American Cops Are More Heavily Armed than Front Line U.S. Combat Soldiers In Active War Zones

Rafael Rivera – who served in the U.S. Army for seven years – writes: The police in Ferguson have better armor and weaponry than my men and I did in the middle of a war. And Ferguson isn’t alone — police departments across the US are armed for war. The Hill notes: [Senator] McCaskill pointed out that in some places local police departments …

The Uncivil War Raging Across America – Michael Payne

In America today we are witnessing what could be called an uncivil war; one in which a massive divide exists between elements of this government, the business sector and the people of America; where little to no common ground or compromise on key issues can be found and the opposing factions are aggressively battling each other. Within this government the …

Trust in mainstream media plummets: Only 2% of young adults trust the media – Daniel Barker

Trust in the mainstream media appears to be taking a nosedive, at least among young people. A recent Harvard Institute of Politics poll that queried more than 3,000 people between the ages of 18 and 29 found that only 2 percent of them believe that the media can be trusted to do the “right thing” on a regular basis. The …

In a Cop Culture, the Bill of Rights Doesn’t Amount to Much – John Whitehead

Police officers are more likely to be struck by lightning than be held financially accountable for their actions.–Law professor Joanna C. Schwartz (paraphrased) If you can be kicked, punched, tasered, shot, intimidated, harassed, stripped, searched, brutalized, terrorized, wrongfully arrested, and even killed by a police officer, and that officer is never held accountable for violating your rights and his oath of office …

Leid Stories – 05.04.15

Baltimore: A Legal Primer on Cop Indictments in Freddie Gray Case

Baltimoreans rejoiced last Friday after State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby announced the indictment and arrest of six police officers allegedly connected to the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old local man, while in their custody after an illegal arrest April 12.
Gray, who suffered a severed spinal cord and crushed voice box among other injuries, died a week later. His death touched off a series of protests locally and nationally, including a rebellion in Baltimore that was quashed by martial law.
Indictment of the police officers, however, is no guarantee of convictions in the case, says our guest, “Attorney at War” Alton H. Maddox Jr. There are major legal obstacles to overcome, he says, noting that the Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3, the officers’ union, has already asserted that the officers did nothing wrong.
Maddox, an expert on police-brutality and wrongful-death litigation, provides a legal primer on the case.

Leid Stories – 04.30.15

Making Their Bones in Baltimore (Part 2)

The crisis in Baltimore has become a backdrop for media hounds, political pundits, talking heads and just about every variety of sound-byte opportunist. Yet the systemic problems that are the Gordian knot around the embattled city are again being given short shrift.
Even the “liberal” media are fully engaged in providing “coverage” that has more to do with sensationalism, stereotype and self-promotion than getting at the root of systemic problems that belie claims of social, political, economic and racial progress in America.
Leid Stories tackles the issue head on.

You Will Be Surprised Who the Outside Agitators Really Are in Baltimore – Max Blumenthal

On Monday, the country watched as a band of outside agitators descended on the streets of Baltimore, attacked locals with blunt force, intimidated innocent bystanders, and even threw rocks [3] at native residents. Every day, these gun-toting rogues come from as far as New Jersey and Pennsylvania to intimidate the good people of Baltimore, forcing communities to cower under the threat of violence. …