President (To Win Colorado)
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(D) Kamala Harris
(R) Donald Trump
80%↑
20%
CO-01 (Denver)
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(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) V. Archuleta
98%
2%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
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(D) Joe Neguse*
(R) Marshall Dawson
95%
5%
CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
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(R) Jeff Hurd
(D) Adam Frisch
50%
50%
CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado)
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(R) Lauren Boebert
(D) Trisha Calvarese
90%
10%
CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
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(R) Jeff Crank
(D) River Gassen
80%
20%
CO-06 (Aurora)
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(D) Jason Crow*
(R) John Fabbricatore
90%
10%
CO-07 (Jefferson County)
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(D) B. Pettersen
(R) Sergei Matveyuk
90%
10%
CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
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(D) Yadira Caraveo
(R) Gabe Evans
52%↑
48%↓
State Senate Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
State House Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
January 29, 2011 08:35 AM UTC
41 Comments
Hatred will always find an outlet. Am I surprised? Sad to say…no.
I grew up in the segregated south. I have relatives who were southern cops. I was a “long-haired, hippie-freak” who hung out w/degenerates of all races and types. You do the math.
I hope the young man was not permanently scarred by this nasty incident and that your family remains safe and well. Thanks for the diary…this sort of behavior can’t be tolerated.
The young man, on the other hand, had a tremendous presence of mind in the way he handled himself and the situation.
I am certain there are officers within the force that are good and decent and know which fellow officers are the opposite of good and decent. I wish they had the courage to create change within the department while others work from the outside.
The statistics in the article about the DPD and the incidences of abuse and how that ranks the DPD nationally as among the most abusive police forces should be an eye opener. I do not have faith in the department or the oversight groups to bring change.
I was telling Scott yesterday about a cop that pulled me over for running a stop sign a few weeks ago. I actually had a great time with him. We laughed about a few things, he recognized me from Marijuana USA. His attitude was terrific.
However, the issue is Russian Roulette. You never what type of cop is pulling you over and the very human issue of pack mentality affects cops a lot. In other words, their adrenaline gets going and they just jump in. Dog packs do the same thing.
In Denver, it is clear lack of leadship from the top down. I will be calling the Governor on Monday and contacting the family. I will also be contactng every Black organization and asking them why they have not shown the leadership to handle this. Denver has a thug cop problem and it needs to get fixed.
not surprising, and not uncommon
I’m sorry, but since weed is not OK to have in a car ever (much like if your car smells like beer or vodka), I can’t think that it being legal would suddenly make violent racists be, you know, completely different.
This, to me, is another sign you’ve gone around a bend that you may not come back from. You read this story and only saw the weed? Really?
DUI accidents are not coded by substance, but when someone went through, read, and compiled the substances, guess what! The only way alcohol hits the same mark as weed and hard drugs is if you include the accidents when the person was high and drunk. Don’t you think it’s a bit disrespectful to even come close to suggesting that no one has died from weed in this context?
Now onto the much, much, oh-so-much bigger issue… what the hell is wrong with Denver cops? Sonny needs to get his house in order. And fast. Not only did some cop do this, but more showed up to help. No one even bothered to plant a gun on him. I know that sounds like a joke, it says to me they think this is just fine. Holy shit.
The violence shown in Denver police is not a good thing and Sonny does need to get the place in order.
But don’t confuse WLJ with piddly thoughts of a nexus. If pot were legal, all our societal woes would be gone.
http://www.businessinsider.com…
http://www.pasadenastarnews.co…
If pot were legal,
The high out of wed lock births, absent fathers and lack of family support in african american communities would get better,
Inner city urban areas around the nation would enjoy an econommic boom allowing amny african american to rise into the middle class,
Wage inequality would go away,
Asshole cops would become really nice,
Stereotypes and racism would dissapear,
Culturally everyone would heave a sigh of relief that drugs were more prevalent in the country, and
The educational challenges faced by minorities in the States would vanish.
Or, maybe it would just seem that way…
I’m being completely facetious, I know, but so are you if you think making pot legal will solve the african american’s problems in the US.
If only I’d not broken my own rule about her diaries. Oh well, if ifs and buts were sunken putts, we’d all be on the Tour.
Didn’t they used to be better though?
She’s gotten really angry and pissed off over the last year.
When someone is really into a cause, though, you gotta respect, and sometimes poke fun at, the passion…
I’m not really on one side or the other of this debate. Drug laws aren’t really the root of the problem. But at the same time, any laws with arbitrary and inconsistent enforcement will be used to exacerbate economic and social disadvantages.
It’s hard to deny, for example, that actually there would be a lot fewer absent fathers in african american families if drugs weren’t sending so many young men to jail. It’s equally hard to deny that it would create a less hostile relationship between black youth and police officers.
As for the rest, sure, no one action solves all problems.
The cops used cannabis as the reason to search the car even ater the kid handed over the pot. And then the beating began because a Black kid dared to question the cop. So, yeah, all I saw was “weed”. Especially when “weed” is the reason this exact scenerio plays out all over America’s inner cities everyday. Cannabis has allowed law enforcment to absue the minority community for generations.
Explain to me why CU students are not beaten by cops for pot. My alma mater is famous for pot use. Or I am to beleive that no cop has ever smelled pot in a student’s car in Boulder?
This is a very fucked up thing going on here with the DPD, no doubt. But droll is right – legalization won’t mean pot is okay in a car, and racist cops will still use it as an excuse because it will remain illegal in that context, just as open containers are.
Police brutality and racism from the DPD is the issue, because if there are cops who want to go beat up black kids, they can find a whole slew of pretexts to do so. The marijuana in this story is the least important detail.
The same rules would apply. No one is advocating smoking while driving or driving under the influence. However, if you buy a product you should be able to drive home. The difference with cannabis is their is a smell to it.
My point with CU was about all universities all over America. DPD is not the only police department that this is an issue with.
I expect there to be some growing pains with honest cops as they adjust. But unsmoked marijuana (as was the issue with Alex Landau) doesn’t smell like a lit joint, and I think they’ll adjust to that. Hopefully most square citizens will know the difference too, so that the bad ones won’t be able to confuse juries or review boards, if they beat up someone who had unsmoked pot, if they say it all started because they smelled it.
You think it would’ve been different if he’d had a beer?
How about if he’d had nothing at all?
Does the Black Community know you’re running around saying that they’re all weed addicts?
How about that you don’t think they are good enough to go to CU?
That’s a great service you do for your community. Really. Wonderful.
WLJ is involved with medical marijuana and owns a restaurant that, correct me if I’m wrong here WLJ, serves the stuff in the food.
She’s got to get the weed from the grow to the retail somehow…
We do have transport the cannabis from our grow to our kitchen for Simply Pure, which is the name of our cannabis edible company.
8 Rivers is a caribbean restaurant with Denver’s largest selection of Rhum from around the world. No MMJ anywhere near it.
Ironic isn’t it.
Highly recommended – good food and even better rum.
Although, if you knew who I was when I came in there, you’d probably kick me out 🙂
Car, please introduce yourself when you are there. Drinks are on me!
I’m on my way down.
“Hey, I’m Car!”
🙂
… really needs to come to a Pols meetup.
Most of the time they are during times I can’t show for a variety of reasons.
Other times, I’ll admit it, I’m afraid of you guys.
Besides, how do you know I haven’t been there? Maybe I was that guy lurking in the background and rudely interupting the conversations at strange moments…
I think that’s normal. But everyone has been cool, and if there were lurkers at the ones I attended, they did a decent job of being incognito. (I think most lurkers would be unable to help staring too much…)
I can’t see your tv from the hill behind your house.
At 8 rivers – ‘I am Car – you are Car – we are all Car’.
🙂
No fair cashing in on the name, man!
It was worth a try.
Interesting how white cops beat a black kid over pot and you have somehow attempted to turn me into a self hating Black person that thinks my people are weed addicts and should not go to CU, when I am an example of both. A Black professional that prefers cannabis to alcohol and a graduate of CU. You are amazing. This is what I mean, somehow, through exposing what is happening, I am the issue.
The article I posted clearly says Whites smoke more weed, Blacks are arrested more often. Let’s at least try to be intelligent in our responses.
What has you so upset about the legalization of cannabis? And yes, I am EXTREMELY passionate about the legalization of cannabis.
Is that what we’re discussing? Did you read your original article at all?
Why so angry that I’m reading your posts? You said that this kind of thing happens because of weed in the intercity and made it about blacks in particular. You also asked why kids aren’t arrested at CU. I put those two things together and came up with that you think everyone in low income parts of the city (and who are black) smokes weed and don’t live anywhere near CU.
First, oh how I wish you could have kept your personal issues with legalization of marijuana out of this article because at the end of the day, that isn’t what this is about for Alex Landau.
This case is about violent, excessive force being used on a young black man while his white counterpart walks after being coached into signing a statement that backed up the three cops who appear to be attempting to cover their asses.
Spin this any way anybody likes but at the end of the day this is about two things and two things only–excessive force by cops and racial intolerance. The police certainly had evidence of illegal possession and going about it the proper way, could have arrested or cited both Landau and Hunold. Beating Landau to a bloody pulp is a separate issue and is the one that needs further examination.
If a broken nose, a concussion and 45 stitches aren’t considered excessive, if three cops to one unarmed suspect with his face in the curb being beaten with a metal flashlight isn’t considered excessive, then I have to wonder what is considered excessive to the Denver Police Department.
Officer Murr has already been involved in another high profile case of excessive force–why he is still a police officer is beyond me. Like every single profession on earth, there are people who deserve to be fired and do not have the right to keep their jobs for life while a higher power covers their asses for perpetuity.
I hadn’t put that together because common sense suggests that this would happen again and that he would’ve been fired to help prevent it.
I wasn’t going to post this because it’s so disturbing, but since the discussion isn’t even close to the issue I think it’s appropriate.
THIS
is what we’re talking about.
I couldn’t figure out how to do it. Yes, that is the issue we ought to be talking about. The rest just muddies the water and is one more injustice to Alex Landau.
Middle, you are so very correct. I have written about the cop beating issue many times before. I have even commented that in Denver, up until now, the beatings have not been racial or even about pot.
However, what makes this beating a big issue on a number of levels is that two young men were in that car, both had pot and one was beaten and one given a $160 ticket.
This shows the deeper issue of race and law enforcement in this country and the golden ticket that for years has given law enforcement the opprotunity to beat and arrest Black and Brown men. Possession of cannbis.
And WLJ should be talking to every interest group & politician, not just the black ones. Because rampant injustice toward citizens is everyone’s concerns.
It sure isn’t Mayberry RFD anymore. The militarization of our police departments is a trend that has been underway since the 60’s, and needs to be addressed.
This isn’t the America we want or deserve.
Maybe there’s a reason that we graduate 40,000 lawyers a year in this country, and only 8,000 engineers. That, too, should be reversed.
Please stay safe.
a couple of days ago. The media ignored it as much as possible. The Egyptian story has all the headlines.
I would think that 760 could have touched upon it. That station seems just as into making money than truly addressing Denver issues. For example:Mario lives and works from Cslifornia. He and the station don’t want that widely known.
He covers local people more frequently than our other local progressive host, and doesn’t say stupid things like today’s “Obama Administration is using the words ‘Mubarak will not run for reelection’ in an attempt to portray the Mubarak administration as democratically elected”.
It’s not too hard to figure out that Mario’s in PST, though – he keeps screwing up the time calls.
His community is demanding justice.
The march was for Marvin Booker, who was killed last summer.
Nevertheless, the point is that the local meida ignores to a great extent police brutality towards the African-American community. The “liberal” establishment ignores selective enforcement, and problems that many communities in the USA deal with on a constant basis.
It does bother me that Mario doesn’t live in Colorado. Siroa at least moved here. There are plenty of callers who have no clue.