2011-07-26 "Stand up, Hunters Point! What the Kenneth Harding Movement can learn from the Oscar Grant Movement" by Minister of Information JR
[http://sfbayview.com/2011/stand-up-hunters-point/]
Email POCC Minister of Information JR, Bay View associate editor, at blockreportradio@gmail.com and visit www.blockreportradio.com.

“The police in our community occupy our area, our community, as a foreign troop occupies territory. And the police are in our community not to promote our welfare or our security or our safety, but they are there to contain us, to brutalize us and murder us.” – Huey P. Newton, co-founder and minister of defense of the Black Panther Party

The Oscar Grant Movement was a great moment in the history of Bay Area politics, where the people stood up consistently for two years against police terrorism. The problem is that over that time the state figured out ways to water down the strong message of “Stop killing our people,” “Stop state-sponsored terrorism,” “BART should be free to the low income.” Some people became friends with individual police officers, some were paid off with contracts and grants, others were just happy to emotionally yell “fuck the police” in the mic and look important and get their photo taken.
To put it bluntly, the movement that tore up downtown Oakland on numerous occasions and forced the city to bring in the National Guard and indict one of the officers involved was not an activist movement. It was the Black and the Brown youngstas from the ghetto and the white anarchists who put the flames to the jewel of Oakland and secured this miniscule victory of killer cop Johannes Mehserle serving 11 months.
A little more than a week ago, Kenneth Harding was murdered on Third Street, the heart of Bayview Hunters Point, the last Black community in San Francisco. It is essential that the hood remain a part of the organizing, no matter the cost, because these are the lives who are most at risk of being extinguished by the gangster force of the San Francisco Police Department, as well as these are the people with the least vested interest in the status quo.
We must establish points of unity as soon as possible. One of the points should be that San Francisco residents need a police citizen review board with the teeth to fire and indict officers in the same way that a grand jury can indict. Two, since Kenneth Harding was murdered by the police behind evading a $2 Muni fare, Muni and BART should be free to low income residents and students struggling through the depression in the Black community – especially since hundreds of millions of dollars over the last decade have been invested into Hunters Point, starting with the construction of the Muni light rail track and stations up and down Third Street and the rebuilding of the Bayview Library.
Ultimately we need a revolutionary solution to these problems that have been plaguing our communities since the end of chattel slavery. This particular struggle is one more step to bringing our community into that type of consciousness where we demand – not beg, ask, protest or petition. We have to get to a point where we refuse to be pushed anymore and where we will sacrifice our lives to beat these dogs off of us.
The city has refused to give Black contractors that live in Hunters Point the contracts and has allowed for the non-Black construction companies to discriminate against hiring people from the community for the higher paying construction jobs like working the big machinery. We should have shut down their construction sites until they contracted and hired us, but we didn’t for whatever reason.
If you throw the problems of constant police terrorism and killings, gang injunctions, a poisonous environment that the city and military refuses to clean up, foreclosures, red-lining banks, the refusal of the city to contract residents to build up our own communities, the refusal of the city to offer any meaningful employment, high dropout rates, underfunded colonial schools that don’t teach a knowledge of self, constant access to low grade food, guns, drugs, cigarettes and alcohol, then you can see the City’s plan for the last Black community in Frisco, which can be summed up in one word: GENOCIDE.
Hunters Point has stood up to the Lennar Corp. and the City about the shipyard. It is time to expand that movement to include police terrorism, put new energy into it, and claim our right to live and not be wantonly killed.
All Power to the Oppressed People! Hunters Point, Stand Up!

At the press conference held on the spot where, two days earlier, Kenneth Harding lay bleeding to death as police trained their guns on him and kept the crowd at bay, Minister of Information JR watches as Fly Benzo, aka Debray Carpenter, is interviewed. Three days later, after Fly Benzo was pictured in the Chronicle and Examiner pitching tough questions to Police Chief Greg Suhr, Benzo was arrested and jailed. The DA's Office says the charges have now been dropped and he is expected to be released today. A "surge" of police since the shooting is arresting and harassing Bayview Hunters Point residents at an accelerated rate. - Photo: Malaika Kambon

2011-07-25 "Four arrested after car pursuit ends near a party with combative crowd in Vallejo" from "Vallejo Times-Herald" newspaper
[http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_18543918?IADID=Search-www.timesheraldonline.com-www.timesheraldonline.com]
Vallejo police arrested four people early Saturday after a pursuit ended near a party with a combative crowd.
At about 2 a.m., officers saw six vehicles leaving a bar on Broadway and Oregon Street. The cars were moving recklessly, with some occupants hanging out the windows and some car swerving, police said.
Officers tried to stop one car, but the vehicle failed to yield and led officers on a short pursuit to Marin and El Dorado streets, where the driver pulled over, police said.
The stopped car was associated with a nearby house on El Dorado Street, which was hosting a party, police said.
As officers were dealing with the occupants of the stopped car, people from the party began coming out of the house toward the officers, police said.
Police described the crowd as "hostile" and summoned help from the Solano County Sheriff's Office and the American Canyon Police Department.
One person in a car that had followed the pursuit became combative and challenged an officer, police said. He was subsequently shot with a non-lethal bullet and subdued.
The suspect, Eric Nichols, 33, of Vallejo was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer and public intoxication. He did not sustain injuries, police said.
A female resident of the home, Monique Henderson, 34, who was found to be intoxicated, was inciting a riot, police said. Henderson was subsequently arrested on suspicion of public intoxication and provoking violence, police added.
From the car, officers arrested Joseph Connors, 25, and Mark Connors, 21, of Berkeley. The elder Connors was booked on suspicion of felony evading, driving on a suspended license and violating a probation for driving under the influence.
The younger Connors was arrested on suspicion of providing a false name to police officers and for also violating his probation.

Justice for James Rivera Jr.

2011-07-23 "Protest marks year since teen's death" by Christian Burkin from "Stockton Record"
[http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110723/A_NEWS/107230333]
STOCKTON - One year after 15-year-old James Rivera Jr. was killed by police after a chase through a north Stockton neighborhood, dozens of people demonstrated across the street from the Police Department on Friday morning, calling for greater transparency and an end to what they called police brutality.
The demonstrators included Rivera's relatives and friends, as well as Bay Area activists. Some carried a mock coffin from a truck to the corner of El Dorado and Washington streets. Others held signs calling for justice and invoking other officer-involved killings, including that of Oscar Grant III, shot in the back by BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle on New Year's Day 2009.
An uncle of Grant's, Cephus "Uncle Bobby" Johnson, drove from Oakland to Stockton to join the demonstration Friday morning. Johnson said he had been following officer-involved killings closely since his nephew's, for which Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
"They have a tendency to tell you one thing and then change the story," Johnson said.
Rivera was shot and killed by Stockton police and a Sheriff's deputy after a chase that ended when the vehicle he was driving, a minivan taken in an armed carjacking, was rammed by police, causing it to crash into a house. Police have said Rivera was attempting to reverse rapidly when officers opened fire on the minivan. The carjacker had reportedly been armed with a shotgun, but no weapon was recovered from the minivan.
Some of Rivera's family members have said he told them he had bought the van. His mother, Dionne Smith-Downs, said Friday that if she had heard that from him, she would have demanded proof. She also said she believed other people, not her son, had committed the carjacking.
Smith-Downs said she is frustrated that her son's property has not yet been returned to her, and that the investigation has not been completed.
"It's been a year now. I should have some kind of answer," she said.
The investigation of the shooting includes the District Attorney's Office, the Sheriff's Office and the Police Department. It is not unusual for officer-involved shooting investigations to take up to a year in San Joaquin County.
Deputy District Attorney Robert Himelblau said the investigation has been slowed by budget cuts at the District Attorney's Office, particularly the loss of about 30 percent of its staff. Prosecutors are also dealing with a sharp increase in homicides.
"We don't have the attorneys. We have a higher case load, and we're in trial nonstop," he said.
Smith-Downs has sued Stockton and its Police Department over the killing of her son, but that lawsuit has twice been returned by the court for revisions to the paperwork. She is represented by John Burriss, the Oakland attorney who represented the family of Oscar Grant and who is representing the family of 34-year-old Ernest Duenez Jr., shot and killed by Manteca police on June 8.
Smith-Downs said she has been involved with activism targeting perceived police brutality since her son's killing.
"I want to get the word out: Stand up! Speak up!" she said.
---
Dionne Smith-Downs, mother of James Rivera, was one of the dozens of demonstrators who gathered across from the Stockton Police Department on Friday, the anniversary of the shooting of 15-year-old Rivera.
CALIXTRO ROMIAS/The Record

2011-07-23 "Free Debray Carpenter AKA Fly Benzo, arrested by SFPD" by Idriss Stelley Foundation
[http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/07/23/18685849.php]
Free Debray Carpenter Aka Fly Benzo arrested 2 days ago, after the Bayview Opera House forum about the SFPD Killing of Kenneth Harding. 9 police officers came to arrest him.
They charged him with threatening a Police office but really he is being targeted by the authorities for standing up for his community, as he has been a constant voice for the younger generation who no one speaks for.
Comrade Fly has been very vocal about the multiple lies and deception spun by SFPD top brass since the killing of Kenneth Wade Harding Jr. last Saturday on rd & Oakdale in SF Bayview.
A demonstration is planned tomorrow Saturday to Free him, we will post time and location below this post in comments when we find out more

"update" by nojusticenobart Sunday Jul 24th, 2011 2:25 PM
Just to be clear, Debray was arrested YESTERDAY and needs our support TOMORROW (Monday!) morning at his arraignment at 850 Bryant.
Here's a link to the facebook event: [http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=235611039806114]

"Arraignment won't likely be Monday" by Kim Rohrbach Monday Jul 25th, 2011 12:31 AM
I understand from folks, including an attorney who has offered to represent Fly should charges be prosecuted, that the arraignment won't likely be Monday.
Tuesday is a likely date, but stay tuned.
Also, I am told by the aforementioned attorney that SF has changed the way it handles in-custody arraignments, and that misdemeanor and felony arraignments now generally occur in the afternoon—although things don't always go according to schedule.

"Tentatively Scheduled for Thursday Now..." by FREE FLY! Monday Jul 25th, 2011 8:23 AM
Just got off the phone with the superior court at 850 Bryant. They are now saying that Debray's hearing has been tentatively scheduled for Thursday. They also confirmed the charges: two obstruction charges, one misdemeanor and one felony. See you Thursday... Fuck the SFPD

"Fly Benzo arraignment could be Tuesday, July 26th - stay tuned!" by Free Debray Carpenter! Tuesday Jul 26th, 2011 12:48 AM
John Hamasaki believes there is a "decent chance" that Debray will be arraigned tomorrow (Tues.). Could be morning or afternoon. If I get any definitive word, I will pass on last-minute to the extent that circumstances allow.
As many of you are aware, activist Debray Carpenter, aka Fly Benzo, is currently in jail at 850 Bryant and is awaiting arraignment following his arrest (at his house) on Saturday. His father has asked community members to come out to show their support, whenever the arraignment takes place.
According to John Hamasaki, who has offered to represent Debray should his case be prosecuted, there is a "decent chance" that the arraignment will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, July 26, either in the morning or afternoon. Debray has been booked on Penal Code § 69* (as a felony) and Penal Code §148** (a) (1) (as a misdemeanor).
A few days prior to his arrest, Debray and many Bayview-Hunters Point residents attended a meeting at the Bayview Opera House, concerning the brutal death of Kenneth Harding at the hands of the SFPD, at which SFPD Chief Greg Suhr was shouted down.
In addition to attending last Wednesday's meeting at the Bayview Opera House, and last Monday's press conference at 3rd & Oakdale, called by the Idriss Stelley Foundation, Debray also participated in the BART action a couple of weeks ago (in response to the execution of Charles Hill by the BART police) and the march from Dolores Park last Tuesday, which culminated in some plus or minus forty arrests. Some media links are included below.
The SFPD clearly want somebody to pay for the response they received at the Bayview Opera House, and for the vehement outrage recently expressed by community members in response to police executions and brutality.
That the SFPD has chosen Debray—a young Black man not afraid of speaking his mind or crossing the social barriers that the cops reinforce with arms—should be understood as a serious attack.
The charges:
*69. Every person who attempts, by means of any threat or violence, to deter or prevent an executive officer from performing any duty imposed upon such officer by law, or who knowingly resists, by the use of force or violence, such officer, in the performance of his duty, is punishable by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment in the state prison, or in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
**148. (a) (1) Every person who willfully resists, delays, or obstructs any public officer, peace officer, or an emergency medical technician, as defined in Division 2.5 (commencing with Section 1797) of the Health and Safety Code, in the discharge or attempt to discharge any duty of his or her office or employment, when no other punishment is prescribed, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

"Fly Benzo released!" by bout time Tuesday Jul 26th, 2011 10:45 PM
He was released today, no charges filed.
Bullshit that the cops can throw anyone they want in jail for days on false charges.
This has to stop!!

"fly benzo HAS NOT been released yet" by reclaim UC ( reclaimuc [at] gmail.com ) Wednesday Jul 27th, 2011 12:30 AM
was with a number of folks hanging out at the jail this evening waiting for fly benzo to be released. the cops said over and over that he would get out at a given time, and that time would come and nothing. then they would do it all over again. AS OF MIDNIGHT FLY IS STILL IN JAIL. the pigs are now saying that he might not be released until noon tomorrow.
http://reclaimuc.blogspot.com

"finally! he's out" by stolen from fb Wednesday Jul 27th, 2011 10:03 AM
fly is out. They waited til everyone left. The spiteful pieces of shit they are.

Fly Benzo

Hero of the People

Photograph showing Fly Benzo taking center stage, at the mic

Justice for Kenneth Harding

2011-07-22 "BOMBSHELL: SFPD Now Says Kenneth Harding Shot Himself to Death; Gun Retrieved Not Harding’s Gun"
[http://thisblksistaspage.wordpress.com/2011/07/22/bombshell-sfpd-now-says-kenneth-harding-shot-himself-to-death-gun-retrieved-not-hardings-gun/]
I’ve got to go to work soon, and I won’t be back until late afternoon, but I had to report this one.
The temperatures are really going up in San Francisco with this news [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/22/MNAU1KDJ6H.DTL]. And it’s not about the mercury, but blood pressures.
[begin extract]
After five days of heat over the fatal shooting of a fleeing suspect in the Bayview, San Francisco police on Thursday let loose a bombshell – the young man not only had a gun, officials said, but appears to have killed himself with it.
The bullet that killed 19-year-old Kenneth Wade Harding on Saturday came from a .380-caliber firearm, authorities announced, and a round of the same caliber was recovered from Harding’s jacket pocket.
San Francisco police officers, by contrast, are armed with .40-caliber ammunition and guns that can’t fire a .380-caliber shot, said John Sanchez, a firearm supervisor with the Police Department crime lab.
Cmdr. Mike Biel, who heads investigations, said detectives now believe Harding fatally wounded himself as he fled from two police officers who were attempting to check whether he had a Muni ticket.
Police are still trying to find that weapon, which they believe was stolen from the crime scene.
“Based on the findings of the medical examiner, at this time we believe he was fatally wounded by a .380-caliber bullet,” Biel said Thursday afternoon at the medical examiner’s office, which is rarely the site of news conferences.
[end extract]

I am shaking my head at this. No one is going to believe this latest news, especially when the small-caliber gun remains missing. Nobody believes that Harding even fired at the cops. It looks to the black residents of Bayview-Hunters’ Point that the SFPD are trying to exonerate the cops. A $1,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the recovery of the weapon as well as Harding’s cell phone. They are also searching for a young guy in a hoodie who was recorded picking up Harding’s gun. But right now, the emperor has no clothes and may well lose his skin. Chief of Police Greg Suhr, who used to run the SFPD Bayview Station was run off the stage at the Hunters’ Point Opera House Wednesday night [http://www.sfbg.com/politics/2011/07/21/outrage-bayview-opera-house-video].
[begin extract]
A community meeting July 20 at the Bayview Opera House dissolved into chaotic shouting when Police Chief Greg Suhr attempted to present the San Francisco Police Department‘s version of what transpired July 16 when a 19-year-old African American man was shot nine times by police and killed just blocks from where the meeting was held.
“On Saturday afternoon, two officers at the Bayview station … contacted a fare evader whose name ended up being Kenneth Wade Harding, Jr. of Seattle, Washington,” Suhr began. “After asking him for his identification, he became a little bit anxious, and at one point in time he jumped off the platform and ran across the street, and ran through crowded Mendell Plaza. I cannot tell you how badly that I feel … as captain of this station for two years. I love the Bayview community.”
At that point, angry shouts rose up and Suhr started getting booed, but he continued. “During this foot pursuit, at some point in time, the suspect … fired at the officers, and the officers returned fire. This is the account that we have so far.”
Kilo Perry began shouting back at the chief, saying, “You are not a friend of ours. You are the enemy,” before bystanders tried to calm him down. The SFPD had planned on showing a power point presentation about the incident, but that didn’t happen. Instead, Suhr was drowned out, and the microphone was passed to various community representatives and members of the clergy, who’d helped organize the meeting, as they tried to regain control. Lifelong Bayview resident Charlie Walker asked people to sit down and relax.
[end extract]

That ain’t gonna happen for a while.
Gotta go.

2011-07-22 "Latest Updates on the Bizarre Murder of 19 Year old Kenneth Harding"
[http://hiphopandpolitics.com/2011/07/22/latest-updates-on-the-bizarre-murder-of-19-year-old-kenneth-harding/]
Kenneth Harding
Here’s an intense breakdown of the murder of Kenneth Harding, put together by Jazmayne.. It’s composed of witness accounts of the aftermath to the daytime shooting. Featuring the poetry of the late, great Gil Scott Heron.

[http://vimeo.com/26708722]

The Murder of Kenneth Harding Jr. from J. Young on Vimeo.

Mysterious hooded man picking up gun
Thus far we have few bewildering things going on.. Follow this if you can..We initially heard that SFPD shot an unarmed man when he ran for not having a $2 bus transfer..
Later that night we heard from Police Chief Suhr that the man (Kenneth Harding) had shot at the police but no gun was found..No cops were injured.. By the time 10 o’clock news came on..There were reports that someone had posted a video showing a gun..The police looked at this video and said they would be tracking down a man with a hoodie shown in the video picking up the gun.. Here’s the video…You tell us if this hooded gentleman picked up a gun. You see that about 1;20 minutes into the video.. Also explain to us how police shot a man shooting at them did not secure a weapon that was less than 10ft away from them when they are facing the crowd..

"San Francisco Police (SFPD) shoot and kill a man in the Bayviews Hunters Point Oakdale & 3rd"
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTbJEy7sj_4]


The police later tracked down the gun, but did not catch the man who supposedly took the gun. They said they know who he is.. and they will catch him later.. It was interesting that his name was not released so concerned citizens could help bring him to the police.. Up til a couple of days ago this video containing the gun was the main proof the police were offering-showing that Kenneth Harding was armed.
SF police Chief Suhr the day after the shooting announced they had recovered the gun and thanked witnesses for coming forth to letting them know that the man they shot was armed. The next day the police posted signs around the Bayview asking for additional witnesses.
SFPD also announced that the man that they shot was a person of interest in a murder case in Seattle.. This story was put out there as if the SFPD was on the hunt for Harding in conjunction w/ Seattle PD.That was not the case.. All SFPD knew was Harding was a guy who didnt have a $2 bus transfer…By floating this story out, many would be left feeling the police were justified in shooting Harding.. To this day he is still considred a person of interest.. not a person wanted for murder..
Also on Monday July 18th a rally was held where at least half a dozen eye witnesses came forth and talked to various reporters saying they did not see Kenneth Harding shoot at police. This included parents who had kids in the park just 4-5 ft away from where Harding was gunned down. This includes a number of people who were in the plaza which is always packed..We spoke with other reporters, none of them had tracked down witnesses supporting the police version of events.. Here’s a link to our HKR radio coverage [http://swift.fm/#!/song/hard-knock-radio-protest-at-hunters-point-over-police-ki/101118/]
Below is OLM video of some of this coverage…
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XYXEnsnZLg]


After the Monday press conference.. SFPD claimed they did tests and that gun residue was found on the hands of the Kenneth Harding.. To my knowledge this was not independently verified. Considering that as 3 months ago SFPD had to jettison 57 felony cases for falsifying evidence [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/us/10narcs.html], one wonders why they wouldn’t be more transparent? Why not go above board to ensure public confidence in the process? We do know on Tuesday there was private closed door meeting with Mayor Ed Lee, the police and a handful of community leaders.. At that meeting there was no independent verification. SF Commissioner La Mesha Irizarry [http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001731801405] has written about what went down at this meeting.
The most recent updates have SFPD saying that according the SF medical examiner Harding shot himself and thus killed himself.. Many find that outrageous. Harding was running from police and was shot in the back..The police are saying they found gun residue on his hand, but they had to backtrack on the gun story.. The gun they found does not match the residue.. and so now police are still looking for the gun..
We’ll keep you posted as this bizarre tale continues to unfold..




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