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Gilroy Shooting: Support H.R. 1296 and people of Gilroy

“My son had his whole life to live and he was only 6.” – Alberto Romeo, on the murder of his son at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California on Sunday, 28 July.

Enjoying a family fun day out at the California festival, Stephen Romero aged six was one of four who were murdered and 12 injured by a white male teenager who had bought an automatic weapon from a Nevada gunseller’s website.

According to a witness, the shooter was able to fire 3 or 4 rounds per second. 

He apparently came armed with wire cutters to gain entry, rounds, a semi-automatic weapon, camouflage gear and a protective vest.

According to The Intelligencer, “Legan opened fire on three handgun-equipped police officers, who returned fire, killing him. Authorities said that the shooting could have been far deadlier if officers had not responded within less than a minute.”

The fact three trained officers who reacted quickly could not possibly have been quick enough to stop the murder or injury of 16 shows that a shooter with an automatic or semi-automatic cannot be stopped before there is carnage.  This is something our legislators should have already learned from the Las Vegas massacre for instance.

As explained in a CNN news story about this latest tragic gun mass murder, Nevada law allows anyone to buy a gun – without any kind of permit at all.  Nevada has no waiting time before a gun purchase, no limit to the number of guns you may buy, or how large a magazine your weapon(s) may have – and you can carry unconcealed almost anywhere in the state.

Who is to blame?   Could some of these be morally if not actually culpable?

The NRA will not change (though it seems to be slowly self-destructing – in no small measure do to the pressure it is under from groups like One Pulse for America); its paid apologists might change if we threw money at them as they seem to be for hire.  Instead of trying to attack or persuade them, we will be taking positive action by writing to Rep Jackie Speier, a long-term gun law reform activist, copying our elected reps and asking them to Support H.R. 1296.  We will also send messages of support to Gilroy, and offering condolences and help to Mayor Roland Velasco, pledging that we will lobby for better laws.

Mayor Velasco told an assembly “We cannot let the bastard that did this tear us down.”

On a thread offering help and condolences to Gilroy, Rep Jackie Speier, California, tweeted:  “I worked to pass the state law banning assault weapons in the 90’s. We need to buy back the ones still in people’s possession & throw the book at those who defy the law! We must also pass H.R. 1296, the Assault Weapons Ban, to ban military-style assault weapons across the U.S.”

ACTION

1.   Please contact Rep Jackie Speier through one of the channels below and give her the following message, personalized to your liking:


Thank you for taking a stand for sane gun reform laws in the wake of the Gilroy Garlic Festival mass murder – and all the 42 deaths and 134 gun related injuries that happened in the USA ON THE SAME DAY.

I agree that we need to buy back automatics and semi-automatics still in people’s possession & throw the book at those who defy the law. We must also pass H.R. 1296, the Assault Weapons Ban, to ban military-style assault weapons across the U.S.:  I know it is a measure that will save many lives.

As a member of One Pulse for America, I will write to my elected representatives to demand they support HR 1296 as well.  I hold the NRA and  Adam Laxalt, who killed a voter-approved tightening of Nevada’s loose gun laws, responsible for the ease with which the Gilroy killer, a white supremacist, was able to get such a gun and rounds.  I will be watching them closely and redoubling my efforts to change America’s deadly interpretation of the 2nd Amendment:  I do not see a ‘well-regulated’ militia:  I see teens and adults able to get weapons that can kill dozens within a minute with ease – and this has to change.  I am copying my congresspeople, and I demand they support HR 1296:  I will be watching what they do and promise not to vote for anyone who does not support this and other gun reform now.

Rep Jackie Spiers
Phone: San Mateo: (650) 342-0300 or Washington, DC: (202) 225-3531
Email:  https://speier.house.gov/contact/email  (form)
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/JackieSpeier/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/RepSpeier

Copy your congressperson- details here:  https://www.conginst.org/contact-congress/

2.   Please contact Mayor Roland Velasco through one of the channels below and give him the following message, personalized to your liking:

I write to offer sincere condolences to everyone impacted by the tragic shooting a the Gilroy Garlic Festival.  The tragedy of young lives taken so horribly and, I believe, avoidably is hard to take in.  I offer my support to the people of Gilroy and if there are any actions or collections to help, please keep me informed.

Along with sending my condolences, I will be taking concrete actions to help stop further tragedies.  I will support Congresswoman Jackie Speier in her bid to reform gun laws, and I will write to my representatives to ask them to vote for H.R. 1296.  

With respect and condolences, 

Mayor Velasco
Phone:  (408) 710-8508
Email:  roland.velasco@cityofgilroy.org
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/MayorRolandVelasco/ 

Once you have contacted Congresswoman Speier and/or Mayor Roland Velasco, copying your representatives, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Detroit: Stop shooting dogs & start taking dog shootings seriously

Detroit’s police seem too jaded by gun crime to care that two dogs were shot in their own backyard by neighbours – who then shot at the owners.  In fact, Detroit police seem to think shooting dogs is their right if not their sport:  they shot 54 dogs in 2017.  This has to stop.

On Monday night 15 July, a Detroit woman reported her dogs Samson and Sadie were shot by their neighbors. The dogs had been let out in their fully fenced in backyard – where they were both shot by the next door neighbor.

Samson’s and Sadie’s owners went running outside and they were also allegedly shot at. They called 911: but nobody came.  They rushed both dogs to 5 Mile Veterinary hospital for care.  After paying thousands of dollars to save their dogs, the victims went to make a report at Detroit’s 8th Precinct and the couple alleges some of the officers laughed at them.

A police report was filed and a Detective Robinsonn was assigned to the case, but nothing has apparently been done to help this family. One Pulse was told that  Samson, Sadie and their owners are staying in a Motel because they are understandably too afraid to return home.

One Pulse for America has tried repeatedly to contact Detroit Police’s media arm – all phone numbers we called go to voicemail but one, and the main number is not in service; we sent two emails and messaged on Facebook.

If you are wondering why we should care about dogs being shot (if you don’t already care), these shootings frequently happen in the presence of families and children; bullets have been known to go stray and injure people.  The trigger-happy willingness to inflict unnecessary suffering or death does not belong in someone meant to protect and serve.  In allowing violence against animals, many of which have not displayed any violence whatsoever, we are allowing police to intimidate, to inflict needless emotional pain, and to show that in effect they are above the law.

A damning  investigation by Reason in 2016 found: “… the Detroit Police Department’s Major Violators Unit, which conducts hundreds of drug raids a year in the city, had a nasty habit of leaving dead dogs in its wake.

“One officer had killed 69 dogs over the course of his career, public records showed. That officer has now shot 80 dogs, according to “destruction of animal” reports filed by Detroit police officers in 2017 and obtained by Reason.”

ACTION

Please contact Detroit Police and/or the  through one of the channels below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:


I am revolted by the institutional, brutal shooting of dogs by Detroit’s police which has gone unchecked for years.  I can only conclude the department either turns a blind eye or approves of it.

It is bad enough that your police officers are shooting dogs with virtually no real provocation – puppies, miniature dogs, lost dogs – all shot on your watch in enormous numbers.  What are you doing to stop this?

In a recent case (Police Report Number is 1907150330), it is alleged police disregarded the 911 call made when two dogs were shot in their yard, and then their owners were also shot at.  It is alleged that your officers laughed when the owners were able to get to a station to file their complaint – and given the lack of empathy you show to animals, I can well believe it.  When did you respond to the 911 call?  Did anyone at all laugh at the couple’s plight when they came to report the shootings?  Who has been arrested?

I am a member of One Pulse for America, which has been so far ignored by your media arm despite sending emails and making calls.  We want to know what is being done to stop your officers shooting animals.  There are many non-lethal ways to deal with violent dogs – but all the evidence shows you are killing non-violent, innocent animals without a care in the world.  This has to stop. You are traumatizing people, killing animals, and teaching people who see you do so that you are above the law, and enjoy killing.  How else can you explain for one instance that you have a single officer who has killed over 80 dogs in their career? 

I expect a reply and I definitely expect action –  and I will be watching.

Police Chief James Craig
Phone:    or Detroit’s 8th Precinct at (313) 596-5800
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/detroitpolice/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/CityofDetroit

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan
Phone:  (313) 224-3400
Email:  emailmayorduggan@detroitmi.gov
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/MayorMikeDuggan/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/MayorMikeDuggan

Detective Robinson
Email:  Robinsonn108@detroitmi.gov

Once you have contacted Instagram, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

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Fire officer who called for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to be shot

A Gretna, Louisiana police officer has brought the controversial force further disgrace by calling for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to be shot: the officer must be fired.

Newsweek reported “‘This vile idiot needs a round,” officer Charlie Rispoli wrote in a Facebook post referring to Ocasio-Cortez last week, according to a screenshot first reported by New Orleans news site NOLA.com on Saturday. ‘And I don’t mean the kind she used to serve,’ he continued, referring to the fact she once waitressed.”

Rispoli has been on the Gretna police force since 2005.  After his offensive, violent post about AOC, he has closed his social media accounts down.  It seems he did not understand a satirical article on AOC, which may have prompted his unacceptable call for gun violence.

It is one thing to think someone should not be in office.  It is disturbing to call for any human being to be executed.  But when someone who swore to uphold the law publically incites a shooting, they have broken their oath and demonstrated contempt for the law.  They should not be carrying a gun on our streets.

Generally speaking, state and local police officers take the Law Enforcement Oath of Honor at the beginning of their careers. The oath affirms their standards of integrity, bravery and honor to the community and law.

The department’s police Chief Arthur Lawson told the local news site that the post was “disturbing” and appeared to violate the department’s social media policy. Although he said he did not believe it was an actual threat against the congresswoman, he promised the situation would be dealt with.

Can we trust Lawson to take action?  It was under his command that hundreds fleeing Hurricane Katrina had shots fired over their heads while trying to cross a bridge to safety in Gretna.  They had been told to do so by a different police force.  The force has unsurprisingly been involved in shootings – and they are captured on film kicking a person on the ground who was complying and handcuffed.

Gretna is also America’s arrest capital city – according to a reporter in 2016 it had the country’s highest arrest rate with only a population of 18,000:  the majority of those arrested were non-white.  Gretna’s revenues depend largely on its arrests and resulting fines.

ACTION:

Please contact Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards through one of the channels below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:


I was absolutely horrified to see a Gretna, Louisiana officer post on social media that elected representative Alexandria Ocasia-Cortez should be shot:  the officer must be fired at once.

“This vile idiot needs a round,” officer Charlie Rispoli wrote in a Facebook post referring to Ocasio-Cortez last week, and they are still on the force:  they broke their oath of office to serve the community and act with honour.  No one who can casually call for a shooting deserves to be an officer, let alone an officer on our streets with a gun.  

Gretna police Chief Arthur Lawson said the post was “disturbing” and appeared to violate the department’s social media policy. He said he did not believe it was an actual threat against the congresswoman, he promised the situation would be dealt with.  I however believe it is a very real threat, coming from someone in a position of power in the community who decided to broadcast this call to violence to millions:  I want this officer out of office and for the state prosecutors to take action against them.

When I look at the history of the Gretna police, I have zero confidence in Lawson taking any action at all.  Gretna’s arrest rate is among the highest in the country with minorities being by far the most targeted group.  Gretna has seen police shootings and police brutality.  Infamously, Gretna’s police fired shots over the heads of people seeking shelter there from Katrina – as advised to do so by a different force.  Clearly shooting is taken far too casually and officers feel they can threaten citizens – and disaster victims – with being shot.  The entire system needs investigation, and Lawson, like Rispoli, must go.  

As a member of  One Pulse for America, I demand you immediately intervene to rid the force of Rispoli, and set up an external investigation into the Gretna police.  Should anyone out there who saw Rispoli’s call to violence against Ocasio-Cortez takes violent action based on that post, I will hold you responsible as well as Rispoli and the culture of Gretna  Police if you do not act.  I will be watching to see what you do.

Once you have contacted Instagram, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards
Phone: (225)342-7015
Email (form):  http://gov.louisiana.gov/index.cfm/form/home/4
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/LouisianaGov/ 
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/LouisianaGov

Once you have contacted Instagram, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

 

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Shooting of teen in Anaheim: suspend officer, disclose facts

5 July 2019, Anaheim, CA – Replica guns are cited in yet another shooting death of an unarmed person, as an officer shot a 17-year-old girl.

NBC News reported that the ‘suspect’ , who family members identified as teen Hannah Williams, was shot in an incident on the Freeway, taken to hospital, where she died.  CNN has since reported that Hannah Williams’ vehicle and the police officer’s vehicles collided. 

The police issued a statement on 6 July which said:  “The officer-involved shooting occurred … what appeared to be a Beretta 92 FS handgun was recovered at the scene next to the female…The gun was later identified as a replica handgun designed to look like a handgun.”

 

An updated statement of 9 July purports to show the replica gun next to the real thing looking very realistic:  police say no orange paint was visible which replicas are meant to have to indicate they are not real weapons.

However, Rev. Jarrett Maupin, a spokesman for the family, told NBC News on Tuesday that Hannah did not have a gun on her when she was shot.

“We maintain that she was unarmed, a fake gun is a fake gun,” Maupin said during a press conference Tuesday.

A New York Times piece claims the gun was recovered from deep within the vehicle and could not have been being waived or wielded by the victim.

Maupin said they still did not know details on how Hannah died, such as how many times she was shot or even where she was shot. The family is now asking for the officer to be suspended without pay and for California Gov. Gavin Newsom to open a state investigation into her death.

One Pulse is dismayed the police will not answer basic questions and apparently have not suspended the officer.  One Pulse has contacted Anaheim police for updates and also be contacting major fake/’toy’ gun manufacturers to demand less realistic-looking weapons are produced going forward.

ACTION

Please contact the Fullerton Police Department and Governor Newsom through one of the channels below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

I am absolutely sickened and disgusted that police have killed yet another young person who was unarmed.  Apparently the 17 year old Hannah Williams had a replica gun, and your officer decided to shoot her for it, causing her death.

You are investigating, but surely the family and public have the right to know what happened, why lethal force was used, what made your officer shoot, how many times they shot, where she was shot, and whether or not the fake gun was within her reach and was in sight, or as claimed in the media was recovered from deep inside the vehicle where she would not have had access to it.  Was your officer recording the event on bodycam?

Until we have a clear vision of what happened, it is clear the officer is a danger to any suspect they encounter, and must be immediately suspended without pay. I will be watching this case carefully, and demand you not only disclose the details the public require, but also look to reforming your training procedures so that future avoidable shooting deaths by your force can be avoided.  I want Governor Newsom, not least in light of recent legislation aimed at ending such tragic shootings, to hold a full state investigation.

Fullerton Police Department
Phone: (714) 738-6800
Email:  http://www.fullertonpd.org/faqs/default.asp (form)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CityofFullerton/  
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FPDPIO 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom
Please copy him to demand he opens a state investigation into her death
Phone: (916) 445-2841
Email:  gavin@gavinnewsom.com or via this form https://govapps.gov.ca.gov/gov40mail/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GavinNewsom/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CAgovernor

Once you have taken the above action, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

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Demand NJ Police suspended after shooting unarmed men

1 July 2019 – Celebrating America’s Independence from Tyranny seems premature in New Jersey after several police shot unarmed Fourth of July revellers who had fireworks.

The Hudson County prosecutor’s office said a lieutenant and two officers were on patrol around 10:15 p.m. near the Arlington Gardens Housing Complex on Ralph Avenue.

The details of the case have not all been released, but according to ABC News, none of the men shot at were armed.

nj.com image from scene of shooting 1 july 19

ABC reported: “Thomas Ashley, who represents 21-year-old Devante Moore and 19-year-old Shyquan Rush, says his clients were unarmed when the officers opened fire Monday night. He’s alleging excessive force after he said the officers began firing without warning.”

The police said  “There are no indications of any violations of the attorney general guidelines on the officers’ part.”

If that is true, the police shooting unarmed people, apparently without warning and apparently from behind is perfectly legal.

ACTION:

Please contact Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office and/or Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop through one of the channels below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:


I am disgusted at the behavior of the police who, responding to reports of fireworks, shot young men who were unarmed, and that the police insist there are no violations of the attorney general guidelines on the officers’ part.”


I  denounce the shooting of 21-year-old Devante Moore and 19-year-old Shyquan Rush on 1 July in Jersey City, and want the officers involved to be suspended pending an investigation.  If they cannot tell the difference between fireworks noise – close to the 4th of July –  and gunshots, and if they would shoot young people from behind, I do not want them anywhere near a gun, and I do not want them on the police force at all.  In fact, I want to see them prosecuted for illegally discharging weapons, endangering lives, and using excessive force.

It is disgraceful that the first statements coming from the police is that they acted lawfully – we shall see – but it is true the young men were unarmed.  It is understood the police did not issue any warning, and shot the men from behind:  is that really how you want New Jersey run, and is that really compliant with state and federal law?

Suspend these officers now.  I will be watching this case and your actions carefully.  The current situation of allowing them to work and saying this was somehow legal is unacceptable.  

Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office
Phone:  (201) 795 6400
Email:  hcpo@hcpo.org
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/HCProsecutor/

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop

Phone:  (201) 547-5200

Email:  Email: c/o Laura Varsalona, Division of Communications lvarsalona@jcnj.org 

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/steven.fulop/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/StevenFulop

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Instagram: stop influencers glamorizing guns

July 1776 – America’s founding fathers, fighting a war of independence with muskets, knew even then that the ability to wound or kill from a great distance should only be given to a well-regulated militia.  Even if it took minutes to load, fire and reload – and even if the musket sites were not always reliable, they knew they had serious weaponry that needed to be respected, controlled and regulated.

July 2019 – Social media is filled with images making guns look sexy, desirable, fashionable.  These are not muskets firing one or two rounds per minute; these are weapons like the AR-15, firing up to 45 rounds per minute.  Arguably the founding fathers didn’t foresee a future with bikini-clad women posing with guns that could kill scores in minutes.

According to an article by Pauline Allione,:

“the same way cosmetic brands are using it [Instagram] to sell their products, some influencers, vets, hunters, and models are now paid to pose with a firearm.”

It is far from clear in many cases what is a person posing with a gun and what is a paid-for influencer.

Ms Allione writes:  “… paralegal Liberte Austin from Texas, who regularly poses taking her aim staring in her viewfinder right after posting a picture promoting teeth whitening products or vitamins. As it turns out, Liberte Austin is also an ambassador for patriotic clothing brands.

“As for Kimberly Matte, she loves to pose wearing lingerie and holding a gun. No matter how cliché the staggering is, the Canadian model does her part to brush up the image of the arming industry by making through her badass and sexy look. She could almost have us forget these items are made to kill.”

ACTION

Please contact Instagram through one of the channels below and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

I am absolutely shocked that Instagram allows paid influencers to glamorize guns.  This is offensive and dangerous.  Young and/or impressionable people are shown images of beautiful people, often women trying to be sexy, holding semi-automatic and automatic weapons.  In a culture where mass shootings using such deadly weapons is a daily occurrence, I find Instagram to be culpable in perpetuating guns as desirable, fashionable and sexy items to own.  It is an insult to every Instagram user who had a loved one injured or killed that you allow such imagery.

Some would say that there is something ‘feminist’ about women posing with guns.  It is patronizing, sexist and insulting to my intelligence to equate a weapon of mass murder as being an aide to equality.  The statistics show that women are often the victims of gun violence perpetrated by someone they know.

There is not even an appropriate way to complain about these images using your complaints procedure.  We are allowed to complain for instance about someone selling cannabis – but we cannot complain about someone who wants to tout a deadly weapon designed to kill people.  I want you to ensure such paid for influencers are clearly identified as such, that their content – which should be banned – is at least filtered out so that the young and impressionable don’t see it.  Your complaints procedure has a way to complain about eating disorder-related posts:  this seems to be an acknowledgement that such posts can glamorize being unhealthily thin and have a serious impact.  Surely then imagery and posts featuring deadly weapons also have an impact:  guns take lives on a daily basis.  Do the right thing, and ban these images.

Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) – the Head of Instagram
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/adam
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/mosseri 

Kevin Systrom (@kevin) co-founded Instagram
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/kevin

Mike Krieger (@mikeyk) co-founded Instagram
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/mikeyk
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/mikeyk

 

Once you have contacted Instagram, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

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Thureon smuggling case means time to examine NRA

1 July 2019 – A Wisconsin gun manufacturer and retailer pleaded guilty to illegally smuggling automatic weapons to Australia for years, putting paid to the NRA myth that gun manufacturers are ‘responsible’ people.

Andy Lloyd Huebschmann of New Holstein pleaded guilty  to sending an Australian dealer pistols, rifles and rifle parts to convert semi-automatic guns into fully automatic weapons.

Semi-automatic and automatic weapons are banned in Australia.  Thureon showed no respect for federal or international law. The NRA may perpetually say: ‘If guns were outlawed, only outlaws would have guns,’  but in this case outlaws were smuggling guns to outlaws.   The question is – how connected to the NRA is Thureon?  In the absence of any NRA statement condemning the smuggling, it is time for Congress to ask questions.  

Sophie Carson of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote:  “Huebschmann … met Paul Munro of Australia at a Las Vegas gun trade show about seven years ago and Munro persuaded him to ship him Thureon guns under the radar… Munro has been sentenced to 10 years in Australian prison for his role in the scheme… Officials at his sentencing hearing said dozens of Thureon-imported guns, including some fully automatic weapons, remained on Australian streets.

“In one shipment Munro paid $1,000 for each rifle kit and $2,000 for a pack of pistol slides and frames. Australian news outlets report he, in turn, sold the rifles for $15,000 each and the pistols for $5,000 a piece.”

In a Youtube video, a Thureon representative brags one of their weapons will ‘give you a minimum of five rounds if you so much as touch the trigger’.  Hardly the behaviour of a responsible manufacturer/retailer.  Such a claim seems more like a call to mass shooters than to someone who wants to defend their home or to hunt.

Thureon attended at least one NRA convention in 2014, while the smuggling operation was likely to have been running.  Despite its multi-million dollar resources, the NRA failed to spot it was giving exhibition space to a long-term smuggler.  Was it an an NRA event the two parties guilty of smuggling met?  Perhaps the NRA doesn’t want to know?  According to several articles including a piece in Finances Online, support from gun manufacturers earns the NRA tens of millions per year.

ANdy Huebschmann facebook post mindset of a smuggler

The NRA demonstrated it had no proper due diligence and scrutiny when it happily associated with Russian spies and took Russian funds.   It is not known – yet – whether Thureon donated to the NRA, but it  attended NRA conventions and gave away costly guns as prizes.  Could the NRA, doing some basic checks, have determined there were issues?  Do they scrutinize members and donors at all?  Since it seems they are not going to upset their funding sources, however dubious those sources may be, it is time for Congress to step in and fully investigate – and at the same time finally end the pretense the NRA is in any way a charity deserving tax breaks.

 

ACTION

Please contact your senator and/or representative through the U.S. Capitol Hotline at (202) 224-3121 or find their email addresses by visiting www.senate.gov, and give them the following message, personalized to your liking:

I am absolutely outraged to find a gun manufacturer, Thureon, was able to smuggle guns, automatic weapons, and kits for automatics for years to Australia, a country seeking to avoid gun massacres.  How did this go undetected for so long?

The smugglers attended at least one NRA convention, and I believe the public needs to know whether Thureon were NRA donors.  If the NRA is about responsible gun ownership and sales, and if they rely on law to justify their existence and have tax-free status, then surely they have a duty to try to check that all their affiliates and donors are compliant with laws both national and international.

Since they have failed consistently in this basic duty, not least over the Russian donation and spy scandal, I am calling on you to act. 

This serious case highlights the need for external scrutiny of the NRA’s funding, and a re-examination of its tax-exempt status.  I want questions asked in Congress and a committee organised to investigate all the ramifications this story carries:  Was Thureon an NRA donor, and what links exist between the two organisations?  Does the NRA carry out any due diligence on its donors, and if so, should it not be more robust given this story? 

Considering the amount of money it is taking from manufacturers like Thureon, is the NRA deserving of tax-exempt status – or is it simply a lobbying business funded by coordinated, for-profit businesses to further their aims while hiding behind a ‘charitable’ and  ‘educational’ veneer?

I know NRA-funded congresspeople will fight to avoid the NRA facing scrutiny – but it’s time the NRA is finally called out, publicly scrutinized, and for its tax-free days to end.  

After you contact your senator, click the orange banner at the top of this page to report your action!

 

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Demand freedom for shot woman who lost baby

In a scene echoing something from dystopian Margaret Atwood novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, a woman is grieving her lost unborn child which died after she was shot several times in the stomach.  She’s grieving in prison, waiting to be put on trial for allegedly starting the fight which proved fatal to her unborn child, and ‘not getting out of harm’s way soon enough’:  This Is America.

Pleasant Grove, Alabama police have charged her with manslaughter.  Atwood could not have made this up.

According to USA Today, “Pleasant Grove, Alabama, police Lt. Danny Reid said: ‘The investigation showed that the only true victim in this was the unborn baby… It was the mother of the child who initiated and continued the fight which resulted in the death of her own unborn baby..”

The woman was shot in the stomach:  this makes her the victim of a crime – even in Alabama.  The callous misogyny of this state must be stopped now; it is clearly alien to the most basic of American and international rights.

The state recently passed draconian anti-abortion laws too, and according to civil liberties groups, this is no place to be black, poor, or a woman.

ACTION:

Please contact Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, the Pleasant Grove PD, The Governor of Alabama Kay Ivey, through one of the channels below and give him the following message, personalized to your liking, copying if you wish the ACLU and/or the business which has just bragged online about investing in Alabama right in the middle of this case:

Dear All

I write to demand you free Marshae Jones immediately and drop all charges against her.

One Pulse for America has covered many shocking situations, but rarely have we seen institutionalised bias and misogyny such as Pleasant Grove has shown to Marshae Jones, 27, gunshot victim who lost a child.

Jones was five months pregnant when 23-year-old Ebony Jemison shot her in the stomach during a December 2018 altercation regarding the unborn child’s father, Alabama news station WBMA-LD reported.

Her assailant is walking free after shooting her five times in the stomach, as somehow a state grand jury failed to indict her.  Ms Jones however, according to your unacceptable position, ‘didn’t get out of the way of harm fast enough,’ ‘recklessly endangered her unborn child’ and ‘started the argument’.  Starting an argument is still legal.

People – including police – start fights daily; they neither expect nor deserve to be shot five times for doing so, and in this case no justice can be served by Ms Jones’ prosecution and continued custody:  she is a grieving victim of a shooting which took her unborn child’s life – no one is responsible for her injuries or the fetus’ death except the person who pulled the trigger.  Getting out of harm’s way with speed when five months pregnant no less is something no man persecuting this woman can possibly understand.

The state seems to be blaming the person shot as reckless, not the shooter:  this is wholly unacceptable.

As a member of One Pulse, I demand the following:

  • Ms Jones should be getting counselling not getting charged; she should be free with no charges against her, and her assailant should be charged with the shooting which undeniably took place. Release her immediately;
  • If your state’s grand jury was unable to indict the shooter, that is some indictment against Alabama and its prosecution team. Re-mount a proper investigation, present evidence (with five shots and a subsequently deceased fetus this should be an easy thing to do), and get justice for Ms Jones and her unborn child and acknowledge they are the two victims here;
  • The governor must issue a full and unconditional pardon immediately – it is clearly not in the public interest to pursue this woman.
  • Alabama prosecutors and police must release the precise points of law they rely on to justify her arrest and custody (‘starting an argument’ and ‘not getting out of harm’s way quickly’ are not points of law);
  • The wildly inaccurate position which police Lt Danny Reid takes means he is incapable of any empathy and is unfit to Protect and Serve. He is quoted as saying: “The investigation showed that the only true victim in this was the unborn baby… It was the mother of the child who initiated and continued the fight which resulted in the death of her own unborn baby.” If Ltd Reid is unable to recognize a woman shot in the stomach five times who lost a baby as a victim, then he needs to apologize and leave the force immediately.  I also note that the email, Facebook and Twitter accounts for the force do not seem to be working and/or are not visible:  please advise the correct Facebook and Twitter account details so I can interact with the force publicly;
  • It’s time to strike down your historic behaviour against the poor, against women, and against people of colour; set up a task force to compare Alabama’s legislation and record to that of other states;
  • The conduct, record, and training of anyone responsible for this prosecution needs to be examined and corrected.

One Pulse is not alone in advising its members to vote every single person who permitted this gross situation out of office unless there is immediate redress.  It is not an understatement to say The Whole World Is Watching:  One Pulse will continue to monitor this situation and lobby for Ms Jones’ freedom.

Finally, I note from  Governor Ivey’s website the state is bragging about inward investment from Ben E. Keith Foods .  I will certainly be writing to them, asking them to invest instead in a state where a woman losing a baby for any reason – least of all for being shot – is not treated like a criminal.

Governor Kay Ivey
Website:  https://governor.alabama.gov/
Phone:  334.242.7100
Email:  https://contact.governor.alabama.gov/contact.aspx (form)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KayIveyAL/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/GovernorKayIvey

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall
Phone: (334) 242-7300
Email: steve@stevemarshall.gop or press@stevemarshall.gop
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AGSteveMarshall/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/agstevemarshall

Pleasant Grove PD
Phone:  (205) 744 1735
Email: (seems down)
Facebook: (seems down)
Twitter:  (seems down)

Copy your message to:

ACLU of Alabama
Phone:  (334) 265-2754
Email:  info@aclualabama.org
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ACLUofAlabama/
Twitter:   https://twitter.com/ACLUAlabama

and if you wish, to:

Ben E King Foods (Note:  I would not normally target a business:  but they just posted this week how happy they are to be opening up in Alabama – in the middle of this rights violation situation.  With the government in AL bragging about the investment and clearly interested in attracting business, copying this company into your communications may bring much-needed pressure:  use your discretion)

Phone: (817) 759-6800
Email: https://www.benekeith.com/contact (form)
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pg/BenEKeithFoods/posts/?ref=page_internal
Twitter:  @benekeithfoods

Once you have contacted Alabama officials, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

 

 

 

Posted on

Demand better training following Costco family shooting

18 June 2019 – A family relation says fatal shooting victim was non-verbal – and was not capable of starting a fight with an off-duty police officer at a Costco in Corona, California in which he lost his life.

Kenneth French, 32, was killed by an unnamed Los Angeles police officer following an argument of some kind. Police have somehow already concluded the non-verbal man was the instigator.

Rick Shureih, Mr French’s cousin told reporters: “This is a family that was unarmed and was just grocery shopping,” Shureih said on Facebook. “I’m sure this was a misunderstanding that got escalated for no reason!”

The unnamed officer also critically injured Mr French’s parents who were with him.  The officer is said to have had a child with him, and was treated at hospital for minor injuries; the child was unharmed.

Disability Rights California is one of many organisations that have been working to improve the situation for disabled people.  Their website says: “Many times, DRC has to investigate incidents involving police officers who encounter people who have mental health disabilities. Law enforcement officers are overwhelmingly the first responders to incidents involving persons with mental health disabilities who are in crisis. Despite the frequent interaction between law enforcement and individuals experiencing a mental health crisis, there are minimal training mandates to address these situations.”

One Pulse will be watching the case very closely, and has quite a number of questions; many of which point to police training issues:

*  How precisely did a trained officer not de-escalate the situation – particularly one involving two older people and a man with disabilities?

*The officer’s identity is crucial:  have they been involved in previous shooting incidents?

*The officer was said to be holding a child:  where was his loaded gun – in a belt?  holster?  Anywhere where the child could have been endangered?  Wouldn’t the officer’s best course of action have been to immediately remove themselves and their child from the situation?

*  What does Costco’s security footage show?

*  Do any witnesses have footage to either support or dispute the officer’s claim he was the victim of an unprovoked attack?

*  What precisely were the injuries the officer had to have hospital treatment for – or is there perhaps a standard procedure that when a police officer is involved in a contentious shooting that they are automatically sent to hospital – which, however minor the injuries – would be likely to impress a judge or jury?  As we know very often people wounded by police asking for medical treatment or hospitalisation are denied it.

*  How have the police concluded already that the fault lies with the French family?

And crucially:

*What kind of training has this officer received about recognising a disabled person, and how to deal with them?

ACTION:

While the trial is pending, there is not much we can do about this specific case. However, we can demand that training is improved.

Please contact LAPD’s  Commanding Officer of Police Training and Education  Luann P. Pannell through one of the channels below and give her the following message, personalized to your liking:

I am dismayed that another disabled person has been killed by a police officer, a member of the LAPD.

It is alleged that Mr Kenneth French, out grocery shopping at a Costco in Riverside, California with his family started a fight which your unnamed officer somehow, inexplicably, could only end by shooting French dead and critically shooting his parents.   Mr French, according to a relative, was non-verbal.

This is far from the first time a disabled person has lost their lives or been seriously injured –  avoidably in a situation involving police.  I want it to be the last time.

 You are in charge of training for the LAPD, and it is time that you step up and improve training for police who have to deal with disabled people.  There are a number of organisations lobbying for better treatment by police of people with special needs – you are in a key position to improve things and save lives.

 I want to hear from you as to what initiatives you have or are working on in this area.  I will also be watching closely how the officer’s trial goes ahead.  I understand you may not be able to comment on a live case, but I want to know at the end of it whether this officer acted according to all regulations, whether there was security footage, whether they endangered others including the child they had with them, and whether they were involved in any previous shootings.  I have many questions, and if they are not addressed by any trial, I will demand answers.  The ignorance shown by police nationwide towards the disabled is staggering and is costing lives; you can help prevent further such incidents in your area, and spread best practice.

LAPD Commanding Officer of Police Training and Education  Luann P. Pannell, Ph.D
Phone: (213) 847-3000
Email: pannelll@lapd.lacity.org
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/lapdhq/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LAPDHQ

Once you have contacted Luann Pannel, fill out the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!

Posted on

Ask White House to explain President’s snub to Pulse victims

June 18 2019 – President Trump arrives in Orlando, and to a throng of followers he announces he will run for the presidency again in 2020.  Not far away, others have been commemorating the tragic shooting at Pulse nightclub three years ago.  The president failed to even acknowledge the anniversary when he addressed his Orlando crowd.

Buzz Feed quoted one of those present at the Pulse gathering:  “We just had our anniversary, we just had a memorial mourning the fact that we lost all those lives. He barely even acknowledged the fact that we lost those 49 lives,” said Rocky Rivera. “It wracked the country, it wracked the globe. We’ve been thinking about it ever since … We’ve been scared, and ironically the people we’re scared of support him.”

President Trump CSpan image from Orlando Weekly

Trump claimed at the time that if one person present had a gun and knew how to use it, the Pulse tragedy would not have been so extensive.

In fact, the automatic weapon used on the 300-strong crowd did its devastating work in a matter of seconds.

 

 

The Orlando Weekly has called Trump out on his ignorance in this article,  reminding him how quickly the event happened and that a trained, gun-carrying person at the scene could not have reacted fast enough.  The paper said: “…OPD estimated from listening to 911 calls that Mateen fired about 200 rounds in less than five minutes and only stopped to reload.”

ACTION:

Write to president and give him the following message, personalized to your liking:

You visited Orlando to announce your bid for the 2020 presidential race, while at the same time mourners and supporters gathered at the scene of Orlando’s horrific Pulse shooting to commemorate the third anniversary of this American tragedy.  I call on you to rectify this huge insult by making a comment on Pulse massacre now – and to work to stop the sale of automatic and semi-automatic weapons.  You can and must take action to stop further wholly avoidable tragedies.

At the time of the massacre, you said that one person with a gun could have stopped or mitigated the casualties at Pulse.  Now that we know that the killer had an weapon that fired 200 rounds in under five minutes, and that there was a trained, competent gun-carrier at the event, I call on you to put the blame squarely where it belongs:  on the NRA and all those who want automatic and semi-automatic weapons to be available for sale, and I expect you to make a statement and take action accordingly.

I also call on you to reflect on the hatred the gunman had for the LGBTQ community, and how hate speech around him helped fuel his actions; I call on you to recognise the gravity and influence of your office, and to curb your own homophobic speech and actions.  There is no reason a LGBTQ member of the armed forces should experience anything but your thanks and the country’s thanks.

Finally, I expect you to take seriously the increase in gun-related deaths in 2018 in the US  – nearly 40,000 people according to the New York Times.  I expect you to take this epidemic seriously, and to end your ties to the National Rifle Association, now forever tainted with accepting funds from Russia:  something of course the American president must never be linked to.

I await your answer both by return and in your next address to the nation.

The White House  
Phone: (202) 456 1111
Email: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ (form)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/WhiteHouse/posts/?ref=page_internal 
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/POTUS 

And importantly, please consider copying your Senator what you send to the White House:

Your State Senators
Phone: (202) 224-3121 
Click here for a list of all senators and their contact information 

Once you have contacted The White House and/or your own senators, fill in the three fields below and click the orange banner to report taking action!