Judge orders court for Pamela Lawton

By: Paradise Gray


Police Officer Eric Tatusko
Photo: Paradise Gray

- Pamela Lawton stood before Municipal Court Magistrate Charles McLaughlin Jr. accompanied by the diverse group of supporters that have been with her from the beginning including: The One HOOD Coalition, B-Pep, The Blackwatch Movement, Disciples of the Village, The League of Young Voters, The Millions More Movement and The Thomas Merton Center. Ms. Lawton bravely retold the emotional story of the events that took place on August 26th 2006 when a routine traffic stop turned into a terrifing crisis as Ms Lawton testified under oath that Officer Eric Tatusko lost control of himself and pointed his weapon at the head of her 7 year old daughter Joshalyn and threatened to "Blow her brains out" if she didn't stop moving around and making noise.

The first thing that I noticed is that there were many more Officers in the courtroom that morning than usual (they certainly got the memo), and they were real agressive, telling people to take their hats off and be "Quite" in the court. Politeness was out of the question as they barked loud orders at people like they were talking to children rather than adults. Officer Eric Tatusko and Lt. Cindy Windsor showed up with at least 5 other officers. The DA only allowed testimony from Officer Eric Tatusko and Lt. Cindy Winsor who in spite of having since August to prepare, didn't seem to have their story straight.

It was great to finally hear Officer Eric Tatusko and Lt Cindy Windsor's side of the story and in my opinion Pamela Lawton came across as a much more credible person than both Eric Tatusko and Lt. Windsor. Who's credibility is already in question after telling Debbie Todd (The New Pittsburgh Courier Writer who broke this story) that she wasn't even on duty the day August 26th when Ms. Todd first started investigating Ms. Lawton's story. A clear lie as Lt.Cindy Windsor's name was all over the original paperwork. Officer Tatusko said that he noticed that Ms. Lawton's stickers were bad as he drove past her as her vehicle was stopped at a red light, he turned around and followed her in traffic for a few blocks without alerting her by turning on his lights or sirens. He said that he thought that she was speeding but he had no instrument to determine her exact speed and that he had a hunch that she was trying to flee. After a few blocks he was able to catch up with her after Ms. Lawton stopped behind a moving van that was blocking traffic. He then said that he turned on his lights and pulled Ms. Lawton over after approximately 50 feet. He said that he got out of his car and could immediately hear Pamela Lawton screaming at him to "Get Over Here" pointing at the street next to her out of her window, he then called in and reported that he had made a traffic stop and made a request for backup. He said that she continued to scream at him and ignored all of his commands to give him her license and registration and kept demanding that he come over to the drivers side window. He said that she identified herself to him as a police officer so he suspected that there was a weapon in her purse and he then unholstered his gun and pointed it at the ground and made a second call requesting for backup. Officer Tatusko said that when backup arrived at least 3 or 4 officers (including him) had their weapon unholstered.

Lt. Cindy Windsor said that she did not notice that any officers had they're weapons out when she arrived, and that she was attempting to calm Ms. Lawton down and asked her to sit down on the back of the moving truck. She admitted that she threatened to send Ms. Lawtons children to CYF if Ms. Lawton didn't calm down. Mr. Williams asked her what made her think that threatening to take away a mothers children would calm her down? Ms. Lawton answered that Lt. Windsor didn't ask her to sit down on the back of the moving van, Lt Windsor grabbed her by the arm and threw her down against the back of the van.

If I were Nate Harper (the new Pittsburgh Police Chief) or the Pittsburgh DA , I would do everything within my power to drop the charges against Pamela Lawton and charge Officer Eric Tatusko for his crime immediately! Ms. Lawton's Attorney Joe Williams did a great job of exposing doubt in Officer Eric Tatusko and Lt. Cindy Windsor's stories. They tentatively answered his questions and paused at great lengths before answering many times. Eric Tatusko stumbled often by answering questions that the DA objected to before the Judge could even respond to the objection.

Joe Williams also did a great job of breaking down the "Disorderly Conduct" charge, he argued that Pamela Lawton did not break the law as defined by Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes CRIMES AND OFFENSES (TITLE 18) CHAPTER 55.

* § 5503. Disorderly conduct.

a) Offense defined.--A person is guilty of disorderly conduct if, with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, he:

1. engages in fighting or threatening, or in violent or tumultuous behavior;
2. makes unreasonable noise;
3. uses obscene language, or makes an obscene gesture; or
4. creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any act which serves no legitimate purpose of the actor.

(b) Grading.--An offense under this section is a misdemeanor of the third degree if the intent of the actor is to cause substantial harm or serious inconvenience, or if he persists in disorderly conduct after reasonable warning or request to desist. Otherwise disorderly conduct is a summary offense.

(c) Definition.--As used in this section the word "public" means affecting or likely to affect persons in a place to which the public or a substantial group has access; among the places included are highways, transport facilities, schools, prisons, apartment houses, places of business or amusement, any neighborhood, or any premises which are open to the public.

The DA charged Pamela Lawton with additional charges of § 1376 (another traffic/vehicle related charge) and offered Attorney Williams the opportunity to delay to prepare. Ms. Lawton suggested to Mr. Williams that she wanted no further delays and wanted to continue on with the proceedings.

Mr. Williams argued that the charges should be dropped as Pamela Lawton had no "intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, nor recklessly created a risk thereof". Her actions were consistant with one of the most primal instincts of a Mother, and "served the legitimate purpose" of defending her children who were put at risk due to the actions of Officer Eric Tatusko who was pointing his weapon at her 7 year old daughter threatening to "Blow her brains out".

** "What is appropriate behavior for a mother with a gun drawn on her child? Is it a contrived response without a legitimate purpose," questioned Williams. "No, it isn't because there was no intent to cause inconvenience, no fighting or threatening or violent behavior. There was no unreasonable noise. There is no basis for a disorderly conduct." - Joe Williams

In response to Officer Tatusko's testimony that he felt that Ms. Lawton was attempting to flee, Mr. Williams questioned Officer Tatusko that if he had not alerted her with lights or sirens and was so far behind her in traffic how could he make that assumption?

Attorney Williams pointed out for the record that Officer Eric Tatusko was driven from the scene and not allowed to drive himself from the scene in the vehicle that he used to stop Pamela Lawton, suggesting that he had lost control of himself and had to be removed from the scene by the other officers. Mr. Williams also noted that Ms. Lawton lept into the arms of the first backup officer to arrive at the scene and felt that she was being saved from Officer Tatusko.

The DA refused to drop the disorderly conduct charges and reminded the Judge (Municipal Court Magistrate Charles McLaughlin Jr) that Officer Tatusko and LT. Windsor are an employee's of the Commonwealth and that means that the evidence presented "must be taken in a light favorable to the Commonwealth". Magistrate McLaughlin approved the DA's request to send the case to trial on Febuary 22nd, 2007.

This is another example of why the police are unable to investgate themselves, with just a few simple questions Mr. Williams was able to show inconsistancies in the officers stories. Mr. Harper the new chief of police is asking the community to cooperate with the police, however we never get the police to cooperate in cases of police brutality - Minister Jasiri X

*References: Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes CRIMES AND OFFENSES (TITLE 18)

**Lawton hearing held over for trial By Debbie Todd

Additional Info:

The New Pittsburgh Courier
Original Story in The New Pittsburgh Courier

Lawton hearing held over for trial

D27023908755>Citizen Review Board Hears of Pittsburgh Police Misconduct

Pittsburgh Post Gazette:
Woman faces trial for confrontation with police

Woman faces charges after confrontation with police

Mother tells review board about traffic stop, officer pointing gun at child

http://www.myspace.com/paradisegray
http://www.myspace.com/onehoodorg

Midget Pro-Bowl seeks ‘One Hood’

Event promotes unity among all players.

By Deborah M. Todd

Full Story In The New Pittsburgh Courier

The tensions that arise on game day for Pittsburgh's midget football teams often have less to do with team rivalries than ongoing beefs between the team's neighborhoods. With that in mind, organizers decided to use the All-Star game to bring everyone on the same team.

The Housing Authority of Pittsburgh and the One Hood Coalition came together to host the first annual "One Hood Midget Football Pro-Bowl" Nov. 19. While the purpose of the game was to recognize the accomplishments of roughly 320 young athletes from Southwestern Pennsylvania and Allegheny County Midget programs, the event was also meant to promote unity among all players.

"It's important they stress the fact that we're all from one community and we need to begin breaking down barriers between us," said Richard Morris of the Housing Authority.

"We hope some kind of bond or friendship will come about," said Bob Poston, president of the Midget Football League. "Hopefully, through this, we can stop some of the violence."

Understanding that it would take more than a single football game to unite young people used to being adversaries on and off the field, Morris reached out to the One Hood Coalition to help spark a dialogue between them.

"They asked us to come in to do a workshop to engage young people in conversation about popular culture and how (it) influences daily decisions," said Paradise Gray of One Hood.

The Nov. 17 workshop invited young people from throughout the community to join the more than 400 youth football attendees to a community forum on violence prevention. As the youth were encouraged to create alliances with one another despite being from different teams and communities, they were lead by example through moderators from the One Hood Coalition and the violence prevention initiative One Vision, One Life.

"It's always positive when all types of organizations from all the different communities can be represented at one table," said Khari Mosley of One Hood. "It's really important to have groups like "One Vision, One Life" involved, who have been doing a lot of work on the ground for the past couple years. Now there's new organizations like "One Hood" coming into the fold as partners trying to assist a lot of the good work that's been going on."

To pay homage to their efforts in bringing the community together, One Hood was promised a $500 check from the Housing Authority. But for all parties involved with the Midget Pro-Bowl, the true reward came from seeing kids from Homewood to Beltzhoover form bonds that may not have existed otherwise.

"I think it's a wonderful thing that they brought everyone in the communities together," said Marilyn Stubbs of Beltzhoover, whose son Keenan played for the Southwest All Stars. "This last week, his experience has been so wonderful that he's been coming home from practice talking about "Mom, I played with this team and that team I was playing against. We all came together and became as one."



By Deborah M. Todd

Full Story In The New Pittsburgh Courier

http://www.myspace.com/paradisegray

The First Annual “One HOOD” Midget Football Pro-Bowl

The First Annual “One HOOD” Midget Football Pro-Bowl

In the wake of the increase of youth violence in our community, a group of leaders from different organizations have come together in unity to address the challenges by providing outlets to bring young people from different communities together using sports and recreational activities.

The Housing Authority of Pittsburgh is honoring “The One HOOD Coalition” this year by naming the pee-wee All-Star game: The First Annual “One HOOD” Midget Football Pro-Bowl. The games will feature the largest assembly of young talent that our city has ever seen.

The activities begin on Friday Nov. 17th From 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
The One HOOD Coalition and One Vision One Life will host a Violence Prevention Youth Seminar at the Presley Street High Rise 601 Presley St.
(on the North Side behind the Giant Eagle Market).

The All-Star games are scheduled for November 19th at Oliver High School Stadium from 10 am to 5 pm and will include teams from two city leagues and will showcase as many as 320 players from throughout the city. There will be four games featuring players in the age ranges of 7–14 years old and there’s sure to be a future NFL player in the bunch. These children are to be commended for the hard work and dedication it has taken them to become “2006 One HOOD All-Stars”. Please join us in celebrating players from the following areas:

Allegheny County Midget All-Stars The Clairton Bears, Garfield Gators, Hill District Disciples , Homewood Bulldogs, Kingsley Knights, Lincoln-Larimer Big Cats, North Shore Stallions, and The Wilkinsburg Hornets.

South West Midget Football All Stars The Beltzhoover Browns, Braddock Falcons, Hazelwood Cobra’s, 6th Ward Seminoles, and the West Pittsburgh Steelers.

Participating Organizations;

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh:
The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh is the highest quality provider of affordable housing in the city.

Our agency is committed to providing our residents with top notch sell sufficiency programs and youth recreational opportunities. – A. Fulton Meachem Jr. - HACP Executive Director.

One Vision One Life
One Vision One Life Is a violence prevention initiative whose goal is to reduce violence by offering an opportunity to a better life.

Bringing communities together is our goal. Being involved with the midget football league gives us the opportunity to do that. – Taili Thompson

One HOOD:
A pro-active grassroots alliance of young leaders from faith based organizations, community activists, political groups and concerned citizens, “Putting the Neighbor Back into The Hood”.

The League Of Young Voters:
A National organization that empowers 18 – 35 years olds in the civic process by making politics meaningful, relevant and fun.

Our organization always stresses that voting is just one aspect of being an active citizen. We must engage our communities using various forms of activism. Which includes mentoring young people to be positive and productive. - Khari Mosley Reginal Director

The Millions More Movement:
The Mission of the Milions More Movement is to gather the best, brightest and most willing minds to mobilize and organize our people, and to develop short and long range plans and programs for human development.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan teaches, "The more we unify, the more power we can generate to change reality." Our coming together is the first step of a movement that can and will change the conditions of our communities and our people. - Minister Jasiri X


Disciples Of The Village:
A faith based community organization that reminds us that “it still takes a village to raise a child”.

I am excited by the opportunity to provide this kind of outlet for the kids.
This is a great chance to celebrate positive efforts by our youth rather than focus on negative aspects of their lives. - Darnell Drewery

ISLah:
ISLah means the Initiative to Safeguard Life Assets and Honor- it is the outreach portion of
Masjid Nur Uz Zamaan (Light of the Age Mosque)

Organized sports has always been a means to create character in our community when it is not mistaken for personal gain and opportunity. - Luqman abdus-salaam

The BlackWatch Movement:
A National organization founded to fight for the rights of disenfranchised inner city youth, empowering them to use common sense, right reasoning and critical thinking to take responsibility for self.

You can’t just tell young people to say no to this and say no to that, at some point you have to give them something to say yes to. – Paradise Gray

Media contact info:
HACP Community affairs dept. 412-456-5058
rohrerc@hacp.org

One Vision, One Life – Tamera Miller – 412-434-1287

One HOOD Coalition – Paradise Gray – 412-537-1940
onehood@gmail.com

Allegheny County Midget Football - Bob Poston – President - 412-401-8439

http://www.myspace.com/onehoodorg
http://www.myspace.com/paradisegray

HELLOWEEN

It's Helloween night, it's a Hell of a sight
In the hood when the freaks come out at night.
Monsters and ghouls embodied by fools
In the shadows and the alleys of shut down schools
Doing the Devils work carrying the Devils tools.
In waitbands Glocks, to protect Hell's rocks
Snaps and fiends are like zombies as they walk the blocks
The Vampires don't suck necks here, they suck cocks
A buck fifty to your face, snatch your jewels that's fake
looks like Freddie Kruger slashed you, and you was wide awake
or so you thought, the American dream has turned into a nightmare,
nobody fights fair, you have no rights here.
Haunted crack houses missing windows and stairs
Halloween is one long night, 365 days of fear round here.
Devils night, Devils night, What A hell of a night
Get money, get money, there's no wrong or right
Our morals get lost when the money gets tight.
Razor blades in the apples, poison the candy
They give to the children, Devils night how dandy.
Sweet treats to rot teeth or Turn tricks for nose treats,
If you run to the church you'll have to run from the priests
Run to your bedroom, hide under the sheets.
But you'll never escape the evil that's under your bed
Redd up Pittsburgh, Red, Red, Red!

Paradise Gray Oct. 31, 2006
Http://www.myspace.com/paradisegray

I wanna talk to the Mayor, the Governor, the Motherfuckin President

"I wanna talk to the Mayor, the Governor, the Motherfuckin President
I wanna talk to the FBI, and the CIA, and the Motherfuckin Congressman
I wanna talk to you.

Mr. Mayor imagine if this was your backyard
Mr. Governor imagine if it was your kids that starved
Imagine your kids gotta sling crack to survive
Swing a Mack to be live, cart a Ack to get High" - NAS - (I Want To Talk To You)

In the past few weeks the members of the One HOOD Coalition left no stone un-turned while seeking justice for Pamela Lawton and her children. We reached out to the Mayor, the Govenor, Senators, members of the City Council, and even a future Presidential candidate. We have also reached out to Pastors, Ministers, Reverends, Imams, Elders and Community Leaders and everyone within ear-shot of us probably still has a ringing in the ear closest to where we were standing.


Khari Mosley and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl


Minister Jasiri X, Khari Mosley, Bill Peduto, Paradise Gray


Senator Barack Obama, Minister Jasiri X


Bob Casey, Khari Mosley


Lynn Swann, Reverend Cornell Jones

We have demanded that elected officials be accountable to the people who vote for them and have asked them to have the testicular fortitude to step up and challenge a system of justice that is unjust and is attempting to criminalize our youth and railroad a mother who is seeking justice.

It all stems from a case of police oppression that occurred on August 26th, 2006 when Officer Eric Tatusko stopped Pamela Lawton and a van full of children, pulled his gun out, turned off his radio, cocked back the slide of his weapon and threatened to blow a 7 year old little girls brains out if she continued to move around and make noise.

Well Mr. Officer, we are not done making noise! We will continue to keep the pressure on.

On Friday The 13th, 2006 Ms. Lawton was treated like a criminal by being finger printed and photographed, she has had to appear in court again as she is still facing charges of Disorderly Conduct for yelling for help.

I asked sister Pam how she felt being finger-printed:

"I felt degraded, hurt and embarrased because I'm telling the children in the community and at the Shuman Center to obey God, the laws of the land and to get thier education, I tell them to pay attention to the instructions of thier teachers and family. And there I was being finger-printed like a criminal".

"I feel violated because of what that man did this to us, everytime I look across the table at my children I feel like they are still being terrorised and I can't protect them. I couldn't protect my own children from a man who is sworn to protect and to serve us, he has authority and took control over my children after taking it away from me" - Pamela Lawton

On October 24th, the Pittsburgh Civilian Police Review Board authorized a full scale investigation into The Lawton case.

At 7:45 the next morning (October 25th, 2006), Pamela Lawton's supporters braved the winter cold and crowded the Municipal Court Building in the Shadows of The Allegheny County Jail downtown Pittsburgh, PA.

When Pamela Lawton's name was called, nearly everyone in the room stood, approached the bench and stood behind Ms. Lawton and her Attorney Joe Williams. It was a powerfull showing of support that took the entire court by surprise.

In a questionable showing of respect for her peers, an obviously irritated Judge Katleen Bubash went against her own better judgement to throw the case out and allowed a postponement of the case until Nov. 30th, 2006 at 8:00 A.M. at the same Municipal Court Building on 1st ave. (downtown Pittsburgh).

She told us of an tacit (implied) agreement between the court, the DA and police bureau that she and her fellow judges honor, to allow postponements in cases where the police are not actually ready to prosecute. She acknowledged that this was a special case, but she would not treat this case any different than she does any other, in spite of the fact that she was angry that the DA and police were not ready to procede at the moment.

"For judges to have an implied agreement with the police, but no agreements spoken or unspoken with citizens, shows that the justice system is not blind and is biased against regular everyday people". - Minister Jasiri X

"They think that by delaying the case, we are going to give up or ease back. That's not going to happen. It's a state of emergency when our children are put at risk, we are going to continue to pack the courtrooms no matter how many times we have to do it until we see justice done. That's how much we support Ms. Lawton and her children". - Reverend Cornell Jones

"The wheels of justice roll oh so slowly at times. One of those times was October 25, 2006 when so many of us assembled to support our sister, Pamela Lawton. Unfortunately the legal system allows people like sister Lawton to be jerked around. I believe that the judge made the decision which she thought was appropriate, based on past practices of allowing the DA's office to ask for a continuance. The ruling did nothing to allay the fears, frustrations and outright pain being experienced by Pamela Lawton. This is why we CANNOT allow the system to intimidate us, to slow us down or to beat us. Let us rise up and make certain that at least as many people are present on Thursday, November 30th at 8 am, as were present on October 25th. We cannot allow those who are not our partners in justice to just "wait us out!!" - Tim Stevens

We demand that these bogus charges be dropped. We challenge the new "Police Chief Elect" Nate Harper to do the right thing also. Sir, if you truely want to help mend the relationship between the black community and the police dept. we ask that you begin by being a true agent for justice and get the charges against Pamela Lawton dropped immediately. Also suspend Officer Eric Tatusko pending the ongoing investigation, he is a danger to our community and to himself, he should not be allowed to patrol our community with a loaded weapon until it is proven that he is stable and in control of himself. We do not need "a token of racial diversity" Mr. Harper, We demand Justice! Don't tell us about justice, Show us.

Pamela Lawton is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 30th, 2006 at 8:00 A.M. We are calling for everyone who can get to the court to be there 15 minutes early. If you are thinking that you cannot make a difference, you should think again. We should all internalize this situation, you should treat it as if it were YOUR child, YOUR wife or YOU. If you live in the Pittsburgh area there is "NO EXCUSE" that is good enough that you should miss this court date! (Unless of course you are in a coma or ill).

Reverend Cornell Jones commented: "We will organize a Mini-Million Man March and walk up in there that deep if we have to".
Make no mistake about it, We have to.

Please continue to call and email Pittsburgh's Elected Officials and demand that the charges against Pamela Lawton be dropped:

Luke Ravenstahl
Mayor's Office Room 512
City-County Building
414 Grant Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Phone: 412-255-2626
Fax: 412-255-2687
luke.ravenstahl@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
mayorcompl@city.pittsburgh.pa.us

Kathleen Kraus
Acting Director of the Public Safey Department
(OMI)
100 Grant St Room 732
Pittsburgh, Pa 15219
(412)255-2963
kathy.kraus@city.pittsburgh.pa.us

Police Chief Elect Nate Harper
Police Bureau
1203 Western Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15233
Phone: 412-323-7800

Len Bodack
Chairman of the Public Safety Services Committee
len.bodack@city.pittsburgh.pa.us
City-County Building
Suite 510/Floor 5
414 Grant Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Telephone: 412-255-2140
Fax: 412-255-2419

Paradise Gray
One HOOD
http://www.myspace.com/paradisegray
http://www.myspace.com/onehoodorg

The Coverup In The Pamela Lawton Case Is On - SPIN, SPIN, SPIN!

Jill King Greenwood recently scribbled a story about the Pamela Lawton case in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/today/s_474307.html

It is to be expected that the "Right Leaning" Pittsburgh Tribune-Review would spin the story of Pamela Lawton, but Jill Greenwood could have at least been more creative!

Let's take a moment to dissect the hypocracy of Jill Greenwoods selective reporting and carefully chosen words written specifically to shape public perception in the case of Eric Tatuskco who aimed his gun at a 7 year old and threatened to "Blow Her Brains Out" during a traffic stop of Pamela Lawton and a van full of children on August 26th, 2006.

A sure indication of that the way that the media wants a story spinned is to look at the picture that they use of the subjects. The Tribune-Review published a picture of Ms. Lawton that is not very attractive, an old tried and true method used to "color" Ms. Lawton as an "Ugly" person. This tactic and many other dirty tricks that the mainstream media use to spread lies and propaganda are well documented in books such as:
"The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media: Decoding Spin and Lies in Mainstream News"
which is avaiable at: http://www.amazon.com/Habits-Highly-Deceptive-Media-Mainstream/dp/1567511546

Then the tribune-review attempts to use Bill Peduto, who was the first public official to step up and deal with the situation in a professional and caring manner.

"Peduto said he doesn't know whether the allegations are credible."

"Credible" means "believable" or "trustworthy."

We have met with Bill Peduto twice since this incident and he made no such statements to us. The Tribune-Review is attempting to do two things with this statement.

1. You are trying to convince the public that Ms. Lawtons story is not "beliveable nor trustworthy".

2. You are trying to say that Bill Peduto is telling us one thing and you another, which is an attempt to undermine our trust of Bill Peduto.

We have heard no statement from the Pittsburgh police who have historically proven that their stories are not believable and they are most definately not "trustworthy" in cases of police brutality and bulling tactics

Police misconduct in '95 shooting death

Pennsylvania state police cleared in killing of 12-year-old

Pittsburgh police lock up antiwar protesters for 30 hours

The Tribune Review never covered the original story. Never interviewed any of the witnesses (there are more than 6) and failed to mention that Ms. Lawton never received a citation at the time of the incident. She received a summons for disorderly conduct 3 weeks later by mail.

According to the "Trib" Police and OMI officials declined comment, and Tatusko could not be reached for comment.

I would love to hear how they expain the fact the Eric Tatusko never called for backup and why they had to remove officer Tatusko from the scene rather than have him drive his own car that was used to stop Ms. Lawtron.
And if Pamela Lawton was guilty of "Disorderly Conduct" why did 10 police cars worth of Pittsburgh Officers not charge her nor arrest her on the spot? Why did Lt. Cindy Windsor lie to Debbie Todd of The New Pittsburgh Courier when asked about the case, Lt. Windsor said she wasn't on duty that day?

A note to Jill Greenwood and The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

I am a D.J. and a former Break-Dancer, I know a good "SPIN" when I see one!

--
Paradise Gray
Honorary Chairman, Pittsburgh LOC
National Political Hip-hop Convention
Grand Arkitech Of The X-Clan/ BlackWatch Movement
Minister Of Arts And Sciences Millions More Movement
Director Of Almost Home Youth Ministries
Minister Of Information/ One Hood
Http://www.myspace.com/paradisegray
Http://www.myspace.com/onehoodorg

"One Hood" members meet with Councilman Bill Peduto

"One Hood" members met with Bill Peduto on Friday morning September 29th at his office in the City/County building. We were concerned that no elected official nor spokesman for the Police department had made a public statement in regards to the case of Pamela Lawton and her children being detained by Police Officer Eric Tatusko who according to Mrs. Lawton and several documented witnesses; pointed his weapon at Mrs. Lawton's 7 year old daughter Joshelyn and threatened to "Blow her brains out" during a traffic stop in the Shadyside section of Pittsburgh on August 26th, 2006.

"This happened in my district and I'm trying to find out what happened,
I don't know all the facts, but I think that people need to know what's going on. I will be a conduit to all concerned individuals from different communities. It doesn't help anyone for the city to be torn apart or divided because people don't have enough information." - Bill Peduto

Mr. Peduto said that he had spoken to Ex-Police Chief Costa (who just resigned). Mr. Costa said that the Police had started an internal investigation into the matter. Mr.Peduto said that he would also speak to the new acting Police Chief Paul J. Donaldson about the investigation and advised us to reach out to the new acting Chief as well and meet with as many elected City/County representatives as we could.

We made a few suggestions to Mr. Peduto of productive ways of creating more accountability from the Police department to the community:

1. Drop all charges against Pamela Lawton.

2. Suspend Officer Tatusko without pay until investigation.

3. Cultural Sensitivity training for all officers who serve the public in our communities.

4. Better training on de-escalating problems.

5. Give the Civilian police review board more power.

6. Video cameras in police cars.

7. Work with community based organizations to deal with drug situations, crime.

8. Re-establish Community orientated police.


We will continue to be dilligent and keep the pressure on to insure that Pamela Lawton and her daughters receive justice.

In other related Pittsburgh Police news:
According to The Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Allegheny County Sheriff Pete DeFazio confirmed that he was retiring on Oct. 31. The Sheriff's dept. has been under federal investigation for corruption since 2002 resulting in the convictions of Mr. DeFazio's former Chief Deputy Dennis Skosnik and 2 other top Officers for bribery, tampering with a witness, mail fraud, making false statements and money laundering.

Paradise Gray
"One Hood"
Putting the Neighbor Back into "The Hood"

Civilian Review Board Hears of Pittsburgh Police Misconduct

An emotional crowd came out to the Pittsburgh City County Building on Monday September 18/2006, the same night that "Big Ben" Roethlisberger made his 2006 debut for the Steelers. But they didn't come out to swing "Terrible Towels" on this Monday night. They came out to ask questions about why Pittsburgh Police officer Eric Tatusko waved his "Terrible Pistal" in the face of Pamela Lawton's youngest daughter 7-year old Joshalyn, terrorising Mrs. Lawton her two daughters, and two other children aged 2 and 3 years old who were in her car on August 26th, 2006.

I greeted Minister Jasiri X of Pittsburgh's Muhammad's Mosque #22 outside of the City/County building. He introduced me to Mrs. Pamela Lawton, who seemed a little shy and intimidated that we had showed up with so many young people who were very enthusiastically greeting her with hugs and handshakes. We had made a bunch of phone calls and sent out emails making a passionate plea for people to come out and show thier support for the women and children of our community. A diverse group heeded the call and representatives of One Hood, The Disciples of the Village, The BlackWatch Movement, The League of Young Voters, The Millions More Movement, The Black Political Empowerment Project, The Nation of Gods and Earths, The National Political Hip-hop Convention, JPB Inc, IDI Productions, Brotha Ash Productions, The Soul Pitt, Al Nur, Royal Tribe Music, The Community Empowerment Association, Urban Youth Action, The Mental Health Association of Allegheny County and other concerned community members met in front of the City/County Building for a meeting organized by the Citizen Police Review Board.

I suggested that we jay-walk and cross the street directly to the City/County building from the parking lot, Mrs. Lawton said that we should obey the law and wait for the light and cross at the corner. After we crossed the street she pulled Brother Jasiri to the side and told him that she was uncomfortable being in the center of so much attention and controversy because her only intention was to save her daughters life. Minister Jasiri reassured her that all of the people were only there to offer her support, and show everyone that there were black men in Pittsburgh who cared about our women and children. She thanked Brother Jasiri and we proceded to go upstairs to the City County Chamber room.

Mrs. Lawtons supporters stood as she approached the podium and silence creeped across the room as she spoke before the review board about the terror of being pulled over and having her life and the lives of her children threatened at the intersection of Negley and Kentucky Avenue in the Shadyside section of Pittsburgh on August 26th by Officer Eric Tatusko. She became emotional as she described how Officer Tatusko approched the passenger side of her car and drew his pistal and pointed it directly at her 7 year old daughter Joshalyn and told her to get her hands up. Scared by the gun pointing at them while the officer ignored the pleas of thier
mother, the young girls screamed and cryed causing Officer Tatusko to tell Mrs. Lawton that if she didn't tell the kids to stop moving around and screaming he would "Blow her brains out"! Mrs. Lawton explained that she literally begged the officer to come over to the drivers window and deal with her as she was the only adult in the car, but he was focused and continued to point the gun at her daughter and ignored her pleas to put down the gun and take her identification. Mrs. Lawton then began to scream for help with her hands in the air. There are witnesses who heard Mrs. Lawton's agonized screams for help and saw the officer with his gun drawn pointed at the passenger side of the car. Officer Tatusko held his gun on Mrs. lawton and her children for over 20 to 30 minutes and Mrs. Lawton said that she was so relieved when other officers arrived at the scene that she attempted to hug the first one that came close enough, who pushed her away. To make matters worst Lt. Cindy Windsor a female officer separated Mrs. Lawton from her children and told her to "shut up or you're going to jail and your children to CYF". Mrs. Lawton had committed no crime, had no drugs or weapons in the car and neither she nor her children did anything to provoke the Officer to pull his gun.

Mrs. Lawton was not the only person to tell a nightmare story involving misconduct by the Pittsburgh Police, many people black and white told stories of being disrespected, yelled at and in a few cases beaten by Pittsburgh Police officers one lady told of how her 13 year old daughter was beaten up by police and Ms. Tamecia Anderson told a sad story of being handcuffed, arrested, stripped, beaten and shocked with a taser in a holding cell (while 4 months pregnant) by "Zone 5" Pittsburgh Police Officers and Correction Officers at The Allegany County Jail in 2003. When she awakened from being knocked unconscious and held for 3 days, she went to the hospital and was told that she needed emergency surgery because the baby in her stomach was dead. When asked why it took so long to come forward with this information Ms. Anderson responded "I was young and I didn't know who to call or where to go to report the Police. When you get beat up by someone, you call the Police, who do you call when the Police are the ones that hurt you?" I didn't find out about this Police Review Board until today.

I am OUTRAGED! at the actions of the Pittsburgh Police department, I understand that they have one of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in the world, but that does not excuse the kind of behavour that the people spoke of in front of the review board. I am equally outraged at the people who did not come out and support. Some people really had some good excuses, classes, practices, prior engagements, soooo whattt! Would these excuses be worth the words if this was your daughter? Your family? There are no excuses good enough to explain why any man who heard about this meeting and did not show up should not have come. We have been talking the talk forever. It is time to walk the walk.

Freedom is NOT FREE! My Elder Sonny Carson once told me: "Never ask for anything that you can't take". You cannot ask for Freedom! We are reponsible for our women and our children and everything else that happens in our community. Drugs in our community - We are responsible, violence in our communiuty - We are responsible. When are we going to stand up like men and handle our business? We have stood on the backs of our mothers and our women for too long, It is time for blackmen to stand up on our own two feet. Our women must be tired of holding us up. We defend our money with our life, we defend our jewelry, our drugs, our block, when are we going to defend our women and children? We have to clean up ourselves and our community and put the neighbor back in the
"Hood". It is the only way that we will be able to fix our family situations and our relationships with our women. What could possibly be more important than that?
--

Paradise Gray
Honorary Chairman, Pittsburgh LOC
National Political Hip-hop Convention
Grand Arkitech Of The BlackWatch Movement
Minister Of Arts And Sciences Millions More Movement
Director Of Almost Home Youth Ministries
One Hood

America's Original Domestic Terrorist's Are Still On The Job

By Paradise Gray

America's Original Domestic Terrorist's Are Still On The Job

I watched Jonny Gamage killed in Pittsburgh by over-zealous racist Police officers.
I watched the most guilty of the officers who lynched him "Officer John Vojtas" get a promotion and a raise.
I have watched Jerry Jackson shot and killed in a hail of 51 bullets in Armstrong tunnel by a Pittsburgh police officers.
I watched them justify it with lies coverups and red tape.
I watched officers on the scene change their story and tell the truth only to have their boss say that he would not review the case.
I have watched the FBI ransack a local Mosque on they're day of prayer.
I have watched armoured vehicles rolled through Homewood.
There are many other horror stories involving Pittsburgh and surrounding areas racist police officers, some we have heard about, most we have not.
Like what happened in a recent case in which a Braddock man was killed by the police?
The local news is chosing not to cover many of these incidents which seems to be occuring all too often.
I have watched the people do nothing!

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of watching from the sidelines. I will not sit back and watch the Police or anyone else put guns in 7 and 8 year old little girls faces and threaten to blow their heads off! We demand justice. These officers may be above the law that we pay them to uphold, but they are still under God. They still have to answer for it when they step over the line. And the actions of Officer Eric Tatusko was way over the line on August 26, 2006.

If we don't stand up and do something about the conditions in our community how can we even look our women in the eye? Look at what we are allowing to happen to our women and children, we should be ashamed of ourselves. I am not asking that anyone do anything stupid, I'm just suggesting that yall do what men do when their children are at risk.
I'm not asking yall to blow up, just show up. We must organize! If you think things are bad right now in America for our people you aint seen nothing yet!

In the name of "Homeland Security" they are stepping all over "The Constitution" and the Bill Of Rights" daily. Passing mind boggling new laws, bypassing the Geneva convention and FEMA has built over 600 new concentration camps in America, who do you think that they are gonna fill them up with? I just read in the paper the other day that House Speaker John M. Perzel is proposing to spend 4 Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars to hire 10,000 new police officers in Pennsylvania. 1,000 new officers for Allegany County alone, does that make you feel any safer? The local jails are already over crowded and under staffed, where are they gonna put people arrested by 10,000 new Cops? Many of you may think ignorance is bliss, but unlike Cipher (the snitch from The Matrix) reality is gonna come to you no matter which pill you take.. Blue, Red, Ecstacy, Viagra or Eminem's Purple pills.

I am angry right now. I don't think yall feel me, I am mad as hell! But, I am not as angry at the police officer as I am at myself and everyone around me. We have been attempting to organize and motivate others around us, but we are not doing as good a job of putting good people together to combat problems in our communities as we should. I hate reacting to every bad thing that happens to our people, I long for a time when we have our shit together so well that we stop this from happening before it starts. A time that the police department would better screen their officers for drug addition, steroids, greed, corruption, racism and such things because they would fear the repercussions of letting these monsters loose in our communities. As it is they have no reason to fear us, they have physically kicked our asses for over 400 years and we still haven't figured it out yet! We are still trying to make them better, instead of doing for ourselves, patronizing our own businesses building our own schools. Instead we send our children to be educated by the enemy, and when the enemy educates you, you become like him. You become your own worst enemy.

Why am I using such a harsh word as "enemy"? The Government is having a hard time painting us as domestic terrorists, so they have come up with a new term: "Enemy Combatant" and passed a new law: "The Enemy Combatant Law" that will allow them to bypass the Constitution and treat American citizens as they have the inhabitants of Guantanamo Bay. They are now able to arrest American's without proper warrants, without reading them their rights, without giving them a phone call, without giving them acess to a lawyer, they can hold you indefinately without charging you with a crime or even admitting that they have you in custody. Do you understand yet?

Besides, anyone who shoves a gun in the face of a 7 year old child is definately not my friend. One thing I know is that Officer Eric Tatusko surely isn't Officer friendly! He should be suspended without pay immediately pending an investigation into this incident and a peek into his past. Then upon finding him guilty, he should be fired without a pension and arrested for brandishing a firearm, making terroristic threats and disturbing the peace. We should not reward him with a promotion and a raise.

If you are in the Pittsburgh area come out tomorrow!

There is a Civilian Police Review Board meeting:

Monday - September 18th, 2006 - 6:00 PM
City Council Chambers
510 City-County Building
414 Grant St., Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Call: 412-765-8023 to reserve 3 minutes of speaking time.
cprb@city.pittsburgh.pa.us

Everyone who is interested in justice should show up at this meeting, but it should be of particular interest to black men. It is time for us to be responsible for our families and community. So many of us should show up that they should have standing room only and a large crowd outside that can't fit in. All sinners and saints alike should be at this meeting showing our love and committment for the safety of our women and children.

This is what all the fuss is about:

Officer allegedly draws weapon on 7 year old girl By Deborah M. Todd

Full Story in The New Pittsburgh Courier

What was supposed to be a typical drive through a peaceful Shadyside neighborhood, turned into a standoff with a police officer threatening the life of a 7-year old girl, according one local mother.

Pamela Lawton of the Hill District said on Aug. 26, she was on her way to Homewood for a Pee Wee League football game with her two daughters, 7-year old Joshalyn, 8-year old Jasmine, and two other children ages 2 and 3. She said she was driving her green, 1998 Ford Windstar and was approaching the intersection at Kentucky Street and Negley Avenue when a Pittsburgh Police cruiser signaled for her to pull over.

"He was flying up behind me and I stopped immediately because I wanted to stay in view," said Lawton. "I felt like there was something wrong—why would he fly up behind me like that? Plus, I had my kids in the car so it kind of scared me."

What Lawton said happened next was beyond anything her initial fears predicted. "I said, 'What's the problem, officer?' and he said 'Get your hands up,'" wrote Lawton in a prepared statement. "He repeated, pulled out his gun and pointed into the passenger side of the window where my youngest daughter was trying to get her seatbelt off. So, I put my hands up."

According to Lawton, she and her children spent the next 20 to 30 minutes trying to convince Officer Eric Tatusko to put his weapon down or to at least go to the driver's side to address the problem with the only adult in the car.

"The children were in the car screaming and crying," she wrote. "My hands were still in the air and I was screaming 'Help, someone help!' over and over again."

Florence Williams, a resident at the Kitley House Senior Center on Kentucky Street, said she didn't see everything that happened that morning, but she knows she heard the cries for help.

"I happened to hear somebody screaming and I came to my porch," Williams said. "I don't know what the cop was doing because he was on the other side, but she had her arms out the door and she was hollering 'Please, somebody help me.'"

During this time, Lawton says Tatusko refused to take her identification, never told her why she was stopped and never left the passenger side of the vehicle. She said at one point the officer got so angry he cocked his gun and said if Joshalyn moved again he would "blow her brains out."

Full Story in The New Pittsburgh Courier

--

Paradise Gray
Honorary Chairman, Pittsburgh LOC
National Political Hip-hop Convention
Grand Arkitech Of The BlackWatch Movement
Minister Of Arts And Sciences Millions More Movement
Director Of Almost Home Youth Ministries
One Hood
Http://www.myspace.com/paradisegray

Remember, Remember, The 11th Of September!

Remember, Remember, The 11th Of September!

This Predictable Paradox, Previously Presumed Prepared in the wake of Pearl harbor's past. Perplexed Pedestrians Painfully Peeped People Plunge from buildings without Parachutes Prematurely plucked from the pursuit of peace and posterity for what purpose? Pigs packing pistols, protecting Presidents perfectly planned plots, Pundits and prognosticators puke at the preposterous price of gas and oil, Professors of public policy pontificate procedures for Constitutional rights pawned, Promiscuous punks posing as prominent priests and preachers posturing Predators that partake in the pleasures of petite playmates and pedophilia, Proudly I would passionately pound them into the Pitts of the pigs parlor until they perish, along with the prosperous persons who prepaid insurance policies that paid powerful politicians, and pissed on pacified peasants while a plane plummeted in Pittsburgh's perimeter plus penetrated the Pentagon's periphery, Prevailing un-preparedness of Ben Ladens pursuit Personifies the Problem, Perhaps it pleases partisan politics to put into play a plan to provoke Armageddon wars that will plague and perpetually destroy this Planet, Period!

V for Vanglorious!
P for:Paradise Gray 9/11/2006

(This poem was inspired by an idea by the name of "V" from the movie: "V For Vendetta". This movie should be seen by everyone, immediately!)

Http://www.myspace.com/paradisegray

The Prophecy of Hip-Hop

"Government Intelligence" is a misnomer. With at least a 30 some odd Billion dollar budget, the pre 911 "Intelligence" Agencies didn't have a clue about what was going on. In spite of the reports of Arab men at flight schools asking to learn how to fly but not how to land. That was a clue that I would expect the lowest level security guard to alert on. How did they miss that? To borrow a line from Keith Sweat "Something Just Aint' Right". What I do know is that I'm very uncomfortable with the people who have their fingers on the red buttons. I'm no conspiracy theorist but Bush is looking more and more like Senator Palpatine to me
by the day.

Some people may think that rappers are no rocket scientists, but either someone's lying about what they knew or rappers are clairvoyant, because they sure did a heck of alot better job than the government, understanding the danger and possibilities for terrorist attacks on The World Trade Center.

Eric B & Rakim's song "Casualties Of War", released in 1992 on the "Don't Sweat the Technique" album, Rakim says:

"So now I wait for terrorists to attack,
when a truck back fires, I fire back,
I DUCK FOR SHELTER WHEN A PLANE FLYS OVER ME,
REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR? NEW YORK WILL BE OVER G",
Kamikaze, strapped with bombs,
No peace in the East, they want revenge for Saddam".

Equally prophetic and kinda weird is this next one from Busta Rhymes who seems to stay in the news lately.
(Hip-hop Cointel Pro is on you Busta! Be very carefull, you are probably being set up for a big fall).

Busta rhymes song "Against All Odds" from the 1998 album: "Extinction Level Event (The Final World Front)"

Busta's prophecy is two-fold here, a combination of both of the other examples.

First Busta's E.L.E. cd cover features lower Manhattan (the area where the World Trade Center was located) going up in a large blaze of fire, then at 1.19 of the track (911 backwards) - Busta Says:

"DESTROY ANY ARCH RIVAL, OR ANY CHALLENGER,
MAKE YOU REMEMBER THIS DAY NIGGA, MARK IT ON YA CALENDER,
I'm showin' you somethin', you ain't sayin' nothin',
My niggaz make noise like a bunch of volcanoes errupting,
NONE OF Y'ALL NIGGAZ REALLY WANNA WAR,
THE TYPE OF NIGGA TO CRASH MY PLANE IN YOUR BUILDING IN THE NAME OF ALLAH"

No wonder they keep hunting him down like his name was Osama Bin Busta!

And last (but not least), The Coup, their CD cover never got released to the public, however it is still pretty easy to find on the internet:

The planned cover art created in June 2001 for The Coup's "Party Music" album depicts The Coup with an exploding World Trade Center in the background, Coup DJ Pam the Funktress conducts the proceedings with 2 batons as "Boots" Riley handles what looks like a detonator but is actually a guitar tuner. The Cd was released in November 2001 with a different cover after the actual attacks on the World Trade Center.

Could this all just be a coincidence?

--
Paradise Gray
Honorary Chairman, Pittsburgh LOC
National Political Hip-hop Convention
Grand Arkitech Of The BlackWatch Movement
Minister Of Arts And Sciences Millions More Movement
Director Of Almost Home Youth Ministries
One Hood
www.myspace.com/paradisegray