Indymedia.US

At approximately 6:00 a.m. on Jan. 2, 1996, while Jeff Wood waited outside, Daniel Earl Reneau entered a gas station in Kerrville, Texas, with a gun and pointed it at Kris Keeran, the clerk standing behind the counter. Reneau ordered him to a back room. When he did not move quickly enough, Reneau fired one shot with a 22 caliber handgun that struck Keeran between the eyes. Death was almost instantaneous. Proceeding with the robbery, Reneau went into the back office and took a safe. When hearing the shot, Wood got out of the car to see what was going on. He walked by the door and looked through the glass. Then he went inside, and he looked over the counter and ran to the back, where Reneau was. Wood was then ordered, at gun point by Reneau, to get the surveillance video and to drive the getaway-car.

Specifically, we are outraged that Mr. Lonsberry believes he can, with impunity:

• Disrespect young women who have overcome obstacles by stereotyping them as immoral, while choosing to ignore the varied circumstances, both social and individual, that created those obstacles in the first place.
• Demean these young women by the use of blatantly sexist language.
• Disparage the hard work of African American students by arbitrarily de-valuing the considerable achievement of attaining a grade B average.

Here's the official release from Rebel Diaz's website (www.rebeldiaz.com):

===================================================

*LATEST RELEASE June 25 1pm*:

REBEL DIAZ MEMBER G1's APARTMENT STORMED BY NYPD EARLY THIS MORNING,
DAYS AFTER BRUTALITY INCIDENT;

ARMED, WARRANTLESS INVASION WITH NO PROBABLE CAUSE HAS COMMUNITY
FEARING NYPD SCARE TACTICS.


PERSONAL STATEMENT FROM G1 OF REBEL DIAZ:
Early this morning, at around 2am, I, Gonzalo Venegas aka G1 of Rebel
Diaz, was in my home in Harlem, working on my computer in the living
room, when several police officers burst into my unlocked apartment,
with guns drawn, ordering us to get down and put our hands up.

I was in the apartment with my roommate DW who was in the adjacent bedroom, and my friend MM, who slept on the couch nearby.

Both were awakened by the home invasion and were witnesses to the events occurred.

The uniformed police officers did not knock, nor announce themselves, nor
verbally identify themselves before or during their entry into my
apartment.

They pointed their guns at us the whole time as they verbally barraged MM and I with questions as to who we were and what we were doing there.

As I lay on the ground with my hands up, I replied loudly and clearly that I lived there, and that everyone in the house was supposed to be there.

They replied incredulously, repeatedly yelling their questions as to who we were, with threats as to what would happen to us if I was found to be lying.

After various other taunts and threats, including accusing us of harboring a fugitive criminal suspect, they departed just as quickly as they had arrived, down a side stairway adjacent to my apartment.

They did not stay to search me or my roommates, or the apartment for any signs of the supposed fugitive they were looking for.

After a few seconds of disbelief and shock, I decided to follow the officers outside in order to fully understand what had just happened, and to document their identity.

One police van sped off as I came out of the side door of my building.

The remaining police squad car was pealing off when I ran into the middle of the street to flag it down.

They stopped the car, as I respectfully asked for their name and badge numbers.

Both police officers allowed me to walk closer to them, as I verbally noted their name and badge numbers.

The officers quickly got back into their squad car, provided no explanation for the home invasion, and sped off.

I was left in a state of shock and terror, as I frantically asked some of my neighbors outside if they knew of why the police had entered my building- and specifically my apartment--without justification.

I received no conclusive answers from the residents outside.

As of 10:30pm EST on Tuesday June 24, 2008,I have not received any official explanation for the events occurred, neither from the police precinct nor my building manager or owner, despite numerous calls and
requests for an explanation.

Both the 25th and 23rd NYPD precinct, which patrol my block, have denied that the officers involved are from their command.

The questions as to why several armed police officers mysteriously and violently invaded my home without any clear legal justification remain unanswered.

One is left only to think that the occurrences of this morning are not a coincidence of mistaken identity, but a direct response by the NYPD to an incident of police brutality I was involved in last week in the South Bronx.

Until we have a clear understanding of the causes and the people behind this morning's home invasion, Rebel Diaz will engage in limited communication outside of our legal representation.

We are not looking for the next NYPD scare tactic to turn into a tragedy.



For more information regarding the incidents of police brutality
against G1 and Rodstarz of Rebel Diaz last week, and the pending case
them, please visit www.rebeldiaz.com

I-Witness Video, which documented the police at the 2004 Republican National Convention in association with the National Lawyers Guild, has received two subpoenas from the City of New York in connection with civil lawsuits related to the 1800 arrests at the 2004 Republican National Convention. The City has demanded every piece of paper, electronic file, and videotape related to the demonstrations - including, remarkably, I-Witness Video's copies of tapes shot by their own police officers! The subpoenas are so broad that the City is even demanding access to videotapes which do not show any arrests, but only First Amendment types of activity. Because of this we believe their true motivation is not defending themselves from lawsuits about false arrests, but rather intelligence-gathering.

We worked hand-in-hand with the National Lawyers Guild during the criminal trials of people arrested at the RNC. Video showed the truth about what happened in the streets, contradicting police testimony on multiple occasions. As a direct result, over 400 individuals had their cases dismissed or were acquitted at trial based on video evidence.

I-Witness Video is fighting this gross abuse of subpoena power. We are deeply concerned that any videotapes and other information we turn over to the City will be used to target demonstrators, who may then have their names added to law enforcement databases and become subject to government harassment. Our lawyers have moved to quash both subpoenas, and have asked the federal judge to allow us to withhold the names of the videographers who shot the tapes. While we are fighting against turning over any videotapes to the government, in the event that the judge orders us to give the City some portion of the video archive, we have asked for a court order that the tapes never be shared with law enforcement agencies.

See the I-Witness Video website for our statement.
http://iwitnessvideo.info/blog/index.html

New York Times article about the subpoenas.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/nyregion/20convention.html

LOS ANGELES, June 23, 2008 - The Los Angeles activist community is morning the sudden passing of long time local human rights activist, Don White. Don was discovered dead in his apartment by friends this Saturday. The cause of his death is unknown at this time. Public memorial services have not been arranged as of yet but it is anticipated that services will be held sometime in the coming days.

Don White was the director of CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) and for many years active in the local Salvadoran community. Report from the newswire: BREAKING: Local Activist Don White Found Dead

On June 13, 2008, police entered a home in North Philadelphia without warrant and arrested its four residents, whose recent community activities included petitioning against police brutality and new police surveillance cameras in their community. One of the arrestees, Jen Rock recounts that police "said they were responding to a complaint about 'trespassing in an abandoned building'. We have lived in our home for almost 4 years." Read Report

Local writer Jeff Rousset summarizes the weeks events and argues that these recent incidents further reveal "the consistent dedication of the Philadelphia Police Department to squash dissent by any means necessary." Read Report

Past coverage from PhillyIMC and The Defenestrator.

Rodrigo and Gonzalo Venegas, La Peña del Bronx youth and
with the musical group called Rodstarz were near their
house today, Wednesday, June 18, 2008 in the afternoon.
When they noticed police officers harassing a street
vendor nearby.