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Keegan Stephan @KeeganNYC 1h1 hour ago
“This #PeoplesMonday is dedicated to #NatashaMcKenna, tased to death in a Fairfax County Jail.”
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CS2Qhf6XIAAnKiQ.jpg
Just for your information, I have just learned that the doctors at the hospital where Natasha McKenna was taken said she was tasered 5 times. Another commenter had said if you look closely she was tased more than 4 times. The death squad was blocking our view with their bodies, but according to Kincaid’s written report she was being punched in the thighs in between taser shocks. She was hog tied and the first taser was shot on the inside of her upper right thigh. We do know they are notorious liars. We don’t know where they tased this poor woman. I wonder if anyone has seen the doctor’s reports. We do know she show up at the hospital with two black eyes nearly shut, a badly bruised body and a finger that had to be amputated. The black eyes were probably due to the beating she suffered prior to this where the jailers where the jailers punched her in the head repeatedly. The pixels conveniently blocked us from seeing this.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CPchfKPUcAAZihZ.jpg
Flood the Drummer @floodthedrummer 27m27 minutes ago
“Activists in Center City PHL demanding justice for #NatashaMcKenna and other women of color killed by police” :
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CPdRzb7XAAEgitH.jpg
KUDOS TO PHILLY! Where the hell is Washington D.C.! This was an horrific crime perpetrated against this helpless woman. Everyone should have been traumatized enough by this video, to be moved to action. Now commenters report that this heinous video is not the original, but an edited version. A few who viewed the “original” video say it was much worse and disgusting. The family did say they believe the video had been edited, because Natasha arrived at the hospital with two swollen shut black eyes. Any evidence of this was conveniently hidden with pixels, under the guise of “protecting her privacy”. What a joke!!!
Kate Larkin @KateLarkin_NYC 1h1 hour ago
“That is how she died. Not ‘excited delirium syndrome.’ via Eric Balaban and @guardian
http://gu.com/p/4ceha/stw #NatashaMcKenna
https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/8a0734322a934a99ba104a076eff5074553bad5b/0_1393_2149_1288/master/2149.jpg?w=620&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&s=f1f3c7b0c69185c3fc3fa202432b3cf0
“Taser International is pushing ‘excited’, a poorly-defined condition into forensics to justify the ridiculously inapproate use of Tasers.”
I think people need to keep in mind that, although Natasha was diagnosis with schizophenria at the age of 12, she still was able to graduate with HONORS from high school.
https://img.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/Mckennagrad.jpg
“Natasha McKenna upon her graduation from W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax. (Family photo)”
I am disturbed that the media and others use this photo and cut off the “Honors” part of the banner Natasha is wearing and also do not indicate it is her high school graduation picture.
Also, one of the sheriff’s reports labeled her as homeless her family lawyer said, but the family lawyer pointed out that she had an apartment and last worked as a dental hygienist:
From February 14, 2015 Washington Post article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/woman-died-violently-at-hands-of-fairfax-county-sheriffs-lawyer-says/2015/02/14/09f4c84a-b3be-11e4-886b-c22184f27c35_story.html
Thank you for this, yahtzee.
Again, it doesn’t matter to these folks, how educated, what one wears, mental stability-instability, income bracket, or gender. BLACK LIVES DO NOT MATTER to them.
Natasha’s honors mean absolutely nothing to them. To white supremacy, she is a nigger.
Powerful sign:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO5mNd3WsAARuxY.jpg
Broadcasting now:
Stop The Wars @sickjew 5m5 minutes ago
Protesters for #NatashaMcKenna show up at Fairfax County police practices commission hearing. Watch live-
https://www.periscope.tv/w/aMdmiTE0ODQ0OTM1fDFZcUpEemdRWHlvS1adeyxCUL-aAOXDm3nkqbN2DkfUyiSa16hojqH0InvG1A== …
ChuckModi @ChuckModi1 21m21 minutes ago
“I just want you to imagine that #NatashaMcKenna is your child” pain & tears are real out here
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO5-C9KWsAAuImb.jpg
NOVACopBlock @NOVACopBlock 27m27 minutes ago
#fairfaxadhoc #NatashaMcKenna
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO59HAeUAAAi6rU.jpg
ChuckModi @ChuckModi1 45m45 minutes ago
“did anyone care that #NatashaMcKenna was naked? It as a cruel reminder of slavery’s past”
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO55ZzpWEAEFAxw.jpg
Kayley Whalen @LenoreGore 46m46 minutes ago
“#NatashaMcKenna was clearly frightened…and she was naked. No one cared about her dignity or even their own”
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO55UGwWoAAYYoo.jpg
Kayley Whalen @LenoreGore 51m51 minutes ago
“I am #NatashaMcKenna. We are all Natasha McKenna…White tears are not enough” #BlackLivesMatter #SayHerName
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO54b95UcAAr5mF.jpg
ChuckModi @ChuckModi1 5m5 minutes ago
It is really the leadership in FairFax County that needs to change” #NatashaMcKenna
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO6DvO1WIAEahx8.jpg
Kayley Whalen @LenoreGore 5m5 minutes ago
“The leadership in Fairfax is the issue, not the policies and procedures” -NOVA Cop Block #NatashaMcKenna #SayHerName
Cat in the hat @captgeocat 2m2 minutes ago
Testimony of Asian American woman. Her son reported a crime, was arrested & brutalized by Ffx County cops. #NatashaMcKenna
More about this woman’s testimony at meeting:
ChuckModi @ChuckModi1 2m2 minutes ago
Woman explains how her son almost died by FairFax cops-And monitor holds “0 Minutes” left sign. SMH! #NatashaMcKenna
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO6HyxfWgAAsK_L.jpg
Kayley Whalen @LenoreGore 3m3 minutes ago
Speaker cries as she tells story of son beaten unconscious by Fairfax Co Police; was no investigation #NatashaMcKenna
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO6IU2nUkAAh78E.jpg
ChuckModi @ChuckModi1
“There needs to be a culture of consequences in the police department” #NatashaMcKenna
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO6JAdJWoAAQ2ja.jpg
ChuckModi @ChuckModi1
“This was sexual assault. This was torture. This was murder. And where is her finger.” #NatashaMcKenna
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO6KCWYWcAARqSQ.jpg
ChuckModi @ChuckModi1
“Where were the women guards?#NatashaMcKenna video looked to me like a gang rape and an execution” #SayHerName
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO6OMsdWgAEfyMs.jpg
Kayley Whalen @LenoreGore 1m1 minute ago
“Black lives are more important than white feelings. Period” #NatashaMcKenna #SayHerName #BlackLivesMatter
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO6PV_tWUAAYYsU.jpg
More from this speaker:
SURJ NoVa @SURJ_NoVa 3m3 minutes ago
“You can’t staff train your way out […] The officers did not see a human being before them.” #SayHerName #BlackLivesMatter #NatashaMcKenna
Erika Totten @2LiveUnchained 4m4 minutes ago
@ChuckModi1 : “You can’t ‘professional development’ your way out of this!” #NatashaMcKenna
Heather ♿ @MissJupiter1957 2m2 minutes ago Missouri, USA
#NatashaMcKenna
@ChuckModi1: Drapetomania = Excited Delirium
We’re just making shit up to justify murder!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO6QdCjUAAEfdLF.jpg
ChuckModi @ChuckModi1 32s33 seconds ago
“The issue of one of respect” man explains his own treatment by police as a black man #NatashaMcKenna
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO6R9IrWUAAipP1.jpg
ChuckModi @ChuckModi1 26m26 minutes ago
“No empathy! That’s the problem. You are laughing and we are dying!” #NatashaMcKenna
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO6NYsWWcAAa3_O.jpg
Thank you so much for this, Yahtz
You are welcome, SG2.
I’m glad you posted a link to one of the speeches on Twitter.
The full video of the Fairfax public meeting of September 14, 2015 has now been posted. Here it is:
https://youtu.be/2m9VH2fvUPY&rel=0
“Published on Sep 19, 2015
The Fairfax County Ad Hoc Commission to Review Police Practices held a public comment session on September 14, 2015. Many of the speakers spoke out against the brutal in-custody death of Natasha McKenna and the decision not to pursue charges against any of the six sheriff’s deputies involved.”
Thank you for this
YW.
Here is my transcript of Erica Totten’s speech:
**Timestamp 55:48 to 1:00:50
-Erica Totten’s speech at the September 14, 2015 public meeting of the Fairfax County Ad Hoc Commission to Review Police Practices:
So what I am bringing to you and to the attention of everybody: If you all have not read the Casual Killing Act of 1705 from Virginia, you need to read this because this is what we are experiencing today. And, it’s not just in Virginia, it is everywhere. And it reads:
This is what we’re dealing with today. This Casual Killing Act of 1705 from this state is specifically showing up in this case for Natasha McKenna.
Her death wasn’t ruled a murder. It was ruled an accident as “if it never happen.” That is a problem for me as a Black woman in this country because Natasha McKenna is me. She is all of us. And, to say that her death is an “accident” and is an “Oops” that you just learn from, I have a problem with that.
And when I have a problem with something, especially when we are talking about systems of oppression, I dismantle that shit. And we all dismantle that
So reports and tears are not enough. They have never been enough. Ray Morrough said he teared up when he watch this video, and yet did not file charges. That’s a problem for me. White tears are not enough. They don’t save us. They don’t.
And, I want to ask everyone on this panel if you could raise you hand if you watched the video, what happened to Natasha McKenna. (majority raise their hands.)
So this is the thing: If watching that, you have to look at that and know there’s no justice here. What they did to her is torture: They had a bag over her head; they tasered her 4 times. This woman was having a psychotic episode. She didn’t know what was happening to her. She had men in white suits groping at her naked body, and she wanted to leave. And, they kept saying, “We’re your friend.” Look at how sadistic that sounds! That is a problem.
So when her mother saw her in a hospital bed with her eyes swollen shut and bruises all over her body, a missing finger, IT’s A PROBLEM!
You have to be able to see that this is not enough. It’s not enough. It is not enough. So do something.
The problem with these reports is that there is no justice.
These reports are given the opportunities to aggressors, to the aggressors to share their version of events, often fabricating stories, blaming the victims for their deaths every time a display of the insidiousness of White Supremacy and systemic racism within the Sheriff’s Department and police departments across this country.
In this reports these deputies referred to Natasha McKenna as an animal, and I quote “She growled.” “She looked demonically possessed.” And, “She showed super human strength.”
So, it is condescending to imply that we don’t read. That is part of systemic oppression. That’s the idea that people have about Black people! We read these reports, so don’t try it! It’s condescending.
(Moderator tries to tell her time is up. Audience, though wants her to continue.)
What I have yet to hear is consequences for police that kill people. Attorney Morrough said that he teared up when he watched the video, and
yet he failed to bring charges for murder. And, instead ruled it an accident and put out a 52 page report on why it was Natasha’s fault that they killed her. Or, in the minds of many who don’t see Black people as human why they had to put her down.
She was shackled, a bag placed over her head. She was tasered 4 times at 50,000 volts. She was fighteded, she was scared, and they had terrorized her for days. They terrorized her for days and THAT IS A PROBLEM.
Todd Faulls 2h
@sciamop
#NatashaMcKenna #BlackLivesMatter
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO099UpWIAA9_ya.png
Megan J. Smith @RepealHydeArtPr May 11
#NatashaMcKenna: you deserved care and compassion. You deserved a full and beautiful life.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CEukHO2UUAELTzZ.jpg
The mentally ill have a right to live and receive the proper care needed. They are not growling savage animals, got dammit!
D.O. @ProvidenceDoug 4h4 hours ago
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/COrrpspWIAQvAqk.jpg
“Mentally Ill Inmates Are Routinely Physically Abused, Study Says”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/12/us/mentally-ill-prison-inmates-are-routinely-physically-abused-study-says.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0
TrueBlackNews @trueblacknews Sep 10
“#NatashaMcKenna Her killers walk free. #blacklivesmatter”
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/COiyucYUAAUELmU.jpg
I can’t watch the video. I can’t. The inhumanity…..
It was devastating to watch the video yesterday. So painful.
I am so in need of some social justice music and spiritual music…I’m grasping for it but I just can’t come up with anything right now.
Maybe someone can post something?
You know, it is dawning on me more and more that it is the reception of the spirituals that make the spirituals powerful…that it is the personal experiences that the Black community brings to their receiving hearts which make for that powerful connection with the spirituals that ignites and lifts souls.
What in the name of God did these people think they were doing? They killed this woman by electrocuting her after they tortured her. They bring her back and she dies a few days later. What did she do that justifies execution? And how many similar custodial deaths are occurring? We have no idea, but if you look at the goon squad that carried this out, it looks like this is how they handle people. And they surely aren’t the only ones.
I’m having difficulty imagining the depth and breadth of what is going on in this country with respect to these deaths. But as cases like this are revealed, the horror is beyond comprehension. What are these places? Cleaner, better equipped versions of Abu Ghraib?
I have to tweet this. Let me get back to my computer
Thank you Liza for articulating so very well what needs to be said.
The horror of it all IS beyond comprehension.
Natasha can’t speak for herself. You have helped her in the pursuit toward receiving justice.
A sign in this photo speaks to this:
“The Dead cannot cry out for JUSTICE. It is the duty of the living to do so for them.”
http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.2034332!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_635/article-protest-8-1204.jpg
Natasha was terrified they would kill her. And they did.
It’s scary. People need to react to this with a message to Kincaid, Murrough and all other conspirators that this will be met with total intolerance. The citizens should be demanding prosecutions and heads to roll. Instead we are met with a silence from mainstream media and mostly silence from Black spoke persons.
Thank you so much for sharing my comment SG…
I have to fight the feelings of frustration that won’t leave me..
Its good.
I hear you, Eli, but despite those feelings, just know you are POWERFUL, Eli. You have a major impact through your words. Keep up your superb work. You are making a difference.
You inspire me with your big, loving heart and example Yatzee…
Your pursuit for fairness and justice is done with so much love…
AMEN!
And you inspire and strengthen me, Eli.
OMG
Natasha, I am so very heartbroken that you were under the watch of people who lacked humanity and did not give you the compassionate care that you deserved as a precious child of God. I hurt knowing the pain, fear, and confusion you felt in that jail from the brutal treatment you experienced.
May you now rest in peace, comfort and joy in the loving arms of the Lord forever and ever.
http://static.wixstatic.com/media/052161_9a78edc995894e388057c64f1c4e7785.jpg
Thank you Lord that Natasha has a home on the other side with You.
That was hard to watch. smh…
I can’t watch it. It’s too much. I won’t be able to sleep.
At the beginning of the video, I was thinking, “Why does it take all of that?” They were all over her, pressing her into that hard floor. The way they lifted her into the chair… OMG! Did you see how they grabbed her head??? Disgusting! How can you treat someone like that?
She wasn’t human to them. They’ve stated she growled like an animal. I weep. It’s too much.
Seeing her lifeless body did me in. Just horrible.
And no justice!
Shaun King @ShaunKing Sep 10
If you want to know WHAT happened to #NatashaMcKenna WITHOUT watching the awful video, read my latest piece here.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/09/09/1419796/-The-devastating-decision-to-not-prosecute-in-the-brutal-in-custody-death-of-Natasha-McKenna …
https://twitter.com/blackvoices/status/642384622479933440
Thanks for posting this important article, SG2.
WhiteSupremacy: the deadly toxic evil sweeping the land.
https://twitter.com/goldietaylor/status/642058736912199680
https://twitter.com/Nettaaaaaaaa/status/642072801113939968
You are right, but thank goodness someone at the jail felt so torn up by this horrific crime they leaked it to the media and disclosed there was a video. Otherwise, we would have never heard about this case.
https://twitter.com/2LiveUnchained/status/641974722637504512
Yup..
https://twitter.com/ThaddeusRussell/status/642086726458982400
https://twitter.com/2LiveUnchained/status/642323436816179200
https://twitter.com/BmoreDoc/status/642140698444197888
https://twitter.com/KeeganNYC/status/642092168669171712
How can this happen? A murder caught on video & cops still get away. Are we a Nation of laws or not? Or is it black people have no rights which the white man is bound to respect?
Police are killing black people #every28hours and DHS monitor those crying out about the injustice. That’s frightening!
What’s so frightening is the deafening silence of those in authority. Where is our Department of Justice?
They are supposed to be investigating. Where are most of our Black spoke persons?
This country isn’t safe for black people.
It never has been.
I know.