Blogging Black Miami

Arrests of Miami Edison students may be ruled invalid

The melee at Miami Edison was unfortunate but a tremendous lesson for the entire community. We cannot escape the need for bilateral communication to avoid such situations. From each perspective, all involved thought they were right and perhaps they were to some extent but our community cannot survive with such demonstrations of violence.

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Vague arrests muddle Edison High case

Posted on Sat, Mar. 08, 2008

BY EVAN S. BENN AND TRENTON DANIEL

[email protected]

ALEXIA FODERE/FOR THE MIAMI HERALD

A Miami Edison Senior High school student looks down as she is accused of resisting a police officer with violence. The 15-year-old girl suffered injuries during an arrest in school Feb. 29.

» More Photos

• Slide Show | Edison students protest morning classes
• After conflict, a valuable lesson
• Police to hold no-confidence vote
• 18 Edison students freed as peers protest
• School fracas a lesson in civics
• Superintendent Crew silent before Edison students
• Edison students not troublemakers
• Activist group might be trying to help itself
• Video | Opinions differ on what happened at Edison protest
• Video | Power U activists and Edison students stage protest
• Video | Edison students stage peaceful protest
• Video | Interview with Miami Edison High senior

Most of the Miami Edison High students arrested in a recent school fight will be hard to convict of any crime, legal experts say, because police failed to say in their arrest affidavits exactly what the students did.

Officers responding to the Feb. 29 brawl changed the names and contact information on each student's form, but the charges and descriptions of what happened are almost identical on 23 of the 26 forms.

''Form affidavits are a huge red flag that the arrests were done hastily,'' said Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, a Miami lawyer and past president of the local American Civil Liberties Union. [More]

Florida’s budget woes continue and predicted to worsen

Just in case you've been living under a rock or walking with your head in the clouds, Florida's economy is in the toilet. The article below from today's Miami Herald should be a clue. Wake up, people. By the time this legislative session is finished, rest assured that the next president of the United States will be a Democrat. The Republicans will continue to get the fall out for continuing to cripple schools and hurting future generations of Floridians.

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STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

School, court funds slashed

The state House voted to make more than $500 million in budget cuts, despite appeals from Democrats to spare schools and healthcare.

Posted on Thu, Mar. 06, 2008

BY GARY FINEOUT

[email protected]

HOUSE PHOTO BY MARK FOLEY

Divided sharply along partisan lines, the Florida House on Wednesday voted to slash more than $500 million from public schools, community colleges and the state's courts.

• More news from the Florida Legislature

TALLAHASSEE --

Divided sharply along partisan lines, the Florida House voted Wednesday to slash more than $500 million from public schools, community colleges and the state's courts.

The cuts could result in the closing of at least two centers that try to rehabilitate teenage girls who are arrested, prompt the court system to lay off all temporary workers and force community colleges to eliminate classes.

One of the rehabilitative centers that could close is in South Florida, the Pace Center for Girls in Key West.

PROCEDURAL VOTES

House Democrats pleaded to spare some programs from cuts, and forced Republicans to take procedural votes to emphasize that the conservatives are cutting schools, money for black colleges and healthcare for the poor this election year. [More…]

Edison students to continue protest Monday

Two students were released for insufficient evidence while others will have to deal with the legalities surrounding the Friday disturbance at Miami Edison Senior High School. Assistant principal Javier Perez is still the subject of the students' protest which has escalated to their dissatisfaction as to how they were treated when staging the peaceful protest on Friday.

Here is an excerpt of today's Miami herald coverage of the incident.

MIAMI EDISON SENIOR HIGH

Students released from jail

A judge sent home 18 teens arrested after a clash with police. The students say they were protesting the vice principal's behavior.

Posted on Sun, Mar. 02, 2008

BY ROBERT SAMUELS AND TRENTON DANIEL

[email protected]

ALEXIA FODERE/FOR THE MIAMI HERALD

Edison High student Gregory Danny, 15, listens to one of his lawyers, Ariol Eugene, in courtroom 4-1 on Saturday morning. Edison students, 17 in all, were arrested on Friday during a protest against Assistant Principal Javier Perez, who was accused of racism.

» More Photos

A Miami-Dade Circuit judge on Saturday sent home 18 teens who were arrested for their role in a lunchtime melee between students and police at Miami Edison Senior High.

Circuit Judge Barbara Areces said she found insufficient evidence to hold two students in jail, citing vague police arrest affidavits. Sixteen other teens were given home detention until a Monday hearing. [More…]

Student and Police Accounts of Incident at Miami Edison Differ

The remnants of Friday's violence at Miami Edison Senior High School that flashed across television screens throughout the nation were disturbing to say the least. The Miami Herald's coverage shows an incident described by students one way and law enforcement another. The students' pictures taken with their cell phones show pictures of an incident that never should have occurred in an educational environment.

Early after the incident occurred, students consistently gave the same account of being beaten, shoved and tasered. The fight was the result of a peaceful protest that escalated after police showed up to monitor the school's cafeteria area where students gathered. That may not have been the best way to handle the situation but that remains to be seen after an investigation occurs.

Parents and neighborhood activists rallied and demanded the release of the 27 students who were arrested and taken to juvenile detention. Though Friday's incident was unfortunate, perhaps it will be the tipping point that will resolve community and school tensions as well as motivate parents to become more actively involved in their children's education.

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MIAMI EDISON SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Police, Miami Edison students dispute cause of melee

Friday's brawl heightened community concerns about relations between police, school administrators and students.

Posted on Sat, Mar. 01, 2008

By ERIKA BERAS, DAVID OVALLE AND KATHLEEN McGRORY

[email protected]

JOHN VANBEEKUM / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

Students and parents at Edison High School after disturbance Friday afternoon. Betty Norville, a junior at Edison, is carried out of the school by her mother (in orange) right, and another family member. Betty says she was pushed during the disturbance and hurt her leg.

» More Photos

• Video | Student footage of the event
• Slide show | Violence at Miami Edison Senior High
• On the web | Miami Edison Senior High
• In tense meeting, Edison High parents demand answers
• Edison students call for charges to be dropped
• Other incidents in S. Fla. schools
• Video | Aerial shots of the school
• Video | Interview with Miami Edison High senior
• Video | Brawl at Miami Edison Senior High

Police officers rushed into the building. Teenagers stood up and shouted, some throwing milk cartons and bottles of water.

Students, teachers and community members were alarmed by the scene Friday at Miami Edison Senior High School after a peaceful student demonstration rapidly deteriorated into a lunchtime melee, and there were differing accounts of why things escalated. [More…]

Embattled minister easily finds support

Friendship Baptist Church minister Gaston Smith found supporters amongst his parishioners and fellow ministers. Smith was arrested for misspending a County grant. A portion of the funds were given to Karym Ventures, a group with ties to City of Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones.

Bishop Victor T. Curry, president of the local NAACP, says the organization will launch an investigation. Stay tuned.

Fired Opa-Locka Police Chief Topic of New Times article

Opa-locka Boots the Boss

Ousted police chief leaves complaints in his wake.

By Calvin Godfrey 

Published: January 31, 2008

Jacqueline Carini

Former Opa-locka Police Chief James Wright, when he had a job.

Subject(s): fired police chief, Opa-locka Police Chief James Wright

On December 12, three days after her brother caught a stray bullet during a drug turf war in one of Opa-locka's notorious HUD apartment complexes, Natasha Irving unleashed her wrath at city commission meeting. She took police Chief James Wright to task for the sorrowful state of the long-problematic apartments. [More…]

Top Cop disses citizen panel

 

City of Miami police chief John Timoney did not attend a hearing of the Citizens Investigative Panel that is examining allegations that the chief received use of a luxury vehicle for free. After the public brouhaha and criticism by the FOP (Fraternal Order of police), the Chief eventually paid Lexus of Kendall sticker price for the vehicle. He also paid a nominal penalty and will be docked a week's pay. Just so you know, a week's pay is more than $4,000.

It would be great if Lexus of Kendall had demonstrated such customer service to me but that's a story for my business review posts. Let's just say I gave them three strikes and hope to never have to patronize that business again.

Anyhoo, back to the Chief. He has the support of local business leaders but from his rank and file? Not so much. He's credited with improving the City's police department so we'll see where this goes.

Beloved pastor arrested for grand theft

What a difference a day makes. It seems that the black community is still in shock because of last night's arrest if Friendship Baptist Church pastor/teacher Gaston E. Smith. He is accused of stealing $10,000 in community money through the non-profit group, Friends of MLK.

The story broke first on WFOR4 and was picked up by the Miami Herald. Smith, generally regarded as a nice guy, was called a thief by police. Surely there is a tie to his arrest and the investigation of Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones. The plot thickens and it stinks.

Smith's attorney said a lawsuit may be filed in his client's defense. Stay tuned.

Noose found in Miami police employee restroom

Sgt. James Marshall of the City of Miami Police Department found a noose made of shoestrings in an employee restroom last week. Based on the comments to the Miami Herald's reporting of the incident, some folks still refuse to understand the symbolism of hatred the noose represents.

Of course the incident has already been labeled a hoax by some; let's just see what the investigation uncovers.

Another taser victim dies in Miami

Xavier Jones, 29, died after a Coral Gables police officer Tasered him on Friday morning at University Inn Condominium, 1280 S. Alahambra Cir., near the University of Miami.

 

Miami-Dade Detective Carlos Maura said the man had been disruptive at a party and resisted arrest. Police officers responded to a call about a scuffle about 2 a.m.

 

After Jones became disruptive inside one of the apartments, a security guard attempted to remove him from the property and the confrontation spilled outside. Maura said the man was belligerent, so a police officer used a Taser stun gun to restrain him prior to arrest.

 

There needs to be an immediate investigation into the use of Tasers. It seems that law enforcement has lost their minds. Aren't Tasers supposed to stun, not kill? But if pregnant women are being Tasered, the rest of us should surely be on guard.

 

Pregnant women tasered:

Malaika Brooks, Seattle, WA

Leslie Donaldson, Alachua County (FL)

Valreca Redden, Trotwood, OH

 

 

Stunning Revelations: The untold story of Taser-related deaths

Several staffers suspended, quit or are fired at SAO; Judge implicated in verdict deals for donation to charity

4 quit or are fired at Dade state attorney

Posted on Wed, Dec. 26, 2007

BY SUSANNAH A. NESMITH

[email protected]

DONNA E. NATALE PLANAS/HERALD FILE

Herbert E. Walker III, shown in this 2006 picture, resigned from the Miami-Dade state attorney's office Friday.

• Document | Herb Walker's resignation letter

A prosecutor with the Miami-Dade state attorney's office, an intern and a secretary were fired, while another prosecutor resigned -- all within the past week in what officials said Wednesday were unrelated personnel matters. [Continue reading]

 

Jena 6 Mychal Bell Jailed Again

The Jena 6 situation is getting uglier and uglier.

Louisiana State District Judge J.P. Mauffrey Jr. sentenced Bell to 18 months in the juvenile facility for four previous offenses, including two counts of simple battery and two pertaining to criminal destruction of property that occurred before the beating of classmate Justin Barker, according to The Associated Press.

This is yet another shameful move that continues to show the terror under which Blacks live in, not just in Jena, but the entire United States of America. Nooses being hung on college campuses on on job sites, it's way past time for this madness to stop.

Just so there's an accurate picture of the judge's decision, Bell has been placed in a juvenile detention facility. It's not an adult prison but he's still incarcerated.

In response to the latest decision, here's John Mellencamp's video, Jena.

Fort Pierce Police Officer punches and pepper sprays 15 year-old girl

Video of a Fort Pierce, Florida police officer subduing a 15 year-old girl with a punch to the face and pepper spray has led to calls for the officer's suspension. The incident occurred in July of this year as Shelwanda Riley was arrested for a curfew violation. No one 17 years or under can be out on city streets in Fort Pierce from midnight until 6 a.m. seven days a week, unless accompanied by an adult. The young woman is set to face charges of resisting arrest and battery on a police officer.

It's easy to second guess how the officer should have handled the situation but I don't think the girl will prevail in this case. I've never been a cop but it's discomforting to know that the he couldn't easily subdue a petite 15 year-old girl.

North Miami Police Chief Fired

North Miami Police Chief Gwendolyn Boyd-Savage was fired by city manager Clarence Patterson on Friday morning. Boyd, who had been at odds with Mayor Kevin Burns for months, really should have seen it coming. Generally well-respected in the community, Boyd has enjoyed a distinguished law enforcement career.

Unfortunately, Boyd's fainting when the termination was delivered seems to have overshadowed the possible hostile environment in which she worked. Boyd has already filed discrimination lawsuits against the city regarding compensation issues.

Will Boyd's firing have an adverse effect on race relations in North Miami? Hmmm, that remains to be seen.

State Attorney's Office Releases Names of Judge and Gubernatorial Candidate in Stackhouse Case

In a press conference yesterday, State Attorney Kathy Fernandez-Rundle indicated that the campaigns of former Judge Shirylon McWhorter and gubernatorial candidate Rod Smith each received $250 from Stackhouse through his employees.

Those employees were reimbursed later from monies Stackhouse received for the failed Ponciana Park biotech project.

While the crimes for whaich Stackhouse is accused are significant, either the SAO's office or The Herald demonstrated overkill regarding his involvement with the last two campaigns.

Community in terror as police are shot in South Dade; Details unfold

The chaos that consumed most of Thursday's shooting in southwest Miami-Dade County is over. Four police officers were shot --- Jody Wright, Christopher Carlin, Tomas Tundidor and Jose Somohano. Of the four, Somohano was fatally wounded. The suspect, Shawn Sherwin LaBeet, eluded police for almost twelve hours before he was confronted in a Pembroke Pines condo pool area. Gunfire was exchanged and Shawn LaBeet was killed.

Shawn Sherwin LaBeet

The horrendous pain experienced by all of the families involved in this tragedy cannot be described. Undoubtedly, Somohano's family is still paralyzed from the murder of their loved one. LaBeet's mother, must cope not only with the loss of her son, but the fact that he was a murderer.

Detectives on Friday arrested Labeet's brother, Shane R. Labeet, 32. They arrested Shawn Labeet's girlfriend, Renee D'Angelo, 26. And they arrested Alba Caridad Bello Denis, 47, Alain Gonzalez, 24, and Lazaro Guardiola, 35. Police later arrested LaBeet relative, Jaleel Torres, whose face shows signs of a struggle. All were charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact.

 

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez took command of the television and told viewers that the suspect, not person of interest, was Kevin Wehner. Such confident talk turned out to be embarrassing for police as they relied on the word of the D'Angelo, the shooter's girlfriend. Not until the real Kevin Wehner turned himself in to police in Jacksonville, where he lives, did Miami-Dade Police realize they were looking for the wrong man --- that was four hours later. Had the real Wehner been in South Florida, his life may have taken a horrible turn also. Unfortunately, he may be forced to always keep documentation proving he was wrongly accused of murder, attempted murder and a number of other charges.

This is the real Kevin Wehner; he is not the shooter.

In a situation that reeked of "all Black people look alike," before admitting the misidentification, the media posted a photo of Shawn LaBeet but said that it was a more current photo of Kevin Wehner. What? The complexion and facial structure of the person in the second photo was clearly not the same person as in the first photo.

Media reports would later indicate that Shawn LaBeet had help, via back streets, in his escape from deep in Southwest Miami to Pembroke Pines some 30 miles away. It was no surprise that Shawn LaBeet was killed. He had killed a police officer and shot three other officers. LaBeet was wearing body armor and used a high-powered assault weapon. There is much more to this story.

Over the next weeks and months we are likely to learn more about Shawn Sherwin LaBeet and the individuals involved in this case. Prayerfully, Officer Jody Wright will regain use of her leg as expeditiously as possible and the Somohano family will be able to cope with their grief as they continue their daily lives.

This incident is yet another reminder of how dangerous our streets are. Thank you to all law enforcement who protect and serve the community.

Rest in Peace

Officer Jose Somohano

School Board Member Robert Ingram Passes

Today's school board meeting was interrupted to announce the passing of member Rev. Dr. Robert Ingram. He was a pioneering law enforcement officer, a minister and an educator. Details of his transition were not disclosed. He will be missed.

Stay tuned to this space for details.