ENRAGING: Queens cop kneels on a man’s neck. Couldve killed him like George Floyd. Caught on camera. Man charged w/ a crime. But DA Melinda Katz declines to charge cop. “Insufficient evidence.” Get this: Her office didn’t even interview the man assaulted. queenseagle.com/all/queens-da-…
DA Katz: “Law requires that the officer restricted the flow of air or blood by either compressing Mr. Arnold’s windpipe or carotid arteries on each side of his neck. There could be no such finding under the facts here.” 

Any other case, the DA would rely on the survivors’ word.
Arnold’s public defender Olayemi Olurin (@msolurin) said no experts spoke to her client.

“How could make that determination with no one ever speaking to him? My client said the officer obstructed his breathing. He could not breath. Deliberate miscarriage of justice.”
The top charge against Mr. Arnold in this case was Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree--a misdemeanor--for allegedly operating an ATV. (Charges dropped). No conduct would have justified cop’s actions. But he was riding an ATV. At a memorial ride for a friend who had died.
The video:

“Why you got your knee on his face?” a man shouts in the video.

“Look at his knee,” the same man repeats nine times. “Look at his knee on his neck.”

“Take your knee off,” another woman screams.

DA Melinda Katz: “Insufficient evidence.”
Public defender (@msolurin) on timing of this during the Chauvin trial: “It’s a slap in the face to anybody that cares, anybody that police brutality affects. In the middle of this trial, that is the moment to tell New Yorkers you don’t care about police accountability?”
Note: Katz’s claim that there is insufficient evidence to charge w/ the newly passed law outlawing this particular cop behavior is ludicrous.

But she could’ve also charged assault, attempted assault, menacing, harassment. She would’ve for any other of the 1000s she prosecuted.
Great. Now I found another person on here who supports cops being able to use outlawed police tactics to murder Black men. Reported. Blocked for encouraging violence. Also I *am an expert on what is a crime, what is excessive force, & the NYPD patrol guide. Sit down.
For those asking about any consequences for this cop: Not only not prosecuted. Not fired. Not disciplined in any way. Still on the force. Out in the streets. Making arrests and now further empowered to continue assaulting people with zero consequences

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More from @ScottHech

1 Apr
🚨SIGNIFICANT MOMENT. Human Rights Watch (@hrw) has issued a warning to all state leaders with the power to act to correct past wrongs--U.S. governors, mayors, attorneys general, prosecutors. Your failure to do so violates international human rights standards. First stop: Oregon.
"When a legal system has obtained convictions through a discriminatory mechanism for decades, it should take on the task of fixing its mistake. Denial of equal rights for decades outweighs concerns about court efficiency."
In May 2020, US Supreme Court held that convictions by non-unanimous juries are unconstitutional, motivated by racial and ethnic bias. Yet Oregon’s AG @EllenRosenblum refuses to allow those whose appeals happened to be final before the decision a new trial.
Read 14 tweets
1 Apr
READ: "Rose didn’t want her daughter arrested; that wasn’t why she called. It would only hurt her daughter. But the police didn’t listen. They arrested Anna. And the familiar nightmare began."
On our irrational, traumatic responses to mental health crises.currentaffairs.org/2021/03/our-no…
How it starts: "Rose (57) & Anna (31) were arguing. Anna threw a plate down too hard. The plate bounced up & hit her mom's nose, which didn’t stop bleeding. Out of an abundance of caution, Rose dialed 911 & asked for medical help. Help did come—but so did 3 armed officers."
"As Rose received attention for her nose, cops asked her a series of questions. Yes, her nose was hurting. She didn’t need an ambulance. No, her daughter didn’t mean to hurt her. And she suffers from bipolar disorder & schizophrenia and sometimes loses control of her emotions."
Read 15 tweets
30 Mar
THREAD: Imagine having power to end the impact of a KKK-passed law that still imprisons hundreds. Oregon AG Ellen Rosenblum has power, but won't use it.

Human Rights Watch (@hrw) just called her failure to act “inconsistent w/ international human rights standards." Just wow.
In May 2020, US Supreme Court held that non-unanimous juries were motivated by racial & ethnic bias. Yet Oregon’s AG is *refusing* to allow this new Supreme Court rule to apply to those whose appeals happened to be final before the decision. They're still in prison. "Too bad."
Human Rights Watch (@hrw):

Ellen Rosenblum’s failure to end the racist stain of #JimCrowJuries is “arbitrary” and “inconsistent with international human rights standards requiring states to eliminate racial discrimination, including structural discrimination.”
Read 11 tweets
29 Mar
IMAGINE: Having power to end the impact of a KKK-passed law that still imprisons hundreds. Oregon AG Ellen Rosenblum has that power, but won't use it. Instead she *turned down an interview w/ PBS* as she "awaits more guidance" from the Supreme Court. More: pbs.org/newshour/show/…
Every juror’s voice is supposed to matter. Yet Oregon & Louisiana allowed up to 2 jurors to be silenced. KKK pushed these laws to establish white supremacy. To convict whoever they wanted. Legal lynchings. Louisiana already acted to fix. Oregon wont.
In April 2020, the Supreme Court finally acknowledged what was long obvious: This racist law was unconstitutional. in oral argument, the majority of the Justices were appalled. Even Justice Kavanaugh acknowledged non-unanimous juries were "rooted in racism."
Read 9 tweets
28 Mar
When I hear of a 13 & 15 year old charged w/ murder:

I dont think "killer." I think "child."
I dont think "punishment." I think "help."
I dont think "murder." I think "tragedy" for all.

We can call for justice for Mohammad Anwar w/o calling for the heads of young black girls.
For all of those claiming I'm "racializing" this by & wouldn't have said the same if they were white, clearly you don't know me. I don't think children should be punished as adults. And I don't think prison helps anyone. Survivors or families of survivors included.
The idea that prison is not a place for people charged with acts of violence or a solution to violence is so foreign & crazy to so most. But by any measure--rehabilitation, accountability, reducing recidivism, healing trauma for survivors, deterrence--prison just fails.
Read 12 tweets
28 Mar
🚨 MARIJUANA JUSTICE. A deal has been reached. This isn’t merely “legalization.” It’s also repairing the harm exacted on Black & Brown communities. A model for the nation. Early this week, the NY legislature will vote. Then onto Gov. Cuomo. Thread w/ more: nytimes.com/2021/03/25/nyr…
In NYC, the average marijuana arrest rate among high marijuana arrest precincts is 15 times higher than low arrest precincts. Between 2010-2019, there were 8 times as many arrests of Black and Latinx people as white people for marijuana.
In Buffalo, the average marijuana arrest rate among the high marijuana arrest zip codes is 68 times higher than that of the low arrest zip codes, and there were 3 times as many marijuana arrests of Black people as there were of white people. #PassTheMRTA
Read 10 tweets

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