Feature Archives

On July 16th Books Not Bars held a hip hop show and rally in downtown Oakland demanding the closure of the California Youth Authority (CYA) prisons. Among those who played at the event were Mista F.A.B., Boogie Shack, Company of Prophets, Fiyawata, Dream Dance Company, JenRO, and DJ Treat U Nice. Photos | Audio | Video

The CYA is California's state prison system for youth. In the past few years reports have show that the CYA has put some inmates in 23-hour-a-day solitary confinement for months on end, locked youth in four-by-four cages during class time, instigated violence between inmates and failed to provide real health care for inmates.
What's Wrong with the California Youth Authority? | CYA & Race: California's Dirty Little Secret

Past Coverage Of The CYA: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Jose Raul Peña, aged 34, died of multiple gunshot wounds, and his daughter, Suzie Marie Peña, who was less than 2 years old, died after being shot once in the head in a shootout with the LAPD in Watts. The police had received a report that afternoon that a man was firing random shots. When they went into the area they encountered Raul with Susie in his arms. Shots were exchanged and Raul went back into the office of his auto dealership. Several of Raul's family members begged police to let them go in and talk to Raul because they felt they could talk him into surrendering, but the police refused. 80-100 cops came into the area and laid siege to the place. Raul was on the phone with family members and people in the neighborhood during the 3 hour siege. He was also negotiating with the cops by phone. "I can tell you now I have SWAT officers having tremendous emotional problems. They are getting therapy. Some may not be coming back to work," an Assistant Police Chief said afterwards.

Watts community residents took the streets in response to the shooting. During a vigil last week, police stood nearby on high alert. LA Indymedia report and video | RCP Statement

Bay Area Police Watch reports that on June 20th, a San Francisco Superior Court Judge ruled on the side of the people. The judge threw out the argument presented by the Police Officers Union that it was too late to discipline the officers who had been involved in the shooting and killing of Detoy on May 13th, 1998. The charges against Gregory Breslin and his fellow officers will not be dismissed.

This victory is seen as a step towards discipline for the officers who not only committed murder, but then covered it up. Police Watch says, "The fight is not over, now we must demand that the San Francisco Police Commission remove Gregory Breslin from the San Francisco Police Department IMMEDIATELY!!!" Read more

Past Indybay Coverage of the Case of Sheila Detoy

San Jose has the highest rate of police killings relative to the overall murder rate of any of the 50 largest cities in the U.S. Three mentally ill people have been killed by the SJPD since the summer of 2003. Indybay reporter Peter Maiden spent the last eight months on the beat of police issues in San Jose. This is the second of two installments of the article that is the culmination of his efforts, an in-depth investigative report on how police and corrections officers in San Jose deal with the mentally ill. Peter went from being embedded with the SJPD for a day to attending many meetings of the activist Coalition for Justice and Accountability. He exposes the reality of life for the mentally ill inside the Jail. And he writes that the situation cannot be fixed without change that is essentially revolutionary. Previous Indybay stories by Peter on police issues in San Jose include: A Meeting on Police Killings, Commission Meets on Police Violence, A Nurse’s Story, A Prisoner’s Story, Trial in the Killing of Rudy Cardenas, March for Rudy Cardenas, San Jose Copwatch, and A Call to Ban Tasers.
Read Part One | Read Part Two

6/20: Media lynching of a Lodi family
On June 16th, a federal grand jury indicted Umer Hayat, a Lodi ice cream truck driver, and his son Hamid on charges they lied to FBI agents. The two men were arrested on June 5th and accused of lying during interrogation about a trip Hamid took to Pakistan. The FBI gave the media a far more damaging version of the affidavit against Umer and Hamid Hayat than was finally given to a court in Sacramento. The affidavit filed Thursday June 9th did not contain any of the sensational material from earlier in the week which said the son's "potential terrorist targets included hospitals and groceries, and contained names of key individuals and statements about the international origins of 'hundreds' of participants in alleged Al Qaeda terrorist training camps in Pakistan." In response to the leaked FBI accusations Hamid Hayat's attorney stated, "my client and his son are only charged with one thing, and that is making a false statement. Though there are very alarming statements in the complaint concerning terrorist organizations ... it's important to note that my client is not charged with being involved in terrorist acts. He has been painted with the brush of being a terrorist and he's not even charged with it." Attorneys say they will challenge the government on this discrepancy, which they see as a deliberate move by the FBI to prejudice the case against their clients. Even if the Hamids committed no crimes before the FBI interrogation, each charge of lying could result in 8 years in a federal prison, which shows the danger of ever talking to the FBI.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has eight verified incidents of civil rights violations by the FBI against Muslims in Lodi, including threats of deportation, humiliating two people in front of co-workers, threatening to charge people with jaywalking if they didn't cooperate, and not allowing attorneys to be present during questioning. Civil rights groups are filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking FBI records of the procedures and policies used during the questioning and detention of dozens of Muslims in the Central Valley town of Lodi. In addition to arresting the Hayats, the FBI also arrested several leaders of local mosques. Two of those arrested, Muhammed Adil Khan and Shabbir Ahmed were known for organizing interfaith events to help spread religious tolerance. Rabbi Jason Gwasdoff of Temple Israel, a synagogue in Stockton, worked with Muhammed Adil Khan and Shabbir Ahmed to organize the Celebration of Abraham, celebrating the common roots of Jews, Christians and Muslims in the biblical patriarch Abraham.

The arrests in Lodi come just weeks after a similar set of arrests on the East Coast. Tarik Shah and Rafiq Sabir were arrested on May 28th. Rafiq Sabir, a doctor, was charged with conspiring "to treat wounded jihadists in Saudi Arabia". Tarik Shah, a well-known New York City jazz musician and son of a former aide to Malcolm X, was charged with conspiring to teach militants martial arts. Prosecutors said Shah and Sabir were caught expressing their "eagerness to help terrorists" in secretly taped conversations with an undercover FBI agent posing as an "al-Qaida recruiter".

Both the Lodi and E Coast arrests come as Bush is struggling for the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act. Even if the arrests get overturned by the courts as entrapment, they may have only been intended to create a public perception of a terrorist threat to rally support behind the law. In Sacramento , the American Muslim Alliance & California Civil Rights Alliance held a townhall meeting on June 14th to discuss the Lodi arrests and "how not to be a victim of guilt by association." The Sacramento Valley office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SV) also hosted a series of “Know Your Rights” workshops in Lodi and Stockton, Calif., prompted by reports of what local Muslims called “harassment” by FBI agents. Sunday's workshop in Stockton, attended by some 200 area Muslims, was the last of three sessions designed to inform community members about their legal rights.

FOIA Request Filed Over Lodi ‘Harassment' | Oh ! Lord, I'm stuck in Lodi again | Friends describe terror suspect as well-known New York musician | Council Of American-Islamic Relations

On June 15th 2005, The US House of Representatives passed a measure by a 238-187 vote curtailing the federal government's access to library and book shop records without a warrant, as had been allowed under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act. The USA PATRIOT Act (oficially known as the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001) was passed into law in 2001 by a 98 to 1 vote in the United States Senate, and a 357–66 vote in the United States House of Representative. Concerns over the the the law are widespread and resolutions opposing aspects of the law have been passed in 384 communities in 43 states including seven state-wide resolutions.

In recent weeks, Bush has been campaigning for a renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act, which is set to expire at the end of the year. On June 7th 2005, The Senate Intelligence Committee voted 11 to 4 to approve an expansion of the law. The new measure would make permanent eight provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act and would also increase government surveillance powers by granting investigators access to an individual's business records and allowing wiretaps and searches without a demonstrated link to terrorism or a federal judge's permission.

Patriot Act Two Passed by Senate Intelligence Committee | White House pushes for renewal of Patriot Act | Electronic Frontier Foundation | Wikipedia: USA PATRIOT Act | Electronic Privacy Information Center

San Jose has the highest rate of police killings relative to the overall murder rate of any of the 50 largest cities in the U.S. Three mentally ill people have been killed by the SJPD since the summer of 2003. Indybay reporter Peter Maiden spent the last eight months on the beat of police issues in San Jose. This is the first of two installments of the article that is the culmination of his efforts, an in-depth investigative report on how police and corrections officers in San Jose deal with the mentally ill. Peter went from being embedded with the SJPD for a day to attending many meetings of the activist Coalition for Justice and Accountability. He exposes the reality of life for the mentally ill inside the Jail. And he writes that the situation cannot be fixed without change that is essentially revolutionary. Previous Indybay stories by Peter on police issues in San Jose include: A Meeting on Police Killings, Commission Meets on Police Violence, A Nurse’s Story, A Prisoner’s Story, Trial in the Killing of Rudy Cardenas, March for Rudy Cardenas, San Jose Copwatch, and A Call to Ban Tasers.
READ PART ONE | PART TWO IS COMING ON JUNE 19