FBI interview with Dorian Johnson, witness in Michael Brown shooting, not in grand jury documents

orian Johnson was with Michael Brown when he
was shot Aug. 9 in Ferguson, Mo., and was
interviewed by the FBI and county police.

A review of the thousands of pages of documents released by St. Louis County prosecutors turned up no transcript or recording of a two-hour FBI and county police interview with Johnson, who was with the 18-year-old when he was shot. the associated press

Tuesday, December 9, 2014, 1:39 AM

A law enforcement interview with a key witness to the fatal shooting of Michael Brown doesn’t appear to be included among thousands of pages of documents released after a grand jury decided not to indict a Ferguson, Mo., police officer in the case.

The Associated Press reviewed more than 5,700 pages of documents released by St. Louis County prosecutors, but found no transcript or recording of a two-hour FBI and county police interview with Brown’s friend Dorian Johnson, who was with the 18-year-old when he was shot. The discrepancy was first reported by KSDK-TV.

The documents include seven video clips of Johnson’s media interviews, as well as a transcript of his testimony to the grand jury that investigated the shooting.

The transcript notes that jurors listened to a recording of an Aug. 13 interview of Johnson by the federal and county investigators, but documents released to the public don’t appear to include a separate transcript of that August interview. READ MORE

Retired Baltimore cop among 61 arrested in Florida human trafficking sting

Polk County Sheriff’s Office Mete Girit identified himself as a former Baltimore police officer. He was arrested after allegedly offering to have sex with an undercover detective for $200.

Sheriff Grady Judd, of Polk County, announced the arrests that stem from a four-day undercover investigation Monday. He said the goal of the investigation is to identify victims of human trafficking and provide them with counseling.

A retired Baltimore police officer, now working as an escort, is one of 61 people arrested in a prostitution sting by a Florida sheriff's office.

Grady Judd, sheriff of Polk County, announced the arrests of 61 people at a Monday afternoon press conference.

The suspects, between the ages of 18-68 years of age, include one married couple, a 6 1/2 months pregnant woman, and 29-year-old retired cop, Mete Girit, who allegedly sought $200 for sex. READ MORE

Senate Report Reveals That the CIA Torture Program Was Just As Bad As Feared

Photo: IKONOS/Space Imaging Middle East/Reuters/Corbis

The newlyreleased 500-plus-page executive summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee's torture report delivers a scathing critique of the CIA's post-9/11 interrogation programs, revealing previously unknown abuses, deceptions of the media, and attempts to avoid Congressional oversight.


Among the horrifying abuses detailed in the Senate report: Waterboarding, a torture mechanism that brings the subject to the verge of drowning, was far more popular than the CIA had let on; "rectal feedings" and "rectal hydrations" were used to strip detainees of any measures of autonomy; and a particularly damning segment of the report notes that the CIA did not punish an agent who killed a detainee in the course of interrogations. The summary is based on millions of documents surveyed over five years, and is just a fraction of the length of the full, still-classified, 6,000-page report.
READ MORE

Thanks, GOP! Michigan Is Now A Theocracy And They're Coming For Your State Next

A new religious tyranny act has been fast tracked in Michigan, and is not waiting for the Senate to pass it.

Christian special pleading has hit my home state, and soon, it'll be coming to yours, too, in the wake of the November Republican sweep.

My state was the birth place of the Republican party, back when they were the good guys - back when they were the party of anti-slavery, when they had a progressive wing that included presidents like Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. Michigan has always been seen as a blue state, but the truth is much different: we're mostly Detroit, Ann Arbor, Bay City, and to a lesser extent, Flint, surrounded by the very worst of Mississippi. READ MORE

Nazi party wrap disguised as Hanukkah wrapping paper at California store, woman says

Cheryl Shapiro demands Walgreens remove offensive wrapping paper after she claims swastikas adorn gift wrap sold for Hanukkah.

Cheryl Shapiro demands Walgreens remove offensive wrapping paper after she claims swastikas adorn gift wrap sold for Hanukkah.

She did Nazi that coming.

A California woman was outraged when she found what appear to be swastikas adorning Hanukkah gift wrap at a local Walgreens.

Cheryl Shapiro called her rabbi and then the manager at the Northridge, Calif., store, NBC Los Angeles reported.

"I really put my foot down because I was appalled by this," said Shapiro, who was with her grandson Saturday when she noticed the offensive logo apparently woven into a pattern on gold and blue wrapping paper. READ MORE

In 179 fatalities involving on-duty NYPD cops in 15 years

EXCLUSIVE: In 179 fatalities involving on-duty NYPD cops in 15 years, only 3 cases led to indictments — and just 1 conviction

A Daily News analysis of NYPD-involved deaths starts with the 1999 slaying of unarmed Amadou Diallo in a hail of bullets in the Bronx and ends with last month’s shooting death of Akai Gurley in a Brooklyn stairwell. Where race was known, 86% were black or Hispanic.

A Staten Island grand jury’s decision not to indict white NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo for the chokehold death of Eric Garner — a black father of six — stunned large swaths of the city and added fuel to a nationwide surge of protests over police killings.

But history shows the odds were always in Pantaleo’s favor.

A Daily News investigation found that at least 179 people were killed by on-duty NYPD officers over the past 15 years. Just three of the deaths have led to an indictment in state court. In another case, a judge threw out the indictment on technical grounds and it was not reinstated.

Only one officer who killed someone while on duty has been convicted, but he was not sentenced to jail time.

The analysis of the police-involved deaths begins with the 1999 slaying of unarmed Amadou Diallo in a hail of bullets and ends with last month’s shooting death of Akai Gurley, who police say was hit by a ricocheting bullet fired by a rookie cop in a darkened housing project stairwell in Brooklyn. Gurley was also unarmed.

The News found that since 1999: READ MORE

Video: Police lied. Mike Brown was killed 148 feet away from Darren Wilson's SUV

For 104 days, the police have lied and said Mike Brown was killed 35 feet away from Darren Wilson's SUV. It was actually 148 feet. This distance is essential to the defense and how Darren Wilson must demonstrate that he "reasonably feared for his safety." At the point in which Mike Brown ran half a football field away, how reasonable is it for an armed officer to fear anyone? On the afternoon of August 9, 2014, Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Mike Brown, an unarmed teenager, in Ferguson, Missouri. Below is the first video filmed from Canfield Drive, where the shooting occurred, showing the exact measurement between where Darren Wilson's SUV was parked and Mike Brown died. After that, we methodically debunk the lie that Mike Brown was killed in close proximity to Darren Wilson's SUV. Our starting point, which is 17 feet behind the driver's side window of Darren Wilson's SUV, is this yellow fire hydrant next to the storm drain. READ MORE