The Patriot Act at work: The Man Who Saw Too Much

[ecstatic]

Mitchell Crooks says his life has been “pure hell,” filled with death threats and cries of “race-traitor” from fellow Whites, ever since he videotaped a White Los Angeles-area police officer slamming a handcuffed Black teen-ager into his squad car.
...
“On the video, you can see them looking up at me. That was my key to pack up,” Crooks says. “I ran into the hall and gave my camera to these foreign back-packers I had met from England and Germany. I said, ‘Quick, take this, before the police get up here.’” Seconds later, Crooks says, officers pushed their way into his room. “When the cops came into the hotel, they searched my room up and down,” he says. “The back-packers told me that I was sitting on the biggest story since 9/11. I told them that it really wasn’t that big a deal, that I see this all the time in LA, and that police always do this to protestors.”
...
The following day he headed to CNN. That was a mistake he says. “CNN told me they needed the original video, so I called my friend and told him to deliver it,” Crooks recalls. “But my phone was bugged. Once I had the tape, that’s when the FBI pulled up and grabbed me. They used the Patriot Act on me. They wanted to get me and the tape at the same time. It just so happens that CNN was videotaping me outside of their studio; the whole thing stinks.”

Crooks says he now wonders whether all the effort was worth it.

http://www.bet.com/articles/0,1048,c3gb8578-9431-1,00.html#boardsAnchor

[rumguy]

1. holy mother of god

that is some scary stuff...

A police state at work...

[qanda]

2. That is unbelievable

The police state has arrived.

[DuctapeFatwa]

3. Head down, eyes closed, mouth shut, live longer

[petrock2004]

4. help me, i'm confused...

pardon my idiocy, but
what part of the patriot act are they talking about? i'm still somewhat naive :)

--is there something that says you can't tape police beatings? i mean, what the hell?? i don't get it, why did they do that??

i know there's bad people in charge, can someone explain to me what this means though?

[ecstatic]

5. I'm just as confused as you are.

When my friend read this story to me I was in disbelief--it sounded like the plot of a B-movie or something.

[petrock2004]

7. yeah it does

but what are the charges? :( a DUI charge? is that why they were going to all the trouble?? noooo?

i mean, honestly, somebody out there, help!! is this normal? has this happened to other people? can we create some awareness?

*sigh* i hate people sometimes... especially when they're wearing the uniform of power

[BeFree]

9. We're all a little confused

And that means they've got us just where they want us.

'They' are using the anti-patriot act to do things that under the regular Constituion would be illegal. This case is proof. Used to be that a man was secure in his house from unwarranted search and seizures. Now, if it even looks like one may interfere with a government action, one can be stripped of his rights on the spot.

Hope this helps, we are all struggling with just what may transpire.

[girl gone mad]

6. Mitchell Crooks posted to that site..

"Check out www.freecrooks.com Jan 27 2004 01:45:29PM
posted by: freecrooks
I am mitchell crooks. Check out my site www.freecrooks.com for more info related to this case. Also, watch the unedited video with quicktime player. Music by Ice Cube "who got the camera" from his predator album. thanks. That pic is really bad."

[petrock2004]

8. aha! thank you!

alright, i'm reading that... it's starting to make more sense, thanks ggm

[mrdmk]

10. The last time we had a black person beaten up on video

We had a 1992 loot, shoot and scoot. Of course this was a very sad. All of this relates to the power politics that has plagued Southern California and California as a whole. The real problem (besides somebody getting their ass kicked) not only did Los Angeles have riots, but so did other major cities around the country. Having major cities under marshal law does not look good to rest of the world. In 1998 there was a major riot in Cincinnati, Ohio (Please correct me if I am wrong) and there was nothing mentioned in the news in the Los Angeles area. Believe me I looked. The only way I found out was over the Internet and that was because I happened to stumble onto a news story. Those stories quickly dried up except for the stories of how the politicians were going to fix things just like what was said here in Los Angeles in 1992. Of course there was a lot of talk, lots of laws passed, but everything was under funded then forgotten in 1994 after a devastating earthquake.

We still have a lot of problems in Southern California, how is the rest of the country?

[DuctapeFatwa]

11. Yes so it is very important that people not video police beatings

[mrdmk]

15. Dear Mr. DuctapeFatwa

I was one of those people who almost got his ass kicked in a police station when seventeen years old. My offence at the time was enjoying New Years Eve and being a member of the ACLU. No way did I want to imply that police beating should not be video taped, on the contrary. Policeman for years have been going around hurting and killing people here in Southern California, with impunity I might add. This seems to be the way the powers that be want to handle the situation. Whenever something of this nature comes to the media we are left with an impression of “What did this person do to deserve this?” These beatings need to stop!

The Media is complacent about this matter, mainly because they are a part of the powers that be here in Southern California. This started with the Los Angeles Times and Harrison Gray Otis.

<snip>
Under Otis, the Los Angeles Times grew with the city and became a major promoter of business and development. The LA Times (and Otis) often clashed with anyone or anything perceived to be a hindrance to pro-growth and pro-business. This led to vehement conflict with organized labor. This dramatically resulted in the 1910 bombing of the newspaper’s printing plant (resulting in 21 deaths) and the subsequent conviction of two labor leaders in a highly publicized trial.
<snip>

http://www.losangelesalmanac.com/topics/Media/me02lat.htm


If you want a real history of Los Angeles read “the City of Quartz” by Mike Davis. This will be a real eye opener has to who are the powers that be.

I by no means that we should have the media edit the information the public receives which is the topic of this thread. Just the opposite, let the powers that be pay for their mistakes, not John Q. Citizen!

[supernova]

12. Scratching my head

How in the world is taping a police beating violating the USA UnPatriot Act?

[DuctapeFatwa]

13. Because it could erode support for the war on terror

and incite anti-government sentiment which has to be stamped out to protect the police's freedom to pre-emptively act against suspected sleeper cells.

[Jose Diablo]

14. This is a symptom of social instability

caused by large disparities in the economic wellbeing of people.

When you have a large percentage of people in poverty, a small middle class and a very small very wealthy this is what you get.

The police are there to maintain stability. If the system is unstable the amount of force necessary goes up. If too much force is used thats just too bad.

This is the reason for safety nets in society. The nets are to protect society from instability and the police state that follows instability.

The police are human too. I doubt they like it anymore than we do. Of course, being human, the police can become hardened when forced to do these things. They too can become hate filled.

There are solid reasons to have social programs. The social programs keep society stable.

[mrdmk]

16. There are also forces that want to impose their will on people

And these forces have and will continue to impose their will until they are brought to a halt. They many ways in which a force of power can be brought to a halt. A peaceful force seems to have the best and the longest lasting effect of them all.

[Jose Diablo]

18. And one of the ways to impose will on the people

is create a situation that makes the system unstable. These neocons know exactly what they are doing.

For this reason a violent response will not correct this situation, it will only force the police to raise their level of force.

They only way to stop it is to regain the political process and reign in the force creating the instability.

[mrdmk]

19. There are too many constructive people in this nation

for the Neocons to deal with. I have been guilty of ranting on about a side to the fanatical right and nothing to stop the momentum. At this point I do see a breaking up of this extreme policy. This upcoming election will be very important to this country and the rest of the world. Believe me it will be nervous time for everybody. The cracks are showing because and the public is taking notice of the missed cues.

If the upcoming election is stolen (God forbid), the Bush Jr. administration will have hell to pay. Other leaders will come into play. Most people in this country are constructive and they will do the most (and then some) they can to do away with destructive forces. Unfortunately this will not be pretty. What is happening at this point is there will be a lot of people going to the polls this November 2004 to overwhelm any chance of a stolen election. The Bush Jr. administration have pushed their luck to far to be successful in the future.

[proud patriot]

17. Crooks website has the whole video of the incident LINK HERE

http://freecrooks.com/

[RainDog]

20. kick...this is sick n/t