shadowproof--2020-10-01--Thousands Of Mathematicians Join Boycott Against Police Collaboration

Over 2,000 mathematicians have signed a letter agreeing to boycott all collaboration with police , and insisting their colleagues do the same .
They are organizing a wide base of mathematicians in the hopes of cutting off police technologies at their source .
The letter ’ s authors cite “ deep concerns over the use of machine learning , AI , and facial recognition technologies to justify and perpetuate oppression.
” Predictive policing is one key area where some mathematicians and scientists have enabled the racist algorithms now animating broken-windows policing , which tell cops to treat specific areas as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Activists have long criticized the bias inherent in these practices .
Algorithms trained on data produced by racist policing will reproduce that prejudice to “ predict ” where crime will be committed and who is potentially criminal .
“ The data does not speak for itself , it ’ s not neutral , ” explains Brendan McQuade , author of Pacifying the Homeland : Intelligence Fusion and Mass Supervision .
Police data is “ dirty data , ” because it does not represent crime , but policing and arrests .
“ So what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ That police should deploy their resources in the same place police have traditionally deployed their resources.
” Predictive policing of this kind came into use only in 2013 , but today its implementation is both vast and—because companies claim their algorithms and customers ( local governments ) are valuable trade secrets—obscure .
Most U.S. states and major cities are thought to use some type of predictive policing model , with known users including Chicago , Atlanta , Tacoma , New York , and LA , though not without a considerable amount of pushback @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Mathematics at Haverford College , was one of many mathematicians who saw the recent uprising as a push to take action against these practices .
“ If there is already disproportionately large amounts of time and energy being spent criminalizing Black and brown people , ” Aougab explains , “ the predictions the algorithm puts forth are just going to reflect that .
It ’ s a way to perpetuate that over-criminalization.
” Black people not only face higher murder rates at the hands of police but disproportionately high arrest rates as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Racial data is not allowed to be used as a factor within predictive policing models , but in the US , location and socioeconomic factors are employed as an easy stand-in for racial data .
The popular use of racist predictive policing technologies is unsurprising for Aougab , who traces the history of the police , which is rooted in slave patrols and private security forces hired by the rich to break up labor strikes .
Their primary motivation is not to serve and protect , Aougab said , but “ preserving a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the will of elites to protect property .
The institution has never drifted away from that basic function over its entire existence in this country.
” McQuade argues that “ surveillance isn ’ t just about policing , it ’ s about more subtle forms of social control.
” Just as a reduction in prison population has only led to an increase of home monitors , so too is there a risk that reduction in police on patrol would only lead to greater use of predictive policing technologies .
The call to action @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mathematicians was the police killings of George Floyd , Tony McDade , and Breonna Taylor .
“ At some point we all reach a breaking point , where what is right in front of our eyes becomes more obvious , ” says Jayadev Athreya , a participant in the boycott and Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Washington .
“ Fundamentally , it ’ s a matter of justice.
” The mathematicians penned an open letter , collecting thousands of signatures for a widespread boycott .
Every mathematician within the group @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and all collaboration with police .
Called out in particular was a mathematics foundation that allowed the founder of PredPol , a major predictive policing company , to host a sponsored workshop encouraging mathematicians to work with police .
PredPol is not a neutral tool to deliver data , but a policing company with an agenda .
Internally , it compares its software to the highly-criticized broken windows policing strategy , where a department heavily polices nuisance violations believing that doing so will curb more serious crime .
There is little evidence that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ become a vector for mass incarceration , sending millions of mostly young Black men to prisons for non-violent crimes or , in cases like Eric Garner ’ s , death by police while selling loose cigarettes .
PredPol encourages departments to expand their usage of the technology to include predicting “ nuisance ” crimes .
This provides them with more business , and it ’ s easier for algorithms to predict , because non-violent crimes happen with more regularity .
“ There ’ s a big question here : is predictive policing really @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it just a self-fulfilling prophecy ?
” McQuade explains that “ crime statistics ” are more accurately referred to as “ arrest statistics.
” They measure police behavior , which is not directly correlated with crime and violence .
These arrests justify and perpetuate more arrests .
Athreya explains the boycotters will confront this by collaborating with criminal justice organizations .
“ We want to work through issues of how various algorithms are used in the criminal justice system , for things from facial recognition to DNA matching algorithms , where community groups @ @ @ @ @ @ @ One step along that route is the creation of ethics materials for courses and conferences , critical of policing and the role of these technologies as part of it .
Equally important , however , is developing a culture around the mathematics community , where those cooperating with police are outcast .
“ We want folks to be politicized , ” Aougab explains .
“ In mathematics that is rare , because there is this widely held and false belief that mathematicians have some sort of super power to be objective , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other human being.
” The open letter , and its upcoming publication in the notices of the American Mathematical Society , is the first step in that direction .
Mathematicians , when confronted with large-scale police brutality and organizing by their peers , must choose a side—that of the people or the police .
Those who chose to side with the police have pushed back against Aougab ’ s criticisms .
“ They would say ‘ You all are not personally involved in writing these algorithms , so you don ’ t know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such a hard stance.
’ ” “ The point I want to make is we did not arrive at this stance by finding an error in a formula , ” Aougab said .
“ This is a political stance that anybody can take.
” An algorithm can only be as good as its data , and in this case , the data is derived from the actions of corrupt and biased police departments .
One study conducted by the AI Institute last year examined police departments and their predictive policing systems .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these systems are built on data produced during documented periods of flawed , racially biased , and sometimes unlawful practices and policies.
” A 2019 audit on predictive policing in Los Angeles found a serious lack of oversight or procedures around the tools , rendering them relatively useless .
While some trials have found a slight , but statistically insignificant improvement in prevention of crime , accurate studies are difficult to find .
Complicating matters is the fact that researchers have noticed police tend to pursue their own ‘ known hotspots ’ rather @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
For Aougab , that is to be expected because police never intend to change their practices .
“ It ’ s nefarious , ” he explains , “ because now there ’ s a scientific veneer for what the police were going to do anyway .
It doesn ’ t actually have an impact on how the police police , and where they police .
But it gives them what appears to be a legitimate justification for what they were already going to do.
” One demand of the mathematics collective is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ audit before its use—a process in which mathematicians and community groups must participate .
But the profit motivations behind tools like PredPol have resulted in fiercely guarded practices .
Companies claim both their algorithms and clients are trade secrets , blocking analysis of exactly how these black-box technologies work and are used .
Police departments are similarly tight-lipped .
In 2018 , the New York Police Department ( NYPD ) faced a lawsuit after denying information requests for so much as the algorithmic inputs and outputs .
The NYPD argued that releasing predictive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ game the system , as well as harm relationships with their vendors .
Tech companies are major players in the policing business , lobbying state legislatures to approve bills that allow for use of their technology .
In the case of PredPol , this means effectively throwing millions of dollars to bolster broken windows policing tactics .
Is Predictive Policing Free From Bias Possible ?
Newer models have tried to break free from the bias of arrest data by building their algorithms on citizen reports , suggesting that 911 calls similarly correlate to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ avoids the bias of individual police officers , the bias of callers remain .
Only around 40 percent of the victims of violent crime even report their assault to the police in the first place , and many marginalized people avoid doing so out of fear for their safety .
Viral videos depicting white women calling the police on Black neighbors simply for existing in public also illustrate the racist motivations behind police calls .
Critics of predictive policing models also point out that the type of “ crime ” police address rarely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as wage theft and fraud .
These can indirectly but violently cost people their lives , health , and homes .
The state and police make an active choice to pursue certain crimes over others , and as a result , the poor are surveilled and protection of property is prioritized over human lives .
Meanwhile , the harm created by this situation is not considered criminal .
“ We don ’ t usually think of any deprivation of rights or basic necessities as a crime , ” McQuade notes .
Deprivations including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infrastructure , failing schools , public health issues , pollution , and voter suppression are all the result of decisions made by those in power .
“ There ’ s a strong case to be made that those are crimes , and that ’ s erased from consideration.
” Police abolitionists suggest other paths forward .
Rather than tackling “ crime , ” society should be focusing on addressing “ harm.
” Reducing public urination and graffiti might be successful crime prevention to PredPol ’ s algorithms , but they have little to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ behind why violence occurs , especially in communities constantly subjected to poverty and police violence .
Policing and prisons are not a just or effective way to prevent and heal damage , Aougab explains .
“ None of these algorithms , even if they worked perfectly—which they don ’ t—would be addressing harm.
” The Threat Of AI In An Uprising As calls for defunding police echo across the U.S. , mathematicians and activists keep a watchful eye out for increases in algorithm-based policing and surveillance .
Using AI is cheaper than paying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just as biased and with potentially just as deadly outcomes .
Among the Black Lives Matter uprisings , police are doubling down on AI technologies as a deadly weapon .
Facial recognition technologies are being used across the country to identify , track down and arrest protesters with alleged criminal activity , to dissuade others from taking to the streets .
As police surveillance and AI use escalate , Aougab insists ” The mathematics community is going to have to figure out how to play a bigger role in monitoring and ultimately dismantling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the institution of policing .
”

Over 2,000 mathematicians have signed a letter agreeing to boycott all collaboration with police, and insisting their colleagues do the same.
They are organizing a wide base of mathematicians in the hopes of cutting off police technologies at their source. The letter’s authors cite “deep concerns over the use of machine learning, AI, and facial recognition technologies to justify and perpetuate oppression.”
Predictive policing is one key area where some mathematicians and scientists have enabled the racist algorithms now animating broken-windows policing, which tell cops to treat specific areas as “hotspots” for potential crime. Activists have long criticized the bias inherent in these practices. Algorithms trained on data produced by racist policing will reproduce that prejudice to “predict” where crime will be committed and who is potentially criminal.
“The data does not speak for itself, it’s not neutral,” explains Brendan McQuade, author of Pacifying the Homeland: Intelligence Fusion and Mass Supervision. Police data is “dirty data,” because it does not represent crime, but policing and arrests.
“So what are its predictions going to find? That police should deploy their resources in the same place police have traditionally deployed their resources.”
Algorithms Perpetuate Over-Criminalization
Predictive policing of this kind came into use only in 2013, but today its implementation is both vast and—because companies claim their algorithms and customers (local governments) are valuable trade secrets—obscure. Most U.S. states and major cities are thought to use some type of predictive policing model, with known users including Chicago, Atlanta, Tacoma, New York, and LA, though not without a considerable amount of pushback.
Tarik Aougab, an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Haverford College, was one of many mathematicians who saw the recent uprising as a push to take action against these practices. “If there is already disproportionately large amounts of time and energy being spent criminalizing Black and brown people,” Aougab explains, “the predictions the algorithm puts forth are just going to reflect that. It’s a way to perpetuate that over-criminalization.”
Black people not only face higher murder rates at the hands of police but disproportionately high arrest rates as well—twice that of their white counterparts. Racial data is not allowed to be used as a factor within predictive policing models, but in the US, location and socioeconomic factors are employed as an easy stand-in for racial data.
The popular use of racist predictive policing technologies is unsurprising for Aougab, who traces the history of the police, which is rooted in slave patrols and private security forces hired by the rich to break up labor strikes. Their primary motivation is not to serve and protect, Aougab said, but “preserving a social order that is put forth by the will of elites to protect property. The institution has never drifted away from that basic function over its entire existence in this country.”
McQuade argues that “surveillance isn’t just about policing, it’s about more subtle forms of social control.” Just as a reduction in prison population has only led to an increase of home monitors, so too is there a risk that reduction in police on patrol would only lead to greater use of predictive policing technologies.
Mathematicians Boycott Police
The call to action for many among this large collaboration of mathematicians was the police killings of George Floyd, Tony McDade, and Breonna Taylor.
“At some point we all reach a breaking point, where what is right in front of our eyes becomes more obvious,” says Jayadev Athreya, a participant in the boycott and Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Washington. “Fundamentally, it’s a matter of justice.”
The mathematicians penned an open letter, collecting thousands of signatures for a widespread boycott. Every mathematician within the group’s network pledges to refuse any and all collaboration with police. Called out in particular was a mathematics foundation that allowed the founder of PredPol, a major predictive policing company, to host a sponsored workshop encouraging mathematicians to work with police.
PredPol is not a neutral tool to deliver data, but a policing company with an agenda. Internally, it compares its software to the highly-criticized broken windows policing strategy, where a department heavily polices nuisance violations believing that doing so will curb more serious crime. There is little evidence that this is so.
It has instead become a vector for mass incarceration, sending millions of mostly young Black men to prisons for non-violent crimes or, in cases like Eric Garner’s, death by police while selling loose cigarettes.
PredPol encourages departments to expand their usage of the technology to include predicting “nuisance” crimes. This provides them with more business, and it’s easier for algorithms to predict, because non-violent crimes happen with more regularity.
“There’s a big question here: is predictive policing really getting ahead of events, or is it just a self-fulfilling prophecy?” McQuade explains that “crime statistics” are more accurately referred to as “arrest statistics.” They measure police behavior, which is not directly correlated with crime and violence. These arrests justify and perpetuate more arrests.
Athreya explains the boycotters will confront this by collaborating with criminal justice organizations.
“We want to work through issues of how various algorithms are used in the criminal justice system, for things from facial recognition to DNA matching algorithms, where community groups and mathematicians can have a say.”
One step along that route is the creation of ethics materials for courses and conferences, critical of policing and the role of these technologies as part of it. Equally important, however, is developing a culture around the mathematics community, where those cooperating with police are outcast.
“We want folks to be politicized,” Aougab explains. “In mathematics that is rare, because there is this widely held and false belief that mathematicians have some sort of super power to be objective, and not influenced by political considerations like any other human being.”
The open letter, and its upcoming publication in the notices of the American Mathematical Society, is the first step in that direction. Mathematicians, when confronted with large-scale police brutality and organizing by their peers, must choose a side—that of the people or the police.
Those who chose to side with the police have pushed back against Aougab’s criticisms. “They would say ‘You all are not personally involved in writing these algorithms, so you don’t know enough about the math to be taking such a hard stance.’”
“The point I want to make is we did not arrive at this stance by finding an error in a formula,” Aougab said. “This is a political stance that anybody can take.”
Giving Policing A ‘Scientific Veneer’
An algorithm can only be as good as its data, and in this case, the data is derived from the actions of corrupt and biased police departments.
One study conducted by the AI Institute last year examined police departments and their predictive policing systems. The result: “in numerous jurisdictions, these systems are built on data produced during documented periods of flawed, racially biased, and sometimes unlawful practices and policies.”
A 2019 audit on predictive policing in Los Angeles found a serious lack of oversight or procedures around the tools, rendering them relatively useless. While some trials have found a slight, but statistically insignificant improvement in prevention of crime, accurate studies are difficult to find. Complicating matters is the fact that researchers have noticed police tend to pursue their own ‘known hotspots’ rather than follow the dictates of the technology.
For Aougab, that is to be expected because police never intend to change their practices. “It’s nefarious,” he explains, “because now there’s a scientific veneer for what the police were going to do anyway. It doesn’t actually have an impact on how the police police, and where they police. But it gives them what appears to be a legitimate justification for what they were already going to do.”
One demand of the mathematics collective is that any algorithm must face a public audit before its use—a process in which mathematicians and community groups must participate.
But the profit motivations behind tools like PredPol have resulted in fiercely guarded practices. Companies claim both their algorithms and clients are trade secrets, blocking analysis of exactly how these black-box technologies work and are used.
Police departments are similarly tight-lipped. In 2018, the New York Police Department (NYPD) faced a lawsuit after denying information requests for so much as the algorithmic inputs and outputs. The NYPD argued that releasing predictive policing data would allow criminals to somehow game the system, as well as harm relationships with their vendors.
Tech companies are major players in the policing business, lobbying state legislatures to approve bills that allow for use of their technology. In the case of PredPol, this means effectively throwing millions of dollars to bolster broken windows policing tactics.
Is Predictive Policing Free From Bias Possible?
Newer models have tried to break free from the bias of arrest data by building their algorithms on citizen reports, suggesting that 911 calls similarly correlate to where crime is happening.
While this avoids the bias of individual police officers, the bias of callers remain. Only around 40 percent of the victims of violent crime even report their assault to the police in the first place, and many marginalized people avoid doing so out of fear for their safety.
Viral videos depicting white women calling the police on Black neighbors simply for existing in public also illustrate the racist motivations behind police calls.
Critics of predictive policing models also point out that the type of “crime” police address rarely includes far more common white-collar crimes such as wage theft and fraud. These can indirectly but violently cost people their lives, health, and homes. The state and police make an active choice to pursue certain crimes over others, and as a result, the poor are surveilled and protection of property is prioritized over human lives.
Meanwhile, the harm created by this situation is not considered criminal.
“We don’t usually think of any deprivation of rights or basic necessities as a crime,” McQuade notes. Deprivations including disinvestment from communities, poverty, crumbling infrastructure, failing schools, public health issues, pollution, and voter suppression are all the result of decisions made by those in power. “There’s a strong case to be made that those are crimes, and that’s erased from consideration.”
Police abolitionists suggest other paths forward. Rather than tackling “crime,” society should be focusing on addressing “harm.” Reducing public urination and graffiti might be successful crime prevention to PredPol’s algorithms, but they have little to do with the material and political reasons behind why violence occurs, especially in communities constantly subjected to poverty and police violence.
Policing and prisons are not a just or effective way to prevent and heal damage, Aougab explains. “None of these algorithms, even if they worked perfectly—which they don’t—would be addressing harm.”
The Threat Of AI In An Uprising
As calls for defunding police echo across the U.S., mathematicians and activists keep a watchful eye out for increases in algorithm-based policing and surveillance. Using AI is cheaper than paying for salaries of patrolling police, but just as biased and with potentially just as deadly outcomes.
Among the Black Lives Matter uprisings, police are doubling down on AI technologies as a deadly weapon. Facial recognition technologies are being used across the country to identify, track down and arrest protesters with alleged criminal activity, to dissuade others from taking to the streets.
As police surveillance and AI use escalate, Aougab insists ”The mathematics community is going to have to figure out how to play a bigger role in monitoring and ultimately dismantling the collaborations that exist between us, and the institution of policing.”


shadowproof--2020-10-03--FBI Seized Legally Privileged Materials From Julian Assange After Arrest In Ecuador Embassy

FBI Seized Legally Privileged Materials From Julian Assange After Arrest In Ecuador Embassy The FBI in the United Kingdom enlisted the Ecuador government ’ s help in seizing legally privileged materials from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange after he was arrested and expelled from their embassy in London on April 11 , 2019 .
According to Gareth Peirce , one of Assange ’ s attorneys , that day she “ made immediate contact with the embassy in regard to legally privileged material , an issue of huge concern.
” Assange wanted the material—in addition to “ confidential medical data ” — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” “ Repeated requests by telephone , email and recorded delivery mail were entirely ignored by the embassy , ” and in testimony submitted during the final day of evidence in Assange ’ s extradition trial , the embassy has never responded .
“ One record of [ Assange ’ s ] entire archive ” was effectively purloined , and without it , Peirce mentioned it has made putting together a defense in his extradition case more difficult because the initial allegations relate to communications , meetings , and events from 2010 and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Assange ’ s extradition trial concluded on October 1 , and Judge Vanessa Baraitser announced she would rule on the request from the United States government on January 4 , 2021 .
Before the last day wrapped , multiple statements from Peirce related to abuses of process in the case were entered into the record .
They included details related to the espionage operation the Spanish security company UC Global carried out against Assange with the support of U.S. intelligence .
Peirce ’ s law firm Birnberg , Pierce & Partners asked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because Assange is an Australian citizen .
The Metropolitan Police in the United Kingdom claimed they played no role in the seizure or retention of any legally privileged materials .
On May 20 , 2019 , the Australian Consulate received a request for Assange ’ s property to be “ transferred to Ecuador.
” The firm was invited to collect any “ remaining possessions ” that were not seized .
When Assange ’ s property was collected shortly after , Peirce stated , “ All legally privileged material was missing save for two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of pages of loose correspondence.
” Gordon Kromberg , assistant United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia , where Assange was indicted , stated that a “ taint team ” would excise material so it was not used in any trial in the United States .
“ However , ” Peirce stated , “ no suggestions have been made for the return of that material by the DOJ in these proceedings , even though attention has been drawn to the existence of recordings of meetings that could play an evidential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has any reassurance been given that the ongoing representation of Mr. Assange has not been , is not being , and will not be the subject of unlawful intrusion by U.S. agencies.
” ‘ Exceptionally High Level Of Anxiety And Fear ’ Has Prevailed Peirce was spied upon when she attended legal meetings that occurred on December 6 and 19 in 2017 and January 14 , 2018 .
“ I was wholly unaware of that surveillance , although I was aware that Mr. Assange maintained suspicions throughout that period , fearing intrusion , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not comment here upon my own reactions to the discovery , but comment only generally that there has prevailed as a consequence an exceptionally high level of anxiety and fear that legal interviews with Mr. Assange are continuing to be monitored.
” “ This fear , triggered by the clear evidence that had been taking place over a number of years has had a chilling effect upon preparation for these extradition proceedings.
” Assange was charged by the U.S. Justice Department with 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act and one count of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as alleged in the indictment , is written like an Espionage Act offense .
The charges criminalize the act of merely receiving classified information , as well as the publication of state secrets from the U.S. government .
It targets common practices in newsgathering , which is why the case is widely opposed by press freedom organizations throughout the world .
In July 2012 , weeks after entering the Ecuador embassy to request asylum , Spanish lawyer Baltasar Garzón was appointed by Assange to “ coordinate legal advice.
” His legal team @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the United Kingdom , Sweden , the USA , Australia and a number of other European countries , ” Peirce recalled “ Assange met on numerous occasions during the years that followed whilst he remained in the embassy until his arrest on April 11 , 2019 , with lawyers and other visitors including his doctors , his health requiring treatment throughout the period in which he was in the embassy.
” UC Global handled security for the embassy from 2015 to mid-2018 , and an email from September 29 , 2017 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employees to create and update profiles on at least three of Assange ’ s lawyers—their relationship with the “ guest ” ( Assange ) , telephone numbers , emails , number of visits , and any personal data .
“ All of them appear in the lists and entry records , you have to do your best to know their data , ” Morales wrote .
As Peirce described , Morales “ requested extreme caution ” with the transmitted information because Senain , which is Ecuadorian intelligence , was “ investigating ” the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ map out the internal structure of the embassy and collect photos of embassy employees .
He wanted profiles that included their “ functions or activities in the headquarters ” as well .
Witness # 1 , a former UC Global employee , told the court in submitted testimony that Morales “ showed at times a real obsession in relation to monitoring and recording the lawyers who met with the ‘ guest ’ ( Julian Assange ) because ‘ our American friends ’ were requesting it.
” “ UC Global established a security protocol @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leave personal ID documents as well as telephones and electronic devices with belongings at the entry desk , ” Peirce described .
“ Thus , operators could ensure that they could scan and photocopy the individual ’ s personal documentation , search their belongings , photograph the contents , and potentially intrude and obtain the potential for future intrusion into the electronic devices.
” “ Subsequently , detailed reports were made of those who visited Mr Assange , sent to the company ’ s headquarters in the form of reports .
A web @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remotely from May 2017.
” Morales insisted upon “ exhaustive detailed profiles ” of all visitors as well as embassy staff that could be accessed remotely from the United States , ” Peirce noted .
“ Details of telephones were photographed , as well as photographs of messages within telephones whilst their owners were attending meetings.
” “ On two occasions , ” Peirce highlighted , “ visiting doctors observed that after they had left the Embassy briefly and then returned notes had been taken into the office of the security workers .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ s visiting [ doctor ] were specifically requested and collected including the details from his telephone.
” “ Separately surveillance was conducted on senior Ecuadorian diplomats when they visited the embassy as well as the head of Ecuadorian intelligence.
” Ecuador Instructed To ‘ Hand Over Property To U.S.A. ’ Evidence that Garzón was followed , photographed , and had his office burglarized weeks after Morales discussed breaking into his office “ continues to affect the confidence of Mr. Assange ’ s lawyers as a whole as to the confidentiality of their work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Peirce .
On April 8 , 2019 , the U.S. Justice Department was prepared for Assange ’ s arrest and instructed Ecuador to seize property and hand over “ evidence ” to a “ representative of the UK FBI , ” who would “ hand over the property to the U.S.A. ” A document from April 9 , 2019 , was marked , “ Highly confidential from the Deputy Director ’ s Office of International Affairs , ” and contained instructions to give the U.S. government Assange ’ s property .
Prom Security @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2019 , and their guards “ went in and out of relevant rooms ” in the embassy , along with Pablo Roldan , who according to Peirce is related to an Ecuador ambassador and a close associate of Ecuador President Lenin Moreno .
Roldan apparently inventoried property in the rooms , but when Assange ’ s lawyers in Ecuador reviewed files related to Assange ’ s property , they found no inventory from Roldan in the system .
“ Although rooms were purported to be sealed , Embassy staff who were not permitted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the original seals had been replaced , the re-seals marked ‘ for judicial purpose , ' ” Peirce recalled .
“ Highly unusually two diplomatic pouches were taken in person to Quito from the embassy containing USB sticks , one by Jose Luis , an employee of the Ecuadorian intelligence and the second by Pablo Roldan shortly after Mr. Assange ’ s arrest.
” Carlos Poveda , one of Assange ’ s lawyers in Ecuador , requested that the Ecuador prosecutor make a copy of records on Assange ’ s property for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ The Ecuadorian prosecutor refused that request , ” Peirce noted .
One inventory in the “ remaining records in the Ecuadorean files ” referred to a “ plastic bag with legal documents ” from 2010 to 2018 .
On May 20 , 2019 , an Ecuadorean judicial authority signed a document that confirmed property was taken from Assange in London .
By June 12 , the seized material was provided to Ecuador ’ s criminal division .
Documents that Assange ’ s lawyer in Ecuador inspected contained photographs that showed the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ room of the embassy and a room that held computers were broken .
And as noted by Peirce , photographs , folders , portfolios , and notebooks , some clearly marked “ WGAD ” ( UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ) , “ Pompeo , ” and “ Legal Planning , ” were taken .
( Mike Pompeo , who is currently the Secretary of State , called WikiLeaks a “ hostile non-state intelligence agency ” when he was CIA director . )
Guy Goodwin-Gill , an international law professor , attended @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ international legal aspects of asylum ” on June 16 , 2016 .
The foreign minister of Ecuador , senior Ecuadorian officials , and members of Assange ’ s legal team attended .
“ Before entering the ground floor meeting room , I left my passport , phone , and tablet ‘ at the door , ’ together with unlocked luggage ( I was en route to give lectures in Italy ) , ” Goodwin-Gill recalled .
“ I naturally assumed that , given the precautions taken before entry , such a legal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” I was therefore somewhat shocked , to say the least , to learn in late 2019 that my name featured in papers lodged in connection with legal proceedings in Spain concerning the disclosure of confidential information , that the occasion of my visit and participation had been shared with various parties , and that my ‘ electronic equipment ’ may have been copied and the contents also shared , ” Goodwin-Gill added .
Witness # 2 recalled one of the members of UC Global showed him Goodwin-Gill ’ s iPad .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the home screen.
” He was told the “ contents of the iPad had been copied.
” Goodwin-Gill placed the spying backed by U.S. intelligence into the context of international law , referring to Australia ’ s actions against Timor-Leste in the early 2000s .
He suggested the “ unlawful interference ” into the “ sovereign affairs ” of Ecuador for the purpose of advancing a prosecution against an individual , who the embassy was trying to protect , was similar .
” The violation of one state ’ s sovereignty would then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the individual ’ s fundamental rights to due process and equality of arms , if confidential , privileged information were to be used in trial , ” Goodwin-Gill concluded .
He told the court that surveillance and the sharing of “ confidential privileged information ” needs to be considered an indication of political motivation , intent , and purpose of the extradition request .
Assange Obstructed From Working On His Defense Peirce outlined for the court how the passage of time has impacted the ability of Assange ’ s attorneys to reconstruct the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Mr. Assange himself.
” They have struggled to locate evidence that shows when WikiLeaks received data that Pfc .
Chelsea Manning said she disclosed to the media organization .
If the U.S. government had charged Assange in 2011 , all of these records , as well as the records of associates would likely be available .
They could compile records from computers , telephones , and documents from media partners and members of WikiLeaks that would reflect how encrypted data was controlled and accessed .
Three individuals Assange relied on for advice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the past few years : John Jones , who was a barrister ( April 2016 ) , Gavin MacFadyen , who was a mentor for WikiLeaks ( October 2016 ) , and Michael Ratner , the Center for Constitutional Rights president who was one of the most engage lawyers in Assange ’ s case ( May 2016 ) .
“ Assange is unable to reconstruct his consultations and discussions with them and access any records they might have retained , ” Peirce told the court .
Because archive material Assange kept in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ legal team could not access it when putting together his defense for the September extradition trial .
Up until February 12 , 2020 , Assange was apparently denied “ the most basic of access to the bare minimum needs for proper representation , ” including the ability to share documents with Assange , the ability to have “ adequate legal visits , ” and the ability to access a computer to view data for the case .
Only at the end of January this year did Assange ’ s legal team receive a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Government Legal Department that claimed they misunderstood Assange ’ s needs .
It authorized Belmarsh prison to provide a hard drive to his lawyers so they could load data for him to view on a laptop provided by the prison .
For the first time , Assange was permitted to review material his legal team had urged the prison and Government Lawyers Department to let him access for half of a year .
Yet , in March , the global COVID-19 pandemic hit .
It delayed Assange ’ s extradition trial from May @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Assange to meet with his attorneys .
It was not until the first day of the extradition trial on September 7 that Assange met in person with Edward Fitzgerald , who was one of the key defense attorneys involved in questioning witnesses and making arguments in front of the judge .
In fact , Assange ’ s legal team arranged for Assange to be made available a half hour before each day of proceedings so that they could sidestep barriers that have interfered with their ability to consult with Assange while he is @ @ @ @

The FBI in the United Kingdom enlisted the Ecuador government’s help in seizing legally privileged materials from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange after he was arrested and expelled from their embassy in London on April 11, 2019.
According to Gareth Peirce, one of Assange’s attorneys, that day she “made immediate contact with the embassy in regard to legally privileged material, an issue of huge concern.” Assange wanted the material—in addition to “confidential medical data”—”identified and released to his lawyers.”
“Repeated requests by telephone, email and recorded delivery mail were entirely ignored by the embassy,” and in testimony submitted during the final day of evidence in Assange’s extradition trial, the embassy has never responded.
“One record of [Assange’s] entire archive” was effectively purloined, and without it, Peirce mentioned it has made putting together a defense in his extradition case more difficult because the initial allegations relate to communications, meetings, and events from 2010 and 2011.
Proceedings in the evidentiary portion of Assange’s extradition trial concluded on October 1, and Judge Vanessa Baraitser announced she would rule on the request from the United States government on January 4, 2021.
Before the last day wrapped, multiple statements from Peirce related to abuses of process in the case were entered into the record. They included details related to the espionage operation the Spanish security company UC Global carried out against Assange with the support of U.S. intelligence.
Peirce’s law firm Birnberg, Pierce & Partners asked the Australian Consulate in London for intervention because Assange is an Australian citizen. The Metropolitan Police in the United Kingdom claimed they played no role in the seizure or retention of any legally privileged materials.
On May 20, 2019, the Australian Consulate received a request for Assange’s property to be “transferred to Ecuador.” The firm was invited to collect any “remaining possessions” that were not seized.
When Assange’s property was collected shortly after, Peirce stated, “All legally privileged material was missing save for two volumes of Supreme Court documents and a number of pages of loose correspondence.”
Gordon Kromberg, assistant United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, where Assange was indicted, stated that a “taint team” would excise material so it was not used in any trial in the United States.
“However,” Peirce stated, “no suggestions have been made for the return of that material by the DOJ in these proceedings, even though attention has been drawn to the existence of recordings of meetings that could play an evidential part in the extradition hearing. Nor has any reassurance been given that the ongoing representation of Mr. Assange has not been, is not being, and will not be the subject of unlawful intrusion by U.S. agencies.”
‘Exceptionally High Level Of Anxiety And Fear’ Has Prevailed
Peirce was spied upon when she attended legal meetings that occurred on December 6 and 19 in 2017 and January 14, 2018.
“I was wholly unaware of that surveillance, although I was aware that Mr. Assange maintained suspicions throughout that period, fearing intrusion,” Peirce declared. “I do not comment here upon my own reactions to the discovery, but comment only generally that there has prevailed as a consequence an exceptionally high level of anxiety and fear that legal interviews with Mr. Assange are continuing to be monitored.”
“This fear, triggered by the clear evidence that had been taking place over a number of years has had a chilling effect upon preparation for these extradition proceedings.”
Assange was charged by the U.S. Justice Department with 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act and one count of conspiracy to commit a computer intrusion that, as alleged in the indictment, is written like an Espionage Act offense.
The charges criminalize the act of merely receiving classified information, as well as the publication of state secrets from the U.S. government. It targets common practices in newsgathering, which is why the case is widely opposed by press freedom organizations throughout the world.
In July 2012, weeks after entering the Ecuador embassy to request asylum, Spanish lawyer Baltasar Garzón was appointed by Assange to “coordinate legal advice.” His legal team included “lawyers in Ecuador, Spain, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the USA, Australia and a number of other European countries,” Peirce recalled
“Assange met on numerous occasions during the years that followed whilst he remained in the embassy until his arrest on April 11, 2019, with lawyers and other visitors including his doctors, his health requiring treatment throughout the period in which he was in the embassy.”
UC Global handled security for the embassy from 2015 to mid-2018, and an email from September 29, 2017, shows UC Global director David Morales instructed employees to create and update profiles on at least three of Assange’s lawyers—their relationship with the “guest” (Assange), telephone numbers, emails, number of visits, and any personal data.
“All of them appear in the lists and entry records, you have to do your best to know their data,” Morales wrote.
As Peirce described, Morales “requested extreme caution” with the transmitted information because Senain, which is Ecuadorian intelligence, was “investigating” the company. He asked his employees to map out the internal structure of the embassy and collect photos of embassy employees. He wanted profiles that included their “functions or activities in the headquarters” as well.
Witness #1, a former UC Global employee, told the court in submitted testimony that Morales “showed at times a real obsession in relation to monitoring and recording the lawyers who met with the ‘guest’ (Julian Assange) because ‘our American friends’ were requesting it.”
“UC Global established a security protocol that obliged all visitors including lawyers to leave personal ID documents as well as telephones and electronic devices with belongings at the entry desk,” Peirce described. “Thus, operators could ensure that they could scan and photocopy the individual’s personal documentation, search their belongings, photograph the contents, and potentially intrude and obtain the potential for future intrusion into the electronic devices.”
“Subsequently, detailed reports were made of those who visited Mr Assange, sent to the company’s headquarters in the form of reports. A web portal was established that could be accessed remotely from May 2017.”
Morales insisted upon “exhaustive detailed profiles” of all visitors as well as embassy staff that could be accessed remotely from the United States,” Peirce noted.
“Details of telephones were photographed, as well as photographs of messages within telephones whilst their owners were attending meetings.”
“On two occasions,” Peirce highlighted, “visiting doctors observed that after they had left the Embassy briefly and then returned notes had been taken into the office of the security workers. The personal details of Mr. Assange’s visiting [doctor] were specifically requested and collected including the details from his telephone.”
“Separately surveillance was conducted on senior Ecuadorian diplomats when they visited the embassy as well as the head of Ecuadorian intelligence.”
Ecuador Instructed To ‘Hand Over Property To U.S.A.’
Evidence that Garzón was followed, photographed, and had his office burglarized weeks after Morales discussed breaking into his office “continues to affect the confidence of Mr. Assange’s lawyers as a whole as to the confidentiality of their work on his case,” according to Peirce.
On April 8, 2019, the U.S. Justice Department was prepared for Assange’s arrest and instructed Ecuador to seize property and hand over “evidence” to a “representative of the UK FBI,” who would “hand over the property to the U.S.A.”
A document from April 9, 2019, was marked, “Highly confidential from the Deputy Director’s Office of International Affairs,” and contained instructions to give the U.S. government Assange’s property.
Prom Security had taken over security in 2018 and 2019, and their guards “went in and out of relevant rooms” in the embassy, along with Pablo Roldan, who according to Peirce is related to an Ecuador ambassador and a close associate of Ecuador President Lenin Moreno.
Roldan apparently inventoried property in the rooms, but when Assange’s lawyers in Ecuador reviewed files related to Assange’s property, they found no inventory from Roldan in the system.
“Although rooms were purported to be sealed, Embassy staff who were not permitted to return for approximately one week saw the original seals had been replaced, the re-seals marked ‘for judicial purpose,'” Peirce recalled.
“Highly unusually two diplomatic pouches were taken in person to Quito from the embassy containing USB sticks, one by Jose Luis, an employee of the Ecuadorian intelligence and the second by Pablo Roldan shortly after Mr. Assange’s arrest.”
Carlos Poveda, one of Assange’s lawyers in Ecuador, requested that the Ecuador prosecutor make a copy of records on Assange’s property for the extradition proceedings on December 16, 2019. “The Ecuadorian prosecutor refused that request,” Peirce noted.
One inventory in the “remaining records in the Ecuadorean files” referred to a “plastic bag with legal documents” from 2010 to 2018.
On May 20, 2019, an Ecuadorean judicial authority signed a document that confirmed property was taken from Assange in London. By June 12, the seized material was provided to Ecuador’s criminal division.
Documents that Assange’s lawyer in Ecuador inspected contained photographs that showed the seals on the doors to the front room of the embassy and a room that held computers were broken. And as noted by Peirce, photographs, folders, portfolios, and notebooks, some clearly marked “WGAD” (UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention), “Pompeo,” and “Legal Planning,” were taken. (Mike Pompeo, who is currently the Secretary of State, called WikiLeaks a “hostile non-state intelligence agency” when he was CIA director.)
Guy Goodwin-Gill, an international law professor, attended a meeting at the Ecuador embassy on “international legal aspects of asylum” on June 16, 2016. The foreign minister of Ecuador, senior Ecuadorian officials, and members of Assange’s legal team attended.
“Before entering the ground floor meeting room, I left my passport, phone, and tablet ‘at the door,’ together with unlocked luggage (I was en route to give lectures in Italy),” Goodwin-Gill recalled. “I naturally assumed that, given the precautions taken before entry, such a legal conference would be secure and confidential.”
”I was therefore somewhat shocked, to say the least, to learn in late 2019 that my name featured in papers lodged in connection with legal proceedings in Spain concerning the disclosure of confidential information, that the occasion of my visit and participation had been shared with various parties, and that my ‘electronic equipment’ may have been copied and the contents also shared,” Goodwin-Gill added.
Witness #2 recalled one of the members of UC Global showed him Goodwin-Gill’s iPad. It had “many messages and emails in the home screen.” He was told the “contents of the iPad had been copied.”
Goodwin-Gill placed the spying backed by U.S. intelligence into the context of international law, referring to Australia’s actions against Timor-Leste in the early 2000s. He suggested the “unlawful interference” into the “sovereign affairs” of Ecuador for the purpose of advancing a prosecution against an individual, who the embassy was trying to protect, was similar.
”The violation of one state’s sovereignty would then be joined by the likely violation of the individual’s fundamental rights to due process and equality of arms, if confidential, privileged information were to be used in trial,” Goodwin-Gill concluded.
He told the court that surveillance and the sharing of “confidential privileged information” needs to be considered an indication of political motivation, intent, and purpose of the extradition request.
Assange Obstructed From Working On His Defense
Peirce outlined for the court how the passage of time has impacted the ability of Assange’s attorneys to reconstruct the “actions and communications of WikiLeaks and of Mr. Assange himself.” They have struggled to locate evidence that shows when WikiLeaks received data that Pfc. Chelsea Manning said she disclosed to the media organization.
If the U.S. government had charged Assange in 2011, all of these records, as well as the records of associates would likely be available. They could compile records from computers, telephones, and documents from media partners and members of WikiLeaks that would reflect how encrypted data was controlled and accessed.
Three individuals Assange relied on for advice, especially on legal matters, died in the past few years: John Jones, who was a barrister (April 2016), Gavin MacFadyen, who was a mentor for WikiLeaks (October 2016), and Michael Ratner, the Center for Constitutional Rights president who was one of the most engage lawyers in Assange’s case (May 2016).
“Assange is unable to reconstruct his consultations and discussions with them and access any records they might have retained,” Peirce told the court.
Because archive material Assange kept in the Ecuador embassy was seized, his legal team could not access it when putting together his defense for the September extradition trial.
Up until February 12, 2020, Assange was apparently denied “the most basic of access to the bare minimum needs for proper representation,” including the ability to share documents with Assange, the ability to have “adequate legal visits,” and the ability to access a computer to view data for the case.
Only at the end of January this year did Assange’s legal team receive a “letter of apology” from the Government Legal Department that claimed they misunderstood Assange’s needs. It authorized Belmarsh prison to provide a hard drive to his lawyers so they could load data for him to view on a laptop provided by the prison.
For the first time, Assange was permitted to review material his legal team had urged the prison and Government Lawyers Department to let him access for half of a year.
Yet, in March, the global COVID-19 pandemic hit. It delayed Assange’s extradition trial from May to September and made it impossible for Assange to meet with his attorneys.
It was not until the first day of the extradition trial on September 7 that Assange met in person with Edward Fitzgerald, who was one of the key defense attorneys involved in questioning witnesses and making arguments in front of the judge.
In fact, Assange’s legal team arranged for Assange to be made available a half hour before each day of proceedings so that they could sidestep barriers that have interfered with their ability to consult with Assange while he is in Belmarsh prison.


shadowproof--2020-09-29--Independent Media Roundtable: Julian Assange’s Extradition Trial And The War On Journalism

Independent Media Roundtable : Julian Assange ’ s Extradition Trial And The War On Journalism WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange ’ s legal team called their last witness in the extradition trial , which has unfolded over the past four weeks at the Old Bailey Courthouse in London .
The defense and prosecution will file closing submissions to the magistrate court , and a decision on extradition is expected in January 4 , 2021 .
Throughout the extradition trial , independent media have led the way in defying a blackout by corporate media institutions around the world .
They have worked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from witnesses instead of trivial moments that establishment reporters have turned into sensational clickbait headlines that distract from what is at stake for global press freedom .
On October 3 , journalists from independent or alternative media , who were credentialed by the court , came together to highlight crucial developments during the extradition trial .
They outlined some of the most effective testimony and also discussed some of the obstacles , which Assange ’ s legal team faced in convincing a judge to reject the United States government ’ s extradition request @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 2-hour discussion :

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s legal team called their last witness in the extradition trial, which has unfolded over the past four weeks at the Old Bailey Courthouse in London. The defense and prosecution will file closing submissions to the magistrate court, and a decision on extradition is expected in January 4, 2021.
Throughout the extradition trial, independent media have led the way in defying a blackout by corporate media institutions around the world. They have worked to focus on the substance of testimony from witnesses instead of trivial moments that establishment reporters have turned into sensational clickbait headlines that distract from what is at stake for global press freedom.
On October 3, journalists from independent or alternative media, who were credentialed by the court, came together to highlight crucial developments during the extradition trial. They outlined some of the most effective testimony and also discussed some of the obstacles, which Assange’s legal team faced in convincing a judge to reject the United States government’s extradition request.
Below is a full video of the 2-hour discussion:
Panel Mohamed Elmaazi, Sputnik Tareq Haddad, London-based independent reporter Mary Kostakidis, Sydney-based journalist Taylor Hudak, acTVism Munich Joe Lauria and Cathy Vogan, Consortium News Richard Medhurst, independent journalist


shadowproof--2020-10-05--Axon Ramps Up Sale Of Dart-Fired Tasers To US Prisons And Police Departments Around The World

Axon Ramps Up Sale Of Dart-Fired Tasers To US Prisons And Police Departments Around The World Axon Inc. , a six billion-dollar company known for arming police with body cameras and dart-fired electrocution weaponry known as “ Tasers , ” claims to be making “ rapid growth ” in the markets of the prison industrial-complex , and is “ unlocking ” markets internationally .
During a 2020 quarter-one earnings call , Axon ’ s Chief Revenue Officer Joshua Isner explained that a third of the way into 2019 , Axon “ ramped up ” its efforts “ specifically focusing on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have an independent sales team focused on that market…I ’ m really excited about the work that they ’ re doing so far.
” In May , Axon updated shareholders on these developments : COVID-19 is apparently accelerating Axon ’ s marketing push in the prison setting , explained Isner , since the weapons theoretically minimize skin-to-skin contact .
He said , “ we ’ re seeing more investment on a faster cadence than in the past , particularly in the CEW [ Conducted Energy Weapons ] segment to keep officers from having @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a potential risk of infection.
” In recent years , Axon expanded its markets by selling Tasers to police in the United Kingdom , Italy , Britain , the Netherlands , India , France , and Australia .
Accordingly , outrage stemming from Taser use is expanding around the world .
Earlier this month , for example , the police murder of an attorney with a stun gun sparked ongoing civil unrest in Bogota , Columbia .
( It is unclear whether Axon sold the weapon to Colombian police . )
“ We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such as Brazil and India , ” Axon ’ s President Luke Larson said in a quarter-two earnings call , “ and three countries top $ 1 million in revenue for the first time in the quarter ; Indonesia , Panama , and Thailand.
” Axon ’ s latest model , ‘ Taser 7 ’ is branded with doublespeak as “ the most effective TASER weapon ever , ” allowing the user to “ de-escalate with confidence , ” while showing “ commitment to your communities.
” The weapons aren ’ t cheap @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from $ 9.75 to $ 60 per officer per month depending on the plan .
A city of 200,000 , employing around 4,800 sworn police officers , could spend half a million to 3.4 million dollars annually on Tasers .
For years , U.S. prison officials hesitated to arm prison guards with Tasers because of potential liability risk , former Axon salesperson Paul Hughes told Reuters .
Don Stanton , a retired corrections officer in Winter Garden with an incarcerated son , told the Orlando Sentinel that Tasers should not be brought into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ might use it on pregnant women or when people are wet , especially in the summer months when prison temperature [ sic ] soar and prisoners are sweating , ” the Sentinel wrote .
Recently , on September 14 , people incarcerated at Chippewa Correctional Facility in Michigan rose up and took control of their unit after a prison guard tased an incarcerated person until he was unconscious .
Reuters tracked 1,081 deaths involving Tasers from the early 2000s until February 2019 , including 110 behind bars—predominantly in local jails .
In a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ already handcuffed or immobilized when they were electrocuted to death .
Axon ’ s push appears to be most imminently successful in Florida .
This year , on May 29 , the Florida Department of Corrections ( FDC ) announced a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend its use of force policy to include the use of Dart-fired Electronic Immobilization Devices as “ an intermediate level of force alternative ” to “ officers supervising inmates within the general population setting.
” Andrew , an individual incarcerated in Florida who asked Shadowproof to withhold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , said that the proposed rule is “ a riot waiting to happen.
” He said officers are not equipped with Tasers in his medium-security prison and that he hasn ’ t yet seen anyone tased .
However , he ’ s heard rumors recently that the proposal will pass .
“ [ Guards ] claim next month they ’ ll have them and are already anticipating the misuse of them with a smile on their face , ” Andrew said , “ The use of pepper spray , mace , is already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which as of October 5 hasn ’ t yet passed , follows an 18-month pilot program at Columbia Correctional Institution which , according to FDC , reduced violence .
However , since the prison system is shrouded in secrecy , there isn ’ t a way to fact-check those results .
“ Tasers will not reduce violence but it will cause two things , ” Andrew told Shadowproof .
“ One : fear amongst the inmate population or two : retaliation from those that refuse to be mistreated in that manner because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mostly predisposed and have bigotry , racism , and their own biased opinions of convicts .
So , the abuse will be rampant.
” Swift Justice , a man who is incarcerated in Alabama , described the theory as “ absurd , ” since Tasers are “ not tools of deterrent or prevention.
” He posited : “ If it was a logical solution then violence would decrease when another inmate presented a knife , right ?
But it doesn ’ t…Like the knife it escalates the violence .
A Taser will do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are considered less-lethal , not non-lethal .
It becomes another means for the slave-catcher to inflict the power , and sadistic ways then claim they were only doing their job , under the color of law.
” Swift maintained that only “ true rehabilitation ” will reduce violence , which he said starts with paying incarcerated people for their labor and giving them “ good time ” to be released early .
“ Remove the slave aspect and give back their humanity .
”

Axon Inc., a six billion-dollar company known for arming police with body cameras and dart-fired electrocution weaponry known as “Tasers,” claims to be making “rapid growth” in the markets of the prison industrial-complex, and is “unlocking” markets internationally.
During a 2020 quarter-one earnings call, Axon’s Chief Revenue Officer Joshua Isner explained that a third of the way into 2019, Axon “ramped up” its efforts “specifically focusing on corrections.”
“And this year we have an independent sales team focused on that market…I’m really excited about the work that they’re doing so far.”
In May, Axon updated shareholders on these developments:
“Axon is now engaged with more than 10 state departments of corrections, including the five most populous states in the country — California, Texas, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania — which are either purchasing our products, undergoing trials at scale, or seeking to have budget discussions and command demonstrations of TASER devices. In the US, there are about 450,000 correctional officers and about 92,000 probation and parole officers and we estimate that TASER device and Axon body camera penetration among them is minimal.”
COVID-19 is apparently accelerating Axon’s marketing push in the prison setting, explained Isner, since the weapons theoretically minimize skin-to-skin contact. He said, “we’re seeing more investment on a faster cadence than in the past, particularly in the CEW [Conducted Energy Weapons] segment to keep officers from having to go hands-on and protect them from a potential risk of infection.”
In recent years, Axon expanded its markets by selling Tasers to police in the United Kingdom, Italy, Britain, the Netherlands, India, France, and Australia. Accordingly, outrage stemming from Taser use is expanding around the world. Earlier this month, for example, the police murder of an attorney with a stun gun sparked ongoing civil unrest in Bogota, Columbia. (It is unclear whether Axon sold the weapon to Colombian police.)
“We are just getting started in large markets such as Brazil and India,” Axon’s President Luke Larson said in a quarter-two earnings call, “and three countries top $1 million in revenue for the first time in the quarter; Indonesia, Panama, and Thailand.”
Axon’s latest model, ‘Taser 7’ is branded with doublespeak as “the most effective TASER weapon ever,” allowing the user to “de-escalate with confidence,” while showing “commitment to your communities.”
The weapons aren’t cheap: Taser 7 subscriptions cost taxpayers anywhere from $9.75 to $60 per officer per month depending on the plan. A city of 200,000, employing around 4,800 sworn police officers, could spend half a million to 3.4 million dollars annually on Tasers.
For years, U.S. prison officials hesitated to arm prison guards with Tasers because of potential liability risk, former Axon salesperson Paul Hughes told Reuters. Don Stanton, a retired corrections officer in Winter Garden with an incarcerated son, told the Orlando Sentinel that Tasers should not be brought into state prisons. “He worried they might use it on pregnant women or when people are wet, especially in the summer months when prison temperature [sic] soar and prisoners are sweating,” the Sentinel wrote.
Recently, on September 14, people incarcerated at Chippewa Correctional Facility in Michigan rose up and took control of their unit after a prison guard tased an incarcerated person until he was unconscious.
Reuters tracked 1,081 deaths involving Tasers from the early 2000s until February 2019, including 110 behind bars—predominantly in local jails. In a majority of cases, incarcerated people were already handcuffed or immobilized when they were electrocuted to death.
Axon’s push appears to be most imminently successful in Florida. This year, on May 29, the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) announced a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend its use of force policy to include the use of Dart-fired Electronic Immobilization Devices as “an intermediate level of force alternative” to “officers supervising inmates within the general population setting.”
Andrew, an individual incarcerated in Florida who asked Shadowproof to withhold his real name for fear of retaliation, said that the proposed rule is “a riot waiting to happen.”
He said officers are not equipped with Tasers in his medium-security prison and that he hasn’t yet seen anyone tased. However, he’s heard rumors recently that the proposal will pass.
“[Guards] claim next month they’ll have them and are already anticipating the misuse of them with a smile on their face,” Andrew said, “The use of pepper spray, mace, is already through-the-roof and completely abusive.”
This rule, which as of October 5 hasn’t yet passed, follows an 18-month pilot program at Columbia Correctional Institution which, according to FDC, reduced violence. However, since the prison system is shrouded in secrecy, there isn’t a way to fact-check those results.
“Tasers will not reduce violence but it will cause two things,” Andrew told Shadowproof. “One: fear amongst the inmate population or two: retaliation from those that refuse to be mistreated in that manner because we all know that these officers are mostly predisposed and have bigotry, racism, and their own biased opinions of convicts. So, the abuse will be rampant.”
Swift Justice, a man who is incarcerated in Alabama, described the theory as “absurd,” since Tasers are “not tools of deterrent or prevention.” He posited: “If it was a logical solution then violence would decrease when another inmate presented a knife, right? But it doesn’t…Like the knife it escalates the violence. A Taser will do the same.”
“Never forget Tasers are considered less-lethal, not non-lethal. It becomes another means for the slave-catcher to inflict the power, and sadistic ways then claim they were only doing their job, under the color of law.”
Swift maintained that only “true rehabilitation” will reduce violence, which he said starts with paying incarcerated people for their labor and giving them “good time” to be released early.
“Remove the slave aspect and give back their humanity.”


shadowproof--2020-10-06--Whole Foods Workers Face Retaliation For Demanding Enforcement Of COVID-19 Safety Measures, Opposing

Whole Foods Workers Face Retaliation For Demanding Enforcement Of COVID-19 Safety Measures, Opposing Anti-BLM Dress Code

Whole Foods Workers Face Retaliation For Demanding Enforcement Of COVID-19 Safety Measures , Opposing Anti-BLM Dress Code Two longtime workers at a Whole Foods store in Cambridge , Massachusetts allege they were recently fired in retaliation for voicing concerns over safety protections during the pandemic , the cancellation of hazard pay , and enforcement of the dress code policy to prohibit workers from wearing Black Lives Matter slogans on masks .
Both workers were involved in organizing efforts with Whole Worker .
Nicholas Dukes , who worked at Whole Foods for around ten years in the Cambridge , Massachusetts area @ @ @ @ @ @ @ several concerns and filing safety complaints with OSHA and state agencies over the lack of enforcement of coronavirus safety protections .
“ A decade of award winning service was rewarded with termination because I didn ’ t want to see my coworkers be needlessly exposed during a pandemic , ” said Dukes .
“ I was intimidated and then fired for raising the alarm on workplace safety.
” Throughout the pandemic , as Dukes recalled , he frequently complained to management over the lack of coronavirus safety protections and the lack of enforcement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ workers not wearing masks during shifts , especially when preparing food to be packed and sold to customers .
He objected to regular violations of mask wearing and social distancing rules by those in management positions .
“ I was told by an assistant manager in a conversation about wanting a safe work environment and mask wearing that ‘ we don ’ t want people who are uncomfortable running around causing problems , ’ ” Dukes added .
“ Whole Foods classifies mask compliance as part of the dress code policy .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employees were sent home for dress code violations at the River Street , Cambridge store due to wearing clothing with messages of support for the Black Lives Matter movement .
I ’ m unaware of anyone in the company being sent home for refusing to wear a mask properly.
” Dukes explained his team leader gave him the option to either return to work on June 25 for his scheduled shifts or resign his position to seek another position within the company .
But upon resigning , Dukes wasn ’ t provided an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Instead his resignation was processed fully from Whole Foods and he was informed by another manager that he was given a final warning notice for leaving work unauthorized on June 22 , which Dukes noted was due to safety protections not being followed in the store .
Dukes said he previously filed safety complaints against the store with the Massachusetts Board of Health and the Massachusetts Attorney General ’ s Fair Labor Task Force , waiving his anonymity .
A Whole Foods spokesperson insisted Dukes voluntarily resigned after being provided with several @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has zero-tolerance for retaliation , and our longstanding open-door policy encourages direct dialogue between Team Members and leadership which allows us to understand and quickly respond to the needs of our workforce .
Our safety measures , operational changes and daily audits during this unprecedented time have been shaped not only by CDC and local health authorities , but by feedback from individual Team Members , ” said the spokesperson in an email .
( Note : The spokesperson capitalized “ Team Members.
” ) Michael Williams , an assistant team leader at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ terminated on August 6 after working at Whole Foods for over six years .
Williams was involved in Black Lives Matter organizing among workers , who filed a class action lawsuit against Whole Foods alleging the company dress code policy was selectively enforced to bar workers from wearing Black Lives Matter slogans on their face masks , and Williams alleges workers were disciplined , which included the termination of an employee named Savannah Kinzer .
Whole Foods claimed Kinzer was terminated for violating time and attendance policy , not for wearing a Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I really can ’ t see that I did anything warranting [ termination ] .
I had just been given a $ 300 merit bonus , ” said Williams .
The reason he was provided for termination was private Instagram posts he made criticizing Whole Foods CEO John Mackey and the cancellation of hazard pay for Whole Foods workers during the pandemic , which ended on June 1 .
Mackey has opposed a national mask mandate , saying , “ Think about it : Some places never even locked down their economies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the whole country to abide by a mask mandate ?
That ’ s a bad idea .
That should be done one a local basis or not at all.
” Williams shared a copy of his separation agreement and the post .
He noted his account is private and the posts in question reference or cited lyrics from the rapper Killer Mike .
A Whole Foods spokesperson denied Williams was fired in retaliation and claimed they had no knowledge of his involvement in protests or organizing .
“ An investigation that led to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Team Member brought evidence to our attention that was violent and threatening in nature .
Store leadership is responsible for creating a safe space for Team Members to work .
We take any safety and security concerns extremely seriously , ” said the spokesperson .
[ Note : Again , the spokesperson capitalized “ Team Members.
” ] In late 2018 , Tyler Robertson , a store data administrator at Whole Foods for around ten years , started Whole Worker , a grassroots group of Whole Foods workers around the United States involved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a mass email through Whole Foods announcing the formation of the group , and a few weeks later one of the workers involved obtained an anti-union video from Amazon that was distributed to management throughout Whole Foods in response .
“ I survived one round of mass layoffs .
After Amazon bought Whole Foods , there was a second round of layoffs .
I started searching for ways to organize with like-minded Whole Foods employees throughout the company , ” said Robertson .
“ With labor laws in the United States making a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we looked for unorthodox ways of organizing with modern tools , social media and encryption.
” According to Robertson , shortly after Whole Worker announced complaints about profit-sharing being taken away from Whole Foods employees , the company announced it would bring back the program and provide all employees with a $ 2000 Amazon stock grant .
Scrutiny from the Amazon union video leaked by the group helped push Amazon to raise its minimum wage to $ 15 an hour in October 2018 .
The group continued to provide a space for workers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. over company-wide issues , and Robertson continued to help run the group , though he resigned and moved to a different company in 2019 .
Then the coronavirus pandemic hit .
With common concerns over worker protections , the group saw membership double , as workers around the US helped organize a sickout on May 1st , and store protests over coronavirus protections and in support of Black Lives Matter .
Amid the protests and increase in workers organizing at Whole Foods ’ 476 stores based in the US , several @ @ @ @ @ @ @ retaliation for organizing at the Amazon-owned grocery chain as reports surfaced in April 2020 Whole Foods has been utilizing heat maps and surveillance technology to track union organizing among their employees .
Whole Foods also rejected allegations that two other firings were retaliatory , claiming they were due to unrelated company policy violations .
Megan Murray of Philadelphia was fired in June 2020 after criticizing a manager , who provided free food and water to police during the George Floyd protests .
Katie Doan of Orange County , California was fired after leaving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Doan was in charge of tallying COVID-19 cases among Whole Foods workers around the U.S. for Whole Worker .
“ There ’ s anti-union training at the leadership level that gets passed around on a regular basis .
The company also has a strong surveillance culture where they teach everybody in leadership and the store favorites to sniff out dissenters , and store leadership spends a great deal of their time watching CCTV footage , ” said Doan , who worked at Whole Foods for three years .
“ When team members can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scared that they could be next.
” Doan explained many of her fellow co-workers were too afraid to get involved with organizing for fear of retaliation .
She first became involved with Whole Worker in late 2018 due to frustrations over changes due to the Amazon acquisition , and being able to share her experiences with other workers around the U.S. helped her feel less alone and empowered her to improve working conditions .
“ I don ’ t regret being involved in Whole Worker , ” added Doan .
“ I [ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ side of history to fight for better working conditions and hold the powerful accountable .
If that meant that I had to get fired for it , then so be it .
”

Two longtime workers at a Whole Foods store in Cambridge, Massachusetts allege they were recently fired in retaliation for voicing concerns over safety protections during the pandemic, the cancellation of hazard pay, and enforcement of the dress code policy to prohibit workers from wearing Black Lives Matter slogans on masks. Both workers were involved in organizing efforts with Whole Worker.
Nicholas Dukes, who worked at Whole Foods for around ten years in the Cambridge, Massachusetts area, said he was fired after expressing several concerns and filing safety complaints with OSHA and state agencies over the lack of enforcement of coronavirus safety protections.
“A decade of award winning service was rewarded with termination because I didn’t want to see my coworkers be needlessly exposed during a pandemic,” said Dukes. “I was intimidated and then fired for raising the alarm on workplace safety.”
Throughout the pandemic, as Dukes recalled, he frequently complained to management over the lack of coronavirus safety protections and the lack of enforcement of safety policies, including complaints about workers not wearing masks during shifts, especially when preparing food to be packed and sold to customers. He objected to regular violations of mask wearing and social distancing rules by those in management positions.
“I was told by an assistant manager in a conversation about wanting a safe work environment and mask wearing that ‘we don’t want people who are uncomfortable running around causing problems,’” Dukes added. “Whole Foods classifies mask compliance as part of the dress code policy.
“On Wednesday, June 24, several employees were sent home for dress code violations at the River Street, Cambridge store due to wearing clothing with messages of support for the Black Lives Matter movement. I’m unaware of anyone in the company being sent home for refusing to wear a mask properly.”
Dukes explained his team leader gave him the option to either return to work on June 25 for his scheduled shifts or resign his position to seek another position within the company. But upon resigning, Dukes wasn’t provided an opportunity to apply for other open positions.
Instead his resignation was processed fully from Whole Foods and he was informed by another manager that he was given a final warning notice for leaving work unauthorized on June 22, which Dukes noted was due to safety protections not being followed in the store.
Dukes said he previously filed safety complaints against the store with the Massachusetts Board of Health and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Fair Labor Task Force, waiving his anonymity.
A Whole Foods spokesperson insisted Dukes voluntarily resigned after being provided with several employment options.
“Whole Foods Market has zero-tolerance for retaliation, and our longstanding open-door policy encourages direct dialogue between Team Members and leadership which allows us to understand and quickly respond to the needs of our workforce. Our safety measures, operational changes and daily audits during this unprecedented time have been shaped not only by CDC and local health authorities, but by feedback from individual Team Members,” said the spokesperson in an email. (Note: The spokesperson capitalized “Team Members.”)
Michael Williams, an assistant team leader at the same store in Cambridge, was terminated on August 6 after working at Whole Foods for over six years.
Williams was involved in Black Lives Matter organizing among workers, who filed a class action lawsuit against Whole Foods alleging the company dress code policy was selectively enforced to bar workers from wearing Black Lives Matter slogans on their face masks, and Williams alleges workers were disciplined, which included the termination of an employee named Savannah Kinzer.
Whole Foods claimed Kinzer was terminated for violating time and attendance policy, not for wearing a Black Lives Matter slogan on their mask.
“I really can’t see that I did anything warranting [termination]. I had just been given a $300 merit bonus,” said Williams.
The reason he was provided for termination was private Instagram posts he made criticizing Whole Foods CEO John Mackey and the cancellation of hazard pay for Whole Foods workers during the pandemic, which ended on June 1.
Mackey has opposed a national mask mandate, saying, “Think about it: Some places never even locked down their economies. You’re going to force the whole country to abide by a mask mandate? That’s a bad idea. That should be done one a local basis or not at all.”
Williams shared a copy of his separation agreement and the post. He noted his account is private and the posts in question reference or cited lyrics from the rapper Killer Mike.
“My bosses know,” added Williams. “We’ve talked about Killer Mike before.”
A Whole Foods spokesperson denied Williams was fired in retaliation and claimed they had no knowledge of his involvement in protests or organizing.
“An investigation that led to his departure was launched when a concerned Team Member brought evidence to our attention that was violent and threatening in nature. Store leadership is responsible for creating a safe space for Team Members to work. We take any safety and security concerns extremely seriously,” said the spokesperson. [Note: Again, the spokesperson capitalized “Team Members.”]
In late 2018, Tyler Robertson, a store data administrator at Whole Foods for around ten years, started Whole Worker, a grassroots group of Whole Foods workers around the United States involved in unionization efforts.
He sent out a mass email through Whole Foods announcing the formation of the group, and a few weeks later one of the workers involved obtained an anti-union video from Amazon that was distributed to management throughout Whole Foods in response.
“I survived one round of mass layoffs. After Amazon bought Whole Foods, there was a second round of layoffs. I started searching for ways to organize with like-minded Whole Foods employees throughout the company,” said Robertson. “With labor laws in the United States making a worker-led union extremely difficult to attain, we looked for unorthodox ways of organizing with modern tools, social media and encryption.”
According to Robertson, shortly after Whole Worker announced complaints about profit-sharing being taken away from Whole Foods employees, the company announced it would bring back the program and provide all employees with a $2000 Amazon stock grant. Scrutiny from the Amazon union video leaked by the group helped push Amazon to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour in October 2018.
The group continued to provide a space for workers to speak with one another from around the U.S. over company-wide issues, and Robertson continued to help run the group, though he resigned and moved to a different company in 2019.
Then the coronavirus pandemic hit. With common concerns over worker protections, the group saw membership double, as workers around the US helped organize a sickout on May 1st, and store protests over coronavirus protections and in support of Black Lives Matter.
Amid the protests and increase in workers organizing at Whole Foods’ 476 stores based in the US, several workers have alleged they were fired in retaliation for organizing at the Amazon-owned grocery chain as reports surfaced in April 2020 Whole Foods has been utilizing heat maps and surveillance technology to track union organizing among their employees.
Whole Foods also rejected allegations that two other firings were retaliatory, claiming they were due to unrelated company policy violations.
Megan Murray of Philadelphia was fired in June 2020 after criticizing a manager, who provided free food and water to police during the George Floyd protests.
Katie Doan of Orange County, California was fired after leaving work temporarily during a panic attack. Doan was in charge of tallying COVID-19 cases among Whole Foods workers around the U.S. for Whole Worker.
“There’s anti-union training at the leadership level that gets passed around on a regular basis. The company also has a strong surveillance culture where they teach everybody in leadership and the store favorites to sniff out dissenters, and store leadership spends a great deal of their time watching CCTV footage,” said Doan, who worked at Whole Foods for three years. “When team members can see the retaliation, they’re scared that they could be next.”
Doan explained many of her fellow co-workers were too afraid to get involved with organizing for fear of retaliation.
She first became involved with Whole Worker in late 2018 due to frustrations over changes due to the Amazon acquisition, and being able to share her experiences with other workers around the U.S. helped her feel less alone and empowered her to improve working conditions.
“I don’t regret being involved in Whole Worker,” added Doan. “I [wanted] to be on the right side of history to fight for better working conditions and hold the powerful accountable. If that meant that I had to get fired for it, then so be it.”


shadowproof--2020-10-07--Protest Song Of The Week: ‘Amendment 13 (Homo Detritus) By Jesse Jett

Protest Song Of The Week : ‘ Amendment 13 ( Homo Detritus ) By Jesse Jett Originally published at Ongoing History of Protest Songs Between COVID-19 and the current political climate , there is a lot to make you frustrated and anxious .
We all need outlets to cope .
If you are a musician , it is only natural that your outlet will involve creating music .
Singer and rapper Jesse Jett is an example of someone who has consistently created music during the pandemic to help him cope .
Back at the end of May , he released @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The 90-minute album featured 24 protest songs that were recorded between mid-March to mid-May , with a cellphone and microphone in his car .
It is a powerful documentation of a difficult two-month period , which highlights the government ’ s failed COVID response and how the virus exposed the failures of capitalism .
It also decries a two-party system that is failing to offer a true alternative .
He released several singles since that album and is reportedly working on a new album .
One of those songs is “ Amendment 13 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forced prison labor to slavery and highlights the injustices of the carceral system .
One of the issues addressed in the lyrics is the horrid conditions of prison , which include providing inadequate virus protection ( “ They won ’ t lift a finger if your warden goes overboard and makes the common area an unspoken COVID ward ” ) , as well as the inherent racism in sentencing ( “ And you can spend 8 years if you ’ re black cause you burned up a trash can , but you won @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rape when you ’ re young and you ’ re white ” ) .
Outside of this song , Jett is a vocal supporter of police and prison abolition .
He contributed vocals and production to the recently released song “ Ten Demands ” by rapper and activist Awkword .
The tune explains the mission statement of the Ten Demands for Justice initiative which works to provide a roadmap towards abolition .
Jesse Jett is an example of how protest music can play such an important role in these difficult times .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but it also helps people express the collective anxiety and frustration they are experiencing .

Originally published at Ongoing History of Protest Songs
Between COVID-19 and the current political climate, there is a lot to make you frustrated and anxious. We all need outlets to cope. If you are a musician, it is only natural that your outlet will involve creating music.
Singer and rapper Jesse Jett is an example of someone who has consistently created music during the pandemic to help him cope. Back at the end of May, he released his first album “The Virus.”
The 90-minute album featured 24 protest songs that were recorded between mid-March to mid-May, with a cellphone and microphone in his car.
It is a powerful documentation of a difficult two-month period, which highlights the government’s failed COVID response and how the virus exposed the failures of capitalism. It also decries a two-party system that is failing to offer a true alternative.
He released several singles since that album and is reportedly working on a new album. One of those songs is “Amendment 13 (Homo Detritus)” which equates forced prison labor to slavery and highlights the injustices of the carceral system.
One of the issues addressed in the lyrics is the horrid conditions of prison, which include providing inadequate virus protection (“They won’t lift a finger if your warden goes overboard and makes the common area an unspoken COVID ward”), as well as the inherent racism in sentencing (“And you can spend 8 years if you’re black cause you burned up a trash can, but you won’t see any time if you rape when you’re young and you’re white”).
Outside of this song, Jett is a vocal supporter of police and prison abolition. He contributed vocals and production to the recently released song “Ten Demands” by rapper and activist Awkword. The tune explains the mission statement of the Ten Demands for Justice initiative which works to provide a roadmap towards abolition.
Jesse Jett is an example of how protest music can play such an important role in these difficult times. It not only helps us process current events, but it also helps people express the collective anxiety and frustration they are experiencing.