Officer, at least unbuckle his seat belt before you unjustly beat the shit out of him.

Dash cam video of Minnesota traffic stop shows police officer violently assaulting motorist.



The ACLU of Minnesota is calling for an investigation into the police officers who pulled over a motorist and violently assaulted him. Dash cam footage shows one officer viciously beating the young man who is still buckled in his car seat, while another officer purposely turns off the camera's audio.

In the Blink of an Eye, Police Officers Turned This Traffic Stop Into an Unnecessarily Violent Encounter

Anthony Promvongsa was driving in Worthington, Minnesota on July 28, 2016 when Agent Joe Joswiak of the Buffalo Ridge Drug Task Force pulled him over and proceeded to beat the shit out of him. Well, first Joswiak threw open Promvongsa's door and screamed "Get the fuck out of the car, motherfucker!" Then he beat the shit out of him. Promvongsa didn't even get a chance to unbuckle his seat belt before Joswiak started swinging.

In police dash cam footage obtained by the ACLU, Joswiak can be seen punching, kicking and elbowing Promvongsa several times in the back before yanking him out of the driver's seat of his Honda Pilot, throwing him to the ground. Then he presses his knee to the back of Promvongsa's neck, pinning him face down on the pavement while he and Sgt. Tim Gaul of the Worthington Police Department handcuffed him.

At some point, Gaul intentionally turns off the audio of the encounter. After he is placed inside the squad car, Promvongsa can be heard breathing heavily and sobbing.

Elderly woman attacked by police dog in her own backyard

Coon Rapids Police mistook 81-year-old Choua Xiong for a burglar.



In Minnesota, community members are demanding answers and accountability from the Coon Rapids Police Department after an elderly Hmong woman was attacked and bitten by a police K-9 in her own backyard.

Coon Rapids police unleash dog on 82-year-old grandma cleaning her shed

81-year-old Choua Xiong was doing some work in her backyard shed early Sunday morning when officers, responding to a burglary call, unleashed a police dog on her. Note: she was in her own shed, in her own backyard. Xiong suffered bites to her arm and was hospitalized.

Police say officers received a 911 call from a woman who said she saw an intruder in a black coat in her backyard, and heard a loud noise coming from somewhere in the back of her residence. Officer arrived on the scene and spotted someone in a shed next door with a flashlight.

Suspecting a burglary was underway, they yelled to the shed and ordered the "suspect" to come out, but got no response. So they unleashed to police dog to take down whoever was inside.

The "suspect" turned out to be Xiong. She apparently does not speak English, is hard of hearing, and didn't understand the officer's commands. Congratulations, officers. You and your friggin' attack dog just busted an 81-year-old grandma "intruding" on her own property.

Video captures aftermath of police shooting in Minnesota

This is not someone else's problem.



In Minnesota, police shot and killed a man during a traffic stop Wednesday evening, in the second fatal encounter between police and an African-American man to gain national attention this week.

32-year-old Philando Castile was shot by a police officer in suburban St. Paul. Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, streamed video of the incident on Facebook Live immediately after the shooting, showing Castile bleeding from a wound to his chest area and the officer with his gun still visible through the window.

Reynolds had been riding in the car with Castile and her 4-year-old daughter. In the video, she said Castile was stopped for a broken tail light, had informed the officer that he had a gun in the car and was licensed to carry, and was reaching for his wallet at the officer's request. And yet he was still shot.

Details are still emerging, but in the video, Reynolds says the police officer is Asian.

Call Governor McCrory to #VetoHB972!

Cross-Posted from 18 Million Rising.



Police recordings -- taken on vehicle dashboard cameras and body-worn cameras -- are a matter of public record vital to preserving civil liberties. Under most states' laws, it's up to city government to decide whether or not to release them in cases of public interest, like when an officer uses deadly force against a civilian.

In North Carolina this week, the state legislature passed House Bill 972: a bill that gives police departments direct control, and greater discretion, over how and under which circumstances this crucial video footage is released to the public. We have 10 days to convince Gov. Pat McCrory to veto the bill -- or it becomes the law.

Laws like HB972 will make it harder for families to find justice for their loved ones. It already took the family of Chieu Di Thi Vo, a Vietnamese woman with bipolar disorder, two years to see video footage of her last moments of life after she was shot and killed by Greensboro Police Department (GPD) officer T.J. Bloch.

Her family repeatedly requested to see Officer Bloch's body camera footage. The Greensboro Police Department denied their requests while publicly claiming that "Chieu Di lunged at officer Bloch [with a knife], yelled that she would "gut" the police officer in Vietnamese, and that Chieu Di's mother's life was in danger."

Last month, the footage was finally released revealing that the police had lied.

Woman sues police for roughing her up in church parking lot

62-year-old Ok Jin Jun has filed a lawsuit against the LAPD, the city of Los Angeles and two police officers.



In Los Angeles, a 62-year-old woman has filed a lawsuit against police officers who she says roughed her up during an early morning encounter last month in a Koreatown church parking lot.

Woman, 62, Sues LAPD For Allegedly Roughing Her Up In Church Parking Lot

Ok Jin Jun is suing the Los Angeles Police Department, the city of Los Angeles and two police officers.

The altercation was captured on surveillance video. Footage shows an LAPD SUV following Mrs. Jun's car as she pulled into her church's parking lot for early morning prayer service on April 14. Mrs. Jun says the officers followed her after she honked her horn at them because they were blocking the church driveway.

But this was not a traffic stop, and Mrs. Jun was not being pulled over.

Judge tosses civil rights case against Alabama cop who paralyzed Indian grandfather

Eric Parker still faces a state charge of misdemeanor assault and a civil lawsuit.



Maaaan, this is some bullshit. In Alabama, a judge threw out the case against the police officer who was accused of using excessive force on a 57-year-old Indian man, partially paralyzing him.

Judge throws out case against police officer charged in takedown of Indian grandfather

On Wednesday, Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala threw out the case against Madison police office Eric Parker, who faced up to ten years in prison for excessive force after he was caught on camera throwing Sureshbhai Patel to the ground last year during a sidewalk stop.

Another mistrial declared in Alabama police brutality case

Former cop Eric Parker is accused of using excessive force against Sureshbhai Patel.



This shit is unbelievable. The case of the Alabama police officer accused of using excessive force against a 58-year-old Indian grandfather, partially paralyzing him, has ended in a mistrial. Again.

Another Mistrial Declared For Alabama Cop Who Paralyzed Indian Grandfather

For the second time in two months, a jury has been unable to reach a verdict in the federal civil rights case against former Madison police officer Eric Park. After deliberating for three days, the jury of nine women and three men were unable to reach a unanimous verdict, and the judge declared a mistrial.

Defense blames Indian grandfather in police brutality case

"When you come to the U.S. we expect you to follow our laws and speak our language."



This is some bullshit. Former Alabama police officer Eric Parker, accused of using excessive force after he was caught on camera throwing an Indian grandfather to the ground. is on trial again. The first trial ended in a hung jury last month. And this time, the defense appears determined to blame the victim.

Defense blames Indian grandfather at start of new trial, 'follow our laws and speak our language'

The altercation left 57-year-old Sureshbhai Patel partially paralyzed and hospitalized with a fused vertebrae. His apparent crime: going for a walk. (And being brown.) Parker can be seen in police dash cam video taking down Mr. Patel with a leg sweep, slamming him into the ground.

Officers responded to a call regarding a "suspicious person" in the neighborhood. That person turned out to be Mr. Patel, who was visiting from India and staying with his son's family. Patel, who does not speak English, was on an afternoon walk when he was stopped by police. Somehow, the situation rapidly escalated from "No English," to Mr. Patel getting his face slammed into the ground.

Skateboarder tackled, pepper-sprayed in Columbus Circle

NYPD officer caught on camera violently arresting skateboarder.



Well, this seemed rather excessive. In New York, a man was violently arrested by an NYPD officer for skateboarding in Columbus Circle. A video of the arrest shows the officer using a chokehold and pepper-spraying the skateboarder to subdue him.

Video: Cop Uses Chokehold, Pepper Spray To Take Down Skateboarder In Columbus Circle

The video, recorded in Columbus Circle on Sunday afternoon, shows the officer forcing 22-year-old Yibin Mu off his skateboard with his forearm, throwing him to the ground face-first, straddling his neck and pinning him down from behind. He then draws his pepper spray and sprays Mu in the face.

Mu uploaded video of the arrest to YouTube:

Music Video: "Can't Breathe" by Lyricks

Dedicated to Eric Garner, on the one-year anniversary of his death.



Virginia-based emcee Rick Lee, aka Lyricks, just dropped this raw, powerful music video for "Can't Breathe." Shot in Staten Island, the track commemorates the one-year anniversary of the death of Eric Garner, who died after being placed in an illegal choke hold by a New York City police officer. It's a lament for those who have died, but it's also a call for all to stand up in solidarity against injustice, brutality and police violence.

Check it out:

Cops: Toddler Disfigured By Grenade in "No-Knock" Raid a "Criminal", To Blame For His Injuries | #JusticeForBouBou

By Jenn Fang. Cross-posted from Reappropriate.


Bounkham "Bou Bou" Phonesavanh. (Photo credit: Phonesavanh family)
(H/T @boygainvillea)

Last year, nineteen month-old Bounkham "Bou Bou" Phonesavanh was sleeping peacefully in his playpen in Habersham County, Georgia. The Phonesavanh family had recently moved to Georgia from Janesville, Wisconsin after their home had been destroyed in a fire, and the family -- including the four young Phonesavanh children -- were temporarily living in a converted guestroom of the house owned by Bounkham Phonesavanh's sister.

At 2 am on May 28, 2014, Bou Bou and his three older siblings were asleep when a team of militarized Habersham SWAT officers -- conducting a "no-knock" raid of the family home -- broke down the door and blindly threw a stun grenade into the room. The grenade landed in Bou Bou's playpen and exploded just inches from the toddler's face. Bou Bou immediately started screaming from the injuries of the devastating explosion: the grenade detached Bou Bou's nose, permanently disfiguring him, and create a gash in his chest that collapsed his left lung and prevented the infant from breathing on his own.

SWAT officers prevented Bou Bou's mother, Alecia Phonesavanh, from approaching her child. Instead, they downplayed the injuries; in a later interview, Alecia Phonesavanh recollects:

Paul Tanaka indicted in jail abuse scandal

Former Los Angeles County Undersheriff pleads not guilty to corruption charges.



Asians behaving badly... jail abuse scandal edition! This week, former Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Undersheriff Paul Tanaka was indicted on federal charges of obstructing an FBI investigation into brutality and corruption in the Los Angeles County jails.

Former LA County Undersheriff Paul Tanaka Surrenders to FBI

Tanaka and former Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Captain Tom Carey pled not guilty to the charges in magistrate court on Thursday. They are two of 22 current or former LASD officials charged in an ongoing federal probe into corruption and civil rights violations by guards at two downtown facilities.

Prosecutors say Tanaka and Carey were aware of rampant abuse at the jail. They are accused of directing a group of deputies who were convicted last year of carrying out the plot to impede the FBI investigation.

Open Letter from AAPIs calls for #justiceforakaigurley

More than 50 AAPI groups release letter supporting justice for Akai Gurley and indictment of Officer Peter Liang



More than fifty Asian American and Pacific Islander groups from around the country have signed on to an open letter, organized by CAAAV, calling for justice in the fatal police shooting of Akai Gurley, an unarmed, Black, 28-year-old father who was killed by NYPD Officer Peter Liang last fall. The letter follows calls coming from some members of the Asian American community to drop charges against Liang.

Officer Liang was conducting a vertical patrol on November 20, 2014 in the Louis H. Pink Houses in East New York when he fired a shot that killed Gurley, who was visiting the home of his girlfriend.

The letter has been signed by AAPI community organizations and leaders representing diverse constituencies across all regions of the United States, calling for "#JusticeforAkaiGurley and for the systemic overhaul of policing practices and other institutional policies that chronically defund and destabilize Black communities."

The letter also condemns calls from members of the Asian American community for the charges against Officer Liang dropped. CAAAV Executive Director Cathy Dang calls these efforts "divisive, hurtful, and misguided."

"We should all be standing with Akai's family, who have lost a beloved brother, son, and father, and should be fighting to reform policing practices so that more families won't have to suffer the pain they are going through."

Here's the text of the letter:

Sign on for police accountability and #JusticeforAkaiGurley

CAAAV's national open letter calls on Asian American support for police shooting victim.



CAAAV, a grassroots community organization that fights for poor and working class Asian immigrant and refugee communities in New York City, has drafted a national open letter supporting justice for Akai Gurley and calling for Officer Peter Liang to be held accountable for Gurley's shooting death last November.

They're calling on APA organizations and individuals to stand with them and sign on to the letter to show that there is support in the Asian American community for #JusticeforAkaiGurley and for the broader national movement against police violence.

Here's the text of the open letter:

Alabama cop indicted for assault on elderly Indian man

Officer Eric Parker is accused of using "unreasonable force" on 57-year-old Sureshbhai Patel.



Last week in Alabama, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced that the police officer who threw a 57-year-old Indian man to the ground, severely injuring him, has been indicted on civil rights violations charges.

Madison Police officer indicted for civil rights violation

Officer Eric Parker of the Madison Police Department was fired and charged with third-degree assault for using excessive force on Sureshbhai Patel, who had been visiting his family from India. The incident left him partially paralyzed and hospitalized with a fused vertebrae.

Mr. Patel, who does not speak English, was on an afternoon walk when he was stopped by police responding to a call about a "suspicious person." Police video shows Parker yanking Patel's arm and slamming him into the ground. He suffered serious injuries requiring surgery and months of rehabilitation.

Alabama cop fired for assault on Indian grandfather

Police officer Eric Parker faces assault charges for severely injuring 57-year-old Sureshbhai Patel.



In Alabama, the police officer responsible for severely injuring and putting an innocent man in the hospital, paralyzing him, has been fired from the Madison City Police Department and faces assault charges.

Alabama police fire, arrest the officer who badly injured Indian grandfather during sidewalk stop

Madison police officer Eric Parker was arrested for his use of force on 57-year-old Sureshbhai Patel, who was visiting from India and staying with his son's family. Mr. Patel, who does not speak English, was on an afternoon walk when he was stopped by police responding to a call about a "suspicious person."

Parker and other officers tried talking to Mr. Patel, but he communicate with them. When the officers tried patting him down, Patel put his hands in his pockets and pulled away. A video released by police shows an officer throwing Mr. Patel to the ground:

NYPD officer charged with manslaughter in fatal shooting

Peter Liang pleads not guilty to felony charges in the death of Akai Gurley.



On Wednesday, a rookie New York City police officer pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and other felony charges in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man in the stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project last November.

Peter Liang, NYPD Officer Who Fatally Shot Akai Gurley, Charged With Manslaughter

27-year-old Peter Liang, the first New York City police officer indicted in more than two years in connection with a fatal on-duty encounter, was arraigned in the shooting of 28-year-old Akai Gurley.

The six-count indictment includes several felony charges, including second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, second-degree assault, second-degree reckless endangerment and two counts of official misconduct. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Police altercation leaves grandfather partly paralyzed

His apparent crime: going for a walk. And being brown.



In Alabama, police officers are accused of using excessive force on an elderly man, leaving him temporarily paralyzed and hospitalized with a fused vertebrae. His apparent crime: going for a walk. And being brown.

Grandfather visiting Alabama from India stopped by police while taking walk, left partly paralyzed

On Friday, Madison Police responded to a call regarding a "suspicious person" in the neighborhood. That person turned out to be 57-year-old Sureshbhai Patel, who was visiting from India and staying with his son's family. Patel, who does not speak English, was on an afternoon walk when he was stopped by police.

According to the police statement, there was a "communication barrier." I don't know how you go from saying "No English" to getting your face slammed into the sidewalk, but you could say things escalated.

County refuses to help child injured by SWAT team grenade

The Phonesavanh family faces over $1 million in medical bills for little "Bou Bou."



Remember the baby in Georgia who was severely injured when a SWAT team threw a "flash bang" grenade in his crib during a botched drug raid? The child suffered serious burns to his face and chest, and his family has been left with over $1 million in medical bills that the county has refused to pay.

Family of Toddler Injured by SWAT 'Grenade' Faces $1M in Medical Bills

18-month-old Bounkham "Bou Bou" Phonesavanh and his family were sleeping at their relatives' house, visiting from Wisconsin, when a police team burst into the home and tossed a grenade that landed and exploded in the crib. They were acting on an informant's tip that he had purchased drugs at the house earlier in the day.

They were wrong.

Jeremy Lin wears "I Can't Breathe" shirt

Joins teammates in gesture of protest against police brutality.



The Los Angeles Lakers have joined the growing number of athletes protesting the deaths of unarmed black people at the hands of law enforcement. Nearly all the players on the team, including Jeremy Lin, wore black shirts with the phrase "I Can't Breathe" -- referring to Eric Garner's dying words at the hands of the NYPD -- during warmups before Tuesday night's game against the Sacramento Kings.

Nearly all Lakers wear 'I Can't Breathe' shirts for warmups vs. Kings

With all but one Laker rocking the shirt, it marks the most complete protest by any one team thus far. Ball Don't Lie's Eric Freeman also notes that Jeremy is the first player who is not black to wear the shirt -- a powerful statement and a significant gesture of support of the movement as "a broader human issue."

Props, Jeremy.