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exhibit d.pdf

exhibit d.pdf

This .pdf contains relevant parts of a Professional Standards Section (internal investigations) of the Rochester Police Department stenographic interview with Joseph “Joey” M. Ferrigno with regards to the investigation looking at the allegation against officers of force/procedure in the case of Benny Warr. It is dated June 13, 2013.

One memorable quote from the transcript:

exhibit g.pdf

exhibit g.pdf

This .pdf contains relevant parts of a Professional Standards Section (internal investigations) of the Rochester Police Department stenographic interview with Sgt. Mitchell "Big Face" R. Stewart II with regards to the investigation looking at the allegation against officers of force/procedure in the case of Benny Warr. It is dated June 20, 2013.

One memorable quote from the transcript:

original link: http://revolutionaryfrontlines.wordpress.com/2013/05/03/an-open-letter-from-assata/

My name is Assata Shakur, and I am a 20th century escaped slave. Because of government persecution, I was left with no other choice than to flee from the political repression, racism and violence that dominate the US government’s policy towards people of color. I am an ex-political prisoner, and I have been living in exile in Cuba since 1984.

I have been a political activist most of my life, and although the U.S. government has done everything in its power to criminalize me, I am not a criminal, nor have I ever been one. In the 1960s, I participated in various struggles: the black liberation movement, the student rights movement, and the movement to end the war in Vietnam. I joined the Black Panther Party. By 1969 the Black Panther Party had become the number one organization targeted by the FBI’s COINTELPRO program. Because the Black Panther Party demanded the total liberation of black people, J. Edgar Hoover called it “greatest threat to the internal security of the country” and vowed to destroy it and its leaders and activists.

The tragic death of Mike Brown, the subsequent response by protesters in Ferguson, and finally the Missouri grand jury's decision not to indict Darren Wilson has brought national attention to some vital issues plaguing the country: police brutality and lack of police accountability. These issues affect everyone but disproportionately affect marginalized communities, including people of color, immigrants, the deaf community, the LBGT community, and others. Rochester is certainly no exception. In the past year there have been numerous incidents of police brutality, many in which the officers have not been brought to justice.

On December 3, 2014, University of Rochester Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) hosted a panel discussion regarding learning what incidents have happened in our community, how we can better empower ourselves to combat brutality through knowing our legal rights, and what steps we can take next.

On November 28, 2014, Macnore “Damico” Cameron was in Ferguson, MO recording video of riot police at the Ferguson police department around 10:30pm. Shortly after, the riot police stormed the demonstrators and Cameron was arrested.

Cameron from Rochester, NY, and his partner Morgan Dunbar from Buffalo, NY, were in Ferguson to stand up against police violence and demand revolutionary change.

Rochester Indymedia interviewed Cameron and Dunbar regarding Cameron's arrest in Ferguson, MO on December 1, 2014.

Today, December 20, 2014, the City of Rochester, NY destroyed Sanctuary Village. This was the last stop for people with no place to go. Tents, sleeping bags, tarps, and, personal items were bulldozed into a dumpster. No city official present, including the RPD, would take responsibility for this atrocity, five days before Christmas.

If you haven't heard of Harsha Walia or No One Is Illegal -- Vancouver (Indigenous Coast Salish territories), then you might want to look for her new book that came out in 2013 called Undoing Border Imperialism published by AKPress.org. In the meantime, check out the phone interview conducted by Rochester Indymedia from March 24, 2014 to get a glimmer of how wise and instructive her book is--and don't be fooled--as Walia states in the interview, "The thing that's always weird about writing is that everything gets ascribed to one person and what I'm saying isn't new. It comes across as different pieces of analysis put together but certainly it's a mix of other people writing."

On Wednesday, December 10, 2014, University of Rochester Medical Center medical students participated in a nation-wide action calling for die-ins and protests because #BlackLivesMatter. The die-ins and demonstrations happened at  more than 70 medical schools to protest the "lack of indictments for police killings in Ferguson, Mo., and New York, and to spotlight racial bias as a public health issue," according to a press release from Physicians for a National Health Program.

#WhiteCoats4BlackLives came together at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry seemingly over night according to Emily Walters, a third year medical student.

"On Facebook yesterday I saw someone at a different school post about this med student die-in. I clicked on the link to see what it said. It said that there were over 50 schools and Rochester wasn't on the list, which was surprising to me because we are--I feel like as a school our culture is very committed to social justice--the administration is very supportive of social justice," Walters said. "We started posting about it on social media and there was such a huge need for it by students that it came together really easily. A few posts on social media, a couple of emails, and the passion of the students," and #WhiteCoats4BlackLives materialized on campus happening that day at noon with over 70 students participating in the die-in.

The national call-out was endorsed by Students for a National Health Program, part of Physicians for a National Health Program ( www.pnhp.org ), an organization more 19,000 physicians, health professionals, medical and health professional students who advocate for universal, single-payer, improved Medicare for all.

Nationally, the die-ins happened around 3pm. However, in Rochester, they happened at noon. According to the Facebook event page, "Our event will take place at noon in order to accommodate the schedules of our medical students. Our advisory deans encourage students who are currently scheduled for advisory dean lunch but who wish to participate in this event to participate in this event and then attend advisory dean lunch afterwards."

During the die-in, Michael Seaberry, a first year medical student, read a piece he had recently written regarding the death of his father, a police officer, and the non-indictments of killer cops, Darren Wilson & Daniel Pantaleo. "I wrote this piece, then ironically, about a week later, the grand jury announcements were made about not indicting officer Wilson in Ferguson. So I tweaked it a little bit to go more along with the things that have happened to me by police officers--like being pulled over at gun point for no apparent reason at all by three police cars--which was very scary," Seaberry said. "My dad, being a police officer, I sort of see both parallels; I really trust police officers because that's what my dad was, and I'm also afraid of police officers in a sense, because of the things that have been going on and because I'm a young, black male."

"We as medical students feel that this is an important time for medical institutions to respond to the violence and race-related trauma that affect our communities and the patients we serve," states the press release. "Racial bias and violence are not exclusively a problem of the criminal justice system. As we have seen in Ferguson, Mo., New York, and countless other places, bias kills, sickens, and provides inadequate care. As medical students, we must take a stand against the oppression of our black and brown patients, colleagues, friends, and family. By standing together at medical schools nationwide, we hope to demonstrate that the medical student community views racial violence as a public health crisis. We are #whitecoats4blacklives."

Watch Rochester's action below:

On November, 17, 2014, Dhoruba Toure Shakur, a member of Black Souljahz, explained the murder of Vonderrit Myers Jr. at the corner of Shaw Blvd. & Klemm St. near Shaw Market. Off-duty St. Louis police officer Jason Flanery was the killer cop. According to family, Myers had a sandwich in his hands, not a gun. The store clerk at Shaw Market has told news sources that minutes before Myers was killed, he had been sold a sandwich.

No justice, no peace. Black lives matter.