Unprovoked Use of Force by Tampa Police Department

Black Elected Officials of Hillsborough County Joint Statement

The recent reports of the Tampa Police Department’s unprovoked use of force against protestors peacefully exercising their constitutional rights to freedom of assembly and to freedom of speech cannot go unchecked. At least three incidents that have come to our attention.

The first occurred on the afternoon of May 30, 2020, when the Tampa Police Department reportedly used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse a peaceful gathering of protestors at Cyrus Greene Park. The second occurred on the evening of June 2, 2020, and into the early morning hours on June 3, 2020, when the Tampa Police Department used the same aggressive and dehumanizing tactics to disperse crowds of peaceful protesters in downtown Tampa. 

The third occurred on June 1, 2020, when the Tampa Police Department reportedly used force against an unarmed black man while on the grounds of Tampa General Hospital. While this last incident is unrelated to any protest, it is equally disturbing.

Let us be clear: we strongly condemn the use of force or violence by law enforcement against any protestor who peacefully exercises their rights to the freedom of assembly 
and expression.

We also condemn the use of force or violence by law enforcement against unarmed individuals whose only crime appears to be living while black.

To reiterate our recent joint statement against the rioting by those who crossed the line from civil disobedience to destruction, we maintain our united call for peace. But make no mistake: in order for our community to experience the healing that it desperately needs, all stakeholders must be
equally committed to doing their part to attain peace. This means that law enforcement must be held accountable for its actions as well.

It is time for a new era of common-sense reforms to ensure greater transparency in policing and stronger limits on the use of force.

Hence, we, the undersigned black elected officials, call on
Mayor Jane Castor and Tampa Police Department Chief Brian Dugan to end the wrongful practice of the use of force during otherwise peaceful protests immediately. We further call on Mayor Castor and Chief Dugan to provide with respect to the aforementioned incidents an
accounting of the officers’ actions, a report on what corrective action, if any, TPD has taken based on complaints about the officers’ conduct and/or feedback from the community, and an explanation to the community as to why TPD used force against protestors engaged in peaceful and lawful actions in the first place.

Further, the officers involved in the incident at
 Tampa General Hospital should be relieved of duty at this time until the investigation into their conduct is complete.

Senator Darryl Rouson,
Representative Dianne Hart
Representative Fentrice Driskell
Representative Wengay “Newt” Newton
County Commissioner Lesley “Les” Miller
City Councilman Orlando Gudes
School Board Member Tamara Shamburger

Citrus Taliban: Benjamin Horbowy

He is running for a Florida
state senate seat

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He was in Tallahassee with his mom to watch live as Trump walked from the White House to St John’s. “My mother just shouted out, ‘God give him strength! He’s doing a Jericho walk!’” 

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“My mother started crying. She comes from a Pentecostal background, and she started speaking in tongues. I haven’t heard her speak in tongues in years,” he said. “I thought, look at my president! He’s establishing the Lord’s kingdom in the world.”

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The Tallahassee Democrat newspaper quotes him as saying that where he comes from, LGBT stands for “liberty, guns, Bible, and Trump.” HERE

Florida Never

Florida Forever

---In 2014, voters pass Amendment One, which put into the state Constitution a requirement that Florida set aside some $10 billion in tax money over the next 20 years, to be used for purchasing environmentally sensitive land, creating the largest state-based conservation initiative in U.S. history.

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It passed with overwhelming support – 75% of the votes cast were in favor of it.

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Yet Florida’s legislators ignored it – just as they have ignored such prior voter-driven referendums on class sizes and allowing ex-felons to vote — and continued shortchanging Florida Forever. HERE

Restorative Justice Letter Writing Campaign

Letter writing is social distance approved and can be done on your own time. With 13 targets, this may take you 30 to 60 minutes to complete. George Floyd and Tony McDade are not isolated, long-distance issues. They happen right here in Tampa as well.

EDUCATIONAL FOR THE FAMILY: Yes, children can and should participate!
This event is at YOUR leisure but its important your voice is heard, so do not wait too long. HERE

BLM Tampa

MORE
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Protest: Saturday at 3 PM 
Fred Ball Park - South Tampa
INFO

Ybor Amistad

MORE

Workers First Caravan - Miami

On Wednesday, June 17th, working people from South Florida will join thousands of people from across the country in a Workers First Caravan, an all-out action of national solidarity calling for implementation of America’s Five Economic Essentials and passage of the HEROES Act. --
Help us tell Rick Scott and Marco Rubio that inaction is unacceptable. We're ready to fight for our health, our economy and our country. HERE

Ybor Paparazzi

Jake

Self Isolate Blues

Florida GOP Marco Rubio: Professional Agitators

Rubio, the acting chairman of the senate intelligence committee, was asked if he had any issues with the use of tear gas against the protesters on monday evening. 

"No, given what we've seen the last few nights in front of the white house incredibly dangerous and violent situations."

He also disputed the assertion that the protesters were cleared out for the trump photo-op in front of the church, noting that the 7 p.m. et curfew was drawing near. Rubio said the protesters were "professional agitators." "they know the police have to move forward on them, that will trigger the use of tear gas and it plays right into the imagery that they want. ... that wasn't even a protest. it was a provocation that was created deliberately for 

national television." HERE

Tampa Locavore: Obee's - Port Charlotte

VISIT THEM HERE

Tampa Locavore

Running Interference in Florida

t’s worth noting: election supervisors have asked for some changes, like extending early voting, to accommodate those worried about voting amid a pandemic. this request for “flexibility,” however, has been summarily ignored by the desantis administration, leading to growing speculation among some elected officials that the trump campaign may be running interference. we’ll just leave with this 2018 quote from u.s. district judge mark walker: “we have been the laughing stock of the world, election after election, and we chose not to fix this.”
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HERE

Florida's Culture Of Corruption: $77-Million-Dollars

G. Gonzalez's Letter To The Editor (Unedited)

I’m writing, I imagine, for the same reasons many are hitting the streets protesting nationwide. I’m nobody special. I’m just a working-class stiff like the majority of us. I’m a high school dropout, a United States Air Force veteran, and now a community organizer with the Tampa DSA, also known as the Democratic Socialists of America. I’m no pundit, CEO, or powerful politician, but I think I can speak for millions or at least echo their sentiments when I ask: when will enough be enough? George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Travon Martin, Amadou Diallo, Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, and this reaches all the way back to Emmett Till himself. And here in the state of Florida, we have our own examples with the shootings of Markeis McGlockton and Levonia Riggins.

We’re in the year 2020, so somebody please explain to me how police brutality and vigilante injustice is still tolerated? Maybe if we ask enough questions, we’ll reach that conclusion together. Let’s begin by asking ourselves if it’s legitimate to hold the perspective that the long arm of the law should indeed be the primary line of defense between civil society and chaotic barbarism. We should also ask ourselves why is it that our law enforcement officers seem to be in a perpetual state of fight or flight. Why do they feel so threatened by poor minority communities and why is it that the use of force is disproportionately used against said communities?

Is it really surprising when our nation is merely decades removed from the state-sponsored apartheid imposed on black and brown communities? Why is it that we’ve grown desensitized to this injustice?  How has this become the unfortunate reality of poor and minority communities, much like the one in West Tampa where I grew up? How is it justified that communities of color are constantly harassed for petty crimes and misdemeanors when the largely white ruling class of the financial sector can lead us to economic ruin while simultaneously robbing our treasury blind?  All the while, they have the shameless audacity to lie to us by telling us that basic human necessities such as universal healthcare and free college are too pie-in-the-sky to happen.

Allow me, reader, to go on one more series of questions.  As Derek Chauvin drove his knee into the neck of George Floyd because of an alleged crime as petty as a forged check in an economic depression and suffocated him to death we have to ask ourselves: why was an officer with a long history of abuse of authority and violence against minorities and poor people allowed to continue serving as a law enforcement officer?  Why did the three other officers present allow it to happen? Was it the racist, nationalist rhetoric and ideology displayed by those who live by the slogan: “Make America Great Again?”  Or was it the comfortable and complacent inaction and apathy of the so-called neoliberals of the Democratic Party in the state of Minnesota?

As we thoroughly examine these questions collectively, look within ourselves and our society at large, I hope that we begin taking our first steps toward a tangible progress as opposed to a rhetorical progress. And, as a Democratic Socialist, I believe that the answers lie in confronting a system head-on that absolves the wealthy ruling class of any and all culpability of the economic and physical violence perpetuated against poor and minority communities.  That’s why we support labor movements such as the National Nurses United, the Fight for 15, and progressive candidates. This isn’t about justice for a few, justice for some, but it’s about justice for ALL. --- So many words can be said, but I’ll conclude this letter with three of them for George Floyd: “Rest in Power”. And one word for the rest of us: “Solidarity.”

Unedited version of the one published in the

Tampa Bay Times

Ybor City Homeless

Lawrence

Self Isolate Blues

Tampa Bodega Food

TAMPA LOCAVORE

Matt Gaetz Chronicles: Antifa Hunted Down Like Terrorists

Twitter on Monday added a warning label to a tweet by Rep. Matt Gaetz that called for members of the radical activist group antifa to be hunted down like terrorists.

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The Florida Republican, one of President Donald Trump’s fiercest allies on Capitol Hill, ratcheted up his rhetoric against the left-wing group in a missive earlier Monday, writing, “Now that we clearly see Antifa as terrorists, can we hunt them down like we do those in the
 Middle East?” HERE

Tampa Getting Loud Works

"Speak up and engage your city council. Shout to all the city council members who reached out this weekend and pressed the Mayor to figure out how we get body cameras now."
 Christopher Cano

HERE

Tampa PD Media

Mayor Castor announced the city would complete previously disclosed plans to purchase 650 cameras.

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The city of Tampa has already signed a five-year, multimillion-dollar contract with Axon to purchase 650 blue-tooth activated cameras, one for every uniformed officer through the rank of corporal.

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7.9 Million for Cameras and Tasers?

HERE

Ybor Paparazzi

Stogie Aficionados

Self Isolate Blues

Ybor City Homeless

17th St.

Tampa Locavore: Sunrise Eatery Zephyrhills

VISIT THEM HERE

TAMPA LOCAVORE

Body Cameras for TPD

In September of 2019, the City of Tampa received a federal grant of $600,000 to fund body cameras for 600 Tampa Police Department officers.

INFO

Where is the money?
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UPDATE
Guido spoke with the administration and 
everything is cool! HERE

Boarded Up Ybor

Ybor City, Florida

Chris Cano on City GOV.

Tampa leaders vote down police body camera deal HERE

---So, we have a militarized police department, enabled by a Mayor that turned a blind eye to police corruption under her tenure as Chief, that is now issuing ultimatums to halt protests and you all didn’t think it wise to spend money on the very camera systems that hold these corrupt killers with badges accountable?

Please explain...and if you choose to not answer or untag yourself, we are all watching.

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Update: 

Appreciate all the members of the city council today who have reached out since posting this story, bill carlson, guido maniscalco, orlando gudes, luis viera. glad this vote is to be revisited. body cameras are a good first step...yet the citizenry needs real power to hold accountable its police when the justice system fails to deliver. citizen’s review boards with subpoenas and punitive power are 
the logical next step.
Christopher Cano