Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed that he had asked the Home Secretary Theresa May to chair a meeting of Cobra, the government’s emergency committee and that she had requested updates from MI5 and the Metropolitan Police and the government were treating the incident as suspected terrorist attack.Cameron is expected to cut short a trip to Paris to return to London according to sources from Sky News.Witnesses said a man was assaulted on John Wilson Street in Woolwich by two men who were then shot by armed police officers.Officers were called to the area at around 2:20 pm and the surrounding area has been cordoned off by police.Witnesses said the dead man was attacked with a machete and then dumped on the street.The incident happened next to Woolwhich barracks but the Ministry of Defense has not yet confirmed whether the dead man was in fact a soldier.One witness told LBC radio that the two men “were hacking at this guy literally. They were hacking at him, chopping him, cutting him, like he was a piece of meat. They were just animals. They dragged him from the pavement and dumped his body in the middle of the road.”A spokesman from Scotland Yard said, “Officers have responded to an incident in John Wilson Street at 2:20 pm today. We believe at this stage that officers were called to reports of an assault.”The London Air Ambulance also confirmed that a doctor and a paramedic were sent to the scene at 14:27 pm. … Read More
New Zealand police terrorism raids ‘unlawful’
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Watford Police Fear “Possible Crime and Disorder” At Bilderberg
After a local Green Party candidate announced she was planning to organize a “green event” around the Grove, Herts police apparently expressed their fears in a document cited by Watford Observer senior reporter Ben Endley. … Read More
Police State: Liberty Activist Illegally Searched and Arrested After Kokesh Hearing
Five members of The Panic Hour were followed into the City Hall rail station in Center City Philadelphia after attending an arraignment hearing for Adam Kokesh and Nikki Allen Poe who were kidnapped from a peaceful marijuana rally on 5/18/13. … Read More
Rioters in Sweden protest alleged brutality, racism after police shoot elderly man
Between 60 to 100 people – most of them young men – took part in the riots which began around 10pm local time in the Stockholm district of Husby. Police turned up at the scene after a car was set on fire. Upon arrival, officers were met with stone-throwing protesters, Police Chief Daniel Mattsson said, as quoted by The Wall Street Journal. One policeman was attacked by youths kicking him and two others were injured by rocks, police officer Jorgen Karlsson told AP. Rioters torched cars in a local parking garage. Around 50 vehicles were damaged in the fire, which forced the evacuation of a nearby building. Windows were smashed at two schools and several local businesses. Mattson said there were 18 criminal incidents reported and that the unrest lasted for four hours.Allegations of police misconductWitnesses say that police officers reportedly called rioters and residents “monkeys” on Sunday night, discriminating against their race. Rouzbeh Djalai, editor-in-chief of local newspaper The North Side, told The Local that she spoke to a youth leader and some of teenagers after the riots. The group reportedly approached police asking if they could help. The youth leader told her that he was called a “nigger” by police, while the boys were called “monkeys.” They also said the police attacked them with batons.”If the police don’t want to cooperate, they should just say it; they don’t have to call people names and hit them with batons,” Djalaie said. Residents of Husby are angry that police are increasing their presence in the neighborhood, instead of focusing on long-term solutions to the area’s problems.”There’s frustration in Husby and it risks spiralling out of control; people want long-term solutions to social problems instead of an increased police presence,” Djalai said. ”It’s a neighborhood where one third of junior high school graduates leave school without adequate grades; they step straight out into unemployment. It’s obvious what the consequences are,” she added.Seeking justiceThe riots were in response to the fatal shooting of an elderly man last week. The man was shot and killed by police after officers responded to a call that a person was roaming Husby with a knife. Once officers arrived, the man disappeared into an apartment, police spokesman Lars Byström told TT news agency. He then stepped onto a balcony and threatened officers.”He screamed at police from the balcony that he wanted to kill them,” a neighbor told the Expressen newspaper. Negotiators were called to the scene and police learned that a woman was also in the apartment. After failed attempts at negotiating, police broke down the apartment door in an effort to secure the woman’s safety. But things took a turn for the worse once officers arrived inside the residence. “Then the person in question appeared holding a machete. Officers felt cornered and threw a flash grenade so they could overpower the man. That didn’t work either and they then felt forced to open fire,” said Byström.It is unclear how many officers fired shots and how many shots were fired, but witnesses say police fired five or six shots in total. “We saw the flashes when they shot. Even if you’d never seen an actual shooting before, you knew what it was,” a witness said.Police say the 69-year-old man was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead from gunshot wounds.However, local youth organization Megafonen reported on May 15th that neighbors said there was never an ambulance. Instead, they say a hearse turned up to cart away the body at 2am.The woman inside the apartment escaped with no injuries, according to police. Her relationship with the man remains unknown.Megafonen arranged a protest against the alleged police brutality last week, in response to the fatal shooting. The group – a community-based organization aimed at organizing residents to fight for social justice – demanded an independent investigation and public apology.”Last week, the police shot an old man who was holding a knife. How can they do this without taking responsibility? I can understand the reaction (riots),” Megafonen founder Rami al-Khamisi said.Prosecutors from the Swedish National Police Crimes Unit are currently investigating the shooting. … Read More
‘Like hardened criminals’: UK police sample DNA from 120,000 children in 2 years
“It is disappointing to see valuable crime-fighting resources being wasted on taking DNA samples from thousands of innocent children while serious offenses go undetected,” said Francis Crook, chief executive of the legal activists Howard League for Penal Reform.The group was able to obtain the data for 2010 and 2011 with a Freedom of Information request. Other than the overall numbers, the biggest surprise was the age spread – showing that children aged 13 were almost as likely to be recorded in the police database as 17-year-olds.Seven out of 10 swabbed under-18s were boys.Most of the youngsters had been taken into police stations pending investigation, or as a caution for minor offences. The vast majority were never charged with recordable crimes.“Children who get into trouble with the police are usually just up to mischief. Treating so many like hardened criminals by taking their DNA seems excessive,” said Crook.A record of anyone’s DNA, or unique genetic code, acts as a more complex version of a fingerprint, and allows any piece of physical evidence to be traced a potential perpetrator, victim or witness. The test usually involves taking a swab from the youngster’s mouth.In total, the UK is storing over 1.2 million DNA samples taken from people when they were underage – as part of a DNA database that covers 6 million people, a tenth of the population, and one of the highest ratios in the world.Amanda Cooper, the leading DNA expert for the Association of Chief Police Officers, said the sheer numbers concealed a more complex picture – in which the children were not always suspects.”These may be when a child has been a victim of crime, when police would take DNA to confirm an incident took place and check whether it can be linked to a perpetrator. Others will be as part of criminal investigation where a child is the suspect. DNA samples are also taken to conduct criminal paternity tests as part of sexual offence investigations.”The unchecked growth of the country’s DNA database has been curbed with the Protection of Freedoms Act, which comes into force later this year.”DNA evidence is a crucial tool in the fight against crime, but it must be used proportionately,” said a Home Office statement in light of the revelations.”Through the Protection of Freedoms Act we are restoring common sense to the system by ensuring only those convicted of a criminal offence will have their DNA retained indefinitely.”Now, only under-18s convicted of serious crimes or at least two minor offenses will have their DNA preserved indefinitely, while those cleared of serious charges can have their samples stored in the database for five years.But the Howard League for Penal Reform says this does not remove the problem of unnecessary tests, or personal freedom violations.“We welcome the government’s decision to stop storing innocent people’s DNA indefinitely, but it remains unclear how this will affect the number of children having their DNA taken needlessly,” said Crook. … Read More
Riot police ‘resorted to racial slurs’ in Husby
Police officers on hand during the Husby riot in northern Stockholm stand accused of using racist language towards people on the ground, with one youth worker in the area claiming it is “not the last time” such scenes will occur. … Read More
