Friday, July 26, 2013

13-07-27 Misc News of the Abuse: Pittsburgh SWAT Officers Dragged 10-Year-Old from Bathtub, Made Him Stand Naked Next to 4-Year-Old Sister, Terrorized Family

 This is another example of oppressive government, which routinely terrorizes the People. jz
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Lawsuit: SWAT Officers Dragged 10-Year-Old from Bathtub, Made Him Stand Naked Next to 4-Year-Old Sister, Terrorized Family

14 police officers with helmets and facemasks and assault rifles stormed in, family says.
Photo Credit: Salajean/Shutterstock.com
July 26, 2013  |  
 
 
Pittsburgh SWAT officers must face claims that they raided a family's home, violently dragged a child from the bathtub, and "terrorized" them at gunpoint, a federal judge ruled.
     Georgeia Moreno and her family  sued Pittsburgh, its police chief and 14 police officers in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
     The events unfolded as Georgeia, her husband, William; and her stepfather, Mark Staymates were watching television in their living room as Georgia's sick mother, Darlene, slept upstairs at 7 p.m. on Dec. 7, 2010. They suddenly heard a loud explosion and saw bright lights, "as if grenades were going off," the complaint states.
     Pittsburgh Police SWAT officers wearing helmets and facemasks then broke and "stormed through" the front and back doors of the home, according to the complaint.
     Those officers allegedly never identified themselves, pointed assault rifles at the family, shouted obscenities and destroyed their property.
     Although the team purportedly sought to arrest William for quarreling with a drunk, off-duty police officer at a local veterans club early that morning, the family says that their "terrorization" continued for another 45 minutes after William was apprehended.
     The officers threw to the floor, kicked and handcuffed Georgeia, her stepfather and her adult son Billy. They also injured Mark's shoulder and forced Billy to lie face down in broken glass, according to the complaint.
     When Georgeia pleaded repeatedly that she had young children in the house, at least one officer allegedly stated, "You think you can get one of ours, and we won't get one of yours?"
     The family says the police proceeded to drag Georgeia's 10-year-old son Trentino violently from the bathtub, injuring his ankles. They allegedly then made the boy stand naked at gunpoint next to his 4-year-old sister Briseis.
     Officers have continued to harass and threaten the family since the raid, telling them "that's how we do things here" and that they should move out of Pittsburgh, the complaint states.
     The family asserts claims for violations of their Fourth and 14th amendment rights and seeks $50,000 in damages.
     U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer  refused to dismiss the case Monday, holding that the plaintiffs' claims are not time-barred, and the officers knew or should have known that the action would be brought against them.
     She noted discrepancies with claims from the SWAT defendants that they were not notified of the action within 120 days, i.e. by Sept. 9, 2012.
     This claims is belied by Officer Michael Reddy's answer, which was filed on July 11, 2012, and "contained specific facts about the Dec. 7, 2010, raid of which defendant Reddy later testified he had no personal knowledge," Fischer wrote (emphasis in original).
     "Reddy's answer contains other statements regarding facts that would have been only known to the SWAT team members involved in the initial raid," the judge added. "Yet, his answer also avers that in response to certain SWAT team allegations, 'after reasonable investigation,' he was without sufficient knowledge to answer. Given these details, it appears that defense counsel may have secured information from other sources, likely the SWAT officers involved in the raid, to craft defendant Reddy's answer."
     Fischer also tossed aside Officer Carl Morosetti's claim that he solely arrested William and did not participate in the actual raid.
     "If the court accepts plaintiffs' factual allegations as true and considers them in their favor, as the court must do at the motion to dismiss stage, then plaintiffs have alleged sufficient facts to support a §1983 claim against Morosetti," Fischer wrote. "Once discovery has concluded, Morosetti can renew his arguments, if appropriate, at the summary judgment stage."
     Fact discovery will close on Aug. 5, the judgment states. 
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13-07-26 Yizhaq Shami (1888-1949) published in Haaretz today // הפתיחה ל"שומר המסגד האחרון" פורסמה בהארץ היום

איור: ערן וולקובסקי

The opening of "Keeper of the Last Mosque" by Yitzhaq Shami, recently discovered in manuscript, was published today in Haaretz daily in Israel, together with notes by Eliyahu Shamir and by me. The title offered by the editor, "Arab-Jewish writer is forgotten in Israel, adopted by the Palestinians", does not match the writing. However, in print media, titles and subtitles are under the authority of the editors.
My lines:
Yitzhaq Shami - one of the best story tellers in the early modern Hebrew. His work reflects human existence at its most despicable, out of which he wrought his art, based in Hebron and the Judean mountains, home of the prophets Amos and Micah, and reflecting landscapes from the Arabian deserts, through Cairo, the Negev, Trans-Jordan, Damascus, Bagdad, to the Balkans.
The recognition of Shami as a Palestinian author was largely the outcome of efforts by the late Mahmoud Darwish, the Palestinian national poet, and my visit in Ramallah in 2004 during the Intifadah.LINKS:
[1] Arab-Jewish writer is forgotten in Israel, adopted by the Palestinians
http://www.haaretz.co.il/literature/study/.premium-1.2078849

מאמר קצר בשם אליהו שמיר ובשמי הופיעו היום בהארץ עם הפתיחה ל"שומר המסגד האחרון". [1]
בני ציפר, העורך, סיפק כותרת וכותרת משנה שאינן תואמות את הכתוב, ודאי שלא את הפתיחה ל"שומר המסגד האחרון".  אולם אני מכיר בזאת שבעיתונות, כותרות וכותרות משנה הן דעת העורך ובסמכותו, ואינן בהכרח משקפות את דעת הכותבים.
אני שוב במו"מ עם מו"ל עברי מכובד, והפעם יש לי הרגשה שהעניין יבוא לסיכום מהיר וחיובי. המו"ל הבטיח בע"פ שכל כתבי יצחק שמי יופיעו לאור בעברית לפני 1 ליולי,  2014...  
לשאלת המו"ל העברי הנ"ל, לגבי השקפתי בנושא, תשובתי היא:
יצחק שמי - ממיטב המספרים בעברית המתחדשת, הישיר מבטו אל ההוויה האנושית במיאוסה ורקע ממנה את אמנותו, שכור מחצבתה בחברון והרי יהודה, מולדתם של עמוס ומיכה, ורוחב יריעתה ממדבריות ערב דרך קהיר, הנגב, עבר הירדן, דמשק, בגדד, ועד להרי הבלקן.
מכל מקום, שמו של שמי חוזר ועולה בנושא הטבעת תמונתו על שטר כסף חדש של מדינת ישראל...
ספי

קישורים:
[1]  הסופר היהודי-ערבי שנשכח בישראל ואומץ על ידי הפלסטינים