Rochester's 2015 Pride parade blasted off on Saturday July 18. This years theme was science fiction. There were plenty of references to Star Trek, Star Wars, Dr Who, aliens and the Space Program. One of interest was the Rochester Kink Society's "Gender Bender" a reference to Bender the robot in the animated sci-fi series Futurama.
Take Back The Land Rochester Home Defenders Alex Comardo and Michael Connelly both took 6 month Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissals (ACDs). Joe Woods' daughter Audrey who was arrested by the RPD and used as leverage to get her father out of his home also took a 6 month ACD.
Quintin Keene was told to come back to court for the judge's decision on July 27, 9:30am, Judge Morse.
Josiah Krause had his case adjourned until August 31, 9:30am, Judge Dixon.
We still need people power in court this week! Please come out and support these awesome individuals. Court is at 99 Exchange St.
WEDNESDAY (7/22): Beaten and arrested by officer Mario Masic: Rasheed Griner: Wed. 7/22, 9:30 am, Judge Dixon's court
Take Back The Land home defender arrested for defending the home of Joe Woods during his wrongful eviction: Shannon Coleman: Wed. 7/22, 2:00 pm, Judge Dixon's court
Submitted by R-IMC / Enough Is Enough / Take Back The Land Rochester on Sun, 2015-07-12 21:03
We need some people power in court this week! Please come out and support these awesome individuals. Court is at 99 Exchange St.
MONDAY (7/13): Beaten and arrested by officer Mario Masic: Quintin Keene: Mon. 7/13, 9:30 am, Judge Morse's court
Take Back The Land home defenders arrested for defending the home of Joe Woods during his wrongful eviction: Alex Comardo & Mike Connelly: Mon. 7/13, 2:00 pm Judge Dixon's court
Please join these home defenders, Ms. Woods, and Ms. Mcgriff in solidarity at their upcoming court dates! Upcoming Take Back the Land Rochester court dates for this week:
TODAY! Shannon Coleman, Jacob Spezio, and Christian Nelson: All three were charged with trespass and resisting arrest. They were arraigned last week. Their next court date before Judge Maija C. Dixon is Monday, June 29, 2015, 2:00pm at the Hall of Justice, 99 Exchange Blvd.
TOMORROW! Audrey Woods: Audrey was held by police until her father left their home. She was eventually released to him. She was charged with obstruction of governmental administration. Her arraignment before Judge Stephen T. Miller took place on June 25, 2015. Her next hearing is Tuesday, June 30, 10:30am at the Hall of Justice, 99 Exchange Blvd.
WEDNESDAY! Other pending eviction actions: Liz Mcgriff is facing foreclosure as well. Her next court appearance is before Judge John J. Ark, on Wednesday, July 1, 9:30am at the Hall of Justice, 99 Exchange Blvd. She has not been evicted yet, but is combating the bank's arguments for her removal. Please come out and support her. Let's stop it before it begins!
The Rochester Coalition for Police reform convened a press conference on Tuesday June 16 at 10:30am on the steps of City Hall. The purpose was to 1. Proclaim a victory with $2 million alotted to Body Worn Cameras that was passed in the city's budget and 2. To indicate that the coalition wants a role in the shaping of the policies which will be approved by City Council at a later date. You can read CPR's body worn camera policy recommendations here. Also CPR has put out a guide to help people with the city's survey regarding body cameras. That guide can be found here.
CPR also renewed the call for the Community Safety Agenda which includes an independent and viable Civilian Review Board process with subpoena power and independent investigative authority; a curtailment of Sop and Frisk (racial profiling), improving community understanding of individual rights to consent to be searched, and anti-racism professional development training for police officers.
Submitted by R-IMC / Contributors: Ricky Six (and photos), Lisa (and photos), Alyssa (and photos), Ryder, Christian, and T. Forsyth (and photos), Liz Mcgriff, and Julie Gelfand on Sun, 2015-06-21 08:24
Take Back the Land Rochester News Alert:
7 People Arrested Defending Webster Ave Family from Eviction
Police Use Extortion to Coerce Homeowner to Leave Home
Press Conference held at 5pm, Thursday, June 18 at 394 Webster Ave, Rochester, NY
ROCHESTER, NY - On the morning of June 17, 2015, MidFirst Bank, the Rochester City Marshal, and 15-20 Rochester police forcefully evicted Joe Woods and his family from their longtime home of 25 years at 394 Webster Ave, Rochester, NY 14614. In order to evict the family, 7 people were arrested, including one family member and 6 home defenders, chanting “Housing is a Human Right.”
The City of Rochester's budget seems to come up short every year. There never seems to be enough money to fix the parks or the potholes. Libraries and recreation centers are having their hours and staff cut. But there seems to be plenty of money for tax breaks and subsidies for some of Rochester's richest shareholders and corporations. All the while poverty keeps rising despite billions in "investment."
[This history is a part of a larger, unpublished report titled, “A comparative analysis of the Police Advisory Board and the Civilian Review Board.” The report will be released sometime in mid-June 2015. [Ed. note--citations are still being scanned and uploaded. Come back for updates. The author wished to thank the kind people at the Local History Department of the Downtown Branch of the Monroe County Public Library System.]
Some events that precipitated the creation of the Police Advisory Board included the cases of A.C. White1 (“...a Negro charged with drunken driving, resisted arrest and suffered a fractured arm among other injuries that took him to the hospital.”), Rufus Fairwell2 (“...a 28-year-old Negro [who] suffered two fractured vertebrae in a struggle with two policemen who attempted to arrest him as he closed the service station at which we was employed...”), and a case of police interference with a group of Black Muslims3 who were having a religious meeting, on the pretext that they had firearms (those arrested were charged with riot and third degree assault).
Below is a skeletal outline of the history of the Police Advisory Board using clippings from the Democrat & Chronicle and Times-Union newspapers. Though not comprised of oral histories or direct source documentation, this history is meant to give clues and a chronology of events according, primarily, to two biased sources, the Democrat & Chronicle and the Times-Union. There were hundreds of clippings and I didn't get to include them all. Many of my citations were against the board, but there were a fair number of clippings in favor of it as well. The clippings left out here may appear in a longer version of this history in the future. For this article, I focused primarily on the work of the board, the legal actions taken against it, and, quite frankly, the vast amount of opposition to it, both white denial of police brutality and anti-Black racism fueling the call for its abolition. Thus begins Act One.
"All Police Advisory Boards Hit As 'Forced by Minorities'," has no author. The article was published in the Democrat & Chronicle on October 23, 1965. Fraternal Order of Police president John J. Harrington was in Rochester at the request of Citizens for Abolition of the Police Advisory Board to speak before a crowd of 100 or so people explaining why the review boards are bad. George Jost (the paper reports, but I'm wondering if it isn't Lawrence Jost) shouted the speaker down saying "I'm no Communist and you people ought to produce facts.
"10 Vow to Fight Advisory Board," has no author. The article was published in the Democrat & Chronicle on September 17, 1965. Ten candidates for City Council, Conservative and Republican parties, made it clear that they would fight to abolish the Police Advisory Board. Citizens for Abolition of the Police Advisory Board mailed their political statements to some "500 city policemen." The clipping can be found at the Local History Department of the Monroe County Library Downtown Branch.
The year 1965 had by far the most column space with regards to the Police Advisory Board in both the Democrat & Chronicle and the Times-Union newspapers. For 1965, articles critical of the PAB from the Democrat & Chronicle have been combined into single Rochester Indymedia articles divided by month when needed. This is May 1965. The clippings can be found at the Local History Department of the Monroe County Library Downtown Branch.
"'People Should Vote On Advisory Board'," is a letter to the editor written by Russell C. Sciolino of the city. It was published in the Democrat & Chronicle on April 22, 1965. Russell is proud "of our boys" but the Police Advisory Board ties the hands of the officers behind their backs. He wants a referendum on whether to keep the board or not. He reminds us that "Their lives are always in danger trying to protect everybody." The clipping can be found at the Local History Department of the Monroe County Library Downtown Branch.
"'Advisory Board Should Go'," is a letter to the editor written by Carl E. Burrows of the city. It was published in the Democrat & Chronicle on March 25, 1965. Carl doesn't add much to the conversation about the Police Advisory Board aside from his desire to see "dignity," "motivation," and "incentives" returned to the police through the board's abolition. The clipping can be found at the Local History Department of the Monroe County Library Downtown Branch.
"'Advisory Board Unnecessary'" is a letter to the editor written by Daniel J. Murphy, president of the Rochester Police Locust Club. It was published in the Democrat & Chronicle on February 9, 1965. Murphy asks that the board be abolished and offers 9 ways a complainant can get (no) justice. The clipping can be found at the Local History Department of the Monroe County Library Downtown Branch.
As has happened in many years past, 2015's Memorial Day parade was followed by a contingent of 40 to 50 pro-peace activists asking people to think about US military and foreign policy that keeps making future Memorial Days necessary. The group's theme this year is the River of Tears that US wars have caused since the end of the Second World War. We mourn the soldiers but question the wars.
"Police Board's Work is Done" is a Democrat & Chronicle article, with no listed author, that was published on January 11, 1965. The article starts with the introduction of a resolution to abolish the Police Advisory Board.
Rochester Indymedia is now requiring editor approval for account creation.
We came to this decision after we had repeated spam posted to our website that caused difficulty with the website's functioning. We will still have open publishing and keep our site as nonrestrictive and accessible as possible.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. As before, we will continue to be Rochester's grassroots news and education site. Thank you for your continued support and remember, "Don't hate the media, be the media!"
Editorial Meeting Times / Locations
The Rochester Independent Media Center (R-IMC) is no longer meeting regularly. We will set up meetings by necessity and appointment. Please contact us at rochesterindymedia@rocus.org. Our home is still the Flying Squirrel Community Space at 285 Clarissa St. Occasionally, we hold meetings at RCTV located at 21 Gorham Street.
