Thanksgiving at the Potters House

Officer Kurtz Still Harassing the Homeless

When Officer Kurtz came around the corner onto 17th Street off Columbia Road, he saw three homeless men looking in the trash can.  To me it looked like they were looking for food, and they were hungry.  To officer Kurtz, it looked like they were hiding something in the trash can, never mind that the trash can came almost to their chest, and their coordination for retrieving anything inside the trash can was limited.

Officer Kurtz stopped the 3 men and made them wait until he checked the trash can with a flashlight he took out of his top pocket.

 He then looked around the corner on Fuller Street to see if he could find something suspicious to pin on the three men he stopped.

 A crowd gathered across the street, complaining that Officer Kurtz is against Hispanic people, and he is always stopping someone Hispanic for no reason.

 One of the men who had been stopped asked Officer Kurtz why he was stopped.  Officer Kurtz turned away from him and noticed the Hispanic crowd gathering across the street.

 As soon as he saw the people who knew what he was doing, he got on his bike and left, but not before making a couple of snide comments to the photographer/me.

Officer Kurtz loves to stop people on the street and mess with them, whether he has reasonable cause or not.  His unconventional "policing" has gained him popularity among a few people in the Adams Morgan business community, but it's gained him more detractors among members of the Hispanic Community.  His unconstitutional policing is bad enough, but his verbalized expressions of dislike for certain members of the community should have been cause for worry at MPD a long time ago.  He was removed from Adams Morgan about two years ago, but real estate broker Pap Patrick produced a petition alleged to be signed businesses to have Officer Kurtz returned to Adams Morgan.  It is very likely his behavior will cause the city a lot of money in a big law suit before MPD sits up and takes notice he's more of a liability than an asset in Adams Morgan.

What happened to the homeless men from LaCasa Shelter?

  

Poland Celebrates 30 Years Workers' Struggle & Workers' Rights

On busy 16th Street near Fuller Street, NW, the Polish Embassy proudly displays the symbol of Solidarity, the flag of the Solidarity Union who busted down the "Iron Curtain" in Poland and became an inspiration for many Eastern Europeans to throw off the chains they had been bearing on behalf of the then Soviet Union.

The leader of Solidarinosc was Lech Walesa, who later became a Nobel Peace Prize winner and President of Poland.

While Solidarity celebrates 30 years, it's been 21 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the crumbling of the Soviet Union.  Let's give thanks to the Polish People who played a major part in the ultimate struggle for freedom against a major imperialistic force.

 

Protest On U Street, DC9's alcohol license is the issue

There was a protest at ABRA this morning outside its offices on U Street Northwest.  The Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration is used to protests, but most of them are conducted in a hearing room inside.  Today's protest brought out the press and the MPD motorcycle unit.

                 

By the time I left, it had grown to two people.  

 Both protestors represented the Ethiopian American community and its supporters who called for the demonstration outside the offices of ABRA "to oppose the lack of transpaerency, due process and community input surrounding the reinstatement hearing for DC9's liquor license."

                                  

On the night of October 15th, 2010, a 27-year old Ethiopian American man was chased down and assaulted after he had been put out of DC9, a nightclub at 9th and U.  The man died in the custody of the police.  DC9's co-owner and four employees were initially charged with murdering the man, but later the charges were dropped down to assault and then dropped altogether.

Since this this time, MPD has had a consistent presence in front of the DC 9 nightclub.

When the event happened, Councilmember Graham was uncharacteristicly silent about the crime, which was clearly a crime of violence and hate, about which Graham often stands in front of a camera to pontificate.   There was a quote from the councilmember in the Washington Post, "the owners of DC9 are good people".  However, according to Commissioner Bryan Weaver, when the councilmember showed up at the Ethiopian Demonstration at DC9, he backed away from the Post quote and called for the charge to remain a murder charge.

During the primary campaign season, the owner of DC9 gave Councilmember Graham  a campaign contribution of $600, which exceeded the legal amount by a hundred dollars.  A posting in the Councilmember's file with the Office of Campaign Finance shows an audit requesting evidence the overpayment was returned.    

I am not saying there is any connection with the councilmember and dispersal of justice, or lack thereof,  in the case regarding this protest.  However, the speed in which the criminal case was dispensed of is questionable at least.  Violence in club zones in Ward One is a serious problem, and the continuation of business as usual in the face of this violence begs the question of who the system is protecting.

In defense of ABRA, they voted 7 to 0 to keep DC9 closed because of the continuing tension in the community against the establishment.  

CSOSA Explained As an Action Taker at the Northwest Columbia Heights Neighbothood Association Monthly Meeting

CSOSA stands for Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency.  The people from CSOSA were hosted by the Northwest Columbia Heights Community Association at the St. Stephens Episcopal Church at the corner of 16th and Newton Streets, NW.  The community gathered to learn more about CSOSA's Community Justice Advisory Network (CJAN).  The Network serves as an advisory committee for CSOSA programs.   The CJAN helps identify those concerns;  identify community assets to build community capacity in dealing with the concerns; and develop and facilitate implementation of strategies for community educaiton, prevention and intervention.

Eric Shuler is the Community Relations Specialist for CSOSA.

Ms. Elba Gonalez also from CSOSA explained how CSOSA works with many people in the community.

Two sergeants from MPD's 3rd District substation represented MPD brass.

Wendy Polhouse (sp) and Roger Kemp represented the community prosecutor's office from Third District.

Officers Whittaker and McKoy spoke about  their program for young girls at the Third District Precinct.

Tony Lewis is a job developer for CSOSA.  He is tasked with the education and training of ex-offenders.

Calvin Rolark(r), Councilmember Graham's Chief of Staff, spoke about his experiences of trying to get a job after getting released from incarceration.

Del McFadden was introduced.  He works for the Columbia Heights Shaw Neighborhood Family Collaborative with young people in a program called Weed and Seed.

Cecelia Jones is the president of the Northwest Columbia Heights Neighborhood Association.  Cecelia brought the program to a close with a big thanks to everyone who came, and they all sang happy birthday to US Attorney Wendy P.