Experts are still analyzing the 911 call made by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman on the night he fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin—but if the U.S. Justice Department decides there is significant evidence that the shooting was racially motivated, then they can prosecute Zimmerman despite the Sanford Police Department dropping the case. Particularly important is whether Zimmerman used the racial epithet "f*cking c**n" to describe Martin in his 911 call before the shooting: “It sounds pretty obvious to me,” Donald Tibbs, a Drexel University law professor who has closely studied race, civil rights and criminal procedure, told the Post. “If that was a racial epithet that preceded the attack on Trayvon Martin, we definitely have a hate crime.”
Justice Department Could Charge George Zimmerman With Hate Crime In Shooting Of Trayvon Martin
Black Panther D.L. Cox Dies In Exile
Black Panthers' "field marshal" and "arms expert" Donald L. Cox died last month in France, the NY Times reports today. Cox had been living in exile since the early '70s after he fled the U.S. to evade a warrant for his arrest; he'd been charged as a conspirator in the murder of a Black Panther member who had been a police informer in Baltimore. But before he was indicted, Cox was a guest at a fundraiser for the Black Panthers at Leonard Bernstein's apartment in the Dakota in 1970. This party was made famous by Tom Wolfe's New York magazine feature "Radical Chic," in which Wolfe recalls Cox's speech to the posh people in attendance:
Chicago 10 Depicts '68 Trial with Animation and Archival Footage
At the 1968 Democratic Convention, anti-war activists were denied permits to demonstrate by the city and spent most of the week getting their skulls cracked courtesy of the Chicago Police Department, witnessed by a television audience of over 50 million. A year later, eight of the most high profile radicals – guys like Abbie Hoffman and the Black Panthers' Bobby Seale – were tried on charges of conspiracy and inciting riots. The courtroom was a circus, with Seale gagged to silence his outbursts and ultimately sentenced to four years for contempt, while testimony from counterculture icons such as Phil Ochs, Arlo Guthrie, Norman Mailer and Timothy Leary drew massive crowds for the National Guard to disperse.
Pencil This In
It's a big outdoor weekend, so good thing there are 51 outdoor pools opening up for the season around the city today (here's a "best of" list). If you prefer to stay dry, here are some options...
Civil Rights Lawyer, Cops Scuffle in Prospect Heights
Something we're positive you'll be hearing more about in the next few days: Civil rights lawyer Michael Warren and his wife Evelyn were arrested after they allegedly interfered with a police arrest at Atlantic and Vanderbilt Avenues in Brooklyn. Warren, who has represented Tupac Shakur, members of the Black Panthers and Abner Louima, said, "I got hit in the jaw, upside the head and on my lip a few times, and you can can see that my pants are torn, but I'm fine. I'm great."
NYCLU Wants Police to Stop Going to the Videotape
The NYCLU is trying to stop the NYPD from videotaping political protests, saying that the surveillance would prevent people from demonstrating anonymously. On September 10, 2004, after the Republican National Convention, the police adopted Police Interim Order 47 which allowed them to tape political activity in order to fight terrorism; Handschu v. Special Services Division is the 1971 decision that established "consent decree" when the Black Panthers sued the police for surveiling their political activity. Of course, it was during the RNC where protestors noticed the police videotaping them, probably as they were being handcuffed and sent to the grungy holding cell. How much do you want to bet the police will use blogs and other independent media for photographic evidence?
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