On November 9, 2015, at around 11:30am, Scean Gordon and Daryl Appleberry were the victims of racial profiling, wrongful police arrest, and brutality—amid corporate media carelessness and police lies.
According to Mr. Appleberry, police had a description and picture of the man they sought. However, Rochester Police Department officers continued to arrest Mr. Appleberry before and after he, his family, and his friends informed the police of his identity. Mr. Gordon began filming the situation as soon as he could on his cell phone.
As Mr. Gordon and Mr. Appleberry greeted each other in the middle of a quiet Grafton Street and began crossing, a police cruiser rolled up on them and two cops jumped out yelling at the Mr. Appleberry, “What's your name!” according to Mr. Gordon.
Before Mr. Gordon began filming, Mr. Appleberry had identified himself twice to the police.
“When they first jumped out and yelled 'What's your name?! We can make this easy,' I told the them my name was Daryl Appleberry twice,” said Mr. Appleberry.
Mr. Appleberry then identified himself in Mr. Gordon's video before he asserted his right to remain silent and his refusal to be searched.
Mr. Gordon did the only thing he could do at that moment: he documented the scene with his cell phone. He and Mr. Appleberry's family became frustrated and angry when police refused to identify themselves and proceeded to handcuff and arrest Mr. Appleberry—forcing him into the back seat of the cruiser.
The video above shows Mr. Gordon moving closer to the officers in order to get their images, name plates, and badge numbers after they refused to identify themselves. He also went into the street briefly to capture the license plates of the cruisers. As he did this, he also reminded Mr. Appleberry of his rights. Seeing the police as apparent kidnappers who wouldn't identify themselves, Mr. Gordon refused to comply with their orders.
As the cruiser was pulling away to the right with Mr. Appleberry in handcuffs in the back seat, officer Christopher Kosch stopped the vehicle—telling his partner “I have to get this guy for something [referring to Mr. Gordon],” according to Mr. Appleberry—jumped out, told Mr. Gordon he was under arrest, and proceeded to tackle him, threw him into the pavement, used a Taser on him, pepper sprayed and choked him. Mr. Gordon was eventually handcuffed and put into the back seat of a cruiser and taken away.
Mr. Appleberry was released shortly after Mr. Gordon was removed from the scene. When Mr. Appleberry asked to see the photo of the suspect, the officers remained silent. Officer Kosch's partner said, “Oh, you all look alike,” according to Mr. Appleberry.
Mr. Gordon was charged with obstruction of governmental administration, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. After going to the hospital for treatment, where he was further taunted and humiliated by officers, he was booked downtown, spent the night in jail, and arraigned the following morning before Judge Ellen Yacknin.
Watch the full Rochester Indymedia interview with Daryl Appleberry and Scean Gordon below
Submitted by members of Inner Faith Gospel Tabernacle on Wed, 2015-11-11 11:42
In recognition of her good work in the community and her many years of spiritual service to the people, Apostle Nina Warr will be honored at a very special banquet recognizing the 16th anniversary of her ordination. The banquet is being organized by members of her church, Inner Faith Gospel Tabernacle.
Sister Felicia Abrams said of her pastor, “Pastor Warr is an exceptional woman of GOD. Her servanthood for the people comes from a loving heart that seeks the will of GOD diligently.
In October 2015 the Pillar Community Space opened its doors and held its first religious service in the new venue! The original "industrial" feel of the space has been retained by the extensive use of recycled materials, however the building is still compliant with all disabled-access requirements.
Submitted by Susan Galloway / T. Forsyth on Sat, 2015-11-07 11:02
A video of an incident on West Main Street on October 27, 2015 showed five Rochester police officers violently subduing a mentally ill, homeless, Black man. The incident lasted two minutes, according to the Rochester Police Department in a Democrat & Chronicle article.
What people may not know, however, was that about a week before on October 21, 2015, a similar incident happened on Clarissa Street involving a young, white man with mental health issues. The individual exhibited aggressive and belligerent behavior toward other people on Clarissa Street. During this incident, he removed his own clothing and proceeded to move up and down the street. The incident lasted a little over an hour.
Due to negative societal stigma attached to mental illness, Rochester Indymedia has made every effort to hide the face of the individual. We wanted to show the difference in how the police responded to both situations, and also question why there was a marked difference in police tactics. What happened on W. Main St. was not acceptable--regardless of police procedure.
Watch the video below of the incidents on October 27, 2015 and October 21, 2015:
Rev. Hagler stopped at the University of Rochester to give a talk before speaking to a crowd at the German House on September 24, 2015. Once the U of R administration discussed security and the school's code against hate speech with Hijazi and the president of SADACA Abdulwahab Alhaji, the talk was secured and Rev. Hagler not only had the support of student organizations but also the U of R administration. The title of the talk was "Connecting the dots: From Ferguson to Palestine." It was a 40 minute talk and dealt specifically with pointing out the connections between apartheid in Israel and the Occupied Territories and the same kinds of humiliation and degradation that Black people and people of color experience in the U.S. on a daily basis by the police. This is part one which includes a brief introduction from Alhaji and Rev. Hagler's argument for connecting the dots.
Heavy rain did not deter some 50 demonstrators from rallying on October 16 in support of the people of Palestine. Palestine is a nation in the Middle East that is increasingly losing its territory to Israeli settlements. The settlements are in violation of several peace treaties and international laws. The Palestenian people are Arab, mostly Muslim, however nearly a quarter of them are Christians. They are considered second-class citizens by the Israeli government which enforces an apartheid-like regime.
The demonstration was called in solidarity with others around the country including one planned in New York City the following Sunday. It was not in response to a single incident but to ongoing killings in the occupied territory. An unofficial report mentioned 35 killed by the IDF (Israeli army) in one day. Often the IDF does not even return the bodies of the dead, instead burying them in secret. Many of those killed are children.
Amongst those present was Eli Mizrahi, an Israeli citizen. In his words: "This is not the Jewish religion...Judiasm is peaceful." "This is more like the Nazis." "They just shoot kids." Israeli is not respecting the Oslo accords. The accords call for Palestinian sovereignty and equality.
It is no secret that I question the sincerity of the Unite Rochester initiative of the D&C. They fail time after time to put their money where their mouth is. And, since they are a corporate, profit-making entity, this should come as no surprise. I want to share a letter I sent some time ago when the latest ACT Rochester stats came out for Rochester. The D&C did not publish it. No surprise there either. Anyway, here it is for your consideration.
Marchers met at Rochester's Liberty Pole on September 24 2015 in an event to call attention to Climate Change. The march coincides with Pope Francis' visit to the United States. In June the Pope published an Encyclical (official proclamation) in which he said “Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods. It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day.”
Rev. Hagler spoke earlier in the day at the University of Rochester. Rochester Indymedia filmed that talk and did an interview with one of the student organizers. Both will be featured on Rochester.Indymedia.org later this week.
At The Historic German House, Rev. Hagler spoke to a rapt audience of 150+ people who listened to him drop truth and justice as he made the connection between the oppression of the Palestinians by the Israeli state and the oppression of black and brown people in Amerikkka by the police.
Breaking Down Racial Barriers: A Community Pulling Together
This 3rd Annual Summit on Race--"Breaking Down Racial Barriers: A Community Pulling Together" hosted by Facing Race, Embracing Equity will take place on Saturday, September 26, 2015, 11 AM to 4 PM, at Wilson Foundation Academy (200 Genesee Street).
Rochester Indymedia has been highlighting some of the folks involved in this effort before the summit as a way to help spread the word. T. Forsyth interviewed two people on September 16, 2015 who were vital to the summit coming together:
Ever thought of something that would make Rochester better or that we once had. Did you think it odd that we had to cut library hours? Well the reason we can not afford these things is that Rochester's Democratic leaders have given out millions in corporate welfare. Here is a little video about this but the buildings it shows are just the tip of the iceberg.
Submitted by T. Forsyth (feature photo credit: Daniel Ruthenberg-Marshall) on Wed, 2015-09-23 11:47
Rev. Graylan Hagler is coming to Rochester and he is speaking at two venues!
On Monday, September 21, I started getting emails that Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School had rescinded an invitation to have Rev. Hagler give a talk pertaining to the Black Lives Matter movement and the oppression of the Palestinians. The talk, "Connecting the dots: Ferguson to Palestine" was to be a kick-off event for Witness Palestine Rochester's film series at the Little Theatre. I started working with the group this past winter and helped produce a trailer for the film series.
Connecting the Dots is an event meant to show the connections between the struggles of Palestinians resisting the occupation in Palestine by the state of Israel and Black people resisting the occupation of neighborhoods of color—Black neighborhoods—by the police in America. From the community reports given by B.L.A.C.K. members who went to Ferguson, MO and who were subsequently abused and arrested by the police, to members of the Black Lives Matter movement who went to Palestine and witnessed, first-hand, the same kinds of abuse and brutality meted out by the Israeli military against the Palestinians, Connecting the Dots aims to elucidate these struggles in solidarity and resistance.
Hope your heart is still racing from our introduction to Zoning last week, because this week we’re talking about residential zoning in Rochester!
Contrary to common knowledge, residential zoning isn’t exclusively for residences (nor is commercial zoning exclusively for commercial – it’s a good place to build apartments, in fact). That said, Rochester has 3 specific residential zones that we’re discussing here. Grab your bow tie and let’s go…
Overview
As mentioned already, Rochester has three specific residential zones. No bets on what they are, because you could probably guess them. In order, they are:
R-1 Low-Density Residential District;
R-2 Medium-Density Residential District; and
R-3 High-Density Residential District.
Perhaps surprisingly, residential zoning accounts for nearly 50% of the land area in Rochester.
Oh, I’m going to spoil the whole article right here (but read on anyway!) – There’s not a huge difference between these zones and high-density is a generous description for R-3. Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get down to business and talk about each zone specifically.
So Witness Palestine Rochester is going to have a kick off event--Connecting the dots: Ferguson to Palestine--with Rev. Graylan Hagler to start their film series season at the Little Theatre. Rev. Hagler was scheduled to speak at Colgate Rochester Crozer DIvinity School, but was dis-invited and has been receiving death threats. Witness Palestine Rochester is scrambling for a new venue and Rev. Hagler says he is committed to speaking in Rochester.
Rochester, NY --Enough Is Enough, a local anti-police brutality organization, invited Robert Freeman, the executive director of the New York State Committee On Open Government to come speak about New York Civil Rights Law 50-a and how it negatively impacts the public's right to know about public officers who can stop us, question us, arrest us, use force on us, and possibly kill us: the police.
Submitted by Susan Galloway on Tue, 2015-09-15 15:38
Breaking Down Racial Barriers: A Community Pulling Together
This 3rd Annual Summit on Race--"Breaking Down Racial Barriers: A Community Pulling Together" hosted by Facing Race, Embracing Equity will take place on Saturday, September 26, 2015, 11 AM to 4 PM, at Wilson Foundation Academy (200 Genesee Street).
Submitted by R-IMC / Angela Y. Davis on Tue, 2015-09-15 12:32
On this day 52 years ago--a Sunday--September 15, 1963, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed by four members of the Ku Klux Klan killing four little girls. The four Black children were Addie Mae Collins (age 14), Carol Denise McNair (age 11), Carole Robertson (age 14), and Cynthia Wesley (age 14).
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.
![34 Atkinson Street - An utterly illegal house to build today. [IMAGE: Google]](http://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/denker/zoning/34_Atkinson_St.jpg)
![Rochester has three specific residential zones. R-1, R-2, and R-3. [IMAGE: SimCity via Tested.com]](http://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/simcity-residential-zoning.jpg)