Another day, another case of abuse of power by cops unwilling to have their public police activities filmed by passersby with an iPhone, Android, or any other video recording device. This time around, we bring you the story of a Connecticut man who was recently arrested by New Haven Assistant Chief of Police Chief Ariel Melendez for the alleged crime of “disturbing the peace.” According to reports, Luis Luna was convicted of the crime after being approached by Officer Melendez, who asked Luna to stop using his iPhone to videotape police officers breaking up a fight on College Street. Luna also claims that the officers involved in the incident proceeded to delete the videos that he had just recorded with his iPhone.

Ass. Police Chief arrests CT man for filming cops with iPhone, confiscates and deletes videos

http://www.intomobile.com/2010/11/15/cops-arrest-iphone-video-phone/#

Activists Denounce FBI Raids on Anti-war and Solidarity Activists Homes

Subpoenas, Searches, and FBI visits carried out in cities across the country
By Staff of Fight Back! News| September 24, 2010

Call the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder at 202-353-1555 or write an email to: AskDOJ@usdoj.gov.

Demand: Stop the repression against anti-war and international solidarity activists. Immediately return all confiscated materials: computers, cell phones, papers, documents, etc.  End the grand jury proceedings against anti-war activists.

September 24, 2010     Posted By Jason Ditz @ 9:34 am 

The FBI is confirming that this morning they began a number of “raids” against the homes of antiwar activists, claiming that they are “seeking evidence relating to activities concerning the material support of terrorism.”

So far there do not appear to have been any arrests related to the raids nor, according to FBI spokesman Steve Warfield, are there any expected. He also insisted that there was “no imminent threat” related to the antiwar organization targeted.

Monday, June 14th WHILE a caring community member shared sandwiches with up to 100 hungry people in Redway- on the street- engaging in a responsible and constitutionally protected activity- the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department drove around photographing the people who were eating lunch. This is INTIMIDATION. This is profiling. There is no good reason for it.

People are scared when the Sheriff’s Department behaves this way because the Sheriff targets anyone who lives outside with very few resources. The Sheriff’s Department hunts people down while they are sleeping -out of sight- and Sheriff Deputies attempt to DISAPPEAR people who are, for instance, sitting under a tree for shade.

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
June 11, 2010

In his book Friendly Fascism, author Bertram Gross argues that when fascism comes to America it will be “friendly” and lack the overt brutality of the classic varieties of German and Italian fascism.

Richard Nixon once said that average American is like a child in the family.

Nixon was merely expressing the dominant opinion of the ruling elite who consider us contemptible children in need of adult supervision. Hitler, too, considered the German people children in need of adult supervision.

For the elite, a political activist is the worst sort of unruly child, one that directly challenges the authority of the father who represents the state. In order to modify the behavior of a rebellious child the state must instill fear. It must intimidate but — as Gross noted — it must do this with a friendly face. It must uphold the pretense of “democracy.” A frog must be boiled slowly.

“No truly sophisticated proponent of repression would be stupid enough to shatter the facade of democratic institutions,” wrote Murray B. Levin.

A few days ago, a young man made this complaint to the Eureka Police Department:

I am a college student in Alaska, my home state. I am currently taking some time to travel through the continental states. Today (April 23, 2010), my friend and I sat down for a moment with our heavy backpacks near the St. Vincent de Paul's cafeteria. After a few minutes, Officer Reyna-Sanchez walked past many people and approached us. A third person who had stopped to rest saw Officer Reyna-Sanchez coming at us and said “Don't shoot.” The officer then smugly told us that he had shot and killed someone last month. He then told us that we were trespassing, though there were no signs indicating such. Officer Reyna-Sanchez verbally harassed me, telling me, for instance that he could take away my rights and “You better leave Eureka... You and I will bump heads if you stay around.” 

THE DEATH OF MARTIN FREDERICK COTTON II

UPDATE (Spring 08) FROM REDWOOD CURTAIN COPWATCH