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Over 100 Arrested In Brutal Police Crackdown On Standing Rock ‘Water Protectors’
Activists rally at Minneapolis City Hall to support the 'water protectors' blocking the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota. October 25, 2016. (Flickr / Fibonacci Blue)
October 28, 2016
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Over 100 Arrested In Brutal Police Crackdown On Standing Rock ‘Water Protectors’

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Law enforcement commenced a violent crackdown on Native American activists blocking construction on the Dakota Access pipeline on Thursday, resulting in over 100 arrests and multiple injuries.

At least 107 people were arrested and both Native American “water protectors” and members of the media were harmed when hundreds of militarized riot police, accompanied by armored vehicles and the National Guard, stormed a blockade on North Dakota Highway 1806 and an accompanying encampment.

Among the injured was Derrick Broze, an independent journalist reporting for MintPress News from the Standing Rock Sioux reservation this week. He was shot with pepper spray and shocked with a “less-lethal” taser. Police also took his smartphone, which he had been using to document the day’s events via Facebook Live.

Read moreOver 100 Arrested In Brutal Police Crackdown On Standing Rock ‘Water Protectors’
North Dakota Police ‘Out Of Control’ In Crackdown On Dakota Access Pipeline Protests
Native American "water protectors" drum in solidarity with anti-pipeline activists in North Dakota. September 16, 2016. (Flickr / John Duffy)
October 22, 2016
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North Dakota Police ‘Out Of Control’ In Crackdown On Dakota Access Pipeline Protests

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

As reports of police abuse at Dakota Access Pipeline protests accumulate, a civil liberties NGO warns that activists’ constitutional rights are under attack.

“In Standing Rock, the cops are out of control,” warned Cooper Brinson, staff attorney at Civil Liberties Defense Center, in a report published on Thursday.

Citing reports of humiliation, beatings by police, and unnecessary strip-searches of arrestees, Brinson wrote:

Read moreNorth Dakota Police ‘Out Of Control’ In Crackdown On Dakota Access Pipeline Protests
‘Fuck It, I Quit’: News Anchor-Turned-Cannabis Advocate Faces 54 Years In Prison
Charlo Greene at a cannabis convention. (Facebook / Charlo Greene)
October 13, 2016
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‘Fuck It, I Quit’: News Anchor-Turned-Cannabis Advocate Faces 54 Years In Prison

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Charlo Greene, the local news anchor from Alaska who became a viral sensation for quitting her job while voicing her support for cannabis legalization during a live broadcast, now faces decades in prison on a growing list of drug-related charges.

“Fuck it, I quit,” Greene famously declared live on KTVA on Sept. 22, 2014 at the end of a report on the Alaska Cannabis Club. In addition to revealing that she was actually the owner of the club, she said she was leaving the station to work on the business and push for cannabis law reform full-time.

In the November 2014 election, Alaska became the third state to legalize recreational cannabis, but Greene stands accused of illegally selling the drug in the time between when the vote to legalize took place and the state fully implemented the law. Alaskan police conducted multiple raids and undercover investigations of the club.

Read more‘Fuck It, I Quit’: News Anchor-Turned-Cannabis Advocate Faces 54 Years In Prison
Dakota Access Pipeline ‘Water Protectors’ Block Construction Despite National Guard Blockade, Police Harassment & Arrests
Members of the Overpass Light Brigade hold lighted signs reading "PROTECTORS" at Oceti Sakawin camp. (Flickr / Joe Brusky)
October 5, 2016
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Dakota Access Pipeline ‘Water Protectors’ Block Construction Despite National Guard Blockade, Police Harassment & Arrests

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Amid near continuous harassment and frequent arrests by police, members of over 300 Native American tribes gathered on native land in North Dakota continue to block construction on the Dakota Access pipeline.

“It’s a matter of minutes from when they’re called that they show up and you see constant harassment of people going back and forth to camp,” said Remy, a Diné artist and organizer at the encampment on Standing Rock Sioux territory, known as Oceti Sakowin Camp.

“It shows how close the ties are between the Dakota Access pipeline and law enforcement.”

Read moreDakota Access Pipeline ‘Water Protectors’ Block Construction Despite National Guard Blockade, Police Harassment & Arrests
Despite Safeguards, 2016 Sees Rise In Heat-Related Police Dog Deaths
A police officer with a K-9 Unit in New London, Connecticut. (Wikimedia Commons / Sage Ross)
September 19, 2016
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Despite Safeguards, 2016 Sees Rise In Heat-Related Police Dog Deaths

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

High summer temperatures have claimed the lives of 16 police dogs this year, most of which died as a result of being left unattended in sweltering vehicles, according to figures reported by an animal rights organization and a group that tracks canine law enforcement deaths.

Police dog deaths increased from last summer, when 12 dogs died of heat exhaustion.

This year is edging out 2015 as a more dangerous year for police dogs overall. According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, which tracks both human and canine law enforcement deaths in the United States, 28 police dogs have died so far this year. Last year, the group reported the deaths of 27 police dogs.

Read moreDespite Safeguards, 2016 Sees Rise In Heat-Related Police Dog Deaths
Interview with Flashpoints Radio: Cell-Jamming Tech Used On Journalists At DNC
In this July 29, 2016 photograph, a Philadelphia police officer threatens activists with his baton during protests outside the Democratic National Convention. (Kit O'Connell)
August 17, 2016
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Interview with Flashpoints Radio: Cell-Jamming Tech Used On Journalists At DNC

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

I covered the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia for MintPress News, where I was disturbed to discover that journalists’ cell-phone signals were routinely jammed at protests near the convention’s security fence. The jamming, which was experienced by both mainstream and independent journalists, was especially clear on the night Pres. Barack Obama spoke.

Read moreInterview with Flashpoints Radio: Cell-Jamming Tech Used On Journalists At DNC