Baltimore Uprising/SlaveState Business As Usual

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Our stories tonight include:

• Texas sheriff has fired six jailers and suspended 29 others after an investigation determined they let a mentally-ill inmate live in cell filled with rotting food covered in bugs, a clogged toilet, feces-smeared walls, and with his clothing hanging from the ceiling, presumably because he was contemplating suicide.

• We told you this would be the result of ‘sagging pants laws” and here it is, A newly released video – which contradicts police reports – shows 38-year-old Ervin Leon Edwards lying facedown and unresponsive in a Louisiana jail cell where he died after in police custody after officers shocked him with a stun gun during an arrest for sagging pants laws.

• The Police Bill Of Rights. What is it and what does it have to do with Baltimore today? Let’s talk about that.

• In California, the local chapter of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union has vowed to shut down ports on May 1 in a historic protest against police brutality. In a statement, the union said, “It is fitting that on May Day, International Workers Day, Bay Area ports will be shut down to protest the racist police killing of mainly black and brown people.” It’s the first time a union has taken such action.

• A smoking gun has been uncovered. Documents show Freddie Gray SETTLED a police BRUTALITY case against the City Of Baltimore LAST YEAR – for more than $50,000. The family member did NOT know the specific details of the case – but the sources were told that the Baltimore PD was VERY UPSET that they had to pay 25 year old Freddie Grey A PENNY.

• Former US president Bill Clinton has called for an end to mass incarceration, admitting that changes in penal policy that happened largely under his watch put “too many people in prison and for too long” and “overshot the mark”. Talk about an understatement.

• In our ongoing state by state investigation to expose #Ferguson like exploitation we hit the motherload of dark secrets. Tonight we show you that Colorado is Ferguson.

• This week’s Riders of the 21st Century Underground Railroad is represented in the sorrowful tale of the life and death of Demetrius Smith.

• Our Abolitionist in Profile is Elisha Tyson 1749 – 1824

Slave Catcher Madness

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April 15, 2015

Tonight we have a full plate- just trying to work our way through reporting on all of the police criminality and misconduct. We start in Florida, where more than 50 criminal cases will be dropped after four Florida police officers were fired over their racist text messages and videos.

Next, we move to Chicago and tell you about the declaration made by Mayor Emanuel that the city is going to pay out $5.5 million to individuals who can prove that they were/are victims of former police commander John Burge. This comes after the city council had already decided to create a fund to give them at least $20 million, since the statute of limitation has run out on the crimes against humanity that were carried out against them. Is justice really being served? While we're in Chicago, we'll give you an update on the city also seeking to pay out a quick $5 million to the family of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, now that the dashcam video is available, the family says that it shows officers shot him 16 times as he was walking away from them. They were seeking $16 million, so the settlement helps the city dodge bullets again.

There are more stories of slave catchers out of control, and we will address all of this- but we also have our Ferguson is America segment, which this week highlights municipal, and judicial corruption, police and courts racial profiling and preying on the poor- all things we saw detailed in the DOJ report on Ferguson, MO. We're still making the case for RICO charges against institutions and individuals running them, who show pattern and practice, so tonight is Arkansas under the Abolitionist spotlight.

This week's Riders of the Modern Underground Railroad are the brothers Jonathan Barr and James Harden, exonerated after 16 years falsely imprisoned.

Our Abolitionist in Profile is Robert Morris, (1823-1882)

Ending slavery and cruel punishments w/ Christopher Ervin

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Our guest tonight will be brother Christopher Irving out of Baltimore. He’s been a guest on BTRN before and today he’ll join us on New Abolitionist Radio for a conversation about collateral consequences and his efforts in bringing this topic to political attention.

 Our stories for tonight’s program include; • March 25th marked the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the nation’s 1st memorial has been erected at United Nations Headquarters in New York. • Former New York City narcotics detective, Stephen Anderson, testified in court that the NYPD routinely plants drugs on innocent people. He described this as a “common practice,” a “quick and easy” way for officers to reach arrest quotas. Let’s talk about the implications. • Trials begin for six ex-Pennsylvania narcotics officers accused of conspiracy, robbery, extortion, kidnapping and drug dealing during a six-year racketeering scheme. Let’s talk about that. • And while we’re on the subject, Keith Foster, The deputy police chief of Fresno, California, was arrested last week on charges of possession and intent to distribute heroin and other drugs, federal and local law enforcement officials said. • But wait it gets worse. This week, the Brooklyn, Illinois Police Department was raided by a number of other law enforcement agencies, including, the Illinois State Police, and the St. Clair County Sheriff. •

Tonight we continue our new weekly segment and, state by state we will closely examine incarceration statistics and uncover economic exploitation by state and local officials involved in unconstitutional, unlawful and illegal practices against American citizens in order to use the law as a revenue generator and racist population control tool. It’s called “Ferguson is Everywhere.”

Tonight we begin with Alaska Is Ferguson. Our Abolitionist in Profile will be William Lloyd Garrison 1805 – 1879

This week’s Rider Of The 21st Century Underground Railroad is An Ohio man who spent 27 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit was brought to tears Tuesday when a judge dropped all charges against him. Kwame Ajamu, 56, was the last of three men exonerated in the 1975 robbery and murder of a Cleveland-area money order salesman.