Month: April 2018

Meanwhile, In Yemen…

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Katie Aguilera

It is being reported that at least 33 people have been killed in Yemen as the result of Saudi-led coalition strikes that hit a wedding on Sunday, April 22, 2018.  This comes just days after 20 civilians were killed when the vehicle they were traveling in was hit by another Saudi-led coalition airstrike.

But that’s okay, it wasn’t chemical-laden weapons that killed these civilians.  These were weapons likely sold to the Saudis by the US and the UK.  So don’t worry about it when Reuters reports:

“The head of Al Jumhouri hospital in Hajjah told Reuters by telephone that the hospital had received 40 bodies, most of them torn to pieces, and that 46 people had been injured, including 30 children, in air strikes that hit a wedding gathering.”

Or this:

“The attack hit a car transporting 20 passengers south of Taiz province, locals told Reuters. Six bodies had been identified but the rest were charred beyond recognition, they added.”

Let’s just continue to allow the US and UK to sell Saudi Arabia weapons.  Let’s continue to refuel their warplanes so they can keep dropping those bombs.  I mean, just think of the profits.  And, let’s continue to help the Saudi-led coalition select its targets because clearly that’s working.

Don’t worry that the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterras has stated that Yemen is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.  “As the conflict enters its fourth year, more than 22 million people—three quarters of the population—need humanitarian aid and protection.”  Don’t worry about the starvation, the cholera and diarrhea, the six children under the age of five that die from preventable causes every hour.  Just don’t pay any attention at all to what Gutteras has to say.

“Civilians have been facing indiscriminate attacks, bombing, snipers, unexploded ordnance, cross-fire, kidnapping, rape and arbitrary detention.”

But that’s okay.  It’s our ally committing many of these atrocities after all.  So, don’t worry about it.

Image courtesy of pixabay.com

 

Defense files motion requesting the exclusion of expert reports and testimony in Astarita case

Katie Aguilera

Lawyers for FBI agent W. Joseph Astarita have filed a motion to exclude the expert reports and testimony of several witnesses for the prosecution in Astarita’s case.  Astarita is accused of firing two shots at Robert ‘LaVoy’ Finicum on January 26, 2016 and subsequently lying about it.   The two shots did not hit Finicum, but one struck the roof of Finicum’s truck.

The shooting occurred at a road block set up to stop and arrest leaders of the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge as they traveled along Highway 395 to John Day, Oregon.  Finicum was shot and killed by Oregon State Police (OSP) officers at the road block after exiting his vehicle and appearing to reach for his pocket.  An investigation of the shooting concluded there were two shots fired during the stop that were unaccounted for.

The prosecution’s case against Astarita relies in large part on the 3D reconstructions and diagrams created by several expert witnesses that concluded only Astarita was in position to fire the two shots that are unaccounted for.

In the defense motion, filed April 4, 2018, it is argued, “because the government has no photographic, video, ballistic, or eyewitness proof that Special Agent Astarita fired his weapon, this assumption [of his firing the two shots] rests entirely on the proposed testimony of the so-called experts.”

The reason no such video exists is because the FBI Hostage Rescue Team requested the OSP officers not wear body cameras during the road block.  OSP officers normally wear body cameras when deployed.  Additionally, the shell casings from the two shots, as well as casings from some of the shots fired by OSP officers, were missing from the scene.

The defense goes on to question the accuracy of the experts’ conclusions, the expertise of the witnesses, and the methods used in their investigations.  It states, “the Court cannot allow experts to present conclusions on such important issues in a criminal trial without ample assurances of reliability.  The government and its purported experts have failed to provide such assurances here…”

Astarita has pleaded not guilty to three counts of making a false statement and two counts of obstruction of justice.  A hearing to determine what experts’ testimony will be allowed in the trial is scheduled for May 21, 2018.