soc 121. democracy now

Montana Abortion Provider Whose Clinic Was Destroyed by Vandal: "We’re Disappearing"

In Kalispell, Montana, a healthcare office that provided abortions has been forced to close after being vandalized. All Families Healthcare is just 1 of 4 clinics that provided abortion in the state of Montana. The facility closing means that residents of this area now have to travel two hours in order to get an abortion. The person who vandalized the facility made sure to destroy everything in the office. This person damaged the plumbing and heating systems, stabbed holes in the walls, smashed medical equipment and computers, broke every glass object, and smashed the owners framed family pictures before stabbing holes through their faces. The person who vandalized this office was very meticulous about destroying everything that was in that office. Luckily, the person who did this was caught. He was a 24 year old man whose mother serves on the board of an anti-choice crisis pregnancy center. Acts of violence against U.S. abortion providers has reached more than 6,000 reports over recent decades.  

Report: Local Police in California Using "StingRay" Spy Devices

Newly revealed documents show that police in California are covertly using powerful devices that allow them to collect location and other data from cell phones. The device that allows police to do this is known as the StingRay. The StingRay poses as a cell tower and intercepts real-time data from cell phones in a given radius. Although their use in other federal agencies was known, new records found by News10 in Sacramento show StingRays are in wide use by police in California. In fact, this device was used to make 19 arrests in 2009 alone. This device has also been used in Miami according to News10. This device was used by the Miami-Dade police in order to monitor protesters at an upcoming World Trade Conference. They used the StingRay in order to obtain names and telephone numbers of everyone that was near the event.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/3/14/headlines#3149

 

-Alyssa Abayari