Oct 22 Coalition Against Police Brutality

The October 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation has been mobilizing every year since 1996 for a National Day of Protest on October 22, bringing together those under the gun and those not under the gun as a powerful voice to expose the epidemic of police brutality.

The Coalition also works on the Stolen Lives Project, which documents cases of killings by law enforcement nationwide. The second edition of the Stolen Lives book documents over 2000 cases in the 1990s alone. Volunteers are needed to help with the research and editing of cases since then. Please contact oct22national@gmail.com for more information.

Contact October 22 Coalition:
Address: P.O. Box 2627, New York, NY 10009
E-mail: oct22national@gmail.com
To donate, write tax-deductible checks out to "IFCO/October 22"

Atlanta, GA

4:00PM demonstration and speakout at Woodruff Park 

(Edgewood and Peachtree), followed by a march

~ stopmassincarcerationatl@gmail.com or

~ 770-861-3339

~ oct22atl@yahoo.com

from:		MaryLovesJustice Neal marylovesjustice@gmail.com
to:		oct22national@gmail.com,  stopmassincarcerationatl@gmail.com,  October 22nd Coalition ,  Mary Neal
date:		Wed, Oct 22, 2014 at 11:46 AM
subject:		Oct 22 - Stop Police Violence Against the Mentally Ill
mailed-by:		gmail.com

I helped to advertise the October 22 Coalition meetings today in two of my blogs:
http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2014/10/oct-22-coalition-against-police.html
http://hreventsbymlj.blogspot.com/2014/10/october-22-coalition-demonstrations.html

As the director of Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill, I certainly looked forward to the October 22 Coalition protest in Atlanta today. Unfortunately, my elderly mother is unwell and I may not be able to attend. Therefore, I ask that organizers please be mindful that over 50 percent of police violence victims are people with a history of mental illness. They are attacked and often killed by police in their homes, on our streets, and behind bars. The mentally ill also comprise over half of America's prisoners: 1.25 million sick people are wrongly incarcerated rather than treated in their communities or mental hospitals. Budgets for mental health care were cut in order to arrest sick people and start America's private jail and prison system. In Atlanta, homeless shelters are being closed so that more of these people will be arrested than before. Two homeless shelters already closed, and the Atlanta Task Force, which houses some 900 people, is fighting in court to survive. Mercenary people want the prime Midtown Atlanta property where the Task Force sits, and prison investors want the homeless jailed.

In 2014, we were made aware of numerous murders against people with mental illness, including Jerome Murdough, who was baked to death in Rikers Island, Darren Rainey, who was boiled to death in Dade County Correctional Facility, and too many more to name. Recently, Milwaukee's police chief fired an officer who picked a fight with a mentally ill teenager in the park then shot him 14 TIMES. Police aggression is directed mostly at black people and the mentally ill of any race. We need to talk about this and make sure everyone is aware of the numerous assaults on society's most vulnerable members. As usual, the victims are mostly people who are black, brown, or poor.

I would be grateful if you mention the fact that most victims of police violence and brutality behind bars are also mentally ill people. There are approximately 80,000 inmates in cruel solitary confinement today, and over 60 percent of them are mentally ill. Approximately 80 percent of inmates in SHU are black. There seems to be no attempt on the government's part to end torture of American prisoners. In fact, Solitary Watch revealed that in the U.S. report to the United Nations that will be filed in November denies that solitary confinement is systemically used against juveniles and the mentally ill in America.

These are a few of the concerns that I wanted to address today at the October 22 Coalition protest in Atlanta, but I must ask that you do this instead. Please don't let oppression of our people who experience mental disabilities go without mention. AIMI plans an International Court action for 2015, when we will take such murders as my own disabled brother suffered before the United Nations and the world. Learn about it at http://aimi-humanrights.blogspot.com

I am very grateful to the sponsors and organizers of the October 22 Day of Remembrance and protest against police violence. It means a great deal to me as the sister of a man who was secretly arrested for 18 days and murdered in jail, especially since Larry Neal's murder was covered-up. Cover-ups of jailhouse murders are possible to a greater degree than murders that happen in public where people film police violence. I am thankful that due to many news reports, especially by the Miami Herald, many jailhouse murders of mentally ill people and others are being revealed to a greater extent than before despite cover-ups.

Please send me a report after today's protests in Atlanta. See more information in the three links below, and my brother's website is in the signature block. Blessings.

Milwaukee Police Chief Fired Officer Who Shot Man in Park
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/milwaukee-police-fire-officer-shot-man-park-26224595
UN investigates US Systemic Prison Torture
http://dogjusticeformentallyill.blogspot.com/2014/10/un-investigates-usa-re-systemic-prison.html
2 years later, Florida keeps lid on prison death details
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/article1966016.html...............
Mary Loves Justice Neal
marylovesjustice@gmail.com
(678) 531.0262 or (571)335-1741
Wrongful Death of Larry Neal
http://WrongfulDeathofLarryNeal.com

Stand Up for Love - October 22 Coalition

October 22 Coalition honors Stolen Lives in the United States of America. Families, friends, and concerned individuals across the country unite to protest police violence that steals hundreds of lives annually. The usual victims are black and brown people who lack wealth. Since last October, however, numerous Caucasians have also fallen victim to overuse of force by police - even in affluent neighborhoods. Sadly, the dead include elders, children, and disabled people. It has been estimated (because Americans are not allowed to keep records on this) that roughly 50% of victims in death-by-police episodes were mentally ill people, like my brother, Larry Neal. Destiny's Child sings about caring at the video embedded below and at http://youtu.be/vyW-SnO7jk4 on YouTube.

.

October 22 Coalition

The Stolen Lives Project

Remembering those killed by police violence

http://www.october22.org/

For listings of activities in your area, check the Assembly Points page

http://www.october22.org/Assembly.html

Email oct22national@gmail.com

by Mary Neal, director
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill
http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/aimi
WrongfulDeathofLarryNeal
http://WrongfulDeathofLarryNeal.com
DogJusticeforMentallyIll
http://DogJusticeforMentallyIll.blogspot.com
Davis/MacPhail Truth Committee
http://DMTruth.blogspot.com
HumanRightsforPrisonersMarch
http://humanrightsforprisonersmarch.blogspot.com
A few of my efforts to stand up for love in obedience to God's will that we speak for the poor and oppressed and everyone who is appointed to destruction ~Proverbs 31:8-9.

Atlanta MARTA Police Killed Black Teen

(3 videos embedded, 13 links)  Exactly one week before the 16th annual National Day to Protest Police Brutality, an officer with the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority ("MARTA") killed 19-year-old Joetavious Stafford at Vine City Train Station in an Oscar Grant-style shooting.  No video was released for the shooting, but Rodney Stafford, the victim's brother, gave a description of what happened. See his account in the excerpt from a news report below:

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Stafford “was killed when police responded to a gunshot during a fight, MARTA officials said. Rodney Stafford told Channel 2 Action News that his brother was shot after he raised his hands…MARTA officials said Joetavious Stafford was armed, but they refused to answer whether he was shot in the back or while on the ground. Rodney Stafford disputed the claim that his brother was armed.”

Rodney Stafford told Channel 2 Action News his sibling was involved in a melee when a shot was fired by somebody in the crowd. He contends Waldo ran toward the fight and shot his brother after he halted.  “My brother threw his hands up. MARTA police shot him in the back. Pow,” Stafford told Channel 2. “And my brother lying on the ground, just looking at me and I was looking at his gunshot wound. As I’m looking at that, MARTA police shot him two more times in the back.”

 MARTA sent condolences to Stafford's family and announced that it believes the teens' death was justified.  Whenever police kill people, it is usual for such killings to be called justified.  Police ordinarily plead self-defense and/or cover-ups are attempted. The 11Alive link below carries information on Stafford's autopsy report:  http://www.11alive.com/rss/article/209348/40/GBI-investigates-deadly-shooting-by-MARTA-police

Embedded below is a video displaying police brutality in America (warning: violent content):  POLICE BRUTALITY - WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD ORDER at this link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdaISSo4BrQ&feature=related



It is important for Americans to object to Senate Bill 968, the IP Protection Act, a/k/a "Internet Censorship Bill."  The bill would put the Internet under the U.S. Justice Department and give government officials the right to control browsers, redirect links, prevent postings, and remove websites as it sees fit.  It is reasonable for everyone, especially artists, to want their intellectual property protected, but S.968 provides to much opportunity for our First Amendment rights to be violated regarding any reports the government wants stifled.  Human rights advocacy online might become impossible if S.968 is passed.  Videos depicting police brutality like the one above and films showing Oscar Grant's murder by San Francisco B.A.R.T. officers expose offenses that officials would conspire to hide if not for citizens media, such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, individual websites, personal blogs, and numerous online independent news companies.  On January 1, 2009, several police officers held 22-year-old Oscar Grant face-down on a train platform while another officer straddled the unarmed man and delivered a bullet to his back.  Johannes Mehserle was prosecuted and imprisoned for 11 months for manslaughter after much public outcry.  He was the first California officer to ever be prosecuted for a citizen's death, and he served less time than Michael Vick did for killing dogs.  The video is embedded below and is available at YouTube at this link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2LDw5l_yMI&feature=related  - His short sentence proves that minorities in America are deemed unworthy of DOG JUSTICE.




Grant's murder was captured on video by numerous commuters who witnessed the tragedy.  Police tried to retrieve cellphones from commuters who filmed Grant's death, but they were unable to get them all.  Therefore, the standard police excuse of self-defense did not work. The explanation did not ring true that the officer thought he was shooting Grant with a Taser instead of live ammo.  Oscar Grant was a 22-year-old father who worked two jobs.  He and friends were on their way home after celebrating on New Year's Eve 2008. Grant was the first unarmed black person to be killed by police in 2009, but more followed every year.  Without a doubt, some shootings by police officers are justified, but the video of Grant's murder shows he was completely surrendered, sitting against the wall of the train station with his hands in the air before being handcuffed and executed by psychopaths in uniform.  This is what Joetavious Stafford's brother claimed happened in his shooting also - an unarmed, surrendered young man was shot needlessly.  In the absence of any video release by MARTA to dispute Rodney Stafford's eyewitness report, I am inclined to believe Stafford was murdered like Grant.  Perhaps Stafford's murder was worse than Grant's because the teen was shot twice more as he lay twitching and bleeding on the ground while his terrified brother looked on.

I entreat MARTA to release the video that shows the "justified shooting," so we can lay aside suspicion of a cover-up such as happened in the secret arrest and WRONGFUL DEATH OF LARRY NEAL, my mentally, physically disabled brother who Memphis Police arrested in 2003 and kept him secretly incarcerated for 18 days until he died under circumstances that neither the jail nor the United States Department of Justice will disclose.  See http://WrongfulDeathOfLarryNeal.com .  The (Johnnie) Cochran Firm (under new management) contracted with my family to represent Larry's family a wrongful death lawsuit against Shelby County Jail the day after Larry's burial.  But the law firm actually worked with police behind the Neals' backs to hold the case secretly inactive and allow the Tennessee statute of limitations to pass.  Murders that the system cannot explain except to admit that BLACK PEOPLE AND POOR WHITES HAVE NO RECOGNIZED RIGHT TO LIFE IN AMERICA are swept under the rug like Larry's was.  Censorship and terrorism is used against my family because we persist in seeking justice after Larry's government murder cover-up. Hiding the kidnapping and murder of this middle-aged, handicapped black man who was arrested for irritating police with loud singing is America's biggest conspiracy since the assassination of JFK.  CoIntelPro attacks against Larry's survivors began after we sued The Cochran Firm.  They continue eight years later because we refuse to pretend Larry never existed. See the video embedded below, which is also at YouTube link http://youtu.be/X-5znkiEfFM  - It is particularly disheartening to consider how many people involved in Larry's murder cover-up and his family's censorship and terrorism are black officials and people who claim to be Christians.  Please see the video about my terrorism posted below - Clip0038 at my YouTube Channel JKEMPP703, where many more videos are posted about our censorship and terrorism.  






For more reports about police brutality in America, please visit Stolen Lives.org website at this link:  http://www.stolenlives.org/ and visit October 22 Coalition.org online.  Right now hackers prevent me from posting that link for your use.  They take control over any computer I use in my home and actually send in-person stalkers to follow me to the public library or computer rental locales because the government does not want you to know that Washington works with local governments like Memphis Shelby County Government to cover-up black people's murders.  Learn more about that in my FreeSpeakBlog at http://FreeSpeakBlog.blogspot.com and by browsing online for the term COCHRAN FIRM FRAUD for more videos and articles.

Our condolences to Joetavious Stafford's family and friends.  Police officers are rarely prosecuted for murdering citizens.  Even if they are indicted, Georgia officers may be allowed to avoid trial.  In fact, Georgia passed a law in 2006 stating that when police officers claim self-defense, a judge can dismiss the murder case without any hearing or jury trial. I have no doubt that law will only be used for deaths such as Staffords - black working class or poor victims.  The unjust law was already used in 2010 to dismiss a felony murder indictment against the former police officer who killed Cory Ward in 2002.  See information about it at this link:  COREY WARD - POLICE AND COCHRAN FIRM VICTIM http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/corey-ward-police-and-cochran-firm.html

For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. ~Esther 7:4


Human rights advocacy article with 13 links and 3 embedded videos, written to fight racism and class consciousness by Mary Neal - website http://WrongfulDeathofLarryNeal.com - director of Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill ("AIMI") at http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI - I am @koffietime at Twitter  - link http://twitter.com/koffietime  - Your questions and comments are invited at my articles or by phone to 678.531.0262, or by email to MaryLovesJustice@gmail.com