Issue #64 — Friday, May 30, 2014
Three years after being tased on Duval Street by a Key West Police officer, Matthew Shaun Murphy is still lying in a hospital bed. It was around 3:30 am on April 16th, 2011, Murphy and his fiancé Marie Annulysse were on their way back home from a night on the town when they heard a raspy woman’s voice yelling, “Hey nigger lover!” At this point you need to know that Matthew, 27 at the time, is a white man from West Virginia and Marie, then 23, is a black woman from Key West.
Sitting on the steps in front of the “Flirt” store in the 300 block were Beverly Anderson, Jason Moffet, and their pit bull. According to Annulysse, while she was pushing Murphy away, across Eaton Street, the insults and threats kept pouring out of Anderson’s mouth, “I’m gonna kick your nigger girlfriend’s ass!” and “that’s how you make monkey babies!”
The Blue Paper has now obtained the 911 audio files. You can hear Anderson spewing an endless sewer of racial slurs at Murphy and his girlfriend. According to Annulysse, Murphy went back and began arguing with Moffet and Anderson. Police Officer Mark Siracuse arrived on scene at precisely the moment when Murphy punched Moffet in the jaw. Siracuse, who had already pulled out his Taser, zapped Murphy on his right shoulder. (more…)
“I’m very proud of that,” Monroe County Commissioner George Neugent said after looking through the climate assessment last week. “I’m very proud to be part of an initiation in a region that contains millions of people.”
— Neugent commenting on praise for four-county compact that produced the Southeast Regional Action Plan
Blue Paper
We want to welcome back environmentalist Michael Welber for another in-depth interview.
Welber
More like survivalist.
Blue Paper
Oh? And why is that?
Welber
You’ve probably been snoozing this month, which would actually be a good thing given the continuing inexplicable actions of some of our fine county commissioners.
Blue Paper
What is it this time? Did they buy another restaurant? (more…)
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The developing scandal at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospitals makes another strong statement about the sustainability of government-run health care. The problem here–the scandal– is not the quality of health care provided to our vets at the VA hospitals; the problem is access. And the problem of access is the result of sheer government incompetence. Here is a summary of the situation.
For the men and women who commit to serve our country in the military services, one of the commitments our government makes to them in return is to provide health care for life. This commitment is especially critical for veterans of this country’s various wars. That is one hell of a commitment– a commitment that requires professional and creative management to achieve. The problem is that, apparently, professional and creative management seem to be foreign concepts in government.
Recently, we have been hearing a lot about veterans having to wait months to get care at some VA Hospitals. By law, veterans should be able to see a doctor within 30 days after making an appointment. But at some hospitals, veterans have been forced to wait months for care– and some have died while waiting. This alone is scandalous enough. But to hide the fact that these hospitals have not been meeting the 30-day standard required by law, hospital staff has been falsifying appointment records. Now we are moving out of the realm of simple incompetence into the realm of criminal activity. (more…)
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Editor:
In a few days, we will be marking the third anniversary of a police riot in Miami Beach in which a motorist was killed and three others wounded when police unleashed a fusillade of 116 shots. It was during Urban Beach Weekend in 2011 that a motorist ignored orders to pull over, nearly striking several officers and hitting barricades. The police opened fire until the vehicle came to a stop and then continued firing into the vehicle.
Police would later claim that the motorist had fired first, mysteriously finding a gun three days later under the driver’s seat. However, tests for gunpowder residue determined that the motorist had not fired a gun. The general testimony by the police was contrary to the visual images shot by many bystanders using their cellphones and other devices, some of which were confiscated by the police.
There is a lot about the Miami Beach case that is very scary, not the least of which is that three years later the investigation is incomplete. According to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office, the investigation “hopefully will be completed by the end of the summer.” That is a common strategy in controversial cases, especially in instances where police are accused of improper, if not illegal, behavior. Drag out the investigation interminably until most everyone has forgotten about it, witnesses have disappeared, evidence has been misplaced and so on.
Does any of this sound familiar? Does the case of Charles Eimers come to mind?
The Blue Paper has done a superb job covering the Eimers case and it is imperative that that coverage continue. You have already revealed questionable elements about the investigation as well as the case itself. If we are not careful, the investigation will drag on and on and on…. Please stay on top of this case until it is resolved.
A further thought:
It has been 25 years, 1989, since a police officer in south Florida was prosecuted for killing someone in his custody. And, that officer was acquitted.
I am unaware of any investigation by a south Florida state attorney into the death of someone in custody that was not ruled justifiable.
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