Maybe he can sell autographs

Doesn't surprise me.

UPDATE 03:01 pm:

The Second Coming

Launch Audio in a New Windo

BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

Turning and turning in the widening gyre   

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere   

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst   

Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.   

The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out   

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi

Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert   

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,   

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,   

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it   

Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.   

The darkness drops again; but now I know   

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,   

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,   

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Deathbed confession on the killing of Malcolm X

On February 21, 1965, minister and civil rights activist Malcolm X, 39, was shot dead inside Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom in New York by assassins identified as members of the Nation of Islam. Three men were convicted of murder and imprisoned, and all were eventually paroled.

[...]

A letter written by ex-undercover NYPD policeman Raymond Wood alleges his department and the FBI covered up details of the assassination, saying he was ordered to infiltrate the civil rights movement and had members of Malcolm X’s security detail arrested shortly before the killing.

[...]

“I participated in actions that in hindsight were deplorable and detrimental to the advancement of my own Black people. My actions on behalf of the New York City Police Department were done under duress and fear,” said Reggie Wood, a relative who read Raymond’s letter aloud at a press conference on Saturday.

[...]

It is unclear when Wood died, but he did not want the letter made public until after his death, saying he feared repercussions from authorities if he came forward with his allegations, according to Reggie Wood.

  alJazeera

There's no systemic racism in the NYPD!

Nice.

Nice

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

The NYPD is running a mob-style racket

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) has moved officers out of district attorneys' offices in several boroughs after some prosecutors moved to not file charges against some protesters arrested during recent demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd.

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea denied that the two issues were related in comments Friday, according to The New York Times, but the decision to pull the department's officers reportedly came just hours after Manhattan's district attorney announced publicly that demonstrators would not be charged for simple curfew violations amid the protests.

  The Hill

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Another view of the NYPD cruisers

That looks perfectly intentional.

A law enforcement source told CBS News that the vehicles in the video were "trapped" and that the crowd was throwing bricks and rocks, and that there was a bag on fire sitting on top of one of the vehicles. The source said the officers did not "ram" the protesters, but that they were "trying to go forward and escape."

  CBS

Utter bullshit. There was no burning bag. And there was plenty of room to back up if they wanted to "escape".

At a late-night news conference, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed the video, saying that although it was "upsetting," it's also "inappropriate for protesters to surround a police vehicle and threaten police officers."

"That's wrong on its face," de Blasio said. "I'm not going to blame officers who are trying to deal with absolutely impossible situation ... If a police officer is in that situation, they have to get out of that situation. The video was upsetting, and I wish the officers hadn't done that, but I also understood that they didn't start the situation."

Recall DeBlasio.

Blood lust

I don't want to excuse the NYPD, but that vehicle charging the crowd looks like it might have been unintentional.  Or it could have been a miscue.  Or simply intentional.  We'll have to wait and see.

UPDATE: Another view makes this look absolutely intentional.  And horrible.

NYPD knew five years ago Pantaleo should be fired

NYPD, stop covering for Pantaleo.   The chokehold was illegal for a reason.  A man died because of it.  Being fired would be a lucky break.

Speaking of Buzzfeed

Donald Trump’s security guards once shoved, threatened, and held a 12-year-old boy and his mother against their will after her husband promised to go public with damaging allegations against the Trump Organization, according to the family’s account in FBI records and court filings.

The incident is one of several in which Trump surrogates have been accused of going to extreme lengths to protect him.

A bankruptcy attorney who represented Trump Entertainment Resorts investors once received a phone call warning him “if you keep fucking with Mr. Trump, we know where you live and we’re going to your house for your wife and kids.” A New York City housing commissioner told the NYPD his life was threatened for refusing to grant a $20 million tax abatement for the construction of Trump Tower. Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, told Daily Beast reporters that he would “mess your life up” before they published a story saying Trump made his first wife feel “violated” during sex.

  Buzzfeed

A very mob oriented outfit.

This time, it was September 1995 and Daut Bajrushi, a superintendent at one of Trump’s buildings, claimed he could prove “financial improprieties” and other misconduct by the Trump Organization. Bajrushi, then 46 years old, worked at Trump Palace, a skyscraper on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

[...]

Days before he was to reveal this information to board members at Trump Palace, Bajrushi fell ill and sent his wife and 12-year-old son to retrieve items from his office. They were gathering paperwork, according to a suit Bajrushi later filed, when someone used a screwdriver to bust the lock. The door burst open and a team of Trump security officials poured in.

According to the lawsuit, four men prevented Hatixbe Bajrushi and her son from leaving. Matthew Calamari, the hulking head of security, shoved the boy. Trump’s brother-in-law, James Grau, barked questions, demanding to know why they were there. Michael Nicoll, another guard, pushed them back when they tried to leave. Grau snatched her purse and passed it to Calamari, Nicoll, and Domenic Pezzo to rifle through.

How terrifying. So terrifying, in fact...

The boy started to cry and his mother fainted, they claim. Daut Bajrushi, informed by his wife in a phone call of what was happening, had a friend call the police.

Calamari threatened to harm the family if they spoke to police about what happened, according to the lawsuit. After 90 minutes, the police arrived and the Bajrushis were freed.

[...]

“The allegations, from over 20 years ago, are completely inaccurate, ridiculous and utterly false,” a Trump Organization spokesperson wrote in a statement.

The testimony of a 12-year-old and the fact that the police showed up would normally be plenty good evidence that the allegations were accurate and true.

None of the security guards were charged in this case. Even though its officers were called to the scene, the New York Police Department has refused to turn over records about the case, citing privacy concerns.

How interesting.

The incident was cited in an FBI document obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by BuzzFeed News and Ryan Shapiro, an MIT doctoral student. The document was compiled as part of a racketeering investigation.

How very interesting.

In response to the false imprisonment lawsuit filed by the family, the Trump Organization countered with claims that Bajrushi was disloyal, committed fraud, and embezzled money.

Even if those things were true, how would that make it legal for them to hold the woman and child against their will?

In their response to the lawsuit, Calamari and Nicoll said that they told the woman and her child they were free to leave, but that they couldn’t remove any Trump Palace property.

Which is why the boy was crying and the woman fainted.

The lawsuit never went anywhere, and the legal bills piled up for Bajrushi. His attorney met with Trump and his attorney, Jay Goldberg, to discuss a settlement. Bajrushi’s attorney, Jonathan Mark, said Trump made no offer.

Of course not.

After the confrontation, Calamari continued to climb the ranks at the Trump Organization, working his way up to his current title: executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Calamari is someone Michael Cohen named to the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday as a person who would know about the Trump Organization activity.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Measure Rudy for an orange jumpsuit

Nice

#NYPD raids wrong home, puts everyone in handcuffs & posts pic on Snapchat w/ caption "Merry Christmas Its NYPD."https://t.co/E9jJZDpGmh pic.twitter.com/D5ilsVowCc

— Alexander Rubinstein (@AlexR_DC) December 24, 2016

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Not Even Black Policemen Are Exempt

A federal jury has awarded $15 million in damages to an off-duty NYPD officer who was beaten up and pepper-sprayed inside his own home by fellow cops. His lawyer said the ex-officer was mistaken for an offender due to racial bias.

[...]

He was beaten up with batons, pepper-sprayed in his face and had his hand fractured, despite his repeated attempts to tell the police he was a member of the NYPD.

[...]

Jackson was [...] handcuffed and taken to a police station even after officers found his NYPD shield, which had been in his front pocket the whole time, the lawsuit says.

His suit, filed in 2011, says that his shooting hand was so severely injured that he might be forced to retire from law enforcement.

[...]

The Queens District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute the arresting officers following an investigation, the New York Post reported.

[...]

“Nothing is final. Indeed, the judge’s post-trial review could lead to the verdict being set aside or a new trial,” the city Law Department said in a statement to the newspaper.

  RT

Nice.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Wow! They're Really Good Guys!

Nope.  Not the Onion.

The New York Times.

“At one point there were six or eight people under my car looking to save this cat,” she said. “As much as some people were honking and looking to get where they were going in a timely manner, it was kind of beautiful to see.”

The kitten jumped from one spot to another beneath the Toyota, eluding its rescuers.

Ms. Cassone flagged down a police car.

Fortunately for the kitten, the officers were from the Police Department’s Strategic Response Group, trained, the police said, in counterterrorism tactics and “advanced disorder control.”

  NYT

Counterterrorism and advanced disorder control. Very specialized (and no doubt costly) training. "Fortunately for the kitten."

After supervising the relocation of the car — it ended up in Ms. Cassone’s driveway around the corner on Sherman Street, the kitten still stowed away — Officers Christopher Rinelli and Kenia Marte strategically tried to locate the kitten.

“I got on the ground and put my hand under the car behind the wheel and started feeling around,” said Officer Rinelli, 28, a five-year veteran of the force. “I figured the closer I got to where the cat was, it would start meowing louder.”

Periodically, Officer Marte would honk the car’s horn or activate its alarm, hoping to flush the kitten out. No luck.

The officers determined that the kitten was behind the left rear wheel.

I would have just waited it out instead of scaring the bejesus out of it, ensuring it would stay out of reach.   Maybe offered some cat treats as a lure. Obviously I have not had advanced disorder training.

That was some serious strategic cat locating they did there. Fortunately for the kitten.

“I can’t reach the cat without taking the wheel off,” Officer Rinelli said.

He and a neighbor jacked up the car and took off the rear driver’s-side wheel. The kitten was perched near the gas tank.

Officer Rinelli grabbed the kitten, a 2-month-old female, by the scruff of the neck and pulled her out. “She was kind of agitated,” he said, “cold and wet and scared.”

[...]

The care displayed by the officers, Ms. Cassone said, “made me proud to be a New Yorker.”

Officer Rinelli said: “This is exactly what I signed up for the department for, to help people that need help. And animals, of course.”

Fortunately for the kitten.

I won't.  Perhaps it was a very special cat.

Hmmmmmm.

But a very cute kitten was rescued from behind the wheel of a car.

New York Police to Wear Lapel Cameras?

Lawyers representing the city of New York have filed a request for a stay of Judge Scheindlin's decision and court order pending appeal. Scheindlin found components of the NYPD's stop and frisk unconstitutional in her decision and ordered several remedies, including the installation of independent oversight, changes to the UF250 (stop and frisk) form, an overhaul of the stop and frisk program itself and mandatory lapel cameras for police officers.

  Raw Story

I wonder how many lapel cameras will malfunction, be knocked off in a scuffle, be obscured behind an object...

NYPD - to Protect and Serve the (Murdoch Empire)

When Occupy Wall Street protesters marched past media tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s posh 5th Avenue penthouse during the “Millionaires March” on October 11, they were accompanied by a “very light police presence” according to a reporter at the scene. But down at Rupert’s News Corp. headquarters on Sixth Ave.–which has never been a terrorist or protest target of any significance–the media empire is guarded by a 24-hour-a-day New York Police Department security detail seven days a week, a patrol that one security expert estimated costs the city at least half a million dollars a year.

[...]

CNN, CBS, ABC, and NBC [...] contract security guards from private vendors, employ their own security staff and, in some cases, hire a paid detail of off-duty or retired police officers, whose cost is incurred at the network’s expense.

[...]

A security guard inside the lobby of the News Corp. building said that the police presence out front “has nothing to do with Fox News,” and is there simply because it’s a “high-profile” area. Yet cops who spoke with The Daily Beast said that they are posted at the site to protect Fox News as part of a counterterrorism initiative.

[...]

No other news network gets comparable NYPD protection. [...] As best we could decipher a rationale for this extraordinary sentry at the gates of the Fox empire, it appears to be fueled by the security obsession of Fox News chief Roger Ailes.

[...]

Accounts vary as to how long the NYPD security detail has been stationed in front of the two-million-square-foot tower. One police officer said it’s definitely been more than a year. An ex-Fox News employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the NYPD presence has been there since the network got underway in the mid 1990s.

  Daily Beast

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.