I think zack zappone makes a really good point about the jail not being a solution to unhoused people having nowhere to go. I'm curious why @zackzappone.bsky.social voted to make it a misdemeanor to not have a place to go in Spokane. Also, what the fuck is a flex bed between mental health and jail?
We are raising funds to help with the travel costs for incarcerated journalist Kwaneta Harris' children to visit her for the first time in a a decade. Kwaneta is a former nurse, business owner, and expat, now an incarcerated journalist and Haymarket Writing Freedom Fellow, from Detroit. In her writing, she illuminates how the experience of being incarcerated in the largest state prison in Texas is vastly different for women in ways that directly map onto a culture rooted in misogyny. Her stories expose how the intersection of gender, race, and place contribute to state-sanctioned, gender-based violence.
Kwaneta has spent years of her life in solitary confinement, unable to contact her children even via phone calls for long stretches of time. Because her family lives in Detroit and Kwaneta is incarcerated in Texas, it is extremely costly and difficult to arrange in-person visits. This fundraiser seeks to help offset some of the costs of travel so that Kwaneta can see her children for the first time since 2015. The photo on this fundraiser was taken during the family's last in person visit in 2015. To read Kwaneta and her daughter Summer's incredible co-written piece on solitary confinement, click here.
Summer I was only four months old when my mama got arrested. That’s what my grandma told me. For most of my life, she’s been just a voice on the phone or a character in stories others tell me. I’ve only seen her twice in person that I can recall. The first time I was 4, but that memory is so hazy I can’t tell if I’m really remembering it or just reciting what others have told me about that day. The second and last time, in October 2015 at 7 years old, is when I truly remember seeing her face-to-face. Mama somehow managed to hold all three of us: me, my sister and my brother by our hands at the same time. But her eyes stayed on me the longest. My siblings look just like her, but I’m my dad’s twin, so I guess she was trying to memorize my face. We were getting to know each other, and I remember telling her she “talked like a white girl” because her voice sounded different in person than over the phone. Then everything changed in January 2016. Mama was put in solitary confinement, and she stayed there until just recently, when I turned 16. We had been talking on the phone daily—me in Michigan, her in Texas—and then it all just stopped. No explanation, just silence.
Grandma was crying all the time. My sister started acting out, getting involved with boys and being bullied at school. Nobody really explained what was happening, they just said, “Mama’s in the hole.” I was only 8 years old then, and I thought she was literally living in a hole in the ground. I would lay awake at night worrying about how she ate, where she slept, how she went to the bathroom. That’s when my stomach problems started. Everything I did in my daily life, I’d wonder how Mama was doing the same thing in that hole. Was she cold? Could she see the sky? We were supposed to visit Mama every year. Her friends and other people would pitch in for the trip. But suddenly we couldn’t go because “she’s in the hole.” I started thinking maybe she didn’t want us to come because they might put us in holes too. I couldn’t talk to anyone about it because we weren’t supposed to tell people where our Mama was. I still don’t understand why me, my grandma, my brother and my sister all had to be punished too. They definitely succeeded at breaking our family apart. I had relatives on my dad’s side who were in Michigan prisons, and they came home on the weekends. Some of them even called home when they were in “the hole.” I didn’t understand that Texas had different rules. I was angry and convinced myself that Mama didn’t want to talk to me. We didn’t have phone calls anymore. Once, after years of silence, Mama called very late at night, grandma woke me up … but when I got on the phone, Mama thought I was my sister. That really hurt me, made me feel invisible.
When our community is disappeared locally — disappeared from life into prisons — people on both sides of the bars are punished.
Holing human beings away does nothing to help society, heal community — and it disrupts their families, their loved ones, their children.
Here's a chance to mitigate harm
@kwanetaharris.bsky.social has a fundraiser that's live with the goal of raising funds for her kids to come see her in person for the first time in a decade.
You can support her and her family here:
www.gofundme.com/f/bring-kwan...
Americans want universal healthcare, not national guard troops in our neighborhoods.
You cannot be “America First” while treating Americans like our communities as though we need military intervention.
We must not give into the urge to hate each other, our neighbors, family and friends.
Yes we need to remove all politicians who only serve billionaire class and big business.
Spokane needs to remove @mayorspokane.bsky.social Lisa Brown, Jonathan Bingle, Michael Catchart, Betsy Wilkerson, Zack Zappone for serving Big Business.
No matter what party they claim, all screw the 99%.
It's horrific. That saying 1 death is a tragedy, 1 million a statistic.
These are all human beings who are in government "care" and deserve basic human needs met.
Not dying is the lowest bar possible and we are failing our #LocalDisappeared even that.
We are failing them their lives. #FreeThemAll
Yes! @fivefourpod.bsky.social discusses why the Supreme Court sucks and their latest episode discusses LA's ICE protests (we had them in Spokane too #FreeTheSpokane9).
They've been bribed by billionaires to legislate from the bench in taking away our rights. Why accept it?
bsky.app/profile/meze...
Spokane's lucky to have journalists for the 99% striving to accurately document the increasing violations and horrors the government is inflicting on everyone, especially our BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ friends.
This means they're funded by us too: rangemedia.co/support-us/
rangemedia.co/everything-w...
This is why Spokane Police (with Spokane County Sheriffs, ICE, and Idaho Police) SEPARATED, ROUNDED UP, AND DELIBERATELY GASSED JOURNALISTS including @rangemedia.co 6/11.
They used this time to violently beat and arrest nonviolent Spokanites protesting the illegal abduction of our community.
For comparison, when they violently squelched the ICE protest 6/11, SPD said they had 185 officers, Sheriff's Dept had 50, Idaho brought at least 10 cars worth, ICE had agents, and there was at least 1 helicopter.
All to ensure the detention and transfer of 2 legal immigrants who committed no crime
Agreed. The Billionaire's Supreme Court continuously rules against the 99%'s rights & is not a balanced check. @fivefourpod.bsky.social has great episodes about how how the SC is legislating from the bench and codifying a police state without human rights.
Why are we listening to 9 bribed people?
Several courts have ruled that extreme temperatures in prison violate the Eighth Amendment’s provision against “cruel and unusual” punishment. But these rulings have not led to a widespread adoption of air-conditioning or other methods to cool prison facilities or prevent heat-related deaths. Public health researchers at Brown University estimate that just one day of above average summer temperatures is associated with a nearly 4% increase in prison deaths. Suicides spike 23% in the three days following a heat wave. And for every 10 degrees above the average summer temperature, prison deaths increase 5%.
An illustration by Avalon Nuovo for the Marshall Project colored in orange and yellow scale. The warm colors evoke feeling hot. A man is folded almost in half, crammed inside a box. His head is oriented to our left and his feet are planted to our right. He is massaging or perhaps just holding his head with only the fingers of his right hand. His knees are squeezed to his chest. His left arm is folded across his body, hugging his knees, leaving his hand to brace against what is, in our view, the bottom of his cage. The man looks uncomfortable, hot, and pretzel-ed around himself. The art evokes feelings of claustrophobia and over-heating.
We need "a widespread adoption of air-conditioning...to cool prison facilities."
"Just one day of above average summer temperatures is associated with a nearly 4% increase in prison deaths."
This is inhumane. America's current prisons and criminal legal system is inhumane.
#FreeThemAll
"I know it’s too hot in my prison when prisoners start checking into suicide-watch cells in our medical area. People employ various excuses, but most know they do it because the infirmaries have air conditioning."
bsky.app/profile/pjal...
The Constitution and Bill of Rights are meant to protect our freedoms. But what good are those rights if the government can violate them now, and you’re forced to wait months or years for your day in court?
Which is how we know we can course correct this ship. This isn't over.
Spokane has community experts such as Jewels Helping Hands and Justice Forral testifying constantly at council meetings who we need to listen to.
We are all affected. We can and should all band together. Don't give up. /4
Spokane has @rangemedia.co who has extensively documented the (increasing!) criminalization of people who can't afford homes by City Council and @mayorspokane.bsky.social.
Property owners including 4th gen heirs Cowles family have requested this & police state.
rangemedia.co?s=homeless /3
not only criminalizes poverty crimes (can't afford to sleep indoors, can't afford an apt w/plumbing and sinks and toilets), but creates a jailed workforce of even legally cheaper forced & dehumanized people.
Billionaires stole so much $ through un-livable wages, they've stolen homes and futures. /2
The French don't allow their government employees take advantage of the 99%. Billionaires pay government works to enact laws criminalizing more and more of the 99% while enriching themselves.
Demand this stops at your city's officials. Act local, think global.
Spokane criminalizing homelessness /1
I don't understand. Are you saying we should give up because corporations run our country and criminal legal system?
All Americans have lost so many rights, yes it's upsetting. But that ship can be changed. Rights must be demanded. Act locally for our City elected officials.
The American government was never meant to be more powerful than its citizens. The Constitution was written to establish limited government, with checks and balances to prevent any one branch or person from becoming too powerful.
Preston McCollam is Haskell's hand picked successor.
He has been working for just as long as Haskell and was promoted under Haskell to Chief Deputy Criminal Prosecutor.
Haskell didn't step down until AFTER deadline for Spokanites to vote for replacement, so McCollam could be acting Prosecutor.
bsky.app/profile/jdle...
Whole thread here but what the fuck. As far as I can tell there was absolutely no reason for SPD to think there was some kind of threat in this woman's apartment. Even for SPD why would they go straight to kicking down the door. These cops need to be fired (and prosecuted)
Also: Spokane Prosecutors' negligence are to blame.
Larry Haskell refused to ever prosecute any killer cop in over a decade.
Preston McCollam, Haskell's hand picked successor, seems he will continue Haskell's racist, pro-violence tradition.
Without accountability, SPD kills indiscriminately.
Absolutely.
They knew Joshua from previous contact. They knew he was mentally ill. The Behavioral Health Unit wasn't on scene. They knew Joshua was talking to no one and smoking a joint. They knew neighbors were present.
If anyone did this, it'd be murder charges. But bc it's SPD, no discipline.
Absolutely no reason. They did not believe anyone else was a threat, just a man who was talking to no one and was shooting his BB gun earlier, outside.
Every cop involved in killing Joshua is active duty, back on the job.
Valencia, who tried kicking down a random door, has no disciplinary action.
Video begins at 1646:07 and shows Ofc Lesser driving his patrol vehicle. He arrives on scene at 1647:30 and enters the complex via the Cora Ave entrance. He contacts officers at the bottom of the stairs leading to apartment #. After a plan is made to contact Musselman's apartment, Ofc Lesser accompanies a group of officers as they walk up the stairs and into the apartment. Ofc Lesser assists Ofc Valencia in clearing the hallway, closet and bathroom then returns to the kitchen. Ofc Lesser drags Musselman fully into the kitchen, performs a frisk for weapons and assists in providing medical aid, placing a chest seal over the injury to Musselman's left chest (1653:07). He places a second chest seal over the injury to Musselman's left back (1653:23). Ofc Lesser begins performing CPR on Musselman at 1654:16. At 1655:19, Ofc C Lesser passes off chest compressions to Ofc S Lesser. Fire personnel arrive on scene and take over CPR at 1656:14. At 1700:31, Ofc C Lesser began chest compressions, taking over for fire personnel. At 1702:45, Ofc C Lesser stopped compressions, handing off duties to fire personnel again. Medical aid continued to be provided until death was pronounced at 11716 (sic) hours. Ofc Lesser remained in the apartment until medics left, at which point he left the apartment at 1719:05, walking to the base of the stairs and contacting other officers.
Mayor Lisa Brown CALL 509-625-6250 Spokane City Council Betsy Wilkerson City Council President Phone: 509.625.6258 Email: bwilkerson@spokanecity.org Michael Cathcart City Council, District 1 Phone: 509.625.6257 Email: mcathcart@spokanecity.org Jonathan Bingle City Council, District 1 Phone: 509.625.6275 Email: jbingle@spokanecity.org Paul Dillon City Council, District 2 Phone: 509.625.6254 Email: pdillon@spokanecity.org Lili Navarrete City Council, District 2 Phone: 509.768.6738 Email: lnavarrete@spokanecity.org Kitty Klitzke City Council, District 3 Phone: 509.625.6291 Email: kklitzke@spokanecity.org Zack Zappone City Council, District 3 Phone: 509.625.6256 Email: zzappone@spokanecity.org
Joshua was shot numerous times at 1646. He did not receive any help for almost 10 minutes. And then only after he was frisked and dragged.
If you don't want to live in a world where police kill indiscriminately, USE YOUR POWER and contact your representatives.
A plan is made to make contact with Musselman's apartment and together with numerous other officers, Ofc Valencia moves to the stairwell and begins moving up. At 1651:17, Ofc Valencia vocalizes that he sees a rifle. At 1651:31, Ofc Valencia advises he sees Musselman and continues up the last flight of stairs and into the apartment. An officer is heard announcing "Police, Police, Police! If you're inside, make yourself known!" Ofc Valencia enters the apartment and turns left, clearing a hallway, a closet, and the bathroom. He then returns to the kitchen where officers are seen continuing to ensure the apartment is clear. When the apartment is declared clear, Ofc Valencia says "let's start with the medical stuff." Numerous officers begin providing medical aid to Musselman, who has been pulled into the kitchen to provide more room for treatment. As aid is being provided, Ofc Valencia identifies potential bullet defects in the edge of the counter below the kitchen sink. At 1657:37, Ofc Valencia leaves the apartment and returns to the parking lot. He walks out to Post St where he contacts Sgt Gonsalves. His camera is deactivated at 1659:43. A second video beings at 1715:36 and shows Ofc Valencia walking across the parking lot of the complex. He proceeds up the stairs to apartment # and contacts the resident. The resident shows Ofc Valencia the damage from likely projectiles penetrating into her apartment from apartment #. He requests a corporal for photos. He has a discussion with the resident and looks for a projectile before leaving the apartment and contacting other officers at the bottom of the stairwell leading to Musselman's apartment. He deactivates his camera at 1728:37.
15 minutes of missing footage while still on scene. Another 2 minutes without sound, as it takes that long after starting video to record audio.
"Let's start with the medical stuff" after waiting until someone says Joshua is down, waiting to climb stairs, waiting to clear hallway, closet, bathroom.
