August 13, 2020
By Associated Press
The Los Angeles County sheriff said Monday he has concerns about tactics deputies used to detain three teenagers at gunpoint after the mother of one said the youths had been threatened by a man holding a knife.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva said in a social media post that he had seen a video of the incident – which was uploaded by one of the teens' mothers to her Instagram profile last week – and that the matter is being investigated.
CBS Los Angeles reported that the trio were teenagers. Deputy Juanita Navarro, a spokeswoman for the department, said the youths were not arrested during the incident Friday and had been released at the scene.
An attorney for the teens, Robert Brown, says two of the teens are Black and one is white.
Tammi Collins wrote on Instagram that her son was sitting with friends at a bus stop in the Santa Clarita Valley when a man asked them if they had any drugs and then tried to steal their belongings. She said the man then pulled out a knife and tried to stab them.
Collins wrote that bystanders called police to help the boys, though she wrote that apparently one caller reported that the teens were attacking the man.
Navarro said a caller reported that two Black men in their early 20s had struck a man with a skateboard.
The 11-minute video Collins posted shows at least three deputies pointing their guns at the teens _ including one deputy who had a long gun. The teens obeyed the deputies' commands to back up with their hands up and knelt on the ground to be handcuffed.
Bystanders shouted at the officers that the teens didn't do anything.
The bystanders also tried to advise the teens as they were being detained, saying “keep your hands up, keep your hands up!'' as well as “just listen to them and it'll be over soon'' and “don't answer any questions until your mom gets there.''
After the teens were handcuffed, the deputies argued with the crowd over what happened and what the callers reported.
“If they weren't doing wrong, we wouldn't be here,'' one deputy said.
Navarro said deputies could not find the man.
It was not clear if Collins recorded the video but she wrote that she didn't know how she could help her son in the aftermath.
“This is something my son and his friends will never forget,'' she wrote.
August 13, 2020
By City News Service
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced today that the department has entered into an agreement with Axon Enterprise Inc. to deploy body-worn cameras on deputies.
“This was a 20-month battle since the very first week I took office to get this program up and running, and it is very important to transparency (and) my commitment to reform the department,'' Villanueva said.
“In today's climate, where everyone is doubting the product of law enforcement, I can say honestly, that with the body-worn cameras, the public themselves can see that what deputies are saying and doing in the field matches what they're seeing on video. That has been the experience of all agencies with body-worn cameras, because by and large, deputies, police officers everywhere are doing the right thing for the right reasons, and sometimes under very trying circumstances, dangerous circumstances, where lives are at stake.''
Villanueva said the agreement with Axon was reached late Tuesday, and that cameras would be rolled out beginning Oct. 1 at an initial group of five stations: Lancaster, Century, Lakewood, Industry and West Hollywood.
“This is a big step forward for transparency for the Sheriff's Department and for the community as well,'' Villanueva said, adding that he thought it would help restore any “loss of trust that any members of the community may experience with the sheriff's department.''
In June, the Office of Inspector General announced that the LASD would roll out the cameras at the end of the third quarter -- five years after the LAPD initiated its own program.
“LASD has lagged far behind other major police agencies in the incorporation of video technology as a means for police supervision and public accountability,'' a report by Inspector General Max Huntsman stated. “This step forward, slow as it is, is historic.''
The sheriff has blamed his predecessors and the Board of Supervisors for the delay, saying in June that body cameras have been his priority since day one.
“The previous administration had five years ... of wasted time, wasted opportunities and four different plans, four different studies and nothing ever came to fruition,'' the sheriff said. “Within that first week, we had a plan ... it was delivered to the board in December of 2018, and this is where the wheels fall off the wagon.''
Yet another study was requested, he said, accusing the board of intentionally dragging its feet to prohibit him from getting a “win.” The board and the sheriff have wrangled in court and elsewhere over a host of issues, including rehiring deputies terminated for misconduct and failing to turn over documents requested by the OIG.
A pilot program for the Sheriff's Department was launched in 2014, but plans for a broader roll-out seemed to stall under the weight of questions about when and how to release recordings to deputies and the public, as well as how to pay for storing and managing extensive amounts of data.
August 13, 2020
By Quinci LeGardye
California Black Media
In November, Californians will vote on a proposition that could expand voting rights to include parolees.
If passed, Proposition 17, which passed the State Senate as ACA 6 June 24, would amend the state constitution so that any otherwise eligible person who is not currently incarcerated can vote.
The current law in California prohibits previously incarcerated persons from voting while on parole, though they can vote while on probation, county Post-Release Community Supervision and federal supervised release. Allowing parolees to vote would enfranchise over 40,000 Californians currently on parole.
According to Ballotpedia, as of 2020, California is one of three states that require people convicted of felonies to complete their prison and parole sentences to regain their right to vote. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia restore voting rights to people convicted of felonies after they complete their prison term.
Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) introduced the bill in the California Legislature. It was sponsored by the California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of California, and Initiate Justice, an advocacy group focused on ending mass incarceration. The bill was also a priority bill of the California Legislative Black Caucus.
“ACA 6 gives Californians the chance to right a wrong and restore voting rights for a marginalized community and people of color,” McCarty said June 24. “This is good for democracy and good for public safety.”
Parole is the re-entry period after serving a prison term that allows a convicted felon to be released from prison with restrictions. The ballot measure brings up the question of whether the right to vote is a necessary restriction that’s integral to the parole process.
Supporters of Prop 17 argue that previously incarcerated persons contribute to society while on parole, through working and volunteering. They say because of those contributions, parolees should have a say in the legislative process.
“This bill says once you have paid your debts to society and have returned to society to work and pay taxes and contribute, that you should also have the right to voice your opinion about your elected representative,” argued Senator Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles).
Opponents of the ballot measure argue that withholding the right to vote as part of the re-entry process is meant “to incentivize further appropriate behavior.” Election Integrity Project California, a voter roll watchdog group, submitted a letter opposing ACA 6 to the state legislature.
“While on parole, the individual’s liberties, such as movement, association, activities and even ownership of certain items are still heavily restricted and regularly monitored by the system. Any misstep results in immediate re-incarceration. In other words, an individual on parole has not regained the full trust of the society at large, nor the privilege to participate as a full member of that society,” the letter read.
Prop 17 disproportionately affects Black and Brown Californians, who comprise most incarcerated people in the state. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, Black people make up 26% of parolees. About 6% of the population of California is Black.
“People on parole are our family members, our colleagues, our neighbors, our friends,” said Senator Steven Bradford (D-Gardena). “They go to work every day. They pay taxes. They do their part to successfully reintegrate themselves back into society, yet the stigma exists for them.”
“The removal of the right to vote is not based in an interest in public safety. Rather, it is rooted in a punitive justice belief system that intentionally attempts to rob marginalized people of their political power,” said Taina Vargas-Edmond, Executive Director of Initiate Justice.
August 13, 2020
By Tanu Henry
California Black Media
Political leaders in California are praising presumptive Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden for tapping California’s junior U.S. Senator Kamala Harris to be his running mate.
“Harris selection makes me so optimistic. I am thrilled about the conversations Senator Harris will be having with Americans all around the country over the next 83 days until the presidential election,” said Malia Cohen, a member of California’s Board of Equalization and the highest ranking African American woman constitutional officer in the state.
Cohen says she remembers doing a precinct walk with Harris when she was a campaign worker and the senator was the underdog in her race for San Francisco District Attorney. After Harris beat the odds and convinced San Franciscans to elect her as the city’s DA, Cohen said she had the opportunity to work with her again on several occasions.
At the time, Cohen was a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
“She’s smart. She thinks on her feet. She has the acumen to be an asset to Joe Biden and complement him to achieve the all the things that he stands for,” said Cohen.
Dezie Wood-Jones, former Vice Mayor of Oakland, is California President of Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA), a statewide organization committed to getting Black Women involved in the political process. The group also advocates for issues that are priorities for African American women and supports Black women who are political candidates.
“It is an excellent, courageous and historic choice and I am proud of the Democratic Party standard bearer Joe Biden on his selection,” Wood-Jones said. “I know she will do an outstanding job.”
Biden picked Harris, 55, who launched her own bid for the presidency in January 2019, from a shortlist of about a half dozen women that included California’s U.S. Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-CA-37). Bass, who served as Speaker of the California Assembly from 2008 to 2010, praised Harris after the news broke.
“I worked closely with her when I was in Sacramento and she was the District Attorney in San Francisco. I continue to work closely with her here in Washington, D.C., as we push to reform our nation’s policing system,” said Bass. “California is better because of her work as attorney general and stronger because of her work as senator. Now all Americans will benefit from her work as vice president.”
In a text to his supporters, followed shortly by an email, the former Vice President of the United States wrote, “Joe Biden here. Big news: I’ve chosen Kamala Harris as my running mate. Together, with you, we’re going to beat Trump.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom took to Twitter not long after Biden’s announcement.
“Principled. Brilliant. Compassionate. Empathetic. Honest,” wrote the governor, who will have to appoint someone to replace Harris if Democrats win the presidential election in November. “The Perfect choice for Biden. That’s Kamala Harris.”
In the official statement announcing his selection of Harris, Biden praised the senator’s accomplishments and pointed out that she had worked closely with his son Beau, who died in 2015.
“She’s been a leader on criminal justice and marriage equality,” said Biden, who promised in March that he would pick a woman as his running mate.
“She has focused like a laser on the racial disparities as a result of the coronavirus,” Biden added.
Harris, who was born in Oakland and spent a part of her childhood in Berkeley, ended her run for President of the United States in December last year.
“Black women and women of color have long been underrepresented in elected office and in November we have an opportunity to change that. Let’s get to work,” Harris tweeted about three hours before Biden’s announcement.
Before she was elected Senator in 2016, Harris served as Attorney General of California for six years, beginning in 2011. Before that, she served as District Attorney of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011.
Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian descent, lives in Los Angeles with her husband, attorney Douglas Emhoff. If the Democrats win, Harris will make history as the first Black and Asian woman to be selected as a vice presidential candidate in the United States on a major political party’s presidential ticket.
“Senator Kamala Harris has been an incredible leader and an inspiration for so many of us, and I’m proud to call her a friend and mentor,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed wrote on Facebook.
“I'm thrilled that Vice President Biden had the vision to recognize that Senator Harris can bring the integrity, intelligence, and commitment to justice for all that our country so badly needs during this difficult time,” Breed continued. “I know how much it means to have leaders who reflect the people they represent, and today I'm thinking about all those little girls in this country that will see a strong, principled woman walk into the White House and know that they too can make that same journey someday.”
Harris earned her BA at Howard University in Washington, DC, and her JD at the University of California, Hastings.
August 13, 2020
By City News Service
Los Angeles resident and California Sen. Kamala Harris was formally introduced as presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's running mate today, hailing the women she said have paved the way for her to be on a presidential ticket.
“Joe, I'm so proud to stand with you,” Harris said in Delaware during her first appearance alongside Biden following his Tuesday announcement of his choice of running mate.
“And I do so mindful of all the heroic and ambitious women before me whose sacrifice, determination and resilience makes my presence here today even possible,” Harris said. “This is a moment of real consequence for America. Everything we care about -- our economy, our health, our children, the kind of country we live in -- it's all on the line.”
Harris, 55, is the first Black and South Asian woman to run on the ticket of a major political party. A former state attorney general and San Francisco district attorney, Harris will also be the first California candidate on a major political party's presidential ticket since Ronald Reagan in 1984.
Although her personal and political roots are in Northern California, Harris is a resident of the Brentwood area of West Los Angeles.
Harris wasted no time Wednesday attacking President Donald Trump, criticizing his response to the coronavirus pandemic and blaming his for plunging the country into economic turmoil.
“He inherited the longest economic expansion in history from Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and then, like everything else he inherited, he ran it straight into the ground,” Harris said. “Because of Trump's failures of leadership, our economy has taken one of the biggest hits out of all the major industrialized nations, with an unemployment rate that has tripled as of today.
“This is what happens when we elect a guy who just isn't up for the job,” she said. “Our country ends up in tatters, and so does our reputation around the world.”
Trump has been vocal in his criticism of Harris since Biden made his announcement Tuesday. He denounced her during a White House press briefing Tuesday afternoon as “nasty,” pointing to her comments during the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
During an appearance on Fox News Tuesday night, Trump continued his criticism, saying Harris is “the most liberal person supposedly in the Senate, and that's pretty liberal.”
“I'm not sure that's what the country wants,” he said. “I figure if it is, we've got problems. But I would be surprised if it is. She wants to raise taxes. She wants to get rid of your Second Amendment -- no guns for protection, no nothing.
“She's very strong on the Second Amendment, getting rid of it,” he said. “And very bad for the military. She wants to cut the military. She wants to cut funding for the military and the vets.”
“I don't quite get the choice, but we'll have it out. We have a great vice president named Mike Pence and he will take care of business just like he did last time against a different candidate,” Trump said.
On Twitter Wednesday morning, Trump wrote that Harris “started out strong in the Democrat primaries, and finished weak, ultimately fleeing the race with almost zero support. That's the kind of opponent everyone dreams of!”
Harris countered in her speech: “Let's be clear. This election isn't just about defeating Donald Trump or Mike Pence. It's about building this country back better, and that's exactly what Joe and I will do.”