When Are The Po-Po's Going to Use Pepper Spray On The Teabaggers?

Interesting to note that the Tea Klux Klan rallies last year had armed protesters, and you saw not one po-po in riot gear or using strong arm stormtrooper tactics to break up those protests.

Now compare and contrast how po-po's handle unarmed protesters at an OWS event on the UC Davis campus.



Hmm.

Update In Kenneth Furr Trans Shooting Case

I posted about the August 26 incident that escalated into a triple shooting in which off duty MPD cop Kenneth Furr had a verbal confrontation with a transwoman and friend outside a CVS store in NW Washington DC.   The transwomen and her friend got into a vehicle with three other people in the parking lot of the store at 400 Massachusetts Ave NW and left but were intercepted by Furr.

Turns out that Officer Furr was not only inebriated at the time, blowing a .15 during a breathalyzer test at the scene of the August 26 incident, but used his service weapon to fire five shots into their vehicle, wounding three of the five people inside it.  

The shell casings recovered from the triple shooting are consistent with the ammunition in Furr's weapon and issued to MPD police officers.

Furr is facing assault with a dangerous weapon charges and has been ordered to stand trial in DC Superior Court   He is also being held in jail until his next court appearance on October 7.

Will keep y'all posted.

Off Duty DC Cop Shoots At Transwomen

As I've stated more than a few times on this blog and had it demonstrated in various incidents, Officer Friendly is at times less than friendly when it comes to protecting and serving, much less respecting the civil and human rights of transpeople.

Don't even get me started talking how they feel about the human rights of transwomen of color.

Once again we get to shine a spotlight on Washington, D.C. and another incident in which transwomen minding their own business interact with an off duty DC cop and it ends up with negative consequences for the transwomen.

This time the perp was 20 year DC veteran po-po Kenneth Furr.   The August 26 incident started when the inebriated Furr approached a transwoman inside a northwest Washington DC CVS store at 5:25 AM EDT and solicited her for sex.   She turned him down and he kept hounding her until he was told by a man accompanying her into the store to leave her alone.  

The unidentified transwoman said in a Washington Post interview, "His eyes were bloodshot,” she said. “I could smell the liquor on his breath. He told me he wanted to pay me to have sex with me. He kept trying to get me in his car.” 

The woman and her friend left the store and got into a car with two other transwomen and a male friend and drove off.   At the corner of First and Pierce Streets NW they were hit from behind by a hostile Furr, who jumped out of his car with his Glock 9 gun drawn, jumped onto the hood of their vehicle and fired shots through the roof into it.

One of the transwomen was struck in the hand, another was grazed by a bullet while the brother of one of the transwomen sustained an injury serious enough to where he is in critical condition at George Washington University Hospital according to Transgender Health Empowerment's Jeri Hughes.

Washington DC Mayor Vincent Gray released a statement about the incident that that resulted in Officer Furr being stripped of his police powers.  He is also facing an investigation by MPD's Internal Affairs Division and the Force Investigation Team

Furr was arrested, charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and driving while intoxicated after blowing a .15 during his breath test.


"I am deeply troubled by the apparent circumstances surrounding this incident and await the results of a full MPD investigation,” Mayor Gray said. “These are serious charges, and they are particularly disturbing to have been brought against one who is sworn to protect and serve.”

The disturbing early morning incident led to a 6:30 PM rally organized by THE.and the DC Trans Coalition that was attended by Mayor Gray, local TBLG activists, MPD deputy chief Diane Groomes and 70 people at the First and Pierce Streets location where it occurred..

It was a miracle that as serious as this latest incident was, no one died.  But something transphobic has been brewing in the MPD police culture for some time and Chief Cathy Lanier needs to get to the bottom of it.

If she can't or she's getting resistance, then maybe the Department of Justice needs to get busy taking a look at what's going on in MPD and start cleaning out the transphobic rotten apples.

Transphobia is bad enough in the general population.   It's even worse and can have potentially fatal consequences when it's hiding behind a badge.

Kiare Newsom Update-TEP Meeting With New MPD Top Cop

I wrote about the situation in which transwoman Kiare Newson alleges she was sexually harassed and had transphobic slurs uttered at her by MPD officers during a May traffic stop on I-40. 

It happened the same day that former MPD officer Bridges McRae was sentenced for violating the civil rights of the late Duanna Johnson.

Newsom has since filed a complaint with the Memphis Police Department Internal Affairs Office and the incident was the catalyst for a June 29 meeting with new Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong and representatives from the Tennessee Equality Project and the Memphis gay & Lesbian Community Center.

In the meantime, will be watching this incident to see if the officers involved are disciplined.

Former SAPD Po-Po Gets Jail Time For Trans Sexual Assualt

TransGriot Note: Post may be triggering for some readers

I talked about former San Antonio police officer Craig Nash, who last year was arrested and charged with sexual assault and official oppression of a transwoman

The victim claimed that Nash picked her up shortly after 3 AM CST at Guadalupe and Zarzamora streets on San Antonio's West Side. Nash handcuffed the victim in the back of a marked patrol car before taking her to an unknown location and forcing her to engage in multiple sexual acts.

The affidavit states Nash reportedly was wearing his police uniform at the time.  

Two days after his arrest, a second trans person came forward to report that she had been raped by Nash in 2008.   The transperson that made the initial complaint picked Nash out of a lineup, the GPS tracking of his patrol car was consistent with the witness testimony and the rape kit DNA linked Nash to the complainant.

Nash was indefinitely suspended by SAPD police chief William McManus last march and stated at the time the accusation had arrived as a 'hard slap' to other SAPD officers

The case finally reached 437th state district Judge Lori Valenzuela's (R) court and on January 18 Nash was sentenced  as part of a plea agreement to one year in jail for the Class A misdemeanor of official oppression.   In exchange, prosecutors agreed not to pursue a felony charge of sexual assault by a police officer, which had a maximum sentence of life in prison.   Nash also agreed to never seek work again as a police officer in Texas.

“Officers should be held to a higher standard,” prosecutor Trey Banack said of his request for jail time. “A police officer who is a criminal does not deserve mercy from the system he serves to protect.”

If that's the case, should've pushed for the felony charge.

Memphis Police Mess With Another Transwoman

Former Memphis police officer Bridges McRae was recently sentenced to two years in jail for beating the late Duanna Johnson while in custody.   Now comes word that trans woman Kiare Newsom was harassed by the Memphis po-po's during a May 12 traffic stop along I-40.  


According to WREG-TV, Newsom now has the support of local advocate Vanessa Rodges-Jones, who says the officers were out of line. "That's sexual harassment, that's embarrassment, that's appalling," Rodgers-Jones says.

Newsom is being represented by Murray Wells, the attorney who handled the case against Bridges McRae.. "Everyone needs to be treated equally and fairly, and be respected for who they are." Wells says.

And it looks like once again the Memphis Police Department will have to learn that lesson the hard way.