Tuesday Reads
Posted: November 24, 2015 Filed under: Foreign Affairs, morning reads, Republican politics, U.S. Politics | Tags: Black Lives Matter protests, Chicago police, Jamar Clark, Jason Van Dyke, Laquan McDonald, Minneapolis police, murder charges, White supremacists 37 Comments
Members of Black Lives Matter continue their encampment, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015, outside the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fourth Precinct. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Good Morning!!
Police shootings of black men are back in the news, with a vengeance. In Minneapolis yesterday, five protesters of the killing of Jamar Clark were shot, allegedly by white supremacists who have been interfering with the protests.
TwinCities.com: 5 shot near Jamar Clark protest in Minneapolis; suspects sought.
Five people were shot late Monday near the site of an ongoing protest over the fatal shooting of a black man by a police officer, Minneapolis police said. None of the five suffered life-threatening injuries.
The shootings occurred about a block from the police department’s 4th Precinct, where protesters have been demonstrating since the shooting of 24-year-old Jamar Clark on Nov. 15.
Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder said in a news release that officers responded to the sound of gunshots around 10:40 p.m., and 911 calls shortly after reported five people had been shot. Dozens of officers assisted victims and secured the scene, the statement said.
None of the victims had critical injuries, but three were taken to the hospital with wounds to legs, arm, and stomach.
Oluchi Omeoga, who has been participating in the protests since last Monday, witnessed the incident.
Protesters saw three people wearing masks who “weren’t supposed to be there,” Omeoga said. Eventually, the three people left the crowd and began walking down the street, and a few protesters followed.
When they reached a corner, the three people pulled out weapons and gunshots rang out, Omeoga said.
Jamar Clark
More details from The Washington Post:
“Tonight, white supremacists attacked the #4thPrecinctShutDown in an act of domestic terrorism,” Black Lives Matter Minneapolis said on Facebook. “We won’t be intimidated.”
Though Clark’s family called for the protests to come to an end following the shooting, Black Lives Matter Minneapolis vowed to return to the police station for another demonstration on Tuesday.
A video recorded by a journalist at the scene showed people fleeing from the shooting — then screaming for an ambulance. A young African American man was seen writhing in pain with an apparent gunshot wound to the leg while fellow protesters — then police and paramedics — tried to help….
“A group of white supremacists showed up at the protest, as they have done most nights,” Miski Noor, a Black Lives Matter organizer, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Police have not confirmed or denied Noor’s claim.
Here’s some background on the Jamar Clark shooting from The Atlantic (November 18): How Did Jamar Clark Die?
How did Jamar Clark end up with a bullet hole above his eye?
The 24-year-old black man was shot by a Minneapolis police officer early Sunday morning under unclear circumstances. His family says he was taken off life support Monday, and died that evening.What’s agreed on is that Clark was shot by an officer after police and ambulances responded to a domestic-violence call. Police said Clark was a suspect in the domestic assault, and interfered with responders. From there, things get murky. A number of people watched the incident unfold—it was across the street from an Elks Lodge—and several of them say that Clark was handcuffed when he was shot in the head. Police insist he was not cuffed.
“The young man was just laying there; he was not resisting arrest,” a man named Teto Wilson who said he saw the incident was quoted as saying by the local NAACP chapter. “Two officers were surrounding the victim on the ground, an officer maneuvered his body around to shield Jamar’s body, and I heard the shot go off.”Police claim that Clark was not handcuffed when he was shot, according to dashboard video that they haven’t released.
Vigil for Jamar Clark outside police precinct
Authorities…initially wouldn’t even say if there was footage, either from dashboard cameras or from body cameras. (A September report by a city police-oversight commission recommended that body cameras be activated during all community contact.) Bystander footage from shortly after the shooting is available. On Tuesday, the BCA said it has obtained several videos but that “none … captured the event in its entirety.” ….
Even if Clark was not handcuffed, there is a separate question of whether the use of deadly force was appropriate in the situation. Just as the death of Freddie Gray brought new scrutiny on a Baltimore Police Department with a long, troubled history with its citizens—and particularly citizens of color—the police in Minneapolis are about to come under new scrutiny.
“We’ve been saying for a long time that Minneapolis was one bullet away from Ferguson. Well, that bullet was fired last night,” Jason Sole, an associate professor of criminal justice at Metropolitan State University and a member of the local NAACP chapter, told the Star Tribune.
Read the rest at The Atlantic. In Chicago another police shooting has resulted in a murder charge against a policeman, but it took a whole year for the case to get to this point.
Laquan McDonald
CNN: Video of police shooting that could shock Chicago.
A Cook County Circuit Court judge has ruled that police must release dashcam video showing the death of 17-year-old old Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times by a Chicago police officer in October 2014.
The video is expected to show the officer shooting McDonald even as he lay on the ground.
Police say McDonald had PCP in his system when he died and was refusing police commands to drop a 4-inch knife.
The judge, Franklin Valderrama, not only ordered the video released by Wednesday, he also denied a motion from the city to appeal the decision, which all but assures this will happen.
Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently claimed, along with the Chicago Police Department, that release of the video might compromise an ongoing investigation. But last week, the mayor’s office released a statement suggesting that even Hizzoner is conflicted about the video: “Police officers are entrusted to uphold the law, and to provide safety to our residents,”the mayor said.“In this case unfortunately, it appears an officer violated that trust at every level.”
Drawing from autopsy of Laquan McDonald
Much more at the link. And from the WaPo: Reports: Chicago police officer to be charged with murder of black teen shot 16 times.
A white Chicago police officer is expected to be charged with murder in the 2014 shooting death of an African American teenager caught on dash-cam video,individuals close to the investigation told the Associated Press, the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times Monday night.
Unnamed officials told the news organizations that Officer Jason Van Dyke is expected to appear at a bond hearing at noon Tuesday, at which time he is also expected to be charged with murder. His lawyer has said that the officer’s actions were lawful.
“He believed in his heart of hearts that he was in fear for his life … he was concerned about the lives of [other] police officers,” Daniel Herbert told reporters last week.
According to the Chicago Tribune, if Van Dyke is indicted, it would be the first time a Chicago police officer “has been charged with first degree murder for an on-duty fatality in 35 years.”
In presidential politics, it’s looking more and more like Donald Trump will actually be the GOP nominee. Hillary Clinton could be the only thing standing between us and a crude, narcissistic fascist becoming President of the U.S.
I guess we all know that Trump loves himself too much, but Vanity Fair actually asked some experts for their opinions on whether he could have a clinical diagnosis: Is Donald Trump Actually a Narcissist? Therapists Weigh In!
For mental-health professionals,Donald Trumpis at once easily diagnosed but slightly confounding. “Remarkably narcissistic,” said developmental psychologistHoward Gardner,a professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education. “Textbook narcissistic personality disorder,” echoed clinical psychologistBen Michaelis.“He’s so classic that I’m archiving video clips of him to use in workshops because there’s no better example of his characteristics,” said clinical psychologistGeorge Simon,who conducts lectures and seminars on manipulative behavior. “Otherwise, I would have had to hire actors and write vignettes. He’s like a dream come true.”
That mental-health professionals are even willing to talk about Trump in the first place may attest to their deep concern about a Trump presidency. AsDr. Robert Klitzman,a professor of psychiatry and the director of the master’s of bioethics program at Columbia University, pointed out, the American Psychiatric Association declares it unethical for psychiatrists to comment on an individual’s mental state without examining him personally and having the patient’s consent to make such comments….
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures and declares “You’re fired!” at a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, June 17, 2015. REUTERS/Dominick
But you don’t need to have met Donald Trump to feel like you know him; even the smallest exposure can make you feel like you’ve just crossed a large body of water in a small boat with him. Indeed, though narcissistic personality disorder was removed from the most recent issue of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,for somewhat arcane reasons, the traits that have defined the disorder in the past—grandiosity; an expectation that others will recognize one’s superiority; a lack of empathy—are writ large in Mr. Trump’s behavior.
“He’s very easy to diagnose,” said psychotherapistCharlotte Prozan.“In the first debate, he talked over people and was domineering. He’ll doanything to demean others, like tell Carly Fiorina he doesn’t like her looks. ‘You’re fired!’ would certainly come under lack of empathy. And he wants to deport immigrants, but [two of] his wives have been immigrants.” Michaelis took a slightly different twist on Trump’s desire to deport immigrants: “This man is known for his golf courses, but, with due respect, who does he think works on these golf courses?”
Mr. Trump’s bullying nature—taunting SenatorJohn McCainfor being captured in Vietnam, or saying Jeb Bush has “low energy”—is in keeping with the narcissistic profile. “In the field we use clusters of personality disorders,” Michaelis said. “Narcissism is in cluster B, which means it has similarities with histrionic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, and antisocial personality disorder. There are similarities between them. Regardless of how you feel about John McCain, the man served—and suffered. Narcissism is an extreme defense against one’s own feelings of worthlessness. To degrade people is really part of a cluster-B personality disorder: it’s antisocial and shows a lack of remorse for other people. The way to make it O.K. to attack someone verbally, psychologically, or physically is to lower them. That’s what he’s doing.”
Head over to Vanity Fair to read the rest.
AP photo of Russian jet shot down by Turkey
In world news, Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border. From ABC News: Vladimir Putin Calls Turkish Attack on Russian Fighter Plane a ‘Stab in the Back.
The Russian Su-24 jet was hit by rockets fired from Turkish F16s as it conducted airstrikes on militants in northwest Syria. Turkish officials have said the plane violated Turkey’s airspace and that its jets had warned the Russian plane repeatedly to leave.
“Today’s losses is connected with a blow, that was delivered as a stab in the back by the accomplices of terrorists. I cannot qualify what happened today in any other way,” Putin said during a televised meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan.
Turkish officials told the United States they shot down the plane after it entered their airspace, two U.S. officials told ABC News. No U.S. forces were involved in the incident, both officials said.
Putin said the Russian plane was operating less than a mile inside the Syrian side of the border when it was hit and Russian officials have said it never crossed into Turkish airspace. Putin said the plane had been striking ISIS militants and had posed no threat to Turkey, which he said was “an obvious fact.”
Putin’s words showed Russia had determined it would not let the incident pass without complaint. Initially, Russian officials had said the plane had likely been hit by ground-fire from inside Syria.
It seems there are too many cooks involved in Syria. It’s getting scary.
What else is happening? Please post your thoughts and links in the comment thread and have a terrific Tuesday.
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Thanks to Dakinikat for the heads up on the Vanity Fair article on Trump’s narcissism.
Hillary debating Trump will be the equivalent of an adult debating a 2-yr. old. We can all pretty much imagine Trump’s lines.
Hillary’s response to the Turkey/Russia situation would be calm, thoughtful, nuanced and firm. Trump’s response would be to throw his sandbox toys at Putin. With Trump as POTUS the US would be in wars all around the globe, and we’d be desperately searching for another habitable planet to emigrate to. Thank the deities Hillary will nail his hair to the White House walls.
I wonder what Trump’s reaction would be – bomb the crap out of Turkey? bomb the crap out of Russia? bomb the crap out of both of them?
Here’s the intersection of racism and Trump supporters: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/trump-supporter-tells-cnn-id-get-beat-up-at-a-black-church-so-black-activists-deserve-it-at-trump-events/
WTF?! What is he basing that claim on? I haven’t heard reports of any beatings of white people in black churches.
Trump supporters must be pathological liar like Trump. Did you see the NYT editorial board compared Trump to George Wallace and Senator McCarthy today?
Really, there is some weird shit going on………..I’ve got many connections to the south, and one friend, said she was for Trump, and I told her to fuck off. After all these fucking years, she thinks he’s a good business man, and knows he is not going to win, but that he says things they want to hear. There goes another long term friendship down the toilet, I just couldn’t believe her. But I am no losing any sleep over it. So many in the south, do hold to that White supremacy bullshit.
Evidently, lots of white people everywhere if you look at Minnesota.
That’s horrible, I am really upset with the extent of racism being blasted, and no one seem to be stopping it.
He is a good businessman, if his wealth is any indication. Unfortunately, a lot of qualities that make him a good businessman would probably make his a terrible president.
He would have much more money if he had just invested what his father left him instead of going bankrupt multiple times.
http://fortune.com/2015/08/20/donald-trump-index-funds/
http://www.vox.com/2015/9/2/9248963/donald-trump-index-fund
I remember these articles, but, unfortunately, the math in this calculation is about as realistic as in average Paul Ryan budget. It assumes that Trump did not pay any taxes and did not spend any of his income on his (rather luxurious) living expenses. With those real life losses accounted for, he probably ends up with about 30%-50% more than what he would have if he had invested everything he had. So he’s not Buffett or Gates, but he did okay, thanks to his dad’s connections and money.
I told my friend, yeah, he’s such a good businessman he sold his yachts to the Saudia who are Sunni’s for millions, and millions. Wonder why nobody wants to talk about that?
It’s good business to sell stuff to Saudis – unless these Saudis happen to be the bin Laden family. I have a lot of problems with Trump, but him selling stuff to Saudi Arabia probably wouldn’t be one of them.
The Chicago policeman has officially been charged with murder and is being processed. (Reuters)
Really interesting Vanity Fair article about Trump’s narcissism. I have had two narcissistic family members and I have learned that the only way to deal with them is to keep them at arm’s length. The thought of a narcissist in a position of authority and especially as leader of the free world, the ultimate authority, is absolutely terrifying. It’s not a laughing matter anymore. Trump must never be POTUS.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/white-supremacists-shoot-5-black-lives-matter-activists-protesting-jamar-clarks-killing-in-minneapolis/
There’s an update here. Evidently, the racist shooters in Minneapolis really plotted and planned this. The city is incredibly liberal. It’s hard to think about this. I lived their for awhile and considered it a safe haven in the middle of a crazy part of the country.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/emails-reveal-racists-plotted-confrontation-with-black-lives-matters-activists-days-before-shooting/
According to one of the articles I posted, plenty of people expected Minneapolis to be the next Ferguson. It’s not as liberal as it used to be.
Undoubtedly, the surrounding suburbs and rural areas have an impact on that.
We seem to be as close to WW III as we’ve ever been. This whole agenda of destabilizing the entire middle east for what I have presumed to be just out and out greed is really biting us in the behind. The truth appears to be so muddled that it is impossible to shake out. Our actions as a nation are really befuddling. Several years ago it appeared that Putin outmaneuvered the war mongering factions of our government and avoided this but yahoo we went back for round 2 and now our allies are shooting down Russian jets who are actually fighting the very terrorists that we are all supposed to be afraid of. You know the ones that have been running rampant all across the middle east murdering and murdering and murdering innocent after innocent. What the hell is really going on here? WTF is wrong with the people of this country?
Yeah, it’s really weird. If you read the comments in the NYT a lot of people are saying, “Good for Turkey! It’s about time somebody stood up to Putin and his games…” While others are wondering exactly whose side Turkey is on. All I know is that lunatic, Putin isn’t going to stand still while his planes are getting shot down so what can we expect next?
I expect Russia to shoot down a Turkish plane within a week.
The fact is the Russian jet was bombing rebels backed by Turkey & NATO. Turkey reportedly gave them warning, but shot them down without giving them ample time to exit their Airspace. And it was never Russia’s mission in Syria to go after ISIS/ISIL, it was their mission to prop up Assad. Everyone was expecting Russia to refocus on ISIS/ISIL after the news that their passenger jet was brought down by an ISIS bomb, thus far there’s not much evidence of that.
I don’t believe there can be any distinction made between the “Rebels” and ISIS. They all belong to us and they are all using our weapons. When Assad is gone then all that leaves in charge is ISIS. They’ll have the whole country then. This is some rotten ass B.S. business we are involved in which has resulted in horror and misery for millions. Never mistake that. This is about real live people whose lives are being destroyed. For most people, propping up Assad is the only option. The people (CIA?) who funded these “rebel creeps” and “ISIS starting about 15 years ago in order to destabilize the region all need to be executed because their actions have caused the deaths of thousands and has resulted in turmoil and millions of refugees. Again, the neocon agenda is just INSANE. What are they even trying to accomplish here? All I see is death, destruction and horror. Nothing good will ever come of this. Nothing.
“I don’t believe there can be any distinction made between the “Rebels” and ISIS.”
I disagree and wonder what brings you to that conclusion? I’ve never heard anyone make that claim. There are numerous factions in the region fighting for all sorts of reasons, but ISIS/ISIL is attempting to establish a Caliphate in Iraq & Syria, none of the others are. The Turks are attempting to protect their own cultural and historic territory, The Kurds are fighting for many of the same reasons that the Turks are fighting. ISIS/ISIL however wants the entire region for their own particular and peculiar brand of Islam. And Assad is guilty of genocide against his own people, supporting Assad at this point would be like supporting Hitler.
“This is about real live people whose lives are being destroyed. For most people, propping up Assad is the only option.”
And again I disagree. Assad is the very worst option.The best option is to identify those rebel groups that are capable of occupying the land after ISIS is taken out and supporting them. Only Iran and the Russians are propping up Assad. Iran is supporting Assad because they’ve been strategic allies for decades, the Russians are doing it for the tactical military advantages that having Military and Naval bases in Syria gives them. NATO, including the U.S. is backing certain factions of the Rebel resistance and that’s about the only choice they have at the moment other than all out war. The consequence of allowing ISIS to survive is unthinkable and would lead to all out war anyway. So we’re boxed into a corner and arming the rebels is our only option.
“The people (CIA?) who funded these “rebel creeps” and “ISIS starting about 15 years ago in order to destabilize the region all need to be executed because their actions have caused the deaths of thousands and has resulted in turmoil and millions of refugees.”
We’ve been in that region of the world for much longer than 15 years, and ISIS wasn’t around 15 years ago, ISIS is a mish-mash of former Saddam Hussein Baathists and radical rebels that supported Saddam, opposed Assad and opposed Iran. Our history as well as the history of Russia, France and Great Britain has been one of arming that region and picking sides and goes back nearly 100 years. And there’s been turmoil in that region of the world for centuries. Turmoil that we had no hand in creating and turmoil that we cannot end. The U.S., France, Great Britain and Russia should have learned that lesson by now, but obviously we haven’t and so we’re left with the result of centuries old tribal feuds and the unintended consequence of our meddling.
“Assad is the very worst best option is to identify those rebel groups that are capable of occupying the land after ISIS is taken out and supporting them”
Correction: Assad is the very worst option, the best option is to identify those rebel groups that are capable of occupying the land after ISIS is taken out and supporting them.
yep, WTF.
The Week:
Donald Trump’s alarming skid toward outright fascism
Yep, he’s not skidding toward it, he’s racing to it full throttle.
Putin have a lot in common in the personality department. They both think they are just the person to rule the world singlehanded. I wouldn’t want either one of them in charge of my country.
Putin and Trump have a lot in common.
They sure do. Putin is probably better informed about world affairs though.
http://prntly.com/blog/?p=2642
Kasich expected to suspend his campaign.
The GOP candidates who are polling at 1-5% need to get out of the race so these polling numbers begin making some sense. I think if they do then we’ll see a bit of a shakeup at the top. I hate to say it, but Cruz is likely to begin rising to the top. I think Carson will continue to fade because he’s been exposed as pathological. There is the chance that Rubio could also be helped by drop outs, but I hope not. I think Jeb is finished too, but who knows with this crazy field.
Jeebus. The video of the murder of 17 year old Laquan McDonald has been released. “Chilling” is an understatement. I won’t link to it. It’s out there.
It’s a devastating indictment of the Chicago PD considering all of the officers who witnessed what could only be described as a cold blooded murder!