Contents:
- CUAPB Annual Garage Sale
- Summer Copwatch Kickoff
- Even Animals are Subject to Police Brutality
- Officer Shot by Gun Kept Under Pillow
- Misuse of Court System by Judge
CUAPB ANNUAL RUMMAGE SALE
Saturday, June 23rd
10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. (bag sale starting a 4:00 p.m.)
Walker Church
3100 16th Ave S, Minneapolis
**get rid of things you no longer need**
**pick up wild bargains**
TURN YOUR JUNK INTO JUSTICE! Just about everyone has stuff in their house that they no longer need but that others would value. Bring your garage sale items to CUAPB for our annual rummage sale. Believe it or not, this is one of our biggest fund raisers for the year. The funds we earn help to keep the hotline going and fund work like our lawsuits for accountability and justice.
You can bring your garage sale items to the Walker Church starting 9:00 a.m. or call us at 612-874-7867 to make other arrangements, including pick up of larger items.
SUMMER COPWATCH KICKOFF
Saturday, June 30
Training: 11:00 p.m., Walker Church, 3100 16th Ave S, Minneapolis
CopWatch: 12:00 midnight
Stepped-up police presence on the streets is leading to more incidents of police brutality and misconduct against people of color, homeless people and others. Just two weeks ago, we told you about a major cop riot at a club in downtown Minneapolis. Now's the time to kick off our 2007 season of CopWatch.
CopWatch is a program of police accountability in which we observe police conduct and document any incidents using video cameras, still photography and paper and pen. Along the way, we distribute Know Your Rights flyers and educate the public. THIS ACTIVITY IS COMPLETELY LEGAL and we'll train you to do it safely. PLEASE NOTE: If you have not attended a previous CopWatch, you must attend the training before going out with us.
Join us for our first summer session of CopWatch. Wear comfortable shoes and clothes--you'll be on your feet a while. If you have questions, call 612-874-7867.
EVEN ANIMALS SUBJECT TO POLICE BRUTALITY
Folks, if we hadn't seen this with our own eyes, we might not have believed it. About 7:45 p.m. this evening, a small group of people was standing on the corner of Penn Avenue and 16th Avenue North. A dog was playfully circling around and between the people, getting affection from various people in the group. Suddenly, Park Police squad #841 came zooming up to the corner at high speed, jerked to a stop and a woman cop jumped out. She started chasing after the dog. The dog trotted away, wagging its tail. It seemed to think this was part of a game.
The cop returned to her squad car and drove down the street chasing alongside the dog, which ran down the sidewalk. Again, the car jerked to a stop and the cop jumped out and shot the dog FIVE TIMES. The poor animal never knew what hit it. The people on the corner scattered, frightened. A few got on a bus that had stopped at the corner. The cop then roared up and pulled in front of the bus, blocking it. The cop got on the bus and seemed to be interrogating people for several minutes before getting off the bus and moving her car back across the street. By that time, five other squad cars pulled up and the cops were all standing around the dead dog, talking. Animal Control finally arrived and took the dog's bullet-riddled carcass away.
It is hard to imagine what could have motivated this cop to act so irrationally--shooting a dog that was not menacing people or otherwise causing problems and then zooming all over the street in front of a bus, etc. Not to mention indiscriminately shooting a dog on a sidewalk, where bullets could easily have ricochetted and hit people or houses in this busy residential area. That conduct was truly inexplicable.
Minneapolis police have a significant history of shooting people's pets with impunity. Apparently the Park police have decided to join in the act. Perhaps people interested in animal rights will step up the plate and join us in protesting this outrageous conduct.
OFFICER SHOT BY GUN KEPT UNDER PILLOW
Tue Jun 12, 4:52 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070612/ap_on_fe_st/odd_officer_pillow_shot
A police officer was shot in the wrist when the service weapon that she kept under her pillow went off. Albany police Sgt. Kinshishi Adams, 34, was lying in bed Sunday when a .40 caliber pistol she kept under her pillow discharged and struck her in her left wrist, Dougherty County Police Chief Don Cheek said.
Adams was listed in good condition Tuesday at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, hospital spokeswoman Valerie Benton said.
"She sustained an extremely serious wound to the left wrist and underwent surgery (Sunday) night," Cheek said. "Everything indicates it was just a freak accident. She apparently sleeps with a weapon under her pillow, and somehow it discharged.
"She was by herself at the time. There is no indication that anything other than what she said happened."
The incident was being investigated by county police since it happened in their jurisdiction but has been forwarded to Albany police, which is conducting an internal investigation. Albany police did not immediately return a phone message for comment Tuesday.
Both Cheek and Albany police stressed the importance of gun safety in the wake of the accident.
"We train on gun safety and we stress gun safety, but even the people who handle guns for a living, accidents happen," Cheek said. "We just stress that firearms are not toys, and even people experienced with firearms occasionally have accidents."
MISUSE OF COURT SYSTEM BY JUDGE
This lawsuit has to take the cake for most frivolous ever. There are factually innocent people sitting in prison and somehow this judge has nerve to say, "you will search the records of the District of Columbia courts in vain for a case of more egregious or willful misconduct," over a lost pair of pants. His priorities are clearly askew.
DC judge presses $54 million suit for lost pants
By Andy Sullivan
Tue Jun 12, 12:52 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070612/ts_nm/usa_pants_dc
A judge in the U.S. capital pressed a $54 million lawsuit on Tuesday against a dry cleaning shop which he said violated consumer-protection laws when it lost his pants.
Roy L. Pearson, an administrative judge for the District of Columbia, told a local court that Custom Cleaners should pay the sum because a "satisfaction guaranteed" sign deceived consumers who, like him, were dissatisfied with their experience.
"You will search the records of the District of Columbia courts in vain for a case of more egregious or willful misconduct," Pearson told D.C. Judge Judith Bartnoff.
The lawyer for the Korean immigrants who run the dry cleaner said Pearson was looking for a way to resolve his financial difficulties after a divorce.
"It's simply a frivolous lawsuit brought by an unhappy customer with a bone to pick," attorney Chris Manning said.
Pearson filed suit after the cleaners lost his pants in 2005. Jin Chung, Soo Chung and Ki Chung said they located the pants a few days later, but Pearson said they were not his.
Pearson counted 12 separate violations of a consumer-protection law over 1,200 days, multiplied by the three defendants. At $1,500 per day, that is $65 million.
He also seeks $15,000 to rent a car to take his clothes to another cleaner for the next 10 years, among other charges.
He has rejected several settlement offers.
Pearson has since reduced his claim to $54 million.
The Chungs, who immigrated from South Korea in 1992, have grown disillusioned with the United States and might return to their native country, Manning said.
The case, expected to conclude on Wednesday, has attracted attention as an example of over-litigiousness in the United States.
The Washington Post questioned whether Pearson should remain in his job hearing cases involving the decisions of D.C. government agencies.
"The case raises serious questions about his judgment and temperament," the newspaper wrote in an editorial.
Communities United Against Police Brutality
3100 16th Avenue S
Minneapolis, MN 55407
Hotline 612-874-STOP (7867)