Just another isolated event

Just days ago the Government decided that there was nothing more they could do to pursue justice in the Sean Bell shooting. After 4 years and 50 shots, nothing has been done besides "normal police actions".



Across the country, in an odd coincidence, a Black man was unarmed and shot in the back by police. No I'm not speaking about Robbie Tolan, or Adolph Grimes, or even Oscar Grant. I mean the shooting of Aaron Campbell in Portland.

I know, with all these cases being so similar it's hard to know which police shooting of unarmed Black men I could be talking about. Not that this is an epidemic or a pattern that someone should investigate or report.

Aaron Campbell was a man that had just lost his brother to heart disease. He was understandably upset. As was his family, because they knew he had a gun in his house. But the family made one mistake. They called the police.

Police arrived and text messaged Campbell if he was going to harm himself. He replied
that he had no intention of killing himself. Sgt. Liani Reyna, commander at the scene, believed the situation was over.

She is quoted as saying "I'm ready to walk away from this, we don't need to be here."

At that time Campbell came outside, unarmed, hands on his head. What do you think the police did next?

Obviously they felt that Campbell was still dangerous. Because he is a Black man and he must have the strength of Hercules, and the skin of Superman. The police near simultaneously told him to raise his hands over his head, shot him with non-lethal bean bags, and sicked a police dog on him.

Campbell ran, which is not entirely a strange thing to do as a dog attacks and the confusing reactions of police. As Campbell ran police claim he reached for his waistband. Here is the critical moment.

Just like Amidou Diallo (41 shots), like Sean Bell (50 shots), like Oscar Grant (1 shot while he laid face down on the ground), like Robbie Tolan (1 shot as he was on his knees), like numerous Black men across the nation, police were 100% sure that this meant Campbell had a gun. So they shot him in the back with a AR-15 (the civillian version of the military M-16 rifle) and killed him. They left his body on the ground while the police dog bit it, for half an hour, before they checked it (maybe they thought he was a vampire and would just get back up).

The police were loaded for bear, and bagged an unarmed Black man. What do you think happened to the officers involved in this? Nothing. Just a letter from the Multnomah County grand jury stating

"We feel that his death resulted from flawed police policies, incomplete or inappropriate training, incomplete communication and other issues with the police effort."

Have you heard that before? I have. Too many times. In cities across the nation (L.A., Philadelphia, New York, Oakland, Dallas, do I need to go on?), in "isolated" "justified" police shootings of Black men every year for decades now. But I bet that most people haven't heard a word about 1/5th of them.

But today the Dept. of Justice has decided to look into this case. Just because it's a "routine" thing to do.

I don't think there is anything routine about it. Aaron Campbell did not need to die. Nor did Oscar Grant (a case that won't go before a jury for another year oddly enough). Nor Sean Bell. Or a whole list of men (and Black women too) shot with enough bullets to kill the army of France [ok I'm exaggerating, France and Belgium combined].

At what point to people stop avoiding this "isolated" event that keeps repeating multiple times a year in every corner of the nation? At what point do people stop dreaming and proclaiming America is post-racial, and start noticing the very racial bias of police? Will it take a police officer shooting one of the Obama children 5 or 10 years from now to make someone in the major media notice there is a problem?

I'm not saying that every police shooting is unjustified or unreasonable. But I am saying that there are way to many examples of excessive force and deadly action, focused directly on African American men, without the hint of reason. And I am tired of it.



Stop the game!

Why I am thankful in 2010

I am so thankful that so far 2010 has started off better than 2009. It's a sign that I can only hope continues throughout the year.

Now I don't mean that 2010 is better politically, economically, or in most any other measurement (see VASS for why). I do mean that the year is starting off better socially. At least as far as all reports have shown to date. Which is questionable at best.

In 2009 the year of "Change" started with the murder of 2 men, young African American fathers, and the critical shooting of another by police officers across the country. And when I say start I mean that literally. These men were shot within minutes of the ball dropping at Times Square.

Many still do not know the names of Oscar Grant, Robbie Tolan, or Adolph Grimes. Because the major media ignored these men and their stories of police abuse that I believe was motivated by their race. To this minute I doubt almost anyone other than my long-time readers are aware of what has happened (or more accurately not happened) to the police officers and the cases (click the link at the bottom of this post to learn more about these men). Which initself is another problem that 2009 shared with virtually every year since I was born.

But so far in 2010 I can see no report of such police brutality. I can see no hint of a murder born solely in racism and prejudice. In that at least the year has improved versus 2009.

Of course in 2009 it took days before any comment or hint of the year opening murders and assault caught any attention. In fact it took weeks of inaction and excuses leading to a riot before the major media even remotely noticed the most egregious murder of Oscar Grant. And even then, the major media address the riot and hinted at a cause of some sort.

Thus I am left with the same wish I had prior to the New Year's start, and the same as every year. That this might be a year without a racially motivated attack on African Americans (particularly young men) by police officers. I continue to hope that police won't "accidentally" shoot a Black man in the back while he lays on the ground in California. I hope that 15 officers will not pounce upon Black men like a gang of thugs in Philadelphia. That officers won't kill and wound Black men celebrating a bachelor party in a hail of bullets more akin to a gangster movie in New York City. That young Black men coming home from the store won't be shot in their driveways while their mother watches in Texas.

I can hope that none of these events will happen again in 2010 or ever. I can look forward and imagine an America where being Black (and young) does not place a crosshair on African Americans by trigger happy police officers across the nation. I might even take a moment to fantasize that equally violent and unnecessary acts will not happen to Latinos, Asians, and other people of color in this nation.

Perhaps if we all can imagine a year, just 1 year, without these kinds of events we will finally be 1 step closer to an America that is finally beyond racism, prejudice, and other acts of small petty minds.

I don't want to be proven wrong. I hope I won't be proven wrong. But I still won't go to Las Vegas and make a bet about it. Not yet, but I would like to.

Bill o'Reilly discusses Black man shot 43 times by police

Tonight Bill O’Reilly will be discussing the shooting of a Black man by police. He was shot 43 times. It’s about time such cases get attention.

I decided to check out which case of shooting O’Reilly might be investigating. Considering the time and number of shots involved I know it was not the Oscar Grant case (which O’Reilly did not cover), Robbie Tolan, Adolph Grimes (the last 3 being all at the start of the year 2009), Sean Bell, or several other more recent actions. So I decided to google it.

Under the term police shooting black man 43 shots there are 221,000 responses. On the first page of Google the time frame covers 2009 – 2001. That’s a hell of a lot of time. But it denotes the number of cases that never get national attention.

I have long stated that there is a national epidemic on-going. That young Black males are the target of police abuse and overreaction. In fact studies have found that the darker the skin, the more likely police are of reacting with violence, where or not the individual is armed.

So which case might Bill O’Reilly be discussing?

As I said before, it’s not the 1 shot in the back of an unarmed Black male in Oakland. Its not the shot against the unarmed Black male in his driveway in Texas as his mother was assaulted by police. But there is no scarcity of incidents across the country where an African American male has been shot by police officers several dozen times.

In fact, when was the last time that an armed White male was shot by police more than 3 times? Seriously. I can name at least a half dozen times where an unarmed African American male was shot by police at least 12 times or more in the last year and a half. But I cannot recall a single instance where even an armed and dangerous White male was shot by police more than 3 times. Not in a decade. Maybe more. Anywhere in the country.

So what will Bill O’Reilly say tonight at 8pm? Do you think it will be a highlight of the national response of police forces towards people of color? Or will it justify a singular case of police action?

No matter which it is, the ultimate truth remains. Police are prone to overreaction towards people of color. They react as if young Black males are the most dangerous people in America (which is factually White males 18 – 30, proven in another post). And that same reaction is also the consistent call of White violent crime criminals trying to obfuscate their own actions (how many times have we heard a supposed White victim claim that some ambiguous Black male did it?). Hell, almost even in the most extreme cases White actively dangerous armed criminals are treated with more care and firing restrictions than people of color – armed or not.

What do I want to hear O’Reilly say? That there is a problem. That the justice system is skewed in the nation. That across the country there is a predisposition towards violence against people of color, and that this needs to be addressed.

Will I hear that? Not likely. Not from O’Reilly, NPR, the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, or any other major news organization.

And that is the key point that sticks out in my mind. What about you?

Michael Vass comments on President Obama "beerfest"

Video commentary of the meeting with police, Harvard professor, and President Obama. In particular is the emphasis on the failure to create a positive discussion on the issue of race relations and interactions between police across the nation and people of color.

The transcript of the video is below.

The t-shirt worn by Michael Vass, President of M V Consulting, Inc., can be found at the World of Vass online store. Additional clothing lines for men and women are also available at the online store.

(Sorry, the audio appears slightly muddled.)






You know, with all the attention that the arrest of Professor Gates has been given you would think that real issues between police and African Americans across the country would be addressed. Hell, police policies and actions with all people of color in this nation for that matter. But it’s a subject no one wants to go near.

President Obama could have really made a stance on the issues of race relations and police. He could have taken a position that would have created debate that advances all sides. He could have used examples that I have covered for years now, or who knows how many that the Government has data on.

But he did none of the above. He instead jumped into a situation, stomping all over local authorities, with misinformation and an agenda that honestly was more fixated on defending his friend than addressing race relations.

Think about it. If President Obama really wanted to do something about race relations there have been no lack of opportunities. He could have noted that on the first day of this year 3 Black men were all shot, without provocation or cause, by police. 2 were killed, one seriously injured. Their names are Oscar Grant, Adolph Grimes, and Robbie Tolan. He could have addressed how Oakland BART officers have lied in court in the face of video that proves guilt.

There is something to address how stupidly the police can act. There is a question that needs to be made a national discussion. The fact that African American men, especially those between 18 – 35, are targets of police profiling, brutality, and overreaction.

President Obama could have cited the way the media blew past the attack of 3 Black men by 15 police officers in Philadelphia, or the way the media ignored the cause of the riots in Oakland, or how they failed to even hint at the potential guilt of officers in the California, Texas, and Louisiana cases. Which says noting of the abuses that have occurred in New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, and a dozen other places just in the past couple of years. And the trail of abuse can be seen clearly going back as far as Rodney King. Not that it didn’t happen before then. It just wasn’t reported, and there was no Youtube to press the issue.

President Obama has taken a hit in his approval rating because of the Professor Gates arrest (roughly 2 – 7 points). He is being mocked by comedians about the beerfest that will replace an apology. He has angered police departments across the nation. And he is being called a racist.

All of which promotes nothing positive and benefits no one.

Seriously, a beer is supposed to wipe away racial profiling? A casual chat with the President will alter police departments across the country from a predisposition to react violently towards African Americans (including in one study the finding that police would more quickly and likely shoot an armed or unarmed African American than any other group)? Is this really the best President Obama can do on a subject that this nation needs to address desperately, even as it vehemently hides its head in the sand to avoid.

I realize that president Obama is on a crusade to socially re-engineer America. It’s apparent that he is using all his approval rating to ram big Government and politically extreme laws up America without so much as grease or a ‘may I’. But since he opened the door on the subject of race relations, and he is getting slammed for it, he might as well do something positive.

If President Obama does nothing, as it seems he will, he cannot come back to this. Any future action will carry the mark this has brought him. A mark he does deserve. But a burden that will prevent any substantive change, as it will be mired in the mud of this fiasco.

Think, the precedent being set is ‘Race in America? Have a kegger and don’t worry about it.’

Is this what all those people that were looking to Obama as the fulfillment of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Dream imagined? Is this what all the suffering during the Civil Rights Movement was meant to culminate into?

Honestly, I expected little better from President Obama. It’s one of the many reasons I did not vote for him. But the little I have expected from the President seems to have been far too much to expect. Which makes the future of race relations seem moribund since the way he is screwing up so many things, another chance may not come for decades, if ever again.

A discussion of police, race, America, and what to do

This will be in 2 parts. I hope you read it all.

A friend of mine recently contacted me about news of Robbie Tolan. While listening to a NYC sports radio program he learned of the shooting that happened on January 1st of this year. He knew that this is an issue I am deeply concerned about and wanted to make sure I was aware of it.

I clarified that I was aware of the Robbie Tolan police shooting, as well as of Adolph Grimes and Oscar Grant's murder on the same day. My friend had not heard of the Grimes case, and was vaguely familiar with the Grant case. Which is sad since we are nearly 3 months after the facts, but the blame for that I place on the major news media.

Now my friend informed me about the radio broadcast. He told me how the radio DJ reamed a caller who blatantly took the side of the police in this matter, on the basis that the victims were Black. The caller felt that alone justified the use of deadly force - on an unarmed Black male in his driveway that was co-operating with police and I emphasize unarmed.

This made my friend ask the question; what can be done to prevent this from happening again?

My thought on this goes to what I believe is one of the biggest factors in this issue - communication. At this moment most of America is unaware of events of police brutality and overkill against Black males (not to mention Latino/Hispanics and other people of color). I have found that often many side with the police, without ever knowing any of the facts. And the news media is reluctant to display or report these actions - though they are expedient to portray African Americans as criminals at almost every turn.

Thus I feel America must talk about this. Talk about the fact that these "isolated" events are in fact tied together and a pattern. Talk about what is the cause of these issues, and why the news media prefers to mold stereotypes about people of color.

Now my friend does not agree with me on all points of this. He feels that the media is more or less fair. He pointed out the number of African Americans that can be found on any day in various media.

I countered with the fact that 95% of all television and/or films ignore the existence of people of color. And for a majority of the time that they are provided a chance to appear onscreen they are portrayed as violent and criminals. My friend thought this was inaccurate. When I provided the fact that this is based on NAACP studies (most recently as of this year) and my own experiments done and reported over the last 3 years I have been writing this blog, he questioned the veracity of the NAACP findings and assured me that today you could turn on the television and not see Blacks as criminals on any of the broadcast programs (or at least the majority of those shows).

He went on to state that African Americans are not all just portrayed as criminals anymore. He pointed to Denzel Washington, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Samuel Jackson as examples. But I pointed out that while in the last decade they have improved their stature, virtually all major African American actors had to start their careers as criminals or antagonists before they could become anything else. Samuel Jackson came to be known for his portrayal as a crackhead, Lawrence Fishburn played thugs (a la King of New York) before moving on in his adult career, Wesley Snipes had to portray a drug kingpin, Chris Rock was a crackhead, and so on.

Now my friend countered that not all Black actors have had to have this kind of start. And that I was unfair because this was like saying that DeNiro and Pacino were negatives since they played gangsters to start their careers. Which is not the same as there were dozens of films at the same time, and multiple characters in the same films that were showing an opposite and positive image for Whites. The effect is not the same, the same impression is not being made. When you primarily are shown one facet of a people, if they are shown, then people tend to believe it is true over time.

But we felt that this was a digression from the main point. Which I felt was that to have things change we must delve into the fact that there is a problem. That police wantonly abuse their power without reason, and the media covers for them in these cases.

Continued in part 2...

Police, murder, African Americans. Never Again. Stop The Game

In 1946, in Georgia, a mob lynched 4 Black men. That event led to the desegregation of the military, and arguably set the stage for the Civil Rights Movement.

In 1981, in Alabama, Michael McDonald was randomly selected and lynched.

In 1998 James Byrd Jr. was dragged to death in Texas.

These were horrible acts of violence. Thankfully in each case some degree of justice was enacted. But these are not isolated events. And they are reinforced by actions of a group in America that should never be tolerated. Police officers.

There is a pattern in America that has been accepted and hidden by the news media for far too long. In each occurrence it is passed off as an individual act and unrelated. I disagree. I believe we need to bring these connected events to light.



In 1991 Rodney King was beaten by 4 officers with excessive force. This was one of the first times such an action by police was seen by the public, as the event had been videotaped by a bystander. Even with this evidence a jury essentially slapped the wrists of the officers involved. This lead to riots in 1992.

Since that time several other events have been video taped with the media less willing to give it public attention. One of the most recent was the execution-style murder of Oscar Grant, in Oakland California on New Years Day 2009.

The killing of Grant was witnessed by at least a dozen witnesses. Grant was unarmed, on the ground face down, with an officer on his back, and was not resisting arrest. He was shot 1 time in the back at point blank range, killing him. The entire incident, some 4 minutes long, was caught on multiple cameras. It took 14 days for the officer firing the shot to be charged with a crime. The incident reached the national media 2x (an ABC news 30 second video clip and the opening memo on the O’Reilly Factor), both focused on the riots that occurred a week after the event.

On that same day, Robbie Tolan was shot in his driveway, while on the ground, in Texas. Robbie Tolan has been a minor league baseball player, was unarmed, and coming home from getting fast food when he was confronted by police. He currently has a bullet lodged in his liver. The officer in question has not been charged to date, though an investigation appears to still be underway.

Again on that same day, in New Orleans, Adolph Grimes was shot at 48 times, and struck 14, by 9 police officers. 12 of the 14 shots struck Grimes in the back. There is no clear explanation of why Grimes was shot at, or how he was struck so many times in the back. At this time no charges are pending any officer involved, though an investigation is said to be underway.

In 2008, Philadelphia, 19 police officers surround and beat 3 men. The officers believed the men might have been suspects from a shooting earlier that night. The men, not resisting arrest and unarmed, are kicked and beaten while lying on the ground. The result of this unquestionable act of police brutality enacted on African Americans is 4 officers fired, 3 suspended, and 1 demotion. No charges were brought.

Sean Bell, and 2 other passengers in his car, were shot at 51 times in NYC in 2006 by 5 police officers. None of the men were armed. Sean Bell died, the other surviving men were critically wounded at the time. None of the police officers were found guilty of wrong-doing.

Also in 2006, in Atlanta, Kathryn Johnston (age 92) was shot by 3 officers and killed. The officers entered the home with a no-knock warrant – prying off burglar alarms and breaking down the door - Johnston fired a shotgun once in the ceiling. No officer was injured by Johnston. Police fired 39 shots and hit Johnston 6 times. A failed cover-up of the incident included false claims of Johnston being a drug dealer. It was later proven that the Atlanta police routinely lied to get warrants All 3 officers that shot Johnston have been found guilty.

In 2005, in New Orleans, Robert Davis was beaten by 4 officers (2 of which were in fact federal agents). This incident was videotaped by the Associated Press, during which one of the newsmen was physically assaulted for videotaping the event. The federal agents were never charged. 2 officers were fired and 1 received a 120 suspension. 1 officer was cleared of all charges by a judge.

In 2004, NYC, Timothy Stansbury Jr. opened a rooftop door and was shot and killed by a police officer. He was unarmed. The shooting violated police procedure. The officer was never charged.

In 2001, in Ohio, Timothy Thomas was shot and killed by a police officer. The initial statement by the officer was that his gun accidentally went off. He then later stated that Thomas, wanted on non-violent charges, had a gun. He later revised the statement that he believed Thomas was reaching for a gun. Thomas in fact was unarmed, and is believed to have been holding up his baggy pants. The officer was not charged.

In 1999, in NYC, Amadou Diallo was shot 41 times by 4 police officers outside of his home. He was unarmed. At least one of the shots to Diallo was fired through the bottom of his foot, meaning he was lying on the ground when the shot was fired. None of the police officers involved were found to have committed a crime.

1998, in New Jersey, State police officers fired 11 shots at Danny Reyes and 3 passengers in the van. 3 of the men in the van, including Reyes, were shot. Reyes was hit 4 times, and was unarmed, as were all the men in the vehicle. All the men were on the way to professional basketball tryouts in North Carolina. The State troopers were charged with attempted murder after having initial charges dropped by lower court. I am unaware of any trial date having been set or occurring to date.

In 1997, in New York City, 4 officers arrested Abner Louima on questionable charges at an incident not originally involving him. When Louima was brought to the police station the officers proceeded to beat Louima with fists, nightsticks, police radios, and then sodomized him with a plunger. The entire event was attempted to be covered up by multiple police officers in the police station. 2 officers received time in jail, 3 other officers had convictions overturned and never served time.



I mention all of these events for 1 reason. They are not separate. They are all related. This is a pattern that has been occurring since before the 20th century started. It happens across the nation. And it could happen to your brother, sister, mother, father, children or yourself.

Police officers are routinely given carte blanche to violently act against African Americans without cause. Even when that action results in death, or extreme unjustifiable violence and torture, police are routinely excused.

The media almost invariably ignores these events. Even when presented with evidence from independent sources. Right this second more people in America know of the Florida Caylee Anthony case than all of the above cases (with the exception of perhaps the Rodney King event). While the Anthony case is horrendous, it is an individual act – reported on for a year – whereas we have a pattern of systemic abuse of power allowed by the legal system that remains virtually unseen. And it is anyone’s guess how many other cases of a similar nature occur and are not reported on.

This is unacceptable. This is wrong. We cannot allow this to continue.





The news media must live to its obligation to report on patterns that violate the rights and lives of American citizens. The news media is not an entertainment program, nor does it have the right to ignore facts that affect a huge segment of the nation while trying to garner ad revenue.

The police are employed to protect the rights of all the people. While many do this every day successfully, there are more than enough officers that do not. For every case resulting in the unwarranted death of an unarmed African American how many more cases of lesser violence slip thru the cracks? For every case of violence that catches the local (almost never national) attention how many are unreported, or successfully covered up?

We may never know. Especially if this is allowed to be viewed as individual events that are unrelated. Especially if we cloud our eyes to the fact that officers in these events are routinely placed back on the street, and inevitably train future officers the tactics and mentality they employ.

We need to wake up America. We need to shed light on this subject. We need to make people aware of the danger that exists. Because if 1 Black man can be shot at 51 times without question or repercussion, any man woman or child in the nation could be next.

I present this clothing line, found at www.cafepress.com/nova68, with one thought in mind. Attention to the wrong that is happening right now, in this “post-racial” America. Police cannot murder innocents without concern if they know they will be punished for it. Police departments will not abide criminals wearing a badge if they know that they have the support of the public.

I cannot say that the Never Again, or Stop The Game, clothing lines will prevent another Abner Louima, Kathryn Johnston, or Oscar Grant – but if enough of us have this, wear this in public, open the debate and thus increase awareness it just might. If enough of us can wear this, and it starts people noticing the obvious connected pattern of abuse and death things can be changed. And that change could save the life of a child, a father, a family. This change could save you.

Isn’t that worth it?