Executing "Justice": Arizona still kills.

Right wing Arizona militia-woman Shawna Forde was sentenced to die this week for murdering 9-year old Brisenia Flores and her father in a botched Tucson robbery whose proceeds were intended to finance weapons and other resources for anti-immigrant activities. I can't think of many things more criminal than what she did to that family and our community, but still can't condone the death penalty. Besides, she isn't the only one culpable in all this - there's a whole public and politic here which cultivated her hate. We know who to assign guilt to for the Flores family tragedy, but who is responsible, and how will killing Shawna Forde reinforce our ability to honor all life here?

I resist not so much for the sake of Shawna Forde's "right to life" as for the sake of our collective humanity, though - I have no sympathy for Forde. We are punishing her for devaluing human life by extinguishing human life, and it does nothing to stem the tide of violence and hate crimes against Latinos in this state...if anything, it lulls too many citizens into thinking that by executing a perpetrator, we've done what we need to do about it until we execute the next one, and the next. How, then, does the victimization and crime end in the first place, if all we do is react with pure vengeance after the fact?

It's not difficult to see that this little corner of the nation is a hotbed of hypocrisy, simple-mindedness, vindictiveness and greed (no wonder the Tea Partiers are having their summit in Phoenix). Plenty of the same people who will readily condemn Forde to death for her sins are blind or indifferent to the real harm they themselves perpetrate on immigrants by supporting our current government; many will continue to actively seek to do maximum damage to people's lives. I won't lend my voice to any of it, nor will I consent with my silence.

The rest of the nation is evolving around us, while Arizona mires itself deeper and deeper into repressive government policies and the people - with a few notable exceptions here - do little more than bleat an objection when their own interests are threatened, then fall back in line with the other sheep to get comfortable again.

Below is the way the state finds witnesses to its executions. Here is our Death Row. At least one woman sits there who has a strong case for exoneration, Debra Milke. Hopefully she will get a fair hearing in court before we decide to proceed to execute her. A Texas judge ruled the death penalty there unconstitutional last year because of evidence that an innocent man was executed, among other things.

What's taking us so long to catch up? I think all these rich white men holding the reins of power have something to do with our inability to make any social progress in this state. They're trying to figure out how to make us the least progressive state in the nation, in fact, even looking at cancelling Medicaid for citizens and forming some crazy committee to declare whether or not federal laws are constitutional and obligate Arizona to follow them (seriously...). They're also using all our tax dollars here suing - well, suing US, the People.

Tuesday, March 1, is International Day to Abolish the Death Penalty, by the way. Here are a few useful resources towards that end:

Coalition of Arizonans to Abolish the Death Penalty

Facebook group
Website

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Causes.com
Website

Amnesty International


Equal Justice USA

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ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
JANICE K. BREWER GOVERNOR
1601 W. JEFFERSON PHOENIX, ARIZONA 85007 (602) 542-3133
www.azcorrections.gov
CHARLES L. RYAN DIRECTOR

Media advisory

For more information contact:
Barrett Marson
bmarson@azcorrections.gov
Bill Lamoreaux
blamorea@azcorrections.gov

Feb. 23, 2011

Execution witness requests

Phoenix, Az – The Arizona Supreme Court issued a March 29, 2011, warrant of execution for inmate Eric J. King, #46518.

Members of the media may submit a written (email) request to witness the execution to the Media Relations office. Each request must include the name, social security number and birth date of the journalist requesting access. Five members of the media will be selected to represent the media pool. The media pool consists of representatives from the AP, television, radio, print and the local media where the crime occurred. Witnesses will be selected 15 days prior to the execution.

The execution is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Tuesday March 29 at the Central Unit of ASPC-Florence. Selected witnesses must be in the media staging area by 8 a.m.

Frontier Violence: Ramses Barron Torres.

Thoughts on how violence in America is received and perceived from my friend at Chaparral Respects No Borders. Read there when you can.

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Tucson Shooting Overshadows Border Shooting

Before Congresswoman Gifford and others were shot in Tuscon, Arizona , 17 year old Ramses Barron Torres was shot and killed by a bullet originating in Nogales, Arizona. There have been no national moments of silence for the apparently unarmed teenager. No memes speculating on the sanity of the shooter(s) or if violent rhetoric played a role. That’s probably because Ramses Barron Torres is Mexican and was shot by U.S. Border Patrol.

These points, made by Maegan La Mala on VivirLatino recently are ones that didn't really occur to me, even though I try to be aware of these sorts inconsistencies on the part of the media as well as the left. The article explores some of the stories around the circumstances surrounding Torres' death. But even if Torres had been throwing rocks, even if he had been on the US side of the border, the shooting was still unjustified. Certainly violent rhetoric played a role in this shooting, as it did in the shooting in Arivaca a year and a half ago.

Border patrol agents, like cops, get away with shootings and other violence on a regular basis. Even Ramos and Compean who were sentenced to prison for shooting at a man on the border (he didn't die), got their sentence commuted by Bush. It will be interesting to see what comes of this shooting. Either way, though, the outcry (as it is reported by the media as well as how it is coming across on the part of activists) is not nearly what it is in response to this shooting in Tucson. Yes, it is different that it was so out of the ordinary and that it was several people who were shot at once, but just because immigrants already live in a state of fear for their lives does not mean it's any less painful or traumatic.

Posted by chaparral at 2:07 PM Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Deputy shot; AZ Militia plans"Cinco De Ammo."

From Stephen Lemons' blog, "The Feathered Bastard," at the Phoenix New Times. The rally last night in Phoenix to legalize medical marijuana (a ballot initiative petition drive is underway) was timely; if pot was legalized for all and we could buy it at a pharmacy or grow our own, we could do a lot to boost Arizona's economy and tax base, and cut down on all the crime that accompanies drug-smuggling.

As for this story, we'll see how it plays out, but it looks like it's going to just be uglier than it already was. How it was determined that these guys are "possibly undocumented" - except that they are "Hispanic" - is unclear, and asserting that assumption alone at this particular time disturbs me.

I've read and heard other accounts of what happened with this deputy. It's too bad this guy was following these suspects so long in the desert alone, or they might have caught them and avoided gunfire. Since they were on foot, you'd think he could have gotten back-up with helicopters and everything before they even had a chance to spot and fire on him - especially if they were lugging a bunch of marijuana with no vehicle (how did he know what they had?).

Not that I don't believe the deputy's account; it's just a considerable amount of conjecture has been embedded in the "news" reporting of it. It doesn't appear as if he was actually able to check his suspects' documents or cargo while they were shooting at him. Reportedly, they fired about 20-30 semi-automatic weapon rounds before taking off.

I'm boycotting drug cartels, by the way, because of the violence - and would like to add to that list Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and all the other pharmaceutical pushers that exploit patients, torture animals, and kill third world "subjects" for profit, while depriving others of life-saving treatment if they can't make a buck from them. If medical progress via pharmaceuticals is a gift from God, those guys have absconded with something that belongs to all of us, and they hold our sick and dying loved ones for ransom every day. I know; I pay.

More Americans died for lack of ability to pay for health care last year, by the way, than were killed by undocumented immigrants, but you don't hear Russ Pearce or the Arizona Republican Party naming our dead as they push bills to "protect" us through the legislature - or championing our right to life.

Instead, they hoard resources stolen from the public in private tax shelters, cut more children, elderly and disabled people off of health care and social services, brutalize the teachers for protesting them, and criminalize anyone who disagrees with them. In my book, that makes the Arizona GOP both fascist and anti-American - and far more of a threat to the ordinary Arizona resident's survival than the drug cartels.

Anyway, as Lemons points out, SB1070 would have done nothing to prevent the incident with this deputy, nor would it have prevented the murder of the rancher a few weeks ago. Repealing it can prevent a considerable amount of violence being done to Arizona's Latino community, where even long-standing citizens are learning that it's never safe to call the cops.

Never mind that violence rates along the border have in fact remained flat for the past ten years. Every Latino-looking male in this state, today, is a suspect in this deputy's shooting, of course, and is presumed, as usual, to be in the US illegally. The Minutemen and militia extremists, (what a bunch of nuts. Just for the record, I saw no "feral foreign invaders rioting" at the capitol this week) and nativists like Shawna Forde (who murdered a Latino family several months ago) are going to pick up on this incident with delight and use it as an excuse to perpetrate more violence against the rest of us, be it with their laws or their guns, or both.

Arizona Militia units are on "Ribbon Status" now, by the way, and they've called for citizens to go out and buy five boxes of ammunition to celebrate "Cinco de Ammo" on the 5th of May. Those guys are scarier than the cops. Some might even BE cops. What could they possibly be planning to do with their guns and ammo? Are they going to shoot us all in the streets for resisting their right-wing rule?

The hell with them. They are deeply disturbed. Those people do not stand for America; they only stand for themselves. In any event, I'm with the guy who says "I'm Mexican. Pull me over", and am still going undocumented. We have to stop these people here.


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Pinal County Sheriff's Deputy Shot By Suspected Drug Runners/Illegal Immigrants

By Stephen Lemons, Friday, Apr. 30 2010 @ 6:57PM

A Pinal County Sheriff's Deputy was shot and wounded today by suspected drug runners smuggling an unknown quantity of marijuana through the desert.
The Pinal County Sheriff's Office identified the injured Deputy as Louie Puroll, 53, a fifteen year veteran of the department. PCSO spokeswoman Lt. Tamatha Villar said that Puroll was doing well, and had been transported to Casa Grande Regional Medical Center for treatment.

She described his injury as a "grazing wound" on the left side of his body above the kidney. Puroll identified the weapon as a high-powered assault rifle, possibly an AK-47.
Puroll was on patrol in the desert when he came across "five Hispanic males, possibly undocumented" transporting a load of marijuana.
He also saw two long gun rifles on them, according to Villar. They fired on Puroll. Puroll returned fire, but is not sure if he hit the suspects.
A manhunt is underway, with Pinal County being joined by the Border Patrol, MCSO, Arizona DPS, the Casa Grande Police Department, and other agencies. Villar said there was no vehicle involved. The men were on foot.

Fortunately, Puroll was not killed or injured more seriously than he was, but you can bet that this incident will become a battle cry in the ongoing debate over SB 1070, Arizona's new immigration law.

That law would have done nothing to prevent an incident like the one today. Nor would it have saved the life of southern Arizona rancher Rob Krentz, who was murdered, many believe, by drug or human smugglers.

But that won't matter for the debate, as we soon shall see.