City gears up for police trial

Man who filmed arrest tells of his own jail ordeal

Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles

Monday January 5, 2004

The Guardian

The retrial starts today of a former police officer accused of assaulting a black teenager by slamming him on to the boot of a police car, an encounter caught on video and broadcast around the world.

But 18 months after the alleged attack in Inglewood, at the edge of Los Angeles, the only person involved who has been sent to jail is the man who shot the video, who has been accused of being a "race traitor" for exposing what took place.

Mitchell Crooks, a 29-year-old actor, DJ and video-maker, was staying at a backpackers' hostel in Inglewood on July 6 2002 when he heard someone shouting "stop hurting him". He ran outside and started filming.

The images in the car park of a petrol station he captured of Donovan Jackson, 16 at the time, led to a charge of assault against Jeremy Morse, who is to appear in court today. A jury was unable to reach a decision at the officer's first trial in July.

"I don't regret doing what I did," Mr Crooks told the Guardian. "You have to do the right thing regardless of what the consequences."

Mr Crooks, who is from Sacramento and had lived in Los Angeles for four years, saw footage from his two-minute video broadcast on every US news network.

The alleged assault has been likened to the beating of Rodney King by four LA police officers, which was captured on video and led to the prosecution of the officers. Their acquittal in 1992 led to the LA riots in which 55 people died.

Inglewood police were aware someone had shot a video and searched the hotel for it. Mr Crooks said Australian and New Zealander backpackers staying there knew he had the footage but did not reveal his identity, so he was able to get it out to the media. He was arrested outside the CNN offices in LA.

"There was a warrant out for my arrest in connection with drunk driving, hit and run, and petty theft," Mr Crooks said. "I'm not making excuses but it was a fender-bender type of accident and I had pawned a VCR that belonged to me, but they made me look like I was the next worst person to Osama bin Laden.

"I had just arranged by phone with a friend to meet me there with the video so they must have tapped the phones."

Mr Crooks, a slim white man who says his experience has made him more politically involved, said: "I was flown by private jet to Placer county. For my sins, I was put in an all-white jail in an all-white county. It turned ugly real quick for me. I did six months in jail - that's what I owed them - and it was a rough six months.

"I was under lockdown 22 hours a day. There were no minorities in jail and some of the other inmates were saying I was a race traitor and throwing it in my face an awful lot."

After his arrest, he said, interest in the actions of Mr Morse, then 25, dwindled. "The media stop paying attention after they're told that you're a criminal."

After the jury failed to reach a verdict on Mr Morse Mr Crooks joined Inglewood community groups to appeal for calm, as prosecutors were accused of mounting a weak case. One of their witnesses, Commander Charles Heal of the LA county sheriff's department, had told the court he did not think a criminal charge was justified. Another police officer, charged with a lesser offence, was acquitted.

Mr Morse and the other officer are suing the city of Inglewood, claiming they were victims of racial discrimination, having been treated more harshly than a black officer also at the scene, who was suspended for four days.

Mr Crooks, meanwhile, is looking forward to the retrial. "Rodney King was not an isolated incident," he said. "Cops are very afraid of cameras - for good reason. Sometimes I think the situation is a little heavy but that goes with the territory." He speaks more in depth on his website www.freecrooks.com

Because of his incarceration, he did not meet Donovan Jackson until the last trial. "I got to meet the family a bit later. They have been real sweet." Mr Jackson, who has learning difficulties, is being represented by the high-profile lawyer Johnny Cochran in a civil action against the police.

The selection of the jury starts today. In last year's trial there was only one black juror, from what is a 50% black neighbourhood.

When you get the white man over here in America and he says he's white he means he's boss. -Malcolm X

White Abolitionism as a Strategy for Revolution

When Donovan Jackson, a Black youth, was brutally beaten by a

white police officer in Inglewood, California last summer, the

incident was caught on videotape by Mitchell Crooks, who is

white. A revealing twist to this incident lies in the fact that the

first two people arrested in connection with this incident were

Jackson, the Black victim, and Crooks, the white man whose

videotape exposed the police brutality. In this moment we see

enforcement of the color line by the state twice: first in the all too

common form of police abuse in the Black community and secondly

in the form of the harsh retribution against the person who exposed

one instance of that abuse. Crookss act was an instance of

race treasonwhen a white person violated an unspoken rule of

whiteness by actively opposing the states attempt to enforce

the color line, a transgression of the norms of whiteness that the

state took so seriously that Crooks was promptly incarcerated.

Why are such acts of race treason so threatening? Because the

enforcement of the color line is predicated on the belief that the

state can determine who is a friend and who is an enemy by the

color of their skin. By attacking the institutions of white supremacy

and flagrantly violating the norms of whiteness, the state would no

longer be able use white skin as reliable determiner of who is a

friend and who is a foe to the existing society, undermining the

separate deal that the white working class struck with capital.

This isn't about a cop slapping a black kid, it's about MITCHELL CROOKS. What else matters! Listen to some insightful words from Mr. Crooks:

"You are truly a dipshit motherfucker. You think I made money off that tape? Well I guess you will be really dissapointed to know I am a dj and support myself by selling x to your mindless kids you dipshit cockmaster. You cop lovin peice of shit assholes are full of stupid lame excuses. I hope one day a relative or your kids gets shot and killed by a police officer and THEN you might wake up and quit living in that DREAM World you have created in your mind. I make a living just the way I want you prick and to tell you the truth fuckface, It's all for social justice and I am having a fuckin blast. You are the minority. Just cause you troll indymedia and post your

fucked up right wing nonsense, does not make you some kind of expert on how people should be you miserable fuckin retard. You are pissed because your

"control" is no more. You ain't done shit for nobody and you are jealous. People are waking up to the police violence committed by pigs in uniform you miserable fuckin loser. Your losing the battle on all fronts dickwad.

You will not like the america to come cause your old and fuckin dying. WE are young and in OUR lifetime cops will answer to the people and do what we tell them. I am glad I did my part you fuckin sleaze.

Sincerely mitchell crooks "

Mitchell Crooks knew he had a five year old warrent out for his arrest. If it really was all for social justice why didn't he just anonymously turn over the tape to the media? He was trying to broker a deal with the Los Angeles DA to take care of his "little problem." Then make a buck.

Mitchell Crooks is a self-serving zealot.

Mking is from indymedia in cleveland

When I flew to cleveland to support cincinnati

This psycho started following my

posts around and determined

to silence me with his psy ops

bullshit. Your not welcome here

Mking_usa@yahoo.com

The same thing he puts his name

on apears here but not there?

Cleveland indymedia supports this guy

they have censored my responses.

So now we know who cleveland IMC supports?

Propolice psychopaths who threaten me.

LAindymedia is not the same as yours, various white male

Suckered you now.

I mean mking_usa@yahoo.com

Check this out:



Mking brought this on himself,

with his "Ilove police brutality"

and hate niggers speech.

I came here (clevelandIMC) to spread awareness

over the case before a court now.

At some point, several emails from

mking_usa@yahoo.com

came threatening me to

"Shut up or die" and that

"if I am to continue to speak out

against police I will suffer

unimaginably at the hands of crist". ect. ect. ect.

I came to Clevland/cincinnati

to work with the community there

about what to do in cases of

police brutality. Spoke to the people

involved and posted my case on indymedia.

This Mking starts to go all over the net

and post lies and hate nonsense

on all my articles all over the web.

Several emails from Mking were

"PINGed" back to the same IP number.???????

As my debate with this nuckleheaded,

loser, chickenhawk, racist began,

He continued sponging off my celebrity?

a mysterious letter shows up at my

lawyers offices (the only ones with

contact addresses available on the net,

since I blocked the ip from Mkings

dial up modem) with powder in it.

A threat? A coincidence?

I have gone to other articles on the

net about these vicious rumors and hate

MKing has spread. When told of the

address by investigators that the

envelope comes from central ohio

I told them of this guy who has an

infatuation towards me and expressed

his hatred for the community work I did

over the recent beating in cincinnati

and in inglewood.

I then find that this fuckin psycho

motherfucker has broke into my server

and email accounts. All coming from

the same IP. The last threatening

email I got at another email account

matched servers and IP# back to the

same as the Yahoo email miking uses.

Keep tabs on him la imc.

This man has serious issues.

I think he is the type to go bomb

churches and synagoges mosques and abortion clinics.

Some of the hate he spreads is ridiculous.

Over a videotaping of a 16 year old

handicapped black innocent child.??????

I would think the guy would be happy

enough that I went to jail over the issue

but apparently NOT! Then he has

dedicated his time and resources

towards defaming, threatening and

sponging off me and the fame

I have created in my personel

and social causes. Tell you the

truth I don't read anything he says

cause I know its a lie.

Just like his leader hitler,

I mean dubya. (lol)

MOVEON.org

WE are taking this issue very

seriously and I have had my friends

come to cleveland IMC to post up

about the donovan jackson beating

and others just to show that intimidation

and lies and defamation of a character

is not going to win. mr mking is a

psychopathic nutcase.

I am going to defend what I have done.

Like I should.

What he does not realize,

is he is only helping my case

by pointing out how much he

hates blacks and liberal activists

that he would threaten violence

and take it upon himself to comb

the net sponging off my good deed.

Shit HE is doing the work for me.

A smart opposition to myself or

position would to be ignore it

or, don't read my posts or respond and feed in

but, this hate filled "skitzo psychopath"

cop loving dipshit can't see that.

Shit even the people on la imc figured that out.

They don't read my posts anymore.

I figure between lookin at Nekkid pics

of transexuals on the net he finds an

article I have written and posts his

disgust for how I have made money off the tape.

Thats what the news does dipshit.

They buy news. I invested the money right back into

the cause but he fails to understand that.

Hey man the people I am trying

to reach see "RIGHT" thru that

mentality and bullshit. Eventually bush

will end up in prison for LYING about

sending the troops to fight a bogus war

killing innocents. He is allready caught.

He is lying his way out of it now. like mking_usa@yahoo.com

I agree the issue is about justice

for donovan jackson and should

be that but this dipshit cant and

won't let it go. He is that stupid

that he can't even realize that?

This guy had to have been so

angry about my posts on

"his supposed website" .

Yeah IMC was created for

nazi right wing liar trolls

trying their PSY-OPS techniques

on the opposition. Whatever man?

Why don't you go away MKing.

You will never silence the voice of the voiceless.

I think he is the sole opposition in this case.

Would'nt it be funny if he was morse?

Keep diggin the hole. Your not welcome here.

And I think indymedia needs to do something about

people like mking.

FACE IT. NO SUCH THING AS BAD PUBLICITY.

This guy reeks of insanity and jealousy.

I want justice for donovan jackson.

Oh back on topic,

150 jurors were sent home cause

activists outside the courtroom

"tainted" the jurors. Defense argued.

John barnett also argued that no blacks

should be on the jury. (morses attorney)

The new pool of jurors will begin soon.

So thats how it works? Have a backbone

cooley fuck! How many more delays?

We have videotape of a crime!

This whole thing stinks.

I am not getting my hopes up.

Jeremy Morse Due back in court

jan 20 for his driving under the

influence of drugs or alchohol charge.

Share my website.

DEFLECT THE BLAME NOW CREEP.

DO AS I TELL YOU!

(>If it really was all for social justice why didn't he just anonymously turn over the tape to the media?<)

This person is truly stupid and should prolly not be posting on indymedia with lame comments such as this.

Hey, in justice you are "supposed" to tell the truth. So how could he just turn the tape in anonymously? Are you fuckin retarded?

At some point don't you think somebody (namely the investigators) would have wanted to know who turned it in? Is'nt that why they are called investigators? Geez, quit tryin to place the blame on mitchell. he did his time a year ago.

All your doing is harping on history you can't change.



From what I can tell, mitch seems to push for the real issue of justice for donovan. Are you saying he has no right to speak? Quit wasting indymedia bandwith by posting your personal hatreds.

The issue is Jeremy Morse is a thug who has a history of police abuse.

Akkilah Artiga Jan, 1, 2002

was hit by morse with baton while pregnant

Lance Eaton beat by morse & darvish Complained Jan. 11 2002

Roberto Willis complained Jan. 2002

knocked out front teeth

Patricia Surjue complained Oct 20 2001

assaulted in front of children when officers stormed home

J. Mitchell Strienbrecher complained april 26 2001

Nelson Williams June 26 2002 filed formal use of force complaint

was beaten nearly to death and put in coma for a week.

Morse is on trial. For 2 crimes now. Lets see, Mitch 0, morse 2.

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This "news" story and thread ARE about Mitchell Crooks. Who's deflecting? No one is "blaming" Crooks for anything . The fact is that it is obvious he was using his video to get his Placer County warrant cleared up through the L.A.'s DA office, yet he is described as a victim and it's assumed that he was arrested as retribution for his actions. This is bullshit. He deserved to serve the time he owed. And regarding the cop in Morse's video, you have already convicted him, shouldn't that be done in a court of law?

Still harping on me? A year after I seveed my time? Wow you are really stupid.

The blame belongs to a drunk driver, drug taking, child abusing ex police officer who is on trial.

You've ran out of gas real me.

To the real me:

And the other officers who beat up donovan did'nt ask for immunity Either huh? You are not informed well enough to be commenting on this issue real me. The police never strike deals do they. So what if mitch tried to get out of his charges, I would too! The officers who beat up donovan before the tape started rolling, also asked for immunity. Quit deflecting the blame on how angry you are at mitchell mking. You come off like a dumbshit.

To the real me:

And the other officers who beat up donovan did'nt ask for immunity Either huh? You are not informed well enough to be commenting on this issue real me. The police never strike deals do they. So what if mitch tried to get out of his charges, I would too! The officers who beat up donovan before the tape started rolling, also asked for immunity. Quit deflecting the blame on how angry you are at mitchell mking. You come off like a dumbshit.