– HFT Stock Manipulation Caught On Tape (ZeroHedge, June 4, 2011)
Month: June 2011
20 Facts About US Inequality That Everyone Should Know (With An Update On The Uber-Wealthy And Global Wealth Inequality)
– 20 Facts About US Inequality That Everyone Should Know (With An Update On The Uber-Wealthy And Global Wealth Inequality) (ZeroHedge, June 4, 2011)
Peter Schiff on RT (June 03, 2011): ‘We’re In A Depression’ – Obama ‘Has Put Us On The Road To Ruin’
And the Chinese are walking away …
– China Dumps 97% Of Its Holdings In US Treasury Bills
… and buy gold.
Added: 03.06.2011
US: Labor’s Share Of National Income Drops To Lowest In History!
– Attention Marxists: Labor’s Share Of National Income Drops To Lowest In History (ZeroHedge, June 3, 2011):
Probably the most imprtant secular trend in recent employment data, one that has a far greater impact on the macroeconomic themes than Birth/Death and seasonal adjustment manipulated month to month shifts in the employment pool per either the household or establishment surveys, is the labor share of national income. In a 2004 paper from the St. Louis Fed, the authors make the following statement: “The allocation of national income between workers and the owners of capital is considered one of the more remarkably stable relationships in the U.S. economy. As a general rule of thumb, economists often cite labor’s share of income to be about two-thirds of national income—although the exact figure is sensitive to the specific data used to calculate the ratio. Over time, this ratio has shown no clear tendency to rise or fall.” It would be wonderful if this was true, and thus if the US population really had a stable distribution of income between laborers and capital owners. Alas it is dead wrong. In fact, as the latest note from David Rosenberg points out, the “labor share of national income has fallen to its lower level in modern history – down to 57.5% in the first quarter from 57.6% in the fourth quarter of last year, 57.8% a year ago, and 59.8% when the recovery began.” And here is where the Marxist-Leninist party of the US should pay particular attention: “some recovery it has been – a recovery in which labor’s share of the spoils has declined to unprecedented levels.”
Like Rosie, Zero Hedge is not a marxist blog: quite the opposite, but like him we come to the same troubling conclusion: “extremes like this, unfortunately, never seem to lead us to a very stable place.” We would go further: not only does the US already have the core elements, should one be so inclined, to provoke a (rather active) anti-fascist movement based on some interpretations of pro-corporatists policies adopted by the administration, but should another be so inclined, the country also has the groundwork in place for another neo-Marxist revolution: just take this chart, add some slogans, mix, and simmer. And who will be the natural enemy? Why only look at the great October revolution in Russia for ideas. History always rhymes.
Market Strategist: ‘We’re on the verge of a great, great depression. The Federal Reserve knows it.’
… and created it, together with the government, following orders from their elite masters.
Again, this is the ‘Greatest Depression’.
– Wall Street Baffled by Slowing Economy, Low Yields: Trader (CNBC, June 1, 2011):
Wall Street is having a hard time figuring out what to do now that the U.S. economy appears to be sputtering and yields are so low, Peter Yastrow, market strategist for Yastrow Origer, told CNBC.
“What we’ve got right now is almost near panic going on with money managers and people who are responsible for money,” he said. “They can not find a yield and you just don’t want to be putting your money into commodities or things that are punts that might work out or they might not depending on what happens with the economy.
“We need to find real yield and real returns on these assets. You see bad data, you see Treasurys rally, you see all bonds and all fixed-income rally and then the people who are betting against the U.S. economy start getting bearish on stocks. That’s a huge mistake.”
Stocks extended losses after the manufacturing fell below expectations in May and the private sector added only 38,000 jobs during the month.
“Interest rates are amazingly low and that, thanks to Ben Bernanke, is driving everything,” Yastrow said. “We’re on the verge of a great, great depression. The [Federal Reserve] knows it.”
Israeli Billionaires Caught In Iran Trade Storm
– Billionaires caught in Iran trade storm (Independent, ?Jun 1, 2011?):
Ofer Brothers Group, one of Israel’s most powerful corporations, is no stranger to scandal, but until now has largely emerged unscathed. But since allegations emerged that it traded with Iran it has been facing an unprecedented domestic backlash that could profoundly shake the Israeli establishment.
Israel’s hawkish government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, is the most vocal of Iran’s critics, labelling its nuclear ambitions an existential threat to the Jewish state and calling repeatedly for tougher economic sanctions by the international community. But what it demands of others, it apparently fails to do itself, Israeli commentators say.
“Netanyahu, who endlessly preaches the need for firm action against Iran to prevent it from acquiring nuclear arms, is not lifting a finger to stop Israeli companies and individuals indirectly trading with Iran,” wrote Yossi Melman in the left-leaning newspaper Haaretz.
Related info:
China Dumps 97% Of Its Holdings In US Treasury Bills
The greatest financial collapse in world history is near.
This is the ‘Greatest Depression’.
– Recovery! US Has To Create Only 250K Jobs A Month For 66 Months To Return To December 2007 Unemployment By End Of Obama’s Second Term
– US National Debt And The Presidents Responsible
– Time To Celebrate The Recovery: Food Stamp Usage Hits Fresh Record
– US House Prices Have Now Fallen More Than They Did During The Great Depression
(CNSNews.com) – China has dropped 97 percent of its holdings in U.S. Treasury bills, decreasing its ownership of the short-term U.S. government securities from a peak of $210.4 billion in May 2009 to $5.69 billion in March 2011, the most recent month reported by the U.S. Treasury.
Treasury bills are securities that mature in one year or less that are sold by the U.S. Treasury Department to fund the nation’s debt.
Mainland Chinese holdings of U.S. Treasury bills are reported in column 9 of the Treasury report linked here.
Until October, the Chinese were generally making up for their decreasing holdings in Treasury bills by increasing their holdings of longer-term U.S. Treasury securities. Thus, until October, China’s overall holdings of U.S. debt continued to increase.
Since October, however, China has also started to divest from longer-term U.S. Treasury securities. Thus, as reported by the Treasury Department, China’s ownership of the U.S. national debt has decreased in each of the last five months on record, including November, December, January, February and March.
Read moreChina Dumps 97% Of Its Holdings In US Treasury Bills
Japan: Green Tea Exports Banned Due To High Levels Of Radioactive Cesium
The Japanese government has banned shipments of green tea leaves in four regions after high levels of radioactive caesium were found.
Workers at the Fukushima nuclear plant are shielded with tarps Photo: AP
A swathe of Japan’s tea making regions including parts of Tochigi, Chiba and Kanagawa prefecture as well as the whole of Ibaraki were included within the ban, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
Green tea plantations were first highlighted as suffering from potential radiation contamination last month following the results of sample tests in Kanagawa prefecture.
The authorities discovered around 570 becquerels of caesium per kilogram in leaves grown in the city of Minamiashigara – compared to the legal limit of 500 – and started a recall of tea products.
Read moreJapan: Green Tea Exports Banned Due To High Levels Of Radioactive Cesium
E.Coli Outbreak: Leading Microbiologist Says Clear Shops of German Food To Cut Risk – Germany Reports 200 New Cases – More Cases Worldwide
Related info:
– E.Coli outbreak: clear shops of German food to cut risk, says leading microbiologist (Telegraph, June 3, 2011):
British supermarkets should withdraw German produce from their shelves to reduce the risk of an outbreak of a deadly strain of E. Coli, one of Britain’s leading microbiologists has said.
Hugh Pennington, an emeritus professor of bacteriology at Aberdeen University, said: “They [the supermarkets] should take a safety first approach and if it is a small amount of produce they should remove it from the shelves. This is a very dangerous bug because a surprisingly large proportion of the people who have been infected have gone on to develop nasty complications.”
– E coli infections spread around world as Germany reports 200 new cases (Guardian, June 3, 2011):
Cases of infection by the deadly E coli bacterium have continued to spread around the world from its source in northern Germany, reaching a dozen countries by Friday evening as the German chancellor and Spanish prime minister moved to calm a diplomatic row over the source of the infection.
The Czech Republic and the US have joined the list of those dealing with cases amid concern that some of those infected had not visited Germany and so must have been infected elsewhere.
Former Head of Mossad Meir Dagan: Israel Government ‘Reckless And Irresponsible’ – ‘I Decided To Speak Because When I Was In Office, Diskin, Ashkenazi And I Could Block Any Dangerous Adventure. NOW I AM AFRAID THAT THERE IS NO ONE TO STOP BIBI AND BARAK’
Meir Dagan attacks Binyamin Netanyahu for aggression towards Iran, and for failing to make any progress with the Palestinians
Israel’s PM Binyamin Netanyahu with Meir Dagan as the spymaster left his post as head of Mossad in January this year. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/AP
The former head of Israel’s spy service has launched an unprecedented attack on the country’s current government, describing it as “irresponsible and reckless”, and has praised Arab attempts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.
Meir Dagan stepped down as the head of Mossad six months ago but has gone on the offensive in a series of briefings with journalists and public appearances because he feels that Israel’s security is being mismanaged by Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, and Ehud Barak, the defence minister.
One newspaper quotes him as saying that he, as head of Mossad, Yuval Diskin, the head of Sin Bet – the internal security agency, and Gabi Ashkenazi, the head of the army, could prevent Netanyahu and Barak from making mistakes but all three have left their positions and have been replaced by men chosen by the current government.
“I decided to speak because when I was in office, Diskin, Ashkenazi and I could block any dangerous adventure. Now I am afraid that there is no one to stop Bibi [Netanyahu] and Barak,” said Dagan.
Upon leaving his post, Dagan publicly warned against Israel attacking Iran to stop it from acquiring nuclear weapons.
‘ANONYMOUS’ Strikes Again: Iranian And UAE Governments Hacked
Flashback:
– A99 Operation Empire State Rebellion: House of Cards
– Anonymous strikes again: Iranian and UAE governments hacked (Independent, 3 June 2011):
Hackers have broken into the networks of both the Iranian and the Dubai governments, stealing more than 10,000 email messages as well as system usernames and passwords and releasing them online.
The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs succumbed to a hacking attack perpetrated by Anonymous, which yielded the bulk of the email addresses. And, on Friday afternoon, a lone hacker – apparently with links to the group – struck the Dubai government’s system, releasing a “historic list of former gov.ae email passwords”, the domain used by the Arab Emirate.
While the first hack yielded around 10,000 emails, taken from the Iranian government and took control of some of its servers, the second was much smaller, including only around 100 usernames with passwords taken from the Dubai government, which are thought to be out-of-date. However, they serve to indicate the group’s reach just one day after another hacking group carried out an attack which yet again rocked Sony.
The hacktivist responsible for targeting Dubai said he had carried out the assault “because it’s time governments learn they have no power on the internet. This is our world”.
Read more‘ANONYMOUS’ Strikes Again: Iranian And UAE Governments Hacked
Chief Nuclear Engineer Arnie Gundersen: NRC ‘Afraid That The Reactor Bottom Will Break, Literally Just Break Right Out And Dump Everything’ … ‘The ENTIRE CORE Could Fall Out Suddenly’
Arnie Gundersen:
“Now, Unit 3 has another problem and the NRC mentioned it yesterday for the first time and it gets back to that saltwater and the effect on iron. They are afraid that the reactor bottom will break, literally just break right out and dump everything. Because it’s now hot and it’s got salt on it and it’s got the ideal conditions for corrosion. So the big fear on Unit 3 is that it will break at the bottom and whatever else remains in it, which could be the entire core, could fall out suddenly.”
Fukushima: 4,000 Millisieverts Per Hour Detected Inside No. 1 Reactor Building
– High levels of radiation found at Japan nuclear plant (Monsters and Critic, Jun 4, 2011):
Tokyo – High levels of radiation were detected at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in north-eastern Japan, the operator said Saturday.
Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said it sent a robot into the building of reactor 1 Friday and detected up to 4,000 millisieverts per hour at the south-east corner of the building.
That means staying in that area for four minutes makes a worker exposed to the maximum annual limit of 250 millisieverts per year though no worker plans to work there, the operator said.
The nuclear crisis prompted the (criminal) government to raise the limit to 250 millisieverts per year from 100 millisieverts.
Read moreFukushima: 4,000 Millisieverts Per Hour Detected Inside No. 1 Reactor Building
Fukushima Reactor No. 1 Drywell Now At 250 SIEVERTS PER HOUR!!!
– ???? 1?? / ?????????? ???????? (atmc, June 4, 2011):
Google translate:
Unit 1 nuclear power plant Fukushima / dose of a nuclear reactor nuclear reactor state Hukushima
Unit 1 nuclear power plant Hukushima
Date: Sun Mar 15, 2011 (Tuesday) to June 04, 2011 (Sat)
Current values??: D / W: 250.0Sv / h, S / C: 0.889Sv / h
|
 |
Plant parameters are published by NISA (reactor state) to graph the amount of nuclear radiation.
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant reactor 1 can be checked on a daily basis – such as water temperature, pressure dose of 5 items.
As soon as the data is published and updated as the chart.
No. 4 was stopped for inspection in the absence of a nuclear reactor fuel assemblies, are excluded from the list.
Meaning of the terms in the graph below.
D / W … stands dry well. The main thing containment. S / C … Sapuresshonchenba stands. I pressure suppression chamber.
? The value of the graph shows the maximum absolute value of the day.
Another ‘Level 7’: 720,000 Terabecquerels of Radioactive Materials in 100,000 Tonnes of Contaminated Water at Fukushima
Related info:
– Fukushima: Three Million of Millions of Potential Lethal Doses
– Fukushima Now Equal To 50 Plus Chernobyls & 3,000 Billion Lethal Doses Of Radiation
– 720,000 Terabecquerels of Radioactive Materials in 100,000 Tonnes of Contaminated Water (EX-SKF, June 3, 2011):
When I posted the news about 100,000 tonnes of highly contaminated water at Fukushima I Nuke Plant, I forgot to mention this. (You can read about it in the Businessweek article here.)
That water is estimated to contain 720,000 terabecquerels of radioactive iodine and cesium.
That’s another “Level 7” right there.
Excellent Arnie Gundersen Interview: Leave Tokyo If There Is A Severe Aftershock And The Unit 4 Building Collapses, Now That The Winds Have Turned
Arnie Gundersen: “… It could have cut Japan in half. But now the winds have turned, so they are heading to the south toward Tokyo and now my concern and my advice to friends that if there is a severe aftershock and the Unit 4 building collapses, leave. We are well beyond where any science has ever gone at that point and nuclear fuel lying on the ground and getting hot is not a condition that anyone has ever analyzed.”
Listen to the interview or download it here:
– Arnie Gundersen Interview (Part II): Protecting Yourself If The Situation Worsens:
Transcripts of …
… and …
– Arnie Gundersen Interview (Part II): Protecting Yourself If The Situation Worsens:
Chris Martenson: Welcome to another ChrisMartenson.com podcast. I am your host, Chris Martenson and today I have the privilege of speaking with Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Associates. In my eyes, a kind of living legend in the field of nuclear engineering. He has over thirty-nine years of nuclear industry experience and oversight and is a frequent expert witness on nuclear safety matters to the US Federal Government and private industry.
Since the initial days of the disaster at Fukushima, Arnie and his staff at Fairewinds have produced hands down, the most thorough, measured, accurate analysis of the unfolding developments there. A feat made all the more challenging by the frequent lack of information from TEPCO and the Japanese government and media. Now today, Arnie and I will talk about the latest state of the situation at Fukushima, which remains wholly unresolved and it’s quite troubling – we should keep our eyes on it. In addition, we are going to discuss what the important factors are for you to know, as well as what pragmatic preparations those of us who live in or near nuclear installations or countries that have them should really be doing. So Arnie, welcome to the show, it’s a pleasure to have you.
Arnie Gundersen: Thank you very much and I note that a lot of your readers have come to our site and I appreciate it.
Radioactive Tea: And Now Shizuoka Governor Says He Will Order Tests For Bulk Tea (What About the Ones Already Sold?)
Before:
– #Radioactive Tea: Shizuoka Governor Now Says He’ll Order Test for Bulk Tea (What About the Ones Already Sold?) (EX-SKF, Friday, June 3, 2011):
The Oxford PhD (in history) governor of Shizuoka, Heita Kawakatsu (pictured), changed his tunes and now says his prefecture will follow the order by the national government and test the bulk tea (“aracha”) for radioactive materials.
Why? Nobody knows. Shizuoka’s “shincha” (new tea) has already been sold and shipped, both in bulk form and in the final, blended form. “Shincha” commands a huge premium over “nibancha” (second tea).
But the tea growers in Shizuoka are furious at the governor’s flip-flop, as Shizuoka Shinbun reports (6/3/2011; original in Japanese, rough English summary):
Tea growers and wholesalers in Shizuoka expressed anger and confusion over the government’s decision to apply the provisional limit for raw tea leaves [500 becquerels/kg] to “aracha” (bulk tea).
Shizuoka Prefecture had insisted the tea was “safe”. Governor Heita Kawakatsu said on June 2, prior to the national government announcement, that half-hearted measures [like testing the bulk tea for radiation] would only amplify the fear.
Berlin Conference 2.0: Russia To Bail Out Hyperinflationary Belarus As Colonization Scramble Heats Up
See also:
– Belarus Devalues Its Currency By 56% Overnight, Against Every Currency Out There
– Belarus Central Bank Halts Sales Of Gold For Roubles
– Berlin Conference 2.0: Russia To Bail Out Hyperinflationary Belarus As Colonization Scramble Heats Up (ZeroHedge, June 4, 2011):
Who said that only Germany is allowed to annex Greece (and soon Ireland and Portugal)? (and if Der Spiegel has anything to say about it, again, Bailout #2 is far from certain… more on that shortly). In a surprising move, Russia has decided to remind everyone just how irrelevant the IMF is now that Russia and China run the “sovereign rescue” show, and that it too can play the imperialist game just as well as the Troica. Following the recent hyperdevaluation of the Belarus Ruble as discussed on Zero Hedge, and the country’s collapse into a hyperinflationary hell, Reuters has just reported that Putin, that “White Knight” of former USSR imperialist dominance, has decided to “bailout” Belarus. From Reuters: “Cash-strapped Belarus will receive a three-year $3 billion loan from a Russia-led regional bailout fund as it seeks to stabilize its economy, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday. The former Soviet republic on Friday unveiled a series of measures to end the crisis, including a vow to cut its budget deficit in half, after its currency lost 36 percent of its value in May and inflation reached 20.2 percent.” It is unclear just how many billions in funds will need to be derived from forced “privatization” of Belarus assets for the benefit of the old KGB guard, or what the interest rate on the rescue loans will be. What is more than clear is that as more and more countries fall into the toxic debt spiral, their neighbors who actually have capital and/or natural resources (ergo the irrelevance of the IMF), will “bail them out” only to remind the world that colonization is what it has always been truly about.
Berlin Conference ver 2.0 – here we come.
EU Official Slams Secrecy Over Fukushima Contamination
– Ombudsman slams secrecy over Fukushima contamination (EurActiv, Updated 03 June 2011):
Following complaints from citizens, the European Ombudsman has opened an investigation into the EU’s permitted levels of food contamination following the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan and their communication to the wider public. Similar complaints are also being heard in France.
“Based on complaints submitted to me, it appears that a number of Union citizens perceive a lack of precise and reliable information as regards the changes made to the maximum permitted levels in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident,” wrote EU Ombudsman P. Nikiforos Diamandouros in a letter addressed to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso on 19 May.
Diamandouros noted that while the EU executive’s websites provide links to relevant adopted legislation (297/2011 and 351/2011), “no comparative information on the maximum permitted levels before and after the Fukushima accident has apparently been made available”.
Therefore, the Ombudsman decided to launch an own-initiative inquiry into the matter as a way to provide “citizen-friendly” information.
Read moreEU Official Slams Secrecy Over Fukushima Contamination
NRC: Limerick Nuclear Generator ‘Scrams’ For Second Time In 36 Hours
– NRC: Limerick nuclear generator ‘scrams’ for second time in 36 hours (Montgomery News, June 03, 2011):
The same nuclear reactor at Exelon’s Limerick Generating Station that shut down unexpectedly early Sunday morning did so again Monday, according to an official at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the NRC office in King of Prussia, wrote in an e-mail that “Limerick Unit 2 experienced another scram Monday.”
Read moreNRC: Limerick Nuclear Generator ‘Scrams’ For Second Time In 36 Hours
Fukushima: 100,000 Tons of Highly Radioactive Water, May Leak by June 15
Update:
– #Fukushima I Nuke Plant: 100,000 Tonnes of Highly Contaminated Water, May Leak by June 15 (Ex-SKF, June 3, 2011):
Often, you could tell what’s going on by looking at the information that is withheld. One such piece of information was the water level at the trenches from the Fukushima I’s Reactors 2 and 3.
On May 28 and 29, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) uploaded the information on the trench water levels at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, as the typhoon No.2 was heading north. Then, that information stopped on May 30. I found it very peculiar, and was about to write a post.
Now the news comes that the amount of highly contaminated water is over 100,000 tonnes, and it would start to leak by June 15 on a heavy rainfall.
Southern Tohoku that includes Fukushima Prefecture enters the rainy season (“tsuyu ??”) around June 12 in a normal year, and the rainy season lasts for about a month and a half till late July. Kanto has already entered the rainy season since May 27, 17 days earlier than last year.
From Kyodo News Japanese (6/3/2011):
? ???????????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????
TEPCO announced on June 3 that the total amount of highly contaminated water in the buildings at Fukushima I Nuke Plant is estimated to be 105,100 tonnes at the end of May. Assuming that the water being injected into the Reactor Pressure Vessels for the Reactors 1, 2 and 3 is leaking into the reactor buildings, TEPCO said the highly contaminated water may leak outside by June 15 if there is a heavy rainfall.
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
TEPCO plans to start operating the water treatment system to remove radioactive materials in the contaminated water after June 15, but the system may not come in time. According to TEPCO, the rainfall at the end of May exceeded 100 millimeters, causing the water level [the article doesn’t say where] to rise by more than 50 millimeters.
Study Finds MRSA Strain That Eludes Traditional Tests Found in Cow’s Milk
Flashback:
– US: Almost Half Of Meat In Stores Contaminated With Strains Of Drug-Resistant Bacteria
– 60 Percent of Pigs in Slaughterhouses Contaminated With MRSA
– NEW DEADLY FARM MRSA BUG FOUND IN HOSPITALS
– Bee Propolis: Nature’s Healing Balm With Immune Boosting Properties
– Wildflower Extracts Easily Kill MRSA Superbug
– MRSA Strain That Eludes Traditional Tests Found in Cow’s Milk, Study Finds (Bloomberg, Jun 3, 2011):
British scientists have discovered a new strain of the drug-resistant germ known as MRSA in cow’s milk and some evidence that the animals could be a source of the infection in humans.
University of Cambridge researchers were led to the discovery while studying an infection of the animals’ udders, according to an article published today in the U.K journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Tests showed that people in Scotland, England and Denmark carried the new variant of MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and that the bacteria can elude the usual means of detection.
Read moreStudy Finds MRSA Strain That Eludes Traditional Tests Found in Cow’s Milk
Neuroscientists: Apple Causes ‘Religious’ Reaction In Brains Of Fans
Related info:
– Chinese Teenager Sells His Kidney To Buy iPad2 And iPhone
In a recently screened BBC documentary, UK neuroscientists suggested that the brains of Apple devotees are stimulated by Apple imagery in the same way that the brains of religious people are stimulated by religious imagery.
People have often talked about “the cult of Apple”, and if a recent BBC TV documentary is to be believed, there could be something in it.
The program, Secrets of the Superbrands, looks at why technology megabrands such as Apple, Facebook and Twitter have become so popular and such a big part of many people’s lives.
Read moreNeuroscientists: Apple Causes ‘Religious’ Reaction In Brains Of Fans
Miami Police Smashed Cell Phones Of Witnesses To Beach Shooting – One Witness Hid Phone’s SIM Card In His Mouth
– Witnesses said they were forced to hide video after Beach shooting (Miami Herald, June 2, 2011):
A West Palm Beach couple who filmed Monday morning’s deadly officer-involved shooting on South Beach has accused officers of intimidation, destroying evidence and twisting the facts in the chaos surrounding the Memorial Day shootings – a charge that police officials say they know nothing about.
Meanwhile, a South Carolina man charged with DUI in a second officer-involved shooting that morning says he is innocent.
On Thursday, The Miami Herald spoke to the couple that saw the end of the 4 a.m. police chase on Collins Avenue, then watched and filmed from just a few feet away as a dozen officers fired their guns repeatedly into Raymond Herisse’s blue Hyundai. They say the only reason they were able to show the video to a reporter is because they hid a memory card after police allegedly pointed guns at their heads, threw them to the ground and smashed the cell phone that took the video.
The three-minute video captured on Narces Benoit’s HTC EVO phone begins as officers crowd around the east side of Herisse’s car with guns drawn. Roughly 15 seconds into the video, officers open fire.
Benoit filmed the incident from the sidewalk on the northeast corner of 13th Street and Collins Avenue, close enough to see some officers’ faces and individual muzzle flashes.
Shortly after the gunfire ends, an officer points at Benoit and police can be heard yelling for him to turn off the camera. The voices are muffled at times. The 35-year-old car stereo technician drops his hand with the camera and hurries back to his Ford Expedition parked further east on 13th Street.
The video shows Benoit get into the car, where his girlfriend, Ericka Davis, sat in the driver’s seat. He raises his camera and an officer is seen appearing on the driver’s side with his gun drawn, pointed at them.
The video ends as more officers are heard yelling expletives, telling the couple to turn the video off and get out of the car.
“They put guns to our heads and threw us on the ground,” Davis said.
Benoit said a Miami Beach officer grabbed his cell phone, said “You want to be [expletive] Paparazzi?” and stomped on his phone before placing him in handcuffs and shoving the crunched phone in Benoit’s back pocket. He said the couple joined other witnesses already in cuffs and being watched by officers, who were on the lookout for two passengers who, police believe at the time, had bailed out of Herisse’s car. It is still not known whether any passengers were in the car.
Four bystanders were shot in the gunfire and three officers suffered minor injuries.
Benoit and Davis said officers smashed several other cell phones in the ensuing chaos.
Benoit said the officers eventually uncuffed him after gunshots rang out elsewhere and he discreetly removed the SIM card and placed it in his mouth.
Officers again took his phone, demanding his video. He said they took him to a nearby mobile command center, snapped a picture of him, then took him to police headquarters and conducted a recorded interview while he kept the SIM card in his mouth. He insisted his phone was broken.