Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) – Page 29 – A Volunteer Human Rights Group – Choose Love, Not Hate

Hooded Baltimore Police Extremists State They Will Not Enforce Laws, Unless They Are Above Criminal Law

In another disturbing development in ongoing human rights challenge of police abuse in the United States of America, a hooded group of Baltimore Police Department officers appeared on CNN. They stated that they do not plan to fully do their jobs as police officers, unless they can be sure they will not be arrested when they commit criminal acts. They called for the exoneration of 6 Baltimore Police officers indicted in death of Freddie Gray, whose neck and back were broken; the indicted Baltimore Police officers were charged with crimes ranging for depraved heart murder to assault.

The concept of a police force seeking blanket immunity from the law is nothing less than a blatant statement of contempt for the U.S. Constitution and our shared human rights. Any police force which no longer believes it is has any responsibility for the same law it has sworn to uphold – is no longer a police force.

Responsible for Equality And Liberty calls for our human rights activists to contact the Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts (anthony.batts@baltimorepolice.org, telephone 410-396-2020, fax 410-396-2023) and Baltimore Police Union FOP Lodge # 3 Lieutenant Gene Ryan (gene.ryan@baltimorepolice.org, telephone: 410- 243-9141, fax 410-487-1643) to call for the removal of such police officers from the Baltimore Police Department. Our justice community must be based on shared respect for the U.S. Constitution and our shared human rights. We urge the Police Commissioner and Lt. Gene Ryan to denounce the statements of these anonymous police officers. R.E.A.L. has already proactively reached out to Police Union leader Gene Ryan, after seeing no statement on the FOP # 3 website. We urge the Baltimore Police Commissioner and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (
Stephanie.Rawlings-Blake@baltimorecity.gov, 410-396-3835, fax 410-576-9425) to act to enforce the legal agreement with Baltimore FOP # 3, Article 23, to stop the illegal work stoppage by Baltimore Police. Our support for justice, the law, the U.S. Constitution, and our shared universal human rights must be consistent.

We have previously reported on Gene Ryan’s outrageous comments that Baltimore Police officers are more afraid of being arrested than being shot, while children were being shot. We hope that seeing his fellow police officers with hoods in shadows like cowardly criminals will help him realize the negative direction that will result from a failure to support the law and the Constitution. No one is above the law.

The interview took place with CNN’s Brooke Baldwin talking to two anonymous active members of the Baltimore Police Department. The police officers wore dark hoods and their identity was concealed by dark light and altering their voices. They defended the 6 Baltimore Police officers who were arrested in the death of Freddie Gray, whose spine and neck was broken, and said they would do the same thing. The 6 Baltimore Police officers were indicts on crimes ranging from “depraved heart” murder to assault.

Hooded Baltimore Police in shadows tell CNN that police indicted for Freddie Gray's death "did nothing wrong," and that they would "absolutely" do the same thing as the police officers indicted for crimes ranging from depraved heart murder to assault. — Hooded Baltimore Police in shadows tell CNN that police indicted for Freddie Gray’s death “did nothing wrong,” and that they would “absolutely” do the same thing as the police officers indicted for crimes ranging from depraved heart murder to assault.

CNN interview also asked the hooded, Baltimore police officers about the police brutality in the death of Freddie Gray, whose spine and neck were broken. The interview pointed out how Freddie Gray was being dragged and did not have medical attention. She asked the hooded Baltimore police officers response if “you would have done the same thing.” The hooded officer stated: “Absolutely…. the officers did nothing wrong.” The other officer stated “there was no malice in the police officers,” including those arrested for depraved heart murder. The hooded Baltimore police officers stated that they should be exonerated. One of the hooded officers said “there was no physical violence” in the takedown arrest of Freddie Gray. They stated they wanted the trial for the police officers’ trial moved outside of Baltimore, because they didn’t believe they could get a fair jury of their peers in the city where their job was to enforce the law.

One of the anonymous hooded Baltimore Police officers stated that activists who objected to such police brutality in arrests were doing this “for their own personal gain.” In one sentence, the officer said their job is to “de-escalate things,” and in the next sentence he stated “we are trained to escalate things.” Basically, the interview came to the logical conclusion that the Baltimore Police officers simply want to do whatever they want with no accountability.

As a result of the 6 Baltimore Police being held accountable for their crimes, one hooded police officer in the shadows stated “pro-active, self-initiated policing has stopped… we’re now in a total reactive mode.” The hooded, shadowed police officer admitted that such a work stoppage “ultimately does a disservice to the whole body of citizens, to business owners, to everyone other than the criminal element.” But since the Baltimore Police were being held accountable for criminal actions, he felt that they had the right to the work stoppage and abandoning their jobs when it came to preventing crime.

A hooded police officer in the shadows stated that criminals “know that pretty much the whole police department has shifted all to a reactive side.” “Even though you have a reasonable suspicion, for a guy walking down the street and there’s a bulge from their waistband” (like an illegal GUN) that the police work stoppage has approach been to not take action. He indicated that the rise in violent crime in Baltimore is because of the Baltimore police work stoppage, stating: “the criminal element feels as though we are not going to run the risk of chasing them if they are armed with a gun.”

Hooded Baltimore Police tells CNN they are hesitant to fight crime, unless they can be certain they can be immune from any criminal prosecution if they commit crimes.

When the CNN interviewer directly asked the hooded Baltimore police officers if the criminal was right, that they would not chase them if they had a gun, he meandered an excuse that if the criminal got hit by a car, they wouldn’t want to be responsible. In a word, YES. The interviewed officers stated that since the public wanted a “softer police department” (that is one that obeyed the law), they will use their work stoppage until the public allows them to break the law.

When directly asked by the CNN interviewer, “But you took an oath to serve and protect?” The hooded, shadowed Baltimore Police Department officers ignored her question, just like they ignoring their oath. But their silence to her direct question is an answer, and that silence should concern every patriot who loves America and our justice system, as well as every human rights activist.

CNN Interview asks Hooded Baltimore Police in Shadows: "But didn't take an Oath to Serve and Protect?" They refuse to answer. Their refusal IS an answer. — CNN Interview asks Hooded Baltimore Police in Shadows: “But didn’t take an Oath to Serve and Protect?” They refuse to answer. Their refusal IS an answer.

The Baltimore Police Commissioner and the Baltimore Mayor are responsible for legally acting to resolve this publicly announced work stoppage by the Baltimore Police. This illegal work stoppage is not only is a threat to public safety, but has led to the shooting of at least two children in Baltimore.

The Baltimore Police City Lodge #3 Fraternal Order of Police has a binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Baltimore Police Department. In that MOU, Article 23, page 28, there is a “No Strike, Secondary Boycott, or Lockout” clause, which states “The Lodge agrees that during the term of this Memorandum it shall not engage in, initiate, sponsor, support, or direct a strike or secondary boycott or directly or indirectly picket the Employer or any of its property in furtherance of a strike.” “If the Lodge shall violate any of the provisions hereof: Its designation as exclusive representative may be revoked by the Department.” “Nothing in this Memorandum shall deprive the Employer of remedies available to it under applicable law in the event of a strike.”

On the behalf of public safety, it is the responsibility of the Baltimore Police Commissioner and the Baltimore City Mayor to act on this issue, and enforce the Labor Union agreement with the Baltimore City Police and end the Baltimore Police work stoppage, designed to allow citizens to be at risk or killed, so that police can gain the “right” to break the law with impunity.

Maryland does not allow the police to strike. Maryland Governor Hogan and the Maryland Office of the Secretary of State (Fax 410-974-5527) also have similar responsibility to stop Maryland Police work stoppages. There is a Memorandum of Understanding between the State of Maryland and the State Law Enforcement Officers Labor Alliance (SLEOLA)
(July 1, 2012 – June 30,2015), Article XV. R.E.A.L. has also contacted Governor Hogan on this matter.

If we allowed the police to conduct work stoppages, unless the police were empowered to break the law and commit criminal acts, we would undermine the U.S. Constitution, as well as reject the international law agreed to by the United States of America under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This is not only an attack on the law, but also on our shared universal human rights.

In the United States of America, the federal government also has another method to take action toward organized groups which use violence outside the law as a means to extort protection from the public. A “protection racket” is a scheme whereby a group provides protection to people or businesses through violence outside the sanction of the law, and in violation of the law. Using the credible threat of violence, the protection racketeers deter people from harming their clients. Racketeering is a violation of U.S. Code, Title 18, Part I, Chapter 96, § 1961. Racketeering activities are punishable under range of laws under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 1961–1968), which was signed into law on October 15, 1970.

The U.S. Department of Justice an entire division simply to monitor and prosecute organized racketeers. Title 9 of the U.S. Attorney’s Manual provides details on 9-110.000 – Organized Crime And Racketeering guidelines, and the requirements to prosecute racketeers.

The population of Baltimore was 622,104 in 2013. That is a significant percent of the population of the United States of America to allow their safety and well-being to be at risk, by an organized group of armed individuals using function equivalents of “protection racket” tactics to seek extortion from the public so that they can be held harmless from criminal prosecutions involving illegal violence. While this case may seem unusual, the concept behind the RICO statutes is to prevent groups from extorting the public in protection racket schemes. If the Baltimore Police Commission will not act, if the Baltimore Mayor will not act, if the State of Maryland will not act, it is the responsibility of the U.S. Department of Justice to act to support and defend the Constitution and the Constitutional rights of Baltimore citizens. Days have passed since this CNN interview. The Baltimore Police Commissioner and the Baltimore Mayor have not announced any action.

Therefore, it is reasonable to assume the U.S. Department of Justice needs to start planning for the use of RICO laws to protect the citizens of Baltimore from the rogues in the Baltimore City Police and Baltimore Police Union FOP Lodge #3, which clearly are in violation of their MOU.

R.E.A.L. is contacting the U.S. Department of Justice Organized Crime and Gang Section (OCGS), Julie Wuslich, (Julie.Wuslich@usdoj.gov, 202-514-1214), as well as the DOJ Civil Rights Divison’s Vanita Gupta (Vanita.Gupta@usdoj.gov, 202-514-4609). The U.S. DOJ Civil Rights division will be conducting an investigation of the Baltimore Police operations. We urge the DOJ Civil Rights division to add this interview to their research and findings.

Hooded shadowed figures in the Baltimore Police who threaten not to do their job, unless they are allowed to be criminals, represent nothing less than an attempted protection racketeering. The U.S. Department of Justice needs to investigate, and racketeers need to prosecuted under federal law. The law is the law for everyone. No one is above the law. No one has a “right” to commit criminal acts.

Our shared universal human rights are not constrained to any border or any organization, and those who defy those human rights are not limited to any area or organization. Our world has many problems. But if we work together we can solve our problems as one human race. Unlike the cynical and mocking comments of the hooded Baltimore Police Officers, our defense of our shared human rights is for anything BUT “our personal gain.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The volunteer human rights community’s support is completely at our own expense, financially, personally, and professionally. To reply to the hooded cowards, we do this for one reason: it is the right thing to do. That’s the only reason we need. It is sad that there are those in law enforcement so detached from reality that they can’t understand such fundamentals in our society.

It reminds me of the white supremacist groups we challenge, who always have an explanation as to why a white male like me would challenge them. I must be getting paid by someone, the government, Israel, the ZOG, the Illumanti, the SPLC, etc. You name it. Those who have lost their conscience about what is right can always find a way to find excuses for why they have a “right” to oppress others.

It is not right to break someone’s spine and neck. It is not right to crush their vocal cords. It doesn’t matter if it is Freddie Gray or anyone else. People who respect human rights and the law have to understand the difference between right and wrong. We urge the Baltimore Police to end the denial, and do some deep soul-searching about the oath they took.

It is always a good day to be Responsible for Equality And Liberty.

If we can’t stand in public for that, then we are not free men and women. We are not afraid.

God Bless the United States of America.

Jeffrey Imm, Founder, Responsible for Equality And Liberty
usa@realcourage.org, 301-613-8789

Khilafah “Justice” on Gays is Murder

In another of attack on universal human rights, life, and dignity, news of the Khilafah-seeking ISIS terror group shows the terrorists committing more killings of gays. The ISIS authoritarian group has established its own religious Hisbah “police force.” In lands where ISIS occupying powers have taken control, reports state the ISIS group has been using “undercover operatives” to lure gays out, and then beating them to death by stoning or throwing them off of buildings in public executions.

Khilafah's Form of "Justice" for Gays - Hunting and Down and Publicly Murdering Gays by Stoning, Throwing Them Off Buildings (Center ISIS Khilafah Police Vehicle) — Khilafah’s Form of “Justice” for Gays – Hunting and Down and Publicly Murdering Gays by Stoning, Throwing Them Off Buildings (Center ISIS Khilafah Police Vehicle)

The Khilafah ISIS Hisbah religious police use undercover “flirt squads” to try to seduce and entrap gays for public execution. In addition, the Khilafah’s Hisbah also frame people as gay, to rationalize such public murders.

We call for the world public to show OUTRAGE for the public and atrocious murders of gays by these authoritarians. Their contemptible human rights violations deserve the world’s condemnation.

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L) supports the universal human rights, life, and human dignity of all of our brothers and sisters in humanity. We reject the authoritarian tactics of hunting and murdering people for their sexual orientation, or for any of their identity group characteristics, as a fundamental attack on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and a fundamental attack on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

These monstrous public spectacles to use authoritarian measures to deny human rights to anyone because of the identity group are an attack on our universal human rights – by ANYONE who denies these human rights.

Rejecting these horrific human rights violations is not an attack on Islam, but is a call for ending these crimes against humanity by the Khilafah group ISIS.

“An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The words by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. resonate as a fundamental basis for our shared human rights.

As previously reported by R.E.A.L, the fascist tactics by the anti-freedom group which seeks the establishment of a dictatorial Khilafah demonstrate their complete and total contempt for the equality and liberty which are our shared fundamental human rights.

We urge the friends of freedom to continue to challenge authoritarians and authoritarian murderers who are at WAR with our shared universal human rights. Together, we must be united to be Responsible for Equality And Liberty.

NYPD: Commissioner Blames Blacks, Fatherless for Failure to Stop Crime

In a continuing denial of their responsibility in the strains with society and violence against the public (including the strangulation of Eric Garner), the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) leader blamed African-Americans and the fatherless on their inability to be participants in law enforcement. Other former minority NYPD officers spoke up, however, and described an environment where some white police officer views African-Americans with contempt and some did not view them as human beings. This contempt for human rights must be challenged by all those who support our shared universal human rights.

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, in an interview with the Guardian, blamed the NYPD’s woes on their inability to hire African-Americans in police positions. He stated: “We have a significant population gap among African American males because so many of them have spent time in jail and, as such, we can’t hire them.” He then states that this is the “unfortunate consequences” of an explosion in “stop, question and frisk” stops in the last decade targeting racial minority men. This policy, struck down in 2013 by a federal judge as a “policy of indirect racial profiling,” was implemented by NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton.

NYPD Police Commissioner also blamed those without fathers for the decline of law enforcement’s effectiveness and hostility against police behavior: “We’re starting to reap what has been sown over the last 40, 50 years, with homes dissolving and homes without parental guidance,” he said on John Gambling’s radio show on AM 970. “There is just less respect for authority. I think some of it’s coming out of the fact that we have so many home environments in our country that are not home environments in the traditional sense, in that there’s no direction at home.”

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton (Source: Susan Watts, NY Daily News)

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton also told the Guardian that he continues to defend the ongoing “broken windows” ultra-aggressive policies of NYPD police officers, mostly against minority neighborhoods. These “broken windows” policies contributed to the NYPD 120th precinct (Staten Island) police strangulation of African-American Eric Garner. The “broken windows” policies are defending by extremists in law enforcement, such as NYC John Jay Criminal Justice College police instructor Peter Moskos, who also seeks to promote whipping and electric shock as punishment for Americans. Peter Moskos is a “Facebook friend” to NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton.

NYC: The Choking of Eric Garner: "I Can't Breathe" (Source: YouTube) — NYC: The Choking of Eric Garner: “I Can’t Breathe” (Source: YouTube)

Former NYPD captain Eric Adams stated that one white NYPD police officer described a largely black housing area as, “these people are all animals; they don’t deserve anything.” The Guardian reported that “Adams says officers and management must stop making assumptions about poor communities based on the ‘numerical minority’ that commits most of the offenses.”

Former NYPD officer Ray Benitez, who is African-American Hispanic, told the Guradian that he observed racial stereotyping among the NYPD police. The Guradian reports that he “watched officers stereotype entire neighborhoods.” He stated that: “You’ve got to know that 95% of the people in the community have no dealing with the police at all. None.” But he still saw a discriminatory attitude among NYPD police. “I’m talking about a thinly veiled disgust…simply because they appear to be in distress, with a different station in life. Maybe the sociological condition is that somehow those cops feel they’re more entitled, that they’re better.” Former NYPD police officer Ray Benitez described the “stop and frisk” procedures on NYPD police taking racial minorties as: “humiliation, maybe even emasculation, of a segment of society.”

Former NYPD police officer Travena Garel stated to the Guardian: “I just think that for a lot of officers, black men are viewed as something other than human beings.”

Responsible for Equality And Liberty believes that a representative democracy involves shared responsibility for societal problems. No one group is exempt from that shared responsibility as well as our shared universal human rights. We are disappointed to see extremists in our justice community pointing fingers at problems, and ignoring their own responsibility to be contributors in a representative democracy. We urge all of our fellow Americans to reconsider what it means to be active participants in a representative democracy for all.

We urge all to be Responsible for Equality And Liberty.

Texas Police Union Defends Extremist; FOP Lawyer to Defend Extremist Attacking Children

Yet another police union defends extremist behavior as Americans protest the un-Constitutional behavior by an extremist in law enforcement, this time in McKinney, Texas. As previously reported by Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.), extremist David Eric Casebolt was a leader in the McKinney Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge # 107 union as a “Second Vice President.” The Texas FOP is also supporting David Eric Casebolt, and his attorney Jane Bishkin is a participating attorney for the Texas FOP.

After David Eric Casebolt’s (June 5, 2015) assault on a 14 year-old child and pulling his gun on unarmed children, the McKinney FOP police union took their Facebook page offline, concealing David Eric Casebolt’s leadership role in the police union. On the FOP’s web page, they made the position “vacant,” and they hurriedly appointed Michael Best into the position.

On June 9, 2015, the McKinney Police Union President Daniel Malenfant issued a statement defending the violence by David Eric Casebolt as necessary to deal with “trespassing,” “vandalism and active fighting.” Union leader also promised “to provide any assistance necessary to the officer involved and his family.” The McKinney Police Union denied that the harassment and assault on African-American children was racist, stating “without a shadow of doubt that all members of the McKinney FOP and McKinney PD do not conduct racially biased policing.”

The McKinney Police Union also rationalized extremist David Eric Casebolt’s vulgarity against children, stating: “the use of profanity during high stress incidents may occur when attempting to gain control of unruly subjects who are not complying with officer’s commands.” (A reminder to the McKinney Police Union, the American people are not your “subjects.”)

McKinney Texas Police Union Regarding Police Union Leader and Extremist Casebolt's Attack on African-American Children: "Not a Racially Motivated Incident" - Profanity Understandable when Dealing with "Unruly Subjects" — McKinney Texas Police Union Regarding Police Union Leader and Extremist Casebolt’s Attack on African-American Children: “Not a Racially Motivated Incident” – Profanity Understandable when Dealing with “Unruly Subjects”

The McKinney Police Union also stated that “certain details of this incident are being inaccurately broadcasted by media outlets to the public in the McKinney area and across the nation. The subjects involved were a mixture of teens and adults who were trespassing not in a community pool but a private property pool regulated and maintained by this particular Home Owners Association. Vandalism and active fighting was reported in the same area involving this group of teens and adults.”

While the McKinney Police Union may be hiding its Facebook page, the McKinney Police Union does not have the power to remove the YouTube video of this incident, where the public can clearly see with their own eyes what happened.

While the McKinney police stalled in their “investigation,” David Eric Casebolt had the opportunity to “resign from the police force instead. WFAA reports that “Casebolt’s resignation was confirmed Tuesday by attorney Jane Bishkin.” Jane Bishkin is not only David Eric Casebolt’s attorney, but also she is the participating attorney for the Texas Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), which includes the McKinney FOP #107 Police Union.

WFAA also reported how the 14-year old child’s head was SLAMMED into the ground, as can be seen in a second video by teenager Jahda Bakari.

The full text of the McKinney Police Union Statement is as follows:

“On 6/6/15, the McKinney Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #107 was informed by a member that he had been involved in an incident which resulted in him being placed immediately on administrative leave status.
“The McKinney FOP has not been able to fully examine all of the video and reports surrounding this incident. The McKinney FOP assures that this was not a racially motivated incident and can say without a shadow of doubt that all members of the McKinney FOP and McKinney PD do not conduct racially biased policing. The McKinney FOP does not condone professional officers cursing at juveniles or any citizen during routine calls for service. The use of profanity by officers diminishes the professional image which is expected. With that said, the use of profanity during high stress incidents may occur when attempting to gain control of unruly subjects who are not complying with officer’s commands.”
“Information is being provided to the McKinney FOP that certain details of this incident are being inaccurately broadcasted by media outlets to the public in the McKinney area and across the nation. The subjects involved were a mixture of teens and adults who were trespassing not in a community pool but a private property pool regulated and maintained by this particular Home Owners Association. Vandalism and active fighting was reported in the same area involving this group of teens and adults.”
“The McKinney FOP urges all citizens who are intending on coming to this community wanting to take part in any protests or demonstrations to do so peacefully. The McKinney FOP is also urging the public to allow the McKinney PD investigators to conduct their investigation. The McKinney FOP believes that the McKinney PD will conduct a thorough investigation and will take every piece of information into consideration. We continue to urge all citizens exercising their 1st Amendment Rights regarding this incident to do so peacefully.
“The McKinney FOP is working closely with the Texas State FOP Lodge to provide any assistance necessary to the officer involved and his family.
“If more information is discovered, the McKinney FOP will ensure it is disseminated accordingly.”

Responsible for Equality And Liberty continues to challenge police unions to shake off their torpor and reverse the damaging course that a pattern of contempt and denial on police abuses has done to this country, our Constitution, and our homeland security.

McKinney Police Practicing Shooting with Automatic Weapons (Source: McKinney Police Department Facebook)

Texas: Extremist Police Officer Assaults Child, Threatens to Shoot Children – DEMAND ACTION

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) denounces the human rights violation and blatant abuse of an extremist against children, in the aftermath of altercations at a pool party in McKinney, Texas, on June 5, 2015. We have learned of extremist police brutality against children outside of a swimming pool, including an extremist police officer pulling a gun on other children, after he was assaulting a child, dragging her by the hair, and pushing her face into the ground. We have seen the video of the despicable violence against African American children by an extremist within the McKinney police department, and we call for the justice community to take action on this assault against our children.

WE NEED YOUR ACTION. We call for American citizens, human rights activists, and especially responsible members of our law enforcement community to contact McKinney Police Chief Greg Conley (telephone: 972-547-2700; email: gconley@mckinneytexas.org) and Assistant Chief Joe Ellenburg (telephone: 972-547-2737; email: jellenburg@mckinneytexas.org) to demand that they take action TODAY to arrest extremist Police Patrol Supervisor Corporal David Eric Casebolt for his armed assault and threats against these children. (See more below).

This immediate conflict started at a swimming pool party at a mostly white neighborhood’s Craig Ranch North Community Pool in McKinney, Texas. It was intended to be an end of school celebration, with a number of guests invited to the swimming pool on guest passes. Apparently some of the residents at the Craig Ranch North Community reportedly were upset about the pool guests, which were mostly non-white. The dispute reportedly centered over whether the African American and Hispanic guests at the pool were entitled to their guest status.

Miles Jai Thomas told the Huffington Post that the guests were upset about when a pool security officer started “making up rules” to force the non-white guests to leave. He also told the Huffington Post that “[b]efore officers arrived on the scene, a white woman had started making racist comments, telling black party goers to get used to the bars outside the pool because that’s all they were going to see. When one of the white teens at the party talked back to the adult, the woman began cursing and yelling at her as well.”

After the pool guests reportedly did not want to leave, the McKinney Police Department ordered nine (9) police vehicles to the area, sending twelve (12) police officers to a dispute at a swimming pool.

Instead of restoring “public order,” the extreme action by the McKinney Police Department had the predictable reaction of taking a minor situation and letting it get out of control. As the heavy-handed reaction created predictable frustration, one extremist in the police force decided to act out and assault our nation’s children.

From YouTube, we have seen the video of this assault by an extremist against a 14 year-old African American child. It is despicable. An extremist in the McKinney Police Department, identified as Officer David Eric Casebolt, who is white, chose to take an extreme response to the mostly African-American children who did not like the heavy-handed police response.

In the YouTube video, we see extremist Eric Casebolt grabbing children and assaulting them. Extremist Eric Casebolt grabs a 14-year old girl by her hair and violently throws the child to the ground. The extremist then tries to force the child’s face onto the ground and the sidewalk. As the collective children shout about his activity, extremist Eric Casebolt then withdraws his police-issued gun and pulls it out, aiming it at unarmed African-American children while he chases them. One girl, wearing a shirt with an American flag, screams as she watches the badge-wearing extremist chase unarmed African-American children with a gun.

As the other African-American children run for their lives, the extremist returns to the unarmed child in the swim suit (clearly with no weapon and no threat), with his gun drawn, then he holsters it so that he can grab the child’s body with both hands, drags her by the hair, forces her face into the ground, as she cried for her mother.

The extremist David Eric Casebolt then kneels on top of her body, while he points at the other children, threatening that they will be next.

Eric Casebolt does this to a 14-year old CHILD.

I am sure there are many millions of patriotic American men who would like to educate extremist David Eric Casebolt on our view of cowardly grown men who beat up little girls. But certainly, our justice community must speak for us and communicate our values of justice to extremist David Eric Casebolt.

When this is tolerated we must ask once again, what country we are living in? Surely, this is NOT the United States of America. Our justice community must act swiftly and severely to such criminal extremists who commit such cowardly violence against our children. Accountability of law enforcement is not some “gift” to the American people; it is the minimal expectation that we must demand to preserve any hope for law and order in this great nation.

American patriots no doubt wonder what happened to the other eleven (11) police officers who were dispatched to the swimming pool altercation. Were they all incapable of restraining extremist David Eric Casebolt from such actions? Or were all of those grown men too afraid to keep David Eric Casebolt from assaulting children? I wonder how many of the other McKinney police, or any of our fellow law enforcement, would have such casual restraint (or fear) if David Eric Casebolt was dragging YOUR CHILD by the hair and assaulting YOUR DAUGHTER like that.

I can imagine what the millions of American fathers reading this are thinking about in terms of consequences if David Eric Casebolt had ever taken such cowardly actions against their daughter or their children. David Eric Casebolt needs to learn this too, and he needs to learn it from the swift and severe acts of our justice system.

Like all patriotic Americans and civilized people, Responsible for Equality And Liberty is astounded at this offense. R.E.A.L. asks the McKinney Police Department: why isn’t extremist David Eric Casebolt arrested for his assault on these children? We need our federal government to act and stem the tide of such violence by extremists in our nation, and ensure that extremists know there will be consequences for their actions.

We have learned from BuzzFeed that McKinney Chief of Police Greg Conley held a press conference today (June 7, 2015) stating that he is “committed a complete and thorough investigation of this incident,” and that an officer was “placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.”

McKinney Police Chief Greg Conley asks public to have "patience" for a "thorough investigation" of Eric Casebolt's public assault on children — McKinney Police Chief Greg Conley asks public to have “patience” for a “thorough investigation” of Eric Casebolt’s public assault on children

It is perfectly evident for the nation and world to see what happened. There were plenty of witnesses, and McKinney Police Chief Conley’s call for “patience” for a “thorough investigation” is what we have heard too many times, and come to learn mostly represents the code words for “stall tactics.”

This is absurd, Police Chief Conley, and it is insult to responsible individuals in law enforcement, and it is yet another disgrace to the great United States of America. Any other American who publicly assaulted a child like this and threatened children with a gun would be in handcuffs, right now, today.

R.E.A.L. calls for our fellow human rights activists to denounce the failure of the McKinney Police Department to arrest Officer David Eric Casebolt today, right now, for his assault on these children. We don’t want to hear about administrative suspensions, lawsuits, or the other “alternatives.” The American people and the eyes of the world expect JUSTICE from our justice community, not beating our children in the street, and not excuses and stall tactics when we see it right in front of our nations’ eyes.

Most importantly, we call for those in the justice community to find their voice and their conscience on these matters. Our justice community should be at the forefront in denouncing such violence against our citizens, and calling for swift and severe consequences for those extremists who betray the trust the American people put in our police.

The blue line needs to stand together, not in denial, but in defense of the people and the Constitution it has vowed to serve and protect.

The words “out of control” are what patriotic Americans are stating to themselves as they continue to hear about what disgrace after another. In some communities, we have started to see action. In South Carolina, Michael Slager was arrested for murder. In Baltimore, the six who arrested Freddie Gray and left him with a broken neck and spine have been arrested for charges from murder to assault. This is what the American people expect, and most of all, this is what the justice community MUST SHOW.

Another video of yet another out-of-control extremist wearing a badge from the public, must be dealt with swiftly and severely by the justice community. Our justice system, like our government, is not “their” system; it is “our” system. This is why, in many parts of the nation, we have the power to make citizen’s arrests in extreme circumstances. The law is law – not just for some – but for all.

R.E.A.L. calls for the immediate ARREST of extremist Officer David Eric Casebolt for his public assault of children and his threat to kill other children. Such extremist violence is a threat to public safety, and that is what is what law enforcement is really about – protecting the public and their human rights.

His wild and reckless actions were nothing less than an armed assault on unarmed children. His extremist violent actions must not be accepted as representing law enforcement in the United States of America in ANY form, and must be recognized for the criminal behavior it represents.

There must be ACCOUNTABILITY for these actions. Another slap on the wrist will only further alienate the American public from many, many good, hard-working people in law enforcement, who this extremist does not represent. Our friends in blue need to find their voice. And SOON.

When extremists wearing a badge of our justice system believe they can beat CHILDREN in public with impunity, we must demand consequences for such human rights violators – everywhere and all of the time. Wrong is wrong – no exceptions.

If we defend our shared universal human rights, that means EVERYONE, including our good friends in law enforcement, who need to remember that they too are… Responsible for Equality And Liberty.

================================

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD TO THE MCKINNEY POLICE DEPARTMENT – RIGHT NOW

McKinney Police Department
2200 Taylor Burk Dr.
McKinney, TX 75071
Phone:972-547-2700
Fax:972-547-2701

McKinney Chief of Police – Greg Conley
Email: gconley@mckinneytexas.org
Telephone: 972-547-2700

McKinney Assistant Chief of Police – Field Operations – Joe Ellenburg
Email: jellenburg@mckinneytexas.org
Telephone: 972-547-2737

McKinney Deputy Chief of Police – Field Operations – Patrol Division – Jody Morse
Email: jmorse@mckinneytexas.org
Telephone: 972-547-2777

McKinney Assistant Chief of Police – Support Services – Randy Roland
Email: rroland@mckinneytexas.org
Telephone: 972-547-2713

McKinney Police Sergeant – Internal Affairs – Randy Agan
Email: ragan@mckinneytexas.org ; IA@mckinneytexas.org
Telephone: 972-547-2711

McKinney Deputy Chief – Criminal Investigations – Scott Brewer
Email: sbrewer@mckinneytexas.org
Telephone: 972-547-2705

McKinney Police Deputy Chief – Professional Standards – Kim Lee
Email: klee@mckinneytexas.org
Telephone: 972-547-2755

================================

UPDATE:

Extremist David Eric Casebolt has been in other news, recently regarding an FAA Airman Certification, and the Dallas Morning News reported that David Eric Casebolt was an instructor trainee with Executive Self-Defense and Fitness Training in McKinney, TX. Casebolt’s photo had been removed from the company website. R.E.A.L. contacted this company, and was told they had “no comment.” The Dallas Morning News also reported that extremist David Eric Casebolt served in the U.S. Navy from 1993 to 2000. The DMN reported that “He also served in the U.S. Navy as a member of the military police from 2000 to 2003 and an operations specialist from 1993 until 2000.” Media have also reported on extremist links on videos online by David Eric Casebolt.

R.E.A.L. has also learned that extremist David Eric Casebolt was an officer in the McKinney Police Union Fraternal Order of Police (Lodge # 107). Once again, R.E.A.L. sees police unions associated with extremist behavior, as we have reported about in New York City and Baltimore. David Eric Casebolt was listed as the “Second Vice President” in the McKinney Police Union, which is led by Union President Dale Malenfant (dmalenfant@mckinneyfop.org). The McKinney Police Union has since taken down its Facebook site to conceal this association, but there has been no comment or statement by the McKinney Police Union on the actions by its apparently former “Second Vice President” in his attack on children. In the meantime, caches of the McKinney Police Union membership list online has shown a replacement of the “Second Vice President” position to “vacant” and then now filled by “Michael Best,” with their board of directors.

The McKinney Police Union states that its values are: “Equality, Fairness and Integrity,” and that “Law is the Safeguard of Freedom.” R.E.A.L. has contacted the McKinney Police Union to get a comment on their position on whether the assault by their union officer David Eric Casebolt on these children represents the values and freedoms they are safeguarding.

R.E.A.L. will update this with any statement we receive from the McKinney FOP police union on this matter.

June 9, 2015 Update: Extremist David Eric Casebolt resigned “on his own will” while under investigation and will get to keep his pension and benefits. His lawyer, Jane Bishkin (also an attorney for the Texas FOP police union), announced his resignation in a statement at 5 PM on June 9. R.E.A.L. calls for charges against the extremist for his violence against our children.

UNHCR Seeks $13M for Southeast Boat Crisis

R.E.A.L. reports that the UNHCR is seeking $13 million to step up response to Southeast Asia boat crisis. The UNHCR spokeperson Melissa Fleming provided a press briefing, on June 5, 2015, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva seeking funds for refugees and migrants from Southeast Asia, specifically mentioning the plight of Rohingya Muslim refugees fleeing from Myanmar.

“UNHCR is seeking US$13 million to help with the needs of new boat arrivals in South-East Asia, where thousands of refugees and migrants have been crossing the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The appeal was launched yesterday, and is aimed at beefing up our work to do with protection for the nearly 4,800 people from Myanmar and Bangladesh who have been disembarked from smugglers’ boats in the last month. In the latest incident, earlier this week, over 700 people were landed in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. They included some 120 women and children who said they had been at sea for at least three months. With the monsoon season imminent, it’s estimated that thousands of people may still be at sea.”

“UNHCR’s appeal follows from last Friday’s regional meeting of affected States held in Bangkok. It also reflects elements of a 10-point plan of action proposed by UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. The funds will allow UNHCR to step up its response in three main areas: Firstly by helping meet the international protection needs of new boat arrivals, secondly by enhancing information available to people considering the journey, and thirdly by targeting some of the root causes of these movements in source countries. To date, UNHCR’s teams have registered just over 1,000 Rohingya new arrivals in Indonesia. In southern Thailand we have distributed relief supplies and are counseling dozens of new arrivals, while in Malaysia we are scaling up to meet the needs of arrivals once consistent access is provided.”

“Additional resources are needed to set up mobile multi-functional teams to quickly identify and help people with specific protection needs. Refugees who cannot return home will need assurance that they can stay in host countries temporarily with access to legal work until conditions are conducive for voluntary return or until other solutions are found. Where possible, UNHCR will support livelihood programs within national structures to serve the needs of both refugees and host communities.”

“The appeal envisages training for the region’s search-and-rescue officials on international legal principles and protection, and exploration of predictable disembarkation options. UNHCR will also expand its monitoring and reporting on maritime movements to include information campaigns providing factual information to potential travelers about the risks and mistreatment at the hands of smugglers and traffickers. To reduce incentives for people to undertake these dangerous sea journeys, UNHCR will seek legal alternatives such as programs to transition from refugee to migrant status in host countries in need of temporary migrants. A key part of the appeal focuses on mobilizing support for humanitarian, human rights and development needs in source countries to address the root causes of movement. UNHCR is ready to work with the governments to address issues of citizenship and documentation of people in Bangladesh and in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.”

Thailand: New Arrests of Pakistan Christians – Please HELP

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) has received reports of new arrests in Thailand of Pakistan Christians who are seeking asylum, in the Samrong district of Bangkok.

We are being given reports today, June 6, 2015, that Thai police arrested eight Pakistani Christians asylum seekers including three men, three women, one elderly woman and a ten month old baby in the Samrong area of Bangkok today.

R.E.A.L. calls for the Thailand government to show mercy for these individuals being detained as they continue to seek asylum through the UNHCR office and await UNHCR Bangkok review of their case for Refugee Status Determination (RSD).

As we see from today’s report, Pakistan Christian refugees who have fled to Thailand are being arrested by the security forces before the UNHCR interviews them and makes a decision on their case. They are not getting the opportunity to be considered for such asylum and refugee status, as these women, children, and men get rounded up and put into Immigration Detention Center (IDCs).

Thailand: Pakistan Christians Praying for the Release of Christians Arrested by Thai Police in Immigration Detention Centres (IDC) (Source: Pukkar News)

In May 2006, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) identified Pakistan to be designated as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) by the Department of State, due to its abuses against freedoms. Pakistan remains a “Tier 1” Country of Particular Concern to the this U.S. Government organization.

R.E.A.L. has been repeatedly petitioning the Thailand government on this matter, and we have provide detailed documentation of the Pakistan Christian oppression for Thailand government representatives for their consideration of mercy towards these asylum seekers.

The U.S. Embassy in Thailand has provided a statement to R.E.A.L., that once the UNHCR makes an RSD decision on these refugees, it will also consider their cases for U.S. asylum as well. The Pakistan Christian refugees clearly meet the refugee standards as described in UNHCR Resettlement Handbook, Chapter 5, Section 5.7.1.

But we need the UNHCR to accelerate its process of getting review of Pakistan Christians’ refugee status, and we call for the Thailand government to use patience in allowing the refugees’ reviews by UNHCR to get completed. We call for the Thailand government use mercy and restraint for these Pakistan Christian refugees in Thailand to have the right to get UNHCR refugee status interviews and consideration, without being put in Thailand prisons. These desperate individuals need time for the UNHCR to process their cases and give them an opportunity for asylum in nations where they will not be oppressed due to their religion.

While Thailand may not be a signatory to the specific 1951 Refugee Convention, Thailand is a signatory to many other international agreements and laws which protect the rights and dignity of Pakistan Christians who only seek our shared universal human rights of freedom of religion and security, which have been denied to them by Pakistan.

Thailand is a signatory to the:
— Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (December 10, 1948)
— International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (October 29, 1996)
— Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (October 2, 2007)
— Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (January 9, 2012)
— Convention on the Rights of the Child (March 27, 1992)

In Pakistan, these refugees and their children have been these rights. They are not only Pakistan Christians, they are our fellow human beings who have all of the rights which Thailand and the nations of the world agree to ensure for them in our community of humanity. They have the right to the international legal protection under these agreements which Thailand has signed as one of the nations of the world.

It is morally and ethically wrong for refugees fleeing from Pakistan fleeing because of conditions where they are being such rights, to also be denied freedoms in another nation which is a signatory to these international laws and covenants. Pukkar News also quotes Farrukh Harrison Saif: “The international community has to put pressure on Thai government, not to arrest the asylum seekers, because asylum is not a crime. It is a right of any individual or a family or group.”

We urge the public to share this concerns with the Kingdom of Thailand government, the UNHCR, and the OHCHR.

Please share your voice with these agencies and institutions. Please also find the Thailand embassy in your nation, and reach out to it on this issue.

Kingdom of Thailand
The Secretariat of the Prime Minister
Government House, 1 Phitsanulok Road, Dusit, Bangkok 10300
General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister
Secretariat_PM@opm.go.th
FAX: 66 02 282 5131

Kingdom of Thailand
Royal Thai Embassy
1024 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 40
Washington, DC 20007
United States
Contact: H.E. Mr. Pisan Manawapat – Ambassador
Telephone: (202) 944-3600
Thailand Embassy/Consulate Email: information@thaiembdc.org, consular@thaiembdc.org

Kingdom of Thailand
Royal Thai Embassy
Plots No.1 – 20 Diplomatic Enclave-1
Sector G-5/4 Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel. (92 51) 843 1270-80 : 1113
Tel. (92-51) 8431270
Fax. (92-51) 8431288,8431291
Ambassador Mr. Leochai Jantarasobat
Telephone: (92 51) 843-1297
royalthaiembassyislamabad@gmail.com
Third Secretary Mr. Thom Petchpugdepeong
(92 51) 843 1270-80 : 1113
thomkkp@gmail.com
http://www.thaiembassy.org/islamabad/en/org-chart

UNHCR Regional Representative in Thailand
3rd Floor, United Nations Building, Rajdamnern Nok Avenue, 10200 Bangkok, Thailand
Telephone: 66 2 288 1858
FAX: 66 2 280 0555
Email: thaba@unhcr.org

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Case Postale 2500
CH-1211 Genève 2 Dépôt
Switzerland (Suisse)
Telephone: +41 22 739 8111
FAX: +41 22 739 7377

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The Director of UNHCR Office
P.O. Box 20
Grand Central, New York, NY 10017
United States
Telephone: 1-212-963-0032
Facsimile: 1-212-963-0074
Email: usane@unhcr.org

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Regional Office for South East Asia
6th Floor, United Nations Buidling, Rachadamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10200, Thailand
Tel: +66 2 288 1235
Fax: +66 2 288 1039
Email: ohchr.bangkok@un.org
Ms. Matilda Bogner
Regional Representative
+66 81 755 0826
bogner@un.org

Our message to Thailand, UNHCR, OHCHR, and the people of the world is PLEASE – join us and be Responsible for Equality And Liberty – for all.

Freedom and Human Rights: “We Have To Do Something”

It was June 4, 1989. I was 30 years old. After what I was hearing last night in the world news, I turned on the television in the morning at my apartment in the Washington DC suburbs to see if there had been any changes. Americans were proud of the Tiananmen Square Protests for democracy in China, which had seemed so hopeful for our fellow lovers of freedom in China.

We had felt so helpless and furious at the U.S. government for doing nothing to help the protesters for democracy. The day before on June 3, my co-worker turned to me and said, “there’s nothing we can do.” I looked out the window. I pushed my keyboard aside and slammed my fist on the desk. “That’s not true,” I replied. “I am not going to just sit here if the protesters are attacked. We have to do something.”

On June 4, the worst was known to the world. What would become known as the “Tiananmen Square Massacre” was revealed to the stunned silence of people around the world. It was clear that something major had been happening the night before on June 3; I took off work to be home that day and follow the situation. I could not pretend to be focused on work, with this world-changing situation occurring before our eyes.

By June 4, the worst of the news started to filter out to the American people in Washington DC and the suburb where I lived.

The Communist Chinese Party (CCP) Army had turned on their people and a massacre was occurring. I was typing at a keyboard, writing and listening to the reports, and the shocking news of the massacre, slowed the incessant tapping of my fingers typing to a total silence. In homes and offices around Washington DC, people stopped talking as we heard more about the incoming reports.

Those who sought to fight for freedom in China with their own statue of the “Goddess of Liberty” (in the fashion of our Statue of Liberty) were being mercilessly killed by the CCP Army in the streets of Tiananmen Square.

PRC Embassy, 1989, 2300 Connecticut Avenue, Washington, DC. Americans Came Together to Protest the Tiananmen Square Massacre on June 4, 1989. — 1989 – PRC Embassy, 2300 Connecticut Avenue, Washington, DC. Americans Came Together to Protest the Tiananmen Square Massacre on June 4, 1989.

Then I looked up the address of the PRC Embassy at 2300 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. in the telephone book, and I got up out of my chair, and headed for Washington DC and the PRC Embassy. I got a bus and subway to Metro Center, and I took the subway to Dupont Circle.

The Washington DC traffic was always heavy, and it was that afternoon. The only real choice was to walk. It was about a mile and a half. I took off my jacket, and started walking from Dupont Circle to the PRC Embassy. People were starting to talk about the massacre around Dupont Circle, and I asked some if they were headed to the PRC Embassy, and for those who didn’t know what was going on, I filled them in, and then kept walking. People starting together in groups at Dupont Circle, and some individuals like myself started marching to the Embassy up past the Washington Hilton Hotel (where there was an attempt to assassinate President Reagan in 1981).

As I got further up the street on Connecticut Avenue past the Hilton, I really started to notice the public crowd building. You could see spontaneous crowds headed up the sidewalks marching towards the PRC Embassy. You saw a number of Chinese Americans, but people of every race, background, age, some in groups and some alone. Some carried radios as we tried to stay abreast of what was happening. One man had a large “boom box” style radio, who we gathered around when we reached the Embassy.

We had no Internet, no email, no instant messaging, no Facebook, no Twitter, no portable cell phones.

But Americans across your nation’s capital had one thing: a CONSCIENCE.

We were not simply going to “do nothing.”

Americans and immigrants of every identity group – all with one shared mission on June 4 – we were going to the Chinese Embassy. When I arrived at the Embassy, there were already about 50 protesters in place. Some where chanting protests. Others had signs (I didn’t think to do that). Others were listening to a radio on the street corner and updating us on what was happening. I joined my fellow human beings protesting at the Embassy. The people I met were not “activists,” but people who had been following the news and spontaneously felt something must be done. I would imagine the crowd of protesters swelled to over 200. It could have been a larger number. No one was thinking we should “count;” we were outraged over the massacre. I never saw a “news report” on the U.S. protests at the Embassy.

We raised our voices to the enemies of freedom in the CCP government represented there at the embassy. One of the protesters in a bright colored shirt and mustache helped to organize the protesters’ chants:

“FREE CHINA NOW.”

“STOP THE KILLING”

“FREE TIANANMEN SQUARE”

We protested into the night. We continued to have new reports about the killings and the crackdown on the freedom protesters in Tiananmen Square in what would later become known as the “Tiananmen Square Massacre.” Everywhere, except in Communist regime China, where even today, all these years later, they still refuse to acknowledge that it even happened.

As the night grew later, we could see those remaining in the embassy had left, and we had only the ever-watching eye of security left. People began to gather up there things to go home. But we knew that for those killed by the CCP tanks and soldiers, they would be going home, and that their families would be mourning the loss of their loved ones. The bright flames of the sacrifices would never never NEVER be forgotten by those who love freedom and human rights.

It would a long walk home…. for all of humanity. This massacre never should have happened, and our world needed to find a way to end such terrible violence.

I turned up to the windows of the embassy on Wisconsin Avenue.

The ever watchful eye goes both ways, both to tyrants and to those who respect our shared universal human rights.

I shouted to the Embassy watchers, “We’ll be back!”

And we will continue to go back to challenge the enemies of freedom – everywhere and anywhere in the world.

Our CONSCIENCE makes us Responsible for Equality and Liberty.

———————

Postscript:

People often tell me the ever-popular half-quote of Reinhold’s Serenity Prayer “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,” but conveniently forget the rest of the quote about having “the courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” The Courage to Change is also what we seek as well.

Enemies of freedom and our shared universal human rights love the silence of those who do nothing. That is all they need.

But the courage we need, and the serenity we need, is our willingness to continue to try. I have seen it. I have seen the real courage of people around the world who will not let fear, oppression, and difficulty silence their conscience and trample their human rights.

They don’t need to be told what to do.
They are simply RESPONSIBLE.

Sudan: War Criminal Omar Al-Bashir Sworn in for Another “Term” as Dictator

On June 2, 2015, Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir was sworn in for another five-year term as “President,” after another “election” with opposition boycott and a “low turnout.” He took the oath of national assembly in Khartoum’s twin city of Omdurman. Omar Al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on war crimes charges, seized power in a military coup in 1989. In 1997, the United States government issued a trade ban on Sudan for hosting the former Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the 1990s and for human rights abuses.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted Bashir for war crimes and for crimes against humanity in 2009, and the ICC indicted Bashir for genocide in 2010. An ICC warrant for his arrest has been outstanding for over six years.

Under Omar Al-Bashir’s reign of terror, 300,000 have been killed in Darfur, countless women have been raped and abused in Darfur, and there are an estimated 3 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) have been displaced from their homes and villages in Darfur.

Sudan: Indicted War-Criminal Omar Al-Bashir Sworn in for Another 5-Year Term as President (Source: Ashraf Shazly - AFP ) — Sudan: Indicted War-Criminal Omar Al-Bashir Sworn in for Another 5-Year Term as President (Source: Ashraf Shazly – AFP )

Such Sudan elections are regularly plagued with irregularities. In 2015, the Sudan Tribune reported that “Sudan Tribune reporters spotted several polling stations were empty from voters in different electoral constituencies in the Sudanese capital” on April 16, 2015. The Tribune also reported that “Several heads of polling stations complained of weak voter turnout on the fourth day, also they pointed to the existence of errors related to the fall of voters names and the repetition of the names of electors in a number of electoral constituencies.” The Sudan National Electoral Commission noted errors in voting in 2010 as well.

In March 2010, ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo stated that elections for Omar Al-Bashir, would be equivalent to “a Hitler election.”

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) joins with the free people of their world in their stand against this cruel dictator and indicted war criminal. We call for the leaders of the American government to reject Omar Al-Bashir’s actions and call for the end to his tyranny in Sudan.

Phoenix: Armed Extremists Protest in Front of Mosque

In a display of anti-Islam fever, a group of nearly 200 had a protest in front of the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix mosque in Phoenix, Arizona. The group was led by former U.S. Marine soldier Jon Ritzheimer. While the protest did not result in injuries or deaths, the image of numbers of individuals armed with weapons in front of a house of worship is a disgrace to America’s commitment to our Constitutional rights and our Universal Human Rights.

The media debate about the protest largely was centered on Mr. Ritzheimer and his supporter’s views on Islam. But that is not the real issue in this debate. The unanswered question is his view and his supporters’ views on the Constitution of the United States and our shared universal human rights. Our Constitution’s Bill of Rights protects our freedom of religion (under the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment); the same Constitution which Mr. Ritzheimer made a solemn vow to support and defend. America also is committed to freedom of religion under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 18, signed by the United States on December 10, 1948, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Part III, Article 18, signed by the United States on October 5, 1977, and ratified on June 8, 1992.

In the United States of America, and in international law, freedom of religion is not simply a “good idea.”

Freedom of religion is THE LAW.

Freedom of speech and protest is also THE LAW.

But freedom of speech and protest, while holding an automatic weapon, is no longer “public protest.” It is nothing less than cowardly, despicable threats, which are a disgrace to all Americans, our Constitution, and our universal human rights.

Phoenix, Arizona Protest in front of Islamic Community Center on May 29, 2015 (Source: Twitter) — Phoenix, Arizona Protests in front of Islamic Community Center on May 29, 2015 – with Cowards Holding Automatic Weapons (Source: Twitter)

According to the reports, this protest was the result of a terrorist attack on a Texas school earlier in May, during a “Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest,” designed to insult Muslims. As CNN reported, “The Islamic Community Center of Phoenix is the mosque that Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi attended for a time. They’re the men who drove from Arizona to a Dallas suburb to shoot up a Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest there. Both were killed by police early this month.” But the rest of the story is that Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi shot at a security guard in an attempted terrorist attack there. That is the violence we have seen from other pro-violent jihad extremists. Those criminals paid the price for their criminal violence with their lives. This does not discount that there may be other extremists supporting Simpson and Soofi; there must continue to be a human rights call to challenge extremists, and even terrorists in every area of this nation. Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) reported on and condemned the terrorist acts by Simpson and Soofi in Garland, Texas, and we defended the right to unpopular, contemptible speech by those they attacked. But there is a difference between respecting the freedom of such unpopular speech, and those extremists who take automatic weapons to protest in hate in front of a house of worship.

The idea that over 100 individuals believe that it is acceptable in the United States of America to hold an “armed” protest outside of a house of worship is an insult to the Constitution, and a slur against the laws of this nation and our shared human rights.

If this were any other nation, the images of armed individuals protesting outside of any house of worship would bring the voices of outrage and disgust from human rights activists, the United Nations, and those committed to religious freedom. So it must be, of course, with the United States as well. The number of “armed individuals” appear to be a small minority of the total protesters. Does this matter? If 100 protested outside of a Pakistan Christian church, a European Jewish synagogue, or any other house of worship anywhere in the world, but only a “small minority” of the protesters held machine guns, would this still not be a source for human rights outrage? Of course, it would, and it must, in the United States of America as well.

Furthermore, the vicious language of some of the protesters show their contempt towards the United States’ Constitution and our commitment to universal human rights of freedom of religion. The protest organizer’s call for protesters to bring guns to the event – “[p]eople are also encouraged to utilize there second amendment right at this event” – is an embarrassment to all patriotic Americans who respect our Constitution and our shared freedoms. We were lucky that no one got injured or killed – THIS time. But the failure to be consistent in our support for Constitution and our human rights remains an issue where we must continue to make change.

An Arizona Muslim activist also reported that the Arizona protest supporters included extremists advising participants to bring ammunition “coated in pig blood and fat.” R.E.A.L. has confirmed this with our own investigation as well. This path to hate, depravity, and violence can be reversed. It begins with a consistent support by all Americans for the truths that we hold self-evident, our commitment to our shared human rights, shared human dignity, and in America, our support for the Constitution.

It begins by being Responsible for Equality And Liberty – everywhere, for all of our fellow Americans, and for all of our brothers and sisters in humanity.