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Tag Archives: NewYork
68-year-old veteran killed in his home …by Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr.
Below is an email from Kenneth Chamberlain Jr., whose father, a 68-year-old veteran of the U.S. Marines, was killed in his home by the police in White Plains, NY, on November 19, 2011. Kenneth created his petition on SignOn.org, a new site that allows anyone to start their own online petitions. You can read more about his father’s death here.
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Dear MoveOn member,
On November 19, 2011, my father, 68-year-old Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., was shot and killed in his home in White Plains, New York.
My father was a 20-year veteran of the Westchester County Department of Corrections and proudly served the United States of America as a Marine. He stood about 5 feet, 9 inches tall, and he suffered from a heart condition.
The events that led to his killing began around 5 a.m., when his medical alert device was accidentally set off, sending a call to the City of White Plains Department of Public Safety. Everything that happened after that was recorded by an audio device installed in my father’s home as part of his medical alert system.
When the police arrived at my father’s home, he and the staff for his medical alert service told them that there was no medical emergency and asked them to leave. And yet they insisted that my father let them into his home, banging loudly on my father’s door for over an hour. On the recording, the police can be heard calling my father a “nigger.”
Ultimately they broke through his apartment door and first shot him with a Taser. He was wearing nothing but boxer shorts when the police began their assault against him. Shortly after that, he was shot with two 40-caliber rounds and killed.
My family is asking the Westchester County District Attorney to bring a criminal indictment, and we call on the United States Department of Justice or the New York State Attorney General to prosecute this as a hate crime.
Will you sign our petition? Click here to sign and please share with your friends:
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=273615&id=38418-17809870-UNjravx&t=3
The petition says:
This petition is regarding the upcoming grand jury hearing in the case of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., an unarmed elderly black citizen who was shot to death by the White Plains Police Department.
This case not only brings into question the policies and practices of this department; but it is an open question whether it was inevitable, particularly in light of the audio tapes and video tapes witnessed by Mr. Chamberlain’s family members and attorneys where racial slurs and expletives were used before ultimately shooting him twice in the chest and killing him.
It is imperative that those tapes be made available to the grand jury, and that all other evidence be presented as well. I am concerned that secrecy so far—for example, the names of officers involved have not been released—bodes badly for transparency in this case as it moves forward. Nor am I aware of any public statements about the case from elected officials calling for openness.
Members of Mr. Chamberlain’s family and community—and a much wider circle of people who need to know there is fairness in the criminal justice system—seek reassurance that, no matter what the verdict, the process has been open, honest, and just.
We, the undersigned, implore Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore to no longer allow police misconduct, brutality, or criminality to happen in this community and ask that these officers be indicted and charged with murder and civil rights violations.
Will you sign the petition? Click here to add your name, and then pass it along to your friends:
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=273615&id=38418-17809870-UNjravx&t=4
Thanks!
–Kenneth Chamberlain Jr.
The text above was written by Kenneth Chamberlain Jr., not by MoveOn staff, and MoveOn is not responsible for the content. This email was sent through MoveOn’s secure system, and your information has been kept private.
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Shocking moment at GOP debate — fight back!
When audience members booed an openly gay soldier at last month’s GOP presidential debate, my heart dropped to my feet.
It was offensive enough that the audience would jeer one of our service members. But that none of the presidential hopefuls on stage stood up for this brave young man? Unconscionable.
And they say they want to be Commander-in-Chief.
These candidates lend a megaphone to a shared platform of hateful attacks on equality. We see them every day from leaders of the religious right all the way down to a New Jersey schoolteacher’s ugly Facebook tirade earlier this month. But there’s no slur too small for us to call out – and no lie too large for us to tear down.
And that’s where you come in, Carmen. You and I and all straight allies can stand up to these right-wing attacks and create a safer world for the LGBT community. Help us fight back by becoming a first-time HRC member before MIDNIGHT TOMORROW.
With less than 48 hours left to our deadline, we’re still 142 new members short of our goal – and we need your support now. Don’t wait any longer – please join today.
There’s a groundswell of support for equality lighting up our country, but dangerous, hateful talking points are still far too commonplace. GOP contenders are pledging to reinstate “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and fight for a constitutional ban on marriage equality.
Every statement from the National Organization for Marriage and every speech by the head of the American Family Association drips in anti-LGBT anger – from calling equality supporters “anti-marriage goons” to labeling homosexuality a “threat to public health.”
Hurtful, bigoted words like these get beamed into living rooms across the country and plastered across Facebook.
School administrators, teachers, and students take them as license to discriminate and to bully. Athletes take them as a sign that it’s okay to use anti-gay slurs. And Republican leaders in the House of Representatives use them as reasoning behind their multi-million dollar, taxpayer-funded court case in support of the Defense of Marriage Act. We can put an end to the hate, but not without your help. Will you fight back with us now?
We want you with us. Become an HRC member today to help defend our victories and build a world free of right-wing discrimination.
Time and time again, HRC has relied on a simple belief: equality is a right that should be afforded to all. It’s why you and I are part of this cause – and it’s what propels us through victories and setbacks. Thank you for everything you do to support this simple yet profound purpose.
For our future,
Joe Solmonese
President
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No child should be afraid to go to school …Joe Solmonese, Human Rights Campaign
It’s more evident than ever: discrimination and hate aren’t reserved for far right politicians and pastors.
Last month at The Master’s School outside Hartford, CT, a model student told school administrators she was a lesbian – and was immediately told to withdraw.
And just last week in New Jersey, a special education teacher publicly tore into gays and lesbians in a hideous tirade on Facebook, calling homosexuality “a perverted spirit.”
It’s all happened in the last few weeks around National Coming Out Day, a time to encourage openness – not intimidation, discrimination, or hatred.
If incidents like these make you want to stand up and say “No more!” you’re not alone. Since we launched our new Call it Out campaign, HRC supporters have written hundreds of thousands of letters holding people accountable for discrimination. To ramp up our efforts – from the airwaves to red state communities to the halls of Congress – we need 500 new members to donate in the next 5 days.
Join HRC now and fight back against the hatred polluting our classrooms and our communities. Help us reach the ambitious goal of 500 new members in just 5 days.
, we’ve made remarkable progress together in the last few years. From repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” to boosting awareness of bullying, to winning marriage equality in New York – our movement has only grown in its victories.
But opposition to LGBT rights continues, and it isn’t relegated to the far-right fringe. You and I are up against mainstream, powerful organizations like the Catholic Church, whose top U.S. bishop just sent a letter to President Obama threatening a “national conflict between church and state of enormous proportions” if he continues to stand up against the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act.
I won’t stand for these damaging attacks, and I know you won’t either – certainly not when lives and livelihoods are at stake. I’m counting on you to help us:
WWW.HRC.ORG
* Demand school policies that protect students, just as we did this week when HRC supporters like you sent 49,619 letters to The Master’s School asking that they adopt a non-discrimination policy;
* Continue to push New Jersey school officials to investigate teacher Viki Knox for her anti-LGBT Facebook rant;
* Mobilize red-state communities to fight for equality and help stop bullying through our “On the Road to Equality” national bus tour; and,
* Grow our Welcoming Schools program, which helps school communities embrace family diversity and reject harmful bullying and name-calling.
We need 500 new members to help us create a better world where fear and hate are no longer the dominant discourse – and we need you in the next 5 days. Join us now.
Your gift today sends a powerful message. This is very much a battle worth fighting, and I’m so grateful to count you among our supporters.
Thank you for being part of this movement,
Joe Solmonese
President
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we only need 12 more people from Washington
Hundreds of straight allies have already stepped up to help us fight the radical right and to protest the anti-LGBT witch hunt they want to start. We’ve extended our deadline to join HRC until midnight tonight because we’re so close to our goal of signing up 2,000 new members – and I know you can help us fight back, Carmen.
We just crunched the numbers, and we only need 12 more people from Washington to join HRC right now to hit our goal. I hope you’ll pitch in.
Stand with us now. Until midnight tonight ONLY, you can join HRC for $20 – a 43% discount – and still receive a cold cup tumbler as our thank-you. We’re offering this discount because we want to be able to count you as a valued member at this critical time.
Still on the fence? Well, the radical right isn’t sitting back on its heels. In just the last few weeks, several of the GOP presidential candidates have signed onto a pledge to support a constitutional ban on marriage equality – and to launch a commission that will investigate pro-equality advocates like you and me for “harassment” of anti-LGBT antagonists.
We can call out disgusting lies like these and fight back, but only thanks to our members. If love is going to conquer hate and tolerance is going to overwhelm prejudice, it’s going to take the true commitment of straight allies at moments just like these.
Take a look at Joe’s note below and then make your membership gift now.
– Ann Crowley, Membership Director, HRC
Be a Seed for Change 
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