Ploy Story: The Art of Subterfuge
In the movie Toy Story, the character Buzz Lightyear thinks he can fly. The art of subterfuge involves two tactics: 1) complicate what is very simple, or 2) simplify what is actually complicated. Anthony Plonczynski-Figueroa, manages to do both in defending his employer James Sheppard – candidate for Mayor of Rochester. “Behind the Curtain: How Lovely Warren and The Party of Trump Have Taken Over the City of Rochester” (Rochester Indymedia), Plonczynski's essay response to The Reinvention of Jim Sheppard and the Rise of the New Jim Crow contains so many errors and half-truths that it has taken some time to respond to.
The whiter the neighborhood, the more Sheppard signs
Plonczynski is the Vice Chair of the Sheppard for Mayor campaign, so we really don't know if these are his own ideas and words or he was paid to write his response in service to the campaign. Let's hope it is the later.
First, Plonczynski states that in 2013, “many in the community were reeling” from Lovely Warren's upset victory. He failed to admit the obvious, that few of those people feeling a loss after the election actually live in the city, and for the ones that did, they are from the whitest, richest, most elite areas of Rochester. This is plain to see from the ubiquitous Richards yard signage in the Park Ave, East Ave, and Browncroft mansion areas, the same areas that now contain most of the signs for Sheppards. The political signage syncs with the city's racial divide. The more Sheppard signs you see, the whiter that neighborhood's population.
Browncroft area mansion.
Good leadership = cleaning up Richards' mess
Plonczynski also contends that Lovely Warren got her 2013 campaign funding from dubious sources, namely Republicans and was involved in “public corruption” regarding the school modernization program. He states:
“What we have learned about this project however is that it is her actions regarding the replacement of board members and the steering of contracts to a company connected to the late Conservative Republican Assemblyman Bill Nojay (a Trump delegate) and Lobbyist Robert Scott Gaddy that are being investigated by the FBI.”
But in the very same article that Plonczynski references - Bill Nojay's Misdeeds Play Out In Court, it points out very clearly that Warren steered contracts to a NY construction company that was owned by Barbara Armand. The article also states that Warren said “Armand was the right person to play a leading role in the company.” What the D&C investigators conveniently failed to mention in their 20 page piece was that Barbara Armand is black and her company Armand Construction is one of the few, if any, black and woman-owned construction companies in New York State.
The article goes onto say that Armand resigned from the project because she did not trust Nojay, and when Armand left the project, Warren pulled her support from the deal Nojay had helped arrange. Warren demonstrates good leadership here, which would be the opposite of corruption.
Remember also that in contracting with Armand, Warren was trying to address the actual corruption that took place during Mayor Richards tenure, when his administration had the most seats on the labor board overseeing contracts regarding the school modernization program. It was on Richards' watch, during work Phase 1, 2012-14, when five locally based Rochester, Batavia, and Niagra Falls construction companies were indicted by NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and had to pay $825,000 in fines as punishment for skirting rules in the use of minority and women-owned businesses.
If we are to talk honestly and accurately about nepotism, attracting funds from white non-city elitists, corruption, (because these are essential ingredients that Plonczynski is in short-hand referring to as Republican and Trump-like novelties) Lovely's opponent Tom Richards was king.
King Richards and the neocolonials
Former Mayor of Rochester and then CEO of RG&E Tom Richards at NY Stock Exchange (Source: D&C, July 25, 2000)
Richards is the former CEO of RG&E, who earned millions from charging poorer customers more than rich customers for electricity, while investing nothing in renewable energy ("RG&E to offer renewable energy", D&C, June 2, 2002) and then as Mayor hired his former RG&E buddies who themselves had gained their riches from outsourcing local ownership of the company to the Spanish company Ibedrolla.
During his re-election campaign for mayor, Richards drew funding from the Browncroft, Park Ave, and white elite districts of the city and additional support from unions whose membership live outside the city (Rochester Teachers Association -RTA, Ginna workers -IBEW Local Union 97, Firefighters 1071, Construction, and the police's Locust Club).
(Source: Rochester Firefighters Local 1071 website)
These same vastly white unions are heavily financing Sheppard's campaign.
(Source: New York State Board of Elections )
Some of these same unions hedged their bets and gave money to the Friends of Lovely Warren campaign as well, but considerably less. For example the Sheet Metal Workers Local 46 contributed $1,250 to Warren compared to $7,500 for Sheppard. The Laborer's International Union contributed $1,250 to Warren and $8,000 to Sheppard.
It also should be recognized that the RTA invests directly in private prisons via the New York State Teachers Retirement System. As of June 2017, the Rochester teacher retirement fund was investing $6.4 million in CoreCivic, Inc. After a critical story by VICE that ran in 2013 – “Who's Getting Rich off the Prison-industrial Complex” – Corrections Corporation of America changed its name, in Orwellian fashion, to CoreCivic, Inc. The Rochester area teachers also invest $5.2 million in GEO Group, Inc. Geo Group, Inc. and CoreCivic, Inc. are the two biggest corporations that operate detention centers in the US.
To recap, when you are going up against Daddy Warbucks, (ex. Tom Richards) and the captains of the prison industry (cops and capitalists), a certain degree of Robinhood-like political thuggery by Warren could be justified. This is why black and brown people kind of laugh when the white press and critics make a big deal of the measly $40,000, that Lovely allegedly recieved from dubious sources. Over the course of the last century, white people have been stealing billions from blacks in Rochester via an “occupation”; they occupy every well-paying vocation in the city.
But is it illegal to take money from outside donors? Isn't that the question Plonczynski is really asking? Well maybe if the #unionssowhite legacy that Plonczynski reps, hadn't robbed black city residents of jobs and social mobility for decades, there would be an economic-political base within the city to draw from. Instead of faulting his own candidate Mayor 1% Richards for using imperial dollars to outspend Warren 3 to 1, Plonczynski calls out Ms. Warren, David Gantt, Scott Gaddy for doing what white politicians do all the time – use clever, legal, strategies to infuse resources into Warren's campaign. Therefore the 8 pages of Plonczyski's complaints can be summed up as such: Black people get good at playing White man's game, white man gets upset and wants the rules changed.
Richards' (and now Sheppard's) ol' boy network
Richard A. Ash (Source: cpward.com)
By now you should know that Sheppard is just the puppet and voice talent of the Richards' re-re-election campaign from 2013. If we were to really investigate shady campaign funding, we could locate one of Sheppard's biggest contributors – Richard A. Ash of Piffard, NY (no that is not a misspelling – not Pittsford, but Piffard, NY.) For those wondering where Piffard, NY is, well it isn't in the city of Rochester for starters, and it is about 40 miles south of here. Ash has given the Sheppard campaign $9,500 this year. It should be noted that Ash gave money to Friends of Lovely Warren in 2015, but the amount was considerably less: $2,500. But for Plonczynski and the white press, getting money from allegedly suspect sources becomes controversy, only when Warren engages in that game.
Source: New York State Board of Elections
Richard A. Ash is the longtime president of C.P. Ward, Inc. - a locally based utility construction company. Richard A. Ash was indicted by a federal grand jury for bid rigging on projects for RG&E between 1987 to at least 1993. Not coincidently, this was the same era in which former Mayor Richards served as senior vice president for corporate services, senior vice president for finance and as president and chief operating officer for RG&E.
Richard A. Ash's company C.P. Ward pled guilty to the antitrust violations and agreed to pay $270,000 in fines to RG&E. And while the Presidents of other indicted companies faced additional individual fines, probation and home confinement, C.P. Ward issued a statement apologizing for its conduct but said it was an unnamed former employee, not Ash, that had participated in the bid-rigging. So Mr. Ash is President of a relatively small construction company, for which bid-rigging goes on for a half a decade, and he knows nothing about it. The even more criminal outcome of the settlement was that, because RG&E said there was no evidence the contractors had overcharged for the work, all of the firms would continue to do business with RG&E, so long as they adopted new compliance measures. (Source: “Firm guilty of rigging bids,” D&C, Jan. 20, 1999.)
It seems Ash and Richards became good buddies either during or following the federal indictment, so much that Ash would contribute $7,500 to Richards election campaign in 2011 and 2013.
(Source: NY State Board of Elections)
That same year, Ash would spend lavishly on Maggie Brooks' re-election campaign.
This is also the same Richard A. Ash and the same company C.P. Ward Inc. that in 1983 colluded with Black Cloud, a “pass-through” company Ash helped create, to steal state-contracted construction jobs from minority-owned firms. New York State wanted 8 percent of the work to be contracted out to minority-owned firms. Eight percent of the job was $62,979, according to “Black Cloud loses minority status,” D&C, Feb. 4, 1986. The investigation concluded that much of the work Black Cloud was contracted to do was actually done by C.P. Ward. Black Cloud could produce records showing that the minority-owned company workers were paid only $12,474 for the job.
Stealing construction jobs from minorities is a multiple decade-long operation for Tom Richards and his good ol' boys. One of those good ol' boys is Ken Warner. An audit conducted by the the Rochester Joint Schools Construction board found that $500,000 was spent to train 90 minorities as apprentices through the five years of Phase 1 construction, but just five ended up getting hired for the project. Overseeing portions of the training was Ken Warner, Executive Director of UNICON – a partnership of unions and contractors.
In the year 2016, Lovely Warren engineered Richards' dismissal from the Rochester Joint Schools Construction Board, which supervises the ongoing $1.3 billion school modernization project. This demonstrates again, what most people with any sense of justice would refer to as good leadership – the opposite of corruption.
#unionssowhite
It is common knowledge that the white male dominated construction labor force lives outside of the city. These white men, and their suburban membered unions are backing Jim Sheppard for Mayor, as evident of the sea of elder white men in attendance at the Workers United building for Sheppard's campaign kickoff and also their endorsements. Is this a Trump rally or a Sheppard rally?
Supporters at James Sheppard's Mayoral Campaign Kickoff at Workers United building, East Ave.
Anyone who identifies specific flaws with these unions, namely their lack of diversity, Plonczynski labels anti-union. It's pretty obvious that you can't get gung-ho about unions, if you don't have a job in the first place. You can't be Workers United unless you have work. The unions have a history of excluding minorities and women. Locally and especially in construction work, they have not made a significant departure from the status-quo.
In the same vein, anyone who criticizes specific events and examples of police malfeasance is labeled anti-cop by Plonczynski. This is reminiscent of the response tactic of ultraconservatives; if you criticize Israel, somehow you are an anti-semite, if you criticize America, that makes you un-patriotic.
The irony continues with Plonczynski calling out Warren's education agenda as “anti-public”. I don't think she ever advocated for an “elected” leader to remain in power for over four decades (RTA President Adam Urbanski), for 85% of the Rochester teaching staff to be be white and live outside the City of Rochester and, or as cited earlier, for the teachers investing millions of dollars in private prisons. Those are all current practices of the RTA and its “Public Agenda”.
Even when Plonczynski manages to locate leaders of a minority labor group that “support” Jim Sheppard, it is the RTS Bus Drivers Union, that just so happens to be run by two white men: Jacques Chapman - President and Dominick Zarcona -Vice President, of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 282.
RTS Bus Drivers Union President and V.P. (Source: WROC 8)
How is it that this “majority minority” union, as Plonczynski puts it, doesn't have a minority President or VP? Maybe this helps explain why these white men are backing the white establishment candidate. This is the apartheid-like representative model that Plonczyski takes pride in.
RTS Union Leaders (Source: ATU Local 282 Facebook)
This past month -August 2017, a truly minority-led union, SEIU1199, endorsed Lovely Warren. This month – September 2017, the Western New York Chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) endorsed Mayor Lovely Warren as the best person to continue leading the City of Rochester. These endorsements represent the more authentic voice of black unionized workers, than any example Plonczynski came up with.
Guess which union leadership team below endorsed Warren and which endorsed Sheppard?
(Top: SEIU1199 leadership, Bottom: Building and Trades leadership)
The fake left credentials of the Working Families Party
With regard to the racial and class identity of the authors of the essay response. Ken Warner and Plonczynski have benefited greatly from being perceived as white, regardless of how they self-identify. Only recently has Plonczynski started using his hyphenated Figuorora in his surname, perhaps to add more “ethnicity” to his facade of advocating for brown people. For actual brown and black people, racial identity is not something that can easily be turned on or off to benefit the situation. These flip-floppers may have in the past broke ranks from the white power elite, but they sure are working directly for them now.
When it comes to names, what does the Working Families Party even mean? Are you for the working class, or just for working families regardless of economic bracket? The obfuscation of their name is indicative of their very safe political platform; they want to please everyone, and end up hawking confusion. This is the party of subterfuge. That same evil Republican, Plonczynski shows Warren pictured with at the St. Patrick's day parade, is Joe Robach, who the Working Families Party endorsed in 2006. To steal a line from Plonczynski then: “don't misrepresent the facts either. Facts that you can find in a simple google search that takes three minutes."
The WFP locally has cut so many deals with so many people, Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives, Independents, that no one really knows what they stand for anymore, if we ever did in the first place. They maintain a mythology of pushing Democrats leftward while almost never running their own candidates. By re-packaging politicians from the two capitalist parties, they essentially try to convince progressives that fast-food is fine dining. But a Big Mac does not miraculously become gourmet when you take it from the drive thru to your home, put it on a nice plate and light some candles. Superficial ingredients will always be that.
Master Puppeteers
Ken Warner and his protege Plonczynski have become Rochester's professional political puppeteers. Here is how they complicate what is very simple. It is reminiscent of the scene from Toy Story where Buzz Lightyear believes he can fly and jumps off a dresser. Magically he pinballs off one object or another giving the appearance of flight to the low-information toy character on-lookers (read Park Ave and Browncroft white elitist voters of the city). But the data points in Plonczynski's narrative don't hold up to scrutiny, just like Buzz Lightyear's aeronautical abilities.
Plonczynski lobs all sorts of corruption charges at the current mayor, and none of them stick, save for in the D&C columns of writer Dave Andreatta and his WXXI radio echo chamber Evan Dawson. In the months leading up to the election, Andreatta published numerous columns critical of Warren, and zero copy critical of her opponents. Dawson used his show as an interrogation of Warren rather than an interview. Sheppard pleads for and promises the press an investigation is coming, but it never arrives. A day away from the primary election and we have to wonder, was all the “controversy” over “paypal-gate” and “debate-gate” a political ploy orchestrated by Rochester's master puppeteers?
It is a cynical state of Rochester politics when “Democrats” have to swift-boat and email-gate their opponents because their own record is a farce. This is why Sheppard had fundraisers where his supporters could contribute $99 and remain anonymous with campaign financing law. These are the loyal “Democrat” backers of Sheppard, too ashamed to put their name in support of him. And in the movie, Buzz Lightyear could not really fly. It turns out that his “flight” was actually just one tremendously acrobatic fall. And so it goes with the puppet candidate James “I'm your favorite deputy” Sheppard. His spine has always been a pull string for the powerful white colonizers of Rochester.
*Some edits were made to this essay from its original post.
They Had an Antiwar Press Conference and Nobody Came
What if they gave an antiwar press conference and nobody came? Well, that's what happened July 22 2017. Local Antiwar groups International Action Center, United National Antiwar Coalition and Peace Action & Education released the following press release:
International Action Center
rochester_iac@frontier.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS CONFERENCE TO OPPOSE THE U.S. DRIVE TOWARDS WAR
TUES., AUGUST 22, 2 PM, AT THE FLYING SQUIRREL COMMUNITY CENTER, 285 CLARISSA STREET, ROCHESTER, NY.
LOCAL ANTI-WAR ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR SUPPORTERS WILL CALL ON PEOPLE TO RESIST THE U.S. DRIVE TOWARDS WAR. AMONG OUR DEMANDS:
HALT THE PROVOCATIVE JOINT MILITARY EXERCISES IN KOREA!
SIGN A PEACE TREATY WITH NORTH KOREA (IT'S NEVER BEEN DONE!)
STOP THE THREATS OF MILITARY INTERVENTION AND END THE SANCTIONS AGAINST VENEZUELA!
STOP THE U.S. BOMBING AND INVASION OF SYRIA; STOP SUPPORTING THE SAUDI ARABIAN TERROR WAR AGAINST YEMEN!
Donald Trump is threatening “fire and fury” against North Korea, military intervention in Venezuela, daily bombing in Syria, and supporting Saudi Arabia's murderous bombing campaign and blockade of Yemen which has caused one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent history. All of this is on top of continued wars of occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq and support for the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Crippling economic sanctions, which are in reality acts of war, are imposed on nations casually around the world with little regard for the suffering caused to the people of those nations. All of this is accompanied by a 696 billion dollar military budget, the largest in world history, and larger than those of the rest of the world combined.
Of particular concern are the hostile actions and threats being leveled against the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea because Trump has threatened a preemptive nuclear war.
This conference was called before, and happened the day after President Trump announced he was escalating the US war in Afghanistan. All of the local TV stations and newspapers were invited. Only Rochester Indymedia was in attendance.
Without anyone to ask questions the press conference became more of a speaker series providing insights and explanations of US international policy. Material was discussed that was never mentioned in the mainstream news and history that was never taught in school.
Maybe next time they have a war, no one will show up. We can only hope.
These videos are unedited. They contain a lot of material. The only place anything was cut was near the end to change the battery in the camera.
A Walk Through College Town
Five years ago, then-mayor Thomas Richards announced a grandiose project for the University of Rochester-Strong neighborhood. It was going to be an eco-friendly project with green spaces, a transit hub, a book store and most importantly for the neighborhood, a grocery store. Wegmans supermarkets had closed their store on the location several years prior.
So how has this project paid off? Did neighors get the goods and services they expected? Did the taxpayers get their money's worth? The projected was conceived under Mayor Richards and begun under current Mayor Lovely Warren. Now Green Party mayoral candidate Alex White takes a walk through College Town, The biggest pile of corporate welfare in one place in the city of Rochester.
The following was written by White in October of 2013. In hindsight it was almost prophetic:
Recently the city broke ground on a project in Rochester called College Town. This is a half million square foot development on 16 acres of land at the corner of Mt Hope and Elmwood Ave in Rochester. This area plans to have a bookstore, grocery, child care, YMCA, hotel and conference center, restaurants, office, residential, and a parking garage. Like many of these projects, the ground breaking brought out a who’s who of city officials- despite the fact it is bad for Rochester.
The project started out as a vision statement from the neighborhood about what they wanted in this area. This process identified a few things the neighbors found important; a grocery store, a locally owned book store, more public spaces, a public transit station, and sufficient parking.
With this in mind the City went out and found a developer and unfortunately here is where the problems began. A proposal was made which offered lots of office space, a Barnes and Noble bookstore, 150 apartments, room for some retail, a hotel, and perhaps a small grocery store. They also put in a parking garage but then rented part of it to the U of R. Gone were the public spaces, green space, bus terminal, and sufficient parking and the bookstore was no longer local.
So with the project now something much different than what the neighbors requested, the financing turned this into a nightmare. The total project is going to cost around $100 million to build. Of this, $5.4 million is a federal New Market Tax Credit. They then have $20 million section 108 loan from the federal government. There is $2.8 million in Brownfield clean up money, $2.7 in sales tax credits, a $4 million grant from the state of NY, $3.3 million from the city, and almost $7 million in other subsidies. In the end it looks like $45.2 million in public money going to the project.
Of this money, two of the largest finances seem misused. The New Market Tax Credit is a program which is supposed to spur revitalization efforts of low-income and impoverished communities across the United States. Now Rochester has many low income areas but the area near Highland Park and adjacent to Strong Hospital is not
one of them. The HUD loan is also suspicious. This program was made for projects which meet one of the four following criteria: benefit low- and moderate-income persons, prevention or elimination of slums or blight, or address community development needs with particular urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community for which other funding is not available. This once more does not seem to fit as the blight was not terrible, slums were non-existent, and there was no health or welfare threat. The housing does have 8 moderate income apartments but that hardly justifies $20 million. Further this loan is being paid back out of taxes the project should be paying and the lower rather than raised the taxes to cover this.
Well what are the benefits to the city which this project will bring? They tout the job aspect of this project and claim there will be 582 permanent jobs created by this project. That sounds good but a closer look makes most of these vanish. Of these almost 300 will be office jobs and most of these will be with the U of R or Strong Hospital which is moving units from diverse locations to one closer to the hospital. The book store will be the largest retail in the area but this is only going to be a consolidation of 2 other Barnes and Nobles which will close so this might actually cost jobs. Meanwhile the 60,000 sq ft of other retail will be mostly restaurants which will compete with existing businesses and will only cause other businesses to fail, so it probably will not create any jobs. What will create jobs is the parking garage, maintenance for the apartments, and the grocery store, most of which will be low paying.
The city will also receive an estimated $9.6 million in taxes and interest over the next 20 years. This breaks down to only $430,000 in per year, which says the assessment of the property is a mere $10 million, or one tenth the cost of construction, and only $20 a sq ft. Of course the City is rebuilding both Elmwood and Mt Hope, creating new streets, redoing sidewalks, and improving utilities. They have bonded $3.3 million to cover this so they have interest costs as well. All told the City will spend at least $17 million of its own money on improvements around this project which did not need to be done except for this project. So in twenty years the city will lose roughly $10 million on a $20 million dollar investment on a project which meets only one of the items identified by the neighbors as needs of the community.
So what will Rochester really get in this project? About a hundred low paying jobs, a lot of construction jobs which will go to workers which will not be local, an increase in the total taxable property value in Rochester, and a very pretty set of buildings owned by an out of town developer. Meanwhile neighborhoods will deteriorate in the crescent around downtown, more houses will become vacant, blight will expand in other sections of Rochester, we will run miniscule smaller deficits every year, and the mayor has a great photo op at this ground breaking. It seems that should be a better way to spend $20 million of our money and a $20 million loan than this.
Fortunately there are better ways to spend money than this. Instead of building new buildings we could make loans and grants available to maintain the ones we already have. We could also use some of this money to start new businesses, owned and run by Rochestarians. These new businesses could get contracts from local institutions for products they presently get from out of town. Finally we could fund city services which reduce crime and fight poverty like recreation, libraries, and schools. It is time to focus our spending on people not profits as that is the only way to solve our problems and make the city better.
In 2012 this area paid more than $35,000 in taxes and after all this development it now pays less.
below
Artist's rendering of how College Town was supposed to look in 2013
Below
How College Town looks as of 2016
(note: trees at lower right are located in Mt Hope cemetary, not the promised "green space")
Geneseo Constituients Want Town Hall Meeting with Chris Collins
A group of consituients of Representative Chris Collins (R NY27) met in front of his office on Main Street in Geneseo on July 10. They were members of a group appropriately called C 27 which stands for constituients of district 27. Several issues currently before Congress were represented but the two most conspicuious were Health Care and the Environment. Collins supports the Republican's American Health Care Act which could cause up to 22 million people to lose health insurance. He also supports President Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords which seek to mitigate climate change.
According to the group, Collins is not listening. Despite the controversial nature of the issues he has not held any town hall meetings since his election. This is not entirely true. He held at least one meeting in April in Batavia, for $55 a ticket. His excuse is that if he has Town Hall meetings he “will get shouted down.”
Mr Congressman, if you insist on backing legislation that goes against the will of your constituients, you deserve to be shouted down. This is Democracy.
The group also cited a report debunking popular Republican lies about the alleged failure of Obamacare. You can read the report here-
The Chickens Have Come Home to Roost; Another Rochester, NY Cop Shot
American colonization never ended in 1776, the oppressors just switched color of uniform. Across America, the demographics for urban police forces scream of racial inequality. In more than 40 percent of cities, blacks are under-represented among police officers, a Washington Post analysis of Census data revealed. Rochester's police department continues to fail badly in representing its population. In a city where 60 percent of residents are African American and Hispanic, only 25 percent of Rochester's police officers are minorities. In addition, 93% of Rochester Police officers live outside of the city.
photo credit: Carlos Ortiz of the Democrat & Chronicle
Davy V. – the people’s scholar of the Rochester police – provides a historical context to the shooting of Officer Jeremy Nash on Saturday, June 25, 2017. The original essay republished below can be found at his website:
http://davyv.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-chickens-have-come-home-to-roost.html
___________________________________________________________________
Another Rochester, NY cop was shot last night. The 6th Rochester, NY Police officer to be shot in the line of duty since 2009.
Saturday night around 10:40 pm, Rochester, NY Police Officer Jeremy Nash was responding to a call near North Street and St. Jacob Street, on Rochester's east side, when a gunman shot him several times in the face. Officer Nash was rushed to Rochester General Hospital where he underwent surgery and is listed in stable condition.
The shooting took place just a few blocks away from where Rochester, NY Police Officer Daryl Pierson was shot in September of 2014. Officer Pierson died shortly afterwards.
He was the first Rochester, NY Police Officer to be killed in the line of duty since 1959. And just as they did when Rochester, NY Police Officer Daryl Pierson was killed, Rochester, NY's mainstream news media is milking, sensationalizing, and outright exploiting the fuck out of another cop shot.
All in the name of television news ratings.
After all, more viewers, more advertising.
And MO' MONEY.
But why is it that whenever a cop is shot, all of a sudden they're hailed as a hero?
COPS ARE NOT HEROS.
That's right. They willingly sign on to do a job which taxpayers pay them very well to do. The median annual Police Patrol Officer salary in Rochester, NY is $53,016, as of June 28, 2017, with a range usually between $44,146-$62,566 not including bonus and benefit information and other factors that impact base pay.
Although cops forget, taxpayers pay their salaries. And yes, it's a job that can be dangerous, but nevertheless, again, THEY WILLINGLY sign up for that job. And I'm sorry, but getting shot doesn't make you a hero.
Being a regular citizen and going about your daily life, and running into a burning home to save young children from an inferno, THAT'S A HERO. Standing in line at a bank and getting shot by armed robbers while protecting an innocent elderly woman, THAT'S A HERO. Jumping in front of a train to save a despondent suicidal person, THAT'S A HERO.
Not some cop getting shot in the line of duty in a profession that he or she willingly signed up for and is very well compensated for.
THAT'S NOT A HERO.
But, since Rochester, NY's mainstream news media wants to so desperately make Rochester, NY Police Officer Jeremy Nash into a hero, and completely forget the fact that Officer Nash is part of Rochester's biggest gang, known for terrorizing and in some cases even executing unarmed innocent citizens, then let's go there.
Let's pretend.
Let's pretend that the Rochester, NY Police Department is not one of the dirtiest, most corrupt police agencies in the country. Let's pretend that the Rochester, NY Police Department doesn't have a long history of misconduct and corruption.
Let's pretend that the Rochester, NY Police Department doesn't have a very long and disturbing history when it comes to race relations, specifically how they treat blacks and Latinos.
In fact. that same very long and disturbing history can be traced back to the July 1964 riots in Rochester which began after a white Rochester, NY cops beat a black youth.
And let's pretend that trigger-happy white Rochester, NY cops haven't executed UNARMED innocent black mentally ill citizens like Calvin Greene, who was hiding in a crawl space, UNARMED, when Rochester, NY Police Officer Gary E. Smith shot him several times, executing the young father.
Let's pretend that Rochester, NY Police Officers Serge Savitcheff and Hector Padgham, both white, didn't execute 14-year old Craig Heard, a young black honor roll student whose only crime was not choosing the best friends.
Young Craig was joy riding a stolen car that his friend's stole, when Rochester Police Officers Serge Savitcheff and Hector Padgham each shot him once in his head, killing him instantly.
And what about Denise Hawkins, a beautiful young black woman who was shot and killed by Rochester, NY Police Officer Michael Leach, another trigger-happy white Rochester, NY cop. Years later, Michael Leach was convicted of shooting his own son in the back and killing him. I guess once a trigger-happy, always a trigger-happy cop.
Let's also pretend that Rochester, NY Police Officer Thomas L. Whitmore, a white cop, didn't execute Alicia McCuller, yet another beautiful young black woman, and then let's pretend that as she lay on the ground dying, gasping for air and choking on her own blood, Rochester Police Officer Thomas Whitmore didn't shoot McCuller again, for good measure.
And while we're at it, let's also pretend that Rochester, NY Police Officer Jeremy Nash isn't part of the same gang, in which 7 of its members executed Izzy Andino, a mentally-ill young man on his 20th birthday.
The 7 Rochester, NY Police Officers shot and executed Andino in what witnesses described as "a modern day firing squad." They were all cleared of any wrongdoing of course.
And let's pretend that Officer Nash doesn't belong to the same gang whose member Officer Lucas Krull was captured on video beating a pregnant black woman, punching her in the head and ramming her, stomach first into a wooden post.
Then let's pretend that after Rochester's black community denounced the pregnant woman's beating by a white cop, let's pretend that several members of the same gang that Rochester, NY Police Officer Jeremy Nash belongs to, didn't mock Rochester's black community by hanging a monkey racist effigy from the mirror of an RPD cruiser and rode around Rochester's west side laughing.
photo credit: Davy V.
And speaking of Rochester's west side, let's pretend that several white Rochester, NY Police gang members didn't attack a black one-legged amputee black man who was waiting for the bus, and knocked him off his motorized wheelchair, where they proceeded to beat and pepper spray him.
Oh and let's also pretend that a veteran Rochester, NY Police Officer, from yep, you guessed it, the same gang that Rochester Police Officer Jeremy Nash belongs to, isn't under investigation by the FBI after he was caught on video, attempting to strangle a black man with his hands, an illegal chokehold, banned by departmental policy.
And since I'm on the subject of illegal chokeholds, let's pretend that I didn't just recently expose a wack job Rochester, NY cop named Chris Renz, who in addition to posting a comment on his Facebook page saying he'd love to take a military assault rifle to the top of an inner city low income apartment building, and kill blacks and Latinos, also posted several links on illiegal "Street Chokeholds" to his Facebook page.
By the way, I personally met with Rochester, NY City Council Presidebnt Loretta Scott, about Officer Renz's disturbing posts. Rochester City Council President Loretta Scott along with Rochester, NY Mayor Lovely Warren, completely ignored the disgusting and disturbing actions and behavior of Rochester Police Officer Chris Renz.
And so, as Rochester, NY's mainstream news media hails yet another cop who got shot as a hero, let's pretend that the Rochester, NY Police Department and each and everyone of its gang members, I mean cops, aren't earning every little bit of the hate. Let's pretend the Rochester, NY Police Department and each one of their cops don't have blood on their hands.
And let's pretend that the chickens haven't come home to roost.
Local Group Rallies to Oppose Trump Health Care
June 22, 2017 the same day Republicans unveiled their secretly written plan to replace Obamacare, a group was waiting to greet it with opposition. Indivisible, a group formed to explicitly oppose the Trump agenda was organizing an orderly visit to the local office of Senator Charles Schumer (D)NY to encourage and support his opposition to the Republican Act. About 25 people were present on notice of only a few hours.
For more information visit Indivisible's web and Facebook pages
https://www.indivisibleguide.com/guide/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/IndivisibleRochester/
People's Climate March April 29 2017
Photo credit: Bill Finan
For the second time since Donald Trump became president, the people staged another march and rally to demand action on climate change. The event was organized by the People's Climate Coalition, who also sent two buses with 110 people to Washington DC for a national action. The event in Rochester was one of hundreds of local solidarity actions around the world.
The Trump administration is threatening to defund and dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency and has repealed many laws intended to protect the Earth through executive actions. Meanwhile the Rochester area is experiencing record rainfall that is causing some of the worst flooding of lake Ontario in almost 50 years. About 1000 people participated in the Rochester march which began on the steps of City Hall and ended with speakers and music at Washington Square Park.
Speakers included Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren who explained what the city is doing to combat climate change.
Professor Jim Haines of SUNY Brockport gave an informative presentation on exactly what scientific evidence links climate change to fossil fuel use. This presentation was so simplified even the president himself could understand it if he were to listen.
Community and religious leaders finished the event. Both Pope Francis and Senator Bernie Sanders have described climate threat as the greatest threat to humankind. Even the Pentagon, as explained by David Dornford recognizes the problem.
More photos in the gallery
Dr. King’s Plan for Peace Did Not Die on April 4, 1968
BEHIND THE CURTAIN: How Lovely Warren and the party of Trump have taken over the City of Rochester
This is a response from Anthony J. Plonczynski-Figueroa, leader of the 21st LD and Vice-Chair of Sheppard for Mayor, to our feature The Reinvention of Jim Sheppard and the Rise of the New Jim Crow. Neither piece should be read as a Rochester Indymedia endorsement of either campaign. -Ed.
The great poet and humanitarian Maya Angelou once said, “When someone shows you who they are believe them; the first time”. These are wise words and important to remember when deciding our next Mayor in the City of Rochester.
In 2013, many in the community were reeling from Lovely Warren's win in the Democratic Party Primary. Warren's upset was a blow against integrity in government and a progressive agenda for Rochester. Warren was openly against public education, GENDA legislation and against fairness and integrity in government. When asked in one of the early caucus meetings before hundreds of Democrats whether she supported the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, her answer was, “I support the law”.
She was a leader that often-exhibited leadership qualities and tactics that were used to intimidate and punish anyone who would dare go against her. Many believed she was not prepared to be Mayor. All points that Warren herself has proved to be true during her Mayoral term so far. Let's look at the facts:
Anti-Public Education Agenda: Lovely Warren is a supporter of Mayoral Control and has pushed for the elimination of the Democratically elected school board. During her term as mayor she has advocated for increasing Charter School development in the City of Rochester and more control over schools by the Mayor.
Rochester Mayor's Request to Operate Troubled City Schools Rejected
The Warren Education Plan: Charting a Path to Success for All of Rochester’s Children
Nepotism: In her first 90 days, Warren, in decisions steeped in nepotism and cronyism worked to circumvent Civil Service laws to fire the Chief of Security and replace him with two new positions, one to be held by her Uncle Reggie.
Lovely Warren hires two bodyguards, including her uncle
Dishonesty: Warren was caught speeding not once, but twice, on Interstate 90 while being driven by her uncle in a new government funded escort car. When asked about the situation she lied about the incidents not happening until police reports were made public proving otherwise.
Rochester suspends mayor's uncle for a week
Public Corruption: Public statements were made by the Mayor asking that that the Facilities Modernization Program's companies be placed under investigation by the FBI. What we have learned about this project however is that it is her actions regarding the replacement of board members and the steering of contracts to a company connected to the late Conservative Republican Assemblyman Bill Nojay (a Trump delegate) and Lobbyist Robert Scott Gaddy that are being investigated by the FBI. Gaddy is a long-time David Gantt and Lovely Warren supporter.
Politics could delay improvements to your kid's school
[Credit: Monroe County Board of Elections]
Lovely Warren, sought Republican endorsements and assistance numerous times and it is a commonly held belief that she has created a non-aggression pact with the Republican Party to ensure their control of the County Legislature and County Executive’s seat. Let's look at the facts:
James Smith: Warren hired former Deputy County Executive under Republican Maggie Brooks, James Smith, as her communications director. The same James Smith who was indicted in the Robutrad scandal. He also served under the Brooks administration during the implementation of the corrupt Local Development Corporations that led to the indictment and conviction of several of Maggie Brooks’ top aides, including her husband.
Warren Taps James Smith as City Communications Director
Arnie Rothschild: Warren hired Arnie Rothschild as campaign and media strategist, paying over $100,000 for his services since 2013. (Board of Elections, 2016)
[Credit: Monroe County Board of Elections]
[Credit: Monroe County Board of Elections]
Please note: Both Gaddy and Rothschild have single handedly launched and funded Rachel Barnhart's campaigns for Assembly and for Mayor, including a $20,000 loan she has yet to pay back (Board of Elections, 2016)
[Report from the NYS Board of Elections]
Cheryl Dinolfo: Warren refused to endorse Sandy Frankel for County Executive, citing her strong relationship with Republicans Maggie Brooks and Cheryl Dinolfo (Democrat and Chronicle, 09/28/2015)
Warren May Not Endorse Frankel (RochesterFirst.com)
Warren may not endorse Frankel (Democrat & Chronicle)
Maggie Brooks: Warren sought out and accepted Republican Maggie Brooks’ endorsement in the 2013 Mayor’s Race. (Democrat and Chronicle, 11/01/2013)
Maggie Brooks endorses Lovely Warren: 'I see her as a unifier'
Bill Nojay: Warren benefited from $40,000 in campaign contributions, over half of which was paid to the late Republican/Conservative Assemblyman Bill Nojay by lobbyist Robert Scott Gaddy. Money that was hidden through a secret Florida shell Company. (Democrat and Chronicle, 05/23/2016)
Nojay company received $29,000 for Warren campaign work
Gary Rogers: Warren’s campaign has employed Gary Rogers, a Republican conservative suburbanite as her campaign spokesperson.
Lovely Warren has benefited from $40,000 in PAC money from Republicans, endorsed Republicans, paid Republicans and hired Republicans to help get her elected and help her while in office. Republicans connected to some of the most conservative and racist factions of their party and those who we believe have been or are currently under investigation by the NYS Attorney General, NYS Comptroller and Federal Bureau of Investigations.
In her term as Mayor, Warren has supported over 15 campaigns against endorsed Democrats since 2015 and over 1,000 party primaries since 2005.
But...but...Bob Lonsberry says he supports James Sheppard...
Yes, Bob Lonsberry has said and written about supporting James Sheppard for Mayor. He has also defended and written about defending Lovely Warren and endorsed Rachel Barnhart. None of these were sought after. If you have a problem with what Bob Lonsberry does in support of these candidates, take it up with him and every other progressive liberal guest who goes on his show, including Former Mayor Bill Johnson since 2003.
Conflict in the Democratic Party
David Gantt and Lovely Warren have run primaries against local elected Democrats almost every year, representing over 1,000 local election challenges in races spanning from county committee member, to Mayor, to flirtations with running for Congress against Congresswoman Louise Slaughter. It is hypocritical to shame other Democrats for taking a stand and then taking part in the same challenges she has regularly taken herself.
In fact, the author Rajesh Barnabas is part of this rich history by supporting Carrie Andrews in 2005 against George Moses (Lovely Warren Supporter and Rochester Housing Authority President appointed by Warren). The reasons we ran against Moses were some of the same reasons we ran against Warren. Pro charter school agenda, shady business dealings, arrogant leadership.
Redefining James Sheppard
Barnabas brings up that what Sheppard stated upon leaving the police department as Chief and what he states now regarding why he left are different. I agree the two statements were different. I think Sheppard was trying to be diplomatic and not disrespectful, but in the end, he should have been forthright from the beginning. He left because he questioned the transparency and integrity of the incoming administration and wanted no part of it. You would have to speak to Sheppard directly about why these statements are different, but many people wanted to give Warren a chance when she first started, Including me. I was one of the first Democratic leaders to reach out and meet with her right after the election.
Sheppard's Policing Model
Barnabas outlines clear points of contention that he has with the behavior of officers while Sheppard's was Police Chief. Barnabas calls out the Emily Good, Benny Wahr and Brenda Hardaway incidents with the RPD, but fails to highlight that these events happened under a City Council with Lovely Warren as the President and Adam McFadden as the Public Safety Chair. He also fails to highlight the hours, days and weeks of community meetings Sheppard took part in to be transparent and open with the community, including taking corrective action. It is also clear Barnabas has a disdain for police in general, which he should also address.
While he should engage with Sheppard’s record, he should also not be giving a pass to Warren on her policing record which factually has been more aggressive and less transparent than Sheppard's. Here are some examples:
Occupy (Sheppard) vs. Black Lives Matter Protest (Warren)
Occupy Rochester
During the Occupy Wall Street Movement, Occupy Rochester set up a tent city in Washington Square Park downtown. Through the work of labor leaders, progressive leaders and a group of progressive veterans of war, the City was convinced to bring these individuals to the table to come up with an amicable way to allow these individuals to protest. After negotiations, it was set that the Occupy Rochester settlement could stay for the time being if they were adhering to fire code, not closing the park to others and the site remained safe and sanitary.
After two months of maintaining the encampment, the negotiated time expired and the protesters decided to hold a protest on leaving. Protest leaders notified the RPD and Mayor's office of this action ahead of time to allow City Hall to plan accordingly. Due to this negotiation, 16 protesters were peacefully detained and then released without incident or charges being filed.
This was over two months after Occupy Wall Street was evicted, contrary to Barnabas's article. In fact, Rochester then was the longest running occupy site and a model for how other cities worked together with protesters across the nation.
According media interviews made at that time by the same leaders Barnabas interviewed, there were 16 arrests, (not 40) and protesters could occupy the park during park hours after they were evicted. These are very different than the recent statements made on memory by the occupy members. Evidence that is verified in interviews given by these same individuals to the press during the occupy movement.
occupy rochester (WXXI archive)
Again, I get it. Don't give into the man, but don't misrepresent the facts either. Facts that you can find in a simple google search that takes three minutes.
Regarding the heavy-handed policing, they may be referring to what happened on the Main St. Bridge. Yes, there were problems with that protest, one part of which was that protesters did not have a permit to block traffic and did it anyway, but that actually is not my point. My point here was that Sheppard was not the police chief at the time, it was Chief Moore, the one who now works for the Republicans in the County Office building currently.
Occupy Rochester NY (Wikipedia)
occupy rochester (WXXI archive)
City Reopens Park After Protesters Are Evicted
Black Lives Matter Protest
Last year, along with protests across the United States, Black Lives Matter protesters held an action in downtown Rochester. During the protest police dressed in full tactical and riot gear to physically confront the protestors. Over 71 protesters were arrested, including two black reporters from Channel 13 news. While this was happening, there were multiple questions and calls for updates and information from City Hall that were not answered or addressed. The Mayor was attending a concert at the time. A press conference would not be held until around 2am that morning after the 71 arrests, which were the highest rate of arrests in the United States, outpacing NYC, Los Angeles and New Orleans.
74 Arrested at Rochester Black Lives Matter Protest
Woman at Center of Viral Arrest at Rochester's Black Lives Matter Rally Not Backing Down
These are two distinct differences in the approach in policing of both administrations. While Sheppard was open, inclusive and came to solutions through dialogue and open communication, Warren in contrast has led a police force with heavy handed police tactics, a lack of transparency and communication.
The results speak for themselves.
Occupy Rochester and the way they worked with City Hall and the RPD became a national model on how protestors and a City can work together.
vs.
Black Lives Matter Protests under Warren became the highest amount of arrests in the County and made National attention for the heavy handed police tactics.
James Sheppard conducting an arrest during the Occupy Rochester Movement [Photo Credit: Indy Media]
Photo Credit: CNN
Arrest made under Warren Administration during Black Lives Matters Protest. Video viewed over 10 Million times Nationally.
Black Lives Matter protester arrested during TV interview
Police walk down Black Lives Matter Protesters in Rochester (Democrat and Chronicle)
Additionally, the Mayor's recent choice to bring back former Police Chief Cedric Alexander should be equally scrutinized as it is a signal that the Mayor wants to continue these types of aggressive "law & order" police tactics. Alexander is who Warren wanted to bring in as Police Chief since her election and she is a supporter of Cedric's law & order philosophy and the use of Swat teams in full riot and tactical gear with AK 47 to police street corners. Additionally, Alexander's police record out of Georgia has been highly criticized and has led to his inability to land the Chicago Chief of Police job as recently as last year.
Further, Adam McFadden, Chair of the Public Safety Committee is a proponent of this type of militarization of the police force, advocating for Police Jump out squads on corners such those enacted by Alexander. Lastly, Operation Cool Down was enacted while both Lovely Warren was City Council President and Adam McFadden was chair of the Public Safety committee of City Council. Where was this outrage about the program then? In fact there wasn't and it was not until this year when Sheppard chose to challenge Warren did McFadden begin to use the label "Stop and Frisk" to label Sheppard. Hypocritical.
[Photo Credit: Facebook Campaign against Alexander]
EXCLUSIVE: DeKalb's Alexander says Chicago job offer revoked
Top-cop finalist ‘well-liked’ but too confident for some
Warren’s handpicked Deputy Mayor and choice for police chief has a very questionable police record stands in stark contrast to Sheppard’s record. They are not the same.
Sheppard Progressive Credentials
James Sheppard has a history of progressive activism. Here are some examples:
1. Supported NYS GENDA. Was the first police chief in NYS to publicly stand up for this important legislation.
Proposed Anti-Bias Law Would Protect Transgender New Yorkers, Advocates Say
a) In contrast, Lovely Warren supported the Defense of Marriage Act
2. James Sheppard is one of the only Police Chiefs to support Raise the Age. This point in particular speaks directly against Barnabas' Jim Crow claims.
Advocates push to raise age of criminal responsibility to 18
3. Just yesterday, Rochester residents with the support of elected officials like James Sheppard and Molly Clifford received a grant to help fight those battling addiction. Taking proactive steps to help our community.
Rochester selected to participate in Facing Addiction project
Sheppard supported this important legislation at the Center for Youth Rally, joined by Elaine Spaull and Rosemary Rivera among other progressive advocates in Rochester.
Ken Warner
I like Ken, I view him as a close friend and very smart political strategist who has helped many progressive candidates win elections, including Rochester's first African American Mayor Bill Johnson. He has supported and run the campaigns of countless minority leaders in both the African American and Latino communities. To call Ken, who happens to be Japanese and Irish, the white establishment is ridiculous. In fact, he is so not the establishment, he has been an enrolled member of the Working Families Party since 2015 and recently started to work for the WFP. Seems to make the “Elite White Democratic Establishment” claim seem a little delusional.
Looking at Barnabas’s attack on Unions, we find that the trade unions did meet their diversity requirements set for the project, which is demonstrated in public records online for the Facilities Modernization Program (FMP) and the recent public hearing at City Hall called by Councilwoman Jackie Ortiz. Testimony can be found by Robert Brown of the Laborers who reported that it was the Mayor's meddling in the project that has led to the problems. Before you call him white, he is not. Let me highlight that Bob Brown is one of the longest serving African American Labor Leaders in the History of Rochester.
“Bob Brown, a member of the appointed board who voted to keep the PLA, said he had no clue to the other members' motives. "When they came into that room, they came to vote 'no.' There was no discussion," Brown said Monday.” (Democrat and Chronicle, August 8, 2016)
Leaders question school modernization maneuver
Fight over schools project highlights divide
School modernization project dispute leads to war of words
Furthermore, if you ask the president of the RTS Bus Drivers Union and the President of the Laborers, you will hear about how these two majority minority unions have been neglected by Mayor Warren. These are major reasons they are supporting James Sheppard.
Lastly, I would agree with Barnabas when he states..."We have seen this counter-revolution to the #Black Lives Matter movement gain footing nationally with calls by the new president for a return to “law and order"... This regression need not gain traction in Rochester."
He is right, but if his intentions are for a better Rochester and not personal grudges as a progressive community our targets should be Lovely Warren and the Republican establishment supporting her. Because when it comes to James Sheppard, he’s out there walking the talk as a sought-after voice for community engagement and social justice, as exhibited by his recent guest speaking role at the black lives matter program hosted by the religious community and local Rochester youth.
For me the answer is clear, I stand with James Sheppard.
Related: The Reinvention of Jim Sheppard and the Rise of the New Jim Crow | Exploring Mayor Lovely Warren’s Time in Office | Protesters Gather In Response to Trump Immigration Order (photos) | Thousands Gather Locally to Oppose Trump | An Evening of Empowerment with Angela Davis
2 Guatemalan Women and 6 Children Detained after Traffic Stop and Community Resists
On Thursday evening, two women and 5 children were stopped by Genesseo police for a minor traffic violation. The police, rather than handle the traffic violation as a what it was, called Border Patrol. The women and children were detained for 3 hours at the side of the road. The children and mothers were separated including a 2 month old US citizen, who was denied nutrition because of separation. The mother wanted to leave the children who are US citizens with the pastor, but the border patrol took the children into custody despite the mothers’ requests. Video by Carly Fox:
Through social media, students, farmers, towns people and activists starting arriving at the scene where the Geneseo police and border patrol were detaining the women and children. By the end more then 50 people witnessed the detention. Several videos were shot, including some live posted, so people all over the world could see what was happening.
Carly Fox, of the Worker Justice Center of New York,was on the scene and participated in an interview with Metro Justice, a social justice organization.
These women are originally from Guatemala, which is one of the most dangerous countries for women. Since Trump was was inaugarated POTUS, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has stepped up raids and detentions, including some notorious cases: one in which a woman was taken from a hosptital during treatment for a brain tumor, detention of a woman who went to police because of domestic violence, Dreamers and those who have the courage to speak out for immigrant rights and against the ICE, detention, and deportaton.
On Thursday evening around 10:00, a rally happened at the Border Patrol station in Irondequot, NY, outside of Rochester. Video by Carly Fox:
Video from Pat Cantwell McCormick
There will be a rally at the Federal Building at 5PM March 24, 2017.
Pictures from Geneseo at time of detention from Carly Fox :
Articles from other multiple media sources:
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2017/03/24/arrests-follow-overnight-protests-at-boarder-patrol-station-in-irondequoit/99572000/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/immigrant-familys-detention-prompts-angry-demonstration/
http://www.whec.com/news/rally-rochester-passionate-detentions/4435643/
http://www.whec.com/news/border-patrol-traffic-stop-police/4435447/
http://13wham.com/news/local/two-arrested-in-immigration-arrest-protest
