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A Year After Mike Brown’s Death, Ferguson Activists Fear Little Has Changed
Activists hold signs condemning police violence at a #ReclaimMLK protest in Silver Spring, Maryland. January 24, 2015. (Flickr / Stephen Melkisethian)
August 10, 2015
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A Year After Mike Brown’s Death, Ferguson Activists Fear Little Has Changed

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

It’s been one year since Officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown outside his apartment complex in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Despite superficial changes in the political landscape, people are still being shot by police and community members and activists are still struggling for justice.

Speaking with MintPress News, Joshua Saleem, director of the American Friends Service Committee’s Peace Education program, said the past year has made him more cynical about the future. The AFSC is a nonprofit created by the Religious Society of Friends, better known as the Quakers, who have a strong emphasis on nonviolent conflict resolution and peace.

“I was very hopeful a year ago when I saw people paying attention to something that the community of color here in St. Louis has known for a long time,” Saleem said. “But now I’m a little more skeptical, even with the Department of Justice and the work they’ve done, there’s a lot of pushback and a lot of resistance to the change that needs to happen when it comes to undoing institutional racism in the St. Louis region.”

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Film The Police: How To Use Your Smartphone To Hold Cops Accountable
In this March 27, 2016 photograph, two members of the Peaceful Streets Project film a police officer in the Rundberg area of Austin, Texas. (Facebook / Peaceful Streets Project)
July 27, 2015
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Film The Police: How To Use Your Smartphone To Hold Cops Accountable

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

From the Rodney King incident in 1991 to more recent incidents like the deaths of Eric Garner and Freddie Gray, we might never know the appalling reality of modern police brutality if it weren’t for video recorded by bystanders.

Multiple courts have upheld the rights of journalists and photographers to take photos or video in public spaces and film the police and other law enforcement going about their duties. However, the ACLU notes:

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Death Of Paul Castaway Highlights Denver’s Overlooked Police Brutality Problem
Denver police violently arrest activists at a protest against the Columbus Day march. October 9, 2007. (Flickr / AJ Schroetlin)
July 27, 2015
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Death Of Paul Castaway Highlights Denver’s Overlooked Police Brutality Problem

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

The death of a Rosebud Sioux man in Denver earlier this month is a painful reminder that police shootings are not limited to any one part of the United States, and certainly not just to places that received mainstream media attention after recent killings.

On July 12, Lynn Eagle Feather called police for help with her schizophrenic son, Paul Castaway. Witnesses and police give conflicting accounts of an incident that quickly spiraled out of control. Officers shot Castaway multiple times while he held a knife to his own neck. He died the following day at an area hospital. Police say they shot in self-defense, but witnesses and Castaway’s family disagree.

As his family struggles for justice, a diverse coalition of protesters from the American Indian Movement to local groups like Denver Community Defense Committee are working with the families of the victims of Denver police brutality. They’re hoping to draw attention to a largely overlooked epidemic of police violence that rivals other cities like Baltimore or New York City for its ability to destroy lives. Now, police are targeting activists and journalists who support them with arrests and even violence.

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Hackers Reveal Illegal Spying Software Used By World Governments To Silence Dissent
Publicity image: "Hacking Team: Rely on us." (Hacking Team)
July 7, 2015
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Hackers Reveal Illegal Spying Software Used By World Governments To Silence Dissent

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Last weekend, news broke on social media of a massive hack against a major, controversial security software company that sold surveillance software to government agencies. A hacker who attacked another security firm last year is taking credit for the audacious break in that saw hundreds of gigabytes of stolen data leaked onto bittorrent.

Hacking Team, the Italian software company that fell victim to the unknown hackers, proudly billed itself as a vendor of surveillance software to police forces, with the motto, “Rely on us.” Reporters Without Borders had already cited Hacking Team as one of their “enemies of the Internet.” But, as the hack revealed, the corporation’s clients also included governments from countries to which sales are banned by the United Nations as a result of their repressive regimes’ repeated human rights’ violations.

News of the hack reached Twitter on Sunday night, while many were asleep or distracted by the women’s world cup, briefly spawning the humorous, trending hashtag #IsHackingTeamAwakeYet:

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From NYC, Ferguson To Baltimore, American Police Are Trained In Apartheid Israel
An Israeli police barricade. (Flickr / baklavabaklava)
May 15, 2015
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From NYC, Ferguson To Baltimore, American Police Are Trained In Apartheid Israel

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

The Black Lives Matter movement became a fixture in American cities after the 2014 death of Michael Brown, and grows with each new police killing. As activists realize that the same systems of oppression killing them in the United States are active worldwide, the movement spreads beyond American borders and forges links as far away as Palestine.

Activists from Ferguson, Missouri, traveled to Palestine in January to cement a growing sense of solidarity and connection with the shared struggles of Palestinians against the Israeli occupation. That connection is more than just a philosophical one: Although it’s been largely ignored by the mainstream media, research by independent journalists reveals that American police leadership routinely travel to Israel on mysterious training missions.

Journalist Rania Khalek is a contributor to the Electronic Intifada, an independent news and education organization focused on Palestine, and a key expert on the subject. For years she primarily covered police brutality in the U.S., but, “I started covering Palestine/Israel related stories because I kept finding connections,” she told MintPress by phone on Wednesday.

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Protests In Baltimore Joined In Solidarity in Chicago, Oakland, Elsewhere
Graffiti in Oakland, California reads "Black Lives Matter. May 1, 2015. (Flickr / Thomas Hawk)
April 30, 2015
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Protests In Baltimore Joined In Solidarity in Chicago, Oakland, Elsewhere

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

While the recent protests in Baltimore began soon after the death of Freddie Gray on April 19, the mainstream media has only recently arrived on the streets. Similar to their coverage of Ferguson and other protests in the wake of recent police slayings of black Americans, the focus remains on violent clashes between militarized police and angry citizens.

On Tuesday, after the first night of a citywide curfew was met with arrests and tear gas, two tweets were being widely shared which seemed to ironically highlight the ways police routinely lie about the situation on the ground:

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