Tag: gangs

Daniel Williams, 22, dies after being ‘tied up, beaten and sexually assaulted for two days’ by prison gang – two weeks before he was due to be released from Alabama facility after a 12-month sentence for theft

An Alabama inmate has died after days of being tortured, beaten and sexually assaulted by a prison gang – just two weeks before he was due to be released, his family claim.

Daniel Williams, 22, was serving a 12-month sentence for second-degree theft at Staton Correctional Facility in Elmore, Alabama when a warden found him unresponsive in his dorm on October 22.

The father-of-two was declared brain dead upon his arrival at the hospital and provided palliative care, his family said in a GoFundMe campaign. He was taken off life support on November 5 and died four days later.

The warden allegedly told his family that Williams suffered a ‘drug overdose’, but insiders at the prison told the Alabama Political Reporter that he had been ‘kidnapped, bound, assaulted and sold out’ by another inmate for ‘two or three days’.

At least 12 prison cops at Staton Correctional Facility – along with adjoining Elmore and Draper prisons – have been arrested for assaulting inmates in the last two years. 

Federal investigators have also been probing the state of Alabama and its prisons since a scathing lawsuit was lodged by the Department of Justice in 2019. 

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Ex-NYPD cop charged with tipping off gangbanger boyfriend about federal probe

An NYPD cop tipped off her Bronx gangbanger boyfriend about a federal probe — even giving up the name of a key witness and helping him try to dodge a murder rap, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.

Gina Mestre, 33, who was with the department until last year, “shamelessly” fed confidential information to the “Shooting Boys” gang after getting into “an intimate relationship” with the crew’s leader, Manhattan federal prosecutors alleged.

The disgraced officer even tipped off her alleged beau, Andrew “Caballo” Done, about a police manhunt for him following the September 2020 shooting of a rival gang member, the four-count indictment claims.

“Gina Mestre shamelessly exploited her position of public trust to assist gang members in her own NYPD precinct that were terrorizing the Bronx by committing robbery, murders, drug trafficking and other acts of violence,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

“The indictment unsealed today alleges that the defendant abused her position as an NYPD police officer by, among other things, obstructing a federal grand jury investigation into the gang and assisting the gang’s leader in evading capture for a cold-blooded murder committed in broad daylight,” Williams said.

Mestre, of Mohegan Lake in Westchester County, joined New York’s Finest in 2013 and was assigned to the Public Safety Unit at the 52nd Precinct in the Bronx.

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Prominent Trans Activist Sentenced To LIFE In Prison For Murder Of California Family

A prominent trans activist has been sentenced for the 2016 triple homicide of a California lesbian couple and their son. Dana Rivers, born David Chester Warfield, has been handed a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

“It is a horrible thing to sentence someone to die in prison, and I don’t take that lightly,” Judge Scott Patton said during the court hearing held today. “But this is the most depraved crime I ever handled in the criminal justice system in 33 years. Frankly, you deserve to spend the rest of your life in prison.”

The sentencing comes months after Rivers, 68, had been found guilty of the murders in November of last year. Rivers was denied a motion for a new trial, though his attorney had attempted to argue prosecutorial misconduct. Judge Patton dismissed the issues raised, labeling them “trivial” and “frankly quite ridiculous,” while noting that the evidence for Rivers’ guilt was “overwhelming.”

Rivers’ crimes date back to November 11 of 2016, when police were called in response to the sound of gunshots being fired outside the home of Wright and Reed in Oakland, California. When authorities arrived, they found Rivers covered in blood and gasoline and fleeing from the house, which had been set ablaze.

When discovered by police, Rivers had been heading towards his black Harley Davidson motorcycle, which was parked outside of the home with the keys left in the ignition. When police searched the Harley, which Rivers affectionately referred to as “Barbie,” they found blood on the bike and a bloody knife in its saddlebag.

A further search of Rivers’ person revealed that he was in possession of a bloody screwdriver, a knife, brass knuckles, bullets, pepper spray and Benny Diambu-Wright’s iPod, according to court documents.

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Sheriff orders deputies to obey watchdog request to reveal gang tattoos

Less than a week after the county watchdog ordered dozens of deputies to show their gang tattoos and answer questions about violent cliques within the department, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna on Thursday sent a department-wide email commanding his staff to comply with the inspector general’s request.

“Please be advised that all Department personnel who received such a request are hereby ordered to appear and cooperate in such interviews,” Luna wrote in the firmly worded email. “All statements made by Department personnel shall be full, complete, and truthful statements.”

Any employees who obstruct or delay an investigation, the email went on to say, could be disciplined or fired under current county policies.

Luna’s response represents a major shift from the prior administration, which was often at odds with oversight officials and consistently resisted outside investigations. Before he was voted out of office last year, former Sheriff Alex Villanueva defied subpoenas from the Civilian Oversight Commission, blocked independent oversight of department databases and made Inspector General Max Huntsman the target of a criminal investigation.

Huntsman — who signed the 35 letters sent Friday to deputies suspected of sporting Banditos or Executioners gang tattoos — lauded the change of direction that Luna’s email represents.

“We appreciate the support of the sheriff and look forward to continuing with our investigation,” Huntsman told The Times.

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Idaho High School’s ‘White Power’ Graffiti Revealed To Be Hate Hoax Scheme Carried Out By Hispanic Gang

Idaho police officials believe that a Hispanic gang spray-painted the phrase “White Power” on a local high school in a hate hoax scheme.

The Caldwell Police Department said in a statement that detectives think graffiti was not “motivated by hate” but was carried out as “an act of intimidation.”

“At this time, detectives no longer believe the incident to be motivated by hate but rather an act of intimidation between two rival Hispanic criminal street gangs from Caldwell,” the department said in a Facebook post.

Two days after a “Brown Pride” protest was held at Caldwell High School last week, the “White Power” graffiti was discovered. The “Brown Pride” protest was organized after a Hispanic student was forced to take off a sweatshirt with the words “Brown Pride” on it because it could be considered “racist,” the Idaho Statesman reported.

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Fusion Centers Enter Kids As Young As 1 Year Old In Secret Gang Databases

Recent documents from the Metropolitan Police Department in D.C. (MPD) and the Boston Police Department (BPD) show that Regional Intelligence Centers (RIC) are encouraging police officers to put children and adults in secret gang databases.

Last month an article in The Intercept showed that police gang databases are riddled with civil rights violations and errors. It revealed how police used civilian analysts to create flawed RIC (Fusion Center) gang member databases.

“A spreadsheet of the MPD database shared internally the next month included a supposed gang member who was less than 1 year old, as well as 2, 3, 5, and 6-year-olds. The 2,575 names in the spreadsheet also included children as young as 14.”

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Cleveland mayor allegedly prevented gang-member grandson’s arrest for murder

Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson allegedly used his influence to protect his grandson — a reputed gang member — from being arrested in connection to a fatal shooting that still remains unsolved two years later, according to a report. The New York Post reported that Frank Q. Jackson, a suspected member of violent street gang No-Limit 700, was the prime suspect in the broad-daylight August 28, 2019 shooting of 30-year-old Antonio “Bisket” Parra.

Jackson, who is now being sued by the murdered man’s family, is accused of preventing the arrest of his grandson when cops went to the 74-year-old Democrat’s house the night of the shooting. According to  documents, police intended to take his grandson into custody, but they stood down after a conversation the mayor had with Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams, according to the New Republic.

It’s unknown what took place during the encounter at the mayor’s house, since the elder Jackson apparently told the cops to turn off their body-worn cameras, in violation of department policy, a local TV station reported in September 2019.

The mayor, as part of the wrongful death lawsuit proceedings, claimed ignorance about why his grandson wasn’t arrested that night.

“I do not know,” Jackson said, according to the New Republic, “however, to the best of my recollection while outside my house … [police] spoke on the phone with Frank Q. Jackson’s lawyers.”

In addition to the circumstances surrounding cops backing away from arresting Frank Q., a local councilman claims the mayor — who has led the Ohio city since 2005 — has repeatedly provided cover for his grandson’s gang.

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Who Killed Adam Toledo?

On March 29, just after 2:30 AM, Chicago’s ShotSpotter alert system detected eight or nine gunshots in the West Side, largely Latino, neighborhood of Little Village, where gangs like the Latin Kings and Two Six have made gunplay a regular part of life. Chicago police officer Eric Stillman and his partner sped toward the gunshots once they received the ShotSpotter alert, doubtless hoping to nab the perpetrators and spare the community additional carnage. When they arrived on the scene, almost immediately after those shots were fired, they happened upon two individuals. One of them—who we now know to be 13-year-old Adam Toledo—took off on foot and, at one point, pulled a gun with his right hand. Stillman gave chase, and the world saw what happened next—at least the part highlighted (and, in one case, deceptively edited) by media outlets, many of which elided the actual events of Toledo’s shooting.

The immediate cause of Toledo’s death was the bullet fired by Officer Stillman. But it’s worth examining how a 13-year-old boy ended up in a full sprint through a dark alley at 2:30 AM with a gun in his hand and a police officer on his tail.

Start a few minutes before the shooting. Though it hasn’t gotten much attention, a video compilation that the Chicago Police Department released includes footage that seems to show Toledo walking with a young man before one (or both) fired the eight or nine shots at a passing vehicle near the alley where the police encountered Toledo. Exactly who pulled the trigger remains unclear (the footage is grainy), though CNN reported last Friday, citing prosecutors, that both Toledo’s hand, and the gloves of the man he was with, tested positive for gunshot residue. According to police, that man is a 21-year-old named Ruben Roman, who was arrested at the scene for allegedly obstructing Officer Stillman as he gave chase.

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Man Arrested for Legal ‘Anti-Police Meme’ as ACAB Declared Felony Gang Lingo

Two rather insidious moves by law enforcement recently have gone relatively unreported in the mainstream. Because the implications for attacking free speech associated with them are extremely important, we feel compelled to bring them to our readers. It appears that criticizing or speaking out against law enforcement is putting targets on the backs of police critics.

The first worrisome move by anti-free speech law enforcement has to do with the statement “All Cops Are Bastards” or ACAB. This phrase dates back over a century to 1920s England and has been used by those critical of police ever since, becoming the popular abbreviation ACAB in 1940s by striking workers who clashed with the police.

ACAB banners, shirts, posters, graffiti, and signs are frequent staples at police brutality protests worldwide. While the Free Thought Project doesn’t believe in blanket statements that insult vast swaths of people, we stand by everyone’s right to make them — and so does the constitution.

However, that constitutional right to say ACAB is under attack and could soon land people on watch lists or even years in jail. During a police brutality protest in Arizona in October, law enforcement made multiple arrests, which is quite common. However, after the arrests, prosecutors made an insidious move to criminalize the speech used by the protesters as felonious.

The protesters were hit with felony street gang charges because they used the abbreviation ACAB.

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