Hammond, Indiana police shut down a remote holographic being broadcast at a local hip hop festival by rapper Chief Keef who was performing at a secure Los Angeles sound stage. The show dubbed Craze Fest was being held as a charity event in a public park to raise funds for the family of Keef's late friend Marvin Carr and a 13 month old child who was killed by a vehicle fleeing the scene of Carr's slaying.
Chief Keef was performing remotely due to outstanding arrest warrants in Illinois which is adjacent to Indiana and very near to Hammond. Thomas McDermott, the mayor of Hammond in a statement claimed complete ignorance of Chief Keef while still managing to offer:
“All I’d heard was he has a lot of songs about gangs and shooting people – a history that’s anti-cop, pro-gang and pro-drug use. He’s been basically outlawed in Chicago, and we’re not going to let you circumvent Mayor Emanuel by going next door.”
At the gathering Chief Keef was reportedly issuing a call to end violence. Alki David of the firm facilitating Keef's holographic performance offered:
“Shame on the mayor and police chief of Hammond for shutting down a voice that can create positive change in a community in desperate need. And for taking away money that could have gone to help the victims’ families. This was a legal event and there was no justification to shut it down besides your glaring disregard for the First Amendment right to free speech.Mark my words, if you censor us, you only make us stronger.”
The State of Illinois and their collaborators in Hammond, Indiana in the end suppressed a public gathering to watch a video broadcast under the guise that the broadcaster had an active arrest warrant which could be used for no actual legal effect because Chief Keef was simply not in Hammond. The police in this incident suppressed a speech action and in doing so interrupted a fundraiser for the families of two murder victims one of whom was again, a 13 month old child.
The absolute scum of the Earth. There is no level to which they will not sink, and this is par for the course with American police. Check out Cop Block:
http://www.copblock.org/
For a steady stream of extremely offensive and absurd police stories.
You never hear about private security firms engaging in these sorts of abuses, because they are regulated by the market. No one will pay out of their own pocket for security that wastes time abusing people for petting animals at zoos or growing plants.
All police forces should be abolished and replaced by private security whose only remit is to protect private property and persons and nothing else. That by the way, is how policing works in a Libertarian society. Efficient, harmless, inexpensive and entirely beneficial.