Saturday 27 December 2014

The Fascist state

This is happening every day, but sometimes these stories of the insanity and violence of the fascist state needs to be told

Minister Says Police Split Open Her Head During Berkeley Protests

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Hit from behind with police baton while retreating peacefully. @abc7newsBayArea
26 December, 2014

SAN FRANCISCO -- As police broke up protests in Berkeley Saturday night, a local minister went to the hospital with a gaping head wound and a concussion -- allegedly the result of an officer striking her from behind with a baton.
Cindy Pincus, 29, told HuffPost she was among a group of ministers and seminary students near the front of the protest as police in riot gear began advancing to disperse the crowd of hundreds. Pincus said she was helping a woman who'd fallen when, from the corner of her eye, she saw an officer swing a nightstick. She said the blow sent her staggering.
"I had a brief blackout in my vision. I saw stars," Pincus said. "I would say it’s an indiscriminate and disproportionate reaction to peaceful protests. It was completely way out of line."
A gory photo that Pincus tweeted became widely seen in the aftermath of Saturday's demonstration.
The Berkeley demonstration began peacefully to oppose a Staten Island grand jury's decision on Dec. 3 not to indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo for killing Eric Garner, an unarmed black man, with a chokehold. Hours into the protests, however, stores were vandalized and some objects were thrown at police. Protests on Sunday alsoturned violent, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Pincus, the intern minister at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco and a student at the Pacific School of Religion, said that she was with people behaving peacefully when she was hit.
Police had just begun firing tear gas as Pincus stumbled for safety, she said. Two blocks away from the center of the chaos on Telegraph Avenue, Pincus met friends who took her to a hospital in nearby Richmond. She was discharged early Sunday morning.
cindy pincus
Pincus getting examined at the Richmond Medical Center early on Sunday, Dec. 7.
The gash to Pincus' head took three staples to close. Two days after getting hit, she said, she's not sleeping well and has "cloudy thinking." Health insurance covered some of the cost of the trip to the emergency room, but the copay amounted to a $250 bill. A fellow seminarian offered to help pay, she said.
A Berkeley Police Department spokeswoman said that violent protesters put everyone at risk, including peaceful demonstrators.
"The Berkeley Police Department is and remains committed to allowing the public to peacefully assemble. All too often, some participants of recent demonstrations commit acts of violence — requiring police action," Officer Jennifer Coats said to HuffPost via email. "Acts of violence that can lead to a chaotic situation for demonstrators as well as officers who are trying to quickly assess and resolve quickly evolving situations."
At least 18 people were arrested in Berkeley during the two nights of altercations. The extent of protesters' injuries was unknown. Media reports said that several officers were injured.
Officials at the University of California, Berkeley, told HuffPost that they weren't sure how many students and faculty might have been injured. But one creative writing professor offered an extension on an assignment for any students harmed Saturday night.
If any of my #Berkeley students were teargassed, batoned or shot w/rubber bullets last night, you can have an extension on your essay.
kaya oakes (@kayaoakes) December 7, 2014

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates said Monday to KCBS that the right to demonstrate has been abused by outsiders.

A "massive headache" stopped Pincus from joining Sunday's protests, but she said she'll be back on the street Monday night.
"Just because I got hit doesn't mean that nobody else will," she said. "I have to keep going back until police brutality is over for everybody."
A third night of demonstrations in Berkeley is scheduled to begin Monday at 5 p.m. PST.
This story has been updated to include comment from the Berkeley Police Department.




Seattle Cops Drag 68-Year-Old Woman Off Plane, Jail Her For Three Days For Trying To Change Seats



26 December, 2014


A 68-year-old woman spent three days in jail after Seattle cops dragged her off a United Airlines flight. Her crime? Moving to an empty seat.

Jean Mamakos had planned to be skiing in Alaska with the group she was traveling with and after changing planes in Seattle, the New Yorker was a step closer to doing so. After the flight attendant shut the door in preparation for takeoff, Mamakos took the opportunity to change seats and moved to an empty seat closer to the emergency exit. That’s when flight attendants flipped out and overreacted.

One of the stewardesses said, ‘Oh no you don’t,’ which stopped me in my tracks,” Mamakos explained to KIRO. “So I went forward and another stewardess came along and said, ‘Give me your credit card.’”

Switching seats is considered an upgrade, and would have cost Mamakos an additional $109 on top of the thousands of dollars she paid for her round-trip cross-country flight. So, she went back to her original seat. Unbeknownst to her, the flight attendants were still making a fuss, and apparently, they tattled to the captain, who then announced that someone wanted to get off the plane.

I heard the captain say there is a lady who wants to get off the plane on this flight,” Mamakos said. “So we have to wait. I didn’t know that was me.”


Like bouncers at an exclusive club, flight attendants trapped a confused Mamakos and informed her she was about to be removed from the flight over a simple misunderstanding. Of course, Mamakos didn’t want to be removed from the flight at all. She simply thought she could change seats and after being informed that it would cost her, she returned to the seat she paid for.

“‘You have to get off this plane,’” Mamakos reported the flight attendants saying. In response, Mamakos said “’No, I paid for this seat, and I’m going to stay here.’”

That’s when the Seattle cops were called in and a cell phone recording began.

On the video, an officer gives Mamakos two choices: “Do you want to come willingly or be arrested for trespass?” Mamakos replies, “Whatever you have to do.” The officer then drags Mamakos up the aisle and off the plane. She was booked and spent the next three days in a jail cell because it was the weekend and the the courts were not open for business. In short, it was humiliating.

As expected, Mamakos is now suing United Airlines for the way they treated her over something so ridiculous. In truth, she should also sue the Seattle police department for arresting her on false charges. Mamakos was on board the plane she belonged on and was in the seat she paid for. She wasn’t trespassing at all. In fact, she didn’t commit a single crime. This is not only a case of overreaction by the airline, it’s another case of police overreaction as well. Mamakos should never have been arrested or kicked off her flight. She should have been skiing with her friends in Alaska, but a flight crew and some police officers decided to ruin her travel plans. And they should have to pay dearly for the unnecessary hell they put her through

1 comment:

  1. There is much more to this story. One of her fellow passengers has a video of her behaving very badly, and cursing at everyone, including her fellow passengers who simply wanted to take off for their Alaskan trip.
    This is not the first time Ms, Mamakos sued for millions of dollars. A few years ago in 2002, she sued New York Presbyterian Hospital for $5 million dollars. She alleged that security guards attacked her, tired her to a stretcher, and she was then admitted into their psychiatric unit. Ms. Mamakos dropped her lawsuit.

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