Moore police chief responds to man’s death at Warren Theatre

February 19, 2014

Moore police chief responds to man’s death at Warren Theatre

Wife says MPD is responsible for husband's death

By Michael Kinney The Norman Transcript

MOORE — Nair Rodriguez said her husband, Luis Rodriguez, was killed by members of the Moore Police Department.
According to the Norman resident, her husband didn’t try to fight the police or give them reason to attack him, but they brutally beat him to death Friday at the Warren Theatre in Moore.
Nair said video from her cell phone and video from the Warren Theatre, once released, will prove her accusations.
“It will prove my husband was murdered at the scene by five police,” Nair said. “I’m desperately screaming for the government to stop hiring criminals and give them license to kill anyone. We are human beings.
“This has to stop one way or another. Being violated. And we have to speak out. If my husband died in a very vicious way, this cannot be in vain. We’re going to fight. Then I can go to my corner and cry all day long for the husband of 22 years they took away from me.”
Moore Police Chief Jerry Stillings hosted a press conference Tuesday afternoon explaining where the investigation stood and that he was giving his full support behind his officers.
“I know these officers and I know their hearts,” Stillings said. “I don’t feel they would approach any situation with ill intentions. It is my intention and my duty to thoroughly investigate this incident. Collect all evidence, conduct all interviews and turn over a full and thorough investigation to the Cleveland County District Attorney’s office.”
During his 30-minute press conference at the Moore Community Center, Stillings detailed what led the MPD to stop Luis on Friday at the theater and why he felt it took three members of the police department and two off-duty Oklahoma game warden officers to restrain Luis.
Rodriguez was at the theater when an argument broke out between Nair and his daughter, Lunahi Rodriguez.
According to Stillings, the two on-duty MPD officers were already at the theater on an unrelated call. They were advised by patrons of a physical fight by other customers.
“Mr. Rodriguez made statements that led officers to believe that the fight was a case of domestic violence,” Stillings said. “Domestic violence is a serious situation. Officers are obligated to investigate all matters of domestic violence.
“The altercation between the members of the Rodriguez family, which was recorded by the eyewitness, made this situation a criminal matter. Officers tried to explain the criminal nature and situation to Mr. Rodriguez and he was uncooperative.”
At that point, according to Stillings, Luis tried to leave and took an “aggressive stance.”
“When the officers attempted to detain Mr. Rodriguez, at which time Mr. Rodriguez tossed the officer off his arm, the additional officers assisted in an attempt to detain him. Mr. Rodriguez was continuing to be uncooperative. At some point during the attempt to detain, pepper spray was used by an officer,” Stillings said.
Stillings said the officers didn’t use batons or weapons at any point during the altercation. After gaining control of Luis, the officers used two sets of handcuffs linked together because of his large size, Stillings said.
The officers called for the EMS, who were already on scene due to a previous incident. Stillings said the response was in moments and Luis was taken to the hospital less than a block away, which is where he died.
“As far as the altercation, an independent witness has stated that they observed the incident and never observed a beating occur,” Stillings said, “but did see officers attempting to grab Mr. Rodriguez’s limbs to get control of him. It was described as officers trying to get an out-of-control person under control.”
Stillings said the investigation is still ongoing and that the three MPD members are on administrative leave. To his knowledge, none of the officers have ever been accused of using excessive force.
After the conclusion of the press conference, Nair arrived at MPD to pick up her cell phone, which officers at the scene of Friday’s incident had taken from her.
“They took the video without permission,” Nair said, “without a search warrant. I understand they have to have a search warrant to obtain it. But they were looking and illegally took it from my daughter’s hands. I’m sure of what I saw. I’m sure of what I record.”
According to Stillings, the phone was taken to preserve the evidence and the chain of custody. After obtaining a search warrant, the video was copied by the MPD.
After retrieving her phone, Nair was escorted away and didn’t speak to the media again. Melissa Lujan, the attorney representing the family, said they wouldn’t show the video of the alleged beating at this time.

Nair said she hasn’t had time to completely process everything that has gone on. Now she just wants justice to be served.
“(My message) isn’t just to (the) Moore Police Department,” Nair said. “Unfortunately, this is one of many cases going on across the nation. They do not have the license to kill. They have the license to protect.
“They swear under God to protect our community. We are more afraid and scared of the police than we are of the criminals because at least with the criminals, we have a chance to prove they were after us. But with the police, they have the authority and the power.
“They are the Goliath of the system,” Nair continued. “We are still the David. But David, at the end, defeated him with one stone. Lies will come, but the truth will prevail.”

More Video here:  http://www.normantranscript.com/headlines/x1196445040/Moore-police-chief-responds-to-man-s-death-at-Warren-Theatre

Nair Rodriguez said her husband of 22 years, Luis, was trying to calm her down after she slapped her daughter when he was stopped by police

Incident took place February 15 outside Warren Theater in Moore, Oklahoma   

Mrs Rodriguez and her daughter claim three cops and two security guards kicked and punched the man until he lay motionlessness and bloodied

Wife recorded beating on her cell phone by police seized it as evidence 

Three Moore cops have been placed on administrative leave pending internal probe

- See more at: http://www.vadailynews.com/national/32221-woman-calls-for-justice-after-police-beat-her-husband-to-death-in-front-of-their-daughter-in-a-movie-theater-row.html#sthash.f9WzzsYN.dpuf

Nair Rodriguez said her husband of 22 years, Luis, was trying to calm her down after she slapped her daughter when he was stopped by police

Incident took place February 15 outside Warren Theater in Moore, Oklahoma   

Mrs Rodriguez and her daughter claim three cops and two security guards kicked and punched the man until he lay motionlessness and bloodied

Wife recorded beating on her cell phone by police seized it as evidence 

Three Moore cops have been placed on administrative leave pending internal probe

- See more at: http://www.vadailynews.com/national/32221-woman-calls-for-justice-after-police-beat-her-husband-to-death-in-front-of-their-daughter-in-a-movie-theater-row.html#sthash.f9WzzsYN.dpuf

Nair Rodriguez said her husband of 22 years, Luis, was trying to calm her down after she slapped her daughter when he was stopped by police

Incident took place February 15 outside Warren Theater in Moore, Oklahoma   

Mrs Rodriguez and her daughter claim three cops and two security guards kicked and punched the man until he lay motionlessness and bloodied

Wife recorded beating on her cell phone by police seized it as evidence 

Three Moore cops have been placed on administrative leave pending internal probe

- See more at: http://www.vadailynews.com/national/32221-woman-calls-for-justice-after-police-beat-her-husband-to-death-in-front-of-their-daughter-in-a-movie-theater-row.html#sthash.f9WzzsYN.dpuf

Two dozen countries with a higher minimum wage than America’s

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/two-dozen-countries-with-a-higher-minimum-wage-than-america-s-162113410.html

By Rick Newman February 26, 2014 11:21 AM The Exchange

The debate seems to be intensifying over whether the U.S. minimum wage is too low, too high or just right. But compared with the minimum wage in other countries, it’s nearly the lowest in the developed world.

Earlier this month, President Obama signed an executive order raising the minimum hourly wage for new federal contractors from $7.25 to $10.10, fulfilling a promise he made in his State of the Union speech to hike pay where he could without the approval of Congress. That move affects a very small percentage of people, but it could generate momentum for a broader effort to do the same thing nationwide, as one bill pending in Congress would do.

Even so, the U.S. minimum wage has fallen far behind what other countries pay. Data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development shows the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour ranks 26^th out of 27 countries, when measured as a percentage of the average wage in each of those countries. Canada, most European nations, and Asian powerhouses such as Japan and South Korea all have a higher minimum wage, relative to average pay. Here’s a chart showing the data for 2012, the latest available,with the second bar from the right representing the United States:

Minimum Wage as a Portion of the Average Wage

Source: OECD

On a dollar basis, the U.S. minimum wage is slightly above average when adjusted for differences in purchasing power among countries. That puts the U.S minimum above the wage in Japan and Spain, plus less-developed nations such as Poland and Turkey. But even by that measure, it’s still below the minimum wage in Australia, the Netherlands, the U.K. and several other countries.

No matter how U.S. pay levels compare with those in other countries, the minimum wage is a combative issue here at home, with advocates for business arguing that raising the wage will threaten profits that are already thin, leading many firms to hire fewer workers. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently found that raising the minimum wage to $10.10, as one Senate bill would do, would lift 900,000 families out of poverty but also cost the economy 500,000 jobs. One pro-business TV commercial warns that raising the wage will compel more businesses to replace human workers with tablet devices and other technology.

But some economists feel the threat to the economy is overblown. “Arguments that lifting the minimum wage will cost low-income workers their jobs are significantly overstated,” writes Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics. “While raising the minimum wage has probably eliminated some jobs for very low-skilled workers, this loss has been marginal.”

Outside of Washington, there’s less controversy over the issue. About 20 states already have a minimum wage that’s above the national average. Retailers such as Costco (COST), Whole Foods (WFM) and the Gap (GPS) have said they’ll set wages above the federal minimum, because it reduces employee turnover. Polls show that three-quarters of Americans favor raising the minimum wage. Even 43% percent of small-business owners — who, in theory would have the most to lose if the minimum wage went up — support hiking it.

A big part of the problem with the U.S. minimum wage is that it’s not indexed to inflation — the way Social Security is — so instead of rising automatically as living costs go up, it requires an act of Congress every few years to raise it. That generates repeated political tussles such as the one brewing in Washington now. Ten U.S. states do index their minimum wage to inflation, as do several other countries.

The Senate bill, which Obama supports, would raise the minimum wage to $10.10 in stages over two years, then link increases to the rate of inflation, eliminating the need for future votes on the issue in Congress. Most Congressional Republicans oppose the bill, but it could still pass if a handful of Republicans join most Democrats in voting for it.

Last year Obama called for hiking the minimum wage to a mere $9 an hour, before he signed on to the more aggressive Senate bill and signed the order raising contractor pay. That suggests a possible compromise could emerge on a nationwide minimum wage — at some level lower than $10.10 — allowing Republicans to claim a modest victory.

Still, Congress is a place where national priorities go to die, so it’s also possible the United States could end up 27^th out of 27 before long.

Rick Newman’s latest book is Rebounders: How Winners Pivot From Setback To Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman.

ANOTHER Right Wing Slander Debunked: Presidential Vacation Costs

http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/another-right-wing-slander-debunked-presidential-vacation-costs/question-2355535/

As our economy continues to improve, as President Obama's public support continues to go up, as the President ably smacked down the latest attempt of the Teabaggers to hold the American economy hostage, the lies and slanders about President Obama coming out of the Right Wing media have surged. Understandable, of course, given the growing certainty of President Obama's re-election, but I have to say, it's getting to be quite enjoyable to repeatedly burst the bubbles of the Make America Fail crowd and then watch them scurry to come up with new lies to back up their old ones. The latest example of Right wing pathetic desperation are their attacks on the President's well earned vacation. Lost in the shuffle is the fact that not only was President Obama's predecessor the most incompetent and corrupt man ever to serve as President, but also the laziest.

Merry Christmas, Make America Fail Crowd. We'll keep the country safe in spite of you.

Article excerpt follows:

Bush Spent 5 Times More On Flights To Texas Than Obama‘s Christmas Vacation Costsby Jason Easley
Those who criticize the cost of Obama’s Christmas vacation don’t want you to know that George W. Bush spent at least $20 million taxpayer dollars just on flights to his ranch in Crawford.
The right wing has been outraged at the four million dollar plus price tag for Obama’s family Christmas vacation, and they constantly hold George W. Bush up as an example of how thrifty a president should be when going on vacation.
The problem is that W. wasn’t thrifty. He was the most expensive vacation president in US history. Not only did Bush spend more days on vacation than any other president, but he used Air Force One more often while on vacation than any other president.
During Bush’s two terms, the cost of operating Air Force One ranged from $56,800 to $68,000 an hour. Bush used Air Force One 77 times to go to his ranch in Crawford, TX. Using the low end cost of $56,800, Media Matters calculated that each trip to Crawford cost taxpayers $259,687 each time, and $20 million total for Bush’s ranch flights.
If cost of the flight was the only expense involved to taxpayers Bush’s vacations would still seem rather economical, but there is more, much more. Unlike the Obama’s $4 million Christmas vacation price tag, which includes the cost of everything from transportation to accommodations for the First Family, the White House staff, and the White House press corps, Bush’s numbers only include the cost of flying the president to Crawford. The cost of transporting and accommodating staff, media, friends and family is not included in Bush’s vacation numbers.
In response to growing criticism that the president was on vacation too much, the Bush administration adopted the Rovian tactic of scheduling, “work events,” while the president was in Crawford so that they could claim that President Bush’s vacations were working vacations. During his infamous pre-9/11 August vacation, the AP reported that, “Using the ranch as a base, he will promote White House initiatives in Rocky Mountain National Park, Denver, Albuquerque, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and San Antonio.”
Bush’s “working vacations” cost taxpayers a small fortune in travel costs because President Bush and his staff would make day trips on Air Force One all across the country in order to counter the criticism that he was on vacation too often. For eight years, Bush essentially used Air Force One as his personal vacation taxi service.
What was also not counted in Bush’s Air Force One mileage total were the vacations where Bush flew to Crawford from Camp David such as the following via Media Matters:
In a December 27, 2001, Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Sun-Sentinel article (accessed via Nexis), national correspondent Jeff Zeleny reported “[a]fter spending Christmas at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, the president and first lady boarded Air Force One to travel to their ranch near the village of Crawford.”
And on December 26, 2007, The Associated Press reported that Bush took “Air Force One to fly from his Maryland mountaintop retreat to his Texas ranch here to see in the new year.”
FactCheck.org was writing about the anonymous chain emails about Obama’s travel costs and noted in July that the stories about Obama’s travel expenses are, “part of continuing pattern of false and misleading claims about the travels of the president and the first lady,” and that Obama used Air Force One less in his first two years in office than George W. Bush did.
That same pattern of false information about Obama’s travel costs relative to Bush’s is also rampant on right wing blogs, websites, and Fox News. The cost of Obama’s Christmas vacation is a good example of how right wing media can take a small fact like vacation costs or the number of Americans paying taxes in a single year and build an entire misinformation campaign around it.
The total cost of Obama’s Christmas vacation may be $4 million, but George W. Bush spent exponentially more taxpayers dollars, because he used Air Force One for political purposes in an attempt to distract the public from the amount of days that he was spending on vacation. In flights alone just for himself, George W. Bush spent five times more money flying just himself to Texas than Obama is spending on an entire Christmas vacation.
It is likely that the Bush administration spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on vacations, but the false outrage machine is on overdrive due to one Obama Christmas vacation.
By not including the cost of everything, the Obama bashers distorted the numbers to make it appear that Obama was lavishly spending taxpayer dollars on vacations, but a look inside the numbers reveals that nobody knows how to waste taxpayer dollars quite like the GOP.
Merry Christmas, Republicans. Here’s to another false Obama smear debunked.

Read More: http://www.politicususa.com/en/cost-obama-christma...

for Some Truth is Their Fear

Like any Cleansing Rain - the Worms come out from hiding - Exposing themselves who they really are, who they always have been and always be - they deny truth that is before them - because they are scared of truth - they ONLY know fear- however, before any Victory, you must Know your Enemy - Knowledge is Power - Truth over Fear - with fear - you can blame others - with truth, you become  responsible what to do with it - so for some maybe Truth is their Fear.
 -Stacy Burke

Who they Really are - via Randi Rhodes

Everyone knew it would happen - One of the jurors on the Dunn trial is speaking out. It’s a juror who wanted to convict, so she is essentially telling the world "we weren’t all idiots." As it turns out, very few of them were idiots, but then it only takes one. In this case, at first two and then three jurors refused to convict on the murder of Jordan Davis. So at one point, 10 out of 12 jurors wanted to do the right thing. That’s actually not too bad for a state that elected Rick Scott governor. However, jury verdicts have to be unanimous. So it’s really hard to come up with a correct and unanimous verdict in a state with so many idiots.

In his jailhouse phone calls, killer Michael Dunn compared himself to a rape victim. Of course, I’m waiting for the phone call where he compares what happened to him to the Holocaust. Among rightwing professional victims, the three basic touchstones are to compare your situation to the Holocaust, to rape, and to slavery. It’s the victimhood hat trick.

Ever wonder what the 1 percent do behind closed doors? A reporter went undercover to a gathering of a Wall Street secret society in 2012. It turns out that "The Wolf of Wall Street" was soft pedaling what really goes on. 200 of the richest investors in the world got together to eat foie gras and perform sketches mocking the 99 percent. And we thought they didn’t even know we existed! They not only know about us, they find our struggles hilarious!

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is running for governor, is out campaigning with Ted Nugent. That's right after Nugent called President Obama a nazi-relate slur, a "subhuman mongrel." But I’m sure there were other reasons that Abbot wanted Nugent aboard than just that.

The state of Kansas, having failed to pass their law legalizing discrimination against gay people, is now pushing a law to allow harder spanking in schools. I’m not sure what they’re after—they just seem determined to hurt somebody! The bill allows up to 10 smacks hard enough to leave marks and bruising. My God, it sounds like some sort of rule book for whippings in the British Navy in the year 1800.

Call Randi today at 866-87-RANDI (866-877-2634)
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It's always best to give credit where it's due and the team at The Daily Show - especially Jessica Williams - nailed how screwed up the Michael Dunn trial is, and how pissed off some Americans are. If you missed her awesome rant, check it out:

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook

7 Things Republicans Would Be Shocked To Learn About Ronald Reagan - By Zack Beauchamp

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2014/02/06/3258121/reasons-tea-party-hated-ronald-reagan/

“Happy birthday to Ronald Reagan!” Senator Rand Paul (R-TX) tweeted on Thursday, swiftly followed by his Tea Party compatriot Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). While praise from this sort of Republican on what would have been President Reagan’s 103rd birthday isn’t surprising, it is somewhat ironic. Though Reagan was extremely conservative (often terribly so), he bucked the sort of hardline conservative line the Tea Party has become synonymous with repeatedly throughout his career in politics. Here are 7 Reagan moves that may well have led to his excommunication from today’s Republican Party if he were alive today:

1. Paved the way for Obamacare

CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons

Reagan’s health policy previewed Obamacare in three major ways. First, Reagan signed Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), the law barring hospitals from turning away patients on grounds of their insurance or citizenship — a preview of Obamacare’s ban on insurance discrimination against individuals with preexisting conditions. Second, Reagan doubled the size of Medicaid over the course of his presidency to pay for all of those new uninsured patients — a huge Obamacare-style Medicaid expansion. Third, Reagan pushed something called Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs), which essentially had the government set the prices Medicare was willing to pay for each Medicare admission rather than pay for reimburse doctors per cost. DRGs cut Medicare costs by $49 billion by 1986, proving a promising trial for the sorts of Medicare payment reform policies you can find in Obamacare.

2. Amnesty for undocumented immigrants

Immigrant sailors being naturalized aboard the USS Ronald Reagan.

CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons

In 1986, Reagan signed the Simpson-Mazzoli Act, a bipartisan immigration reform bill that created a pathway to citizenship for 3 million undocumented immigrants. Simpson-Mazzoli is now referred to by some conservatives as the “Reagan amnesty,” and came up during both the 2007 and 2013 immigration reform debates.

3. Successfully pushed for an assault weapons ban

Before the National Rifle Association became what it was today, Reagan worked with them to ban guns. Specifically, automatic weapons: civilians were legally allowed to own fully automatic rifles until 1986, when Reagan signed the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act banning them. After his Presidency, Reagan backed the Brady gun law establishing many of the major restrictions on gun purchases today. His support for the 1994 Assault Weapon Ban pushed the ban to its two vote margin of victory — according to two of the Congressmen who made the difference.

4. Grew the federal government, big time

CREDIT: Ezra Klein

Reagan’s record belies his reputation as a huge foe of government. Reagan built a progressive tax system to fund Social Security, and funded the creation of a new federal department (the Department of Veterans’ Affairs). Much of Reagan’s spending, including his defense buildup, was funded by deficit spending. If Obama spent like Reagan, the deficit would be much, much higher.

5. Dealt with Russia to build a world free of nuclear weapons

CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons

Back when there was an actual Soviet Union, Reagan kicked off negotiations aimed at reducing the nuclear threat — negotiations that eventually morphed into the START treaty. In his memoir, Reagan wrote that “[m]y dream…became a world free of nuclear weapons.” After START expired in 2009, its replacement (NEW START) was ratified over the bitter objections of a majority of Senate Republicans.

6. Wanted to make millionaires pay more in taxes

CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons

Reagan despised tax loopholes that allowed millionaires to skate around their tax obligations. “Tax loopholes,” according to the Gipper, “sometimes made it possible for millionaires to pay nothing, while a bus driver was paying ten percent of his salary, and that’s crazy.” It’s crazy, he said, because the “truly wealthy” were avoiding “paying their fair share.”

7. Passed environmental regulations that are now being used to fight climate change

CREDIT: Ron Frehm/AP Images

Make no mistake — Reagan bears significant responsibility for the climate emergency. But he also negotiated the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement got the whole world to clamp down on pollution that was tearing holes in the ozone layer. Today, the Montreal Protocol is being used to clamp down on the technology that replaced the ozone-depleting kind, which turned out to be a fairly significant contributor to climate change.