Tag: Violence

Not Again………

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Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s goons just beat more protesters in the United States again:

Violence erupted at a New York hotel after protesters heckled a speech by Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with chants of “terrorist”.

Mr Erdogan was addressing supporters in Turkish at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square when he was interrupted by several demonstrators.

“You’re a terrorist, get out of my country,” one protester shouted before he was punched and dragged away.

Mr Erdogan is in New York for the UN General Assembly.

In footage from the speech on Thursday, protesters are seen being pushed and punched in the head as they are ejected from the venue by suited men.

It is not clear at this stage if they were pro-Erdogan attendees, presidential bodyguards, or guards providing security at the hotel.

It’s pretty clear what they were.

We saw this in DC as well. It’s his goons.

We need to declare his entire security detail personae non grata, and let some more responsible entity, say for example Blackwater, manage his security.

A Well Deserved Repudiation of Cultural Relativism

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A court in Ontario sentenced an Iranian immigrant for beating and raping his wife repeatedly for 18 months, well below the recommended sentence, with the justification that he was operating under the cultural norms of Iran.

The appellate court overruled this sentence and gave the offender a 4 year sentence, saying that Canadians need to behave according to Canadian standards:

The woman, a recent immigrant from Iran, suffered brutal spousal abuse but didn’t even realize it was against the law.

After moving to Canada in 2009 her husband forced the woman, whose identity is protected by the court, to have sex with him by hitting her, pulling her hair, pinching her and forcefully removing her clothes. “She cried out quietly so the children would not hear,” court was told.

He also slapped, kicked and punched their two sons and hit them with a belt. Once he locked them outside the house on a snowy winter day wearing nothing but shorts and T-shirts until their mother came home and rescued them.

When the husband was convicted of sexual assault and assault, Justice William Gorewich of Ontario court sentenced him to 18 months, citing mitigating factors that included the lack of a criminal record. The judge also noted a “significant cultural gap” between behaviour that is accepted in Canada and in Iran, and the “cultural impact” of changing countries.

That didn’t cut much muster with the Ontario Court of Appeal, nor should it have.

On appeal by the Crown, Justices Mary Lou Benotto, Alexandra Hoy and David Doherty found the 18-month sentence to be “manifestly unfit”and they imposed a far tougher, and entirely appropriate, four-year sentence.

They also went out of their way to send a powerful, timely message to the lower courts and the public in general that “cultural norms that condone or tolerate conduct contrary to Canadian criminal law” must not be a mitigating factor in sentencing. “Cultural differences do not excuse or mitigate criminal conduct,” the appeals court held.

If that were the case “some women in Canadian society would be afforded less protection than others.” In effect “it would … create a second class of person in our society — those who fall victim to offenders who import such practices.”

I wholeheartedly approve of this ruling.

I don’t care if you come from WifeBeatIstan, there is no excuse for domestic abuse.  Ever.

UPS Employee Goes Postal

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Is it just me, or does anyone else see the irony in a UPS guy going Postal?

We live in strange times:

A gunman shot and killed three people at a United Parcel Service facility in San Francisco on Wednesday morning before fatally shooting himself in front of police officers, authorities said.

Two others were wounded by gunfire, according to San Francisco police, and five had injuries that were probably sustained during the rush to evacuate.

The lone gunman, identified by police as Jimmy Lam, 38, shot himself in the head, Assistant Chief Toney Chaplin said. Two guns were recovered at the scene.

Authorities said the incident was not believed to be connected to terrorism. Police Chief William Scott told The Times that investigators were uncertain about Lam’s motive.

………

UPS spokesman Steve Gaut said Lam was a driver who was wearing his uniform when he opened fire inside the four-story shipping facility. At the time, workers were gathering for their morning meeting before departing to deliver parcels, he said.

Lam, a resident of San Francisco, had filed a grievance in March complaining about excessive overtime, Joseph Cilia, a Teamsters Union official, told the Associated Press. The Teamsters local represents UPS workers in San Francisco.

It appears that workplace shooters never follow my advice, which is to target upper management.

This whole “Going Postal at UPS” thing is kind of ironic, the protestations of grammar Fascists notwithstanding.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

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Troof!

Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms. pic.twitter.com/hyfmmpgXML

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) June 14, 2017

Right thing to say

In a political season characterized by death threats against candidates, (here & here) it is lamentable, but foreseeable that someone would take those threats to the next level.

Today, in the 154
sup

mass shooting in the United States so far this year, a man opened fire at a baseball practice (there is an annual charity game) for Congressional Republicans:

A man angry with President Trump unleashed a barrage of gunfire Wednesday morning at Republican members of Congress as they held a baseball practice at a park in Alexandria, wounding House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and four others in a frenzied scene that included a long gun battle with police.

The gunman, James T. Hodgkinson, a 66-year-old unemployed home inspector from southern Illinois, died after the shootout. Two Capitol Police officers assigned to Scalise’s security detail were wounded.

Hodgkinson, who had been living in his van in Alexandria for the past few months, had posted anti-Trump rhetoric on his Facebook page and had written letters to his hometown newspaper blaming Republicans for what he considered an agenda favoring the wealthy.

This is the culture that we have created, and this does not bode well for the future of our society.

As an aside the gunman volunteered for the Sanders Campaign in 2015, and Sanders immediately condemned his actions, and he was defended by Sarah Palin (Breitbart, so no link).

Welcome to Trumpistan

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A man on a light rail train in Portland, Oregon, was berating two “Muslim appearing” women, one in a hijab.

When some bystanders attempted to intervene, he slashed three people, killing 2:

Two men were killed in a stabbing on a MAX train Friday when they tried to intervene as another man yelled racial slurs at two young women who appeared to be Muslim, including one wearing a hijab, police said.

A third passenger who tried to help was also stabbed, but is expected to survive, said Portland police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson.

Officers arrested the suspect as he ran from the Hollywood transit station into the neighborhood near Providence Portland Medical Center in Northeast Portland, Simpson said. Police are still working to identify him and the three men stabbed.

The suspect was ranting about many things, using “hate speech or biased language,” and at one point focused on the young women, Simpson said.

The suspect then turned on the passengers who tried to help, Simpson said.

“In the midst of his ranting and raving, some people approached him and appeared to try to intervene with his behavior and some of the people that he was yelling at,” Simpson said. “They were attacked viciously.”

One good Samaritan died at the scene and another at the hospital, he said. The third victim was undergoing evaluation, but didn’t suffer life-threatening wounds, he said.

It has since been revealed that the assailant was a well known white supremecist:

Memorial Day weekend started with a horrific attack on a MAX light rail train at rush hour Friday night. Here is what you need to know about the latest developments:

Police identified the victims who died as two local men. Rick Best and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche died and a third, 21-year-old Micah David-Cole Fletcher, was injured. Authorities have said his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

Police Chief Mike Marshman said the three men were stabbed in the neck.

Best died at the scene, and Namkai-Meche died at a hospital. Family and friends say the fact they both intervened was in keeping with their personalities and values.

Namkai-Meche, a 23-year-old Reed College graduate from Ashland, was remembered as the sort of person who would stand up for what he believed was right, even if it meant putting himself at risk.

Best, 53, had retired from the Army in 2012 after 23 years in the military. He lived in Happy Valley and had worked for the city for the past few years. He had three teenage sons and a 12-year-old daughter.

The accused was a convicted robber who spewed hatred. Jeremy Joseph Christian, 35, remained in jail on accusations of aggravated murder and attempted murder, as well as lesser crimes.

He had filled his Facebook posts with threats to kill people and Nazi sympathies. He came to wider attention in Portland during a march in April. The march occurred after a larger planned parade along 82nd Avenue was canceled over fear of disruptions.

A video of the event shows Christian, wrapped in a Revolutionary War-era American flag, casting Nazi salutes while shouting, “Die Muslims!”

He described himself as a sociopath. His only criminal record appears to stem from a hapless 2002 robbery. When he was 20, he stole cash and cigarettes from a North Portland market. The owner said the robber walked in wearing a black ski mask, with openings cut out for the eyes, nose and mouth, but he knew all his customers and immediately recognized Christian. During the ensuing police chase, Christian was shot in the face.

BTW, the Tweeter in Chief has been studiously silent on this.

My guess is that he lacks the courage to offend his base by condemning what is clearly an act of domestic terrorism.

This is Profoundly Odd

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The Westminster attacker has been identified as as Khalid Masood, age 52.

I am rather surprised at this age.

This is well beyond the age that you typically find people going violent jihadi.

I’m wondering if this was more of a generic sort of spree killing (and yes, I know how awful that concept sounds) than an act of terrorism:

A 52-year-old ex-convict from Birmingham was named on Thursday as the man who carried out the terrorist attack on Westminster in which he and four other people died, while eight others were arrested as police hunted for evidence of a wider conspiracy.

Khalid Masood, a man who had used a string of aliases, was described by police as a criminal with a 20-year record of offending, who had once been investigated for extremism but was assessed as posing a low risk.

Theresa May told MPs Masood had been previously known to MI5: “Some years ago, he was once investigated in relation to concerns about violent extremism. He was a peripheral figure. The case is historic – he was not part of the current intelligence picture.”

Amber Rudd, the home secretary, later added that Masood had spent time in jail, but not for terrorist offences, while the Metropolitan police said “Masood” was in all likelihood not his birth name.

While he did have a rather extensive rap sheet, it appears that his prior criminal activity ended over a decade ago:

Police revealed that Masood, born in Kent on Christmas Day 1964, had a string of criminal convictions. In a statement, the Met said: “He was known to police and has a range of previous convictions for assaults, including GBH, possession of offensive weapons and public order offences.

“His first conviction was in November 1983 for criminal damage and his last conviction was in December 2003 for possession of a knife.”

Daesh did claim that he did it for them, but did not include his name in their press release, which implies that there was no direct connection.

All in all, it’s rather odd.

This Would Not Have Happened 3 Years Ago

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When Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby shot Terence Crutcher last week, I’m sure that she thought that therw would be little or no repurcussions.

Before Black Lives Matter protests, and the increasing frequency of videos of police misconduct, the worst that could be expected was that she might have been fired, and then gone to work at another police department.

Not today.  The district attorney charged officer Shelby with 1st degree manslaughter:

The police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Friday has been charged with manslaughter, prosecutors announced on Thursday afternoon.

 Tulsa County’s district attorney, Steve Kunzweiler, said he had filed a first-degree manslaughter charge against Betty Shelby, the white police officer who killed Terence Crutcher last week.

 ………

 A court filing by prosecutors said Shelby “unlawfully and unnecessarily” shot Crutcher because he was refusing to comply with her orders.

 Shelby “reacted unreasonably by escalating the situation”, according to an affidavit from Doug Campbell, Kunzweiler’s chief investigator, who alleged that she became “emotionally involved to the point that she overreacted”.

 Kunzweiler said a warrant has been issued for Shelby’s arrest and “arrangements are being made for her surrender to the Tulsa County sheriff’s department,” where Shelby was previously employed.

The video of the shooting is pretty clear on what happened, and what did not happen.

When even Donald Trump thinks that this was a bad shoot, you know that something seriously went wrong that day:

Donald Trump has expressed concern over the recent police killing of an unarmed black man in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

 Speaking to a crowd of black pastors at an Ohio church, the Republican nominee said he was “very, very troubled” by the shooting.

………

But Mr Trump has billed himself as the “law and order candidate”, making his remarks stand out as a rare criticism of police actions.

 The New York billionaire, who has been a vocal critic of the Black Lives Matter movement, received an endorsement by The Fraternal Order of Police on Friday.

 “I must tell you, I watched the shooting in particular in Tulsa and that man was hands up. That man went to the car, hands up, put his hand on the car,” Mr Trump said at the New Spirit Revival church in Cleveland Heights.

When a shooting of a black man draws public doubt from Donald f%$#ing Trump, it is not a good shoot.

Between this shooting and the shooting in Charlotte, which has experienced unrest and a curfew, it is no surprise that distrust of the police is at the highest level in at least a generation.