police brutality

When you wake up this morning and read the headlines about McCain's speech, the latest horserace tally, and political predictions, I want you to be aware of events you may not read about, events that illuminate the real state of our democracy, events that brought me to tears (and it wasn't just from the gas). I want to tell you about battle that raged on the streets of St.

Please follow link for story, video, and more photos:

http://www.minnesotaindependent.com/6997/boot-print-on-his-back-photogra...

Hey does this photo look familiar?

The Rocky Mountain News has published a brief article about Alicia Forrest, the Code Pink woman who was forcefully knocked down by a policeman's nightstick. She is "recovering and out and about after being released from jail Tuesday night." A statement by Code Pink includes a reference to the offending cop, stating "the officer has since been pulled from the protest lines and can no longer interact with demonstrators."

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/27/codepink-optomist-afte...

[photo caption] Code Pink demonstrator Alicia Forrest gets help from a fellow demonstrator after a Denver police officer shoved her to the groud with a baton Tuesday morning at Civic Center Park in downtown Denver. Police moments later pulled Forrest out of group of reporters while she was talking about the incident and placed under arrest. Forrest had been questioning the officer about the arrest of Carlo Javier Garcia, left, when video shows the officer violently shoving her.
Paul Conrad The Aspen Times

http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20080827/NEWS/808269948/1077&ParentPro...

Only 2 arrests, but one stirs a tempest

Video shows a Code Pink volunteer being knocked to the ground by an officer.
By Jeremy P. Meyer and Christopher N. Osher
The Denver Post

[excerpt] Following a mass arrest of nearly 100 people Monday night, police watching Civic Center made just a couple of arrests through early evening Tuesday — but one of them brought immediate controversy.

In the morning, volunteer Alicia Forrest from the anti-war group Code Pink was arrested when police stepped in as a Kansas pastor tried to seize control of Civic Center to denounce homosexuality.

Carlo Garcia, a leader of protest group Recreate 68, had asked police to escort the pastor out of the park. Instead, police said Garcia posed a threat and arrested him.

On a video shot by the Rocky Mountain News, Forrest is seen questioning an officer about the arrest of Garcia, and he responds by knocking her to the ground and saying, "Back it up, b----," according to the tape.

According to an article by John Byrne in The Raw Story the Denver Police Department has issued a bulletin directing the attention of all officers working the DNC to pretty much all items that can be even vaguely construed to indicate the presence of "violent protesters."

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Denver_to_hunt_protesters_with_maps_0821.html

To everyone that came to the press conference regarding the raid on Melissa's and my home and the attack and arrest of me, the arraignment for the charge of Interference will be on Thursday, January 3rd 8:15 am at Denver County Court on 1515 Cleveland Place, 4th Floor, Denver 80202.

It is difficult to know what will happen. We are demanding the charges be dropped as the cops had no right to invade our home, and the parole officer never submitted us with any documentation as to what rights we were entitled by opening our home to a parolee.

From a local community member:

Congratulations to Ken Padilla and the Lobato Family for winning this key victory in the struggle against Police Brutality in Denver. As the article explains below, Judge Babcock ruled that several supervisory claims and lack of training claims survived Summary Judgment. This demonstrates that we're not talking about "one bad apple" (e.g., Office Rajan Ford, the shooter). Rather, the policies, procedures, and culture of the DPD have been indicted.

Go to the RMN article here:

SUNDAY - October 21, 2007 - 1:30 PM 10th & NAVAJO DENVER COLORADO

• The City of Denver is still not telling the truth about Frank Lobato. Police entered the home from the second story window and Ranjan Ford shot and killed Frank Lobato as Lobato lay in bed on July 11, 2004. Police said Lobato sat up, but the coroner says Lobato was lying down when he was killed. Denver CopWatch wants the city to pay up and stop stalling the family.