Jose Villa, who was arrested July 8 at an anti-Minutemen protest in Hollywoood, will not have charges filed against him for 2 months while LAPD conducts an internal investigation.

Villa and Christen Westberry were video’ing LAPD when they were clubbed to the sidewalk, then clubbed at least four more times while lying there motionless. The video speaks for itself.

Two things: 1) That LAPD is conducting an internal investigation means they are taking this seriously. 2) The criminal investigation has been transferred from Hollywood division to Robbery/Homicide (the most experienced) in the downtown division. It is unusual for investigations to be moved from where they happened, another signal LAPD is watching this from the highest levels.

The criminal investigation can not start until the internal investigation, which is being done by the Professional Standards Bureau of LAPD, has completed.

Villa was arrested on the ludicrous charge of “attempted lynching”, a felony, and his bail was $50,000. KPFK reporter Liliana Sunn was arrested on a misdemeanor after she stepped into the street and was clubbed to the ground. Her bail is $20,000, extremely high for a misdemeanor, and upon release she discovered her tapes had been erased.

All of the above is from conversations with Bill Paparian, Jose Villa’s lawyer.

1 Comment »

The Bush plan to allow them to jail anyone, including citizens, indefinitely without recourse to civilian courts and with greatly reduced rights is running into serious opposition from Republicans and the military. I’d hoped this would happen and am glad it is. This genuinely fascist bill needs to be killed dead with a stake through its heart.

The administration’s plans have sounded alarms in the military’s legal corps and on Capitol Hill, who say the UCMJ is a tried-and-true body of law that is well-regarded around the world.

Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday morning, prior to Gonzales’ remarks, the services’ Judge Advocate Generals said they would not support passing a law that would bar defendants from accessing evidence, which is considered a fundamental right in civilian and military courts.

GOP senators who have been negotiating a final legislative proposal with the administration said they, too, were unconvinced the administration’s position was sound.

Let’s keep the pressure on by blogging, talking about it, and mobilizing against it. Even the Right is appalled by this sickening neocon attack on the Constitution. We need to make sure this bill never passes, with no loopholes, and no way out for the neocons who have now shown their true freedom-hating colors by attempting to destroy the Constitution.

1 Comment »

From TPMmuckraker

OK, we’ve done it. We’ve nailed it down: Every single contributor to the Pennsylvania Green Party Senate candidate is actually a conservative — except for the candidate himself.

That leaves only one contribution, for $30, as a legitimate donation from a Green Party supporter. That came from the candidate himself, Carl Romanelli. He made it to his own campaign fund, not the local Green Party.

Romanelli’s latest FEC report shows his campaign currently has $17.20 on hand.

His campaign ‘raised’ $66,000 (an astronomical amount by Green Party standards, trust me on this) to fund a voter signature drive. $65,970 of this came from right wing supporters of extremist incumbent Rick Santorum. Yuck. For a party that claims ethical behavior as a key value, this doesn’t pass the smell test. It fact it reeks.

Romanelli appears to be a newbie Green who just popped out of nowhere. Who is he? Anyone know? Color me curious. His website is so uninspired and bland it almost seems deliberate.

P.S. Democrats may challenge the signatures and their Senate candidate has filed a complaint with the FEC.

[tags]Carl Romanelli[/tags]

9 Comments »