Black Prospective Home Buyer Finds KKK Memorabilia While Viewing Cop's Home

(screen capture)

A prospective African-American homebuyer in Michigan was touring a home when he came across Confederate flag placemats on the dining room table.

Taking a look at the NASCAR-inspired garage, he found two more Confederate flags.

According to the Washington Post, Rob Mathis said to himself, "Wouldn't it be funny if this was a Klansman's house?"

And just minutes later, he and his wife came across a plaque in one of the bedrooms. Mounted on wood was an application for membership in the Ku Klux Klan.

The home, about an hour outside of Grand Rapids, belongs to Muskegon police officer Charles Anderson, who has served on the police force there for more than 20 years.

Mathis posted a photo of the KKK application as he shared how the experience left him rattled.

“I feel sick to my stomach knowing that I walk to the home of one of the most racist people in Muskegon hiding behind his uniform and possibly harassing people of color and different nationalities,” he wrote in his post late Wednesday.

The city of Muskegon announced in a Facebook post that an investigation had been opened and Anderson is now on administrative leave.

When contacted by MLive.com, Anderson offered only a brief response saying, “They (his police union) said not to talk about it. That’s what they told me. Because it’s under internal investigation they said not to make a statement.”

Complicating things more, Anderson was involved in the shooting death of a black man ten years ago while on duty. At the time, he was acquited of any wrongdoing.

But, the Muskegon chapter of the NAACP is now asking that all cases involving Anderson and people of color be reviewed.

Cop Fired For Mocking Gay Teen Suicide Hired By New Police Department

Police officer Jeff Graves (screen capture via WHNT)

A police officer in Alabama who resigned amid controversy after mocking the suicide of a gay teen has been rehired just two months later.

Nigel Shelby, a 15-year-old high school student, took his own life in April after having been the target of homophobic bullying.

Nigel Shelby (image via Facebook)

Jeff Graves, while working as a Madison County Sheriff’s Deputy, commented on a story posted to Facebook about Shelby’s death writing:

“Liberty, Guns, Bible, Trump, BBQ - That’s my kind of LGBTQ movement. I’m seriously offended there is such a thing such as the movement. Society cannot and should not accept this behavior. I have a right to be offended by this fake movement which requires no special attention but by persons with an altered ego and fake agenda.”

Local news station WHNT19 reports Graves was initially suspended, and eventually resigned in early May.

But two months later, Graves has now been hired as an Owens Cross Roads police officer.

When contacted by WHNT, Owens Cross Roads Police Chief Jason Dobbins acknowledged being aware of Graves social media controversy and defended the hiring saying, “Everyone deserves a second chance.”

Declining to speak on camera, Dobbins told WHNT over the phone that Graves had expressed remorse for the controversial Facebook post.

The police chief said that he was “confident” that Graves would be able to serve all citizens in Owens Cross, including the LGBTQ community.

“Officer Graves may not have the same views as everyone else, but that doesn’t prevent him from doing his job as an officer,” Dobbins told NBC affiliate WAFF. “He’s going to make a great addition to our department."

He added that all of Graves’s interactions with the public would be recorded on police body cameras.

(source: WHNT)

Chicago Cop Investigated For Demanding Sex From Trans Woman Or Face Jail Time

(image via Flickr/Paul Woolrich - CC license)

A transgender woman alleges a Chicago Police sargeant forced her to perform oral sex on him to avoid being arrested.

On March 5, the woman arrived at Rush University Medical Center and told the staff she had been sexually assaulted, reports the Chicago Tribune.

According to the unnamed woman, she was in an area on Fifth Avenue in the Lawndale neighborhood known for prostitution. She admitted she was with a man who she referred to as her boyfriend.

A Chicago police car pulled up and asked her what she was doing in the area. The woman says she explained she was “going home.”

According to her statement via police report, he allegedly told her that if she didn’t want to go to jail she would have to perform oral sex on him saying, “Because that’s what you do.”

She says she was ordered to get in the front seat of his car, and the sargeant drove off leaving her male companion there.

He allegedly stopped in an alley, exposed himself and ordered her to perform the sex act in the vehicle. At some point, the woman says she was able to preserve DNA evidence.

During the alleged sex act, the 39-year-old woman says the officer told her, “I can make you one of my regulars.”

At the hospital, she gave staffers the DNA evidence that she said would prove her story.

But she left the hospital before filing a police report saying she was fearful of “retaliation” by police officers.

Eventually, police detectives were able to discern the woman’s identity but found contacting her to be difficult. At the same time, detectives searched through surveillance video in the area she said the assault took place.

Weeks later, detectives became aware the woman was in police custody for a shoplifting charge and were able to interview her.

The Tribune reports that the Chicago Police Department “stripped the officer of his police powers on April 6 based on the findings of an internal investigation.

A week later, the sergeant was allowed to officially retire from CPD without being charged in connection with the alleged assault.

Police say they are still awaiting the results of DNA testing.

According to the Tribune, this isn't the officer's first brush with internal police charges.

In 1997, he was investigated after it was discovered he threatened to plant drugs on a suspect unless they handed over a gun. While Internal Affairs recommended he be fired, he was eventually given a 30-day suspension.

Florida Judge Dismisses Charges In Phony Police Sex Sting

In August, I reported on a police sting operation that resulted in the arrests of 13 men having consensual sex in a private area of the Pleasure Emporium Adult Boutique in Hollywood, South Florida.

Now, Judge Ginger Lerner Wren has dismissed all the charges against two of the defendants.

At the time of the arrests, police officers had gone to the trouble of paying $25 to enter locked, private rooms at the back of the Pleasure Emporium in South Florida where men were masturbating and engaging in oral sex.

The state had argued that an unsuspecting patron of Pleasure Emporium could accidentally observe the sexual activity.

But the judge disagreed.

“The Court finds that the Pleasure Emporium is not a public place under F.S. 800.03 where the patrons who access the private viewing theaters where consensual sexual activity occurs in the presence of other consenting adults objectively and subjectively possess a reasonable expectation of privacy,” Judge Wren wrote in her ruling.

Following the raid, the police department released the names and photos of those arrested to the media. Several major media outlets published that information which, in effect, outed some of them to their coworkers and families.

One man was apparently fired from his job due to the public outings.

Rhonda F. Gelfman, a lawyer who represented one of the defendants, told South Florida Gay News, “We are quite pleased with the court ruling, and justice was appropriately served,”

Unfortunately, some of the other defendants have already pleaded guilty to their charges.

Gelfman said that while it might be difficult to get their guilty pleas thrown out, “We may be able to assist them.”

Meanwhile, the Sun-Sentinel reports that while the Hollywood Police Department is spending it’s time busting gay men for consensual sex, the HPD is none too worked up about investigating actual sex crimes.

DC Police Officer's 'Stop & Frisk' Turns Into Body Cavity Search

 Picture this: It’s September 2017, you’re hanging with buds outdoors, planning your upcoming birthday celebration when suddenly you find yourself the subject of an invasive stop and frisk.

Invasive as in ‘body cavity search’ invasive.

That’s apparently what happened to M.B. Cottingham, a 39-year-old man, in the Bellevue neighborhood of Washington, D.C. last fall.

According to the New York Post, Nottingham and his buddies were chilling when up rolled two police cars. More than a couple police officers approached the group and inquired as to whether they were carrying any weapons.

This is where it gets down in the underbrush on the way to Poughkeepise.

Cottingham alleges, and there’s video tape, that Metropolitan Police Department Officer Sean Lojacono violated Cottingham’s 4th Amendment rights regarding unreasonable searches and seizures.

Nottingham openly admitted having a legal amount of marijuana on him, but Lojacono took things farther. He went for the ’search and seizure’ according to ACLU staff attorney Scott Michelman, who is representing Cottingham.

As you can see on the video from the incident, Lojacono goes beyond the ‘pat down’ and gets his hands (and maybe his thumbs) all up in Cottingham’s business.

From The New York Post:

“He stuck his finger in my crack, man,” Cottingham said to his friends during the search, video shows. “Don’t do that, man … I don’t have nothing.”

Cottingham then followed the officer’s instructions to squat down to allow the search to continue, but the officer continued prodding far beyond the standard scope of a pat-down, according to ACLU officials, jamming his fingers into the man’s buttocks and anus and grabbing his scrotum.

“Stop fingering me though, bruh,” Cottingham told Lojacano. “You fingering my a–, man.”

“I’m outside your pants, bro,” the officer replied. “Relax.”

“Don’t sit here and finger my a— like that, like I’m not a man,” Cottingham said.

Michelman says the video clearly shows a “violation of [Cottingham’s] constitutional rights and basic dignity.”

“When a routine frisk turns into a search this invasive, the officer is not pursuing a legitimate law enforcement purpose but simply degrading someone and asserting his own power,” Michelman said in a statement to the press.

Apparently, Metropolitan Police Department chief, Peter Newsham, noted during a DC Council hearing last week that he has seen the video and considers the officer’s ’touching’ inappropriate.

The NY Post goes on to say that Cottingham says he has ‘discomfort in his genital area,’ as well as ‘ongoing anxiety, depression and fear of being in public.’

“I’ve never been so humiliated in my life,” Cottingham told the NY Post. “It’s bad enough that members of my community are stopped and frisked by the police all the time. I’ve been frisked many times and even beaten by police. But this officer treated me like I’m not even a human being.”

Viral Video: Driver Fails To Signal While Turning, Police Officer Approaches Car With Gun Drawn

This video has gone viral overnight with over 100K retweets.

Apparently, the driver was stopped for failing to signal at a turn. With a black man at the wheel, the police officer approached the car with his gun drawn.

He then pointed the gun at the driver.

For failing to signal???

I don't know a single white person who's been stopped for failing to signal and had a police officer draw a gun on them.

Clearly the officer repeats over and over "Ok" as his only response for legal reasons with the camera recording.

Americans need to have a discussion with our police offices. There needs to be a real dialogue.

If there was a reason to draw his gun, I'd have preferred the officer explain a rational reason. I'd have preferred he TALK with the driver. I'd have preferred he have a dialogue with the driver.

At least the officer kept calm.

Watch below.

Cop pulls over a black man for failure to signal, walks to his car with his gun drawn... Black dude is my fucking hero💯💯💯💯💯🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆😂😂😂😂👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 pic.twitter.com/S8ef8Mx4Kk

— SIX_FOOT_5 (@Choco_Optimus) September 10, 2017

Going Viral: NYC Police Officer's LGBT Pride Facebook Post Inspires Thousands

I commented somewhere recently that while I do sometimes post stories of what seems like bad judgement by a handful of police officers, I don't hate cops. One of my best friends was a police officer for two decades.

I know there are great cops in the world. And just to prove it, here's one now.

A New York City police officers' Facebook post from Sunday, wherein he shares the pic above and the message below, has gone viral.

Going only by "Big Fat Loser," (the officer chronicles his weight loss on the account), he writes:

I'll be out there working at Pridefest today wearing this shirt under my uniform for a lot of reasons.
For my step brother.
For my priest.
For my aunts who died before they could be legally married.
For my cousin.
For all of the cops I have worked with over the years, including one of the best partner's I've ever shared a sector car with.
For my classmate in High School who's parents made him sleep in a tent in his yard.
For the man who cried on my shoulder about losing his partner on 9/11.
For every call I went to where someone got kicked out of their house or who's family just didn't understand.
For anyone who's had to hide who they are.
I've got your back.
Love is Love.
#loveislove #pride #pride🌈 #prideparade #nypd #igotyou #freehugs

(h/t JoeMyGod)

Baton Rouge: Three Police Officers Killed, More Injured, In Possible Ambush Attack

Three police officers have been shot dead in the US city of Baton Rouge, and three more have been injured, officials say.

One suspect is dead and two others may still be at large.

The local sheriff's department spokeswoman told WAFB TV the incident began shortly before 09:00 local time. The spokeswoman said officers had responded to reports of shooting. A witness said the shooting appeared to have broken out before law enforcement officers arrived at the scene.

President Obama released this statement, which reads in part:

I want to be clear: There is no justification for violence against law enforcement. None. These attacks are the work of cowards who speak for no one. They right no wrongs. They advance no causes. The officers in Baton Rouge; the officers in Dallas - they were our fellow Americans, part of our community, part of out country, with people who loved and needed then, and who need us now - all of us - to be at our best.

(Click image to enlarge)

Developing.

SPECIAL REPORT: 3 police officers killed in #BatonRouge shooting; at least several others injured. @MorganRadford pic.twitter.com/c8oU8Y5Bpn

— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) July 17, 2016

Florida: Orange County Sheriff & Fire Departments Get Down For #KeepDancingOrlando Campaign

It's all awesome when the Orange County Sheriff's Office and the Orange County Firefighters get involved in the #KeepDancingOrlando campaign.

A video posted to the Orange County Sheriff's Office's Facebook page begins with a mock press conference announcing an “important announcement by Sheriff Demings.”

“We’re here for an important announcement today. I wanna keep Orlando smiling. Keep dancing, Orlando!” Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said before placing a boom box on top of the podium.

“Hit it,” Demings says, and when he presses play, the unmistakable beat for Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” starts to play.

Demings begins to dance first, sliding enthusiastically, and members of the OCSO soon follow suit.

The onlooking crowd, acting as members of the press for the video, cheer and throw up the papers they’re holding to join in on the dancing.

The #KeepDancingOrlando challenge was created to channel positive energy and honor the 49 victims of the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub on June 12, the OCSO wrote on Facebook.

(h/t JMG)

This Is What The Italian Police Force Looks Like

The Carabinieri is the national gendarmerie of Italy, policing both military and civilian populations. It originally was founded as the police force of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

#Woof

English Cop Pops Proposal At London Pride

We've seen many public proposals between same-sex couples here in the U.S. with the arrival of marriage equality, but it's not so common in the UK.

But London got to share in a couple's happy moment right on the streets of this year's Pride Parade when a constable marching in the parade with his department stopped along the way to get down on one knee and propose to his boyfriend.

ITV News reports that the constable stopped along the parade route where his partner, Jonathan Sammons, was watching and got down on one knee. The two exchanged a kiss to the roaring of the crowd and then the constable rejoined his fellow police officers.

The whole parade just stopped for a policeman to propose his boyfriend at #Pride2016! pic.twitter.com/G8XeECCz2N

— Steve Holden (@SteveH1982) June 25, 2016

The newly elected Mayor Sadiq Khan marched in the festivities, too.

Baltimore Police Officer Edward Nero Found Not Guilty In Freddie Gray Case

Baltimore police officer Edward Nero

Baltimore police officer Edward Nero has been found not guilty of all charges in the case of Freddie Gray, whose injuries and subsequent death occurred while in police custody.

Videos of the arrest, and Gray’s death seven days later, sparked days-long protests and standoffs with the police.

From USA Today:

Nero, who is white, was the second of six officers to face trial and the first to obtain a verdict. The first case ended in a hung jury and will be retried.

Gray, 25, suffered a spinal injury while in police custody on April 12, 2015, and died a week later. Prosecutors say he suffered the injury while traveling without a secured seat belt in the back of a police van.

Nero, 30, had declined a jury trial, and Judge Barry Williams heard testimony that wrapped up last week. Nero was found not guilty of assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment.

Nero's lawyers argued that it was the responsibility of the officers in the police van to secure Gray.

The Baltimore Police Department issued a statement saying Nero will still be subject to investigative review, and will remain in an administrative capacity while that investigation continues.

New York Times: Tamir Rice Would Be Alive Today If He Had Been White

The New York Times editorial board condemns the shooting death of Cleveland teen Tamir Rice and the Cleveland officials who declined to charge the officer in the fatal shooting.

Tamir Rice of Cleveland would be alive today had he been a white 12-year-old playing with a toy gun in just about any middle-class neighborhood in the country on the afternoon of Nov. 22, 2014.

But Tamir, who was shot to death by a white police officer that day, had the misfortune of being black in a poor area of Cleveland, where the police have historically behaved as an occupying force that shoots first and asks questions later.

[snip]

The Police Department’s disregard for life was fully evident in the way the officers behaved after shooting Tamir. A surveillance video shows them standing by the child for four minutes without giving medical assistance, which was finally provided by an F.B.I. agent who happened to be in the neighborhood. Officer Frank Garmback, Officer Loehmann’s partner, nonetheless tackled the wounded boy’s 14-year-old sister as she tried to rush to his side. One can only imagine her suffering as she watched in handcuffs from the back seat of the squad car while her brother lay bleeding on the ground.

In addition to portraying the killing as a result of a tragic misunderstanding, prosecutors have also suggested the officer’s decision to kill Tamir was shaped by the fact that the surrounding neighborhood had a history of violence and that the boy appeared to be older than 12 because he was big for his age.

These arguments sidestep the history of violent, discriminatory police actions that led up to this boy’s death. They also have the reprehensible effect of shifting the responsibility for this death onto the shoulders of this very young victim.

It's worth noting that since the officer involved in the shooting said Tamir "looked" 18 years old, and Ohio is an open carry state, why did he assume Tamir was a danger and shoot within seconds of arriving on the scene?

And where is the NRA defending the "right" of a person perceived to be an adult to carry a weapon in a state with open carry laws?

If Tamir had been a white teenage girl, he would be alive today. Period.

Why Grand Juries Don't Indict Cops When They Kill

In light of the decision of an Ohio grand jury to NOT indict the officer who shot and killed 12 year-old Tamir Rice in December 2014, I thought this video would be appropriate to post.

Buzzfeed's Adam Serwer examines why grand juries don't indicted police officers when they kill.

Ohio: Grand Jury Declines To Indict Police For Shooting 12-Year-Old Tamir Rice

Ohio prosecutor Tim McGinty announces no charges for police who shot and killed 12 year old Tamir Rice

From CNN:

An Ohio grand jury has decided not to return an indictment in the 2014 police shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, prosecutor Tim McGinty said Monday.

Rice was holding a pellet gun when he was shot. It was "reasonable" to believe that the officer who killed the boy was facing a threat, McGinty said.

The officer was in training outside a Cleveland recreation center in November 2014. The shooting sparked controversy given Tamir's age and the fact that he had a gun that resembled a handgun.

McGinty called Rice's killing an "absolute tragedy."

"But it was not, by the law that binds us, a crime," he said. He said he has "heard the chants" that cry for justice for the boy.

"We too want justice for Tamir," he said. But it would not be justice to bring charges against the officers involved in the shooting if those charges "could not be sustained."That, however, "doesn't mean the legal system is done," he said. The civil courts may provide some accountability to the boy's family "that they deserve," McGinty said.

The shooting of a child should "never happen again," he said, and he urged that toy gun manufacturers stop making their products look so much like real guns.

Tamir had been playing near the swings of a recreation center near his home when he was shot on November 22. He died a day later.

Top 10 Scandals & Controversies Of 2015

End of the year means all those "Top 10" lists. I love "Top 10" Lists.

CNN shares this look back at the scandals and controversies of 2015.

Included on the list this year are "most hated man in America," Martin Shkeli (who jacked the price of an HIV drug by 5000%) and Josh "Sanctity of Marriage" Duggar.

Required Reading: "I Fit The Description"

Longtime art professor Steve Locke, of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, shares a chilling episode of being stopped by police because he "fit the description" of a recent crime.

On one hand, you might say, "Well, this is how the police work."

But please click over and read his account of what went through his head at the time.

Because he "fit the description."

If you are a white male in America, it may be very hard for you to understand why this is troubling.

An excerpt:

I noticed the police car in the public lot behind Centre Street. As I was walking away from my car, the cruiser followed me. I walked down Centre Street and was about to cross over to the burrito place and the officer got out of the car.

“Hey my man,” he said.

He unsnapped the holster of his gun.

I took my hands out of my pockets.

“Yes?” I said.

“Where you coming from?”

“Home.”

Where’s home?”

“Dedham.”

How’d you get here?”

“I drove.”

He was next to me now. Two other police cars pulled up. I was standing in from of the bank across the street from the burrito place. I was going to get lunch before I taught my 1:30 class. There were cops all around me.

I said nothing. I looked at the officer who addressed me. He was white, stocky, bearded.

“You weren’t over there, were you?” He pointed down Centre Street toward Hyde Square.

“No. I came from Dedham.”

“What’s your address?”

I told him.

“We had someone matching your description just try to break into a woman’s house.”

A second police officer stood next to me; white, tall, bearded. Two police cruisers passed and would continue to circle the block for the 35 minutes I was standing across the street from the burrito place.

“You fit the description,” the officer said. “Black male, knit hat, puffy coat. Do you have identification.”

“It’s in my wallet. May I reach into my pocket and get my wallet?”

“Yeah.”

I handed him my license. I told him it did not have my current address. He walked over to a police car. The other cop, taller, wearing sunglasses, told me that I fit the description of someone who broke into a woman’s house. Right down to the knit cap.

Barbara Sullivan made a knit cap for me. She knitted it in pinks and browns and blues and oranges and lime green. No one has a hat like this. It doesn’t fit any description that anyone would have. I looked at the second cop. I clasped my hands in front of me to stop them from shaking.

Read the entire post from Steve Locke here.

President Obama Blasts Fox News For Distorting Support For Police

Speaking to the Congressional Black Caucus this past Saturday night, President Obama made a point to call Fox News out for repeatedly distorting his support for police officers.

For a long time now, Fox News has portrayed Obama as unsupportive and divisive when it comes to police officers and the communities they serve.

From the transcript:

“I want to repeat – because somehow this never shows up on Fox News. I want to repeat – because I’ve said it a lot, unwaveringly, all the time: Our law enforcement officers do outstanding work in an incredibly difficult and dangerous job. They put their lives on the line for our safety. We appreciate them and we love them. That’s why my Task Force on 21st Century Policing made a set of recommendations that I want to see implemented to improve their safety, as well as to make sure that our criminal justice system is being applied fairly. Officers show uncommon bravery in our communities every single day. They deserve our respect. […]

“So I just want to repeat, because somehow this never gets on the TV: There is no contradiction between us caring about our law enforcement officers and also making sure that our laws are applied fairly. Do not make this as an either/or proposition. This is a both/and proposition. We want to protect our police officers. We’ll do a better job doing it if our communities can feel confident that they are being treated fairly. I hope I’m making that clear. I hope I’m making that clear.”

NYPD Releases Video Showing Tackle & Cuffing Of Tennis Star James Blake

Earlier this week I reported on the disturbing treatment tennis star James Blake received at the hands of the New York Police Department.

In a case of mistaken identity, an undercover cop rushed Blake, tackled him, then slammed him to the ground and handcuffed him for 15 minutes. The cop never identified himself as a police officer. Eventually other officers were on the scene and they realized they had mistaken Blake for snother man being sought for identity theft.

Finally, Blake received an apology from the Chief of Police and the Mayor, but the cop who body slammed him to the ground never apologized. Not even a simple, "hey man, my bad."

Identity theft is basically a white collar crime. There was clearly no sense that Blake was or would be violent. Some have wondered if the cop would have used the same force against a white man.

It's also come to light that the officer, James Frascatore, has had a record of complaints.

The New York Police Department Friday released video showing the cop's "detaining technique" with Blake, USA Today reported. Watch this and imagine this is your innocent son, peacefully checking his email while waiting for friends, and then this happens.  With no explanation.

Spanish Police Officers Marry In Full Dress Uniform To Cheers

One of the first nations to embrace marriage equality back in 2005, Spain continues to do the LGBT community proud.

Madrid Pride is an enormously successful celebration, and the country is very accepting of same-sex marriage.

However, I still get a tingle seeing the wedding of two Catalan police officers, Chema and Jonathan, see such an embrace. And could they be any more handsome?

(Full dress uniform. Swoon....)

Speaking with Spanish radio station Canal Sur, Chema said they have many gay friends on the police force, adding:

"If it helps someone who is being bullied in school for their sexual orientation to see it as something normal, then that’s great."

"It’s not something that should be hidden just because you belong to a particular institution."

Congrats to a happy, beautiful couple!

(h/t Gay Star News)