FACIAL RECOGNITION ..... POLICE - YES, ACLU - NO

States push back against use of facial recognition by police

 

Associated Press

May 6, 2021

 

 

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Law enforcement agencies across the US have used facial recognition technology to solve homicides and bust human traffickers, but concern about its accuracy and the growing pervasiveness of video surveillance is leading some state lawmakers to hit the pause button.

At least seven states and nearly two dozen cities have limited government use of the technology amid fears over civil rights violations, racial bias and invasion of privacy. Debate over additional bans, limits and reporting requirements has been underway in about 20 state capitals this legislative session, according to data compiled by the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Lawmakers say they want to give themselves time to evaluate how and why the technology is being used.

“I think people are just freaked out and rightfully so, about this technology,” said Freddy Martinez, director of Lucy Parsons Labs, a Chicago nonprofit that specializes in citizens’ digital rights. “It’s one of those rare issues that’s seen bipartisan support, in that nobody wants to be tracked everywhere they go, especially when you don’t have a choice.”

The issue caught fire in statehouses after law enforcement applied facial recognition technology to images taken from street cameras during last year’s racial justice demonstrations — and in some cases used those to make arrests.

Complaints about false identifications prompted Amazon, Microsoft and IBM to pause sales of their software to police, though most departments hire lesser-known firms that specialize in police contracts. Wrongful arrests of Black men have gained attention in Detroit and New Jersey after the technology was blamed for mistaking their images for those of others.

The American Civil Liberties Union began raising questions about the technology years ago, citing studies that found higher error rates for facial recognition software used to identify people of color. Concerns also have grown because of increasing awareness of the Chinese government’s extensive video surveillance system, especially as it’s been employed in a region home to one of China’s largely Muslim ethnic minority populations.

In March, the ACLU sued Clearview AI, a company that provides facial recognition services to law enforcement and private companies, contending it illegally stockpiled images of 3 billion people scraped from internet sites without their knowledge or permission.

For many, news of that stockpile, first reported by The New York Times, raised concerns that the type of surveillance seen in China could happen in the US and other countries. Cities that passed bans — including Boston; Minneapolis; San Francisco; Oakland, California; and Portland, Oregon — listed concerns about police using the technology secretly among their reasons.

Hoan Ton-That, CEO of Clearview AI, said his company collects only publicly available photos from the open internet that are accessible “from any computer anywhere in the world.” He said its database cannot be used for surveillance.

Ton-That said that, as a person of mixed race, it is important to him that the technology is not biased.

“Unlike other facial recognition technologies that have misidentified people of color, an independent study has indicated that Clearview AI has no racial bias,” he said in a statement. “We know of no instance where Clearview AI’s technology has resulted in a wrongful arrest.”

But the pushback against the technology has continued.

Last year, New York imposed a two-year moratorium on use of the technology in schools after an upstate district adopted facial recognition as part of its security plans and was sued. A state ACLU executive called it “flawed and racially-biased” technology that didn’t belong in schools.

That came on the heels of the nation’s first ban on government use of the technology, in San Francisco in 2019 and a statewide three-year moratorium on police departments using facial recognition from videos shot with body cameras that California imposed later that year.

No such restrictions exist at the federal level. Variants of facial recognition technology were used, including by ordinary people, to help identify those who took part in the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol on Jan. 6. Police also used it at some protests last year staged against coronavirus-related mask mandates and some activists have used it to identify police officers engaged in misconduct.

This February, Virginia lawmakers passed one of the most restrictive bans of them all. It prohibits local law enforcement agencies and campus police departments — though not state police — from purchasing or using facial recognition technology unless expressly authorized by the state legislature.

Police groups are pushing for the prohibitions to be revisited.

“It’s fear-mongering politics at its worst,” said Jonathan Thompson, CEO and executive director of the National Sheriffs’ Association.

He said facial recognition technology is just one tool used by police agencies — and not to the extent politicians suggest.

“I’ve never heard of anybody sitting around a computer monitor searching for people all day, every day. It doesn’t work that way,” he said. “Agencies have rules. They have governance of how and who has access to these databases. They have to have a legitimate, rational reason for doing it.”

Thompson’s association produced a report detailing example after example of the technology being used for good to snag drug dealers, to solve murders and missing persons cases and to identify and rescue human trafficking victims. Most often, a face is compared against a database of known subjects. The vast majority of images are criminal mugshots, he said, not driver’s license photos or random pictures of individuals.

A new Massachusetts law tries to strike a balance between civilian and police concerns. It allows police to benefit from the technology while adding protections that could prevent false arrests.

In Ohio, Republican Attorney General Dave Yost headed off a restrictive law on facial recognition data — at least so far — by conducting his own investigation into the state’s images database in response to a Georgetown University Law Center report that found immigration officials were applying the technology to driver’s license photos in some states.

Yost’s review found local, state and federal authorities didn’t use driver’s license or other photos “to conduct mass surveillance, broad dragnets, political targeting or other illegitimate uses.”

Martinez, of the Lucy Parsons Lab, said he’s not reassured.

“I really do think this is one of these tools, let’s say, science shouldn’t be using. It’s uniquely bad in ways other technologies are not,” he said. “People nationally want police to do their jobs, but there are certain lines we don’t let them cross. This crosses that line.”

ELDERLY WOMAN DID NOT THINK HER WHOPPER WAS A WHOPPER, TAKES HER ANGER OUT AT BURGER KING WORKER

Florida woman hurled Whopper, racial slurs at worker

 

By Joshua Rhett Miller

 

New York Post

May 6, 2021

 

She had a Whopper of a meltdown.

A hangry Florida woman went ballistic in Burger King because she was upset that the tomato in her Whopper was sliced too thick, so she hurled the sandwich — and racial slurs — at a worker, police said.

 

 

Judith Ann Black, 77, was busted April 30 after admitting to Wildwood cops that she threw the sandwich at the worker’s back, according to a police report obtained by The Smoking Gun.

“She stated that she was angry that the victim was not fixing the issue and ‘had the burger in my hand and tossed it at her,’” the report reads. “When asked, Mrs. Black stated that she did hit the victim with the burger.”

Black also admitted calling the employee a “stupid black b—” and using another racial slur during her tirade, police said.

She had a Whopper of a meltdown.

A hangry Florida woman went ballistic in Burger King because she was upset that the tomato in her Whopper was sliced too thick, so she hurled the sandwich — and racial slurs — at a worker, police said.

Judith Ann Black, 77, was busted April 30 after admitting to Wildwood cops that she threw the sandwich at the worker’s back, according to a police report obtained by The Smoking Gun.

“She stated that she was angry that the victim was not fixing the issue and ‘had the burger in my hand and tossed it at her,’” the report reads. “When asked, Mrs. Black stated that she did hit the victim with the burger.”

Black also admitted calling the employee a “stupid black bitch” and using another racial slur during her tirade, police said.

“As the victim turned around, Mrs. Black proceeded to throw the Whopper at her, striking her in the back, just below the neck against her will,” police said. “Mrs. Black then walked out to her vehicle, followed by her husband, and left.”

The female worker said she and a co-worker walked outside as the couple left and overheard Black call her a “nigger,” according to the report.

Several witnesses, a Burger King manager and video footage from inside the restaurant confirmed the worker’s account, police said.

Cops tracked down Black via the license plate of her husband’s vehicle, police said. She was charged with battery, but due to the racist language she allegedly used, the charge is classified as a third-degree felony, police said.

Black — who lives in The Villages, a retirement community in Florida — has been released from custody after posting $2,500 bond, jail records show. It’s unclear if she’s hired an attorney who could speak on her behalf.

Black is originally from Texas, according to Villages-News.com.

Attempts to reach her were unsuccessful. A phone number listed in her husband’s name was disconnected early Thursday

OH SHIT, THAT'S SHIT!

Man allegedly swings colostomy bag at cops at Kid Rock’s bar in Nashville 

 

By Joshua Rhett Miller

New York Post

May 5, 2021

 

 

 

They were struck in the line of doody.

A drunk man at Kid Rock’s bar in Tennessee literally lost his shit on a pair of police officers, swinging his colostomy bag at them and whacking them with his feces.

 

 

                  A shit bag

Nicholas Adam Newhart, 39, was blocking an emergency exit door in an indoor area of Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk & Rock ‘N Roll Steakhouse in Nashville Saturday when the crappy situation unfolded, WSMV reported.

Security staffers told Newhart to leave, but he refused, prompting them to track down cops for help.

Newhart then allegedly took out his colostomy bag from inside his pants and began to swing it around wildly, hitting two officers with his excrement.

Cops said Newhart was so wasted at the time that he couldn’t stand steadily on his own, had bloodshot eyes and a strong smell of alcohol emanating from his body, according to the report.

He was arrested and later charged with two misdemeanor counts of assault of an officer-offensive contact, as well as public intoxication and disorderly conduct. He remained in custody Wednesday on $4,500 bond, online records show.

Newhart was only identified as John Doe in court documents.

 

                     The back of Newhart's head shows he's just a good old boy

 

The revolting incident was detailed late Saturday on a Twitter account called Nashville Scanner, which tracks police and fire calls in the state’s capital.

“Unit needs a transport car at … drum roll, kid rock, and an ambulance, and a [sergeant],” the account tweeted. “Male took off his colostomy bag and started swinging it at others, some units have feces on them.”

The account claimed the incident marked the third time the man later identified as Newhart had been flagged to Nashville police in two days.

“Don’t think I’d want to be the transport car on this arrest,” Nashville Scanner tweeted. “Some officers may need to take a quick bath.”

Some Twitter users, meanwhile, couldn’t help poking fun at the nauseating report.

“If you don’t want to be exposed to shit, stay away from Kid Rock,” one reply read.

Newhart’s Facebook page indicates he’s from Wyandotte, Oklahoma. One post from 2015 shows a large Confederate flag tattoo on the back of his head. He also has the flag tattooed on his forearm, according to his profile photo.

JUROR MISCONDUCT MAY RESULT IN CHAUVIN VERDICT BEING TOSSED

Chauvin juror who attended pre-trial rally may jeopardize guilty verdict

 

By Valerie Richardson

 

The Washington Times 

May 3, 2021

 

 

                                    Juror #52 ... Brandon Mitchell

 

A juror in the Derek Chauvin trial may have jeopardized the guilty verdict by attending a rally last year and wearing a “Get Your Knee Off Our Necks/BLM” T-shirt, raising questions about whether he told the truth during jury selection.

Brandon Mitchell, known as Juror #52, told Minneapolis news outlets Monday that he attended the Aug. 28 march in Washington, D.C., featuring speeches by George Floyd’s siblings, while a photo circulating online shows him with two cousins wearing the T-shirt as well as a “Black Lives Matter” hat.

What may come back to haunt the prosecution is that Mr. Mitchell, 31, answered “no” when asked during jury selection if he had attended any protests for George Floyd.

“I think they asked if I attended any protests for George Floyd or anything for police brutality. My answer was no because I hadn’t,” Mr. Mitchell told WCCO-TV in Minneapolis. “This particular march was more so for voting, voter registration. Getting people out to get out and vote for the presidential election that was upcoming a couple months afterward … This was the only thing I attended.”

The march was held to commemorate the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, but the National Action Network billed it as the “Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks,” and several members of the Floyd family spoke.

News photos from the event show demonstrators wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts and carrying BLM flags as well as signs with messages that included, “I Can’t Breathe,” which Floyd repeatedly told police before he died.

“The march that he went to, which was on August 28, 2020, was specifically about police brutality,” criminal defense attorney Joe Tamburino, who was not associated with the case, told WCCO. “In fact, it was partly advertised as ‘Get Your Knee Off Our Necks’ and it had speakers with the Floyd family, Breonna Taylor and Jacob Blake.”

The ex-cop Chauvin was convicted April 20 of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges in Floyd’s May 25 death in Minneapolis police custody.

Mr. Mitchell told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that it was “100% not” a George Floyd march, but the juror’s presence at the event is expected to boost the defense’s chances on appeal.

“If [Mitchell] specifically was asked, ‘Have you ever participated in a Black Lives Matter demonstration,’ and he answered, ‘No,’ to that, I think that would be an important appealable issue,” Joseph Daly, emeritus professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, told the Star-Tribune.

Even a mistrial might not be out of the question.

“A number of legal sources, including those familiar with the trial, told WCCO this juror at minimum will have to be questioned in what’s called a Schwartz hearing. And depending on his answers, a mistrial could be declared,” the station reported.

Even before the Mitchell disclosures, Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson had several possible avenues for an appeal.

Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill refused to move the trial away from Minneapolis, despite the enormous pre-trial publicity.

He also denied defense requests to sequester the jury, even after protests and rioting broke out 10 miles from the courthouse over the deadly police shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center.

Judge Cahill later denied a request for a mistrial after Rep. Maxine Waters, California Democrat, drew headlines for showing up April 17 at the protests and telling reporters that activists should “stay in the streets” and “get more confrontational” if Chauvin was acquitted of murder.

At the same time, the judge told attorneys that “I’ll give you that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned.”

The 45-year-old Chauvin is scheduled to be sentenced June 16.

Mr. Mitchell, who has given multiple media interviews since the verdict, said he did not remember wearing the shirt, and insisted the march was “directly related to MLK’s March on Washington from the ‘60s.”

“I’d never been to [Washington] D.C.,” Mr. Mitchell said. “The opportunity to go to D.C., the opportunity to be around thousands and thousands of Black people; I just thought it was a good opportunity to be a part of something.”

__________

 

The talking heads seem to think that this makes it very likely that the verdict will be tossed

 

by Bob Walsh

It seems that one of the Derek Chauvin jurors attended a BL M rally wearing a GET YOUR KNEE OFF OUR NECK t-shirt at which some of George Floyd's relatives spoke AND lied about it on the juror questionaire.

The talking heads on the magic box today seem to think that this makes it very likely that the verdict will be tossed. I'll bet the judge is now sorry he didn't grant a change of venue.  I wonder how the "demonstrators" will take it, assuming it goes down that way?

 

EDITOR'S NOTE: Not to worry ... the verdict will not get tossed.  Chauvin was destined to be lynched.

TEXAS BAIL REFORM NOT LIKE NEW YORK'S

By Trey Rusk

 

Bail reform advances in the Texas House.

 

It would empower judges to deny no-cost personal bonds to people accused of violent or sexual offenses.

 

It's dedicated to state trooper Damon Allen, who was fatally shot in 2017 by a suspect who was out on bond.

MURDER? NO, SHE SHOULD NOT HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THE CAPITOL RIOT!

Family of Ashli Babbitt, woman shot by officer during Capitol riot, says it was murder and plans to sue for wrongful death

 

CBS News

May 5, 2021

 

 

The family of the California woman shot to death during the Capitol riot plans to file a multi-million dollar wrongful death lawsuit against the Capitol Police Department, CBS Washington, D.C. affiliate WUSA-TV reports.

The family says she was murdered.

Thirty-five-year-old Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt was hit by the only shot fired during the riot.

Babbitt had traveled to D.C. from California because of her fervent belief in the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Trump.

Video shows her trying to climb through a broken window into the Speaker's Lobby outside the House Chamber when a Capitol Police officer guarding the entrance fired. 

 

That's Babbitt (top right) trying to enter the Speaker's Lobby through the broken door

An investigation by the Justice Department found insufficient evidence to bring any charges against the officer, who's never been named publicly.

But Babbitt's family feels she was murdered.

"In the eyes of her family? Of course she was," attorney Terry Roberts told WUSA. "I mean, there was just no legal justification to take her life."

Roberts, a Prince George's County-based attorney who specializes in police misconduct and civil rights litigation said to him, the shooting is an "obvious case of excessive force."

"She could have easily been stopped by the officer who shot her or numerous other officers who were around and been arrested, if that's what they wanted to do. There was no need to shoot her," Roberts said.

"Any rookie police officer with a set of handcuffs could have taken her into custody. She's an Air Force veteran. She was actually a military police officer herself. I am sure that she would have complied."

The shooting was captured on video from multiple angles, including by Capitol riot defendant John Sullivan, who streams under the name "JaydenX." Sullivan's video, provided to WUSA, shows Babbitt was part of a mob of dozens of rioters using improvised weapons to break the glass on doors and windows leading into the Speaker's Lobby. A small number of Capitol Police officers can be seen barricaded behind the door.

Roberts said he hasn't heard any evidence that the officer who shot Babbitt yelled orders for her to stop, and also said it's not clear to him that Babbitt ever even saw the officer.

"On her side of the door, it's quite tumultuous, you know -- a lot of noise and everything," Roberts said. "I don't believe Ashli Babbitt saw him at all. I mean, I think that if she has seen an officer with a gun facing her, that would be a totally different thing."

Roberts said in his view, and in the Babbitt family's view, Babbitt was a protester attempting to exercise her right for a redress of grievances from her government. He compared her to other protesters who came out across the country in 2020 following the death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer.

"You know, we don't shoot protesters in this country unless they're an immediate threat to somebody," Roberts said. "And so I don't see the difference between Ashli Babbitt's case and any other protests which occurred in 2020."

Babbitt's own social media posts prior to January 6 complicate that portrayal of her, however.

According to her family, she was a "fanatical" supporter of Mr. Trump, and her online profile is filled with references to the QAnon and "Pizzagate" conspiracy theories and accusations that then-President-elect Biden was part of a child sex cabal – a common theme of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

On January 1, Babbitt tweeted that she would be in D.C. on January 6, along with "WWG1WGA," representing the QAnon phrase "where we go one, we go all."

The day before the Babbitt tweeted, "Nothing will stop us. They can try and try and try but the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours." The "storm" is also a central part of the QAnon conspiracy theory – representing the day that Mr. Trump would initiate the mass arrest of Democrats.

Twitter has since removed Babbitt's former @Ashli_Babbitt account, but her posts can be seen in screen grabs saved prior to its removal and on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.

The Wayback Machine's archive of her account shows in the days leading up to the January 6 joint session of Congress, Babbitt had retweeted Trump attorney Lin Wood dozens of times, including tweets alleging that Chief Justice John Roberts was being blackmailed in a global scheme involving the "rape and murder of children."

The archive shows that hours before the riot, Babbitt retweeted another Wood post calling for Vice President Mike Pence to resign and be charged with treason.

Roberts didn't provide a timeframe for when the Babbitt family might file the suit but said they were committed to holding the police accountable.

"The only way we can do it is through a civil lawsuit for damages," Roberts said. "I mean, you take someone's life who's married, has a family, that kind of thing, there are significant damages."

The U.S. Capitol Police said Tuesday the department can't comment on pending litigation. A spokesperson said the officer who shot Babbitt remains on paid administrative leave while an internal investigation continues, which is standard procedure for shootings involving an officer.

Babbitt is survived by her parents and her husband, Aaron, with whom she ran a pool cleaning business.

The family has created a Twitter account @ForAshli to collect any evidence or tips about what happened in the Capitol building on January 6.

TO AVOID PROSECUTION FOR MURDER, COPS SHOULD NOT SHOOT A BLACK MAN UNTIL AFTER HE'S GOTTEN OFF THE FIRST SHOT

Fired Atlanta police officer who shot Rayshard Brooks reinstated

 

By Christian Boone

 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

May 5, 2021

 

Former Atlanta Police Department officer Garrett Rolfe, charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks, has been reinstated by the city’s Civil Service Board.

“Due to the City’s failure to comply with several provisions of the Code and the information received during witnesses’ testimony, the Board concludes the Appellant was not afforded his right to due process,” the board concluded. “Therefore, the Board grants the Appeal of Garrett Rolfe and revokes his dismissal as an employee of the APD.”

 

                Garrett Rolfe seen in a June 18 booking photo

 

The ruling doesn’t mean Rolfe will be back on the streets. In fact, he won’t actually be allowed to return to work, as his bond prevents him from possessing a firearm or being around other officers, said attorney Lance LoRusso, who represented the 28-year-old officer in front of the civil service board.

“He’d essentially be on administrative leave pending the outcome of the charges against them,” LoRusso said. 

            Rayshard Brooks

 

Rolfe was fired last June one day after he shot Brooks in a Wendy’s parking lot. A scuffle followed after Brooks struck the other officer on the scene, Devin Brosnan, hard enough to cause a concussion, grabbed his Taser and aimed it at Rolfe, who then fired.

Brooks’ death led to widespread unrest in the city; the Wendy’s was torched and later razed.

Brooks’ attorneys are holding a press conference at 1 p.m. to respond to the board’s ruling.

Within a week, Rolfe was charged with felony murder by former Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard. Brosnan, who wasn’t fired, faces lesser charges including aggravated assault.

That case remains in limbo, however, as Howard’s successor, Fani Willis, has sought to recuse her office. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr denied Willis’ recusal, and a judge has yet to decide what happens next.

At Rolfe’s hearing two weeks, LoRusso argued his client was dismissed “without a proper investigation” by the city. It was revealed that then-Atlanta police chief Erika Shields did not sign Rolfe’s dismissal form. She stepped down as chief that same day, eventually resigning. Assistant Chief Todd Coyt signed the dismissal form in Shields’ place.

Coyt told the board he believed Rolfe and Brosnan “acted accordingly and … were trying to show compassion and did everything they could to calm the situation down.”

But Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was unequivocal, telling reporters the circumstances of Brooks’ death required immediate action.

“It is clear that we do not have another day, another minute, another hour to waste,” she said at the time.

That left Rolfe with no time to offer a defense, LoRusso argued. Atlanta Police Department Sgt. William Dean, an internal affairs investigator, testified that Rolfe’s hearing was scheduled to accommodate a 5 p.m. press conference by the mayor announcing Rolfe’s termination.

Rolfe testified he didn’t find out about his “employee response hearing” until 3:45 p.m. He was more than an hour outside the city at the time and said he feared for his safety, as video of Brooks’ shooting had been widely seen.

TRUMP WAS RIGHT AND BIDEN IS WRONG

How Iran fleeced Kerry

 

By Michael Goodwin

New York Post

May 4, 2021

 

John Kerry (right) and JavadZarif

 

Much has been made, and rightly so, about a top Iranian official saying in a leaked interview he had not known Israel attacked Iranian interests in Syria 200 times until former Secretary of State John Kerry told him. Kerry said there no truth in the statement made by Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, and the State Department says the Israeli attacks were publicly known, though it’s not clear what period Zarif was talking about.

Yet the Iranian makes other, less-noticed comments on the tape showing just how one-sided the 2015 nuclear deal was that Kerry negotiated.

Zarif said the terms were so favorable to Iran that he “jokingly” talked of kidnapping former president Barack Obama’s daughter to make sure the deal was finalized, according to a translation by the Washington Free Beacon. It also reported Zarif called the deal a major win during a desperate time for Tehran, saying Iran “scored six goals against the opponent” when it was down 6 to 0. Nobody disputes those comments, which proves two things: Donald Trump was right to pull America out of the rotten deal, and Joe Biden is wrong to rejoin it.

IN NYC, THE HARD-WON GAINS IN PUBLIC SAFETY THAT TOOK 20 YEARS TO ACHIEVE ARE BEING ERODED BY EXCESSIVE LENIENCY

To come back from COVID, NYC needs to tackle crime

 

By Michael Goodwin

 

New York Post

May 4, 2021

 

Good news in New York — the city that never used to sleep is finally waking up from its COVID freeze. Most capacity restrictions on restaurants, offices, churches, theaters and museums will end May 19th.

Before then, crowds at outdoor events can expand and subways will return to 24-hour service. The announcement from Gov. Cuomo’s office checks nearly all the important boxes — except one: Crime.

Nobody seems to be responsible for stopping the surge of murder and mayhem. Unless that’s fixed, the comeback will be less than advertised and the stampede for the exits will continue.

Shootings across the city tripled last week and are up 85 percent so far this year, and it’s not as if last year was a picnic. In the last two weeks, police say 99 people were shot. The pandemic and government closures put the city in lockdown in March of 2020, but crime didn’t take a holiday. It exploded and there is no automatic reason why it will suddenly stop just because more people are on the streets and riding the subways. In fact, it is guaranteed that, all else being equal, more people in public spaces will mean more victims of gunplay, robberies and assaults.

Cuomo’s announcement about lifting restrictions came with his usual double-dose of strangeness. First, he’s playing a childish game of one-upmanship with Mayor de Blasio and Sen. Chuck Schumer, both of whom have demanded he resign over the numerous sexual harassment allegations against him. The mayor said last week he wanted the city fully re-opened by July 1 and already started bringing back some 80,000 municipal office workers. Then Sunday, Schumer called for 24-hour-subway service, arguing the lockdown from 2-4 A.M. defied logic as ridership was growing and more people were out at night. In response, Cuomo raced to the front of the parade by lifting many of his arbitrary restrictions, including on subways, but then acted as if the MTA’s crime epidemic is not his problem, despite the fact that it’s a state agency.

“ ‘Come on the subway. It’s safe!’ Oh really. Have you been on the subway? Because I have, and I was scared,’ ” he said.

“ ‘Tell your child to ride the subway! It’s safe!’ Yeah, I’m not telling my child to ride the subway, because I’m afraid for my child.”

This was the same performance where Cuomo tried to persuade New Yorkers he suddenly cares about the elderly. He urged younger people to get vaccinated so they don’t “kiss your grandmother and wind up killing your grandmother.”

Someone that shameless can’t be embarrassed.

 

 

Still, somebody must take the lead on tackling crime and de Blasio played an unlikely role Monday. Normally a turn-’em-loose guy, the mayor praised the efforts of a Bronx judge to jail the accused vandal facing 42 charges in attacks on four Riverdale synagogues. Acting Bronx Criminal Court Judge Louis Nock initially set a $20,000 bail for suspect Jordan Burnette, even though Burnette’s court-appointed lawyer said he couldn’t because the 2019 state law Cuomo signed eliminated cash bail requirements for most misdemeanors and nonviolent crimes. Nock disagreed, saying the “shattering of glass” in the synagogues was a violent felony.

The decision was later overturned by another judge and Burnette was released, but de Blasio surprisingly said allowing bail in hate crimes should be considered “because hate crimes are such a profound challenge.”

His comments mark progress, but only up to a point. The initial idea behind the hate crime designation was to strengthen penalties, but the concept loses any real usefulness in an era when so many crimes have effectively been decriminalized. When there are no penalties otherwise, the hate crime designation is meaningless. Consider that the kind of vandalism Burnette is accused of routinely happens to businesses and private home owners, without necessarily involving racial or religious motives. To the victims, those crimes are frightening and expensive, yet any suspects arrested are almost immediately released. The answer is not to change the bail law only for suspects facing hate crime charges.

The answer is to give judges wider discretion in all cases where there are serious charges and real harm to victims, including hate crimes.

Common sense says the bail law changes of 2019 and the growing refusal to hold and prosecute many suspects have been a colossal failure. Crime has skyrocketed in New York in the last two years and the hard-won gains in public safety that took 20 years to achieve are being eroded before our eyes. We’ve seen enough to know the wave will not stop on its own.

If this experiment in excessive leniency were a trial for a new drug, ethics requirements would force the drug to be scrapped because so many patients are getting sick or dying. By the same token, it’s time the political puppets and the bleeding-heart activists pulling their strings come to their senses and worry more about the victims of crime than the perpetrators. Restoring consequences for law breaking is the most important challenge for the next mayor. He or she must hire more police, use them more effectively and build on that success by getting Albany to fix bail and sentencing laws.

At some point, all the pandemic restrictions will be lifted and, if the national economy is strong, the city could get back to boom times. But unless New York gets serious about combatting crime, the city will never be what it was.

MIAMI'S NEW POLICE CHIEF SALUTES HOUSTON

Now that he's gone, former Houston police chief Art Acevedo tweeted this on Monday

 

Twitter

May3, 2021 

Here is Acevedo's tweet:

 

You have a bunch of judges who don’t work and let violent felons in one door and out the other and felony cases including murder languish for years. There are almost ZERO consequences for felons with firearms, Rodney Ellis and his cohorts are behind the chaos! Shattered lives!

 

EDITOR'S NOTE: Rodney Ellis was a Democratic state senator for 27 years.  The black politician is now the Harris County Commissioner for Precinct 1.  

KIDNAPPER GOES TOES UP AFTER SERVING ONLY 15 YEARS OF 421 YEAR SENTENCE

‘Girl in the Bunker’ kidnapper who got 421 years in SC prison dies behind bars

 

By John Monk

 

Yahoo News

May 3, 2021

 

 

Vinson Filyaw, who was serving a 421-year prison sentence for kidnapping, torturing and raping a 14-year-old Kershaw County girl he kept in an explosive-laden underground bunker, died Monday in state prison, according to official sources with knowledge of his death.

Filyaw, 51, was found unresponsive in his cell at McCormick Correctional Institution, an all-male facility in McCormick County, the sources said.

There were no immediate signs of foul play, and an autopsy will be performed, the sources said.

Faye Puckett, McCormick County coroner, confirmed Monday that an inmate had died but declined to name him. State corrections officials said their practice is to have the county coroner identify inmates who die in prison.

A Lifetime television movie about the case, “The Girl in the Bunker,” aired in 2018.

“He was a bad guy — as bad as you can get without killing anybody,” former 5th Judicial Circuit Solicitor Barney Giese, who prosecuted Filyaw’s case, said in an interview Monday.

“He got 421 years and deserved every day of it,” Giese said.

Filyaw’s projected release date was in the year 2353, according to prison records.

He was caught in 2006 and pleaded guilty the next year. The judge sentenced him to 421 years in prison by combining consecutive sentences for kidnapping, rape, impersonating a law enforcement officer and a host of other offenses.

“Unforgivable,” intoned Judge G. Thomas Cooper as he sentenced Filyaw to one of the longest sentences given any state defendant in modern times. “You have preyed upon helpless victims with violence and in a savage manner.”

From school bus to explosive-lined bunker

 

 

Elizabeth Shoaf at the time she was kidnapped

 

In September 2006, 14-year-old Elizabeth Shoaf went missing after getting off a school bus in the Elgin community in Kershaw County.

According to an in-depth story in The State newspaper in 2007, evidence in the case showed Filyaw had hidden in a bush and waited for the girl to leave the bus stop, then jumped out in front of her wearing a shirt with a police emblem on it. He falsely told her she was under arrest because her family was growing marijuana and handcuffed her.

After leading her into the woods, he raped her, then placed a necklace on her he told her was full of explosives. If she tried to escape, he said, he would blow her up and then kill her little brother. Filyaw then led the girl deep into a forest, where he had prepared an underground lair, six feet deep, with a camouflaged door. It was booby-trapped with explosives.

The bunker was one of four Filyaw had built around Kershaw County, according to authorities. It had a well, a bed, a stove, a television and an escape hatch. As the days went by, Filyaw allowed his victim to play video games on his cell phone.

One night, while Filyaw slept, she wrote a text message to her mother on the cell phone, lifted the camouflage door, stuck her hand out with the cell phone and sent the message. That eventually led authorities to the hideout, where they found her.

Evidence included chains Filyaw had placed around the girl’s neck to keep her captive, a handmade badge he used to pose as a police officer and a knife, pellet gun and night-vision goggles he was carrying when he was arrested.

Filyaw told authorities the motive for the kidnapping was to seek revenge on the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office, which had purportedly wrongfully accused him of a sex crime.

‘A world she did not deserve’

At the guilty plea hearing, the girl’s mother told Judge Cooper, ”For 10 days we endured a hell we would not wish on any other family. Our innocent child was subjected to torment and abuse and placed in a world she did not deserve.”

Also at the 2007 hearing, defense lawyer Jack Duncan introduced evidence that Filyaw had endured a turbulent childhood, had dropped out of high school and was an alcoholic, unemployed loner suffering from paranoia and delusions.

Duncan said Monday that Filyaw redeemed himself to some extent when he decided to plead guilty instead of having a trial — which spared the victim the ordeal of testifying.

A veteran attorney who has had thousands of clients over a 40-year career, Duncan said he had never had a client who got a 425-year sentence.

“It’s the longest specific sentence, I think, in South Carolina history,” Duncan said.

Giese, the prosecutor, said he has a very clear memory of the kidnapped girl whose actions led authorities to the bunker.

“She was very strong, very brave,” he said.

After the case was closed, authorities blew up Filyaw’s bunker, Giese said

THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE ..... WRONG! NOWADAYS THE TRUTH GETS YOU FIRED

'They hate my uniform, they don’t care if I die': Female New Jersey cop is fired for calling BLM protesters 'terrorists' in Facebook post and her colleague is demoted for 'liking' it

 

By Snejana Farberov

 

Daily Mail

May 4, 2021

 

A New Jersey town has fired a veteran police officer and will suspend and demote a sergeant over a Facebook post that called Black Lives Matter protesters 'terrorists' who hate cops. 

Hopewell Township's committee on Friday voted unanimously to terminate police officer Sara Erwin and penalize Sgt Mandy Gray.

 

                Sara Erwin

Both women have been decorated public servants for more than 20 years, and neither one has any 'disciplinary history,' according to their attorney, Frank Crivelli.

 

               Mandy Gray

Gray, who was the first woman to be hired as a police officer in Hopewell Township and the first to be named a a sergeant in 2019, will be placed on leave and demoted in rank, reported NJ.com.

Crivelli filed an appeal with the New Jersey Superior Court on Monday, arguing that the disciplinary actions taken against his clients were 'unjustified' and 'excessively harsh.'

Erwin, who has served as a patrol officer in Hopewell since 2001, on June 8, 2020, wrote a status update on her Facebook page that read in part: 'Last night as I left for work I had my two kids crying for me not to go to work. I don’t think I’ve ever felt the way I did last night. And then I watched people I know and others I care about going into harms way. I love my police family like my own. 

'So when you share posts and things on Facebook I’d really appreciate if you’d THINK before doing so. I’ve seen so many black lives matter [sic] hashtags in these posts. Just to let you know - they are terrorists. They hate me. They hate my uniform. They don’t care if I die.'

Gray was among several people who expressed their approval for Erwin's message, which was posted during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality and systemic racism, which engulfed the US in the wake of George Floyd's murder by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. 

She reacted with a heart emoji. 

The anti-BLM status update led to protests in Hopewell Township, inspired the creation of a petition with hundreds of signatures demanding that the local police force be disband, and prompted Hopewell's then-Police Chief Lance Maloney to issue a public apology.

'As we continue to investigate a recent Facebook post, please know that I am sorry for the hurt that this incident has caused our community,' Maloney said in late June. 'We understand that we have the obligation to make sure that our officers police in a manner that is fair and impartial.'

In July, Erwin was charged with violating multiple department policies, including standards of conduct; violating the township's social media policy, public employment and 'the implicit standard of good behavior.'

Erwin was initially placed on administrative leave, along with the other officer police officers and public servants who 'liked' her post. 

Erwin ultimately pleaded not guilty to all the charges against her and demanded a hearing, which was held in October.

A hearing officer appointed by the township in February recommended that Erwin be terminated, and on April 21 the Township Committee accepted that recommendation, resulting in her firing on Friday.

According to the appeal filed by Erwin's attorney, she maintains that the charges against her were not proven and she is seeking to have them dismissed.

Erwin also wants the Superior Court to compel the township to pay back her salary and benefits, along with all of her legal fees.

IT'S TIME FOR A VERY LONG STAY AT THE FUNNY FARM

‘Incredibly intoxicated’ man shot and barbecued his dog, cops say 

 

By Joshua Rhett Miller

 

New York Post

May 4, 2021

 

 

 

 

An “incredibly intoxicated” Pennsylvania man shot his dog and grilled the animal in a fire pit in his front yard, authorities said.

Nikolay Lukyanchikov, 48, was arrested Friday outside his Northampton Township home, where cops found a burning fire pit and a couch in flames in the front yard, police said.

“Once the fire was under control, patrol observed an unknown animal badly burned and charred on top of a small metal charcoal grill,” Northampton Township police said in a statement. “It was later learned the animal was Lukyanchikov’s dog.”

Lukyanchikov was “incredibly intoxicated” at the time and unable to speak, according to an affidavit of probable cause for his arrest obtained by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Lukyanchikov was also dousing $100 bills with lighter fluid and burning them in the metal fire pit — which was topped with a barbecue grate where his pooch was cooked, according to the affidavit.

The dog apparently had been shot in the eye prior to being badly burned, authorities said.

Lukyanchikov’s roommate reportedly told cops he confessed to shooting his dog with a 9mm handgun before hiding the animal outside. Cops found bullet holes in a bedroom, as well as in a hallway, the affidavit states.

A handgun believed to be the weapon used to kill the pet was also recovered from the home, the Inquirer reported.

Lukyanchikov was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, discharging a firearm into an occupied structure, reckless endangerment and possessing instruments of a crime, police said.

Lukyanchikov, whose bail was set at $1 million, remained in custody Monday. Prosecutors sought the amount due to the felony animal cruelty charge and claimed he was a danger to the community, the Inquirer reported.

In 2017, a jovial Lukyanchikov shared a photo on Facebook of five dogs draped in lights in front of a Christmas tree, while wishing friends and family all the best in 2018 — which he noted was a “Year of the Dogs” in the Chinese zodiac. It’s unclear if one of the pooches pictured was killed in last week’s incident.

“In the Year of the Dogs, I wish you success, Health and fun without limits!” Lukyanchikov wrote in Russian, according to a translation. “May there be a lot of joy and laughter [and] you are surrounded by your loved ones!”

'JOHN KERRY AND JOE BIDEN HAVE PROVEN TO BE PRO-IRANIAN'

Was Kerry anti-Israel? Former envoys react to explosive tape

 

By Dmitriy Shapiro

 

JNS

May 3, 2021

 

  

John Kerry (right) and JavadZarif

 

John Kerry, who serves as US special presidential envoy for climate in the Biden administration and was secretary of state during the Obama administration, continues to face a backlash over allegations that he may have provided Iranian foreign minister and nuclear negotiator Mohammad Javad Zarif inside information on Israeli military operations.

Three Republican members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee wrote a joint letter the US State Department inspector general on Wednesday to demand an investigation into whether Kerry did indeed provide information, as Zarif claimed in a recording provided to The New York Times, the details of which were published in a story on Sunday.

In what was reported to be a conversation with an Iranian economist, Zarif claimed that Kerry told him that Israel had attacked 200 Iranian targets in Syria.

"If this report is true, Secretary Kerry severely undermined the American-Israeli alliance to provide intelligence about one of our most trusted allies to the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism," Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) said in a news release.

"John Kerry and Joe Biden have proven to be pro-Iranian before by championing the failed Iran nuclear deal, but this type of betrayal of a staunch ally is simply unconscionable. We need the inspector general to launch an immediate, impartial investigation to determine the validity of these claims," according to Barr.

He was joined in the letter by Reps. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) and Lee Zeldin (R-NY), with both questioning whether Kerry should remain in his current position in the Biden administration.

"The State Department must investigate the massively alarming allegations that John Kerry, in his capacity as secretary of state, leaked information to Iran on covert Israeli military operations," Zeldin said in the release. "If it's proven that Kerry actively undermined one of America's staunchest allies, he needs to resign from the Biden administration immediately and have his security clearance revoked."

Other prominent Republicans calling an investigation – or for Kerry's resignation – include Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, among a growing list.

Former Israeli Ambassador to the United States and former Knesset member Michael Oren said that while he had a good working relationship with Kerry during his tenure from 2009 to 2013, Kerry seemed to have an "unhealthy obsession" with Israel during his time in office.

Oren cited Kerry's speech in 2016 after failed Israel-Palestine peace negotiations, where he spent more than an hour lecturing Israel on its settlements while war was raging out of control in neighboring Syria.

"At the same time when Syrian [President] Bashar Assad was killing a half million of his own countrymen and the US government refused to intervene, Kerry found time to give an hour-long speech condemning Israeli settlements," said Oren. "What was going on north of [Israel] was the largest massacre in post-World War II history."
The speech was especially puzzling, Oren pointed out since Kerry blamed Israel alone for the failure of the peace talks.

Oren said that he didn't know whether Zarif was telling the truth in the recording, but it was well known during the negotiations for the Iran nuclear deal Kerry and Zarif had a close relationship, something that troubled Israel.

"He made no attempts to disguise that," said Oren. "And for Israelis, this was very disturbing. This was the representative of a government that was sworn to destroy us – actively seeking to destroy us. It wasn't passive. It wasn't just rhetoric.

"That's disturbing to the Israelis and should have been disturbing for Americans because this is a regime that oppresses gay people and free speech, and imprisons people and tortures people. I mean, it should have been more disturbing for a person, I think, of a liberal outlook such as John Kerry."

'You have two leaders, and one of them is lying'

Former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said that he listened to the recording of Zarif and it sounded authentic, but one has to take into consideration the sophisticated propaganda of Iran.

"I think it is a very serious allegation. It involves the closest ally of Israel and the worst enemy of Israel," he said. "I really hope that it's not true. But, you know, you have two leaders and one of them is lying. It's either Zarif or Kerry."

I can tell you that this story and these allegations are unequivocally false," he tweeted. "This never happened – either when I was Secretary of State or since."Kerry denied the reports in a tweet on Monday.

Danon said Kerry was investing a lot of energy in creating the Iran nuclear deal and was trying to speak to all sides, so it was known that he kept in touch with Zarif, even after he left office.

"It's the US policy to decide with who they are speaking and about what, but once it involves our security or our interests, that's something we expect our allies to protect our interests the same way we protect US interests," explained Danon.

If the allegations against Kerry are true, which he hopes they are not, it would be a problem.

"One can argue how much it risked our lives or not, but I think it's more than that," said Danon. "It's about what you are talking with whom when it comes to our interests."

But he added that the bond between Israel and the United States is stronger than mistakes made by any particular leader.

While it remains unclear from the recording whether Kerry told Zarif the information before or after the details were already public knowledge, Oren said it wouldn't matter, as Israel's policy at the time was not to comment on its operations to prevent a situation where Assad would be obliged to respond militarily to Israel.

What really upset Oren, he said, and Israeli officials during the Iran nuclear deal negotiations was the existence of secret backchannel negotiations between the United States and Iran through Oman.

"These negotiations were conducted under the auspices of Kerry. … Israel was being assured repeatedly, every week, that no backchannel, no secret negotiation was going on with Iran when, in fact, there were," he said.

The existence of these negotiations became public in November 2013, a month after Oren was no longer ambassador. Oren said that the seriousness of what he called a "betrayal" was such that had he still been the ambassador, he would have seriously considered resigning.

"The point is that Kerry presided over negotiations that were conducted behind Israel's back on an issue vital to Israel's security, if not its survival. And deliberately misled us about them," he said.

"We took it very seriously," emphasized Oren.

After all, he said, the United States is "our No. 1 ally," and it was "negotiating behind our back with our No. 1 enemy." Israeli settlements may be an issue, he said, but Iran is "a matter of national survival for this country

WHAT GOOD IS AN ELECTION IF ALL THE CANDIDATES ARE TYRANTS AND TERRORISTS?

Palestinian Election: A Selection of Dictators

 

By Aviel Schneider

 

Israel Today

May 4, 2021

 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has finally canceled the upcoming election scheduled for May 22nd in the Palestinian-controlled territories. This was to be expected, and of course he blamed Israel. The reason he gave was that Israel had barred the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem from participating. This excuse is not only clever, it might have been coordinated with Israel.

The idea of ​​calling elections within the Palestinian Authority for the first time in 15 years was well meant, because that is part of every democracy. There was only one problem with this: According to every single poll, Hamas would have won a majority.

 

 Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh would have had the upper hand in elections 

 

According to the Palestinian research institute Atlas, 32.4 percent of the Palestinians would have voted for Hamas, 17.2 percent for Abbas’ Fatah party and 13.9 percent of the vote would go to a new faction headed by Mohammed Dahlan, Abbas’ top direct challenger inside the Palestinian Authority. Yasser Arafat’s nephew, Nasser Al Qudwa, would have gotten 8.6 percent of the vote.

 

In addition to the parliamentary vote, an election for President of the Palestinian Authority was scheduled for July, and polls showed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh beating Abbas for the top spot with 27.7 percent of the vote. Part of this had to do with internal friction within Fatah that has weakened Abbas. Of course, the Palestinians are frustrated and want elections. I know numerous Palestinians who rave about Israel’s democracy, despite all the criticism they have against the Jewish state. But what good is an election if all the candidates are tyrants and terrorists? That won’t improve anything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hamas stated that the cancellation of the elections contradicts the national consensus and all agreements between itself and Fatah. Hamas also accused Abbas of saying that “this was the behavior of dictators.” This statement is a joke in itself, a Palestinian told me via WhatsApp. “Both are dictators, Fatah and Hamas. One [party] is corrupt and the other is even more corrupt,” said Ayman from East Jerusalem. When I asked him who’s more corrupt, he told me, “It doesn’t matter. If you vote for Fatah, it’s Hamas, and if you vote for Hamas, it’s the other way around.”

But I also know Palestinians who want a Hamas government in Jerusalem. From their point of view, Islam must reign in Al Quds, and they consider Hamas to be the most suitable for this. They are often nice Palestinians who work with us, but have a completely different idea of ​​Hamas than we do. In the building where are editorial offices are located, I know two Palestinians who would have voted for Hamas. Why, I asked? “Because Abbas and his family are thieves and Hamas follows Sharia law,” one of them told me. They really believe that Hamas would not cheat them.

It was publicly acknowledged in the Palestinian press that Abbas’ speech in Ramallah was misleading and that he canceled the elections for only one reason, namely because Fatah was guaranteed to lose. Hamas in turn blames Abbas and warns of consequences. Ultimately, everyone blames the other.

Germany, France, Italy and Spain expressed their disappointment at the cancellation of the Palestinian elections and demanded a new date from Abbas. What good is a new date when everyone knows that a Hamas regime will take over, including in the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria? European countries probably have to say this to remain politically correct, but it doesn’t make sense for anybody, neither for the Palestinians nor for Israel nor for the EU. “What good are elections if they only install a new dictator?” Does anyone imagine that Hamas will behave better and nicer toward Israel? Will Hamas not try everything to attack Israel with rockets from Ramallah and Nablus? True, there are no underground tunnels there. Not yet. But anyone who knows Islamic zealots like the Hamas regime knows that they will not rest their efforts to harm Israel.

THE WAR ON COPS: FEDERAL JUDGE HANDCUFFS COLUMBUS COPS

Judge Algenon Marbley ruled Columbus cops "ran amok" trying to control 'nonviolent' protestors and banned the use of teargas, pepper spray and rubber bullets 

By Howie Katz

The war on cops that was started by President Obama continues unabated.  

On Friday a black federal Judge handcuffed the Columbus cops.  Acting in a lawsuit filed by 26 BLM protesters, Judge Algenon Marbley ruled that Columbus cops "ran amok"trying to control 'nonviolent' protesters during the nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd.

 

 

Judge Marbley also ordered the police to stop using teargas, pepper spray and rubber bullets against 'nonviolent' protesters, thereby effectively handcuffing the cops.

 

 

Let me point out that even nonviolent protesters might have to be teargassed, pepper sprayed  and shot at with rubber bullets if that's what it takes when they refuse to obey an order to disperse.

It's not the cops that are running amok, it's those who are engaged in the war on cops.

CA MAY STIFF ELECTRIC CAR BUYERS

by Bob Walsh

The formerly great state of California has been pimping electric cars for a long time, as does the federal government.  The state rebate comes out of a separate fund, not the general fund.  That fund is now dry.  And the God-Emperor, Gavin Newsom, has shown no interest in continuing it even if the legislature funds it, which thus far has not happened.  The rebate for most CA buyers is about $2,000.  Most of this of course goes to high income residents who can AFFORD the damn things.  

God-Emperor Newsom wants to target this money to low-income people who currently do not typically buy brand new electric vehicles from dealership, among other reasons because they often have no place to plug them in.  

Low income buyers are also eligible for a considerable kickback, over $9,000, if they trade in an older gas car for a new electric one.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM THE CALIFORNIA WAY

Pretend The Past Never Happened

by Bob Walsh

Assuming SB731 makes it thru the legislature and is signed into law it would REFORM the criminal justice system by pretending the past never actually happened.

If passed this bill would seal the criminal record of a person once they got out of the slammer and cleared probation or parole assuming they got no new CONVICTIONS within two years of their release.

If some guy got busted for a commercial burglary and has done ten clean years on the outside that is one thing.  If he got drunk and murdered somebody in a bar fight and got it bargained down to manslaughter, I am not sure I am comfortable with that.

The purpose is to help ex-offenders reintegrate into society.

THE FIRST 113 DAYS OF 2021 HAVE BEEN DEADLY FOR THE POLICE

 

By Trey Rusk

 

Just in case you were wondering.

Most people out there don’t know this. We are 113 days into this year and have lost 103 law enforcement officers in the line of duty. 

 

There were also 3 Police K-9’s killed.

AMERICA'S MOST SUCCESSFUL SQUATTER USES THE COURTS TO AVOID EVICTION FROM SOMEONE ELSE'S PROPERTY FOR 23 YEARS

Long Island man dodges eviction for 20 years, living in house he doesn’t own

 

By Georgett Roberts and Kathianne Boniello

 

New York Post

May 1, 2021

 

 

                  Guramrit Hanspal

A Long Island man who only ever made one mortgage payment has deftly used the courts to stay in the house for 23 years — for free, according to legal papers.

Guramrit Hanspal, 52, has filed four lawsuits and claimed bankruptcy seven times to avoid being booted from the 2,081-square-foot East Meadow home he “bought” for $290,000 in 1998. 

 

So far, it’s worked: Two different banks and a real estate company have owned the three-bedroom, 2.5-bath home since Hanspal was foreclosed upon in 2000. But Hanspal remains.

Hanspal’s not the only occupant of the home leveraging the US Bankruptcy Code’s “automatic stay” rules, which give debtors a temporary reprieve from all collection efforts, harassment and foreclosures. 

At least three other people listing the home at 2468 Kenmore St. as their address have also filed for bankruptcy in Brooklyn federal court, winning the “automatic stay,” only to have the claims eventually dismissed, court records show. 

“It’s really a group of people that are more than willing to use the courts and abuse the courts to whatever extent they need to extend their illegal occupancy,” said attorney Jordan Katz, who reps current property owner Diamond Ridge Partners.

Hanspal’s history of litigation “is incredibly long and sordid,” said Katz, who added that while he’s seen occupants staying in foreclosed homes before, “nothing even approaches the length of this one.”

“He’s not legally occupying that property,” Katz said. “It’s an outrage.”

And a good deal: Hanspal, who had an initial 7.375 percent interest rate on the $232,000 adjustable-rate mortgage, likely saved himself upwards of $440,000 by not paying his bills.

Hanspal got the mortgage from Washington Mutual in 1998 and made exactly one payment — $1,602.37 — before defaulting, prompting the bank to begin foreclosure proceedings a year later, court records show. 

By May 2000, Washington Mutual successfully foreclosed on the home, and Hanspal was “forever barred” from any claim to the property, according to the judgment of foreclosure.

But Hanspal never left. By January 2001, he filed his first bankruptcy claim, records show. He went on to file another in November 2001, two in 2002 and one in 2003. 

If bankruptcy filings didn’t work, Hanspal simply went to state court seeking relief, sometimes acting as his own attorney, according to an August 2005 order from Nassau County Judge Burton S. Joseph.

Meanwhile, in 2004, Hanspal transferred the deed of the home to a friend, Rajender Pal, even though he had no legal right to do so, according to court papers. Pal, using the Kenmore Street address, filed for bankruptcy in 2005, staving off eviction yet again.

“Mr. Hanspel and Mr. Pal’s apparent frivolous conduct in using the Court system and the Bankruptcy proceeding as a sword to get out of a lawful debt, rather than a shield, is most disconcerting to this Court,” Joseph wrote in 2005, threatening sanctions.

By 2008, Washington Mutual had gone under, marking one of the largest bank collapses in American history, with its assets eventually taken over by JP Morgan Chase.

The new bank was also unable to boot Hanspal, and has been locked in litigation with him for years, with Hanspal filing at least three lawsuits against JP Morgan Chase in Nassau Supreme Court. The two sides are also in an ongoing legal battle in Brooklyn federal court. 

Hanspal claims in court papers that Chase committed “blatant fraud” in 2010 by trying to evict him when it didn’t have proper title to the home, and accused the bank of withholding “surplus” funds from a previous auction of the property.

Chase slammed Hanspal for “clogging the court docket” with “patently frivolous” claims.

By May 2018, Chase unloaded the property to Diamond Ridge, which offered Hanspal $20,000 to leave. He didn’t take the deal, and instead, filed for bankruptcy again in 2019 and 2020. Another purported occupant of the house, Boss Chawla, filed bankruptcy four times in 2019, as did another resident — allegedly named John Smith — who filed once.

“There always seems to be a new occupant who pops up at the last moment,” said Diamond Ridge attorney Katz. “They never show up in court.”

At least one judge thinks it’s time for Hanspal to go.

“The history of this case going on for approximately 20 years must come to an end,” Nassau District Judge Scott Fairgrieve wrote in a December 2019 housing court proceeding.

Diamond Ridge has spent $150,000 on legal fees and paid $50,000 in property taxes since purchasing the home, said member Max Sold, who added that “as of this writing [we] still have no known end in sight.”

The pandemic may give Hanspal yet another reprieve, noted Katz, who said the COVID-19 backlog in New York’s housing courts has kept them from pursuing their eviction effort.

Hanspal did not return messages. A woman who answered the bell at Kenmore Street and identified herself as a tenant said Hanspal was not at the home, which featured at least three cars without license plates in the driveway.