Black Wisconsin police officer who fatally shot a Black teenager outside a suburban Milwaukee mall in February won’t be charged because he had reasonable belief that deadly force was necessary, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
Category Archives: Crime
FBI and DOJ Confirm Authenticity of Biden Emails
Well, well… this seems to be relevant.
The FBI has seized Hunter Biden’s laptop and has confirmed the former vice president’s son’s emails are ‘authentic’, while dispelling earlier claims that they are part of a Russia disinformation campaign.
Senior federal officials told Fox News on Tuesday that the bureau is now in possession of the computer allegedly containing emails that could purportedly implicate Joe Biden in his son’s international business dealings during his time as VP.
Insiders said both the FBI and the Department of Justice have concurred with National Intelligence John Ratcliffe’s assessment on Monday that there is no evidence to support the files are part of a Russian disinformation scheme.
Posted by Owen at 2214 hours
Protester Killed by BLM Counterprotester
A person reported to be a supporter of the Patriot Muster militia has been shot and killed at a protest in Denver, allegedly by a counterprotester with the BLM-Antifa rally.
The militia supporter maced a counterprotester, who then pulled out his handgun and shot dead the militia supporter, the Denver Post reported.
Rival rallies had been called for Saturday afternoon by the two opposing groups.
In case you were wondering, yes, they are communists and fascists. And yes, they do intentionally put hearts and soup drive BS on their propaganda to fool the stupid. These are violent radicals intent on overthrowing our representative Republic.
Posted by Owen at 1923 hours
No Charges In Tosa Case
This was the correct decision.
Wauwatosa Officer Joseph Mensah shot 17-year-old Alvin Cole outside Mayfair Mall on Feb. 2 after police responded to a reported disturbance at the shopping center.
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, in a 14-page letter laying out his rationale, said evidence showed Cole fled from police carrying a stolen 9 mm handgun. He cited squad car audio evidence, along with testimony from Mensah and two fellow officers, that he said showed Cole had fired a shot while fleeing and refused commands to drop the gun.
“He did not surrender the weapon and was fired upon by Officer Mensah causing his death,” Chisholm wrote. He concluded: “(T)here is sufficient evidence that Officer Mensah had an actual subjective belief that deadly force was necessary and that belief was objectively reasonable.”
Posted by Owen at 1940 hours
Chicago PD Struggles To Patrol Neighborhoods
Shortage of equipment. Shortage of officers. Prioritizing downtown over neighborhoods. Nature abhors a vacuum. Those neighborhoods are being filled by people taking it upon themselves to defend themselves and gangs are stepping in.
Hours after the Tribune’s story was published online, Ahern told the newspaper in an emailed statement that 48% of officers deployed downtown over the summer have since been sent back to the districts, including tactical teams.
“Superintendent Brown has repeatedly expressed and demonstrated CPD’s commitment to our neighborhoods and residents,” Ahern said in the statement. “To imply that the safety and protection of the downtown districts is of higher importance than any of our other neighborhoods throughout Chicago is categorically false.”
Police sources have said the department’s downtown deployment plan over the summer following the Memorial Day death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota, and subsequent demonstrations and looting, has left a shortage of cops in some districts, raising concern among officers that they won’t be able to provide timely police service in neighborhoods. Over the years, patrol districts have routinely struggled to meet the demand for police service.
The rationale behind Friday’s tactical team policy appeared to deal in part with a shortage of police cars in the districts. Before the policy was canceled, it called for those officers to ride in marked squad cars when they normally patrol in unmarked cars. But if no marked cars were available, they were to ride up to four cops per unmarked squad car.
That meant a district whose tactical team normally operates with six squad cars could be reduced to three. That also further diminishes the number of cops in each neighborhood available to respond to 911 calls.
Posted by Owen at 2058 hours
Woman Arrested for Recycling Condoms
Vietnamese police have seized more than 320,000 used condoms that were to be illegally resold to unsuspecting customers, local media report.
Footage showed dozens of bags that together weighed 360kg (794lbs) in a warehouse that was recently raided in the southern Binh Duong province.
A woman, who was believed to be the owner of the warehouse, was arrested.
The condoms were reportedly washed, reshaped with wooden dildos and then repackaged before being resold.
Posted by Owen at 2014 hours
Rioters in Louisville Shoot Police
I was in downtown Louisville a couple of years ago. It’s a nice city. And now it is being torn apart, police are being shot, and buildings are being torched. These aren’t protests. This isn’t justice. This is insurrection.
Posted by Owen at 2215 hours
Minneapolis Council Hammers Police for Rise in Crime
Just two months after voting to dismantle the police and slashing its budget, Minneapolis City Council members pressed the department’s chief over a surge in crime, prompting a GOP candidate to slam the lawmakers as hypocrites.
‘Residents are asking, “Where are the police?”‘ Council Member Jamal Osman said on Tuesday, adding that calls to the Minneapolis Police Department from constituents have gone unanswered.
‘That is the only public safety option they have at the moment. MPD. They rely on MPD. And they are saying they are nowhere to be seen.’
[…]
Violent crime, including domestic aggravated assault, was up almost 15 per cent in the first nine months of the year, while property crime was up almost eight per cent in the same time period.
Of all the crimes that have increased, homicide saw the largest spike of 87 per cent, rising from 30 in 2019 to 56 in 2020, while incidents of arson have increased by 82 per cent over the total at this point in 2019.
Robbery rose from 931 to 1,275 (37 percent) while incidents of aggravated assault increased from 1,750 in 2019 to 2,100 this year (20 percent). Meanwhile, rape fell by 22 percent, and domestic aggravated assault fell by 8.4 percent.
In terms of property crimes, burglary rose from 2,223 to 2,785 (25 percent), thefts from motor vehicles rose from 3,127 to 3,937 (26 percent), and auto theft rose from 1,982 to 2,766 (40 percent), while larceny fell by almost 10 percent.
[…]
As part of its several steps towards dismantling the MPD, Minneapolis City Council approved an amendment to remove $1.1 million from the department’s budget and reallocate it toward the health department in order to hire ‘violence interrupters’.
This came as part of the council’s pledge earlier in the summer to dismantle the department and replace it with a community-based system of public safety.
Posted by Owen at 2058 hours
Riots in Lancaster
Here we go again. It is quite clear that the circumstances of each shooting is irrelevant to the protesters. The shooting is the catalyst to vent hate.
Police shot dead a 27-year-old man – who was awaiting trial for stabbing and seriously injuring four people – after he charged at an officer brandishing a huge knife over his head.
Officers in Lancaster, Pennsylvania were called to a home at 4.15pm yesterday by Ricardo Munoz’s sister who said he had become aggressive toward their mother and was trying to break into her house.
Body camera footage release by the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office shows the 27-year-old emerging from the inside of the house as soon as an officer arrived 10 minutes later.
Munoz could be seen charging at the officer while brandishing a knife above his head ‘in clear view’ and ‘in a threatening manner’ before the officer fired at him. He died at the scene.
Yesterday’s shooting sparked protests in the city, with people marching from the scene of the shooting to the Lancaster Police Department while chanting ‘this is what democracy looks like’.
WGAL-TV reported that protesters also smashed in windows of police cars.
Munoz was awaiting criminal trial on four counts of aggravated assault before he was shot dead yesterday. He also had previous charges of stalking, harassment and criminal trespassing.
Expect this to get worse as the roving violent mob travels in to Lancaster like they did in Kenosha.
Posted by Owen at 0744 hours
Pot Farm in California Linked to Organized Crime
I thought legalizing pot was supposed to make this kind of thing unnecessary?
AGUANGA, Calif. (AP) — An illegal marijuana growing operation where seven people were fatally shot in a small, rural Southern California town had the markings of organized crime, authorities said Tuesday.
More than 20 people lived on the property, which had several makeshift dwellings, a nursery and vehicles used in production, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said. Marijuana was processed to honey oil, a highly potent concentrate made by extracting the high-inducing chemical THC from cannabis.
All seven victims and witnesses were Laotian, Bianco said. Six people were found dead on the property, and a woman who was shot there died later at a hospital
Posted by Owen at 2158 hours
BLM Fascists Attempt to Enforce Fealty From Restaurant Patrons
And assault a cyclist. History has often seen the appearance of fascist mobs that terrorize citizens into fealty or silence. It is a well-worn tactic, and it works. Will it work in the U.S.? It will if we let it.
Black Lives Matter protesters screamed in the face of white elderly outdoor diners during protests in Pittsburgh on Saturday, disturbing new video shows.
Cellphone footage shows the crowd taking over the outdoor dining space with one person even approaching the older couple’s table before drinking their beer in front of them; another smashed a glass from a table.
One protester tells the diners: ‘F**k the white people that built the system.’ He adds: ‘F*** 12′; a reference to police. Others eating at the restaurant pick up their belonging and leave after demonstrators call them an ’embarrassment’.
[…]
A second video taken in Pittsburgh over the weekend shows a demonstrator speaking with a megaphone while walking next to a cyclist. It’s unclear what is said, but the demonstrator nudges the cyclist with his megaphone. The cyclist swats the demonstrator in response, but a second protester hits the man from behind.
Posted by Owen at 0900 hours
Jacob Blake Pleads Not Guilty
FYI.
From his hospital bed, Blake pleaded not guilty to a previous felony, third-degree sexual assault, as well as misdemeanor criminal trespass and disorderly conduct.
Blake, 29, is accused in court documents of sexually assaulting a woman in her home on May 3, stealing her Ford Explorer and debit card, and making two fraudulent ATM withdrawals for $500, WGN9 reported.
Posted by Owen at 1230 hours
Known Gang Member with Illegal Gun Shot By Police
Good for the police to release the footage quickly to inject some facts into the public debate. But of course, facts don’t matter. We have a violent insurrectionist cabal that is using the shooting of any black person by police as an excuse to protest and riot. Whether or not the shooting was justified is irrelevant to their cause.
Washington D.C. police have released bodycam footage showing the moment officers shot dead an 18-year-old black man after he allegedly brandished a gun during a police chase – sparking further protests across the city.
Deon Kay died on Wednesday after he was shot in the chest by a Metropolitan Police officer identified on Thursday as Alexander Alvarez.
Authorities said Kay was one of two people who fled on Wednesday afternoon when approached by uniformed cops investigating reports of a man with a gun near the 200 block of Orange Street.
Police Chief Peter Newsham said officers had seen a livestream video on social media of a man with a gun and recognized him from ‘previous contacts.’
He said Kay was ‘validated gang member’ from the area and had had multiple brushes with the law in the past.
During the foot pursuit, Kay allegedly pulled out a weapon, prompting the officer to open fire in response, the MPD said.
To make my case:
Following the shooting, the local Black Lives Matter affiliate called for immediate protests outside the MPD’s 7th District headquarters, stating in a tweet, ‘DC police murdered a Black man today.’
Before they knew a single fact, they called it “murder.” Clearly, it was not, but that doesn’t matter to them.
Posted by Owen at 1353 hours
Biden Wants Cops Charged, But Won’t Say Same For Anarchist Murderer
Well, I guess we know where Biden’s sympathies lie.
During a news conference in his hometown of Wilmington on Wednesday, Mr Biden was asked whether he agreed with his running mate, Kamala Harris, that the officers in the Blake and Taylor cases should be charged.
“I think we should let the judicial system work its way,” he said. “I do think at a minimum, they need to be charged, the officers.”
[…]
Mr Biden also mentioned the gunman, identified in US media as a far-left activist, who fatally shot a Trump supporter on the streets of Portland, Oregon, last weekend.
The Democratic nominee stopped short of calling for charges in that case, but said: “They should be investigated and it should follow through on what needs to be done.
“Let the judicial system work. Let’s make sure justice is done.”
Posted by Owen at 2151 hours
Traveling Anarchists
The stories are being repeated from city to city. And it is noteworthy that we rarely have more than one city going up in flames at the same time. We have a hardcore cadre of anarchists and Marxists who are traveling our nations inciting insurrection.
A BLM protester who was arrested in Washington DC on Saturday night has also been at riots in Portland and Kenosha, police said on Monday, as they revealed they were looking into whether groups were being funded to travel to protest hot-spots.
Jeremy Vajko, 27, a Microsoft engineer, was arrested on Saturday night during violent clashes between police and protesters in the nation’s capital.
The Metropolitan Police Department incident report into his arrest claims he was driving recklessly near the Hay Adams hotel and drove ‘into a crowd of over one hundred individuals’.
[…]
He did not mention Vajko by name, but he and Mayor Muriel Bowsers both said the city was investigating whether or not funded groups traveled to the city to create havoc over the weekend.
Posted by Owen at 2217 hours
Wisconsin DOJ Update about Kenosha Shooting (the first one)
From the email:
KENOSHA, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) is continuing to investigate an officer involved shooting (OIS) in Kenosha, Wis. that occurred on the evening of Sunday, August 23, 2020.
Kenosha Police Department officers were dispatched to a residence in the 2800 block of 40th Street after a female caller reported that her boyfriend was present and was not supposed to be on the premises.
During the incident, officers attempted to arrest Jacob S. Blake, age 29. After the initial attempt to arrest Mr. Blake, Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey deployed a taser to attempt to stop Mr. Blake. When that attempt failed, Kenosha Police Officer Vincent Arenas also deployed his taser, however that taser was also not successful in stopping Mr. Blake.
Mr. Blake walked around his vehicle, opened the driver’s side door, and leaned forward. While holding onto Mr. Blake’s shirt, Officer Rusten Sheskey fired his service weapon 7 times. Officer Sheskey fired the weapon towards Mr. Blake’s back. No other officer fired their weapon. Kenosha Police Department does not have body cameras, therefore the officers were not wearing body cameras.
The shooting officer, Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey, has been a law enforcement officer with Kenosha Police Department for seven years. Kenosha Police Officer Vincent Arenas has served with Kenosha Police Department since February 2019, with prior service with the United States Capitol Police Department. Also present was Kenosha Police Officer Brittany Meronek who joined Kenosha Police Department in January of this year.
During the investigation following the initial incident, Mr. Blake admitted that he had a knife in his possession. DCI agents recovered a knife from the driver’s side floorboard of Mr. Blake’s vehicle. A search of the vehicle located no additional weapons.
Posted by Owen at 1706 hours
RIP, Kenosha
My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Go pick up a copy. Here’s a taste to incite you… a little ironic that I use the word “incite” when referring to a column about the Kenosha riots.
On the second night, one videographer followed a young man as he yelled for the children to go home because it was going to get bad. Sure enough, as the sun set, protesters turned into rioters as they tore down street lamps, stood on cars to break their windows with bats, smashed store windows, and looted the contents. Then the fires started. Multiple fires were started simultaneously to overwhelm the fire department, who could not enter the area safely anyway to put them out before they spread. I watched as family businesses burned and nearby homes were evacuated.
On the third night, the chaos worsened; multiple law enforcement agencies took a more aggressive posture to quell the riot. I watched from the angle of the rioters as police formed a human wall and used armored vehicles and nonviolent means to clear the streets. The rioters kept up a steady counterassault with rocks, shields, rolling burning dumpsters, bottles, and fire.
It was on that third night that one journalist came upon several armed citizens who were defending a gas station. They had had enough of the riots and were determined to protect life and property from the marauding horde. I watched as rioters confronted
the armed defenders. Words were exchanged. Spittle spewed. Tempers flared. On my way to bed, I commented to my wife that someone was going to die that night. The next morning, we learned that they did.
Watching several hours of immersive coverage of the riots illuminated a few things. First, traditional media is failing us. When I read the stories in traditional outlets the next day or caught the television newscast, it did not reflect what I watched. This was not a “mostly peaceful” protest where a little scuffle broke out. This was a full riot that raged for several nights. There may have been a peaceful protest during the day, but as soon as the sun set, it was anything but peaceful.
Second, many of the same people who were just shouting and taunting during the day were the same people who were smashing and burning in the night. This was not a case where the peaceful protesters went home at sunset and a shift of criminals and malcontents took their place. These were many of the same people. And many of them are ardent anarchists and Marxists who are intent on destabilizing our republic. You can see it in their graffiti and hear it as they shout it. They are not hiding. The shooting incident that precipitated the uprising was merely an excuse to launch a violent uprising.
Posted by Owen at 0559 hours
Sheriffs Refuse to Send Deputies to Portland Because Law Isn’t Being Enforced
Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said inundating the city with more law enforcement would not work because Portland’s newly elected district attorney has dismissed charges against hundreds of protesters arrested for non-violent, low-level crimes.
Roberts and Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett also said the liability for their deputies would be too great amid worries deputies could be sued for actions they take outside their home jurisdictions.
“The same offenders are arrested night after night, only to be released by the court and not charged with a crime by the DA’s Office,” Roberts said. “The next night they are back at it, endangering the lives of law enforcement and the community all over again.”
Posted by Owen at 2041 hours
Kenosha Police Release Some Details of Arrests
These are not the implements of peaceful protesters.
At least 175 people have been arrested during the recent civil unrest in Kenosha, Wis., with 102 having addresses listed outside of the city, according to numbers released by police on Sunday.
[…]Kenosha Police said in a media release that the arrests were from people located in 44 cities, although authorities didn’t elaborate which states they came from. A total of 69 people were arrested for curfew violations.
Thirty-four were arrested for violating curfew. The charges ranged from carrying concealed weapons, burglary and possession of controlled substances, police said. More than 20 firearms were seized. At least three vehicles were towed and all were related to “active criminal investigations.”
Kenosha police had arrested nine people traveling in vehicles with out-of-state license plates last Wednesday on suspicion of criminal conduct, according to a report.
Inside the vehicles, officers found fireworks, helmets, gas masks, protective vests, and suspected controlled substances, police said.
Posted by Owen at 0756 hours
Downtown businesses crumble in liberal cities
And feckless local leaders twiddle around.
Construction workers boarded up broken windows Wednesday along Gorham Street and University Avenue after a third night of unrest in Downtown Madison.
John Theisen said security cameras showed several people smashing the windows of his Domino’s Pizza shop on Gorham Street and then leaving after finding nothing to steal.
[…]
Tuesday night’s destruction came just as shopkeepers and building owners had largely removed plywood that covered windows along State Street and its offshoots since protests earlier this summer after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
Now virtually every window on Capitol Square, State Street and part of University Avenue is boarded just as UW-Madison students return to campus.Tiffany Kenney, executive director of the Central Business Improvement District, said it could be months before business owners feel comfortable without protection over their windows.
“This is a giant setback for us,” Kenney said. “They are fearful. There has been damage, there’s been violence and we’re back, way, way back.”
Kenney said many are worried about the November elections and may leave their boards in place through the end of the year, which “could be devastating for our Downtown.”
Posted by Owen at 1752 hours
People Killed in Kenosha
Two people were killed and another was injured as a gun battle broke out on the third night of protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin last night.
Footage showed gunshots ringing out amid a scuffle in the street while bystanders screamed and fled in terror, with one person shot in the arm and another one hit in the chest.
Panic broke out as another man lay in agony ‘losing a lot of blood’ after he was shot in the head, with onlookers desperately trying to stem the wound and yelling that ‘we’ve got to keep him alive’.
[…]
As the crowd gave chase, one pursuer took a flying kick at the gunman and another tried to grab his weapon before he started firing to disperse the crowd, hitting another two people.
Three people were shot in total and two of them were killed, police confirmed in the early hours of this morning – but it is not clear which victims died and the identity of the shooter is not known.
Police are hunting for a man with a long gun and fear that the shooting stemmed from a conflict between ‘self-styled militias’ defending their properties from looting and demonstrators voicing anger at the shooting of Jacob Blake.
Government has failed to control the violence for days. People have a right and duty to protect their property and themselves from violent roving mobs.
Posted by Owen at 0635 hours
