Hi all, I didn't know Elinor personally at the time but had friends who lived
in that project and knew her by her good reputation. There are a few
observations that can be made here regarding this article:
a. Presumably the reason the author chose to cite these examples, among the
thousands are that these are the ones that made the paper. When it comes to
poor life in NYC, few if any, media actually visit the neighborhoods,
especially in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Instead the rely on press releases
usually from the cops.
b. As I said in a previous message, take a look at what percentage of these
killings happen in the Bronx and Brooklyn, especially in the Bronx. It is very
disproportionate based on population.
c. The reason for the above is that once cops get into trouble for bad behavior
in Manhattan and Queens they get transferred to the boroughs that have the
least media coverage, mostly into the South Bronx.
d. The article calls the cops "special duty", this really downplays who they
were. They were actually ESU (Emergency Services Unit). In case that doesn't
raise your eyebrows, FYI NYC does not have a SWAT team. What most cities call
their SWAT team is called ESYU in NYC. So effectively, there was the equivalent
of a half dozen SWAT team members sent to deal with an overdue rent situation.
e. In this overdue rent situation, it was a no knock, no announcement
situation. The cops just kicked in the door in their ESU commando outfits, all
black, with no identification.
f. " Baez, Dec. 22, 1994: Mr. Baez, 29, a security guard, was
playing football outside his mother's"
My mother was good friends of Anthony's mother. Officer Livotti had a
reputation for drinking on the job and then sleeping in his cruiser. After
Anthony's football hit the car Livotti killed him. Livotti was already under
investigation for assaulting a 13 year old kid. Although acquitted of murder he
was convicted of civil rights charges. Sickenly, during a police rally someone
who looked exactly like Livotti spoke anonymously. This is while Livotti was
supposed to be in jail fueling speculation that Giuliani found a stooge to
serve Livotti's time for him. Livotti bragged that he was offered a position
with the PBA upon his release. No indication if that was true.
g. "Diallo, Feb. 4, 1999: Mr. Diallo". This was the man who was shot 41 times
by four white cops. Initially one of the cops said he tripped and his gun went
off and the other cops starting firing. He later recanted his statement. Three
of the four went on to be promoted to high level supervisory positions. This
inspired the Springsteen song "41 shots".
h. " Bell, Nov. 25, 2006:". One of the detectives was implicated in a child
pornography ring which lead to the downfall of all three.
I. "Graham, Feb. 2, 2012: Mr. Graham" despite the fact that the cops
acknowledged that the victim was not doing anything wrong and that he was
targeted and chased down to build up their arrest numbers, the grand jury still
let the killer off the hook.
j. "Gurley, Nov. 20, 2014: Mr. G". The victim in this case was walking in a
stairwell with his girlfriend. The PD said the shooting was accidental. So, the
cop accidentally, drew his pistol, accidentally, chambered a round,
accidentally took the safety off, and accidentally pulled the trigger multiple
times. After the shooting the only thing the cop did was send a text message to
his union rep. He did not call for medical help despite the begging of the
victim's friend. He tried to walk away from the shooting but neighbors called
for an ambulance but it was too late.
k. In 1980 NY PD shot 85 year old Frank Sturchio to death in his own home. The
more things change the more they stay the same.
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Miriam Vieni
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2016 9:06 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Remembering the 12 Gauge Police Eviction of a 67
Year Old Grandmother in the South Bronx
Bernstein writes: "Thirty-two years ago, in 1984, I was teaching media activism
in an alternative high school in the South Bronx with filmmaker Chela Blitt. We
were getting ready to begin a documentary with the kids on the social,
political, and economic reasons why their neighborhood looked more like
Hiroshima after the war than a neighborhood in New York City. But instead, we
changed gears and produced with the kids the documentary film '12-Gauge
Eviction,' which chronicles the close-range gunning down of a 67-year-old,
arthritic grandmother named Eleanor Bumpurs."
Eleanor Bumpurs. (photo: unknown)
Remembering the 12 Gauge Police Eviction of a 67 Year Old Grandmother in the
South Bronx By Dennis J Bernstein, Reader Supported News
18 July 16
Thirty-two years ago, in 1984, I was teaching media activism in an alternative
high school in the South Bronx with filmmaker Chela Blitt. We were getting
ready to begin a documentary with the kids on the social, political, and
economic reasons why their neighborhood looked more like Hiroshima after the
war than a neighborhood in New York City. But instead, we changed gears and
produced with the kids the documentary film "12-Gauge Eviction," which
chronicles the close-range gunning down of a 67-year-old, arthritic grandmother
named Eleanor Bumpurs, in the Sedgwick housing project in the Highbridge
Section of the South Bronx.
And we got off to a swift start. One of my students had heard the shotgun
blasts through the walls and halls of the high-rise. In no time, with our
cameras and recording equipment in tow, we were filming through the broken
keyhole into the murder scene, where Eleanor Bumpurs was snuffed out of this
world for being late on her rent. She owed the city about $400 dollars back
rent, which she claimed she was withholding until the city came in and did some
necessary plumbing and heating repairs.
Social Services called in the police, and what unfolded next was obscene,
extremely brutal, but not all that uncommon. A half-dozen special duty New York
City cops arrived at the front door of her small apartment, armed with mace,
tear gas, shields, nets, clubs and side arms, but finally decided that nothing
less than a 12-gauge pump shotgun fired at close range would do the trick. The
first blast from the shotgun took Bumpurs' hand off. The final blast blew the
back of her head off.
The cops claimed they had no choice. They were facing mortal danger, claiming
Eleanor Bumpurs, mother of seven and grandmother, was wielding a butcher knife.
They claimed the shoot was clean. The local corporate press took it from there.
Many press accounts, informed by the police of course, characterized Bumpurs as
being "emotionally disturbed" and "deranged."
My students jumped all over this. One student, a Junior named Douglas, who
lived in the projects and had ear-witnessed the shots through the walls - led
us to the crime scene. He guided us to the floor where Bumpurs had lived and
died, and to the senior citizen center, the library, and other parts of the
projects where the residents would congregate. And the kids started to ask
questions and interview residents about the police killing of Mrs.
Bumpurs.
"If the lady was so mentally disturbed," pointed out one resident, "people
wouldn't have asked her to babysit their kids." The resident knew of several
parents who had entrusted Bumpurs to babysit their kids for them, until her
arthritis became too severe to "chase the little ones around." One Housing
Authority supervisor, Michael Pierson, told the kids, "She just seemed like a
quiet individual to me."
That evening, my students carried their cameras to an outdoor prayer vigil at
the projects and interviewed friends and relatives of Bumpurs, as well as a few
local politicians who had come to pay their respects to the slain grandmother.
"It's amazing that any time a black or Hispanic is killed like this, it's
police procedure," said the Rev. Wendell Foster, who was then a Bronx City
councilman. Sound familiar? One resident told the student investigators, "A
couple of weeks ago a dangerous animal escaped from the Bronx Zoo, and they
captured it with a sleep dart and brought it safely back to its cage in the
zoo. Around here" said the resident, who requested anonymity for fear of police
retribution, "cops treat black folks worse than zoo animals. They'll risk their
white skin to save an animal, but they'll murder us on the spot."
I have to believe that it was the thorough and unrelenting investigative work
of the students, along with a local independent newspaper, The City Sun, that
forced the court's hand, making them deal with some of the real facts of the
case, rather than let most of the local the racist corporate press marginalize
Bumpurs as a community danger, a crazed black woman who was willing to kill a
cop to avoid paying her back rent.
After reviewing extensive testimony, a grand jury indeed voted for an
indictment for second-degree manslaughter against Officer Stephen Sullivan, who
cut down Bumpurs at close range with two quick blasts from his department
issued pump-style shotgun. However, subsequently, a state judge dismissed the
indictment against Sullivan, asserting the evidence was "legally insufficient"
to indict Sullivan for manslaughter or any other offense.
In an interview after the ruling, when asked if under similar circumstances he
would do the same thing, Sullivan replied, "Yes, I would," according to The New
York Times. And New York City cops have been killing people of color non-stop
before and since. Here's a partial list published by The New York
Times:
. Jose (Kiko) Garcia, July 3, 1992: During a struggle with police
officers in the lobby of an apartment building, Mr. Garcia, a 23-year-old
Dominican immigrant who the police said was carrying a revolver, was shot twice
by Officer Michael O'Keefe.
What happened: Later that year, a grand jury cleared Officer O'Keefe,
supporting the officer's assertion that Mr. Garcia reached for a gun before he
was shot.
. Ernest Sayon, April 29, 1994: Mr. Sayon, 22, was standing outside a
Staten Island housing complex when police officers on an anti-drug patrol tried
to arrest him. Mr. Sayon suffocated because of pressure on his back, chest and
neck while he was handcuffed on the ground.
What happened: A grand jury declined to file criminal charges against any of
the three police officers involved, apparently concluding that the officers had
used reasonable force in subduing Mr. Sayon.
. Nicholas Heyward Jr., Sept. 27, 1994: Nicholas, 13, was playing cops
and robbers with friends in a Gowanus Houses building stairwell when Officer
Brian George, mistaking the teenager's toy rifle for a real gun, shot him to
death.
What happened: The Brooklyn district attorney decided not to present the case
to a grand jury, saying the real culprit was an authentic-looking toy gun.
. Anthony Baez, Dec. 22, 1994: Mr. Baez, 29, a security guard, was
playing football outside his mother's Bronx home when a stray toss landed on a
police car. Mr. Baez died after an officer applied a chokehold while trying to
arrest him.
What happened: Francis X. Livoti, who had been dismissed by the force for using
an illegal chokehold, was convicted on federal civil rights charges and
sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, two years after he won acquittal
in a state trial.
. Amadou Diallo, Feb. 4, 1999: Mr. Diallo, a 22-year-old immigrant
from Guinea, was killed by four officers who fired 41 times in the vestibule of
his apartment building in the Bronx. They said he seemed to have a gun, but he
was unarmed.
What happened: In February 2000, after a tense and racially charged trial, all
four officers, who were white, were acquitted of second-degree murder and other
charges, fueling protests. The city agreed to pay the family $3 million.
. Patrick Dorismond, March 16, 2000: Mr. Dorismond, 26, an unarmed
black security guard, was shot dead by an undercover narcotics detective in a
brawl in front of a bar in Midtown Manhattan, after Mr. Dorismond became
offended when the detective asked him if he had any crack cocaine.
What happened: By late July, a grand jury declined to file criminal charges
against the detective, Anthony Vasquez, concluding that the shooting of Mr.
Dorismond was not intentional. The city agreed to pay $2.25 million to his
family.
. Ousmane Zongo, May 23, 2003: Mr. Zongo, 43, an art restorer, was
shot and killed by a police officer during a raid at a Chelsea warehouse that
the police believed was the base of a CD counterfeiting operation.
What happened: In 2005, Officer Bryan A. Conroy was convicted at the second of
two trials and sentenced to probation. The judge placed the blame for the
killing primarily on the poor training and supervision by the Police
Department. The city agreed to pay the family $3 million.
. Timothy Stansbury Jr., Jan. 24, 2004: Mr. Stansbury, 19, a high
school student, was about to take a rooftop shortcut to a party when he was
fatally shot by Officer Richard S. Neri Jr., who was patrolling the roof.
What happened: A grand jury decided not to indict Officer Neri. In December
2006, he was suspended without pay for 30 days, permanently stripped of his
gun, and reassigned to a property clerk's office. The city agreed to pay the
Stansbury family $2 million.
. Sean Bell, Nov. 25, 2006: Five detectives fired 50 times into a car
occupied by Mr. Bell, 23, and two others after a confrontation outside a Queens
club on Mr. Bell's wedding day. He was killed.
What happened: After a heated seven-week nonjury trial in 2008, the judge found
Detectives Gescard F. Isnora, Michael Oliver and Marc Cooper not guilty of all
charges, which included manslaughter and assault. In 2012, Detective Isnora was
fired, and Detectives Cooper and Oliver, along with a supervisor, were forced
to resign. The city agreed to pay the family $3.25 million.
. Ramarley Graham, Feb. 2, 2012: Mr. Graham, 18, was shot and killed
by Richard Haste, a police officer, in the bathroom of his Bronx apartment
after being pursued into his home by a team of officers from a plainclothes
street narcotics unit. Mr. Graham was unarmed.
What happened: A grand jury voted to indict Officer Haste on charges of
first- and second-degree manslaughter, but a judge dismissed the indictment a
year later. Prosecutors sought a new indictment. In August 2013, a grand jury
decided not to bring charges in the case. The city agreed to pay the family
$3.9 million.
. Eric Garner, July 17, 2014: Mr. Garner, 43, died after Officer
Daniel Pantaleo restrained him using a chokehold, a maneuver that was banned by
the New York Police Department more than 20 years ago. The officers were trying
to arrest Mr. Garner, whose death was attributed in part to the chokehold, on
charges of illegally selling cigarettes.
What happened: A grand jury, impaneled in September by the Staten Island
district attorney, voted not to bring charges against Officer Pantaleo. The
city agreed to pay the family $5.9 million.
. Akai Gurley, Nov. 20, 2014: Mr. Gurley, 28, was entering the
stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project with his girlfriend when Officer Peter
Liang, standing 14 steps above him, shot Mr. Gurley in the chest. The police
described the fatal shooting of Mr. Gurley, who was unarmed, as an accident.
What happened: Officer Liang was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter on
Feb. 11, 2016. He was then fired from the department. The Brooklyn district
attorney did not seek jail time.
________________________________________
Dennis J. Bernstein is the executive producer of Flashpoints, syndicated on
Pacifica Radio, and is the recipient of a 2015 Pillar Award for his work as a
journalist whistleblower. He is most recently the author of Special Ed:
Voices from a Hidden Classroom.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to
republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported
News.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Eleanor Bumpurs. (photo: unknown)
http://readersupportednews.org/http://readersupportednews.org/
Remembering the 12 Gauge Police Eviction of a 67 Year Old Grandmother in the
South Bronx By Dennis J Bernstein, Reader Supported News
18 July 16
hirty-two years ago, in 1984, I was teaching media activism in an alternative
high school in the South Bronx with filmmaker Chela Blitt. We were getting
ready to begin a documentary with the kids on the social, political, and
economic reasons why their neighborhood looked more like Hiroshima after the
war than a neighborhood in New York City. But instead, we changed gears and
produced with the kids the documentary film "12-Gauge Eviction," which
chronicles the close-range gunning down of a 67-year-old, arthritic grandmother
named Eleanor Bumpurs, in the Sedgwick housing project in the Highbridge
Section of the South Bronx.
And we got off to a swift start. One of my students had heard the shotgun
blasts through the walls and halls of the high-rise. In no time, with our
cameras and recording equipment in tow, we were filming through the broken
keyhole into the murder scene, where Eleanor Bumpurs was snuffed out of this
world for being late on her rent. She owed the city about $400 dollars back
rent, which she claimed she was withholding until the city came in and did some
necessary plumbing and heating repairs.
Social Services called in the police, and what unfolded next was obscene,
extremely brutal, but not all that uncommon. A half-dozen special duty New York
City cops arrived at the front door of her small apartment, armed with mace,
tear gas, shields, nets, clubs and side arms, but finally decided that nothing
less than a 12-gauge pump shotgun fired at close range would do the trick. The
first blast from the shotgun took Bumpurs' hand off. The final blast blew the
back of her head off.
The cops claimed they had no choice. They were facing mortal danger, claiming
Eleanor Bumpurs, mother of seven and grandmother, was wielding a butcher knife.
They claimed the shoot was clean. The local corporate press took it from there.
Many press accounts, informed by the police of course, characterized Bumpurs as
being "emotionally disturbed" and "deranged."
My students jumped all over this. One student, a Junior named Douglas, who
lived in the projects and had ear-witnessed the shots through the walls - led
us to the crime scene. He guided us to the floor where Bumpurs had lived and
died, and to the senior citizen center, the library, and other parts of the
projects where the residents would congregate. And the kids started to ask
questions and interview residents about the police killing of Mrs.
Bumpurs.
"If the lady was so mentally disturbed," pointed out one resident, "people
wouldn't have asked her to babysit their kids." The resident knew of several
parents who had entrusted Bumpurs to babysit their kids for them, until her
arthritis became too severe to "chase the little ones around." One Housing
Authority supervisor, Michael Pierson, told the kids, "She just seemed like a
quiet individual to me."
That evening, my students carried their cameras to an outdoor prayer vigil at
the projects and interviewed friends and relatives of Bumpurs, as well as a few
local politicians who had come to pay their respects to the slain grandmother.
"It's amazing that any time a black or Hispanic is killed like this, it's
police procedure," said the Rev. Wendell Foster, who was then a Bronx City
councilman. Sound familiar? One resident told the student investigators, "A
couple of weeks ago a dangerous animal escaped from the Bronx Zoo, and they
captured it with a sleep dart and brought it safely back to its cage in the
zoo. Around here" said the resident, who requested anonymity for fear of police
retribution, "cops treat black folks worse than zoo animals. They'll risk their
white skin to save an animal, but they'll murder us on the spot."
I have to believe that it was the thorough and unrelenting investigative work
of the students, along with a local independent newspaper, The City Sun, that
forced the court's hand, making them deal with some of the real facts of the
case, rather than let most of the local the racist corporate press marginalize
Bumpurs as a community danger, a crazed black woman who was willing to kill a
cop to avoid paying her back rent.
After reviewing extensive testimony, a grand jury indeed voted for an
indictment for second-degree manslaughter against Officer Stephen Sullivan, who
cut down Bumpurs at close range with two quick blasts from his department
issued pump-style shotgun. However, subsequently, a state judge dismissed the
indictment against Sullivan, asserting the evidence was "legally insufficient"
to indict Sullivan for manslaughter or any other offense.
In an interview after the ruling, when asked if under similar circumstances he
would do the same thing, Sullivan replied, "Yes, I would," according to The New
York Times. And New York City cops have been killing people of color non-stop
before and since. Here's a partial list published by The New York
Times:
. Jose (Kiko) Garcia, July 3, 1992: During a struggle with police
officers in the lobby of an apartment building, Mr. Garcia, a 23-year-old
Dominican immigrant who the police said was carrying a revolver, was shot twice
by Officer Michael O'Keefe.
What happened: Later that year, a grand jury cleared Officer O'Keefe,
supporting the officer's assertion that Mr. Garcia reached for a gun before he
was shot.
. Ernest Sayon, April 29, 1994: Mr. Sayon, 22, was standing outside a
Staten Island housing complex when police officers on an anti-drug patrol tried
to arrest him. Mr. Sayon suffocated because of pressure on his back, chest and
neck while he was handcuffed on the ground.
What happened: A grand jury declined to file criminal charges against any of
the three police officers involved, apparently concluding that the officers had
used reasonable force in subduing Mr. Sayon.
. Nicholas Heyward Jr., Sept. 27, 1994: Nicholas, 13, was playing cops
and robbers with friends in a Gowanus Houses building stairwell when Officer
Brian George, mistaking the teenager's toy rifle for a real gun, shot him to
death.
What happened: The Brooklyn district attorney decided not to present the case
to a grand jury, saying the real culprit was an authentic-looking toy gun.
. Anthony Baez, Dec. 22, 1994: Mr. Baez, 29, a security guard, was
playing football outside his mother's Bronx home when a stray toss landed on a
police car. Mr. Baez died after an officer applied a chokehold while trying to
arrest him.
What happened: Francis X. Livoti, who had been dismissed by the force for using
an illegal chokehold, was convicted on federal civil rights charges and
sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, two years after he won acquittal
in a state trial.
. Amadou Diallo, Feb. 4, 1999: Mr. Diallo, a 22-year-old immigrant
from Guinea, was killed by four officers who fired 41 times in the vestibule of
his apartment building in the Bronx. They said he seemed to have a gun, but he
was unarmed.
What happened: In February 2000, after a tense and racially charged trial, all
four officers, who were white, were acquitted of second-degree murder and other
charges, fueling protests. The city agreed to pay the family $3 million.
. Patrick Dorismond, March 16, 2000: Mr. Dorismond, 26, an unarmed
black security guard, was shot dead by an undercover narcotics detective in a
brawl in front of a bar in Midtown Manhattan, after Mr. Dorismond became
offended when the detective asked him if he had any crack cocaine.
What happened: By late July, a grand jury declined to file criminal charges
against the detective, Anthony Vasquez, concluding that the shooting of Mr.
Dorismond was not intentional. The city agreed to pay $2.25 million to his
family.
. Ousmane Zongo, May 23, 2003: Mr. Zongo, 43, an art restorer, was
shot and killed by a police officer during a raid at a Chelsea warehouse that
the police believed was the base of a CD counterfeiting operation.
What happened: In 2005, Officer Bryan A. Conroy was convicted at the second of
two trials and sentenced to probation. The judge placed the blame for the
killing primarily on the poor training and supervision by the Police
Department. The city agreed to pay the family $3 million.
. Timothy Stansbury Jr., Jan. 24, 2004: Mr. Stansbury, 19, a high
school student, was about to take a rooftop shortcut to a party when he was
fatally shot by Officer Richard S. Neri Jr., who was patrolling the roof.
What happened: A grand jury decided not to indict Officer Neri. In December
2006, he was suspended without pay for 30 days, permanently stripped of his
gun, and reassigned to a property clerk's office. The city agreed to pay the
Stansbury family $2 million.
. Sean Bell, Nov. 25, 2006: Five detectives fired 50 times into a car
occupied by Mr. Bell, 23, and two others after a confrontation outside a Queens
club on Mr. Bell's wedding day. He was killed.
What happened: After a heated seven-week nonjury trial in 2008, the judge found
Detectives Gescard F. Isnora, Michael Oliver and Marc Cooper not guilty of all
charges, which included manslaughter and assault. In 2012, Detective Isnora was
fired, and Detectives Cooper and Oliver, along with a supervisor, were forced
to resign. The city agreed to pay the family $3.25 million.
. Ramarley Graham, Feb. 2, 2012: Mr. Graham, 18, was shot and killed
by Richard Haste, a police officer, in the bathroom of his Bronx apartment
after being pursued into his home by a team of officers from a plainclothes
street narcotics unit. Mr. Graham was unarmed.
What happened: A grand jury voted to indict Officer Haste on charges of
first- and second-degree manslaughter, but a judge dismissed the indictment a
year later. Prosecutors sought a new indictment. In August 2013, a grand jury
decided not to bring charges in the case. The city agreed to pay the family
$3.9 million.
. Eric Garner, July 17, 2014: Mr. Garner, 43, died after Officer
Daniel Pantaleo restrained him using a chokehold, a maneuver that was banned by
the New York Police Department more than 20 years ago. The officers were trying
to arrest Mr. Garner, whose death was attributed in part to the chokehold, on
charges of illegally selling cigarettes.
What happened: A grand jury, impaneled in September by the Staten Island
district attorney, voted not to bring charges against Officer Pantaleo. The
city agreed to pay the family $5.9 million.
. Akai Gurley, Nov. 20, 2014: Mr. Gurley, 28, was entering the
stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project with his girlfriend when Officer Peter
Liang, standing 14 steps above him, shot Mr. Gurley in the chest. The police
described the fatal shooting of Mr. Gurley, who was unarmed, as an accident.
What happened: Officer Liang was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter on
Feb. 11, 2016. He was then fired from the department. The Brooklyn district
attorney did not seek jail time.
Dennis J. Bernstein is the executive producer of Flashpoints, syndicated on
Pacifica Radio, and is the recipient of a 2015 Pillar Award for his work as a
journalist whistleblower. He is most recently the author of Special Ed:
Voices from a Hidden Classroom.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to
republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported
News.
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
