So much for the warm glow of appreciation that has enveloped Chicago police officers since their performance during the NATO Summit.
The Fraternal Order of Police has filed its fourth grievance tied to the summit, this one stemming from the city’s apparent decision not to compensate officers for working a sixth or seventh consecutive day in a week.
Continue reading
Protesters vowed to carry out disruptive demonstrations Monday in Chicago, a day after baton-wielding police clashed with demonstrators in a violent confrontation that left dozens injured just blocks from where NATO leaders were gathered.
Occupy Chicago, one of the groups that helped organize the demonstrations, took to social media to urge people to join in another planned demonstration at 10 a.m. ET on Monday, the final day of the two-day NATO summit. Thousands of people have hit the streets to protest everything from the war in Afghanistan to the economy.
While some protesters accused police of brutality, Illinois Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon said Monday that police seemed to be doing a good job.
“I think for the most part, they have been doing a fantastic job of making sure that people are protected and free speech rights are protected as well,” she said. “It’s a tough balance to get, but I think they are doing a good job.”
Sunday’s clashes began at the end of a march, just blocks from the NATO summit, after a group of protesters refused police orders to disperse and began pushing against a line of police officers clad in riot gear.
A video from CNN affiliate WLS showed protesters, some with bloodied faces, struggling against the officers, some of whom used their batons to strike the demonstrators.
The confrontation led to a two-hour standoff between police and protesters before it broke up, with demonstrators heading toward the Chicago Art Institute, where first lady Michelle Obama was reportedly set to host a dinner.
While some protesters held a sit-in near the institute, others took to the streets to block traffic.
Chicago Police and Occupy Chicago both reported injuries in their ranks during the clashes earlier in the day.
Police arrested at least 45 people Sunday. Four officers were taken to the hospital with injuries, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said. One officer had been stabbed in the leg, he said.
“They rallied. They charged the cops and they assaulted the officers,” McCarthy said of protesters. “The finger should be pointed at the people who assaulted the cops.”
Protesters posted photos to Twitter purporting to show bloody and beaten protesters.
“The police have several demonstrators detained behind their lines, calling for medics. Bloodied protesters being dragged out of sight now,” Occupy Chicago wrote on its Twitter page earlier in the day.
Occupy Chicago said dozens were injured in the clashes, though fewer than a dozen protesters were treated at area hospitals, officials said.
McCarthy accused some protesters of splashing red paint on themselves to make it look like they had been wounded.
The protest groups said police detained more than 100 people.
A city official, who was not authorized to talk to the media on police matters, told CNN that the confrontation began when about 75 to 100 protesters refused to leave the area after being told to disperse.
They threw bottles and other objects at police, the official said.
Cops busted 45 suspected drug dealers and users during a huge, months-long Queens crackdown that also netted weapons and blow, authorities said today.
This crackdown has been going on since late last year and culminated with the arrest of James “Wall” Corley a week ago yesterday, police said.
Corley, 51, was a key figure in infamous the “Supreme Team” gang, which was a major player in the crack epidemic that tore apart New York in the 1980s. Remaining members of that gang have morphed into today’s Jamaica-based Southside Bloods, cops said.
Continue reading
A distraught woman told an investigator that she stays away from Zimmerman because he’s racist and because of things he’s done to her in the past, but she didn’t elaborate on what happened between them.
“I don’t at all know who this kid was or anything else. But I know George, and I know that he does not like black people. He would start something. He’s very confrontational. It’s in his blood. We’ll just say that,” the unidentified woman says in an audio recording.
A man whose name was deleted from the audio told investigators said he worked with Zimmerman in 2008 for a few months. It wasn’t clear which company it was.
The man, who described his heritage as “Middle Eastern,” said that when he first started, many employees didn’t like him. Zimmerman seized on this, the employee said, and bullied him.
Zimmerman wanted to “get in” with the clique at work so he exaggerated a Middle Eastern accent when talking about the employee, the man said. The employee told investigators that Zimmerman made reference to terrorists and bombings when talking about him.
Continue reading
The Finnish court system has come up with an interesting ruling which makes it impossible for people with an open wi-fi connection to be arrested for piracy.
A Finnish District Court has today clarified the legal status of WiFi owners for internet file-sharing in the light of various pieces of EU legislation. Finnish Anti-Piracy Centre, a coalition of entertainment industry rights-holders, had sued a Finnish woman for copyright infringement, demanding compensation of circa 6000 euros for internetfile-sharing conducted with the Direct Connect (DC++) protocol through her internet connection.
This alleged copyright infringement had taken place in a specific 12-minute period in July 14 2010. The applicants were unable to provide any evidence that the connection-owner herself had been involved in the file-sharing and the court looked at whether the mere act of providing a WiFi connection not protected with a password can be deemed to constitute a copyright-infringing act.
After looking at EU law the court concluded that the WiFi owner cannot be deemed liable for the infringements actually committed by third parties. If that is the case then it is going to be hard for Big Content to prove that someone who left their internet connection open was the person who pirated their content without taking the hard-drive. However to do that, they will need a court order and that will require a small amount of evidence.
