah state police did place him on administrative leave and ordered him to undergo anger management training.

Of particular interest in the Massey case was the reaction of the Provo Daily Herald newspaper, for which I wrote a weekly (then bi-weekly) column a couple of decades ago, long before its descent into unalloyed statism.

“Here’s a tip: when a uniformed man with a badge and a gun tells you to do something, shut up and do exactly what he says,” opined the Herald, which serves the reddest community in “Red-State” America. A more suitable example of the martial law mind-set would be difficult to find.

URL to article: http://www.infowars.com/taser-torture-as-summary-punishment-for-non-compliance/

Man Says Cops Don’t Own Him, is Tased, then Escapes

Infowars
June 2, 2009

URL to article: http://www.infowars.com/man-says-cops-dont-own-him-is-tased-then-escapes/

Islamic group says four alleged US plotters ‘not real Muslims’

Sharmila Devi
The National
June 2, 2009

The recent arrest of four New York men for allegedly plotting to attack Jewish centres raised fears among American Muslims the incident would reinforce extremist views of them as an ever-present danger in US society.

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The vast majority of American Muslims did not even consider the four men as real religious brothers, said Naim Baig, vice-president of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), a community group started in 1974.

“We say there is no place for any terrorism in Islam, period. Some people abuse the faith out of their own tribal agendas. These four guys were not even practising Muslims. They had criminal backgrounds and some had girlfriends,” Mr Baig said.

This view of the plotters as outside mainstream Muslim society helps to explain why the alleged bomb plots were usurped by the financial crisis and its moral implications as the most discussed topic at last weekend’s three-day ICNA conference, attended by up to 12,000 people in Hartford, Connecticut.

Muslim community leaders have tried to distance themselves even more from the plotters in recent days, with many issuing statements of concern over the use of an informant by US law enforcement agencies to catch the men, who aimed to bomb two New York synagogues and shoot down military planes in Newburgh, about 110 kilometres north of the city.

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URL to article: http://www.infowars.com/islamic-group-says-four-alleged-us-plotters-not-real-muslims/