Fairfax County Police Watch: Occupy Oakland declares 'day of action' against police brutality

The Occupy Oakland General Assembly has declared February 6 as a 'day of action' against police brutality against Occupy movement protesters.

Occupy Oakland has faced heavy police repression since its inception. From the first police raid on October 25th, when the camp was violently destroyed and people were brutally tear gassed and shot with rubber bullets, to the recent targeted snatchings and arrests of the last couple weeks, and finally to the attack on Occupy Oakland in its attempt to move into a vacant building which manifested itself in tear gas, rubber bullets, assault grenades and the mass arrest of up to 400 people last night, Oakland's Police Department and City Government have made it clear that they will continue to target and repress those in Occupy Oakland in the attempt to squash the movement that challenges their exploitation, and oppression of the people of Oakland and the %99.

Often those arrested have had their charges dropped after spending several days in jail due to lack of evidence.

The newest tactic being used by the state is stay away orders, given to those arrested, making it illegal for those arrested to be in the vicinity of Oscar Grant Plaza essentially making it illegal to participate in future Occupy Oakland events. Manyof these people have been around since the beginning of occupy and are key organizers for different committees and actions.

While many members of occupy have come to support those arrested at arraignments, picked people up from jail when they were released, called local officials or marched in solidarity with those who have been repressed, Occupy Oakland has yet to have a chance to present our side of the facts in court. Feb. 6 will be Occupy Oakland' s day for that.

On this day, it will be the first time that lawyers working with Occupy will be able to argue against the repressive tactics used by the OPD and present evidence of unlawful activities and arrests. occupyoakland.org

FACTS & FIGURES

Oakland police have responded to the Occupy movement with flash grenades, rubber bullets, tear gas and firing of “non-lethal” weapons directly at protesters.

The Alameda Labor Council, the local labor federation in Oakland, has denounced the police crackdowns singling out for criticism Mayor Jean Quan and the City Council. firedoglake.com

The Courage Campaign, a 700,000-member activist organization in California, has gone out with a petition demanding that Mayor Quan investigate the police brutality in Oakland. firedoglake.com

Scott Olsen, 24 and an Iraq war veteran, suffered a fractured skull and brain swelling after he was hit in the head by a police projectile during the clashes on October 25. Guardian

A second Iraq war veteran suffered serious injuries in November after clashes between police and Occupy movement protesters in Oakland. Guardian

Morrogh finds cop he doesn’t love. In other news, hell freezes.

Probe of fatal police shooting goes to federal authorities

By Justin Jouvenal/Post

The Fairfax County prosecutor has turned over the investigation of a fatal police shooting of an unarmed Springfield man to federal authorities, citing complications with the five-month-old case.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh said the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia has agreed to continue the probe into the death of 46-year-old John Geer, who was shot during a standoff with Fairfax County police in August. No one has been charged in the incident.

“There is a conflict of interest that has arisen in the case,” Morrogh said Thursday. “And there is a second potential conflict of interest that has arisen out of my office. . . . This is the prudent thing to do.”

Morrogh declined to describe the nature of the conflicts because the investigation is ongoing. The U.S. attorney’s office said Thursday that it could not confirm or deny any investigation or comment on pending investigations.

Police went to Geer’s Pebble Brook Court home on Aug. 29 because of a report of a domestic disturbance. Geer’s father, Don Geer, said his son was upset because his girlfriend, the mother of his two children, had decided to leave him.

John Geer had thrown his girlfriend’s belongings in the front yard. She called police and told them that Geer had a firearm. Police said they tried for about 50 minutes to persuade Geer to leave the home, but he refused.

Don Geer said he watched the climax of the encounter. He said that he could not hear what officers were saying to his son but that he saw him standing with empty hands resting on top of a screen door at the home’s entrance.

At some point, John Geer began to slowly lower his hands and an officer opened fire, hitting Geer in the chest, his father said. Geer retreated inside and closed the door. A SWAT team eventually entered the home and found Geer dead.

Don Geer said detectives later told him that his son did not have a gun on him at the time of the shooting but that there was a holstered handgun a couple of steps from the front door.

Don Geer said it appeared to him that the shooting was unjustified, but he was unsure what to make of the probe being turned over to federal authorities.

“I don’t know whether that’s good or bad — if I had a better idea of why they are doing it, I could form an opinion,” he said.

Geer and friends of his son have been critical of how long the investigation has taken, but Morrogh said police and prosecutors were working to explore all the evidence. He did not think federal prosecutors would have to start from scratch.

“No one wants these things to linger on,” Morrogh said.

Our ink will outlast his career

Under the reign of former Chief of Police Rhorer the Fairfax County Police arrested a man for not wearing clothes in his house while he made coffee, set up an eye doctor on a gambling charge and then used the SWAT team to kill him. An investigation into the charge that the Doctor’s primary clients were cops has never been investigated. The police gunned down an emotionally unstable man because cop who shot him wrongly assumed the man was trying to escape. He wasn’t. The cops also shot dead four other citizens under highly questionable circumstances. The department under Rhorer was sued multiple times by citizens. So did they fire Rhorer? Naw they promoted him. According to news reports Rhorer draws a salary of $191,168 per year as Deputy Fairfax County Executive as well as a concurrent pension from the Fairfax County police of $173000 per year.

Occupation by force

According to the most recent U.S. Census figures, nearly one in five Fairfax residents (17.5 percent) is of Asian descent while Hispanics make up nearly 16 percent of Fairfax’s overall population. Those numbers drop considerably when applied to the Fairfax County Police Department, where only 4.3 percent of officers are Asian and 4.1 percent Hispanic. White officers make up 84 percent of Fairfax County’s 1,360-member police department, significantly higher than the county’s general population (54 percent white). Almost 90% of the force lives outside the county.