-By Jordan Freshour

A Cincinnati police officer singles me out of the crowd for photographing illegal arrests.

Saturday, September 19th, 2015 I was arrested for photographing the police in Cincinnati, Ohio. This was my first arrest and I want to talk about it.

I have gradually become involved with the police accountability movement over the last year. I’ve had the good fortune of meeting the most influential and hard-working gonzo journalists and activists in the Midwest, and with them I have found a safe place to fight for the rights of my friends and neighbors here in southwest Ohio, my home. It is my friendships with these people which allowed for the viral outbreak of support after being locked in a cage.

That being said, I was immersed in a new experience regarding the police state in America. Foremost, the risk of losing your own freedom because of principles is real. I was doing nothing more than photographing the arrest of Talis Gage when my hands were grabbed and tightly zip tied behind my back. I tossed my camera to the curb and went peacefully, for there is no reasoning with psychopaths. This video of my arrest was shot by Benjamin Virnston, who was also arrested for documenting the event:

After being kidnapped for 7+ hours, I was released due to the good will of Micah ben David posting bond. I was searched three times, fingerprinted twice, my belongings were taken, and I was given an armband – all normal procedure, but a dehumanizing one which treat citizens like cattle. Once processed, an officer herded me to the top floor of the Reading Road Corrections Center and into an isolated cell, completely alone and without explanation for the next three hours. Frankly, it was anxiety-inducing not knowing if my bail was posted or when I would be released. I did push-ups and read the names of past prisoners scratched into the drab, semigloss-painted cinder block walls to pass the time.

Many have had a night in jail, and sadly many have experienced far worse treatment from police. A fortunate man I would be to escape the brunt of cop violence for the rest of my life. Thousands are not able to say that. There is no comparison between me and them, and I do not think my story to be more important than another’s, however such a thing does not make the behavior of Cincinnati’s Lamest any less condemnable.

Micah and his son, Elijah patiently waiting for the release of myself, Talis Gage, and Benjamin Virnston

I am a highly social person, as many are. In those few hours of isolation, I understood the purpose of incarceration in a new way. Being in jail is not a punishment – banishment from the world is. I realized jail is not a place where bad people go to be rehabilitated, or to serve “their time”, but rather a coward’s device used to silence opposition. Any individual who thinks it is acceptable to isolate another person from all outside interaction – even for a short while – is not human him/herself, and shouldn’t be given the dignity of being recognized as such. Police are sub-mortal creatures mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to perform these duties without apprehension of conscience.

As a mobile person who (to the surprise of some) has a professional life as well, it can be difficult to explain the nature of police brutality to associates and family who have never given it critical thought. Often I leverage my good nature and lighthearted attitude as an example for others as to what the solution for government subjugation entails. All hatred and violence is disarmed by loving your neighbor – by nourishing the traits of peace, forgiveness, hope, and a short memory. Outside of these qualities, there is and will never be a solution to police – or any kind of – brutality.

I don’t know exactly how embracing abstract ideas translate into a better world. But I do know these are the guiding principles for myself and most of humanity. Every person deserves dignity, but that dignity is forsaken the moment initiated violence becomes acceptable. For government officials, understanding this as a reality is paramount.

In closing, if CPD or any government official of Cincinnati is reading this, I implore you to give up the ghost of authoritarianism. It does not work, and if you continue to behave in a manner such as at the March for Justice, you will and should have riots to deal with. Do not mistake the message of peace and love for pacifism. If you continue down this path, your own will die, your temples will burn, and your ruling elite will be thrown into the impoverished streets which you have created. This is not a call to violence, but merely the lesson which history teaches us is the eventual outcome of iron-fisted rule. We are all waiting on justice for the wanton violence of your law enforcement officers, the arrogance of the Fraternal Order of Police, and the careless training of those who wield power.

Wake up.

In the wake of Baltimore’s “purge” (as April’s protests came to be known), two competing theories emerged about what effect the controversy has had on policing in America. We’ve outlined the two theories on a number of occasions, but for those unfamiliar, here’s a recap:

One theory — dubbed the “Ferguson Effect” — claims police are now reluctant to engage in “discretionary enforcement” for fear of prosecution. “Discretionary enforcement” of course refers to the use of lethal force in the line of duty and the implication seems to be that in light of recent events, law enforcement officers are afraid that their actions will be scrutinized by the public. In extreme cases, such scrutiny could culminate in social unrest, something no one individual wishes to be blamed for.

Casting doubt on the so-called Ferguson Effect is a report from The Washington Post which shows that US police are shooting and killing “suspects” at twice the rate seen in the past. More specifically, 385 people have been killed by police in 2015 alone. Unsurprisingly, minority groups are overrepresented in cases involving the fatal shooting of unarmed suspects.

Despite a notable spike in violence across Baltimore in the months since the riots and the persistence of violent crime in Chicago, the number of people killed by police across the country posted M/M declines in April, May, and June. In July, the trend was broken. Here’s The Guardian with more:

July was the deadliest month of 2015 so far for killings by police after registering 118 fatalities, according to the Guardian’s ongoing investigation The Counted, which now projects that US law enforcement is on course to kill more than 1,150 people this year.

The July figure brought an end to a steady decline in totals over the previous four months. After 113 people were killed in March, 101 died in April, 87 fatalities were recorded in May and 78 in June.

At least 20 people killed in July – more than one in six – were unarmed, including Samuel DuBose, who was shot by University of Cincinnati officer Ray Tensing in a 19 July traffic stop that has become the latest flashpoint in protests over the police’s use of deadly force.

Of the 118 people, 106 died from gunfire, making July also the first month of 2015 in which that number has exceeded 100. Two people died after officers shocked them with Tasers, two died being struck by police vehicles, and eight died after altercations in police custody.

Tensing had claimed DuBose dragged him with his car, but footage recorded by Tensing’s body camera refuted his account. The officer was charged with murder on Wednesday, when at a press conference the Cincinnati prosecutor Joe Deters called the shooting “senseless” and said Tensing “should never have been a police officer”.

Tensing, who turned himself in on Wednesday, was arraigned on Thursday and has been released on bail. On Friday it was announced by Deters’s office that two officers who appeared to reinforce Tensing’s false account will not be charged with any crimes.

For those who haven’t seen the body cam footage referenced above, here is the incident:

As a reminder, The Guardian’s effort stems from what it says is a generalized failure on the part of the US government to keep a “comprehensive record of the number of people killed by law enforcement” which it says is a “prerequisite for an informed public discussion about the use of force by police.”

Again, we’ll leave it to readers to determine what it says about police accountability in America when other countries feel compelled to put a face and a name to hundreds of people whose deaths, if left in the hands of the US government, might have gone unnoticed or worse, undocumented.

This article featured originally on Zero Hedge

Left: Police Officer Ray Tensing; Right: murder victim Sam Dubose (h/t Rigel Robinson)

By Ian Reifowitz

The murder of Sam Dubose by University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing was truly horrible. The video captured by Tensing’s body-cam shows what began as a routine traffic stop. At first, the officer asks to see Dubose’s license, and ends up having to ask a number of times. Then, a series of events unfolds rapidly over just a few seconds. We see Tensing tell Dubose to take off his seat belt. Next, the officer grasps the handle to open the door on the driver’s side. Dubose subsequently puts one hand over the door—where the window had been rolled down—and pulls in an attempt to hold it shut, while starting his car. The video then shows Tensing reach into the car with one hand, twice call out “stop”—during which time Dubose revs the engine—and then, inexplicably, the officer pulls out his weapon and delivers one shot, fatal, to the head, as the car accelerates forward and ultimately rolls to a stop not far away.

Joseph T. Deters is the district attorney of Hamilton County, the person who secured an indictment of murder in this case. Deters has ensured that, this time at least, there will be a trial after the death of an unarmed, non-threatening black man at the hands of a cop. Here’s what Deters said about the killing of Sam Dubose, below:

I’ve been doing this for over 30 years. This is the most asinine act I’ve ever seen a police officer make. Totally unwarranted. It’s an absolute tragedy in the year 2015 that anyone would behave in this manner. It was senseless.

Thankfully, the video-cam provides the evidence necessary to bring the murderer to justice. At the press conference announcing the indictment, Deters explained that without the video, the authorities would have believed Officer Tensing’s story as described in the incident report—namely that he had been dragged alongside the car, that his life had been in danger as he “was almost run over,” and it was for that reason he fired his weapon.

We’ll see how the trial goes, and whether any new evidence comes to light, but at least now the justice that Sam Dubose’s mother rightfully demanded at her son’s funeral stands a chance. As bad as this murder was, at this point I want to focus on what happened afterwards, specifically on the officers who were perfectly willing to lie on Tensing’s behalf, to support his false account, and thus to cover up a murder.

Make no mistake. This was a deliberate cover up. When it comes to Tensing, am I surprised that someone capable of murder was willing to lie about it? Of course not. I don’t mean to dismiss his lies, but they are the least of his crimes that day. Let’s focus on what two other officers, Phillip Kidd and Eric Weibel, said after arriving on the murder scene.

Officer Weibel drafted the aforementioned police report. In addition to Tensing’s own lies, both Kidd and Weibel also bore false witness. As Weibel wrote: “Officer Kidd told me that he witnessed the Honda Accord drag Officer Tensing, and that he witnessed Officer Tensing fire a single shot.” You saw the video. Tensing was not dragged. Phillip Kidd lied. Weibel continued: “Looking at Officer Tensing’s uniform, I could see that the back of his pants and shirt looked as if it had been dragged over a rough surface.” You saw the video. Tensing was not dragged. Eric Weibel also lied.

What’s going to happen to these two officers? The Dubose family sure wants to know, and pushed for answers on that front from District Attorney Deters, who stated that his office is “looking at the issue.” That’s good, for a start, but we need to keep the pressure on to make sure they do more than look.

Unless the investigation uncovers radically different information from what we already know, Officers Kidd and Weibel must be punished severely for what they did. Their lies didn’t kill Sam Dubose. But they would have allowed his killer to get away with it. While Ray Tensing committed murder in an instant, Phillip Kidd and Eric Weibel sought to murder the truth in a calculated fashion. They had time to craft their stories, to get them just right before presenting them to their superiors as the official version of events.

On the matter of police reform, officers should use the minimum amount of force necessary. We should aim to be a society where there are no unjustified killings or other acts of violence committed against civilians by officers. Certainly our peer countries demonstrate that we can do much, much better than we are. There are countless numerical comparisons to be made, but this one is as shocking as it is simple to digest.

Whether or not we achieve of the goal of perfection, we must also reform our police departments so that if any officer does act in an unjust way toward a civilian, every other officer will work to ensure justice rather than obstruct it. The fact that Ray Tensing had no trouble finding willing co-conspirators, accessories after the fact in a sense, speaks volumes about why it is so hard to make progress in the fight against police abuse.

That abuse, disproportionately experienced by African Americans, Latino Americans, and American Indians, is so dangerous because—in addition to the direct harm it causes its victims—it further corrodes the relationship between those communities and law enforcement. If we could get to a place where that relationship works properly, where people trust rather than fear the police and the criminal justice system, more lives could be saved in the very communities that suffer most from crime and violence.

Right now, one of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of America getting to that place is the fact that too many people—mostly white, albeit not exclusively—don’t believe that this kind of police abuse is a real problem. When an officer uses force, and claims that it was justified, many people believe the officer every time, even when countered by statements from non-officers who say different.

I’m not suggesting that we should do the opposite, that we should never believe a police officer, or that we should always take the word of a civilian when their stories conflict. But the sheer number of cases where officers have lied about what they’ve done—lies we know about only because we have video evidence that was rarely available until very recently—makes clear that those who say we should always take the word of a cop over the person assumed to have done something illegal are either hopelessly naive, willfully blind, or simply too invested in their privilege to care.

Police officers aren’t the only people who lie about crimes. That’s not the point. The police are supposed to uphold the law. Criminals are supposed be the ones who break it. We should be able to tell the difference between them.