Ted Rall's Assistance Fund
Donation protected
[Note: This is posted by Donald Williams, a huge fan of Ted's; he has given me permission to open this account on GoFundMe.]
Ferguson. Baltimore. Cleveland. Unarmed civilians shot to death by out-of-control police. How did we know it happened? Those police shootings were reported by the media. Now the police are corrupting major media outlets…so that the next time they commit a crime, no one will hear about it.
In a democracy, we can't allow the police or another government agency to control a free press. But that's exactly what is happening in Los Angeles: the local police department leaned on one of the biggest newspapers in the United States, “The Los Angeles Times,” to get them to fire a cartoonist because he drew cartoons critical of the Los Angeles Police Department's brutality.
Even worse, the LAPD supplied shady evidence against the fired cartoonist, "evidence" that purported to show that he had lied in a blog about a 14-year-old jaywalking arrest, of all things – and when the evidence showed that he'd told the truth, the LAPD and their enablers at “The Los Angeles Times” refused to admit that they had made a big mistake.
Ted Rall was the political cartoonist at the "The Los Angeles Times" from 2009 until July 28, 2015, when the LA Times fired him as a favor to the LAPD.
Ted has been and continues to be a police critic and has drawn numerous cartoons lampooning them with regard to questionable and abusive actions. At least 17 of his cartoons opposed the LAPD, much to their chagrin.
In a blog written by Mr. Rall on May 11, 2015, in response to a recent upturn in the department's targeting of jaywalking offenses, Mr. Rall described an incident that occurred almost 14 years ago, whereby he was accused of jaywalking and was forced against a wall and handcuffed while the police officer wrote out a citation for jaywalking, a misdemeanor. A crowd gathered and protested the actions of the officer. 14 years later, the LAPD gave the LA Times an audiotape of Rall's arrest they said showed that the officer was polite and professional. The LA Times fired Rall. But then Rall had the tape "audio enhanced." It turns out it was the cops, not Rall, who had lied.
The timeline of events can be accessed here:
http://rall.com/2015/08/21/in-brief-ted-rall-vs-the-la-timeslapd
The actions of the LAPD and "The Los Angeles Times" have the stink of collusion, with the goal of silencing Rall and sending a chilling message to other journalists critical of the police.
Mr. Rall is in need of contributions to hire an attorney in order to pursue legal action, either to regain his position with "The Los Angeles Times" or for court judgment to recover financial losses.
The funds received will help him obtain justice and send a message to those who would use their powerful positions to silence the voice(s) of opposition to their abuses.
Ferguson. Baltimore. Cleveland. Unarmed civilians shot to death by out-of-control police. How did we know it happened? Those police shootings were reported by the media. Now the police are corrupting major media outlets…so that the next time they commit a crime, no one will hear about it.
In a democracy, we can't allow the police or another government agency to control a free press. But that's exactly what is happening in Los Angeles: the local police department leaned on one of the biggest newspapers in the United States, “The Los Angeles Times,” to get them to fire a cartoonist because he drew cartoons critical of the Los Angeles Police Department's brutality.
Even worse, the LAPD supplied shady evidence against the fired cartoonist, "evidence" that purported to show that he had lied in a blog about a 14-year-old jaywalking arrest, of all things – and when the evidence showed that he'd told the truth, the LAPD and their enablers at “The Los Angeles Times” refused to admit that they had made a big mistake.
Ted Rall was the political cartoonist at the "The Los Angeles Times" from 2009 until July 28, 2015, when the LA Times fired him as a favor to the LAPD.
Ted has been and continues to be a police critic and has drawn numerous cartoons lampooning them with regard to questionable and abusive actions. At least 17 of his cartoons opposed the LAPD, much to their chagrin.
In a blog written by Mr. Rall on May 11, 2015, in response to a recent upturn in the department's targeting of jaywalking offenses, Mr. Rall described an incident that occurred almost 14 years ago, whereby he was accused of jaywalking and was forced against a wall and handcuffed while the police officer wrote out a citation for jaywalking, a misdemeanor. A crowd gathered and protested the actions of the officer. 14 years later, the LAPD gave the LA Times an audiotape of Rall's arrest they said showed that the officer was polite and professional. The LA Times fired Rall. But then Rall had the tape "audio enhanced." It turns out it was the cops, not Rall, who had lied.
The timeline of events can be accessed here:
http://rall.com/2015/08/21/in-brief-ted-rall-vs-the-la-timeslapd
The actions of the LAPD and "The Los Angeles Times" have the stink of collusion, with the goal of silencing Rall and sending a chilling message to other journalists critical of the police.
Mr. Rall is in need of contributions to hire an attorney in order to pursue legal action, either to regain his position with "The Los Angeles Times" or for court judgment to recover financial losses.
The funds received will help him obtain justice and send a message to those who would use their powerful positions to silence the voice(s) of opposition to their abuses.
Organizer
Donald Wayne Williams
Organizer
Little Rock, AR