Patrick was slammed on the hood of a police cruiser and beaten with a billy club after deputies handcuffed him and tied his feet together. He was well aware of his attack being racially motivated because the deputies repeatedly yelled, “we don’t give a “F” about Obama.

The officer pepper sprayed me in the face as I yelled for help! Patrick recalls. I saw them closing in on me. Then the third officer came behind me and started choking me and telling me he was trying to put me to sleep.”

The following is a description of an attack that took place on September 17, 2009 during a traffic stop in Marrero, Louisiana (Metroplex of New Orleans). Patrick George, a 22 year old black man, was pulled over by three Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Officers the night of the attack. The officers charged Patrick with one count of injuring public records, two counts of battery on a police officer, and resisting arrest by violence. A week after the attack the DA’s office refused to prosecute Patrick on the first two counts, but is still pressing charges on resisting arrest by violence. During this attack Patrick suffered major lacerations to his face, eye and both wrists, as well as multiple orbital fractures and nerve damage.

I share this story not only to bring light to the situation, but also to highlight the reality of it as well. We hear of crime and violence on a daily basis. Although our hearts go out to the victims and their families, we never think it will happen to us or to someone we know.  However it did. Patrick’s parents are dear friends of mine and it hit close to home like never before. I wanted to give Patrick’s Mother an opportunity to share her heart, with so many parents, as well as citizens of the United States. I know this is not an isolated incident. And there are so many more that have not made it this far. So let this story be part of the fight for everyone who has had to endure this awful battle.

Hear the words of Marlo Best, a Mother fighting for justice for her child…

My heart breaks with every interview and opportunity my son is given to tell of these horrific events. My passion for justice gives me the courage to go up against wicked systems in this region of America; the supposed land of the free. Patrick and I lodged complaints with the Sheriff’s Office, Internal Affairs and the FBI; where we’ve been intimidated, talked down to and accused of being guilty. We were shaken but refused to give up.

We’ve reached out to the media in order to bring awareness and invoke pressure on these public systems to do what’s just and fair on Patrick’s behalf. It’s a long lived, deeply rooted, epidemic that’s been tolerated by this Sheriff’s Office for far too long. Since sharing our story, numerous citizens have told us their stories of abuse by the same Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies. I encourage citizens to make their complaints and follow through, no matter what. It’s the only way this criminal behavior will be deterred or stopped.

I solicit your prayers not only for this family but for every family who has faced an abusive situation involving the judicial system.  I believe Psalms 71:1-6 says it best for us all.

God Bless!

Psalms 71: 1-16

¹ In You, O LORD, I put my trust;
Let me never be put to shame.
² Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape;
Incline Your ear to me, and save me.
³ Be my strong refuge,
To which I may resort continually;
You have given the commandment to save me,
For You are my rock and my fortress.

⁴ Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
⁵ For You are my hope, O Lord GOD;
You are my trust from my youth.
⁶ By You I have been upheld from birth;
You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb.
My praise shall be continually of You.

⁷ I have become as a wonder to many,
But You are my strong refuge.
⁸ Let my mouth be filled with Your praise
And with Your glory all the day.

⁹ Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
¹⁰ For my enemies speak against me;
And those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together,
¹¹ Saying, “God has forsaken him;
Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.”

¹² O God, do not be far from me;
O my God, make haste to help me!
¹³ Let them be confounded and consumed
Who are adversaries of my life;
Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor
Who seek my hurt.

¹⁴ But I will hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.
¹⁵ My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And Your salvation all the day,
For I do not know their limits.
¹⁶ I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD;
I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.

Written by: Judi Mason for www.elev8.com

Read more: http://elev8.com/daily-offerings/news/family-cries-out-for-justice-against-police/#more-114261#ixzz0WkTBtO6S

There is no shortage of serious issues that need addressing: the structure of city council, the handling of city departments and assets, the ethical strictures that keep local government honest.

On Nov. 3, Detroiters will choose nine residents to grapple with those decisions next year, and come up with a new charter — a municipality’s constitution — for the Motor City.

The Free Press has followed the race for charter seats from the beginning. We endorsed nine candidates for the Aug. 4 primary. Eight won spots for the runoff.

Below are our choices for Nov. 3.

Cara Blount, 60, is a retired deputy police chief whose detailed understanding of police administration will be a critical resource for the charter commission. She believes that council members should be elected by district and that there should be fewer of them than the nine Detroit has now.

Ken Coleman, 41, is the policy wonk of the field, someone who can talk as easily about ethics policies in cities like Houston or Chicago as he can about how Detroit government was structured in the 1920s. He does his homework and draws strong ideas from a wealth of knowledge. His perspective will be key to the commission’s work.

John R. Eddings, 66, was an ombudsman for Macomb County and for Detroit under three different mayoral administrations. Among the hopefuls, he has the most technical knowledge of how the city’s current charter works, and can draw on a wealth of experience seeing it in action.

Patty Fedewa, 41, is a lawyer for the National Labor Relations Board. There’s a danger that the charter commission could be too crowded with attorneys, but Fedewa’s experience, plus her leadership of the Bus Improvement Project at Transportation Riders United, an advocacy organization for public transit riders, give her the right qualifications for the commission. She would approach the charter revision process from scratch — throw out the old and start anew. That’s an important perspective to have in the room.

Freman Hendrix, 58, is among the most recognizable names in the race for charter commission and among the most deserving of a seat. He spent more than two decades working at every level of city government, and has run twice for mayor. He’d change the way the council and council president are elected, and would like to make it easier for the mayor and council to restructure city government and services.

Elena Herrada, 52, is a newcomer to politics but not to activism on behalf of the city and her neighborhood in Southwest Detroit. For years, she has been the catalyst behind efforts to get stronger representation (on the council, in the Legislature, on the school board) for this growing part of the city and its large contingent of Latino residents. If she wins in November, she’d be the first Latino elected citywide in recent memory. Her voice would be key to ensuring that Southwest Detroit is not overlooked in the charter revision process.

John Johnson, 55, is the former Detroit corporation counsel whose actions were partially at issue in the scandal that brought down Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and who is still defending himself from disciplinary charges as a result. But Johnson says his actions can be explained by vague and contradictory charter language, and his long career before his stint with Kilpatrick establishes him as a man of integrity. His deep understanding of the charter’s problems is the strongest argument to have him in the room when the document is rewritten.

Sarah Lile, 58, is a lawyer with experience in the public and private sectors who has been an assistant law dean at Wayne State University School of Law. For 10 years, she was director of Detroit’s Department of Environmental Affairs, and she helped draft the state’s requirements for redeveloping polluted sites. Lile’s exacting experience developing legal strictures and policy would be invaluable in the charter revision process.

Jenice Mitchell Ford, 34, is a commercial litigator who has served on several government transition teams in Detroit and was a vice chair of the city’s Board of Ethics. She has intimate knowledge of the way the city’s current ethics guidelines are structured (chapter, section-citing knowledge) and would like to focus on tightening those guidelines, clarifying the circumstances under which the mayor can be removed and making it clearer when special elections must take place.

LOS ANGELES – “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” pulled in $101 million worldwide in its first five days, and distributor Sony is extending the farewell performance film beyond its planned two-week run.

The film was the No. 1 Halloween thriller domestically with a $21.3 million opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The previous weekend’s No. 1 movie, Paramount’s low-budget horror sensation “Paranormal Activity,” slipped to No. 2 with $16.5 million, lifting its total to $84.8 million.

“This Is It” raised its domestic total to $32.5 million. The movie pulled in $68.5 million overseas, including $10.4 million in Japan, $6.3 million in Germany, $5.8 million in France and $3.2 million in China.

“He’s just loved everywhere on the planet,” said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony. “It doesn’t matter if it’s Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, South America. Every continent in the world loved him and his music.”

In Great Britain, where Jackson had planned a marathon series of 50 London concerts starting last July, the movie earned $7.6 million.

“This Is It” captures Jackson in behind-the-scenes performances in the weeks before his death last June, as he rehearsed his biggest hits for the London shows.

“This Is It” originally was scheduled for a theatrical run of only two weeks. The studio has extended it a few more weeks domestically, leaving it in theaters through Thanksgiving weekend, one of the year’s busiest moviegoing times.

Sony plans to extend the run of “This Is It” overseas on a country-by-country basis, with most territories probably getting one to three weeks of extra playing time, Bruer said.

The studio paid $60 million for film rights to Jackson’s rehearsal footage, an investment the movie recouped in days.

“They bet $60 million on this and got $101 million in just five days,” said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. “It was a gamble and a bet that paid off.”

The movie fell far short of last year’s $31.1 million opening weekend domestically for “Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert.” But Bruer said “This Is It” has a shot at surpassing the $65.3 million domestic total during the entire run of Cyrus’ movie, which tops the all-time charts for music documentaries.

Worldwide, “This Is It” already has shot past Cyrus’ concert film. Cyrus mainly appeals to American teens, and her movie got only a limited release overseas, where it took in about $5 million to give the film a global total of just over $70 million.

“This Is It” played in 3,481 theaters domestically, about five times the number for Cyrus’ movie. But “Best of Both Worlds” ran in 3-D, for which theaters typically charge a few dollars more.

And Cyrus’ young fans are an audience segment that tends to rush out to see movies over opening weekend, the movie doing nearly half its business in the first few days.

Sony hopes for a longer shelf life for “This Is It,” which drew older crowds that catch movies on their own schedule, with less regard for the opening-weekend frenzy. Fans older than 25 accounted for 62 percent of the audience, according to Sony.

While “Paranormal Activity” led Halloween’s scary movies, an established horror franchise lost its fear factor as Lionsgate’s “Saw VI” fell sharply in its second weekend after an anemic debut.

“Saw VI” came in at No. 5 this weekend with $5.6 million, raising its total to just $22.8 million after 10 days. Previous sequels in the serial-killer series all had topped $30 million during opening weekend alone.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com; final figures will be released Monday:

1. “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” $21.3 million.

2. “Paranormal Activity,” $16.5 million.

3. “Law Abiding Citizen,” $7.3 million.

4. “Couples Retreat,” $6.1 million.

5. “Saw VI,” $5.6 million.

6. “Where the Wild Things Are,” $5.1 million.

7. “The Stepfather,” $3.4 million.

8. “Astro Boy,” $3.04 million.

9. “Amelia,” $3 million.

10. “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant,” $2.8 million.