NJ State Sen. Sean T. Kean, R-Monmouth, sent a letter to Obama stating:
"sends the message to the world that we are not committed to pursuing justice for a police officer who was savagely gunned down in the line of duty."
Whatever. The problem with this case is the continued denial of white people as to how policing in NJ is done relative to black folk particularly in the 60's and 70's as evidenced by this write up
Chesimard, a Black Panther and member of the Black Liberation Army, was sentenced to life in prison in 1977 after being found guilty of murdering State Trooper Werner Foerster just south of interchange 9 on the New Jersey Turnpike four years earlier. Authorities said Foerster was shot execution style during a routine traffic stop of a car in which Chesimard was a passenger.
Understand for a black person on the NJ Turnpike, even today the only thing routine about a traffic stop is that you know it's coming if you're in the wrong part of "town" at the "wrong" time. Furthermore, in the 70's, if you were a Black Panther, you were known to all manner of "law enforcement" who generally were looking for an excuse to lock you up if not shoot you down in the street. And I'm not making this up having had the "routine" treatment of being stopped and had guns pointed in my direction during "routine" traffic stops.
I'm "sure" the reason for pulling over the black panthers was something like a taillight being out since that seems to a standard op for NJ State Troopers.
One of the interesting things about Shakur's trial was the following from Wikipedia:
Shakur testified that Trooper Harper shot her after she raised her arms to comply with his demand, the second shot hitting her in the back as she was turning to avoid it, and that she fell onto the road for the duration of the gunfight before crawling back into the backseat of the Pontiac which Acoli drove 5 miles (8 km) down the road and parked, and remained there until State Troopers dragged her onto the road.[47][124]
Does that sound familiar to anyone? It should. It is practically the same thing that happened in the killing of Sean Bell. Here's what was said back in April of last year:
Q. And what did you see this person doing at that
time?
A. I saw the passenger of the vehicle. The window
was blown out, and he kept moving like this as to
indicated he was trying to raise his arm, and I didn't
want him to get that arm up.
Q. Just for the record, you are indicating that the
man in the passenger seat was kind of twisting towards
the interior of the car?
A. No.
Q. Why don't you clarify that?
A. What I saw was the passenger of the vehicle, he
kept trying to raise his right arm as to bring a gun up
to me the whole time. I didn't know if he could have
been shooting through the vehicle because he couldn't
get his arm up. I was not about to let him get that arm
up. I felt if he got that arm up he was going to kill
me.
Q. Would it be fair to say, as you made the motion
that you just demonstrated to the jury where you
indicated this man was trying to reach for his waist you
were also lowering your left shoulder and basically
putting yourself in a position where your left shoulder
is also lowered to your waist?
A. I can't answer that, that way. I don't know if he
was tipping his shoulder. When he is trying to reach he
wasn't just sitting still, and moving his arm. He was
like -- he was trying to get his arm up.
Q. The motion that you are making now as you
demonstrate to the jury is an attempt to show the jury
the motion that man was making?
A. It was a motion that appeared to me that he was
trying to raise a gun at me.
Q. But the motion that you are demonstrating to the
jury is an attempt by you to show the jury the motion
that man was making, is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And in making that motion you are tipping your
left shoulder, is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. When this man, who you testified was making this
motion, he was in the passenger seat of the vehicle, is
that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And when he made that motion and was tipping his
left shoulder that was kind of pushing his body towards
the interior of the car, is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And again you saw this motion, but you saw no
weapon, is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. You fired that shot at the same time you saw this
motion, is that correct?
A. I'm sorry?
Q. You fired your first round at about the time you
first saw this man making this motion?
A. Yes.
So we see that it is standard op. for police to shoot at people in the back and claim they were reaching for weapons. Back to Wiki:
The reports then state that after Acoli complied and as Harper was looking inside the vehicle to examine the registration, Trooper Foerster yelled and held up an ammunition clip, as Shakur simultaneously reached into her red pocketbook, pulled out a nine-millimeter weapon and fired at him.[124] Trooper Harper's reports then state that he ran to the rear of his car and shot at Shakur who had exited the vehicle and was firing from a crouched position next to the vehicle.[124
And Officer Oliver claimed that Guzman was reaching in his waist for a gun too. but of course:
Under cross-examination at both Acoli and Shakur's trials, Trooper Harper admitted to having lied in these reports and in his Grand Jury testimony about Trooper Foerster yelling and showing him an ammunition clip, about seeing Shakur holding a pocketbook or a gun inside the vehicle, and about Shakur shooting at him from the car.[45][101] Trooper Harper retracted his previous statements and said that he had never seen Shakur with a gun, and that she did not shoot him.[126]
Imagine that. Lying under oath. I wonder if this fellow has seen the inside of a jail cell a-la lil Kim for perjury?
Back to the point though. This State Senator's attitude is unfortunately typical of many people in NJ. The Embargo against Cuba is an act of war. It needs to stop regardless. Talk about political prisoners in Cuba are hypocritical when the US has plenty of its own. And hands off Assata!
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