Category Archives: Gun-violence

CENSORED NEWS: Zapatistas Welcome Caravan, Families of Ayotzinapa’s 43 disappeared

The Words of the General Command of the EZLN, presented by Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés, concluding the event with the caravan of the families of the disappeared and students of Ayotzinapa, in the caracol of Oventik, November 15, 2014.

via CENSORED NEWS: Zapatistas Welcome Caravan, Families of Ayotzinapa’s 43 disappeared.

Teeth and Bones: Law Enforcement’s Weakest Link – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Of course it makes no sense to ask the military for ID, but the gesture is what matters — and the result is that nothing happens for an hour. The heavily armed soldiers sit up on their vehicles while García’s people and the self-proclaimed village police force with their hunting rifles stand on the ground around them. It is a perfect image of Mexico in November 2014. Everyone is armed, but it is totally unclear who has control.

via Teeth and Bones: Law Enforcement’s Weakest Link – SPIEGEL ONLINE.

One Of Two Men Shot And Killed By Deputies Was Holding A BB Gun, Says Family: LAist

Being Brown can be lethal with LASC on the loose. They might be able to justify one but not the other. Will unfortunately  be forgotten too soon.

Two men were shot and killed by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies early Sunday morning when authorities say one of the suspects exited their vehicle carrying what appeared to be a handgun. However, family members say it was all a tragic misunderstanding.

via One Of Two Men Shot And Killed By Deputies Was Holding A BB Gun, Says Family: LAist.

Israeli forces order arrest of a 2-year-old child from Jerusalem

Zidani family from Silwan neighborhood South the old city of Jerusalem, was shocked to hear the order of Israeli forces arresting their 2-year-old son, Hamza Zidani on Monday.

The family denied the order, when an Israeli occupation intelligence officer stormed into their house, kidnapped another son of the Family, Mohammad, and stole three computers.

Later, Israeli intelligence told the family that their youngest son, Hamza, was also ordered for kidnap, while the family rejected the order.

According to Defence for Children International Palestine, the number of Palestinian children in Israeli prisons reached 230 during the year of 2014, and children between the ages of 12-15 years reached about 36.

Israel has kidnapped Palestinian adults and minors, either for throwing stones, or for no charge at all.

Each year, occupation tightens the screws on Palestinians, and exerts pressure on them to leave their homes, especially in Silwan area in Jerusalem, to extend the building of Israeli settlements in the area.

The kidnap campaigns are getting wider and including two-year-olds, to exert pressure on Palestinian families.

via Israeli forces order arrest of a 2-year-old child from Jerusalem.

Ayotzinapa (Guerrero) – Show all the corruption and lies of those who have turned away from God and from the truth – Fides News Agency

Campeche (Agenzia Fides) – “We live in a very corrupt country, where the people and the politicians are not interested in living in the truth” complained the Bishop of Campeche, His Exc. Mgr. José Francisco Gonzalez, in his homily on Sunday November 9, during the Mass celebrated in the Cathedral. The Bishop recalled the massacre of the students in Ayotzinapa (Guerrero) with these words: “What happened in Iguala is not an isolated case”. Then he asked everyone not to cover or protect anyone, but rather, to point out and denounce irresponsible politicians, as it is necessary to show the corruption and the lies they live in because they have turned away from God and the truth. Finally, he recalled that “Jesus cleansed the Temple, which had become a den of thieves and corrupt people, and that is what is lacking in our country”.

Agenzia Fides continues to receive the reactions of missionaries and Catholic communities throughout Mexico with regards to the terrible story of the 43 students in Ayotzinapa (see Fides 10/10/2014). In Veracruz His Exc. Mgr. Eduardo Patiño Leal, Bishop of Córdoba, on Sunday urged: “We must unite all in Mexico, and say enough is enough to these gangs”. The country suffers great pain because of the cruelty with which organized crime operates in collusion with members of the municipal police, as for the alleged execution of 43 students in Ayotzinapa. According to sources of Fides, the Bishop pointed out that Mexican society is harmed by such crimes that mostly remain unresolved .

While demonstrations continue against the corrupt authorities, in Iguala, about thirty families have joined the Catholic faithful and other lay organizations to continue to search the remains of the missing persons in the area. The “Frente Igualteco por la Dignidad y la Paz Social” called on all families to break the silence and abandon the fear in which they lived under the administration of Mayor Abarca Velazquez, who was arrested on the assumption related to the criminal gang Guerreros Unidos, to find the mass graves and give Christian burial to the remains of so many missing family members.

via Show all the corruption and lies of those who have turned away from God and from the truth – Fides News Agency.

Is Jerusalem the Palestinians’ last battle? | Opinion , Columnist | THE DAILY STAR

Jerusalem today for Palestinians is about the battle between Israel’s attempts to Judaize the city after formally “annexing” it (which virtually the whole world does not recognize) and the Palestinian insistence on resisting the Zionist efforts to control and own the land of mandated Palestine. This battle has been taking place for nearly a century now. Israeli settlers have been trying for years to move into Arab areas of Jerusalem, like Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah, either by buying homes surreptitiously or forcibly by inhabiting real estate that Israel declares to be state-owned. Because the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization (the two overlapping but moribund leadership agencies for Palestinians) are not present in Jerusalem, the Arab residents of the city are on their own in defending their homes and lands.

via Is Jerusalem the Palestinians’ last battle? | Opinion , Columnist | THE DAILY STAR.

Nigeria slams US refusal of arms to fight Boko Haram | News , World | THE DAILY STAR

ummmm – Let’s see now – who is in charge in Nigeria, who has an army that is well armed but has done little to protect people in the north and the government has done little to accommodate the needs of people in the north? So, where does the fault lay and with whom?

The ambassador however insisted the fault lay with Washington.

“The US government has up till today refused to grant Nigeria’s request to purchase lethal equipment that would have brought down the terrorists within a short time,” he said.

“There is no use giving us the type of support that enables us to deliver light jabs to the terrorists when what we need to give them is the killer punch,” he said.

Washington’s allegations of widespread human rights abuses by the Nigerian army “cannot be substantiated by facts,” Adefuye said, adding “half-truths” had been spread by Jonathan’s rivals and human rights groups with an agenda.

“The terrorists threaten our corporate existence and territorial integrity,” the ambassador said, urging members of the Council on Foreign Relations to plead Nigeria’s case with the US administration.

“A friend in need is a friend indeed. The true test of friendship is in the times of adversity.”

via Nigeria slams US refusal of arms to fight Boko Haram | News , World | THE DAILY STAR.

Americas MexicoBlog: Outrage as Mexico’s Attorney General Says Missing Ayotzinapa Students Are Dead

Outrage as Mexico’s Attorney General Says Missing Ayotzinapa Students Are Dead

Global Voices: Shot, burned in a garbage dump and thrown into a muddy river in black plastic bags. That was the fate of the 43 missing student teachers, known as normalistas in Spanish, who vanished on September 26, 2014, according to Mexico’s federal attorney general on November 7.

Jesus Murillo Karam‘s words were met with disbelief, anger and indignation not only by the students’ families, but also by people throughout Mexico and the world because they rely on the confessions of three drug cartel hit men, not conclusive evidence — human remains discovered near a landfill based on their information haven’t been identified yet.

via Americas MexicoBlog: Outrage as Mexico’s Attorney General Says Missing Ayotzinapa Students Are Dead.

Army Veteran Back From Afghanistan Shot And Killed At Party: LAist

RIP – sad++!

Francisco Garcia, who got back this summer from serving in Afghanistan, was partying at his girlfriend’s house on Dronfield Street, according to City News Service. He and other partygoers went outside the house and into the street around 2 a.m., where two cars stopped and a man jumped out of one car to confront Garcia.

The man grabbed a gun from the other car and started shooting, according to police. Garcia was shot and killed at the scene. Police believe the young vet was the target due to a dispute with the men that occurred before the party.

“The ironies are obvious,” LAPD Lt. Paul Vernon told City News Service. “To survive as a soldier in an overseas conflict, only to be killed in your neighborhood upon your return.”

Garcia recently posted on Facebook that he applied to join the California Highway Patrol and was accepted, KTLA reports.

via Army Veteran Back From Afghanistan Shot And Killed At Party: LAist.

‘I’ve had enough’, says Mexico Attorney General in massacre gaffe | Reuters

Six weeks on, the government has yet to confirm the students’ fate.

Thousands marched on Saturday evening from the attorney general’s office to Mexico City’s central Zocalo square. Many carried hand-made placards and banners with the hashtag as well as posters calling for Murillo’s resignation. Others held candles and posters that said “Justice!” or “Enough!”.

Another march by protesters who have walked 180 km (112 miles) from Iguala to the capital is set to culminate in the Zocalo on Sunday.

via ‘I’ve had enough’, says Mexico Attorney General in massacre gaffe | Reuters.