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Category: Austin

Texas Grand Jury Won’t Indict Cop Who Shot Naked, Unarmed Black Teen

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and MintPress News

On Tuesday, a grand jury declined to indict a police officer who shot a naked, unarmed black teen early this year.

Geoffrey Freeman, an Austin police officer, who is also black, shot David Joseph on the morning of Feb. 8 after police received calls about a neighborhood disturbance. Police say Joseph charged at Freeman as he exited his vehicle.

“In a matter of seconds, Freeman commanded Joseph to stop, then opened fire twice, hitting Joseph in the chest and leg, authorities have said,” the Austin American Statesman reported.

UPDATE: Uber & Lyft Cease Operations In Austin After Voters Reject Record-Breaking Electoral Campaign

Posted in Archive, Austin, Journalism, and MintPress News

Two big corporations with almost limitless bank accounts are bent on circumventing local law by buying a municipal election, according to their opponents.

Facing new regulations from the Austin City Council, Uber and Lyft, the popular ride-booking apps, brought the battle to the ballot box, launching a campaign to pass Proposition 1. Both drivers and paid petitioners canvassed widely for the issue last year, collecting thousands of signatures in order to trigger the election.

Based on the most recent electoral filings, Uber and Lyft have sunk over $8 million into Ridesharing Works For Austin, their joint PAC urging voters to vote in favor of Prop 1, the sole item on the ballot in the special election. By contrast, two smaller PACs opposed to the resolution, Our City Our Safety Our Choice PAC and Austin Unites, have raised less than $100,000 combined.

The election comes after months of negotiations between the City Council and the corporations, according toDelia Garza, a City Council member from Austin’s District 2. “Every time we tried to solve an issue they’d bring up, they’d move the ball,” she told MintPress News.

The First Amendment Hasn’t Stopped Police From Harassing Copwatchers

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and Truthout

At a protest in downtown Denver, on April 29, 2015, a police officer stole Jessica Benn’s smartphone.

Benn had been filming her husband, Jesse, from the safety of the sidewalk as police arrested him. That was enough for her to be targeted and to have her property illegally seized.

“An officer just stepped up to me and grabbed it right out of my hand,” she told Truthout. “Right behind him was an officer in SWAT gear who then took me and pushed me up against a bus with a baton across my neck and held me there.”

Benn grew increasingly alarmed as the officer ignored her questions.

“It was very chaotic, people were yelling and getting arrested all around us, and the nature of the arrests were very violent. So at that point I was concerned about my safety and I told this officer that I was pregnant and could he please not hurt my stomach.”

‘Orange Sunshine’: Tune In, Turn On With 100 Million Hits Of LSD (#SXSW)

Posted in Journalism, and SXSW

LSD is back in the news, as scientists begin to study this intriguing substance again.

After spending years banished to the realms of forbidden science, a study published in March from The Proceedings of the National Academy Of Sciences USA used neural imaging to examine the areas of the brain activated by the psychedelic drug. David Nuitt, a lead researcher, told Nature that he thinks LSD has potential to treat addiction and depression.

In the 1960s and 1970s, scientists and psychotherapists were fascinated by the therapeutic potential of psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms), even as everyday Americans experienced their effects firsthand by the thousands. A politically-motivated surge in the war on drugs sent both research and psychedelic culture underground.

“Orange Sunshine,” which premiered at SXSW in March, tells the story of The Brotherhood Of Eternal Love, the hippie surfer cult that fueled America’s LSD boom. In the name of helping the country “turn on,” they created and distributed millions of hits of acid to celebrities and festival-goers alike.

In ‘Ovarian Psycos,’ Women Use Bikes To Claim Space & The Streets (#SXSW)

Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and SXSW

There’s a particular liberation found on two wheels, gliding through a night time city street.

That feeling becomes simultaneously even more liberating and powerful in a group of cyclists, reasserting our right to take up space normally dominated by cars.

But cycling culture is notoriously sexist — just ask almost any woman who has tried to purchase a bike or get repairs at a shop, and group rides are often male-dominated and unwelcoming to women and the gender-nonconforming.

The Ovarian Psycos are a women-of-color cycling crew from East Los Angeles and the Boyle Heights neighborhood. Beyond simply spreading the joy of the ride to more people, their work is directly situated in a historic tradition of feminist and Xicana activism.

“Ovarian Psycos,” a documentary from directors Joanna Sokolowski and Kate Trumbull-LaValle that premiered this year at SXSW, brings the crew’s politics and passion to the screen, where it can hopefully inspire other women like them to take up more space on the streets and in their everyday lives.

As Cannabis Becomes Big Business, Who’s Getting Smoked?

Posted in Journalism, MintPress News, and SXSW

Hundreds of people marched to the White House early this month to show their support for less restrictive federal marijuana regulations and nationwide legalization.

In an act of peaceful protest, many at the event organized by DCMJ, a local legalization group, smoked marijuana, puffed on vaporizers containing hash oil, or consumed cannabis edibles. Although the activists at the April 3 rally were prepared to risk arrest, CNN reported just two citations.

Although possession of up to 2 ounces of pot has been decriminalized within Washington, D.C., smoking marijuana could be considered an act of civil disobedience because public consumption remains prohibited.

As the group staged their 4:20 “smoke in,” they briefly inflated a 51-foot inflatable joint emblazoned with a clear message: “Obama, deschedule cannabis now.”