Got an FOI response almost three years late... a short thread

The Defund Cville PD campaign recently received multiple videos of an incident that took place on November 15 -16 (11:47p-after midnight) a Black man was assaulted by University and Charlottesville Police Department officers outside of the Sheetz convenience store on the Corner.

The victim, who was never arrested or charged with a crime, had to go to the hospital to be treated for their injuries.

Eyewitness account of the incident are as follows:

“I ran to the corner as I heard someone scream in pain and saw the cop lights.

When I got there, there were three officers pressing Lawrence into the short brick wall in front of Cohn’s on the Corner. It was visible that his ribs were being pressed into the brick.

Quickly those 3 cops became about 15 and the situation continued to escalate. They pulled Lawrence’s feet from underneath him slamming him into the floor as 4 cops pressed their knees into his back and ribs.

Witnesses and Lawrence’s wife continued to ask why he was being detained and say that he did not do anything.

Back at Westminster Magistrates’ Court this morning attempting to monitor a call over hearing in the case of @wikileaks publisher Julian Assange. This is the last such hearing scheduled before the extradition decision will be given on 4 January.

Thread. 1/

The goal posts for access constantly shift at this court, in a completely arbitrary manner. We are currently being told by a court official that no journalists will be allowed in (told they can access the Cloud Video Platform) and only two people can access the public gallery. 2/

At times, even under Covid measures, four journalists have been allowed into the well of this same courtroom, and five people into the public gallery. Two in total today is completely arbitrary. We’re told the access restrictions are the judge’s decision. 3/

We’re hearing that two seats in court are being held for @AusHouseLondon, so we circle back to the same issue as the “VIP” seats held in the September proceedings at the Old Bailey, when these “VIP” diplomats never took their seats, but they were held back from the public. 4/

Again, the only way for professional NGO observers to access these hearings (and do our job) is in person, as the court will not give us remote access. This is not only a barrier to open justice, but the court is creating unnecessary Covid risks as London heads towards Tier 3. 5/

Cuomo releasing private personnel documents of the woman who accused him of sexual harassment moments prior isn’t just retaliation, it’s a warning.

This is the man who opened a corruption commission then closed it when the evidence led to him, he has a lot hide.

Cuomo is a man who renamed a bridge after his father with the intent to use it as a campaign boost with his name, even as his own CNN host brother told the world he shouldn’t because his dad would have hated it.

Cuomo is a man who is sitting on billions in funds meant for our starving public schools, ignoring a court order to distribute it to schools while handing tax cuts to his Trump donors. Even COVID didn’t change his mind.

When Trump decided not to provide PPE, Cuomo chose twitter and CNN cameras in a tough guy act and got nothing while other governors worked quietly to create a buyers coalition and cornered the market to purchase PPE from under Trump successfully.

While New York had among the worst COVID outcomes of any other state, Cuomo spent his time writing a book about how he single handedly defeated it. That was when he wasn’t giving his rich donors a pass while they killed New York’s seniors in nursing homes.