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57238

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Edmond%20Yu

Shooting of Edmond Yu

Edmond Wai-Hong Yu (; October 2, 1961 – February 20, 1997) was a Hong Kong Canadian former medical student whose death after being shot by a constable of the Toronto Police Service sparked debates about the police's use of force, mental illness, and the treatment of those diagnosed with a mental illness. Early life and mental illness Yu was raised in Hong Kong and immigrated to Canada in 1982. While young, Edmond won the Hong Kong city boxing championship. He attended York University from 1982 to 1984, studying pre-medicine. In 1984 he was accepted as a medical student at the University of Toronto. In 1985, police arrested Yu and took him to the Clark Institute of Psychiatry, where he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Death On February 20, 1997, Yu assaulted a woman at a bus stop, then boarded a bus. Police attempted to board the bus, at which point Yu, according to witnesses, raised a small hammer. Constable Lou Pasquino fired six shots, hitting Yu three times. An official inquest in 1998–1999 cleared the police of wrongdoing and resulted in a number of recommendations. The inquest concluded, "Housing is a mental health issue and the absence of decent housing is a major determinant of health." A foundation to fund "a housing project for homeless men with mental health problems" has been set up in Edmond Yu's name. There have been a number of other memorials to Yu, such as Edmond Place (part of Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre, which claims to be "a low-stress, high support, and non-medical organization for psychiatric survivors of the Mental Health System who also experience homelessness and would be considered 'hard to house' people", and The Edmond Yu Project. David Hawkins made a documentary on Yu, The Death and Life of Edmond Yu, and Laura Sky made a documentary as well, Crisis Call. References Ann Curry-Stevens, An Educator's Guide for Changing the World: Methods, Models and Materials for Anti-oppression and Social Justice Workshops (Centre for Social Justice), p. 29 External links 9th Annual Edmond Yu Memorial 10th Annual Edmond Yu Memorial https://web.archive.org/web/20120502141859/http://archive.ww3.tvo.org/video/176664/edmond-yu-clash-schizophrenia-and-homelessness The Death and Life of Edmond Yu 1961 births 1997 deaths 1997 in Toronto 1997 crimes in Canada Canadian people of Chinese descent Crime in Toronto Deaths by firearm in Ontario February 1997 events in Canada People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Canada People with schizophrenia Toronto Police Service

1093498

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Victoria%20Snelgrove

Shooting of Victoria Snelgrove

Victoria E. Snelgrove (October 29, 1982 – October 21, 2004) was an American journalism student at Emerson College in Boston, who died after being shot by officer Rochefort Milien of the Boston Police Department using a less-lethal weapon. The shooting took place following the victory of the Boston Red Sox over the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series. In 2005, the city of Boston reached a $5.1 million wrongful death settlement with Snelgrove's family. After filing a wrongful death suit for $10 million against FN Herstal (the manufacturer of the weapon), the family agreed to an out-of-court settlement in June of 2006; the final amount of the settlement was not disclosed. Incident In the early hours of October 21, 2004, after the Boston Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in Game 7 of the 2004 American League Championship Series, the Boston Police Department took action around Fenway Park to control a crowd that had gathered, some of whom were throwing bottles at the police. Approximately 90 minutes after the game ended, officer Rochefort Milien shot Snelgrove with an FN 303 blunt trauma / pepper spray projectile. Snelgrove, who was not acting in an unruly manner, was not Milien's intended target; he had fired at a different person in the crowd. The crowd-control projectile hit Snelgrove in the eye, causing her to bleed heavily. Ambulances were blocked by the excessive crowds, which still refused to clear the area, preventing prompt medical attention from arriving from the dense medical area only a half-mile (0.8 km) away. Snelgrove died at 12:50 p.m. EDT at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, about 12 hours after being shot. According to the autopsy, the pellet opened a three-quarter-inch (1.9 cm) hole in the bone behind the eye, broke into nine pieces, and damaged the right side of her brain. Boston's Police Commissioner, Kathleen O'Toole, placed Milien on paid leave. O'Toole later attended the hour-long funeral on October 26, 2004, at St. John's Catholic Church in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, along with Mayor of Boston Thomas Menino and Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney. Investigation and aftermath Commissioner O'Toole accepted the police department's responsibility, while condemning the "punks" who turned the event into a near-riot as the real cause. The investigation into Snelgrove's death was led by Donald K. Stern, a former United States Attorney best known for prosecuting mob figures, including fugitive Winter Hill Gang leader James "Whitey" Bulger. Through the investigation, Officer Milien was identified as the person who fired the shot that killed Snelgrove. The report from the investigation outlined 12 recommendations for the Boston Police Department, including a review of use-of-force policies and improved training for less-lethal weapons. On May 2, 2005, the city of Boston announced a $5.1 million wrongful death settlement for her family's lawsuit. On September 12, 2005, the district attorney for Suffolk County, Daniel F. Conley, announced that he would not prosecute any of the officers involved. Four days later, Commissioner O'Toole demoted the police superintendent who was in charge the night of the shooting to captain and suspended two officers, including Milien, for 45 days without pay. The deputy superintendent outside Fenway Park at the time of the incident was also criticized for poor decisions that led to Snelgrove's death, but had already retired. , Officer Milien was still on the Boston police force. The weapon that killed Snelgrove was manufactured by Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (FN Herstal). Because of the incident, several police forces, such as the Seattle Police Department, discontinued use of this weapon. In June of 2006, a $10 million wrongful death suit between FN Herstal and the Snelgrove family was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. Boston police never used their FN 303s again, and destroyed them in 2007, stating that they were more powerful and lethal than had been anticipated. Memorials Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan dedicated their book, Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle The Historic 2004 Season, to Snelgrove; the dedication reads simply: "For Victoria Snelgrove, Red Sox fan." Red Sox outfielder Trot Nixon stated that he would have traded Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS to have her back. Snelgrove's parents established the Victoria Snelgrove Memorial Fund, "a non-profit organization to carry forward her spirit and concern for others," which awards scholarships to students at East Bridgewater High School and Emerson College. In April 2018, a skatepark in East Bridgewater was opened and named after Snelgrove. Notes References Further reading "Boston police accept 'full responsibility' in death of Red Sox fan", CNN. October 22, 2004. "Violence Denounced in Eulogy for College Student" The New York Times. AP. October 27, 2004 "Video clip records fatal Fenway shooting", The Boston Globe. November 13, 2004. "Stern Commission Report criticizes Boston Police in Snelgrove death" The Berkeley Beacon. Michael Corcoran. June 3, 2005 "In Snelgrove files, officers recount night of chaos" The Boston Globe, September 21, 2005 External links Victoria Snelgrove Memorial Fund Boston Police Department Boston Red Sox October 2004 events in the United States Law enforcement in Massachusetts Accidental deaths in Massachusetts Deaths by firearm in Massachusetts Deaths by person in the United States

1127564

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Harry%20Stanley

Shooting of Harry Stanley

Henry Bruce Stanley (2 May 195322 September 1999) was a Scottish painter and decorator who was shot dead by the Metropolitan Police in London in contentious circumstances. Initially his death was recorded with an open verdict, before being ruled as unlawful killing by a jury on appeal and finally returned to an open verdict by the High Court. Background Stanley was born in Bellshill, near Glasgow, Scotland, where he lived for the first 19 years of his life. He moved to London in the early 1970s in search of work, and married his childhood sweetheart, Irene. They had three children, and grandchildren, and lived in Hackney, east London. He had a previous criminal record, being convicted of armed robbery in 1974, and had served 4 years in prison for grievous bodily harm. This was unknown to the police officers who responded to the call about "an Irishman with a gun wrapped in a bag". The 46-year-old painter and decorator had recently been released from hospital after an operation for colon cancer at the time of his death. Shooting On 22 September 1999, Stanley was returning home from the Alexandra Pub in South Hackney carrying, in a plastic bag, a table leg that had been repaired by his brother earlier that day. Someone had phoned the police to report "an Irishman with a gun wrapped in a bag". At the junction of Fremont Street and Victoria Park Road in South Hackney, close to his home, Inspector Neil Sharman and PC Kevin Fagan, the crew of a Metropolitan Police Armed Response Vehicle challenged Stanley from behind. As he turned to face them, they shot him dead at a distance of 15 feet (5 m). Hearings First inquest The first inquest jury in 2002 returned an open verdict. Stanley's family were unhappy with this outcome, particularly as the coroner, Dr. Stephen Chan, had only allowed the jury to return either a verdict of lawful killing or an open verdict. Judicial review Stanley's widow, Irene, petitioned the High Court and succeeded in obtaining a judicial review of the first inquest. On 7 April 2003 Mr. Justice Sieber ordered a fresh inquest after ruling that there had been an "insufficient inquiry". During the new hearing, coroner Dr. Andrew Reid heard that the two officers fired the shots after being given wrong information in a tipoff; they had been told that Stanley was carrying a weapon and had an Irish accent. The new jury returned a verdict, in November 2004, of unlawful killing, which resulted in the suspension of the officers involved. In protest at the suspensions, over 120 out of the 400 Metropolitan Police officers authorised to use firearms handed in their firearms authorisation cards, with Glen Smyth, a Police Federation spokesman saying, "The officers are very concerned that the tactics they are trained in, as a consequence of the verdict, are now in doubt." The officers' suspensions were lifted shortly afterwards. High Court In May 2005 the High Court decided that there was "insufficient evidence" for the verdict of unlawful killing, overturning it and reinstating the open verdict of the first inquest. Mr. Justice Leveson also decided a third inquest should not be held, but added his weight to calls for reform of the inquest system. Glen Smyth described the ruling as "common sense", but the campaign group Inquest was disappointed, saying the verdict sent "a message that families cannot have any confidence in the system. They feel they cannot get justice when a death in custody occurs." Police action On 2 June 2005 the two officers involved in the shooting were arrested and interviewed, following an investigation by Surrey Police involving new forensic evidence. The Crown Prosecution Service decided in October 2005 not to press charges, saying that they "concluded that the prosecution evidence is insufficient to rebut the officers' assertion that they were acting in self defence". On 9 February 2006 the Independent Police Complaints Commission published their report into the incident, recommending that no further disciplinary action be taken against the officers. Representatives of the Stanley family expressed their "bitter disappointment" and stated the case was a failure of the criminal justice system. The Metropolitan Police Federation stated, "We are, of course, delighted by the vindication of the officers. But we remain deeply disturbed at the way the whole matter has been handled." The report did make notable recommendations to the police in the post-incident procedure to be followed after a shooting. See also Police use of firearms in the United Kingdom References 1999 deaths 1999 in London Deaths by firearm in London Deaths by person in London People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United Kingdom September 1999 events in the United Kingdom Metropolitan Police operations

1183023

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Nicholas%20Green

Shooting of Nicholas Green

Nicholas Green (September 9, 1987 – October 1, 1994) was an Anglo-American boy who was shot and killed in an attempted car robbery while vacationing with his family in Southern Italy. Robbers mistook their family car for a jeweller's. When Nicholas died, his parents chose to donate his organs. Five people received his major organs, and two received a cornea transplant. Death Nicholas Green, his sister, Eleanor Green, and their parents, Margaret and Reginald Green, were having a holiday in Calabria, Southern Italy. On the night of September 29, 1994 his parents were driving on the A3 motorway between Salerno and Reggio Calabria. They stopped at an Autogrill, where two men started following their car, believing they were jewellers. The men pulled up alongside the Greens' vehicle and shouted something in Italian, which the Greens did not understand. Reginald Green accelerated, at which point the men fired shots into the rear of the car. He accelerated a second time, and once again the men shot into the back of the car. After the pursuers gave up, Reginald stopped the car, and at this point he and Margaret realized that Nicholas had been shot in the head. They drove directly to the nearest town, but the hospital was not equipped to deal with Nicholas' injuries. The police took the family to Villa San Giovanni, where they transferred to a ferry which brought them across the Strait of Messina to the port of Messina. From there, the police took them to a specialist head injuries unit at a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead the next day. Aftermath Family In May 1996 the Greens had twins, a girl (Laura) and a boy (Martin). Since their loss, the Greens have been strong supporters of organ donation and they have been traveling throughout the world to spread the message of donation and tell their story. Aftermath in Italy Following their decision of donating Nicholas' organs, Nicholas' parents were received by Italy's President (Oscar Luigi Scalfaro). They were awarded Italy's highest honour for civilians "Medaglia d'Oro al Merito Civile". After Nicholas' death, donation rates increased dramatically in Italy, a country where organ donations had been among the lowest in Europe. According to 2017 data, organ donations in Italy have more than tripled since. Many elementary schools as well as city locations/addresses all over the country were named after Nicholas. Trial Following the shooting, Italian police arrested two Mafia men on November 2, 1994, Francesco Mesiano and Michele Iannello. They were tried in Catanzaro by a court consisting of three judges, and on January 17, 1997 they were found not guilty. Reginald Green had been unable to identify them, as the shooters had both been wearing masks, and it was dark. However, a year later, with no new evidence, an appellate court with a jury convicted the pair. Iannello was sentenced to life imprisonment and Mesiano was sentenced to 20 years. This decision was upheld by Italy's supreme court in 1999. Organ donation After Nicholas' death, donation rates increased dramatically in Italy, a country where organ donations had been among the lowest in Europe. According to 2017 data, organ donations in Italy have more than tripled since. Nicholas' name continues to be associated with organ donation, and is acknowledged as the most famous organ donor in the world. The result of his parents' decision has been called "The Nicholas Effect" (l'Effetto Nicholas) and refers not only to organ donation but also to everything good that emerged from the tragedy. Memorials A memorial bell tower (The Children's Bell Tower) has been built in Bodega Bay, California in memory of Nicholas Green and all the children, using more than 140 bells sent to the Greens from individuals, families, schools, and churches all over Italy. The monument, set in Bodega Bay, where Nicholas and his family lived, has become a place of pilgrimage as well as a tourist attraction. The central bell, donated by the Marinelli Foundry, that has been making bells for the Papacy for more than 1000 years, was blessed by Pope John Paul II. It has the names of the seven recipients of Nicholas' organs inscribed on it. The monument is the work of San Francisco sculptor Bruce Hasson. Another sculpture, called "The Birds", has been donated by the Greens to the Calabria Region and is located at the Regional Council Palace. It depicts seven birds (like Nicholas' organs that were donated and the number of the recipients) made of steel, floating in a sort of tower. This monument is also the work of Bruce Hasson. He used the steel of guns confiscated by the San Francisco Police Department. An educational video has been made out of their story, called 'The Nicholas Effect'. It is currently shown in hospitals all around the United States and is used by procurement organizations, hospitals, churches, to spread a message of solidarity and the importance of donation. It tells the story of Nicholas, how his organs saved the lives of seven very sick Italians, and how this thing changed the attitude of a whole country towards organ donation. Since Nicholas died, organ donation rates in Italy have more than tripled, bringing Italy from being at the bottom among European Countries in donation to one of the top of the list (currently Italy is second, after Spain, as far as organ donation rates). Reginald Green wrote two books: the first called "The Nicholas Effect" ("Il Dono di Nicholas", in Italian) and the second called "The Gift that Heals" ("Il Dono che Guarisce", in Italian), published jointly with UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) - the non-profit organization that manages the United States's organ transplant system under contract with the federal government. Both books have been highly acclaimed by media and specialists of organ donation all around the world . They are used in nursing schools, hospitals, churches, since the books are considered a complete and useful work on organ donation. The Greens also established an annual scholarship for primary and middle school children in the United States that is awarded to a distinguished student in each state. The award is managed by the NAGC (the National Association for Gifted Children). The World Transplant Game Federation dedicated to Nicholas Green the ski race for transplanted children: it is the "Nicholas Cup". It has been held in Nendaz, Switzerland in 2001, Bormio in Northern Italy in 2004, Poland in 2005, Rovaniemi, Finland in 2008, Anzere, Switzerland in March 2012 and La Chapelle D'Abondance France in January 2014. In 1998, a TV movie, Nicholas' Gift, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Alan Bates, was based on the event. Several schools, streets, gardens and squares in Italian cities have been named or renamed in honor of Nicholas Green. For the full list of places named for Nicholas Green in Italy and a map, visit Map of places named for Nicholas in Italy. Location The Children's Bell Tower is located in Bodega Bay, off Route 1. GPS (N 38° 20.448 W 123° 03.126) References External links The Nicholas Green Foundation The Nicholas Effect; Reginald Green's Blog on his son Nicholas and organ donation topics: The Nicholas Effect National Association for Gifted Children-Nicholas Green Distinguished Student National Award Deaths by firearm in Italy Deaths by person in Italy Health in Italy Transplantation medicine People from Sonoma County, California 1987 births 1994 deaths People murdered in Italy American people murdered abroad Murdered American children Organ transplant donors Incidents of violence against boys

1789460

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Kendra%20James

Shooting of Kendra James

Kendra James was a 21-year-old African-American Oregonian mother of two, who was fatally shot by police on May 5, 2003. The incident sparked a controversy over the use of deadly force by the Portland Police Bureau in Portland, Oregon. James was a passenger - who also had an outstanding warrant for her arrest - stopped by Portland police officers Rick Bean, Kenneth Reynolds, and Scott McCollister. The driver, Terry Jackson, was arrested and placed in a squad car after he was discovered to have an outstanding warrant. After he and another passenger in the car were removed peaceably by the officers, James jumped from the back seat into the driver's seat. McCollister then made several unsuccessful attempts to remove James while partially within the vehicle through an open door. He claimed to have tried to pull James out by her hair, and also attempted to use a Taser. He said that he had also attempted to use pepper spray to subdue James, but was unable to operate the canister; an investigation by the Portland Police Bureau found McCollister's pepper spray canister was operational, but no traces of spray were found. McCollister drew his firearm and held it to James' head, demanding she exit the vehicle. McCollister said he then felt the car move and, concerned that he could have fallen out and been run over, fired a single shot. The James family's lawyers questioned whether evidence existed regarding James attempting to move the car, and whether the tactics McCollister used, especially his attempt to enter the car (McCollister said that he was 80% in the car), were consistent with police training. Several witnesses alleged that McCollister did not fire while within the car; powder residue testing indicated that McCollister's handgun was at least 30 to 48 inches away from James when discharged, a fact which lawyers for James' family alleged was inconsistent with McCollister's version of events. Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schrunk declined to hold a public inquest into James' death. References Year of birth missing 2003 deaths People from Portland, Oregon Deaths by firearm in Oregon Law enforcement in Oregon African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States African-American history in Portland, Oregon African-American history of Oregon Victims of police brutality in the United States Portland Police Bureau

2197521

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Daniel%20Rocha

Shooting of Daniel Rocha

Daniel Rocha (died June 9, 2005) was an 18-year-old who was shot and killed in southeast Austin, Texas by police officer Julie Schroder, a seven-year veteran of the Austin Police Department, on June 9, 2005. The officer was responding to a report of drug trafficking when she pulled over a dark Chevrolet Suburban carrying Rocha and two others. Events According to officers reports, soon after being pulled over near the intersection of South Pleasant Valley Road and Quicksilver Boulevard, a scuffle between Rocha and Officer Julie Schroeder took place. It was during this time when Schroeder shot Rocha in the back at point blank range. Schroder's testimony was that she used lethal force to protect both officer Sgt. Don Doyle and herself from a taser gun, which, she argued, Rocha could have used. Witnesses at the scene say that he was on the ground face down, unarmed, with Officer Schroeder's knee in his back when he was shot at point blank range. Austin Police Department Policy provides that cameras in patrol cars be on during traffic stops. Three police cars participated in the stop, yet two of the three available cameras were not on during the incident and the third arrived after Rocha was shot. Multiple tests were conducted on Rocha to determine whether narcotics were in his blood the night he was killed. Rocha was initially reported drug-free by Travis County Medical Examiner Robert Bayardo. On July 18, 2005, Bayardo reversed this position, stating investigators found traces of marijuana in a "subsequent toxicology screen". This reversal resulted in criticism against the findings from some members of the community. Aftermath Julie Schroeder was fired from the Austin Police Department for violating multiple department policies during the incident, including her failure to use in-car recording equipment and improper use and handling of taser weapons. Schroeder's use of deadly force was found to be inappropriate. Stan Knee—chief of the Austin Police Department—stated "this was a deadly force encounter that, in my opinion, was avoidable". In June 2005, the city of Austin agreed to a $1million settlement in a lawsuit related to the death of Daniel Rocha. References 2005 deaths People from Austin, Texas Deaths by firearm in Texas Latino people shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States 1980s births Law enforcement in Texas History of Austin, Texas

2308525

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20James%20Ashley

Shooting of James Ashley

James Ashley was a British man shot dead by police at his flat in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, on 15 January 1998, while unarmed and naked. Armed officers had been sent to raid the flat based on reports that Ashley kept a firearm and a quantity of cocaine there, and to arrest Ashley and another man in connection with a stabbing. No firearm or significant quantity of drugs was found, the other man was not present, and it later emerged that Ashley was not implicated in the stabbing. Ashley, likely woken by the noise of the raid, was out of bed when an officer entered his bedroom. On seeing the officer, Ashley raised one arm and the officer reacted by firing a single shot. Later that morning Sussex Police's chief constable, Paul Whitehouse, held a press conference in which he praised the conduct of the operation. Two inquiries were held by outside forces under the auspices of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), both of which strongly criticised the raid. The first found that the use of armed officers breached national guidelines, that the raid team had been inadequately trained, and that the officers in charge of it had received no training for their roles and had misrepresented intelligence in order to gain authorisation for the operation. The second inquiry accused Whitehouse, Deputy Chief Constable Mark Jordan, and Sussex's two assistant chief constables of colluding to obstruct the first. It suggested that Whitehouse knowingly gave false statements in his press conference, and recommended criminal charges against three of the four. The officer who shot Ashley was charged with murder in 2001 but acquitted on the grounds of self-defence. The officers who led the operation were charged with misconduct in public office and were also acquitted. No criminal charges were brought against the chief officers, but Jordan and Whitehouse both faced disciplinary proceedings. Jordan was suspended and allowed to retire in 2001. Whitehouse resigned in the same year under pressure from the Home Secretary, David Blunkett. His successor publicly apologised to Ashley's family in 2003. Ashley's father and son sued the police for negligence and battery, in Ashley v Chief Constable of Sussex Police. The police offered to settle all damages under the action for negligence and the other claims were struck out at the High Court, which the family appealed. The case reached the House of Lords (then the United Kingdom's highest court), where the appeal was successful. The lords confirmed that the threshold for a plea of self-defence in a civil case was higher than in a criminal one and that it was for the litigants, not the judge, to decide which causes of action to pursue, even where no further damages were available. Ashley's death has been compared to other mistaken police shootings, including those of Stephen Waldorf, John Shorthouse, Harry Stanley, and Jean Charles de Menezes. It was one of the cases considered in a 2003 report by the PCA which recommended stronger control of armed operations and equipping armed officers with non-lethal alternatives such as tasers. Prelude James "Jimmy" Ashley was a 39-year-old man from Liverpool living in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, on the south coast of England. He was suspected by Sussex Police of being involved in the distribution of heroin, and the police had heard unsubstantiated rumours that he owned a gun. Ashley and a group of friends occupied three of the six flats in a converted house in Western Road. The police placed the building under surveillance in October 1997, though the operation was wound up without producing any substantive evidence. On 7 January 1998, Ashley was present when Thomas "Tosh" McCrudden, a friend he had been drinking with, stabbed and seriously wounded another man in an argument outside a pub in Hastings town centre. Ashley's only involvement was to pull McCrudden away from the victim. In the following week, armed officers were deployed to pursue several leads but failed to apprehend McCrudden. Officers believed McCrudden was staying in the Western Road house and formulated a plan to raid it. Detectives obtained a search warrant based on a tip-off from an officer in the regional crime squad that a large quantity of cocaine had been delivered to the house, and the plan to use armed officers was authorised by the deputy chief constable, Mark Jordan, based on the rumour that Ashley had a firearm. The officers conducting the raid were briefed that McCrudden was dangerous and known to be in the flats and about the potential firearm. They were also told, incorrectly, that Ashley was wanted for shooting a man in Eastbourne and had a previous conviction for attempted murder. At the time, it was the largest firearms operation in the force's history, using 25 armed officers. Shooting On 15 January, at approximately 04:30, officers from Sussex Police executed a search warrant on the Western Road house. The operation had three stated objectives—the apprehension of McCrudden, the retrieval of the cocaine, and the seizure of the firearm. It used a technique known as "Bermuda", which was originally designed for hostage-rescue operations but had become standard in Sussex Police for rapid entry operations to secure evidence. The technique was known to be high-risk as it involved lone officers rapidly entering an assigned room before calling in backup if a threat was found, and had previously been criticised in the media, while other police forces had discontinued its use. Only four of the six occupants of the flats were the target of the raid, but the police did not have details of which occupants lived in which of the flats. The police also lacked plans for the building, which hampered the raid when they encountered a locked internal door. Once opened, the door blocked the entrance to Ashley's flat, further delaying the officers. Ashley had been naked in bed when his girlfriend woke him to investigate a noise, likely caused by police forcing doors in the building. As he moved towards the door of his darkened bedroom, he suddenly encountered one of the officers. Ashley raised his arm, to which the officer reacted by firing a single shot at a range of about . Ashley was hit in the armpit and the bullet travelled to his heart, killing him almost immediately. At the conclusion of the raid, no firearms or significant quantity of drugs (only a small quantity of cannabis) was found. Three men in two other flats were arrested but McCrudden was not among them and none were wanted by the police; all three were later released without charge. On the day of the raid, Sussex Police's chief constable, Paul Whitehouse, held a press conference at which he announced that Ashley had been wanted for attempted murder. He praised the conduct of the operation, and claimed that the deployment of armed officers had been justified and necessary. Inquiries An inquiry was launched by neighbouring Kent Police under the supervision of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), and led by Barbara Wilding, an assistant chief constable. Two police constables (including PC Christopher Sherwood, the officer who shot Ashley) were suspended, along with three more senior officers—a superintendent and two inspectors. Two superintendents from other police forces, experts on police firearms policy, gave evidence to the Kent Police inquiry that the operation did not follow national guidelines for police use of firearms, and that the use of armed officers was not necessary to apprehend McCrudden as there was no evidence that he had access to firearms; further, if a firearm was believed to be in the flat, the preferable tactic would have been to arrest the suspects on the street rather than send police officers into the building. The investigation further found that the use of armed officers in earlier attempts to arrest McCrudden also breached national guidelines, in that senior officers improperly granted authority for the use of firearms, and that on several occasions armed officers deployed without authorisation at all. The inquiry revealed that neither the police officer in charge of the manhunt for McCrudden (the incident commander) nor the intelligence commander on the operation were adequately trained for their roles and that they had been warned against the use of the "Bermuda" tactic by national experts because it presented too high a risk for the stated objectives, and that the police had failed to prepare for the operation by obtaining plans for the building and details of other occupants. It also emerged that the officers deployed on the raid had never trained as a group in the use of the tactic, and that Sherwood had never been trained in it individually. The Kent inquiry concluded that the basis for the raid was "not merely exaggerated, it was determinably false" and that the officers involved in its planning had "concocted" the evidence or planned to misrepresent it in order to justify the operation. The PCA commissioned a second inquiry, convened in August 1998 and chaired by Sir John Hoddinott, chief constable of Hampshire Constabulary, to investigate the conduct of Sussex's chief officers, after Wilding's report accused them of obstructing her investigation. Hoddinott interviewed Whitehouse, Jordan, and Sussex's two assistant chief constables, Nigel Yeo and Maria Wallis, over allegations that they had misled the original inquiry by claiming that they could not recall key details and that they had misrepresented the intelligence that led to the raid. The Hoddinott inquiry suggested that the incident commander and intelligence commander both knew that neither McCrudden nor the cocaine were in the building, or that they at least exaggerated the strength of the intelligence, in order to bolster their case for authorisation to the deputy chief constable. In particular, the tip off from the regional crime squad was in fact in relation to a potential drugs shipment to an unrelated address, the belief that McCrudden was inside was exaggerated from a report of an unidentified man entering the building, and the report of a firearm was based on nothing more than rumour. Hoddinott sharply criticised Whitehouse and the press conference he held on the day of the raid, in which, according to the report, Whitehouse "wilfully failed to tell the truth as he knew it; he did so without reasonable excuse or justification and what he published and said was misleading and therefore likely to injure the public interest". His report suggested there was "evidence of collusion between some or all of the chief officers" of Sussex Police to conceal what they already knew at the time of the press conference (that Ashley was unarmed, that no significant quantity of drugs had been found, and that McCrudden was not present), and that "an arguable case of attempting to pervert the course of justice might be made out", though he concluded that a charge of misconduct in public office was more credible. Hoddinott also accused Jordan of malfeasance, discreditable conduct, and supporting Whitehouse's false statements, and Yeo, one of the assistant chief constables, of malfeasance. Prosecutions and disciplinary proceedings Sherwood was charged with murder and tried at the Old Bailey in London in 2001, but was acquitted after the trial judge, Mrs Justice Anne Rafferty, directed the jury to find him not guilty. Sherwood claimed self-defence, telling the court that he feared for his life, believing—based on the briefing for the operation—that Ashley's outstretched arm was holding a firearm and was about to shoot. In directing the jury, the judge stated that no evidence had been presented that Sherwood fired other than in self-defence, and in her summing up suggested that "those who should be held accountable were not present" in her court. The superintendent and two inspectors suspended after the first inquiry were then prosecuted for misconduct in public office in relation to their planning and execution of the raid. The prosecution alleged that the three had deliberately failed to give an accurate representation of the intelligence but all three were found not guilty at Wolverhampton Crown Court when the Crown Prosecution Service declined to offer any evidence. Nigel Sweeney, prosecuting, told the court that the depth of "corporate failing" within Sussex Police made it impossible to place criminal liability with individual officers. Following the verdict Ashley's family announced their intention to sue Sussex Police for negligence. Hoddinott's report was forwarded to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for consideration of charges against the chief officers of Sussex Police for misconduct in public office, but the CPS dropped the case on the grounds of insufficient evidence. Whitehouse was suspended for three weeks while the Sussex police authority considered Hoddinott's report but was reinstated with written advice, in which the authority told him it was "not satisfied that you have not committed a disciplinary offence", and instructed him that "your role as a strong and supportive commander of your force should never be confused with your duty never to mislead or misinform". He resigned in 2001 after the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, wrote to the police authority, instructing them to consider dismissing Whitehouse. Jordan was also suspended after the report and faced internal disciplinary proceedings following the CPS's decision not to pursue criminal charges, but was allowed to retire on medical grounds in 2001. The three middle-ranking officers acquitted of misconduct in public office remained suspended pending internal disciplinary proceedings, which were dropped in 2003. The officers, along with two others involved in Ashley's death, sued the force the following year, claiming it had been negligent in failing to train them properly and that they had suffered psychiatric injury as a result of the shooting and subsequent criminal and disciplinary proceedings. Their case was thrown out at the High Court and an appeal in 2006 was dismissed on the grounds that the damages suffered were too remote from the alleged negligence to be reasonably foreseeable. The local coroner opened an inquest in the immediate aftermath of Ashley's death but it was adjourned pending the outcome of the police investigations and criminal proceedings. In 2001, the coroner informed the interested parties that the inquest would not be resumed. As a result, the family began campaigning for a public inquiry into the circumstances of Ashley's death and the subsequent investigations. The government considered the request but no such inquiry was held. Whitehouse's successor as chief constable, Ken Jones, almost immediately introduced changes to the force's policies on conducting armed operations. He also issued an apology on behalf of the force in 2003, travelling to Liverpool to make the apology to Ashley's mother in person. He said "James should not have died but, and this will be of small comfort to his loved ones and friends, his death has resulted in safer firearms procedures for us all". Ashley's family welcomed the apology but, with the backing of their local MP, Louise Ellman, continued to campaign for a public inquiry. Civil case Ashley's son and father sued Sussex Police for the torts of negligence (in respect of the planning of the operation and the shooting itself), battery, false imprisonment, and misfeasance in public office. The case was first heard by Mrs Justice Linda Dobbs in the High Court in 2004 as Ashley v Chief Constable of Sussex Police. The police admitted false imprisonment and to negligence in relation to the planning of the raid but denied liability for all other counts (including negligence regarding the shooting itself). They offered to pay the full amount of damages sought by the Ashleys under those causes of action. Mrs Justice Dobbs ruled, on summary judgment, that the police's offer meant that continuing with the other claims would be an abuse of process, and that the action for battery had no realistic prospect of success as the burden of proof was on the claimants, who could not negate Sherwood's self-defence claim from the criminal trial. The Ashleys appealed the striking out of their claim for battery to the Court of Appeal, where the case was heard in 2006. The Court of Appeal held that the judge had erred in her decision that the battery claim had no realistic prospect of success and in her decision that the burden of proof rested with the claimant to disprove a defence of self-defence in a civil case. The court allowed the family's appeal, holding that—in a civil action for battery—the burden was on the respondent (the police) to prove their claim of self-defence, and that the claim had to be based on both an "honest" and a "reasonable" belief of being in imminent danger, a higher standard than in criminal law. The court (by a majority) also held that continuing the claim for battery would not be an abuse of process, even though the police had offered to pay all the compensation sought by the family under the claims for negligence and false imprisonment (meaning that they would receive no further damages if their claim for battery succeeded). The police appealed the decision to the House of Lords, then the United Kingdom's court of last resort. The Law Lords considered two main issues, both in relation to the battery claim. The first was the standard for a self-defence claim in a civil case and whether, in a case of a mistaken belief that the defendant was under attack, that belief must be both honest and reasonable, and the second was whether it would be an abuse of process to allow the battery claim to proceed given the police's offer to pay all the damages sought. On the first, the lords unanimously upheld the Court of Appeal's finding that both criteria must be met for a defence of self-defence to succeed in a tort action. Lord Scott noted that "it is fundamental to criminal law ... that, as a general rule, no-one should be punished for a crime he or she did not intend to commit or be punished for the consequences of an honest mistake" but that "the function of the civil law is ... to identify and protect the rights that every person is entitled to assert against, and require to be respected by, others" and that the law "must strike a balance between these conflicting rights". He concluded that "it is one thing to say that if A's mistaken belief was honestly held he should not be punished by the criminal law. It would be quite another to say that A's unreasonably held mistaken belief would be sufficient to justify the law in setting aside B's right not to be subjected to physical violence". The lords were split on the second point, the minority (Lord Bingham and Lord Rodger of Earlsferry) believing that, although tort law could be vindicatory in nature, no further vindication would be achieved by allowing the claim for battery given that no further damages were available, and that allowing the claim would amount to an attack on the not guilty verdict in Sherwood's criminal trial. Lord Carswell, quoting Lord Justice Auld from the Court of Appeal, opined that "the civil courts exist to award compensation, not conduct public inquiries". Nonetheless, the majority (three to two) held that the battery claim was not an abuse of process and that it was for the litigants, not the judiciary, to decide which actions to pursue, noting that the success of the claim would not expose Sherwood to double jeopardy, and noting again the different purposes of tort and criminal law. The police and the Ashley family agreed damages in 2009. In a statement, Ashley's son said "The police killed my dad illegally. They have now admitted it and apologised, and at last I know everything that happened". While maintaining that the shooting itself was not unlawful, the police issued a statement describing Ashley's death as "a tragedy which should never have occurred" and conceded that it "was caused by a series of failures at levels of Sussex Police in relation to events prior to the raid and its planning and execution ... Sussex Police also acknowledges that there were serious shortcomings in the way in which the aftermath of Mr Ashley's death was handled". Impact Although the case merely confirmed existing law, rather than changing it or creating new law, it was still deemed significant for its confirmation that the standard for a claim of self-defence was higher in a civil case than a criminal one, and for Lord Scott's analysis of the differing purposes of criminal and civil law and the confirmation that a "not guilty" verdict in a criminal court did not preclude civil liability. According to Nick Davies, in an investigation for The Guardian newspaper in 2001, Ashley's death was one of 41 incidents in the preceding decade in which police in England and Wales shot a person who turned out not to have a firearm. Of those shootings, at least 15 proved fatal. In 28 of the 41 cases, the person shot had a replica firearm or some other kind of weapon, and another six were accidental discharges, leaving seven (including Ashley) which Davies described as "disturbing". Davies concluded that "this might look like a ... a licence for police officers to kill. In reality, it indicates something very different but equally disturbing...: police use of firearms is inherently dangerous. The more police are armed, the more they will shoot the wrong people. And the law which surrounds this is inadequate and incapable of fixing the blame when things go wrong". A 2005 article in The Independent, following the dropping of charges against the officers who shot Stanley, also drew comparisons with Ashley's case and listed it among 30 fatal police shootings in the preceding 12 years, none of which resulted in a successful prosecution of a police officer. Davies described Ashley's shooting as "merely the final shot in a volley of error unleashed by just about every rank in Sussex police". Ashley's death has been compared by the media and academics to several other mistaken shootings by police officers in Britain, in particular the 1983 shooting of Stephen Waldorf, the 1985 death of John Shorthouse, the 1999 death of Harry Stanley, and the 2005 death of Jean Charles de Menezes. Waldorf was a film editor shot and seriously injured by police officers in London after he was mistaken for an escaped criminal; he later sued the police and was awarded substantial damages. John Shorthouse was a five-year-old boy who was shot dead during an armed police raid on his parents' home in Birmingham. Stanley was shot dead by a police armed response team who mistook a table leg he was carrying for a firearm; after two inquests, a criminal investigation, and an independent inquiry it was eventually decided that the officers involved would not face criminal or disciplinary proceedings. Menezes was a Brazilian electrician who was wrongly identified as a fugitive terrorist involved in a failed suicide bombing the day before and was shot by counter-terrorism officers when he boarded a London Underground train. Maurice Punch, an academic specialising in policing issues, described the ramifications of the case as "profound" in that an individual police officer was charged with murder for actions taken "in the course of his duty and under the command of superiors" and for Mrs Justice Rafferty's comments regarding upward accountability, a theme Punch compared to the shooting of three Provisional IRA members by the Special Air Service in 1988. Among Jones's first actions as the new chief constable was to strengthen Sussex Police's procedures for the deployment of armed officers. In January 2003, a PCA report considered 24 police shootings from 1998 to 2001, including Ashley's. Among its recommendations were that armed police officers also be equipped with non-lethal options, such as tasers, to reduce the chances of further shootings, a recommendation that was endorsed by Ashley's mother. The report also recommended stronger command and control of firearms operations. See also Police use of firearms in the United Kingdom List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United Kingdom Notes References Bibliography Citations 1998 deaths 1998 in England 2008 in British law 2008 in case law 1990s in East Sussex Deaths by firearm in England Deaths by person in England English people convicted of manslaughter Hastings House of Lords cases January 1998 events in the United Kingdom Negligence case law People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United Kingdom Police misconduct in England United Kingdom tort case law

2378365

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Stephen%20Waldorf

Shooting of Stephen Waldorf

Stephen Waldorf was a 26-year-old film editor who was shot and severely injured by Metropolitan Police officers in London, England, on 14 January 1983, when he was misidentified as escaped prisoner David Martin. Background On 5 August 1982, David Martin was caught while breaking into a private cinema in Portman Close, in London's West End; he was disguised as a security guard but he escaped by shooting his way out, severely wounding a police officer. A month later he was arrested at his last known home address in Crawford Place off Edgware Road while disguised as a woman, but during a struggle drew two handguns before being shot in the neck by an armed police officer. On 24 December 1982 he escaped from a cell at Marlborough Street Magistrates' Court and went into hiding. The police were convinced that a Susan Stephens, whom Martin had met before his arrest, and who had visited him in prison, was his girlfriend, so she was kept under surveillance. Police suspicions were reinforced when Martin telephoned Stephens several times and they met to go to the cinema, then later for a meal, in the following weeks. The shooting On the evening of 14 January 1983, police officers in unmarked cars were following a hired Mini in which Stephens was sitting on the back seat, occasionally looking out of the rear window. The driver was Lester Purdey and the front-seat passenger was freelance film editor Stephen Waldorf, whom the police thought was Martin. When the Mini came to a stop because of rush hour traffic congestion in Pembroke Road, Earls Court, a detective was sent forward to confirm the identity of the front-seat passenger. The only one who knew Martin was Detective Constable Peter Finch, who had been one of the arresting officers when he was detained the previous September, so he approached the car along the pavement on foot with his revolver already drawn. Finch later said that at this point the driver glanced at him through the window, then said something to the passenger, who turned and reached toward the rear seat. Finch opened fire, shooting twice at the passenger-side rear wheel of the Mini, then four times at Waldorf himself. Detective Constable John Jardine then ran up to the back of the Mini, and fired five shots at Waldorf through the rear window. During the shooting, Purdey jumped out of the car to escape, and Waldorf attempted to follow him, even though he had already been hit several times, and ended up slumped across the driver's seat. Detective Constable John Jardine then fired twice at Waldorf through the open driver's door. Finch, meanwhile, had made his way round to the driver's side, where he leant into the car, aimed his revolver between Waldorf's eyes and said, "OK, cocksucker," before pulling the trigger, but the gun did not fire. Finding that he had already used all his ammunition, Finch then pistol whipped Waldorf until he lost consciousness. Hit five times and severely wounded in his head, abdomen and liver, the handcuffed and unconscious Waldorf was then hauled by his arms onto the pavement. Stephens, screaming and protesting, was also dragged from the vehicle, before being taken to hospital and treated for her injuries. Aftermath David Martin was rearrested shortly after the shooting. Sue Stephens had continued to be kept under police surveillance and attended a restaurant in Heath Street, Hampstead, north-West London, where she met up with Martin, who had dyed his distinctive blond hair dark. He was challenged by police and ran into Hampstead tube station, ran down the stairs of London's deepest tube station, south along the northbound track where eventually he was arrested at Belsize Park station without incident. He had a shotgun hidden inside his coat, and told the driver of a northbound Northern line train that he was a signal engineer. He was found guilty at Old Bailey of the attempted murder of PC Nicholas Carr and was sentenced to life in prison. He hanged himself in prison in 1984. Detectives Jardine and Finch stood trial for attempted murder and attempted wounding of Waldorf, but were acquitted of all charges in October 1983 after the judge, Mr Justice Croom-Johnson, directed the jury. Waldorf eventually made a full recovery and was paid £150,000 compensation by the Metropolitan Police. Susan Stephens was also awarded £10,000 for malicious wounding. Open Fire, a TV drama about David Martin and the shooting of Stephen Waldorf, was made by London Weekend Television and shown on the ITV network on 12 November 1994. References External links BBC "On this Day" 1983 in London Metropolitan Police operations Non-fatal shootings

3352086

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Rigoberto%20Alpizar

Shooting of Rigoberto Alpizar

Rigoberto Alpizar (April 17, 1961 – December 7, 2005) was a Costa Rican-born United States citizen who was fatally shot at Miami International Airport by two United States Federal Air Marshals. Alpizar lived in the central Florida town of Maitland and worked in the Paint Department of a Home Depot. He was supposed to fly with his wife, Anne Buechner, to Orlando, Florida, returning from a missionary trip to Quito, Ecuador. The shooting took place on a jetway. Alpizar ran away from the aircraft and, Homeland Security officials maintain, claimed to have a bomb in his bag and then made a sudden movement toward it. Shooting On December 7, 2005, upon landing at Miami International Airport, from Medellín, Colombia, the airplane on which Alpizar was traveling taxied to the gate and passengers began disembarking to be processed by Customs Agents. At about 14:00 (2:00 PM) EST, passengers continuing on to Orlando were re-boarding the plane. As the plane finished boarding and all 114 passengers were seated, Alpizar was heard having an argument with his wife. He stood up from his seat saying, "I have to get off the plane", and ran for the door, which was still open. Buechner chased after him, yelling, "He's sick". He was followed by an undercover air marshal. According to James E. Bauer, two Air Marshals confronted Alpizar near the cockpit when Alpizar "uttered threatening words that included a sentence to the effect that he had a bomb". Homeland Security spokesperson Brian Doyle later claimed that Alpizar "threatened that he had a bomb in his backpack" and "made a move toward the backpack". Ignoring requests to stop, Alpizar continued to exit the plane and was soon confronted just outside the aircraft in the jetway. After being ordered to the ground, Alpizar allegedly did not comply, instead reaching for the bag. The two Air Marshals pulled out their .357 SIG Sauer pistols and opened fire, killing Alpizar. Conflicting reports put the number of shots between three and nine. Reaction Just hours later, in a nationally broadcast interview with All Things Considereds Michele Norris, Eric Weiner of NPR reported the assertion of Homeland Security Special Agent in Charge James Bauer that Alpizar claimed to have a bomb in his carry-on bag. Recapping the events that led to Alpizar's shooting, Weiner reported, "They were reboarding the flight, it was continuing to Orlando. That's when Federal Air Marshals confronted this man. He was acting suspiciously, he claimed to have a bomb, Federal Air Marshals told him to get on the ground. He did not comply." Several passengers on the flight denied the government's claim, saying they never heard Alpizar say anything about a bomb. One of the passengers, John McAlhany, said in an interview, "I never heard the word 'bomb' on the plane", ... "I never heard the word 'bomb' until the FBI asked me did you hear the word 'bomb'." and another passenger, Mary Gardner, added, "I did not hear him say that he had a bomb". A spokesman for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants has been quoted as saying that a flight attendant who confronted Alpizar as he tried to leave the plane claimed Alpizar said "I have a bomb", though this assertion has not been repeated, and this flight attendant has not come forward. According to the Miami Dade State Attorney's Office Final Report of May 23, 2006, the pilot claimed to have heard Alpizar say he had a bomb. No explosives found After the shooting, police dogs sniffed all luggage for explosives and passengers were held on the plane until all luggage was cleared. No bombs or explosives were found. McAlhany said he remembers having a shotgun pressed into his head by one officer and hearing cries and screams from many passengers aboard the aircraft after the shooting in the jetway. "This was wrong", McAlhany said, "This man should be with his family for Christmas. Now he’s dead". The D Concourse of Miami International Airport was temporarily evacuated following the shooting and was re-opened around 15:00 (3:00 PM) EST. Significance From Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Homeland Security reports, this incident was the first time a U.S. Federal Air Marshal has fired a weapon in the line of duty. Six days after Alpizar was shot, the U.S. government gave the organization expanded powers to "identify suspicious passengers". The Air Marshals were "eager to conduct surveillance activities beyond the aircraft, and tighten security at public transit stations over the holiday". Final resting place Alpizar was buried in his birthplace Cariari de Guápiles in Costa Rica on December 13, 2005. Miami-Dade state attorney's office report A final report was released by the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office on May 23, 2006. The report found that "the shooting officers were legally justified in their use of force and no criminal charges will be filed. The report notes as a key fact that Alpizar's wife said that her husband "threatened" that he had a bomb in his backpack, although this is not elaborated on further; i.e., precisely when Alpizar said this, to whom, how she heard this, and in what language the alleged statement was made. Both federal air marshals (ages 30 and 31) claimed that Alpizar repeatedly stated that he had a bomb and would detonate it (one marshal said these threats were made in Spanish, the other marshal did not indicate a language), while advancing towards them and refusing commands to stop. The report indicates that the first air marshal was fluent in Spanish. Both said they issued commands in both English and Spanish. The second air marshal said that Alpizar said, "I'm going to blow up this bomb. I'm going to blow up this bomb. I'm going to show you." The first officer (age 49) of the plane stood directly behind the air marshals, and said that English was spoken. The pilot said that Alpizar indicated he had a bomb, and continued advancing despite a warning that "If you don't take your hands out of the bag, we're going to have to shoot you." The pilot said Alpizar responded with, "Shoot me! Shoot me!" while repeating several times that he had a bomb, despite a further warning of "We're going to have to shoot you if you don't stop." The captain (age 50) of the plane was in a position to see both Alpizar's wife coming down the aisle and Alpizar in the jetway. The captain said that Alpizar was at the far end of the jetway, and turned around and advanced toward the plane, ignoring commands to stop. The captain said Alpizar defiantly yelled, "Shoot me! Shoot me!", and observed that Alpizar appeared serious and considered him a threat. The captain said that the air marshals repeatedly said they would shoot, but Alpizar advanced anyway. The report also notes three other witnesses who said they heard either "I have a bomb" or "There's a bomb on board", but they could not determine which. The report notes one witness seated in the front of the plane say that Alpizar said "I have a bomb" as he ran by. Another witness seated in the first row said he heard Alpizar yell from the back of the plane, "I got to get off this plane. I have a bomb." Three flight attendants said that Alpizar said there was a bomb on board. The report does not indicate whether or not these flight attendants heard Alpizar say he had a bomb. The report also noted many of the other witness comments made to news media, as well as Alpizar's not having taken his full dose of medication, and his unusual behavior in airports prior to the incident. The claim that Alpizar said he''' had a bomb (rather than that there was a bomb on board) arises from the statements of the two shooting federal air marshals, the pilot, the brief statement from Alpizar's wife (although it's not specified where and how she heard this), and two witnesses seated at the front of the plane (one of whom was in the first row and said he heard the claim from the back of the plane, the other saying Alpizar made this claim as he was running by). The air marshals were the only individuals to claim that Alpizar directly threatened to detonate a bomb. From the air marshals' statements, it appears that the second air marshal fired one shot at first, but as Alpizar continued to approach, both air marshals began firing. The first air marshal fired three shots; the second, six shots. The autopsy showed that all non-grazing wounds were from front-to-back, with four projectiles found lodged in Alpizar's body. The autopsy also supports the finding that the backpack was being worn or held across Alpizar's chest. Pop culture references Canadian folk singer Jeremy Fisher has a song on his 2007 album, Goodbye Blue Monday, entitled "Lay Down (Ballad of Rigoberto Alpizar)" which alludes to the event. See also Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes References External links Text of Miami-Dade police department release via Orlando Sentinel'', December 9, 2005. Man killed at Miami airport Witness: I never heard the word "bomb" PBS NewsHour Update Times Online, December 9: Witnesses dispute official line on plane shooting "AU Courier-Mail: "Airline Bomb Claim Unravels" Reuters: "Costa Rica village buries man shot dead in Miami" Miami Herald:Airport shooting is ruled justified Report from the Office of the State Attorney, May 23, 2006 Lay Down (Ballad of Rigoberto Alpizar) Written by Jeremy Fisher - Wind up Records 1961 births 2005 deaths Costa Rican emigrants to the United States Deaths by firearm in Florida People from Limón Province People from Maitland, Florida Latino people shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States 2005 in Florida Transportation Security Administration Miami International Airport

3722910

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Christopher%20Penley

Shooting of Christopher Penley

The shooting of Christopher Penley, a 15-year-old boy, occurred on January 13, 2006, at Milwee Middle School in Longwood, Florida. During class, Penley took out an Airsoft gun that was designed to look realistic. Penley ran from the room and eventually entered a restroom area. SWAT officers arrived on the scene and tried to negotiate with him. Penley pointed the Airsoft gun at an officer, who responded by shooting Penley. Shooting Penley had briefly taken classmate Maurice Cotey hostage in a classroom and then later barricaded himself in an outdoor bathroom at Milwee Middle School in Longwood, Florida, with an Airsoft gun painted entirely black to disguise it as a Beretta 92. After the weapon was discovered by Cotey, Penley forced him into the closet and shut off the lights in the classroom. The student immediately fled and informed security and later phoned police. SWAT arrived on the scene shortly thereafter, while a negotiator attempted to initiate contact with Penley. After a twenty-minute stand-off he aimed the pistol at Lieutenant Michael Weippert who responded by shooting him. He was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center where he remained on life support for two days before dying of his wounds. Several of his organs were removed and used as transplants. Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said the boy was suicidal and would not respond to negotiators who tried to talk him down in the bathroom. Some students at the school told the media after the incident that they knew he had "something planned". Police have been criticized for initiating action instead of waiting for Penley's father to arrive so that his father might convince him to surrender. The Orlando Sentinel reported that Ralph Penley was not told of events until after his son was shot. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated the shooting and found it entirely justified, as Penley aimed a weapon at the deputy. Aftermath Penley's organs were donated by his family. His death gave nine people vital organs. Christopher Penley has also had a game room at the Landmark Church dedicated to him and a Youth center. The youth center the Adolescent Life Coaching Center opened in honor of Christopher Penley's memory and to give a place for the voice of youth to be heard. Penley's family filed a lawsuit against police; however, a judge dismissed the suit after determining that the shooting was justified. See also Suicide by cop References External links "Florida Eighth-Grader Shot by Deputies Dies" (Reuters) accessed January 14, 2006 "Milwee Middle School Web Site" Orlando Sentinel Candide’s Notebooks WESH 2 News CNN Transcript Center Dedicated to Christopher Penley 1990s births 2006 deaths American children Longwood, Florida Deaths by firearm in Florida People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Organ transplant donors Education in Seminole County, Florida Law enforcement in Florida

5343055

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Eleanor%20Bumpurs

Shooting of Eleanor Bumpurs

The shooting of Eleanor Bumpurs by the New York Police Department occurred on October 29, 1984. The police were present to enforce a city-ordered eviction of Bumpurs, an elderly, disabled African American woman, from her public housing apartment in the Bronx. In requesting NYPD assistance, housing authority workers told police that Bumpurs was emotionally disturbed, had threatened to throw boiling lye, and was using a knife to resist eviction. When Bumpurs refused to open the door, police broke in. In the struggle to subdue her, one officer fatally shot Bumpurs twice with a 12-gauge shotgun. Bumpurs' shooting, one of several black deaths that inflamed racial tensions in 1980s New York, led to changes within the police department regarding responses to disabled and emotionally volatile persons. Officer Stephen Sullivan, who shot Bumpurs, was indicted on second-degree manslaughter, but was ultimately acquitted. Bumpurs' family sued the city for $10 million in damages, and settled for $200,000. Incident Prior to the eviction attempt, Bumpurs, who had arthritis and other health problems, had told her daughter Mary that someone in the building was harassing her. Mary advised her to keep the door locked. Bumpurs told a housing authority official she would not pay the rent because she was having maintenance problems, but refused to admit maintenance workers to her apartment when they were sent. In one phone conversation, she told a housing-authority manager she would not pay the rent because "people had come through the windows, the walls and the floors and had ripped her off". When maintenance workers were admitted to the apartment on October 12, they checked a hallway light and stove as requested, finding no problems with them, but found several cans of human feces in the bathtub. Bumpurs blamed these on "Reagan and his people". Four days before the eviction attempt, the city sent a psychiatrist to visit Bumpurs. He concluded that Bumpurs was "psychotic" and "unable to manage her affairs properly" and should be hospitalized. A Social Services supervisor decided that the best way to help Bumpurs was to evict her first, then hospitalize her. On the morning of October 29, Bumpurs told housing authority workers who had come to evict her that she would throw boiling lye at the next face to appear. The NYPD Emergency Service Unit, specially trained in subduing emotionally disturbed people was summoned, but was unable to get Bumpurs to come to the door. They drilled out the lock, and through the hole they could see the naked 66-year-old in her living room, holding a 10-inch kitchen knife. The officers then knocked down the door and entered. They attempted to restrain Bumpurs with plastic shields and a special Y-shaped bar, but she fought free, waving the knife and trying to slash an officer. His partner, Officer Stephen Sullivan, fired two shots from his 12-gauge pump action shotgun. One pellet from the first shot struck Bumpurs' hand; all nine pellets from the second shot struck her in the chest, killing her. Reactions The case brought much notice: the victim was black, a senior citizen, and mentally ill. Some observers claimed that the fact that two shots had been fired also raised questions. To meet the criticism of the public, the PBA aired radio and print advertisements asserting that Bumpurs was a severe threat to the officers in the apartment: "This 300-pound woman suddenly charged one of the officers with a 12-inch butcher knife, striking his shield with such force that it bent the tip of the steel blade." There followed the development of a new, special program to train police officers in New York State to work safely and effectively with "Emotionally Disturbed People (EDPs)". Employees of the NY State Department of Mental Health, along with those of the NYPD and NY State Police were trained as trainers. The new, mandatory course was delivered at the NYPD and State Police Training Academies, and to officers already in service. The program was delivered by training teams composed of police and mental health employees. It was an attempt to address the problem of safely controlling potentially dangerous situations. Legal proceedings A grand jury was convened to investigate Sullivan's actions. On January 30, 1985, the grand jury indicted Sullivan on charges of second-degree manslaughter, to which Sullivan pleaded not guilty. However, on April 12, Judge Vincent A. Vitale of State Supreme Court dismissed the indictment, ruling that under the New York State Penal Code "the evidence before the grand jury was legally insufficient to support the offense charged or any lesser included offense", and that Sullivan's "acts were in conformity with the guidelines and procedures outlined" in the NYPD's Emergency Service Unit manual. The case took another turn on appeal when, on November 25, 1986, the New York Court of Appeals reinstated Sullivan's second-degree manslaughter indictment by a 6-1 vote. Chief Justice Sol Wachtler was the lone dissenter, saying that the evidence warranted more serious charges. Trial of Officer Sullivan Sullivan waived his right to a jury trial, choosing a bench trial before a judge only. The trial opened on January 12, 1987, over two years after Bumpurs' death. The trial hinged on whether Sullivan had used excessive force, especially in firing twice at Bumpurs. His fellow officers testified that Bumpurs was still not immobilized after the first blast hit her hand, and therefore still posed a threat to the police. In addition, two plastic surgeons testifying as expert witnesses for the prosecution said that Bumpurs could have continued to slash at the officers trying to subdue her even after her hand had been injured by the first shotgun blast. By contrast, the emergency room physician who treated Bumpurs immediately after the shooting stood by his grand jury testimony that her hand was left "a bloody stump" by the first shot. On February 26, 1987 Judge Fred W. Eggert acquitted Sullivan on the charges of manslaughter. On August 4, 1987 federal prosecutors declined to investigate the Bumpurs case. Rudy Giuliani, who was the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan at the time, stated that he had found "nothing indicating that the case was not tried fully, fairly and competently", and that there was no "proof of a specific intent to inflict excessive and unjustified force." Civil suit and settlement The Bumpurs family filed a civil suit against the city for $10 million in damages. In March 1990, the city agreed to pay $200,000 to the Bumpurs estate, marking a close to the legal proceedings stemming from the shooting. Social Services demotions Two supervisors in the city's Social Services administration were later demoted for failing to seek an emergency rent grant for Bumpurs and for not getting her proper psychiatric aid. Legacy The Bumpurs case was one of several racially charged cases in New York during the 1980s that exacerbated racial tensions. Others were the fatal assault on Willie Turks in 1982, the 1983 arrest and death of Michael Stewart while in police custody, the subway shooting of four men by Bernhard Goetz in 1984, the fatal assault on Michael Griffith in 1986, the shooting of six NYPD officers by Larry Davis also in 1986, and the murder of Yusef Hawkins in 1989. Since shortly after Bumpurs' death, members of the NYPD Emergency Service Unit have carried Tasers, weapons that can deliver thousands of volts of incapacitating electrical current, as an alternative to the use of firearms when dealing with the mentally ill. Spike Lee dedicated the film Do the Right Thing to the families of Eleanor Bumpurs among other victims. See also Gidone Busch External links Eleanor Bumpurs on Find A Grave References 20th century in the Bronx African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Crimes in the Bronx Deaths by firearm in the Bronx Deaths by person in New York City History of the Bronx October 1984 crimes October 1984 events in the United States 1984 deaths

6140200

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Ousmane%20Zongo

Shooting of Ousmane Zongo

Ousmane Zongo ( – May 22, 2003) was a Burkinabé arts trader living in the United States who was shot and killed by Brian Conroy, a New York City Police Department officer during a warehouse raid on May 22, 2003. Zongo was not armed. Conroy did not receive any jail time but was convicted of criminally negligent homicide, received probation, and lost his job as a police officer. Incident Police had targeted the Manhattan storage facility while investigating a CD/DVD infringement operation. Zongo repaired art and musical instruments at the same location but was never implicated in any way in the scheme. The shooter, NYPD officer Bryan Conroy, was disguised as a postal worker. He was guarding a bin of CDs when Zongo appeared to turn on a light. A chase ensued that ended when Zongo ran into a dead end. Conroy shot Zongo four times, once in the back. The NYPD later admitted Zongo had nothing to do with the counterfeiting and prosecutors contended Zongo ran from Conroy because he was frightened and confused when Conroy, who was not in police uniform, drew his weapon. The case drew parallels to that of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed immigrant from Guinea who was shot and killed by New York City Police Department officers in the Bronx in 1999. Al Sharpton led protests against alleged police brutality and racial profiling and was involved in getting Zongo's family from Burkina Faso to attend court proceedings. Justice Robert H. Straus convicted Conroy of criminally negligent homicide, while clearing the officer of the more serious charge of second-degree manslaughter, which has a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. The judge convicted him after a jury deadlocked, 10–2 in favor of conviction, on the manslaughter charge in his first trial in March. Conroy did not receive any jail time but was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and was given five years' probation, automatically losing his job with the NYPD. Family Zongo's widow, Salimata Sanfo, and his two children live in Burkina Faso. See also Lists of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States References External links New York Post article 2003 deaths New York City Police Department corruption and misconduct Deaths by firearm in Manhattan Deaths by person in New York City Burkinabé expatriates in the United States African people shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States 1960s births Year of birth uncertain Crimes in New York City May 2003 events in the United States 2003 in New York City

6678777

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Phillip%20Pannell

Shooting of Phillip Pannell

On April 10, 1990, Phillip Pannell, an African-American teenager, was shot and killed by police officer Gary Spath in Teaneck, New Jersey. Pannell was fleeing police when he was shot; Spath was later charged and acquitted on charges of manslaughter. The case created controversy over allegations of racial profiling and police brutality. Background & shooting The African-American population in the Northeast corner of Teaneck grew substantially in the 1960s, accompanied by white flight triggered by the blockbusting efforts of local real estate agencies. As this de facto racial segregation increased, so did tensions between residents of the Northeast and the predominantly white Teaneck Police Department. On the evening of April 10, 1990, the Teaneck Police Department responded to a call from a resident complaining about a group of teenagers, one of whom was reported to have a gun. After an initial confrontation near the Bryant School and a subsequent chase, Pannell was shot and killed by Spath, a white Teaneck police officer. Spath said he thought Pannell had a gun and was turning to shoot him. Many witnesses said Pannell was unarmed and had been shot in the back. A fully loaded .22 caliber pistol was recovered from the jacket pocket of Pannell. The weapon had once been a starter's pistol that had been modified into a fully operable gun. The original autopsy conducted by the Bergen Medical Examiner indicated that Phillip Pannell was shot in the back with his hands down, possibly reaching for the gun and corroborating the story of the two officers on the scene.<ref>George James, "No Indictment in Teaneck Killing, But New State Inquiry Is Ordered", 'The New York Times, August 1, 1990.</ref> The New Jersey Attorney General, in a harsh rebuke of the autopsy called it "tainted" and indicated that it was so flawed that another autopsy had to be done which would introduce a correct understanding of where his hands were when he was shot in the back. The Attorney General also indicated that Bergen Medical Examiner admitted the mistakes he had made in the autopsy process. The second autopsy conducted by the State Medical Examiner proved conclusively that Phillip Pannells hands were raised at the moment that he was shot in the back. This evidence corroborated the stories of witnesses at the scene. No evidence was ever introduced that race played a role in the shooting. Aftermath Protest marches, some violent, ensued, with most African Americans believing that Pannell had been killed in cold blood, and some white residents insisting that Spath had been justified in his actions. Spath was ultimately acquitted on charges of reckless manslaughter in the shooting. Some months after Spath had been cleared, he decided to retire from law enforcement. The incident was an international news event that brought Reverend Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to the community, calls for Federal Civil Rights prosecution, and inspired the 1995 book Color Lines: The Troubled Dreams of Racial Harmony in an American Town'', by Teaneck resident Mike Kelly. References Deaths by firearm in New Jersey Teaneck, New Jersey African-American riots in the United States Riots and civil disorder in New Jersey African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States April 1990 events in the United States 1990 in New Jersey Law enforcement in New Jersey

6758588

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Gidone%20Busch

Shooting of Gidone Busch

Gidone Busch or Gary Busch (1968 – August 30, 1999) was a mentally ill Breslover Hasid who was shot and killed outside his apartment in Borough Park, Brooklyn by four officers of the New York City Police Department, who fired on him at least 12 times. The killing was highly controversial, because although Busch was armed at the time, the weapon he brandished was a claw hammer, and accounts of the incident varied widely. Background Early life Gidone Busch was born to Norman Busch, a dentist, and his wife Doris, a divorce mediator. He had a brother named Glenn. At one point, Norman and Doris divorced, whereupon Doris married Howard Boskey, a psychiatrist. Busch grew up in a comfortable suburban home in Dix Hills, New York. College years and mental illness In 1991, while Busch was a third-year medical student at Mount Sinai Medical School in New York City, a routine urine test revealed that he had IgA nephropathy, an immune system disease that could lead to kidney failure. The revelation shook Busch deeply, causing him to drop out of medical school. He read books on philosophy and immersed himself in music in a quest for meaning in life. Busch decided to explore a path to spiritual enlightenment in his own religion of Judaism, and he promptly moved to Israel. During his seven years there, he vacillated between various Jewish sects, starting with a conventional Orthodox yeshiva in Jerusalem, continuing on to Chabad, and then to a Na Nach yeshiva in Safed. Eventually, Busch went back to the more mainstream Breslov Hasidic group. The diagnosis also triggered immobilizing depressions in Busch, which later developed into serious mental illness. Busch's mental health history included three involuntary commitments at a hospital on Long Island, where he had made threats to his parents, and evinced signs of paranoid schizophrenia. He once became very agitated, and kicked a hole in the wall of his room at his mother's house, saying afterward, "I can't believe I did that. I love this house. I grew up in this house." Borough Park Busch's spiritual quest led him into taking up residence on 46th Street in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, New York, a neighborhood with a prominent Orthodox Jewish population. At times, Busch would enjoy music, or the quiet grace of celebrating the Shabbat with friends. During other times, when he neglected to take his medication, he wouldn't look up from his prayer book or his food. In 1997, Busch entered a residential program for the mentally ill in Borough Park, but soon checked himself out, against the advice of doctors, who said they did not believe he was capable of living on his own. He took computer training courses with plans to go into business designing web pages. Busch would often be seen walking around talking to himself, and wearing heavy clothes in mid-summer. He procured a claw hammer, which he called his "staff", carved on it the tetragrammaton, and danced around with it in prayer. He meditated while playing loud music, or prayed so loudly that the neighbors complained. In the beginning of August 1999, three weeks before his death, Busch met a female acquaintance from Israel, Netanya Ullman, on the New York City Subway, and they decided to get married. On August 29, 1999, Busch struck a neighbor's passing car with his hammer. When the driver stopped and rolled down his window, Busch swung at him and broke his nose. The neighbor filed a complaint with the police. Police shooting and death During the late afternoon of August 30, 1999, neighbors called police complaining that Busch had been playing music too loud, and dancing almost naked in the street. By the time police arrived, he was back inside his basement apartment with a friend, a homeless man named Percy Freeman, with whom Busch had been smoking marijuana. He waved the hammer at them, which may have appeared at first to be a flute. At 6:40 p.m., police received an anonymous 9-1-1 call about a man living at 1619 46th Street, Busch's address, who was menacing neighborhood children with a hammer. When police arrived, they asked Freeman to leave the apartment. Freeman came up the stairs, and told police "Don't worry about the hammer, it's a religious object," as officers wrestled him to the ground and handcuffed him. The officers called for the Emergency Service Unit, standard procedure in the New York City Police Department in situations involving a mentally disturbed person. They ordered Busch to come out, which he refused to do. Officers then entered the apartment, and tried to contain him. Busch by this time had ceased wearing his prescription glasses, and may not have recognized his intruders as cops. Busch threatened them with the hammer, and took a swing or two at them. Failing to pacify him, Officer Daniel Gravitch shot a half-ounce of pepper spray in Busch's eyes. At 6:48:20 p.m., Sergeant Joseph Memoly, just arriving on the scene, put in a second call for the Emergency Service Unit. Busch was either forced outside, or broke free from the officers. According to police, he then ran up a narrow stairway from the apartment, struck Sergeant Terrence O'Brien with the hammer several times on his left arm, then rushed past other officers. He stood on the sidewalk, wearing a tallit and tefillin, with the hammer raised over his head. Six officers who responded to the radio calls stood on their feet, guns drawn, in a rough semicircle around him. They shouted at him, one officer "almost pleading" to drop the hammer. There was a distinct single shot, followed closely by a volley of 12 shots, which were fired by Seargent Memoly and Officers Martin Sanabria and William Loshiavo, whereupon Busch fell dead. Alternatively, Busch took a step forward, was screaming while swinging the hammer, and kept coming at the officers. He was striking a fallen police sergeant with the hammer when he was shot. At 6:48:27 p.m., Sergeant O'Brien radioed: "Perp down." Officers later found strange scribblings on the wall of the apartment. One spelled out the word "POLICE" as "Pointedly Off-wing Litigating Intensely Careful Errand-deliverers." Reactions In the aftermath of the killing, many neighborhood residents gathered in the street, chanting "Justice" while occasionally throwing objects at police. Many demanded to know why Mayor Rudy Giuliani did not go to Brooklyn to address their concerns about police brutality. One witness at the scene said of the police, "If I had been in their shoes I would have done the same thing." City Councilman Noach Dear called for an investigation. He said that the police needed to re-examine their methods for dealing with the mentally ill, but there were no easy answers. At a news conference the following morning at City Hall attended by Mayor Giuliani and Jewish community leaders, Police Commissioner Howard Safir stated that seven independent witnesses confirmed that Busch hit Sergeant O'Brien with the hammer. Legal proceedings On November 1, 1999, a Brooklyn grand jury declined to indict the four officers involved in the shooting, citing the fact that Busch presented a threat to the officers, and had refused orders to drop the hammer. Busch's mother, Doris Busch-Boskey, filed a federal suit through her attorneys, claiming Busch's civil rights had been violated by the officers. However, on June 5, 2001, the Justice Department declined to file charges, announcing instead that they agreed that excessive force had not been used. Civil proceedings In October 2003, Busch-Boskey's lawsuit against the NYPD reached Federal Court. However, the Busch family had another setback when on November 17, 2003, the jury supported the police officers' version of the shooting, and found the officers and the city not liable in Busch's death. However, on September 9, 2004, federal judge Sterling Johnson Jr. a former police officer, found serious issues with the police officers' version of the events leading up to Busch's shooting, as well as the truthfulness of their testimony, overturning the jury verdict, and ordering a new trial. The Busch Family declined to pursue another trial for family health reasons, announcing their decision on August 27, 2006. However, they continue to seek justice for Gidone. See also Shooting of Amadou Diallo – a high-profile police shooting in the Giuliani era References External links 1999 in New York City 1990s crimes in New York City 20th century in Brooklyn August 1999 crimes August 1999 events in the United States Crimes in Brooklyn Deaths by firearm in Brooklyn Deaths by person in New York City New York City Police Department corruption and misconduct Police brutality in the United States

6792159

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Timothy%20Stansbury

Shooting of Timothy Stansbury

The shooting of Timothy Stansbury Jr. occurred in New York City on January 24, 2004. Stansbury was an unarmed 19-year-old New York City man who was shot and killed by New York Police Department Officer Richard S. Neri Jr. on January 24, 2004. Officer Neri and a partner were patrolling the rooftop of a housing project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn at about 1 a.m. Officer Neri, with his gun drawn, approached a rooftop door to check the stairway inside. Neri testified to a Brooklyn grand jury that he fired his standard Glock 19 pistol unintentionally when he was startled as Stansbury pushed open the rooftop door. Stansbury, a resident of an adjoining building, died from one shot in the chest. The grand jury found the shooting to be accidental. Initial official reaction Unlike previous incidents, the official response of the NYPD was quick and condemnatory. Said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly "At this point, based on the facts we have gathered, there appears to be no justification for the shooting... This is a tragic incident that compels us to take an in-depth look at our tactics and training, both for new and veteran officers." Investigation A grand jury convened on January 30, 2004 to investigate the shooting; this was also the day of Stansbury's emotional funeral. Meanwhile, the controversy over NYPD Commissioner Kelly's initial statements on the shooting grew, with Patrick J. Lynch, the president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association (the NYPD's union) stating: Commissioner Kelly gave a message to the 23,000 New York City police officers that said basically this: take all the risks of doing your job, go up on all those roofs, patrol all those subway platforms, walk the streets day and night, take the risks to yourself, take the risks to your family, but then when the worst happens, when there's a tragedy, [ ⁠. ⁠. ⁠. ⁠] you will not have the backing of the New York police commissioner. Grand jury decision On February 17, 2004 after nearly a month of investigation, the grand jury declined to indict Officer Neri on charges of criminally negligent homicide and manslaughter, finding instead the shooting to be accidental. Mayor Mike Bloomberg who like Kelly had not been overtly supportive of Officer Neri said: "Although the death of Timothy Stansbury was a heartbreaking tragedy, a grand jury today decided that Officer Neri's actions were not criminal. The Police Department will conduct a review of the case to determine the appropriate course of action." Aftermath In 2006, Officer Neri was stripped of his gun permanently, given a 30-day suspension without pay and reassigned to a property clerk's office by Police Commissioner Kelly, a punishment the Stansbury family considered inadequate. As of 2011, Neri was still employed with the New York Police Department making $76,488 annually. In May 2007, the New York Police Department agreed to pay $2 million to the family of Timothy Stansbury. "Fight Until the End", a song on the album Sabacolypse: A Change Gon' Come recorded with vocalist Immortal Technique, is dedicated to Stansbury. A short documentary about the shooting, Bullets in the Hood: A Bed-Stuy Story, won the 2005 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking. See also List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States References External links Stansbury Killer Gets Cop Union Post, Village Voice, March 22, 2005 New York City Police Department corruption and misconduct Deaths by firearm in Brooklyn Deaths by person in New York City 2004 in New York (state) Crimes in New York City African-American-related controversies

7920264

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Donald%20Scott

Shooting of Donald Scott

Donald P. Scott was a 61-year-old man who lived on a ranch in a remote part of Ventura County, California, in the Santa Monica Mountains, who was fatally shot during a police raid on October 2, 1992. The officers were attempting to serve a warrant to search his ranch for marijuana. When the officers forcibly entered his home, Scott emerged from a bedroom waving a firearm over his head and was then shot while lowering his gun as he was ordered to do by police. No marijuana plants or other evidence of drug sales were found on the property. The raid Early on the morning of October 2, 1992, 31 officers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, Border Patrol, California National Guard and National Park Service entered the Scott's ranch. They planned to arrest Scott for allegedly running a 4,000-plant marijuana plantation. When deputies broke down the door to Scott's house, Scott's wife (Frances Plante-Scott) would later tell reporters, she screamed, "Don't shoot me. Don't kill me." That brought Scott staggering out of the bedroom, blurry-eyed from a cataract operation—holding a .38 caliber Colt snub-nosed revolver over his head. When he emerged at the top of the stairs, holding his gun over his head, the officers told him to lower the gun. As he did, they shot him to death. According to the official report, the gun was pointed at the officers when they shot him. Later, the lead agent in the case, sheriff's deputy Gary Spencer, and his partner John Cater posed for photographs smiling arm-in-arm outside Scott's cabin. Despite a subsequent search of Scott's ranch using helicopters, dogs, searchers on foot, and a high-tech Jet Propulsion Laboratory device for detecting trace amounts of sinsemilla, no marijuana—or any other illegal drug—was found. Aftermath Scott and his wife, Frances Plante-Scott, had only been married for two months at the time of the incident. His body was cremated and the ashes were given to his widow. The ashes were later destroyed when the ranch home was burned in a wildfire the following year. Scott's widow, along with four of Scott's children from previous marriages, subsequently filed a $100 million wrongful death suit against the county and federal government. The case lasted eight years, requiring the services of 15 attorneys and some 30 volume binders of court documents. In January 2000, attorneys for Los Angeles County and the federal government agreed to settle with Scott's heirs and estate for $5 million, even though the sheriff's department still maintained its deputies had done nothing wrong. Michael D. Bradbury, the District Attorney of Ventura County, conducted an investigation into the raid and the aftermath, issuing a report on the events leading up to and on October 2, 1992. He concluded that asset forfeiture was a motive for the raid. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department issued their own report in response, clearing everyone involved of wrongdoing, while California Attorney General Dan Lungren criticized District Attorney Bradbury. Sheriff Spencer sued D.A. Bradbury for defamation in response to the report. The court ruled in favor of Michael Bradbury and ordered Sheriff Spencer to pay $50,000 in Bradbury's legal bills. See also Forfeiture Endangers American Rights, a U.S. advocacy organization List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States War on drugs References External links Conspiracy theory in song F.E.A.R. collection of legal documents detailing the Don Scott case The Village Voice - The Pot Plot Donald Scott case - killing for land Civil asset forfeiture: the looting of America Gun Control and the War on Drugs 1930s births 1992 deaths Deaths by firearm in California People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Santa Monica Mountains History of Ventura County, California Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area October 1992 events in the United States Law enforcement in California

8150117

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Sean%20Bell

Shooting of Sean Bell

Sean Bell was shot in New York City, in the borough of Queens on November 25, 2006. Three men were shot when a total of 50 rounds were fired by New York City police (NYPD) in both plainclothes and undercover. Bell was killed on the morning before his wedding, and two of his friends, Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman, were severely wounded. The incident sparked fierce criticism of the New York City Police Department from members of the public and drew comparisons to the 1999 killing of Amadou Diallo. Three of the five detectives involved in the shooting went to trial on charges of first- and second-degree manslaughter, first- and second-degree assault, and second-degree reckless endangerment; they were found not guilty. Background Born on May 18, 1983, Bell was 23 years old at the time of his death. He was a nephew of college basketball coach Frank Haith. Bell was a pitcher on the baseball team for John Adams High School in Ozone Park, and also studied acting in Flushing, Queens and worked odd jobs after the birth of his daughter, Jada, on December 16, 2002. His fiancée, Nicole Paultre, told Larry King that Bell was studying to be an electrician and was unemployed when the shooting occurred. Shooting incident On the night of his death, Bell was hosting a bachelor party at Club Kalua, a strip club that was being investigated by undercover police over accusations that the owners fostered prostitution. The New York Post reported that Joseph Guzman had an argument with a man outside the bar, and threatened to get a gun. One of Bell's friends reportedly said, "Yo, get my gun," as they left the club. Thinking a shooting was about to take place, a plainclothes officer named Gescard Isnora followed Bell and his companions. He alerted his backup team, who confronted Bell and his companions outside. According to Isnora, he "held out his badge, identified himself as a police officer, and ordered the driver to stop". Instead, Bell accelerated the car, striking Isnora, and then collided with an unmarked police minivan. Isnora said he saw Guzman reach for a gun. He yelled a warning to the other policemen, and they opened fire on the car to prevent the possible shooting by Guzman. Five policemen joined in, firing about 50 bullets into Bell's car. Witness accounts of the event conflict with the account provided by police. According to Joseph Guzman, the plainclothes detectives never identified themselves as they approached with their weapons drawn. According to the New York Daily News, witnesses claimed the officers failed to warn Bell before opening fire, beginning to shoot as soon as they left their cars. A toxicology report showed that Bell was legally intoxicated at the time he was shot. An attorney for Bell's family replied, "No matter what his blood-alcohol level was, he's a victim." Isnora, the officer who initiated the shooting, claimed later that he saw a fourth man in the car who fled the scene, possibly with the alleged weapon. It was speculated that one of Bell's friends, Jean Nelson, was the fourth man. Nelson admitted that he was present but denied being in the car or having a weapon. Critics suggest that Isnora fabricated the alleged presence of a fourth man to justify the shooting and to avoid being convicted by a jury. New York Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez reported that in the hours immediately after the shooting, there was no mention of a fourth man in police calls, and no search was launched for the alleged armed man. This contradicts claims that the police searched the neighborhood for a missing man. According to The New York Times, a preliminary police report said: ... there was no meaningful discussion of a fourth man, a mysterious figure who some in the Police Department have suggested may have been present along with the three men who were shot. None of the witnesses whose accounts are in the report speaks of someone who may have fled — perhaps possessing a gun — and there are no indications that the police at the time were seeking anyone who may have left the scene. According to Michael Palladino, head of the police detectives union, a man working as a janitor in a nearby building told the detectives that he had seen a black man fleeing the scene, and that the man had fired at least once at the police. The janitor claimed he had then heard a detective shouting "police, police". However, ballistic evidence showed no evidence of any weapon having been fired except those of the officers. In an interview on Larry King Live, Al Sharpton, accompanied by Paultre, stated that according to his conversations with eyewitnesses, none of the three men mentioned a gun while leaving the club. Sharpton also said that it would have been impossible for anyone in the car to have heard the police; he said they were likely in fear that they were being car-jacked. The NYPD Detectives union and others complained that the payments brought into question the witnesses' credibility. Sharpton replied, "How can [the Detectives Endowment Association] support the detectives and I can't support the victims?" In criminal cases also any contract entered between an accused and a witness to give testimony in his/her favor is treated as invalid. Five of the seven officers took part in the shooting. Detective Paul Headley fired one shot. Officer Michael Carey fired three times. Officer Marc Cooper shot four times, and Officer Gescard Isnora eleven. Veteran officer Michael Oliver emptied two full magazines, firing 31 times with a 9mm handgun, pausing to reload at least once. An autopsy showed that Bell had been struck four times in the neck and torso. Guzman was shot 19 times, and Benefield, who was in the back seat of the vehicle, was hit three times. Guzman and Benefield were taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital. Guzman was listed in critical condition, and Benefield was in stable condition; both men survived the shooting. Benefield was released from the hospital on December 5, 2006, while Guzman was released on January 25, 2007. Surveillance cameras at the Port Authority's Jamaica AirTrain station a half block away from the shooting site recorded one of the bullets shattering the station's glass window, narrowly missing a bystander and two Port Authority patrolmen standing on the elevated platform. Response to the shooting New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg said, "it sounds to me like excessive force was used," and called the shooting "inexplicable" and "unacceptable". Ex-New York State governor George E. Pataki also stated that he thought the shooting was excessive. NYC police commissioner Raymond Kelly put the five officers involved on paid administrative leave and stripped them of their weapons, a move the New York Times called "forceful". He told the Times that the officers were stripped of their guns because "there were, and are, too many unanswered questions". Both Bloomberg and Kelly also noted that the shooting was possibly in violation of department guidelines prohibiting shooting at a moving vehicle, even if the vehicle is being used as a weapon. The Public Advocate extended condolences to Bell's former fiancée and family following the killing. Thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the amount of force used the weekend following Bell's death, with protests continuing into the following week. Some noted the similarity between this incident and past shootings of unarmed people, such as Amadou Diallo and Ousmane Zongo. The family designated Al Sharpton as their advisor. On December 7, 2006, Nicole Paultre legally changed her name to Nicole Paultre Bell to "honor the memory" of Bell. New York State laws require a couple to obtain a marriage license prior to a wedding, and "although the marriage license is issued immediately, the marriage ceremony may not take place within 24 hours from the exact time that the license was issued". According to Nicole Paultre's attorney, a posthumous wedding was impossible since no marriage license had yet been signed. On March 5, 2007, it was announced that a Rikers Island inmate offered to pay an undercover police officer posing as a hitman to behead New York City police commissioner Raymond Kelly and bomb police headquarters in retaliation for the incident. On March 25, 2007, New York Daily News reported that an unnamed Queens drug dealer, after being arrested, alleged that Bell had shot him the previous year on July 13, 2006, over a drug turf dispute. Police sources called the drug dealer's account credible but could not rule out the possibility that he falsely identified Bell to garner favor with authorities. The attorney representing the Bell family, Nicole Paultre, and the two other occupants of the vehicle who were wounded during the shooting denounced this development, saying, "We expected them to throw dirt at us, and they are throwing dirt at us." NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau detectives said the dealer's tale had no direct bearing on the police shooting of Bell, though Paultre Bell's attorney noted that it could help the defense by portraying Bell as possibly armed and dangerous. Investigation and case Criminal indictment At that time, some activists called for a special prosecutor in the case, but New York Governor Eliot Spitzer said he did not see the need for it. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo promised to keep a watch on the criminal proceedings. The Queens district attorney's office interviewed over 100 witnesses and presented more than 500 exhibits to a grand jury. An issue considered by the grand jury was the New York State Penal Code's description of circumstances under which a police officer can use deadly force: "The use of deadly physical force is necessary to defend the police officer or peace officer or another person from what the officer reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of deadly physical force." On March 16, 2007, three of the five police officers involved in the shooting were indicted by a grand jury. Officer Gescard Isnora, who fired the first shot, and Officer Michael Oliver, who fired 31 of the 50 shots, were charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter, second-degree reckless endangerment and first- and second-degree assault. Detective Marc Cooper was charged with two counts of reckless endangerment. All three detectives pleaded not guilty at the arraignment hearing on March 19, 2007. Detectives Isnora and Oliver were released on bail, and Detective Cooper was released on his own recognizance. Oliver and Isnora initially faced up to 25 years in prison for the charges. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, Second Department, denied a motion by the detectives' attorneys to move the trial to a venue outside of Queens. Following the adverse ruling, the detectives waived a jury trial and instead submitted to a bench trial. Then-District Attorney Richard Brown faced some criticism from activists who believe he did not question the police officers involved quickly enough. Trial and acquittal on all charges On April 25, 2008, all three of the police officers indicted were acquitted on all counts. The defendants opted to have Justice Arthur J. Cooperman make a ruling rather than a jury. The ruling was handed down in a State Supreme Court in Queens. (In New York State, Supreme Court is the trial-level court of unlimited original jurisdiction.) A key defense forensic witness was Alexander Jason, a crime scene analyst and ballistics expert who disproved several of the prosecution's main points relating to the physical evidence. Among them was the timing of the incident. After performing tests with an NYPD pistol, Jason demonstrated that the 31 shots fired by one detective (Oliver) could have been done in about 12 seconds – not several minutes. Using high speed video during ballistic testing, Jason demonstrated that bullets fired through a car window would project glass both inside and outside the car and that this could be interpreted as shots coming from inside. Another of Jason's key points (mentioned in Judge Cooperman's written verdict) was that the person in the back seat of Bell's car (Benefield) was not shot while he was running away as he claimed, but while inside the car. Jason used computer generated 3D models to display some of his findings. In his ruling, Justice Cooperman stated that testimony by Guzman and Benefield did not make sense. He also cited the fact that they had a pending $50,000,000 lawsuit against the city. After the ruling was made, the family, led by Sharpton and several others, went to Bell's graveside in Port Washington, Long Island for a memorial service. Although the officers were acquitted, they and their commanding officer were either fired or forced to resign on March 24, 2012. After acquittal "Slowdown" protest On May 7, 2008, Al Sharpton led a series of protests in New York City. Hundreds took to the streets in Manhattan and Brooklyn as part of the citywide "slowdown" effort led by Sharpton and his National Action Network. The crowd made its way to the streets, stopping the flow of traffic in many vital areas of the city. This led to police action and the arrest of over 200 people, including Sharpton himself. Sharpton was arrested without incident at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge. Bell's parents, his former fiancée, Nicole Paultre Bell, and the two shooting victims who survived, Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman, were also arrested. Civil case On May 18, 2010, U.S. District Judge Sterling Johnson, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York lifted a stay on the civil lawsuit brought by Nicole Paultre Bell against the City of New York. On July 27, 2010 a settlement was reached. New York City agreed to pay Sean Bell's family $3.25 million. Joseph Guzman, 34, who uses a cane and a leg brace and has four bullets lodged in his body was to receive $3 million, and Trent Benefield, 26, was to receive $900,000. The total amount of the settlement was $7.15 million. Paultre Bell said, "I believe the settlement is fair, but the most important thing is that our fight, my fight, doesn't end here. No amount of money can provide closure." New York City Corporation Counsel stated, "The city regrets the loss of life in this tragic case, and we share our deepest condolences with the Bell family." The head of the New York City Detectives Endowment Association said he thought the settlement was "a joke". "The detectives were exonerated ... and now the taxpayer is on the hook for $7 million, and the attorneys are in line to get $2 million, without suffering a scratch." Guzman said the settlement did not change the underlying reality that the lives of Black and Hispanic men were not worth much in New York and that the incident was bound to be repeated. NYPD edits to Wikipedia article On March 13, 2015, Capital New York and other news organizations reported that 50 of the 15,000 IP addresses belonging to the NYPD were associated with edits, dating back to 2006, to English Wikipedia articles, including the article on the killing of Sean Bell. These IP addresses geolocate to NYPD headquarters at 1 Police Plaza. Detective Cheryl Crispin, a NYPD spokeswoman, said that "the matter is under internal review." Tributes The Nicole Paultre Bell "When It's Real, It's Forever" non-profit organization was started in memory of Bell. Rappers David Banner, Nicki Minaj, Prodigy, Immortal Technique and the Jamaica, Queens-based rap group G-Unit, The Game and Chamillionaire have each referenced the case in their songs. G-Unit dedicated the opening track of their album T.O.S: Terminate on Sight to Bell and also paid tribute to him in the thank-you section of the liner notes. Nicki Minaj dedicated part of her verse New York Minute to Bell, with the line "There's gotta be a heaven 'cause Sean Bell will never get to make it to his wedding." Bell is one of the names mentioned in Hell You Talmbout, a 2015 protest song by Janelle Monáe and the Wondaland artist collective. Chamillionaire referenced the case on the Mixtape Messiah 2 disc at the end of the song "Ridin' Overseas" (featuring Akon) where he says, "Rest in peace to Sean Bell, Chamillitary man". The Game dedicated the controversial song "911 is a Joke" to Bell. The Game dedicated the song "My Life" to Bell as well. Pharoahe Monch's cover of the Public Enemy song "Welcome to the Terrordome" includes a reference to Bell as well as to Amadou Diallo and Timothy Stansbury in the introduction. Swizz Beatz, Cassidy, Maino, Styles P, Talib Kweli, Red Cafe & Drag-On recorded a song entitled "Stand Up (The Sean Bell Tribute Song)" in which they refer to the shooting. Rapper JAY Z set up a trust fund for Bell's children. Sean Bell Way The New York City Council voted to designate Liverpool Street from 94th to 101st Avenues in Queens as "Sean Bell Way" in his memory. The naming ceremony took place on May 18, 2010. See also Contagious shooting Jean-Charles de Menezes Johnny Gammage Ousmane Zongo Amadou Diallo Nightlife legislation of the United States List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States References 2006 deaths 2006 in New York City 21st century in Queens African-American-related controversies Deaths by firearm in Queens, New York Jamaica, Queens New York City Police Department corruption and misconduct November 2006 events in the United States Police brutality in the United States Post–civil rights era in African-American history 1983 births Deaths by person in New York City African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States

9542285

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Edmund%20Perry

Shooting of Edmund Perry

Edmund Perry, a Harlem resident, was shot to death by Lee Van Houten, a 24-year-old plainclothes policeman, on June 12, 1985 when he was 17 years old. The case briefly generated a firestorm of protest in New York City when it was revealed that Perry was an honor student and was enrolled to attend Stanford on a scholarship; however, Van Houten said that Perry and his brother had attempted to mug him, and the shooting was ruled justifiable. The incident Lee Van Houten, a 24-year-old plainclothes policeman, was on assignment in the Morningside Park section of Manhattan on the night of June 12, 1985, when he said he was assaulted by two men who attempted to mug him. According to Van Houten, he was approached from behind and yanked to the ground by his neck, where two black men beat him and demanded that he give them money. He drew his gun from his ankle holster and fired three times, hitting Edmund Perry in the abdomen. The other attacker fled, and was later identified as Jonah Perry, Edmund's brother. Reaction At the time of his death, Perry was a recent graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, one of the most prestigious preparatory schools in the United States. The revelation of this fact led to significant press coverage, much of it unfavorable to the police. The front-page headline of the New York Post the next day was "COP KILLS HARLEM HONOR STUDENT". The Village Voice suggested that Perry was shot because he was "too black for his own good", and The New York Times wrote that "...the death of Edmund Perry raises painfully troubling questions". However, 2 witnesses backed up Van Houten's version of events, and the media firestorm was short-lived. Van Houten was cleared of any culpability in the shooting. Jonah Perry, an alumnus of the Westminster School in Simsbury, Connecticut, was later put on trial for assaulting Van Houten. He was found not guilty. The NYPD settled a wrongful death claim for $75,000 in 1989. Veronica Perry, the mother of both boys and their sister Nicol, died in the city six years later on October 22, 1991, of a heart attack aged 44. In popular culture Perry's experiences at Exeter and the circumstances surrounding his death formed the basis of the best-selling 1987 book Best Intentions: The Education and Killing of Edmund Perry, written by Robert Sam Anson. On January 6, 1992, NBC aired the TV movie Murder Without Motive: The Edmund Perry Story, directed by Kevin Hooks. Perry was portrayed by Curtis McClarin. Spike Lee's movie Do the Right Thing is dedicated to Edmund Perry, among other victims. The first-season episode of Law & Order, "Poison Ivy" was inspired by Perry. Various Michael Jackson biographers have concluded his 1987 song "Bad" and its music video were inspired by Edmund Perry. In the music video Michael's character is peer-pressured by his friends when he returns home from his honors high school and rebuffs his bullies by singing the song. This reflects the main lyrical theme of anti-bullying and standing up for oneself. References Further reading Anson, Robert Sam. Best Intentions: The Education and Killing of Edmund Perry () Castro, Janice. Shattering a Fragile Dream." Time Magazine. July 15, 1985 Butler, Leonard. Police Say Others Saw Student Attack Officer. New York Times. June 15, 1985 Kunen, James A. In a Troubling Tale of Two Cities, a Policeman's Bullet Kills a Promising Prep School Honor Student People Magazine. July 22, 1985 Farber, M.A. Jonah Perry Acquitted of Mugging Officer Who Fatally Shot Brother New York Times. January 23, 1986 Farber, M.A. For Many Jurors, Little was Proved in Perry Case New York Times. January 26, 1986 McFadden, Robert D. Settlement Reached in Perry Wrongful-Death Suit New York Times. May 13, 1989 Garrity, Patrick. Lessons to learn from the life and death of Eddie Perry '85. Philips Exeter Academy. June 11, 2020. External links 1967 births 1985 deaths People from Harlem Phillips Exeter Academy alumni African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States 1985 in New York (state) Race-related controversies in the United States New York City Police Department corruption and misconduct Incidents of violence against boys

10753351

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Deandre%20Brunston

Shooting of Deandre Brunston

The shooting of Deandre "Trey" Brunston, a 24-year-old African-American, occurred in Compton, Los Angeles County, California, on August 24, 2003. He was shot 22 times by Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies, who fired 81 rounds. In 2006, Brunston's family settled with the county for $340,000 after filing a lawsuit, accusing the sheriff's deputies of causing wrongful death. Incident At the time he was being sought for questioning from an alleged domestic abuse incident after his girlfriend called 9-1-1. After initially evading the police, Brunston was cornered in a nearby doorway where he and the officers tried to negotiate. He repeatedly told the officers he was wanted for murder (which was false), would rather die right there than go back to prison, and that he was armed and would shoot a police dog and the deputies if the dog was released or they fired first. However he had no gun but had a flip-flop sandal in his right hand hidden under his T-shirt. Brunston repeatedly stated that he would throw the "gun" down and surrender if he were allowed to speak to his girlfriend, Fonda Brown, who he said was pregnant with his child, but his request was never granted. At this point, many officers had their guns drawn and trained on Brunston. Lt. Patrick Maxwell had been contacted via cell phone while he was at a party in a drunken state. He ordered the dog to be released to attack Brunston. The senior K9 officer on the scene, Sgt. Earnest Burwell, refused to release the dog, claiming that releasing under those circumstances would violate the existing use-of-force policy. Burwell was replaced with a rookie K9 unit who made no such claims. The dog was released and Brunston refused to put the "gun" down when ordered to do so, instead yelling back to officers. He later threw it down when the dog was within a few feet of him, however the police had already decided to fire at that point and he was shot at less than a second afterwards. Before the dog reached Brunston, deputies opened fire. The dog was hit by police bullets and fell a split second before it reached Brunston, who had taken one step in retreat from the dog. Within the next five seconds, deputies had discharged 81 shots, seriously wounding both Brunston and the dog, who both later died of their injuries. Adding to the controversy of this shooting is the disparity in medical treatment—the wounded police dog received an emergency helicopter airlift from the scene to a veterinary center in Norwalk (where it died later) -- while Brunston was left bleeding to death on the concrete steps, leading to allegations of Brunston receiving sub-par treatment as compared to the dog. No gun was found on or near Brunston. The incident was captured on police video and posted on numerous websites. The videotape was used in the lawsuit to support that the police had acted in haste. Aftermath Deandre Brunston's aunt, Keisha Brunston, brought a wrongful death lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in response to the killing. They alleged the deputies could have easily prevented the death, were poorly trained in these situations and were 'trigger-happy'. Charges against the deputies were dropped and the suit focused on the supervisors and training. The judge ruled that suit could still charge against the animal's handler and supervisors including civil rights violations, false arrest and "negligent hiring, training and supervision." An order to release the police dog was allegedly given over a phone from an off-duty supervisor, who had been drinking. The family's attorney noted that the officers present seemed to act in haste as a crisis team with a trained negotiator was en route to the scene and would have determined whether the young man was bluffing. The family later settled with the county for $340,000 in March 2006. Brunston's mother, Brenda Gaines, was awarded $122,500 with his three children also receiving sums. The county also was ordered to pay $105,000 in legal fees. Several deputies were also given two- to five-day suspensions for shooting when not designated as on-site shooters. Deandre Brunston has become a symbol against police brutality. Keisha Brunston spoke at a War and Racism Forum in 2005 in Los Angeles. His picture was held in a march in Atlanta, GA in 2007 for the U.S. Social Forum. Brunston's family also spoke at a 2008 vigil for Muhammad Usman Chaudhry, an autistic Pakistani American, who was wrongfully killed by an LAPD officer. References People from Los Angeles Police brutality in the United States 2003 deaths Filmed killings by law enforcement Deaths by firearm in California Year of birth missing Crimes in California Law enforcement in California Victims of police brutality in the United States African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Compton, California

11227464

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Kayla%20Rolland

Shooting of Kayla Rolland

Kayla Renee Rolland (May 12, 1993 – February 29, 2000) was an American six-year-old girl from Mount Morris Township, Michigan, who was fatally shot on February 29, 2000 by a six-year-old male classmate at Buell Elementary School in the Beecher Community School District. The boy had found the gun while living at his uncle's drug house where guns were frequently traded for drugs. The killing drew worldwide attention due to the particularly young ages of the victim and the perpetrator: Rolland was the youngest school shooting victim in the United States until the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, and her assailant remains the youngest fatal school shooting perpetrator to date, and the second-youngest school shooting perpetrator in general. The boy was not charged with murder because of his age. Buell Elementary School closed in 2002. Background Kayla Rolland was killed by a six-year-old male first grader at Buell Elementary School in the Beecher Community School District, located in Mount Morris Township, Michigan, near Flint. His father, Dedric Owens, was in jail for violating his parole, having previously been convicted for possession of cocaine with intent to deliver and burglary. The boy had been living with his mother, Tamarla, and his eight-year-old brother. She was evicted from her home, having been unable to pay rent with the $175 weekly wage she received from the two jobs she worked under Michigan's welfare-to-work program, and both boys then shared a single sofa as a bed at their uncle's house. The home, where his uncle lived with a 19-year-old man, was a crack house where guns were frequently traded for drugs. At some point, the child found a loaded Davis Industries P-32 .32-caliber handgun under some blankets. The boy was known to have behavioral problems, and was made to stay after school nearly every day for swearing, giving people the finger, pinching, and hitting. Some weeks before the shooting he stabbed a girl with a pencil. Chris Boaz, a seven-year-old classmate, claimed the boy once punched him because he would not give him a pickle. The boy previously attacked Kayla Rolland before and, on the day prior to the killing, tried to kiss her and was rebuffed. Early on the day of the shooting, the boy and his brother got into a fight with Boaz, whom the boy threatened to shoot. Shooting On February 29, 2000, the boy had brought the firearm, along with a knife, with him to school. Further in the day, during a change of classes, he fatally shot six-year-old Kayla Rolland in the presence of a teacher and 22 students while they were moving up a floor on the stairs, saying to her: "I don't like you", before pulling the trigger. The bullet entered her right arm and travelled through a vital artery. At 10:29 a.m. EST, Rolland was pronounced dead at Hurley Medical Center while in cardiac arrest. He then threw the handgun into a trash basket and fled to a nearby restroom. He was found there, in the corner, by a teacher and was taken into police custody soon after. He was held in custody until the Genesee County Family Independence Agency could determine his placement. He and his two younger siblings have since been placed with an aunt. Aftermath At the time, Kayla Rolland was believed to have been the youngest school shooting victim in United States history, which was not surpassed until the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012. Her assailant became the youngest school shooter in the United States, and based on the legal claim that at that age he would lack the ability to form intent, he was not charged with the murder. In most U.S. states, six-year-olds are not liable for crimes they commit, and the Genesee County Prosecutor Arthur Busch called on the citizens to collectively hug the boy, presumably out of pity and sympathy. In an 1893 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that "children under the age of seven years could not be guilty of felony, or punished for any capital offense, for within that age the child is conclusively presumed incapable of committing a crime." This is followed in many U.S. states. Jamelle James, the uncle who owned the .32-caliber pistol used in the shooting, was sentenced for leaving the gun in a shoe box in his bedroom. He eventually pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter and spent two years and five months in prison before he was released on probation. The other adults involved would be in and out of court systems in the years to follow. A search of James' house produced a loaded pump-action shotgun and a rock of crack cocaine. Buell Elementary closed in 2002 due to dwindling enrollment and stressed finances. The campus was heavily damaged by arson in 2005, and was demolished in 2009. On the twentieth anniversary of the shooting on February 29, 2020, news media reported that the boy who shot Kayla Rolland was living in Bay City, Michigan. According to court records, he had been convicted at age 18 of a felony in connection with charges of second-degree home invasion and larceny at a Bay City house on April 23, 2012. Rolland's killing was documented in the 2002 Michael Moore film Bowling for Columbine. See also List of youngest killers List of school shootings in the United States References External links 2000 murders in the United States Genesee County, Michigan Murder committed by minors Deaths by person in the United States Elementary school shootings in the United States Deaths by firearm in Michigan 2000 crimes in the United States February 2000 events in the United States 1993 births 2000 deaths

15959812

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Michael%20Cho

Shooting of Michael Cho

The shooting of Michael Sungman Cho occurred on December 31, 2007, in the Orange County city of La Habra, California. Cho, a 25-year-old Korean-American artist, was brandishing a tire iron outside a store and was shot by two police officers. The shooting was ruled justified by the Orange County district attorney. Cho's family received a $100,000 settlement from a lawsuit. Background Michael Cho was a graduate of University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and was an artist. Death At 1 p.m. on New Year's Eve, police received a telephone report that an Asian man was vandalizing car windows on North Walnut Avenue; the officers who arrived on the scene were unable to find the man reported. The same person called in an hour later to report that the man in question was at Walnut Avenue and Whittier Boulevard and had a tire iron. Police arrived at the address of the alleged vandalism, the 7Gold Liquor Store at 545 Whittier Boulevard, after 2 p.m.; they contacted their dispatcher at 2:04 to state that they were outside of the liquor store with Cho. Their next communication with the dispatcher was 41 seconds later, during which they stated that they had shot Cho, and requested assistance from paramedics. The paramedics pronounced Cho dead at the scene. The liquor store's closed-circuit television camera recorded 25 seconds of the incident. The relevant clip shows the two officers, Pete DiPasqua and John Jaime, with two guns drawn; Cho walked towards them and brought his right hand to his mouth. He appeared to be holding an object in his left hand. He then turned to his right and walked out of the camera's view; police continued to point their guns at him. The officers claimed that the object Cho was holding was the previously-reported tire iron, and that he threatened them with it and refused orders to put it down. Newspaper reports stated that police fired ten shots at Cho; La Habra police chief Dennis Kies was unable to confirm this number in an interview ten days after the shooting. Reactions Friends and community members were angered and saddened by the shootings. UCLA art professor James Welling expressed his disbelief that Cho could be perceived as "menacing"; he described Cho as a "good-natured" person who was always "hanging around with high-achieving art students". On January 5, 2008, more than 100 of Cho's friends and relatives held a candlelight vigil at the site of his death; they set up photographs of Cho and left notes of condolence. His funeral was held on the morning of January 12, 2008 at the Good Stewards Church; he was buried at Oakdale Memorial Park that afternoon. On February 19, 2008, 200 people gathered outside La Habra City Hall to demand police provide answers. In contrast to the previous memorial, at which the atmosphere was one of mourning, the attendees at the February memorial expressed their anger at police. A Facebook group created to celebrate his life and protest his death had grown to 3,000 members by late February 2008. Investigation and lawsuit The officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave, and the department planned to convene an internal review panel to look into the death. By the following month, the officers had returned to work. Cho's death was the second Orange County officer-involved shooting in two days; on the morning of January 30, police responding to a domestic violence call shot a man in the abdomen after he allegedly lunged at them with a knife. Of the 49 officer-involved shootings in Orange County since July 2004, the La Habra Police Department was responsible for four, making them one of the most deadly out of over twenty municipal police departments in the county. The La Habra Police Department declined to release the names of the officers in question. In June 2008, the Orange County district attorney's office announced that their investigation concluded that the killing was a justifiable homicide, and that no charges would be filed. Cho's family hired Shelley Kaufman and Pat Harris, attorneys with the firm of high-profile criminal defense lawyer Mark Geragos, to represent them and were reportedly considering a lawsuit against the La Habra Police Department. Few community leaders expected that the officers in question would be punished for the shooting death. In July 2008, they filed a civil suit against the city of La Habra and the officers in question. Their suit alleged wrongful death and negligence. Southern California District Court judge Alicemarie H. Stotler announced in November 2009 that the trial would begin on February 2, 2010. However, the trial resulted in a hung jury, and Stotler declared a mistrial. In April 2010, a new trial date of September 21 was announced, with a settlement conference to be held in June. On September 15, less than a week before the trial date, Cho's family accepted a $100,000 settlement, stating that they hoped to avoid the "emotional ordeal" of a second trial. References Deaths by firearm in California Law enforcement in California People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Protests in the United States La Habra, California 2007 in California Cho, Michael Sungman Cho, Michael Sungman Cho, Michael Sungman Cho, Michael Sungman Asian-American-related controversies Filmed killings by law enforcement

19666814

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Jean%20Charles%20de%20Menezes

Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes

Jean Charles da Silva e de Menezes (; 7 January 1978 – 22 July 2005) was a Brazilian man killed by officers of the London Metropolitan Police Service at Stockwell station on the London Underground, after he was wrongly deemed to be one of the fugitives involved in the previous day's failed bombing attempts. These events took place two weeks after the London bombings of 7 July 2005, in which 52 people were killed. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) launched two investigations. Stockwell 1, the findings of which were initially kept secret, concluded that none of the officers would face disciplinary charges. Stockwell 2 strongly criticised the police command structure and communications to the public. In July 2006, the Crown Prosecution Service said that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute any named individual police officers in a personal capacity, although a criminal prosecution of the Commissioner in his official capacity on behalf of his police force was brought under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, on the failure of the duty of care due to Menezes. The Commissioner was found guilty and his office was fined. On 12 December 2008 an inquest returned an open verdict. Menezes' death led to protests in Brazil, and prompted apologies from British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. The Landless Workers' Movement demonstrated outside British diplomatic missions in Brasília and Rio de Janeiro. The shooting also led to debate over shoot-to-kill policies adopted by the Metropolitan Police Service after the September 11 attacks. Biography The son of a bricklayer, Menezes grew up on a farm in Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, Brazil. After discovering an early aptitude for electronics, he left the farm aged 14 to live with his uncle in São Paulo and further his education. At 19 he received a professional diploma from Escola Estadual (State School) São Sebastião. According to the Home Office, he arrived in Britain on 13 March 2002, on a six-month visitor's visa. After its expiry, he applied to stay on as a student, and was granted permission to remain until 30 June 2003. The Home Office said it had no record of any further correspondence, but added: "We have seen a copy of Mr Menezes' passport, containing a stamp apparently giving him indefinite leave to remain in the UK. On investigation, this stamp was not one that was in use by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate on the date given." This was denied by the family of Menezes, and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw stated that he believed Menezes was living in the UK legally, but had no precise information to confirm this. Immigration records show that Menezes entered the Republic of Ireland from France on 23 April 2005. There are no records to show the exact date that he returned to the UK; under the Immigration (Control of Entry through Republic of Ireland) Order 1972, a foreign citizen entering the UK through the Republic of Ireland can have an automatic right to remain for three months, as long as not working, according to paragraph 4 (4)(a). However, this clause does not apply to "visa nationals" who have "no valid visa to enter the UK" (paragraph 4 (2)) or those who have previously left the United Kingdom "whilst having a limited leave to enter or remain there which has since expired", according to paragraph 4 (3). Accordingly, Menezes was unlawfully residing in the UK on the day he was killed. Shooting Almost all of the facts regarding the Menezes shooting were initially disputed by various parties. Contradictory witness accounts, "off the record" statements from police, and media speculation added to the confusion. An ITV report on 16 August 2005 claimed to contain leaked documents from an IPCC investigation. Hunt for suspects On 22 July 2005, the Metropolitan Police were searching for four suspects in four attempted bombings carried out the previous day; three at Underground stations and one on a bus in Hackney. As the perpetrators had not died in the failed suicide bombing, a large police investigation and manhunt began immediately. An address in Scotia Road, Tulse Hill, was written on a gym membership card that was found inside one of the unexploded bags used by the bombers. Menezes, an electrician, lived in one of the flats with two of his cousins, and had just received a call to fix a broken fire alarm in Kilburn. At around 9:30a.m., officers carrying out surveillance saw Menezes emerge from the communal entrance of the block. An officer on duty at Scotia Road, referred to as "Frank" in the Stockwell 1 report, compared Menezes to the CCTV photographs of the bombing suspects from the previous day, and felt he warranted further attention. As the officer was allegedly urinating, he was unable to immediately film the suspect to transmit images to Gold Command, the Metropolitan Police operational headquarters for major incidents. The inquest transcript confirms that "Frank" was a soldier on secondment to the undercover surveillance unit. Misidentification On the basis of Frank's suspicion, the Met's then Gold Commander Cressida Dick authorised officers to continue pursuit and surveillance, and ordered that the suspect be prevented from entering the Tube system. Documents from the independent agency investigation of the shooting later concluded that mistakes in police surveillance procedure led to a failure to properly identify Menezes early on, leading to rushed assumptions and actions later at Stockwell tube station. Pursuit The officers followed Menezes to a bus-stop for the number 2 bus on Tulse Hill where several plainclothes police officers boarded. Menezes briefly got off the bus at Brixton station. Seeing a notice that the station was closed due to a security alert because of the previous day's attempted bombings, he made a telephone call and reboarded the bus towards Stockwell. Unaware the station was closed, the surveillance officers said they believed that Menezes's behaviour suggested that he might have been one of the previous day's failed bomb suspects. Officers claimed that Menezes' behaviour appeared "suspicious". They later stated that they were satisfied that they had the correct man, noting that he "had Mongolian eyes". At some point during this journey towards Stockwell station, away, the pursuing officers contacted Gold Command, and reported that Menezes potentially matched the description of two of the previous day's suspects, including Osman Hussain. Based on this information, Gold Command authorised "code red" tactics, and ordered the surveillance officers to prevent Menezes from boarding a train. According to a "senior police source at Scotland Yard", Police Commander Cressida Dick told the surveillance team that the man was to be "detained as soon as possible", before entering the station. Gold Command then transferred control of the operation to Specialist Firearms Command (known as "CO19" or "SO19"), which dispatched firearms officers to Stockwell tube station. Menezes entered the tube station at about 10:00a.m., stopping to pick up a free newspaper. He used his Oyster card to pay the fare, walked through the barriers, and descended the escalator. He then ran across the platform to board the newly arrived train. Menezes boarded the train and found one of the first available seats. Three surveillance officers, codenamed Hotel 1, Hotel 3 and Hotel 9, followed Menezes onto the train. According to Hotel 3, Menezes sat down with a glass panel to his right about two seats in. Hotel 3 then took a seat on the left with about two or three passengers between Menezes and himself. When the firearms officers arrived on the platform, Hotel 3 moved to the door, blocked it from closing with his left foot, and shouted "He's here!" to identify the suspect's location. Shooting The firearms officers boarded the train and it was initially claimed they challenged the suspect, though later reports indicate he was not challenged. According to Hotel 3, Menezes then stood up and moved towards the officers and Hotel 3, at which point Hotel 3 grabbed him, pinned his arms against his torso, and pushed him back into the seat. Although Menezes was being restrained, his body was straight and not in a natural sitting position. Hotel 3 heard a shot close to his ear, and was dragged away onto the floor of the carriage. He shouted "Police!" and with hands raised was dragged out of the carriage by one of the armed officers who had boarded the train. Hotel 3 then heard several gunshots while being dragged out. Two officers fired a total of eleven shots according to the number of empty cartridge casings found on the floor of the train afterwards. Menezes was shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder at close range and died at the scene. An eyewitness later said that the eleven shots were fired over a thirty-second period, at three-second intervals. A separate witness reported hearing five shots, followed at an interval by several more shots. Immediately after the shooting, the Metropolitan Police stated that the shooting was "directly linked" to the investigation of the attempted bombings the previous day. It was revealed that police policy towards suspected suicide bombers had been revised and that officers had been ordered to fire directly towards suspects' heads, the theory according to British authorities being that shooting at the chest could conceivably detonate a concealed bomb. The SO19 firearms officers involved in the shooting were debriefed and drugs and alcohol tests were taken as per standard procedure. The officers were taken off duty pending an investigation into the shooting. One security agency source said later that members of SO19 received training from the SAS. He said the operation was not typical of the police and bore the hallmarks of a special forces operation. It emerged that hollow-point bullets had been employed and a senior police source said that Menezes's body had been "unrecognisable". These bullets are widely used in law enforcement, where it may often be necessary to quickly stop an armed assailant while minimising the risk of collateral damage posed by the use of full metal jacket ammunition. A full metal jacket bullet is more likely to exit the target while still retaining lethal force. A Home Office spokesman said, "Chief officers can use whatever ammunition they consider appropriate for the operational circumstances." Immediate aftermath The day after the shooting, the Metropolitan Police identified the victim as Jean Charles de Menezes and said that he had not been carrying explosives, nor was he connected in any way to the attempted bombings. They issued an apology describing the incident as "a tragedy, and one that the Metropolitan Police Service regrets". The Menezes family condemned the shooting and rejected the apology. His grandmother said there was "no reason to think he was a terrorist". Although it was initially reported that they were offered almost £585,000 compensation, the Menezes family eventually received £100,000 in compensation from the Metropolitan Police. His cousin, Alex Alves Pereira, said: "I believe my cousin's death was result of police incompetence." Pereira said that police claims regarding the incident had been conflicting, and took issue with their pursuit of Menezes for an extended period and their allowing the "suspected suicide bomber" to board a bus. "Why did they let him get on a bus if they are afraid of suicide bombers?... He could have been running, but not from the police... When the Underground stops, everybody runs to get on the train. That he jumped over the barriers is a lie." The Brazilian government released a statement expressing its shock at the killing, saying that it looked forward "to receiving the necessary explanation from the British authorities on the circumstances which led to this tragedy." Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, who had already arranged to visit London, said he would seek a meeting with the UK's Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw. He later met ministers and had a telephone conversation with Straw. The Muslim Council of Britain expressed immediate concern about the apparent existence of a "shoot-to-kill" policy and called on police to make clear their reasons for shooting the man dead. On 27 July 2005, Menezes's body was flown to Brazil for burial. His funeral took place in Gonzaga on 29 July 2005. A public requiem mass for Menezes, attended by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, was held at Westminster Cathedral around the same time. Public reaction In Britain A vigil at Stockwell Station was held with some of the relatives on the Sunday immediately following the shooting and police apology. Another, called by the Stop the War Coalition, was held on 25 July. They state that a thousand people attended and then several hundred people, led by a group of Brazilians (some of whom had been friends with Jean Charles), began an impromptu demonstration. On 23 August 2005, Dania Gorodi, a Romanian immigrant, the sister of victim Michelle Otto who was killed in the 7 July 2005 London bombings, asked for an end to the criticism of Sir Ian Blair over the Menezes shooting, which she felt had moved the media focus away from the bombings. "People have lost sight of the bigger picture", she said. "We need to support the police right now, not crucify one man. This is unprecedented in British history. He [Sir Ian] is doing the best he can." When, on 12 September 2006, the Metropolitan Police Authority promoted Commander Cressida Dick to the role of Deputy Assistant Commissioner, the family said they were 'absolutely disgusted'. The family also criticised the awarding of the Queen's Police Medal to Commander Dick in the 2010 New Year's Day honours. On 29 September 2008, performance artist Mark McGowan "re-enacted" the killing at Stockwell station, to protest against the then-current lack of response. He was quoted as saying that "People are distracted by things like The X Factor and Christmas, so I'm doing this as a reaction." Police comments Senior Scotland Yard officer Deputy Assistant Commissioner Alan Given, who had operational responsibilities in relation to the officers who had actually killed Menezes, said "... when it came to the Stockwell shooting, there was a sense that it was no different from an incident such as police shooting a bank robber". On the day of Menezes's death, at his mid-afternoon press conference, Sir Ian Blair, stated: "I need to make clear that any death is deeply regrettable". In Brazil The reaction of the Brazilian public was overwhelmingly negative. Protests and demonstrations were held in Brazil. His cousin called Menezes's death a "third-world error". Brazilian newspaper O Globo criticised Home Secretary Charles Clarke for his praise for the Metropolitan Police Service after the shooting, while Jornal do Brasil wrote that "Instead of apologising, the English authorities came out in defence of those responsible for this disastrous [police] action." Independent Police Complaints Commission inquiry Several days after the shooting, it was announced that the incident would be subject to an internal investigation by officers from Scotland Yard's Directorate of Professional Standards and would be referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), as is the case with all fatal police shootings. Immediately after the shooting, Commissioner Sir Ian Blair telephoned the Chairman of the IPCC and wrote a letter to the Home Office, describing his instruction that "the shooting that has just occurred at Stockwell is not to be referred to the IPCC and that they will be given no access to the scene at the present time." The letter, later released by the Met under the Freedom of Information Act, expressed the Commissioner's intent to protect the tactics and sources of information used in a counter-terrorism operation from the public jeopardizing future operations. Controversy between the Met and the IPCC On 18 August, lawyers representing the Menezes family met the IPCC and urged them to conduct a "fast" investigation. The lawyers, Harriet Wistrich and Gareth Peirce, held a press conference where they lamented the "chaotic mess". They stated their desire to ask the IPCC "to find out ... how much is incompetence, negligence or gross negligence and how much of it is something sinister". On 18 August, the IPCC issued a statement in which it said that the Metropolitan Police was initially opposed to them taking on the investigation. It also announced that the inquiry was expected to last between three and six months. The IPCC announced it took over the inquiry on 25 July; however, the inquiry was not handed over until 27 July. The police lobbied MPs to try to influence the inquiry into the shooting. Unsolicited e-mails were sent by Nick Williams, the acting inspector at the Metropolitan Police's Diamond Support Group, to Labour MPs denying that there was a "shoot-to-kill" policy and that the tactics employed were necessary. The Met declined repeated requests by the IPCC to disclose hundreds of pages of internal papers that gave the Met's private assessment of the operation, including discussions about how much compensation the Met thought it should pay to the Menezes family; the risk that individual officers might face murder or manslaughter charges; the vulnerability of Blair and the Met to an action for civil damages; and whether Special Branch officers altered surveillance logs. In May 2006, the Metropolitan Police Federation, a staff association that represents the interests of police officers, released a 12-page statement which was highly critical of the IPCC in general, and specifically criticised the handling of the "Stockwell inquiry". Leak of inquiry On 16 August 2005, British television network ITV released a report said to be based on leaked documents from the IPCC investigation which conflicted with previous statements by police chief Sir Ian Blair. The Met and the IPCC refused to comment on the allegations while the IPCC investigation was ongoing, though an anonymous "senior police source" claimed that the leak was accurate. Lana Vandenberghe, the IPCC secretary thought to be responsible for the leak, was suspended and subsequently sacked. The IPCC launched an investigation into the leaking of the documents. On 21 September, Leicester Constabulary Serious Crime Unit initiated dawn raids on behalf of the IPCC on one Scottish and two London residential premises, at which time Vandenberghe was arrested. Two more dawn raids took place on 5 October, during which ITN journalist Neil Garrett and his girlfriend were arrested. On 4 May 2006, Leicestershire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service announced that no charges would be filed against Vandenberghe, Garrett or his partner. Stockwell 1 According to a press release made on 9 December by the IPCC's chairman Nick Hardwick and John Tate, its Director of Legal Services, the inquiry's report would list some of the criminal offences that the commission thought may have been committed by police. Though without having reached any conclusions, they also admitted the commission's judgement would be a "lower threshold" than the standard prosecutors would apply in making any final decision to prosecute. On 14 March 2006, the IPCC announced that the first part of the inquiry, known as "Stockwell 1" had been completed and recommendations were passed on to the Metropolitan Police Authority and Crown Prosecution Service, but the report "[could not] be made public until all legal processes have concluded". The report was published on 8 November 2007. Stockwell 2 "Stockwell 2", the second part of the inquiry, focuses on the conduct of Sir Ian Blair and Andrew Hayman following the discovery of Menezes's identity, and was released on 2 August 2007. The allegations were that MPS officers "made or concurred with inaccurate public statements concerning the circumstances of the death. The alleged inaccurate information included statements that Mr de Menezes had been wearing clothing and behaving in a manner which aroused suspicions." Brian Paddick On 17 March 2006, the Met was threatened with legal action by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick. In evidence to the IPCC, Paddick had stated that a member of Sir Ian's private office team believed the wrong man had been targeted just six hours after the shooting, contrary to the official line taken at the time. When this information became public, Scotland Yard issued a statement that the officer making the claim (Paddick) "has categorically denied this in his interview with, and statement to, the IPCC investigators". The statement continued that they "were satisfied that whatever the reasons for this suggestion being made, it is simply not true". Paddick's interpretation of this statement was that it accused him of lying. After a statement was released on 28 March by the Met that it "did not intend to imply" a senior officer had misled the probe into the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, Paddick accepted the 'clarification' and considered the matter closed. In a substantial campaigning Daily Telegraph interview (17 November 2007 – "I know how to make Londoners feel safe") which Paddick gave to support his suitability to become Mayor, he said "Policing is a dangerous job, we should trust the professional judgement of officers on the front line. We shouldn't prosecute them or their bosses if they decide to put their lives on the line for the public". Investigation into suppression of evidence On 13 October 2008, at an inquest into the death, a police surveillance officer admitted that he had deleted a computer record of Cressida Dick's instruction that they could allow Menezes to "run on to Tube as [he was] not carrying anything". At the inquest he told the court that "On reflection, I looked at that and thought I cannot actually say that." The IPCC announced that it would investigate the matter "[at its] highest level of investigation". DPP and CPS involvement In July 2006, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which like the IPCC operates independently of the Met, announced that it would not carry forward any charges against any individual involved in the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner in his official capacity faced criminal charges under sections 3(1) and 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 for "failing to provide for the health, safety and welfare of Jean Charles de Menezes". The decision not to prosecute individuals was made on the grounds of insufficient evidence. The family of Menezes appealed against the decisions of the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service in the High Court. The legal representatives of the Metropolitan Police Service, on behalf of the office of the Commissioner, pleaded not guilty to the charges, "after the most careful consideration". The trial started on 1 October 2007. On 14 December 2006, Lord Justice Richards (Richards LJ) of the High Court, sitting with Mr Justice Forbes (Forbes J) and Mr Justice Mackay (Mackay J), unanimously rejected an application for a judicial review into the decision of the office of the DPP on behalf of the CPS to rule out criminal prosecutions of the individual police officers who shot dead Jean Charles de Menezes, ruling that "[I]t was a reasonable decision... on the basis that they were likely to fail". On 1 November 2007, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner in his official capacity was found guilty of the above offences, and his office was fined £175,000, together with £385,000 of legal costs. The Met published a terse release about this decision and Len Duvall, Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, asked that the full report on the investigation be published. Controversy over police procedure Much discussion following the shooting centred on the rules of engagement followed by armed police when dealing with suspected suicide bombers. Roy Ramm, a former commander of specialist operations for the Metropolitan Police, said that the rules had been changed to permit officers to "shoot to kill" potential suicide bombers, claiming headshots are the safest way to kill the suspect without risk of detonating devices. The possibility of a police confrontation with a suicide bomber in the United Kingdom had reportedly been discussed following the September 11 attacks in the United States. Based on this possibility, new guidelines were developed for identifying, confronting, and dealing forcefully with terrorist suspects. These guidelines were given the code name "Operation Kratos". Based in part on advice from the security forces of Israel and Sri Lanka—two countries with experience of suicide bombings—Operation Kratos guidelines allegedly state that the head or lower limbs should be aimed at when a suspected suicide bomber appears to have no intention of surrendering. This is contrary to the usual practice of aiming at the torso, which presents the biggest target, since a hit to the torso may detonate an explosive belt. Sir Ian Blair appeared on television on 24 July 2005 to accept responsibility for the error on the part of the Metropolitan Police, and to acknowledge and defend the "shoot to kill" policy, saying: The Met's commissioner Sir Ian Blair, and his predecessor Lord Stevens, had expressed concern about the legal position of police officers who might kill suspected suicide bombers. There is no explicit legal requirement for armed officers to warn a suspect before firing, although guidelines published by the Association of Chief Police Officers say that this "should be considered". A potential suicide bomber is thought to represent a circumstance where warning the suspect may put the public at greater risk because the bomber may detonate his explosives after being warned. Lord Stevens defended the policy he introduced, despite the error that had been made. Azzam Tamimi of the Muslim Association of Britain was critical, saying: "I just cannot imagine how someone pinned to the ground can be a source of danger." Other leaders of the UK's Muslim community took a similar view. Ken Livingstone, the then Mayor of London, defended the police as having acted in the way they thought appropriate at the time, and with the aim of protecting the public. Confirmation bias on the part of the Metropolitan Police may have come into play in this case. Disconfirming evidence that Menezes was the suspect may have been present, but interpreted incorrectly. The threat of a suicide bombing on the Underground may have produced stress and time pressures in individuals within the department, which in turn could have affected their decision-making thresholds. Owing to the controversy surrounding the death of Menezes, the codename of Operation Kratos was dropped from all police lexicon in 2007–08, although the tactics for dealing with a suicide threat remained broadly the same. During the trial an allegation was made that the police had manipulated a photo of de Menezes so as to increase his resemblance to a "terrorist", Hussain Oman. A forensic specialist concluded de Menezes' face "appeared to have been brightened and lost definition". However, when asked if there had been any manipulation of any of the primary features of the face he replied "I don't believe there has been any... but making the image brighter has changed the image." Jean Charles de Menezes Family Campaign On 16 August 2005, the Jean Charles de Menezes Family Campaign, also known as "Justice4Jean", began calling for a public inquiry into the "unlawful killing" of Menezes. Critics such as Conservative London Assemblyman Brian Coleman have suggested that the involvement of Asad Rehman, a former leader of the Stop the War Coalition and former adviser to Respect politician George Galloway in the campaign shows that the family's campaign had been "hijacked" and the death of Menezes was being used to "advance a political aim". Galloway's secretary said that Rehman had been acting in "a personal capacity, ... not in his role as political adviser", and Menezes family members Alessandro Pereira and Vivien Figueiredo denied any manipulation. The family campaign organised three events in 2005: On 29 July, a vigil in Parliament Square and a multi-faith memorial service at Westminster Cathedral were held at the same time as Menezes's funeral in Brazil. On 22 August, a petition asking for a public inquiry was delivered to Downing Street by Menezes family member Alessandro Pereira and members of Justice4Jean. The protestors made their way from Downing Street to Scotland Yard, together with the relatives of Paul Coker and Azelle Rodney, individuals who also died in London police incidents in 2005. On 10 October, the campaign was launched at the London School of Economics with Menezes's parents, the family lawyer Gareth Peirce, Bianca Jagger, Matthew Taylor MP and Irene Khan from Amnesty International. The family and their campaign continue to be actively supported by Newham Monitoring Project; on 22 July 2007 they held a minute of silence outside Stockwell tube station to commemorate the second anniversary of Menezes's death. Two days earlier the campaign projected a 20 metre by 30 metre (65' x 100') image of Menezes's face with the slogan "Two Years, No Justice" on the walls of the Houses of Parliament. The campaign set up a blog for the duration of the inquest starting on 22 September 2008 and released a pre-inquest briefing. On 7 January 2010, a memorial was unveiled at Stockwell tube station. It was made by local artist Mary Edwards, with the help of Menezes' cousin, Vivian Figueiredo, and Chrysoula Vardaxi, a member of a group that kept alive the memorial "shrine" to Menezes beginning within the days following his death. European Court of Human Rights On 10 June 2015, the Menezes family took the British government to the European Court of Human Rights over the decision not to prosecute anyone involved in the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes. The legal challenge was mounted under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights regarding state deprivation of life and use of force. On 30 March 2016, the Grand Chamber held—by a majority of 13 to 4—that there had been no violation of Article 2: Dissenting judges highlighted concerns about the objective reasonableness of the "honest belief, perceived for good reasons" justifying the use of force; that officers were permitted to write their notes up together; that the threshold for prosecution was more stringent than in other states; and the incongruity that no individual was subject to disciplinary action despite a finding of institutional criminal responsibility under the Health and Safety Act. Inquest The inquest opened on 22 September 2008 at the John Major conference room at The Oval, Kennington, London. The coroner, Sir Michael Wright, a former High Court judge and assistant deputy coroner for Inner South London, and the jury heard from almost 70 witnesses, including over 40 police officers. On the first day the inquest heard that the police officers who shot Menezes dead were "convinced" at the time that he was a suicide bomber. In his comments, Sir Michael Wright said that the two officers thought Menezes was about to detonate a "device" on the Tube. He took the inquest jury through the events leading up to Menezes's death, listing a number of occasions where officers were unclear whether or not they thought they were pursuing a bomber. The jury was told of differences between what was being relayed on radio and logged in the Scotland Yard control room and how the officers in the field were interpreting the information. He said that when Menezes entered the Stockwell Tube station no member of the surveillance team had positively identified him as Hussain Osman. Regarding the decision of the two firearms officers to shoot Menezes, Sir Michael said that they had fired nine rounds between them, seven of which had struck Menezes's head at point blank range. He added that the two officers concerned were convinced that Menezes was a suicide bomber about to detonate a device, and that the only option open was an instant killing. On 13 October, the IPCC launched an investigation after a Metropolitan police surveillance officer named only as "Owen" admitted that he had altered evidence submitted to the inquest. The officer had deleted one of his own computer notes which quoted deputy assistant commissioner Cressida Dick as concluding that Menezes was not a security threat. The note said "CDcan run on to tube as not carrying anything". On 24 October the inquest heard that Menezes was initially not considered as a suspect, and that the police wanted unarmed officers to halt and question him in case he had information about the failed terrorist attack of 21 July 2005. Detective Sergeant Piers Dingemans and a four-man squad were tasked with stopping Menezes for intelligence purposes as he travelled to Stockwell station on a bus. Dingemans told the inquest that his car was behind the bus when he was stood down at 09:55, and said he thought this was because Menezes was then considered a suspect. On 2 December Sir Michael ordered the jury, shortly before they retired to consider their verdict, that they could not return one of "unlawful killing", leaving their options as "lawful killing", or an open verdict. He said that the verdict could not be inconsistent with the earlier criminal trial. As well as the short-form verdict of "lawful killing" or "open", Sir Michael also asked them to respond to three questions of fact, and nine possible contributory factors with simple "yes", "no", or "cannot decide" answers. The Menezes family lodged an immediate application for a judicial review of the decision. On 4 December, during Sir Michael's summing-up, members of the Menezes family got up and undid their jackets exposing printed slogans on their T-shirts, with the wording "Your legal right to decideunlawful killing verdict", and left the courtroom after pausing for 30 seconds in front of the jury. The following day, Sir Michael asked the jury to ignore the protest. In his summing-up, Sir Michael stated that to return a verdict of lawful killing, the jury should be "satisfied of two matters on the balance of probabilities": If the jury was not satisfied on both of these, they were to return an open verdict. On 9 December the jury asked the coroner whether they were required to find unanimity on the short-form verdict and all of the additional questions. Sir Michael instructed them that they should strive for unanimity, but he would accept a 10–1 or 9–2 verdict. Later that day one of the jury was permanently dismissed owing to travel plans, reducing the jury to 10, and the following day Sir Michael said he would now accept a 9–1 or 8–2 verdict. On Friday 12 December 2008, the inquest into Jean Charles' death returned an open verdict. Their answers to the specific questions and contributory facts were as follows. In the latter portion, the answers "yes", "no", and "can't decide" were determined by the jury while answering the broader question "which of these other factors, if any, contributed to the death". The officer identified as "Ivor" was a member of a SO12 Special Branch covert surveillance team who had followed Menezes on the bus and attempted to identify him. He has also been designated as "Hotel 3". The officer identified as "C12" or "Charlie 12" was a member of a CO19 firearms unit who first opened fire and killed Menezes. Disputed facts and events Clothing With regard to his dress on the day of the shooting The Observer reported that he was dressed in "baseball cap, blue fleece and baggy trousers". Mark Whitby, a witness to the shooting, told Reuters that he observed Menezes wearing a large winter coat, which "looked out of place". Vivien Figueiredo, a cousin of Menezes, was later told by police that Menezes was wearing a denim jacket on the day of the shooting. Anthony Larkin, another eyewitness, told the BBC that Menezes appeared to be wearing a "bomb belt with wires coming out". Based on these eyewitness reports, press speculation at the time said that wearing such heavy clothing on a warm day raised suspicions that Menezes was hiding explosives underneath, and was therefore a potential suicide bomber. At the time of the shooting, the temperature in London (at a Heathrow Airport weather station) was about 17 °C (62 °F). No device resembling a bomb belt was reported as found. Menezes was also not carrying a tool bag, since he had left it with his colleague the previous evening. According to the report on leaked IPCC documents, Menezes was wearing a pair of jeans and a light denim jacket. This was confirmed by a photo of his body on the floor of the carriage after the shooting. Police challenge Police initially stated that they challenged Menezes and ordered him to stop outside Stockwell station. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said in a later press conference that a warning was issued prior to the shooting. Lee Ruston, an eyewitness who was waiting on the platform, said the police did not identify themselves. The Times reported "senior police sources" as saying that police policy would not require a warning to be given to a suspected suicide bomber before lethal action was taken. The leaked IPCC documents indicated that Menezes was seated on the train carriage when the SO19 armed unit arrived. A shout of "police" may have been made, but the suspect had no opportunity to respond before he was shot. The leaked documents indicated that he was restrained by an undercover officer before being shot. During the 2008 inquest into Menezes's death, passengers who were travelling in the same carriage also contradicted police accounts, saying that they heard no warnings and that Menezes gave no significant reaction to arrival of the policemen. One passenger said that Menezes appeared calm even as a gun was held to his head, and was clear that the police officers did not shout any warnings before shooting him. Ticket barrier Witnesses stated that up to twenty police officers in plain clothes pursued Menezes into Stockwell station, that he jumped over the ticket barrier, ran down an escalator and tried to jump onto a train. The Menezes family was briefed by the police that their son did not jump over the ticket barrier and used a Travelcard to pass through; this was subsequently confirmed by CCTV recordings shown at the Metropolitan Police trial. The pathologist's post-mortem report, which was written five days after the shooting, recorded that Menezes "vaulted over the ticket barriers" and that he "ran down the stairs of the tube station". Dr Kenneth Shorrock later told the inquest that he had been given this information by police during a "walk-through" with officers at Stockwell Tube Station but he could not remember who had given him this incorrect information, which had also featured in earliest eyewitness reports. It had been suggested that the man reported by eyewitnesses as jumping over the barrier may have been one of the police officers in pursuit. CCTV footage Initial UK media reports suggested that no CCTV footage was available from the Stockwell station, as recording media had not been replaced after being removed for examination after the previous day's attempted bombings. Other reports stated that faulty cameras on the platform were the reason for the lack of video evidence. An anonymous source confirmed that CCTV footage was available for the ticket area, but that there was a problem with the platform coverage. The source suggested that there was no useful CCTV footage from the platform or the train carriage. Extracts from a later police report stated that examination of the platform cameras had produced no footage. It said: "It has been established that there has been a technical problem with the CCTV equipment on the relevant platform and no footage exists." The platform CCTV system is maintained by the Tube Lines consortium in charge of maintaining the Northern Line. The company made a statement to The Mail on Sunday insisting that the cameras were in working order. During the inquest, evidence confirmed that the video tapes had been changed by a station supervisor in three video recorders monitoring the station CCTV at 3:09am on the morning of the shooting. These machines emit an audible noise if they are not receiving an audio/video signal, but there was no indication the supervisor heard an alarm. Three days later the equipment was tested and it was found that a cable transmitting the CCTV images to the video recorders had been damaged or cut, possibly during refurbishment work (the cable may have been severed when a workman stepped on it); the following day a communications expert confirmed that the alarm was sounding as a result of this loss of signal. The same police report also reported there was no footage from CCTV in the carriage where Menezes was shot, stating: "Although there was on-board CCTV in the train, due to previous incidents [the 7 July bombings], the hard drive had been removed and not replaced." CCTV footage from the number 2 bus Menezes took to the station was also shown during the inquest; it too, was incomplete. The IPCC claimed this was due to excessive vibration, which prevented several cameras on the bus from working. Motivations Several reasons were initially posited by media sources and family members for why Menezes may have run from police, as indicated by initial reports. A few weeks earlier, he had been attacked by a gang and may have perceived that he was in a similar situation upon seeing plainclothes officers chasing him. Several sources have speculated that irregularities about his immigration status may have given him reason to be wary of the police; evidence that emerged during the course of the criminal trial into the Health and Safety charge showed that Menezes was lawfully in the country on 22 July 2005. This is mentioned in the Stockwell One report, at footnote 4 on page 21. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that a colleague believed that Menezes ran simply because he was late for his job. It was later indicated by the leaked IPCC documents that Menezes may have run across the platform to get a seat on the train, and did not know at the time that he was being watched or pursued. Gunshots It was initially stated by police that Menezes was shot five times in the head. Mark Whitby, a passenger on the train Menezes had run onto, said: "one of [the police officers] was carrying a black handgun—it looked like an automatic—He half tripped… they pushed him to the floor, bundled on top of him and unloaded five shots into him." Another passenger, Dan Copeland, said: "an officer jumped on the door to my left and screamed, 'Everybody out!' People just froze in their seats cowering for a few seconds and then leapt up. As I turned out the door on to the platform, I heard four dull bangs." Menezes's cousin Alex Pereira, who lived with him, asserted that Menezes had been shot from behind: "I pushed my way into the morgue. They wouldn't let me see him. His mouth was twisted by the wounds and it looked like he had been shot from the back of the neck." Later reports confirmed that Jean Charles de Menezes was shot a total of eight times: seven times in the head and once in the shoulder. The leaked IPCC documents also indicated that an additional three shots had missed Menezes. One witness claimed that the shots were evenly distributed over a timespan of thirty seconds. This has not been substantiated by other witness reports or the leaked IPCC documents. Involvement of special forces Several commentators suggested that special forces may have been involved in the shooting. Professor Michael Clarke, Professor of Defence Studies at King's College London, went as far as to say that unless there had been a major change in policy it was likely that it was not the police who had carried out the shooting, but special forces: On 4 August 2005, The Guardian reported that the newly created Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR), a special forces unit specialising in covert surveillance, was involved in the operation that led to the shooting. The anonymous Whitehall sources who provided the story stressed that the SRR was involved only in intelligence gathering, and that Menezes was shot by armed police, not by members of the SRR or other soldiers. Defence sources would not comment on speculation that SRR soldiers were among the plainclothes officers who followed Menezes onto the number 2 bus. On 21 August, the Sunday Herald reported that SRR men are believed to have been in the tube train when the shooting occurred. Stockwell One states, of the SO12 surveillance teams: (p. 28) "During July 2005 each surveillance team had a member of the military attached to them. Those soldiers were unarmed." In the transcript of the 2008 inquest, some of the soldiers' testimonies are recorded, including that of "Hotel 11" and that of "Frank". Exonerated of sexual assault allegations In February 2006, a woman claimed to police that a man who resembled Menezes had attacked her in a hotel room on New Year's Eve 2002 in west London. Scotland Yard spent several weeks investigating the claim. After the claim was made public in March 2006, the Menezes family denied the allegation and claimed that the Metropolitan Police were trying to smear Menezes. Although the family initially denied the request, a blood sample was eventually taken with their permission from Menezes's autopsy. On 25 April 2006 Scotland Yard announced that forensic tests on the sample had cleared Menezes. Legal settlement The four-year legal battle by the family of Jean Charles de Menezes ended when they reached a settlement with the Metropolitan Police Service in November 2009. The MPS agreed to pay compensation to the family, who in return agreed to end their legal action. The sum of money involved in the settlement was reported to be just over £100,000; in addition the family's substantial legal costs were paid. In a joint statement with the family, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner made "a further unreserved apology to the family for the tragic death of Jean Charles de Menezes" and reiterated "that he was a totally innocent victim and in no way to blame for his untimely death". One journalist reacted critically to the level of compensation paid by the Metropolitan Police, comparing the level of payout with awards by employment tribunals, and speculating that "perhaps [de Menezes'] life was worth less because he was poor." Similar incidents Comparisons have been made between the death of Menezes and other innocent or unarmed men shot by British police officers in disputed circumstances, including Stephen Waldorf, James Ashley, Harry Stanley, and the 2 June 2006 Forest Gate raid. In media Television The Panorama episode "Stockwell – Countdown to Killing", shown on BBC One 8 March 2006, investigated and partially dramatised the shooting. The shooting was the subject of an hour-long "factual drama" titled Stockwell, first broadcast on the UK terrestrial channel ITV1 on 21 January 2009 at 9 pm. Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio has said the series was inspired by the shooting of Menezes. Film A film about Menezes's life, titled Jean Charles, was filmed in 2008 and directed by Henrique Goldman. Selton Mello portrays Menezes and Vanessa Giácomo portrays his cousin. The movie debuted in Brazil, on 26 June 2009. Theatre The documentary play Stockwell opened in July 2009 at the Landor Theatre in Clapham in London. This play featured actors reading scripts edited by playwright Kieron Barry from transcripts of the inquest. This Much Is True, written by Paul Unwin (co-creator of the BBC television show Casualty) and Sarah Beck, is a documentary stage play following the journeys of those caught in the wake of the shooting, weaving together testimony from Menezes's family, Justice4Jean campaigners, senior police officers and lawyers. The production ran at Theatre503 in Battersea from 27 October to 21 November 2009. Music "Hollow Point", from the album Handmade Life, a song about the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, was written by the English folk musician, songwriter and composer Chris Wood. "Hollow Point" won Song of the Year at the 2011 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, where Wood also won Folk Singer of the Year. During The Wall Live tour, Roger Waters added an acoustic coda to "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" with additional lyrics in honour of Menezes. This song is part of the Roger Waters The Wall 2015 live release and called "The Ballad of Jean Charles de Menezes". An animation is projected on to the wall showing a silhouette of an underground train pulling into a station, The train comes to a stop and the vocal narrative at the end of "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" finishes with the line "stand still laddie", shots are heard and flashes of light seen in one carriage. The projection on the main circular screen then changes to a photo of Jean Charles de Menezes for the additional coda to the song. See also List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United Kingdom Police use of firearms in the United Kingdom Deaths after contact with the police References Further reading Stone-Lee, Ollie (22 July 2005). Stockwell left in shock by shooting. BBC News. Silverman, Jon (23 July 2005). Shooting watershed for UK security. BBC News. Q&A: Stockwell shooting (23 July 2005). BBC News. Call for review of police policy (23 July 2005). BBC News. Majendie, Paul (24 July 2005). Police kill Brazilian in bomb probe blunder. Reuters. Family condemns police shooting (24 July 2005). BBC News. Thompson, Tony; Hinsliff, Gaby; Xavier, Alexandre (24 July 2005). Man shot in terror hunt was innocent young Brazilian (24 July 2005). The Observer. Summers, Chris (24 July 2005). The police marksman's dilemma. BBC News. Call for reassurance in Stockwell (24 July 2005). BBC News. Ex-police chief backs guns policy (24 July 2005). BBC News. Family mourn for Brazilian victim (24 July 2005). BBC News. (14 August 2005). The Observer New claims emerge over Menezes death (17 August 2005). Guardian Unlimited Leak disputes Menezes death story (17 August 2005). BBC News Timeline: the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes (17 August 2005). The Times Panorama: Stockwell: Countdown to killing (8 March 2006). BBC Panorama. A 59-minute-long programme investigating the controversial "shoot-to-kill" policy. Stockwell One report – copy hosted on the BBC website. July 2005 London bombings Metropolitan Police operations Brazilian expatriates in the United Kingdom Deaths by firearm in England Law enforcement in England and Wales Deaths by person in London Stockwell London Underground July 2005 events in Europe 2005 in London Police misconduct in England Victims of police brutality

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Oscar%20Grant

Shooting of Oscar Grant

Oscar Grant III was a 22-year-old African-American man who was killed in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2009 by BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland, California. Responding to reports of a fight on a crowded Bay Area Rapid Transit train returning from San Francisco, BART Police officers detained Grant and several other passengers on the platform at the Fruitvale BART Station. BART officer Anthony Pirone kneed Grant in the head and forced Grant to lie face down on the platform. Mehserle drew his pistol and shot Grant. Grant was rushed to Highland Hospital in Oakland and pronounced dead later that day. The events were captured on multiple official and private digital video and privately owned cell phone cameras. Owners disseminated their footage to media outlets and to various websites where it went viral. Both peaceful and violent protests took place in the following days. Some of the other passengers on the train, along with Grant's girlfriend Sophina, were able to break up the fight. Shortly afterward, the train conductor announced to the passengers that the police had been contacted and were on their way to the station at which they were stopped. As the passengers began to exit the train, Grant and his girlfriend saw the police walking towards them and split up. As they got closer to the train, police started to pick out people they believed to have been involved in the fight. Pirone walked up to two African-American men and ripped the jacket off one. Pirone threw three people against the wall and then turned to the train, yelling for everyone involved in the fight to exit the train and come to him. Everyone remained on the train, so Pirone walked into the train to see if there was anyone who looked as if they were involved in the fight. Pirone saw Grant and removed him. On January 30, 2010, Alameda County prosecutors charged Officer Mehserle with second-degree murder in their indictment for the shooting. Mehserle resigned from his position and pleaded not guilty. The trial began on June 10, 2010. On July 8, 2010, Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and not guilty of the murder charge and voluntary manslaughter. Though initial protests on July 8, 2010, against the jury verdict were peacefully organized, after dark there were incidents of looting, arson, destruction of property, and small riots. Nearly 80 people were eventually arrested. On November 5, 2010, Mehserle was sentenced to two years, minus time served. He served his time in Los Angeles County Jail protective custody, held in a private cell for his safety. On June 13, 2011, Mehserle was released under parole after serving 11 months. Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris filed a $25 million wrongful death claim against BART on behalf of Grant's family. BART settled with Grant's daughter and mother for a total of $2.8 million in 2011. It also settled with several of Grant's friends who had sued for damages because of police brutality. A separate suit by Grant's father did not result in a jury award, as it was decided that due to his imprisonment he was not sufficiently involved in Grant's life. The shooting, and the protests against it, were an important precursor to the Black Lives Matter movement, which began in 2013. The biographical drama film Fruitvale Station (2013), written and directed by Ryan Coogler, portrays the last 24 hours of Grant's life, his killing, and the immediate aftermath. Involved parties Oscar Grant III Oscar Juliuss Grant III (February 27, 1986 – January 1, 2009) lived in Hayward, California. He worked as a butcher at Farmer Joe's Marketplace in Oakland's Dimond District after jobs at several Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets. He had attended both San Lorenzo and Mount Eden high schools in San Lorenzo and Hayward, respectively, until the 10th grade and eventually earned his GED. Grant was on parole at the time of his death, having been released from prison following a sixteen-month sentence for gun possession. Grant's funeral was held at the Palma Ceia Baptist Church in Hayward on January 7, 2009. Grant's mother, sister, daughter, and girlfriend (his daughter's mother) filed a wrongful death claim against BART following his death. It was settled in 2011. Johannes Mehserle Johannes Sebastian Mehserle (born August 17, 1969, in Germany) was raised in the Bay Area. Mehserle graduated from New Technology High School in Napa, California. Mehserle joined the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police in March 2007. After the shooting, he was denounced by many witnesses, who reported to the media that Mehserle had shot Grant without any reason. Incident Oscar Grant had been celebrating with his friends at The Embarcadero in San Francisco on New Year's Eve. He and about eight friends returned to East Bay in the lead car of a BART train bound for Fruitvale, a station in Oakland. BART offered extended service and a special "Flash Pass" for the New Year's Eve holiday. At approximately 2:00 a.m. PST, BART Police responded to reports of a physical altercation involving up to 20 people on an incoming train from the West Oakland BART Station; the participants were described as "hammered and stoned". BART Officers Tony Pirone and Marysol Domenici were the first officers to arrive at the scene. The officers removed Grant and several other men suspected of fighting from the train and detained them on the platform. Pirone handcuffed Grant's friend, angering other riders. Pirone lined up Grant and two other men against the wall. When five other officers, including Johannes Mehserle and his partner Woffinden, arrived at the Fruitvale station, they found the situation "chaotic", according to their accounts. BART Officer Marysol Domenici was the 9th officer on the scene along with her partner, Tony Pirone. They tried to take control of passengers coming off the train. Domenici testified at the BART incident hearing that Grant and his friends swore at her and did not obey her orders. She is quoted as having testified that: "If they would've followed orders, this wouldn't have happened. They probably would've just been cited and released." A subsequent internal investigation conducted by an outside law firm retained by BART found that Pirone lied when he claimed to have confirmed with the train operator that the men the BART police detained on the platform were involved in the reported train fight. The train operator recalled informing Pirone that she was unsure whether those detained had been involved in the fight. A cell-phone video broadcast on local television station KTVU on January 23 showed what appeared to be Pirone rushing towards one of the detained men and punching him in the face, multiple times, two minutes before the shooting. Grant's family alleges in their civil claim against BART that an officer threw Grant against a wall and kneed him in the face. Videos captured by bystanders contradicted Pirone's claims to investigators, showing Grant, a 22-year-old Hayward resident, never tried to punch or kick Pirone. To the contrary, the internal investigation report found that Pirone struck Grant in the head and kneed him, likely causing injuries documented in his autopsy, including head fractures and a hematoma. Until the report became public in May 2019, Pirone's attorney had maintained that Grant provoked Pirone by trying to knee the officer in the groin and by hitting Officer Marysol Domenici's arm when she tried to handcuff one of Grant's friends. Witnesses testified that Pirone was the aggressor during the incident. An attorney for Grant's family, John Burris, also disputed Pirone's account, saying that Grant and his friends were "peaceful" when the train stopped. Grant raised his hands while seated against the platform wall. Additional footage from a cell phone was presented in court showing Pirone standing over the prone Grant before the shooting and yelling: "Bitch-ass nigger, right?" Pirone and his attorney say he was repeating an insulting epithet that Grant had yelled at him. While dozens of people from the stopped train shouted and cursed at officers, Mehserle and Pirone positioned Grant face-down. According to Pirone, Grant was disobeying instructions and cursing at officers. Witnesses said that Grant pleaded with BART police not to shock him with a taser. Pirone knelt on Grant's neck and told him that he was under arrest for resisting an officer. Mehserle tried to handcuff Grant but could not reach his hands. He stood up, unholstered his gun, a SIG Sauer P226, and fired a shot into Grant's back. Immediately after the shooting, Mehserle appeared surprised and raised his hands to his face. Several witnesses say Mehserle said "Oh my God!" several times after the shooting. The .40 caliber bullet from Mehserle's semi-automatic handgun entered Grant's back, exited through his front side and ricocheted off the concrete platform, puncturing his lung. According to one witness, Grant yelled, "You shot me! I got a four-year-old daughter!" Grant died seven hours later, at 9:13a.m., at Highland Hospital in Oakland. Initially there were rumors that Grant was handcuffed before he was killed. But court filings by the district attorney's office say that Grant's hands were behind his back and that he was "restrained and unarmed" but do not say he was handcuffed. Mehserle said he feared that Grant was "going for his waistband" and a gun. The day after the shooting, BART spokesman Jim Allison said that Grant was not restrained when he was shot, and multiple witnesses testified that Grant refused to give up his hands for handcuffing prior to the shooting. The family's claim against BART stated that Grant was handcuffed only after he was shot. Video evidence Direct evidence of the shooting was documented by video cameras held by passengers on the train idling next to the platform, as police detained Grant and a number of other men suspected of being involved in the disturbance. Several witnesses testified during the preliminary hearing for Mehserle's trial that they began recording because they believed BART officers were acting too aggressively. They gave the videos to television news, which broadcast them; others posted videos on the internet. Oakland attorney John Burris, who represented the family in their suit against BART over Grant's death, said BART confiscated numerous cell phone images that he believed contain additional evidence of the killing. Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff said video confiscated by BART was useful in bringing the murder charge against Mehserle. Witnesses at the scene said police attempted to confiscate cameras. These claims were never acknowledged by BART police. Orloff, the district attorney, said that several passenger videos that had not been made public were "very helpful" in the investigation. On January 2, KTVU aired a video by an anonymous passenger who submitted a cell phone video of the shooting. On January 23, KTVU aired a cell-phone video which appeared to show a second officer punching Grant in the face prior to the shooting. In late February, KRON 4 aired a clip of a video showing a different angle of this altercation. BART spokesperson Linton Johnson described the surveillance footage from the Fruitvale platform cameras as "benign". He said the platform cameras had recorded some of the incident, but footage did not include the shooting. Frank Borelli, a retired police officer and writer, said that the scene as shown in the video moments before the shooting would be as important to understanding what happened as the shooting itself. "The four officers have to be operating under a high level of stress given the relatively confined setting and the people on the BART train who are expressing, in a very loud vocal fashion, their displeasure with the officers' actions. Those officers, should things go bad for them, are vastly outnumbered by a group of people who have already voiced their unhappiness with the police." After viewing the shooting from multiple angles, police use-of-force expert Roy Bedard, who initially said he thought the shooting was an accident, changed his mind. He said: "I hate to say this, it looks like an execution to me" and "It really looks bad for the officer." University of San Francisco law professor Robert Talbot said the videos could support a claim of an accidental shooting: "Nothing about his [Mehserle] body looks murderous." Influence of videos Video evidence of the incident were widely broadcast and streamed online. Several hundred thousand persons viewed the videos in the first few days after the shooting. One local television station video posted to its website was downloaded more than 500,000 times in four days, and one independent media video posted to the internet averaged more than 1,000 views per hour. Seeing direct evidence of the shooting resulted in public outrage and protests and fueled riots. BART review and investigation process After the 2009 shooting, Mehserle submitted to drug and alcohol testing per BART's standard operating procedure. The results showed no drugs or alcohol in his system. He retained a criminal defense attorney and refused to speak to the authorities, invoking the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act (California Government Code section 3300–3313) and the Fifth Amendment, claiming potential self-incrimination. BART organized an internal investigation of the incident. On January 5, 2009, Mehserle's attorney postponed a scheduled meeting by BART investigators, seeking to defer it. BART Police administration and investigators commanded the officer to attend an investigative interview on January 7. Mehserle did not attend; instead his attorney and his BART Police Officers Association union representative came and submitted his letter of resignation. Mehserle and his family received a number of death threats after videos of the shooting appeared, and he moved at least twice. His parents temporarily left their Napa home because of death threats to the family. Domenici testified at the investigation hearing. She was terminated by BART based on an accusation that she was untruthful in her statements to transit investigators. She appealed the firing. On December 18, 2010, it was reported that San Francisco labor arbitrator William Riker ordered the former officer re-instated with full back pay because there was no basis to find that Domenici was not telling the truth. Aftermath The shooting and the subsequent uprisings were covered in regional, national, and international news. Video images of the shooting were widely broadcast and streamed online in the days following Grant's death. Several hundred thousand viewed the videos in the first few days after the incident. Widespread dissemination of the direct evidence of the shooting led to public outrage and protests and fueled riots. Police in riot gear were dispatched and made efforts to disperse the crowds. During the course of the evening of January 8, while there was peaceful protest, some of the protesters turned to rioting and rampant property vandalism. A black bloc and other rioters smashed hundreds of car and shop windows, several private cars, and numerous trash containers and dumpsters. Public buildings such as the Oakland Police Internal Affairs office and the almost restored Fox Theatre were heavily vandalized. The rioting wound down later in the evening. Police made at least 105 arrests for suspicion of various offenses. More than 300 businesses were affected by the vandalism. Community members and activists decried the shooting incident as another case of police brutality. There was a broad public perception that BART Police and the Alameda County District Attorney's office were not conducting an effective investigation because, according to an East Bay Times article, BART completed the shooting investigation on January 12, 2009, 11 days after the shooting occurred. Others were angry that Mehserle allegedly did not cooperate with Police and District Attorney's Office investigators. Fruitvale protest and march; downtown rioting On January 7, 2009, protests over the shooting and administration of justice began peacefully about 3:30 p.m. with about 500 people gathering at the Fruitvale station. In the early evening, some of the protesters marched toward Oakland's central business district and downtown. Over 200 Oakland police officers were dispatched in an attempt to disperse the protesters. Police roadblocked streets and diverted vehicle and foot traffic. After entering the central business district, the march continued to BART Police command and control headquarters at 8th & Madison streets near the Lake Merritt BART station. Once at BART Police Command and Control, a contingent of angry protesters surrounded a police car. The officer driving the car fled on foot. Meanwhile, a group of 30 to 40 demonstrators broke out the cruiser's windows and attempted to overturn it. A line of police wearing gas masks swept up behind the rear of the march and deployed tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd. The protest continued as the crowd marched along 8th Street through Chinatown. At Broadway, officers wearing gas masks deployed more tear gas canisters and acted quickly to charge and disperse the crowd as they approached the vicinity of Oakland Police headquarters at 7th and Broadway. The protest regrouped downtown at the intersection of 14th and Broadway, blocking motor vehicle traffic. Some of the protesters lay face down in the intersection, in a symbolic act of solidarity with Grant, who was killed in the same position. Others shouted at police and chanted in unison. Others carried signs that read, "Your idea of justice?" and "Jail Killer Cops" and lit candles in remembrance of Grant. Police in helmets and gas masks grouped in standing line formations on the south, west, and north sides of the intersection, allowing an avenue of retreat down 14th Street on the east side of the intersection. About an hour later, police gave orders to disperse and fired tear gas, rubber bullets, and other non-lethal weapons and devices at demonstrators. Protestors threw bottles, rocks, and other objects at police. Police pushed the crowd east along 14th Street into the Lakeside Apartments District and the scene dissolved into a riot along the 14th Street spine. Numerous helicopters which had been airborne throughout the evening converged on the area. Law enforcement helicopters shone powerful spotlights down onto surface streets, while media helicopters shot video, which were broadcast in real time on local television stations. In the ensuing hours, a small clutch of rioters burned the contents of trash cans, dumpsters, newspaper boxes and set fire to at least five cars, including an Oakland police patrol car. Some rioters smashed the windshields of parked cars. The riot spread deep into the Lakeside Apartments District and cars were burned and heavily damaged on Madison Street. Other rioters in this clutch broke storefront windows, including those of a McDonald's fast-food restaurant at Jackson and 14th Streets in the Lakeside Apartments District. The night of the riot coincided with trash collection day the following morning and numerous trash dumpsters and containers were parked curbside. Rioters used these dumpsters to start fires along city streets. Rioters damaged some of the carefully restored historic woodwork and terra cotta on the nearly restored Fox Theater. Damage to the Fox was preliminarily estimated at $10,000 to $20,000. Dellums' appearance and rioting flare up As the rioting moved east toward Lake Merritt, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and Larry Reid held an impromptu press conference at 14th and Jackson streets, along the spine of the rioting, and called for the crowd to disperse peacefully. Dellums peacefully marched with the crowd back West along 14th Street to the steps of City Hall, where he attempted to address the crowd. After the crowd reacted negatively, he cut the meeting short and entered City Hall. Demonstrators continued through City Hall Plaza, with angry splinter groups of rioters smashing the windows of Oakland Police Department's Internal Affairs and Recruiting Office at the east side of 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza. Windows of police cruisers parked outside the offices were also smashed. The protesters continued east along 17th Street into the 17th Street Commercial District in Oaksterdam, crossing Broadway and Franklin, where rioters broke numerous storefront windows, and continued back into the Lakeside District, lighting discarded Christmas trees on fire. Police continued their efforts to disperse the crowds, and rioting continued on Broadway Downtown. The rioting wound down around 10:40 p.m. in the vicinity of 20th and Broadway outside the Paramount Theater, where police detained around 80 individuals for various offenses. Most were cited and released for complaints which include inciting a riot, vandalism, assault on a police officer, and arson. Police recovered two handguns from the rioters. Around 120 people in total were arrested for offenses arising from the protests during the course of the evening. Two have been charged to date. The Lake Merritt and 12th Street BART stations were temporarily shut down during the evening. Numerous media photographers and videographers, both affiliated and independent, filmed the scene from close proximity on the ground. Media helicopters shot video of developments from overhead, which were broadcast in real time on local television stations. Reaction from the business community and city officials The riots augmented the perception of crime in Oakland, adding to the previous year's run of takeover robberies, and were a challenge to overcome for greater economic investment. The Dellums administration held a press conference in City Hall Hearing room 4 on January 8, and decried the riots as regressive. Dellums noted there were riots in the streets of Oakland in 1967, 40 years ago, "and here we are, still smashing cars". Dellums noted that people were upset and had "lost faith in the process" because of what he called lack of communication by BART officials and the district attorney's office in the days after Grant was killed. BART has also been criticized for not ordering Mehserle to speak to internal affairs earlier. Criminal trial On January 12, Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff filed a complaint for murder and an Alameda County Superior Court Judge signed a fugitive arrest warrant, as Mehserle had left the city. He was arrested January 13 at a friend's home in the Zephyr Cove, Nevada, area near Lake Tahoe. His attorney said Mehserle had gone after receiving death threats in the Bay Area. Mehserle waived extradition, and was held in protective custody at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, California. Mehserle pleaded not guilty at his arraignment January 15. On July 9, 2010, the U.S. Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation against Mehserle, but closed the investigation without filing charges. On January 30, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson set bail for Mehserle at $3 million. A week later, with the help of fundraising from the police union, Mehserle posted bail. Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff refused to speculate whether Mehserle would be charged with first or second-degree murder, saying "What I feel the evidence indicates is an unlawful killing done by an intentional act and from the evidence we have there's nothing that would mitigate that to something lower than a murder." Orloff noted Mehserle's refusal to explain himself as a reason for charging him with murder, rather than manslaughter. Orloff said he would fight any motion to change venue for the trial. Mehserle retained Pleasant Hill criminal defense attorney Michael Rains, who previously successfully represented one of the Oakland Riders. Before Mehserle retained Rains, the attorney was quoted as saying that it could be difficult to prosecute Mehserle for murder because the law discourages "second-guessing and hindsighting" of police officers, who tend to be favorably viewed by juries. Mehserle's defense was paid for by a statewide fund for police officers. Bail hearing At a January 30 bail hearing, Rains told the court that Mehserle had carried a Taser for only a few shifts prior to the January 1 shooting, and he mistakenly deployed his service weapon when he thought Grant was reaching for a gun. Rains said, "Mr. Grant was actively, actively, actively resisting arrest." He said that some witnesses heard Mehserle say, "Get back, I'm gonna taze him." Rains said he plans to call witnesses who will show "there was a level of resistance by Oscar Grant and others that will negate malice." The prosecutors' theory of the case is that the video direct evidence shows that Mehserle deliberately reached for his weapon. They argued: "What we see in the video is an officer releasing his control of a suspect, standing up, drawing his weapon, with some difficulty, and shooting it." Jacobson agreed in deciding to set bail at $3 million that Mehserle's claim of Taser confusion was inconsistent with his earlier statement to a fellow officer, and that Mehserle might be changing his story. He later imposed a gag order on attorneys and investigators in the case, prohibiting them from releasing future filings or otherwise commenting to the press. Preliminary hearing Rains argued during the preliminary hearing that Mehserle lacked the malice necessary for a murder charge and that he intended to tase Grant. A BART officer testified, saying that Grant and his friends had yelled profanities and did not obey her orders to sit down moments before Mehserle fired at Grant. She said she was fearful when she heard taunts coming from Grant, his friends, and passengers on the train. After the seven days of testimony, Judge C. Don Clay concluded that Mehserle had not mistakenly used his service pistol instead of his stun gun. The judge based this on Mehserle's statements to other officers that he thought Grant had a gun. He also noted that Mehserle had held his weapon with both hands, but he was trained to use just his left if he was firing a Taser. Mehserle faced up to life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder. Rains filed a supplemental motion arguing that Judge Clay should take a second look at a ruling that barred the defense attorney from presenting evidence about Grant's criminal background, as well as a ruling that barred him from presenting evidence that Mehserle told a fellow officer just before the shooting incident that he planned to use his Taser on Grant. He protested that "Both rulings amount to grave errors under longstanding and never-questioned California authorities" and alleged that they "substantially interfere with Mehserle's federal due process right to defend against the murder charge". Rains failed to convince Judge Clay to remove District Attorney Tom Orloff's office from the case. Rains claimed Orloff violated his client's rights because he ordered two Oakland police officers to try to interview Mehserle after he was arrested, even though Orloff knew Mehserle had an attorney. Judge Clay said Orloff's actions did not prove a bias nor did it meet the requirements necessary for him to be removed from the case. Plea and jury selection On June 19, 2009, Mehserle pleaded not guilty. The jury trial was scheduled to begin in October. Mehserle's attorney Michael Rains sought a change of venue of the trial, on the grounds that there would not be an impartial jury in Alameda County. Citing extensive media coverage and the social upheaval of protests and riots, the judge agreed. Rains' request was honored on October 16, and downtown Los Angeles was chosen as the venue on November 19. Los Angeles County Judge Robert J. Perry was assigned to the case. He said that he would not allow cameras in the courtroom. A hearing was held on February 19, 2010, to address two issues. The judge did not reduce Mehserle's bail, as requested by the defense. The judge also rejected a motion by the defense to remove Alameda County prosecutors from the case. Rains had argued that prosecutors and detectives acted inappropriately when they interviewed Mehserle earlier in the case. Another hearing was set for March 26. Mehserle's attorney stated that his client did not commit first-degree murder, and asked the judge to instruct the jury to limit its deliberations to either second-degree murder or acquittal. Rains wrote that Mehserle would not argue the killing was conducted in the heat of passion or in self-defense. Rains also argued that prosecutors had shown no evidence that the fatal shooting was either voluntary or involuntary manslaughter. On May 7, Judge Perry granted a motion by defense to discuss Grant's conviction for possessing a gun and evading arrest. Perry formally selected the jury on June 8 after attorneys had used their motions. The 12-member jury consisted of eight women and four men; of these jurors, seven were white, four Hispanic, and one Asian. Of the alternates, there were five women and one man, consisting of three Asians, two whites, and one Hispanic. It was alleged that six of the jury had law enforcement connections. Grant's family expressed outrage at the absence of blacks on the jury. The day before the trial began, Deputy District Attorney David Stein revealed a photo that Grant took of Mehserle with a cell phone camera. The photo showed Mehserle pointing a Taser at Grant. Taser confusion Several experts who observed video evidence suggested Mehserle might have confused his gun for his Taser, causing him to mistakenly believe he was tasering Grant. William Lewinski stated this as an expert witness in the case. If Mehserle thought he was firing his Taser, this could provide a full or partial defense to the murder charge. It depended on whether Mehserle had a legal right to use his Taser at all, which was questioned. Prosecutors alleged that paperwork, including a blood alcohol test, completed by Mehserle after the shooting showed that he had changed his story about what occurred. While there had been previous cases where police officers confused guns with Tasers, modern Tasers weigh half as much as handguns. The prosecution argued that the position of Mehserle's Taser "in relation to his duty weapon, combined with the different 'feel' and color of the two weapons made it highly unlikely that he would have mistaken one for the other". Burris responded to claims of Taser confusion by arguing that video evidence did not support the idea of Taser confusion. In any event, he said, Mehserle had no reason to fire his Taser. Mehserle was wearing his Taser on the left side of his body (on the opposite side from which he wore his gun) – but set up for a cross-body, strong hand (right-hand) draw. BART purchased the Taser X26 stun guns in September 2008 and provided them to officers after six hours of training, as recommended by the manufacturer. Witness testimony On June 14, Carlos Reyes recalled Mehserle saying, "Oh shit, I shot him" after shooting Grant. Grant's former girlfriend, Sophina Mesa, testified she called Grant while he and his friends were being detained, and he said, "They're beating us up for no reason, I'll call you back." Deputy District Attorney David Stein believed that Grant's phone call proved that he was not trying to resist arrest that night. Cell phone records showed two calls between Grant and Mesa — at 2:05 a.m. and 2:09 a.m. — the latter two minutes before Grant was shot. On June 15, three eyewitnesses of the account testified that neither Grant nor the other suspects actively resisted the officers at any time. Each expressed disgust at the behavior of officers preceding the shooting that night. On June 22, Jackie Bryson, a friend of Grant "who was kneeling and handcuffed just inches from Grant when Johannes Mehserle shot him", testified for the prosecution. Bryson said that Grant's hands were under Grant's body and Grant said: "I quit. I surrender." He claimed that Mehserle said "Fuck this" before shooting Grant. Defense attorney Rains repeatedly accused Bryson of lying to convict Mehserle and pointed out a video showing Bryson running toward the train while handcuffed. Responding to Rains' question, "You were going to leave your friend on that platform, weren't you?" Bryson said "I would never leave my friend." Rains accused Bryson of being inconsistent based on his statements in the civil lawsuit he had filed in early January 2009 against BART. Bryson said that he had lied to investigators, distrusted the police, and had been frequently stressed since Grant's killing. On June 25, Mehserle took the witness stand. Sobbing, he said that he had not thought that he was holding his gun until he heard a pop and looked at his right hand. Responding to a question from Rains, he recalled Grant saying "you shot me" right after the shot went off. Judge Perry called a recess after Grant supporter Timothy Killings shouted out to Mehserle to "save those fucking tears". After another outburst, Killings was arrested for contempt of court. Closing arguments and verdict Judge Perry offered jurors three conviction options: second-degree murder (with a sentence of 15 years to life in prison), voluntary manslaughter (3 to 11 years), or involuntary manslaughter (2 to 4 years); in addition the jury could have decided to acquit. Prosecutor Michael O'Brien said that by shooting Grant, Mehserle inherently committed a crime. Intention meant murder or voluntary manslaughter, and an accident indicated recklessness on Mehserle's part and thus involuntary manslaughter. Judge Perry gave two interpretations of Mehserle's shocked reaction after shooting Grant: either Mehserle had intended to use his Taser or he realized that many people were witnesses to his action. Closing arguments took place on July 1. Expressing a belief that Mehserle "lost all control" the night he shot Grant and labeled the shooting as an accident to avoid liability, Deputy District Attorney David Stein asked the jury to convict Mehserle of second-degree murder. Defense attorney Rains argued that the shooting was accidental and told them not to make "some sort of commentary on the state of relations between the police and the community in this country". Jury deliberations began on Friday, July 2. The jury had the day off on July 5 because of the Independence Day holiday. On July 6, deliberations were suspended after one juror left for vacation, having notified the judge in advance, another juror went to a medical appointment, and another called in sick. One new alternate juror joined the panel. One juror submitted a question asking whether provocation by "sources other than the suspect(s)" can make one guilty of voluntary manslaughter. Stein argued that the jury should be able to consider outside influences on Mehserle, but Rains disagreed. On July 8, 2010, the jury informed the court that they had reached a verdict by 2:10 p.m. The deliberations with this jury panel totaled six and a half hours over the course of two days. At approximately 4:00 p.m., the jury announced that they had found Johannes Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and not guilty of charges for second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter charges. The jury found Mehserle guilty of a gun enhancement charge that could have added up to ten years to his prison sentence, made him ineligible for probation, and required him to serve 85 percent of his sentence, in contrast to the 50 percent that most state prisoners serve. Having previously been freed on a $3 million bond, Mehserle was remanded into custody after the verdict was read. The next court date, when sentencing would occur, was set for August 6, 2010. After the verdict, the court released a two-page letter written by Mehserle in which he said: "no words can express how truly sorry I am". Sentencing Mehserle was originally scheduled to be sentenced on August 6, 2010. Sentencing was rescheduled for November 5 at the defense's request. On November 5, 2010, Mehserle was sentenced to two years with double credit for time already served, reducing his term by 292 days for the 146 days he has already spent in jail. The judge overturned the gun enhancement, which could have added an additional 3 to 10 years to the sentence. He was released from prison at 12:01a.m. on June 13, 2011. Appeal On May 9, 2012, nearly a year after his release from prison, Mehserle appealed his conviction to the First District Court of Appeals in San Francisco. His lawyer, Dylan Schaffer, stated the purpose of this appeal was to allow Mehserle to return to "police work", which was not possible with this conviction on his record. They intended to continue to the state and the U.S. Supreme Court, but in September 2012, the California Supreme Court unanimously denied review of an appellate ruling upholding the conviction. Responses BART On January 8, 2009, BART's elected directors offered apologies to the victim's family. BART later filed a legal response to the lawsuit that claimed that the shooting was "a tragic accident", and that Grant contributed to the fatal incident. BART said the officers were "just defending themselves" and that "Oscar Grant willfully, wrongfully, and unlawfully made an assault upon defendants and would have beaten, bruised, and ill-treated them if defendants had not immediately defended themselves." In the days after the shooting, BART held multiple public meetings to ease tensions, led by BART Director Carole Ward Allen. She called on the BART Board to hire two independent auditors to investigate the shooting, and to provide recommendations to the board regarding BART Police misconduct. Director Ward Allen established BART's first Police Department Review Committee and worked with Assemblyman Sandre Swanson to pass AB 1586 in the California State Legislature, which enforced civilian oversight of the BART Police Department. BART board member Lynette Sweet said that "BART has not handled this [situation] correctly," and called for the BART police chief and general manager to step down, but only one other board member, Tom Radulovich, has supported such action. An investigation was conducted to determine whether any other officers should be disciplined. On January 12, investigation results were forwarded to the district attorney. The investigation, which interviewed seven police officers and 33 other witnesses, came to no conclusion and made no recommendations. The details were forwarded to Meyers Nave, an outside law firm, for an independent investigation. It was led by Jayne Williams, the former city attorney for San Leandro, and was estimated to cost $250,000. In August, the law firm provided two reports to BART but released only one publicly. The report said officers failed to follow recommended procedures, failed to work as a team, and had lapses in both tactical communication and leadership. KTVU broadcast cell-phone video that showed Pirone striking Grant, resulting in additional agency actions. BART General Manager Dorothy Dugger said a "rigorous" internal affairs investigation would be ordered. Later, an attorney, representing BART and referring to the same video, said that Grant provoked Pirone's blow by trying to knee Pirone at least twice, "It is our position that there was a provocation and assault on Mr. Pirone based upon a video that shows Mr. Grant apparently hitting Mr. Pirone with his knee," On September 22, KTVU reported that Meyers Nave, in its unreleased report, had recommended the termination of Tony Pirone and Marysol Domenici. After being on leave since the incident, Domenici was terminated on March 24, 2010. She was rehired the following December after labor arbitration settled in her favor. Pirone was terminated on April 21 after an internal investigation upheld a finding of misconduct against him. Like Domenici, Pirone later sought to be reinstated through arbitration. This is a process whereby the BART administration and BART police union elect a member of the police union to decide if the firing of Anthony Pirone was justified. This arbitration was delayed, as Pirone served a tour in Afghanistan in the US Army. When he returned, the arbitration was set to finish by the end of 2013, but was delayed until the end of 2014. In December 2014, BART spokesperson Alicia Trost told reporters that Pirone's arbitration was denied, and the arbitrator upheld the termination. Pirone's lawyer, William Rapoport, declined to comment. Public Protesters organized several demonstrations and marches in the weeks following the shooting and during court hearings. Alice Huffman, state president of the NAACP, said there was little doubt the shooting was criminal. Many reporters and community organizers stated that racial issues played a role both in the killing and in the community response. Grant's family claimed that officers used racial slurs during the arrest. BART Police Chief Gary Gee remarked that the BART investigation had found no "nexus to race that provoked this to happen". There was a broad public perception that BART Police were not conducting an effective investigation. Efforts by BART officers to confiscate witnesses' cellphones during the incident created controversy. The shooting stirred outrage among political leaders and legal observers; Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson, Oakland City Councilmember Desley Brooks (Eastmont-Seminary), and Berkeley Copwatch labeled the shooting an execution. Local columnists criticized such language as "inflammatory" and "the exact opposite of the kind of sane leadership we need and expect from our elected officials". When the case went to trial, tensions were provoked because the selected jury contained no African Americans. After the verdict was announced, Reason legal commentator Radley Balko said that he found "simply no basis for the accusation that Mehserle intentionally executed a man in front of dozens of witnesses", and described the verdict as "appropriate" although not "popular". Grant's death has been cited as one of several police killings that contributed to the nationwide Black Lives Matter movement. Protests The fatal shooting of Grant was a catalyst for several protests. On January 8, 2009, a protest march in Oakland of about 250 people became violent. Rioters caused more than $200,000 in damages: breaking shop and car windows, burning cars, setting trash bins on fire, and throwing bottles at police officers. Police arrested more than 100 persons. Grant's family pleaded for calm and spoke out against the violence at a press conference the next day. On January 9, police in riot gear dispersed a crowd of about 100 demonstrators after some of the rioters stopped vehicles and threw trash cans in the street. A January 14 demonstration briefly turned violent, and police arrested 18 people after rioters smashed car and store windows in Oakland's City Center district. Another eight were arrested in a January 30 demonstration after Mehserle's bail hearing, in which he said that he had intended to use his Taser rather than to shoot Grant. Mayor Ron Dellums suggested that Mehserle's right to bail should be abrogated to prevent violence in the community. Oakland Tribune columnist Tammerlin Drummond criticized the protestors as "self-described 'anarchists,' who aren't even from Oakland, and wannabe Black Panther Party members... playing right into the hands of the defense" by giving Mehserle a plausible case for change of venue. On May 18, 2009, 100 persons protested outside of the Alameda County Courthouse during the preliminary hearing and then marched to the nearby Oakland Police Department. A protest organizer was arrested after the group blocked traffic. Protests continued throughout the pretrial process. At the hearing on February 19, 2010, some 50 protesters carried signs outside the Los Angeles courthouse. An estimated 200 protesters gathered at San Francisco's Embarcadero BART station on April 8, 2010, to call for the disbanding of the transit system's police department and the firing of an officer who was on the scene when Grant was shot. On July 8, 2010, following the verdict, protests began peacefully, and officials commended both the protesters and the police for their demonstrated restraint. When the time of the verdict announcement was announced, many people packed BART trains to leave Oakland in fear of unrest, and Interstates 880 and 980 had heavy traffic. Multiple peaceful gatherings were held throughout Oakland after the verdict was announced, and sporadic conflicts were quelled quickly by the police early in the evening. As night fell, people engaged in opportunistic looting of local businesses. Oakland's police chief was quoted as saying that the people doing violence did not primarily seem to be Oakland residents protesting the verdict, but instead were self-styled "anarchists...who are almost professional people who go into crowds like this and cause problems". Oakland police arrested 83 people on a variety of charges, ranging from vandalism to failure to disperse to assault. According to the Oakland Police Chief Batts, nearly 3 out of 4 of those arrested during the protest did not live in Oakland. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that many of the rioters who were most aggressive in damaging Oakland businesses and property were organized white anarchists wearing black clothing and hoods. An anarchist slogan was painted on one wall that read "Say 'no' to work. Say 'yes' to looting." Some Oakland officials objected to the "anarchist" label, saying that the outside agitators seemed to lack any cohesive philosophy and were simply bent on making trouble. Civil lawsuits Several lawsuits were filed against BART after these events; two made it to trial. Oakland attorney John Burris filed a $25 million wrongful death claim against BART on behalf of Grant's family (mother, daughter, sister and girlfriend) on January 6, 2009. In February 2009, Burris filed claims for a total of $1.5 million on behalf of five of Grant's friends, whom he says were detained without cause for five hours after the shooting, alleging illegal search and seizure, false arrest, and use of excessive force. Burris later increased the amount sought by Grant's family to $50 million. The civil case was partially resolved when BART settled with Grant's daughter for $1.5 million (with accrued interest), according to Burris' law firm. BART paid a $1.3 million settlement to Grant's mother. The five friends of Grant settled with BART and received a total of $175,000. Grant's father, who has been in prison since before Grant was born, separately sued Mehserle for damages related to Grant III's death. Zeporia Smith, the mother of Johnnie Caldwell, a friend of Grant's, filed a suit in 2011 (after her son was killed in a separate incident). She claimed that Officer Marysol Domenici had used excessive force against her son while detaining him on the platform at Fruitvale. Caldwell had testified in a video deposition in 2009 that after Grant III was shot, Officer Domenici dragged Caldwell across the platform, threatened him with a Taser, and shoved him on a departing train. In 2014 a civil jury heard both the Grant Jr. and Smith cases. On July 1, 2014, the civil jury rejected the claims of Grant's father against Mehserle in the shooting of Grant, as they concluded that his imprisonment had prevented him from having a close relationship with his son. In the same trial, the jury ruled in favor of Officer Domenici and against Smith. One person said that the lack of a video documenting Caldwell's claim of excessive force had been a determining factor. In popular culture The documentary film entitled Operation Small Axe (2010) focused on police brutality in the Bay Area in the context of the shooting of Grant, and, later that year, of Lovelle Mixon, who was accused of having fatally shot four police officers. Directed and produced by Adimu Madyun, the film won the 2010 Rise Up Award from The Patois International Rights Film Festival in New Orleans. It was written by J.R. Valrey, a volunteer producer and advocacy journalist at San Francisco KPFA-FM. The Oakland, California indie rock band Rogue Wave refer to the incident in the song "Solitary Gun" on their 2010 album Permalight: "Stepped off the train and looked for Fruitvale signs. The January air it whips across my spine." In 2011, Seattle-based hip-hop duo Blue Scholars released the album Cinemetropolis, featuring a song called "Oskar Barnack ∞ Oscar Grant", with lyrics centering around filming (Barnack) police activity (Grant). In January 2013, filmmaker Ryan Coogler premiered Fruitvale (later retitled Fruitvale Station). The feature drama portrays the last 24 hours of Grant's life, showing him with family, friends and at work. Coogler used some of the eyewitness footage made during the BART incident. Principal photography included locations in Oakland, San Francisco, San Leandro, and San Quentin State Prison. It starred Michael B. Jordan as Oscar, and Octavia Spencer as Oscar's mother Wanda. On January 26, 2013, the film won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize as well as the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. In 2014, playwright Chinaka Hodge premiered Chasing Mehserle, a play about Watts, a young man from Oakland who becomes obsessed with chasing down and killing officer Johannes Mehserle. In 2017, Angie Thomas published her debut novel, The Hate U Give, which was expanded from a short story she wrote in college in reaction to the shooting of Grant. In 2019, Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal released their album Seven Nights in Chicago. The track "Breath" references the shooting of Oscar Grant. See also List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States Slips and capture References External links and "Prosecution Opposition to Defendant's Release on Bail", DocStoc BART shooting of Oscar Grant, Oakland Tribune Justice for Oscar Grant Movement, Indy Bay Making Contact : Who Polices the Police (Podcast) African-American history in Oakland, California Police brutality in the United States 2009 crimes in the United States 2009 in California 2009 riots 2009 controversies 2000s in Oakland, California 2010s in Oakland, California African-American-related controversies Arson in California Bay Area Rapid Transit Citizen journalism Crimes in Oakland, California Deaths by firearm in California Filmed killings by law enforcement Law enforcement controversies in the United States Law enforcement in California Riots and civil disorder in California Black Lives Matter January 2009 events in the United States Protests in the San Francisco Bay Area

23535552

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Marta%20Russo

Shooting of Marta Russo

Marta Russo was a 22-year-old student at the school of law at the Sapienza University of Rome, who was shot and killed within the university grounds. Her death was the centre of a complex court case that garnered huge media attention owing to the lack of substantial evidence and motive. After a six-years-long trial Giovanni Scattone was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and Salvatore Ferraro was declared responsible for aiding and abetting. The other accused man, Francesco Liparota, was acquitted, then convicted in appeal, and then dismissed by all allegations. Description On 9 May 1997, at about 11:42, a 0.22 calibre bullet hit Marta Russo while she walked with a friend on the university's grounds, in a driveway located between the university's schools of Statistical Sciences, Law and Political Science. She was transported to the nearby Policlinico Umberto I but died on 14 May without regaining consciousness. Her parents donated her organs, respecting Marta's desire expressed a few years earlier, speaking about the death of Nicholas Green. Forensic tests showed traces of gunpowder on the sill of a window on the second floor, a reading room in the legal philosophy department. Afterwards (1998), a forensic expert established that such residues were not gunpowder but residual pollution. The circle tightened around the 25 or so people who often used the room to consult textbooks or use computers. Telephone records identified one person, Maria Chiara Lipari, the daughter of a professor, who indicated – after many uncertainties – the presence of a secretary, Gabriella Alletto, and other people. After an interrogation, during which she was threatened to be arrested for voluntary murder, Gabriella Alletto, after a conflicting testimony, implicated Giovanni Scattone, age 29, and Salvatore Ferraro, age 30, who were junior lecturers in the legal philosophy department of Rome's La Sapienza University, and Francesco Liparota, usher and graduate in law. Neither had a criminal record nor a reason to murder Ms. Russo. The woman accused also professor Bruno Romano of reticence, then defended by well-known lawyers Franco Coppi and Giulia Bongiorno (future lawyer of Amanda Knox's former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, in the case of the murder of Meredith Kercher). Then, a videotape with the interrogation, recorded by secret services, came out, showing the stages of interrogation and presence of Alletto's brother-in-law (a policeman), who told her she should have accused some suspects, even though "maybe she did not see materially" the scene of shooting, because "it's best to let them do the crime". The recording also showed the prosecutors warning her, saying "You are guilty of murder" and "you will never again come out of prison". Prime minister Romano Prodi criticized these facts and described as "very serious matter" the behaviour of two prosecutors, Mr. Italo Ormanni e and Mr. Carlo Lasperanza. Even Silvio Berlusconi's opposition attacked the prosecutors. The Italian public has been divided on the guilt of the accused. Some famous personalities (like judge of the Aldo Moro kidnapping Ferdinando Imposimato, politician Marco Pannella and journalist Paolo Mieli) claim the innocence of Scattone and Ferraro and publicly defend them. The trial, which lasted over a year, followed by long appeals, involved investigations into prosecutorial misconduct and possible threatening of witnesses, and questioning the credibility of the main witnesses for the prosecution. The criminal court of Perugia, however, absolved the prosecutors from the accusation of abuse of office, threat and private violence against Gabriella Alletto. Motive Police could not find an ordinary motive for killing Russo. She had no history of drug abuse, no outspoken political or religious convictions and no jilted lovers in her past. Instead, they proposed the intellectual challenge of committing a perfect murder, a crime for which one could not be prosecuted partly because of its apparent lack of motive. The media seemed to focus on the possibility that the killing had been a dare about committing a "perfect crime", or that it was a Nietzschean compulsion to be a Übermensch, a Raskolnikov figure. This motive was denied by the accused, and no proof of this has been found, so the court condemned them with light sentences of only involuntary manslaughter. According to the judgment, Scattone had a pistol in his hand for unknown reasons, and accidentally took a shot. Panicking, Scattone and Ferraro ran away and then hid the weapon. Some alternative paths were discarded, including the one involving a Red Brigades member (May 9 was the anniversary of the murder of Aldo Moro in 1978) discovered in 2003, the possible organized criminality's involvement (person exchange) and the path of some university and cleaning firms employees and workers, who had a passion for firearms and handmade silencers and shell casings. Media attention The case gained huge attention in the media, owing to the apparent indiscriminate nature in which the victim was targeted. The public was so interested that court proceedings were broadcast live on radio. Campus killings were unheard of in Italy, leading to parents of students being so scared for their children that they insisted on them wearing motorcycle helmets while outside. More than 10,000 students attended Russo's funeral, joined by the Prime Minister Prodi, the Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro and other dignitaries. The Pope John Paul II sent a message of condolence. Academics were banned from speaking directly to the press. Trial The trial began in June 1998; some neutral forensics affirmed during the trial the innocence of Scattone and Ferraro, arguing that the shot was fired from the ground floor, while Liparota revealed that he was threatened by the police to accuse his colleagues; initially confirming the allegations, he then retracted by saying that he had not seen anything. There was a telephone bill that, combined with other testimonial reports, contradicted many details of the story of Maria Chiara Lipari and indirectly the allegations of Alletto. Finally, the public prosecutor's office demanded an 18-year prison sentence for voluntary murder, with mitigating effects as no premeditation would have been made, but it would have been possible ("dolo eventuale", in Italian "eventual malice", a less serious case of murder). In December both defendants had been released and placed in house arrest until judgment. In June 1999, jury rejected the attorney's requests and Giovanni Scattone was convicted of involuntary manslaughter of Russo, caused by his criminal negligence or carelessness (Italian "colpa cosciente" which can be translated as conscious fault), and Salvatore Ferraro was convicted of aiding and abetting Scattone. After a confirming appeal (2001), at the request of another prosecutor, Court's Attorney General Vincenzo Geraci, the verdict was annulled by the Supreme Court of Cassation for lack of evidence (December 2001); a new appeal reiterated the conviction (2002), then confirmed definitively in 2003 (finally, the punishment consisted to 5 years and four months of prison for Giovanni Scattone, 4 years and two months to Salvatore Ferraro). Scattone and Ferraro have always claimed to be innocent, and to have been stuck with outright testimony. Instead, the supreme court dismissed Francesco Liparota (overturning his previously conviction for complicity) - because he was not punishable at the time, according to the judges he would have covered the shot because he was too scared - and, previously, acquitted even Bruno Romano. After a penalty discount, Scattone ended up serving the sentence in prison (2003–2004) and to house arrest until 2005; later, having the court granted him the complete legal criminal rehabilitation, eliminating perpetual interdictions from public offices, he became a high school professor of philosophy until 2015, when he got a job as a psychology teacher, but resigned following the controversies by the press and the Russo family. He wrote some essays and translations; in 2001, Scattone married Cinzia Giorgio, writer and scriptwriter. Salvatore Ferraro devoted himself to political activism and to the activity of lawyer and bookseller. Scattone and Ferraro were also sentenced to civil compensation of 1 million euro to Marta Russo's parents and sister (2011). References 1990s in Rome 1997 crimes in Italy Deaths by person in Italy Murder in Rome Incidents of violence against women May 1997 events in Europe Murdered students Overturned convictions in Italy Violence against women in Italy 1990s murders in Italy 1997 murders in Europe

28840210

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Clifford%20Glover

Shooting of Clifford Glover

Clifford Glover was a 10-year-old African American boy who was fatally shot by Thomas Shea, an on-duty, undercover policeman, on April 28, 1973. Glover's death, and Shea's later acquittal for a murder charge, led to riots in the South Jamaica section of Queens, New York. Shooting At 5 a.m. on April 28, 1973, 10-year-old Clifford Glover was shot when he and his stepfather were stopped by two undercover officers, Thomas Shea, and his partner Walter Scott. The two officers believed the boy and his stepfather had just committed a robbery. Glover and his stepfather were afraid of the two officers and ran from them, believing they themselves were about to be robbed. Shea testified that he drew fire on the boy who appeared to have a weapon. Glover was hit by at least two bullets. When Glover was hit, the officers claimed his father took the alleged weapon from him, which was never recovered. According to Scott the boy told him "Fuck you, you're not taking me". Rioting Immediately following the shooting, there were several days of riots in the South Jamaica neighborhood. At least twenty-four people, including fourteen policemen, were injured; in addition, twenty-five protesters were arrested. There were also smaller demonstrations accusing Shea of racism outside the courthouse during the trial. The day after Shea was acquitted, hundreds of people began a riot, turning over cars, breaking windows, and stealing cash registers; one protester was arrested in the aftermath and rioters injured two police officers. Trial Thomas Shea was put on trial for murder. The jury of eleven white people and one black person acquitted Shea. He was the first New York City police officer ever to be tried for murder while on duty. Shea was declared not guilty on June 12, 1974. Cultural impact The killing of Clifford Glover and subsequent acquittal of Thomas Shea feature prominently in "Power", a 1975 poem by Caribbean-American poet Audre Lorde and "NYC Cops", a 2012 song by rapper Heems. The Rolling Stones reference the shooting in their 1973 song "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)" on the album Goat's Head Soup. Thomas Hauser writes about the shooting and the investigation in detail in The Trial of Patrolman Thomas Shea, which was published by Seven Stories Press in June, 2017. References 20th-century American trials African-American riots in the United States Criminal trials that ended in acquittal Deaths by firearm in Queens, New York Deaths by person in New York City 20th century in Queens Murder trials 1973 in New York City Riots and civil disorder in New York City African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States New York City Police Department corruption and misconduct April 1973 events in the United States Incidents of violence against boys

29530312

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Henry%20Glover

Shooting of Henry Glover

Henry Glover was an African American resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, who was shot to death by New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) officer David Warren on September 2, 2005. Glover's charred body was later found in a destroyed Chevrolet Malibu parked on a Mississippi River levee. Warren was tried on federal charges relating to Glover's death, eventually resulting in an acquittal. Four other NOPD officers were charged in connection with events following Glover's death, including the burning of the body. Persons involved Henry Glover was a 31-year-old African-American resident of the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans. David Warren, a rookie NOPD police officer at the time. Greg McRae, an NOPD police officer at the time. Robert Italiano, an NOPD police lieutenant at the time. Travis McCabe, an NOPD police lieutenant at the time. Dwayne Scheuermann, an NOPD police lieutenant at the time. Shooting Henry Glover had endured Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans along with his mother, brother, and sister. On September 2, 2005, Glover had gone to a strip mall to retrieve some suitcases of loot. NOPD Police Officer David Warren fatally shot Glover from a second-story balcony, from where Warren had been guarding a detective bureau office. Legal proceedings Officer Warren was charged with a federal civil rights violation, specifically one count of committing manslaughter with a firearm. Officer Greg McRae was charged with obstructing justice and other charges in relation to burning Glover's body a 2001 Chevrolet Malibu that belonged to one of Glover's friends. Police Lieutenant Dwayne Scheuermann was charged with assaulting civilians who came to Glover's aid, and obstructing the federal investigation into the burning of Glover's body. Police Lieutenant Travis McCabe was charged with obstructing justice and lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was also charged with lying to a federal grand jury. Police Lieutenant Robert Italiano was charged with obstructing justice and lying to the FBI. In total, the 11-count indictment accused the five officers for their roles in the fatal shooting of Glover, the assaulting of Glover's brother and one of his neighbors, and attempting to conceal their actions, through activities such as the attempted cremation of Glover's corpse. Glover's death was highlighted as an example of police misconduct in the direct aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Prosecutors alleged that Warren had fatally shot Glover in the chest with a .223 rifle near an Algiers strip mall. Glover's brother, Edward King, and sister, Patrice Glover, came to Glover's aid. A neighbor of Glover named William Tanner drove Glover and his brother to seek medical attention at a nearby school, Habans Elementary School, which had been commandeered by a SWAT team of officers. Several SWAT officers testified in trial that Tanner actually fled from a marked police car near the school. It was only after several other police cars joined in the chase that he stopped on the Mercedes Street side of the school. Neither of the two men knew how Glover had been injured. SWAT officers at the school immediately placed Tanner and King into handcuffs, and then allegedly beat them. The jury acquitted the officers on this charge. Testimony in trial also alleged that an African American officer also struck one of the detained men, but little effort was put into finding that officer. While it was alleged by William Tanner in numerous media interviews that the SWAT officers let Henry Glover bleed to death in the car, the trial testimony of Lt. Scheuermann proved that in fact he had checked Glover's body for any signs of life and in fact he was already deceased. This proof was in the form of photographs provided to the defense in discovery. NOPD officer Greg McRae set fire to Glover’s body as it sat inside Tanner’s 2001 Chevrolet Malibu. The car was left parked on a Mississippi River levee down the street from a NOPD office. Istvan Balogh, a former law enforcement officer who had come in from out of state, discovered Glover's corpse on September 9. He admitted in trial that he video taped the burned car with Glover's remains and has since sold copies of the video tape. On March 31, 2011, Judge Lance Africk sentenced David Warren to 25 years and 9 months in federal prison on a federal civil rights violation of committing manslaughter with a firearm. Judge Africk sentenced Greg MacRae to 17 years and 3 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release on obstruction of justice and another civil rights charge. "Henry Glover was not at the strip mall to commit suicide. He was there to retrieve some baby clothing. You killed a man. Despite your tendentious arguments to the contrary, it was no mistake," Africk told Warren. However, on December 17, 2012, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated Warren's felony conviction and two of the convictions related to McRae, ordering new trials on those charges. The three-judge panel found, among other concerns, that the trials of the two men should have been conducted separately. The Glover case was incorporated into the plot of the television series Treme. The defendants cited local media coverage along with the portrayal in Treme when they sought a change of venue for the re-trial. On December 11, 2013, a jury acquitted Warren on both counts against him. See also Danziger Bridge Shootings New Orleans Police Department List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States References 2005 deaths Deaths by person in the United States Effects of Hurricane Katrina Police brutality in the United States Deaths by firearm in Louisiana 2005 in Louisiana African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Year of birth missing Crimes in New Orleans 2005 murders in the United States 21st century in New Orleans Law enforcement in Louisiana

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Yoshihiro%20Hattori

Shooting of Yoshihiro Hattori

was a Japanese student on an exchange program to the United States who was shot to death in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The shooting happened when Hattori, on his way to a Halloween party, went to the wrong house by mistake. Property owner Rodney Peairs () fatally shot Hattori, thinking that he was trespassing with criminal intent. The shooting and Peairs' acquittal received worldwide attention. Hattori's early life Yoshihiro Hattori was born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, the second of the three children of Masaichi Hattori, an engineer, and his wife Mieko Hattori. He was 16 years old when he went to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, in August 1992 as part of the American Field Service (AFS) student exchange program; he had also received a scholarship from the Morita Foundation for his trip. Hattori was hosted as a homestay student in Baton Rouge by Richard and Holley Haymaker (a college professor and physician, respectively) and their teenage son, Webb. Fatal incident Two months into his stay in the U.S., Hattori and his homestay brother Webb Haymaker received an invitation to a Halloween party on October 17, 1992, that had been organized for Japanese exchange students. Hattori went dressed in a white tuxedo in imitation of John Travolta's character in the film Saturday Night Fever. At about 8p.m., Haymaker and Hattori drove to the neighborhood in East Baton Rouge Parish where the party was being held. The two youths mistook the residence of Rodney Peairs, a 30-year-old supermarket butcher, and his wife Bonnie Peairs, for their intended destination due to the similarity of the address and the Halloween decorations on the outside of the house. Hattori and Haymaker walked to the front door of the house and rang the doorbell. Nobody came to the front door, but Bonnie Peairs opened the side door leading to the carport and saw Haymaker standing a few yards away. Haymaker was wearing a neck brace due to a recent injury, and bandages as part of a Halloween costume. He attempted to address Bonnie Peairs, but she later testified that she panicked when Hattori appeared from around the corner and moved briskly towards her. She slammed the door and told her husband Rodney to get his gun. Outside, Haymaker inferred that he and Hattori had come to the wrong house. They were preparing to return to their car when Rodney Peairs opened the carport door, armed with a .44 Magnum revolver. Hattori stepped back towards Peairs, saying, "We're here for the party." Peairs pointed the gun at him and yelled, "Freeze!" Haymaker had caught sight of the firearm and shouted a warning after Hattori, but Hattori had limited English and was not wearing his contact lenses that evening; it is possible that he did not understand Peairs' command to "freeze" did not see his weapon, or might even have thought that this was part of a Halloween prank. Hattori was also holding a camera which Peairs mistook for a weapon. Hattori continued moving towards Peairs; Peairs fired his gun at him from a distance of about away, hitting him in the chest, and then retreated back inside the house. Haymaker ran to the home next door for help, returning with a neighbor to find Hattori badly wounded and lying on his back. The Peairs did not come out of their house until the police arrived about forty minutes after the shooting. Bonnie Peairs shouted to a neighbor to "go away" when the neighbor called for help. The shot pierced the upper and lower lobes of Hattori's left lung and exited through the area of the seventh rib; he died in an ambulance minutes later from loss of blood. Criminal trial of Rodney Peairs Initially, the Baton Rouge Police Department quickly questioned and released Rodney Peairs, and declined to charge him with any crime because—in their view—Peairs had been "within his rights in shooting the trespasser". Only after Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards and the Japanese consul in New Orleans protested was Peairs charged with manslaughter. Peairs's defense was his claim that Hattori had an "extremely unusual manner of moving" that any reasonable person would find "scary", and emphasis on Peairs as an "average Joe", a man just like the jury members' neighbors, a man who "liked sugar in his grits". At trial, Peairs testified about the moment just prior to the shooting: "It was a person, coming from behind the car, moving real fast. At that point, I pointed the gun and hollered, 'Freeze!' The person kept coming toward me, moving very erratically. At that time, I hollered for him to stop. He didn't; he kept moving forward. I remember him laughing. I was scared to death. This person was not gonna stop, he was gonna do harm to me." Peairs testified that he shot Hattori once in the chest when the youth was about away. "I felt I had no choice," he said. "I'm very sorry that any of this ever happened." A police detective testified that Peairs had said to him, "Boy, I messed up; I made a mistake." District Attorney Doug Moreau concentrated on establishing that it had not been reasonable for Peairs, a tall, armed man, to be so fearful of a polite, friendly, unarmed, boy who rang the doorbell, even if he walked toward him unexpectedly in the carport, and that Peairs was not justified in using deadly force. The defense argued that Rodney Peairs was in large part reacting reasonably to his wife's panic. Bonnie Peairs testified for an hour describing the incident, during which she also broke into tears several times. "He [Hattori] was coming real fast towards me," she testified. "I had never had somebody come at me like that before. I was terrified." Rodney Peairs did not hesitate or question her, but instead went to retrieve a handgun with a laser sight that was stored in a suitcase in the bedroom. "There was no thinking involved. I wish I could have thought. If I could have just thought," Bonnie Peairs said. The trial lasted seven days. The jury returned a not guilty verdict after deliberating for approximately three hours. Courtroom spectators broke into applause when the verdict was announced. Civil trial In a later civil action, however, the court found Rodney Peairs liable to Hattori's parents for US$650,000 in damages, which they used to establish two charitable funds in their son's name; one to fund U.S. high school students wishing to visit Japan, and one to fund organizations that lobby for gun control. The lawyers for Hattori's parents argued that the Peairs had acted unreasonably: Bonnie Peairs overreacted to the presence of two teens outside her house; the couple behaved unreasonably by not communicating with each other to convey what exactly the perceived threat was; they had not taken the best path to safety—remaining inside the house and calling the police; they had erred in taking offensive action rather than defensive action; and Rodney Peairs had used his firearm too quickly, without assessing the situation, firing a warning shot, or shooting to wound. Furthermore, the much larger Peairs could likely very easily have subdued the short, slightly built Hattori. Contrary to Rodney Peairs's claim that Hattori was moving strangely and quickly towards him, forensic evidence demonstrates that Hattori was moving slowly, or not at all, and his arms were away from his body, indicating he was no threat. Overall, a far greater show of force was used than was appropriate. The Peairs appealed the decision, but the Louisiana Court of Appeals upheld the judgment in October 1995, and a second appeal to the Supreme Court of Louisiana was rejected in January 1996. Of the total US$650,000 judgment, Rodney Peairs's insurance company paid US$100,000 while Peairs himself was technically left responsible for paying the remaining US$550,000. Aftermath After the trial, Peairs told the press that he would never again own a gun. A 2013 source reported that he had lost his home and his supermarket job following the shooting and was living in a trailer park. The Japanese public were shocked by the killing and by Peairs's acquittal. Hattori's parents and his American host parents, the Haymakers, went on to become active campaigners for gun law reform in the U.S. In November 1993 they met with President Bill Clinton, who was presented with a petition signed by 1.7 million Japanese citizens urging stronger gun control. A petition signed by 120,000 American citizens was also presented to Congress. The Hattoris and the Haymakers lent their support to the Brady Bill (originally introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives in 1991), which mandated background checks and a five-day waiting period for the purchase of firearms in the U.S. It was signed into law by President Clinton on November 30, 1993, as the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. According to Walter Mondale, then U.S. ambassador to Japan, who presented Hattori's parents with a copy of the Act on December 3, 1993, Hattori's death "had a very definite impact on passage of the Brady bill." In 1997, filmmaker Christine Choy released a documentary film about Hattori's death called The Shot Heard Round The World. See also Castle doctrine Shooting of Renisha McBride Killing of Latasha Harlins Killing of Vincent Chin Killing of Ee Lee Notes References Further reading The book is also known as A Japanese Boy Who Loved America: The Trial of Yoshi Hattori Shooting in Baton Rouge. The book is also known as Freeze. External links Yoshi Coalition 1992 in Louisiana Deaths by firearm in Louisiana Deaths by person in the United States Japanese expatriates in the United States Japanese people murdered abroad People from Nagoya Racism in the United States Anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States Defensive gun use Gun politics Louisiana State University Gun violence in the United States Japan–United States relations Asian-American-related controversies

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Mark%20Duggan

Shooting of Mark Duggan

Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old Black British man, was shot and killed by police in Tottenham, North London on 4 August 2011. The Metropolitan Police stated that officers were attempting to arrest Duggan on suspicion of planning an attack and that he was in possession of a handgun. Duggan died from a gunshot wound to the chest. The circumstances of Duggan's death resulted in public protests in Tottenham, which led to conflict with police and escalated into riots across London and other English cities. Duggan was under investigation by Operation Trident, a subdivision of the Metropolitan Police. He was aware of this and texted the message "Trident have jammed me" moments before the incident. He was known to be in possession of a BBM Bruni Model 92 handgun (a blank-firing replica of a Beretta 92 converted to fire live rounds), given to him by Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, 15 minutes before he was shot. At a trial of Hutchinson-Foster in September–October 2012 the jury failed to reach a verdict. At his re-trial, on 31 January 2013, Hutchinson-Foster was convicted of supplying Duggan with the gun and jailed. In August 2013 the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said its investigation had substantially ended and that they had found no evidence of criminality by the police. A public inquest on the Duggan death began on 16 September 2013, and ended on 8 January 2014 with an 8–2 majority concluding that Duggan's death was a lawful killing. Conflicting accounts of the events leading up to Duggan's death were provided by the Metropolitan Police, attracting criticism and suspicion from invested parties and other supporters. These critics accuse police of misconduct and of failing to cooperate with those investigating Duggan's death. Background Mark Duggan Mark Duggan was born on 15 September 1981 and grew up in Broadwater Farm, north London. His parents were of mixed Irish and African-Caribbean descent. Between the ages of 12 and 17, he lived with his maternal aunt Carole in Manchester. His maternal aunt Julie was married to Manchester gangland boss Desmond Noonan. At the time of his death, Duggan and his long-term partner Semone Wilson had three children together aged 10 years, 7 years, and 18 months. He had a fourth child with another woman, and a third woman was pregnant with his baby at the time of his death. He was the father of six children in total, the youngest of whom was born after his death. Duggan had worked at Stansted Airport, and had applied for a job as a firefighter, according to his cousin. Duggan's son, Kemani, is a member of the UK drill collective OFB going by the moniker Bandokay. Criminal activity According to Tony Thompson of the London Evening Standard, Duggan may have been a founding member of North London's "Star Gang", an offshoot of the Tottenham Mandem gang. Unnamed police sources alleged via The Daily Telegraph that Duggan was a "well known gangster" and a "major player and well known to the police in Tottenham". Officers attached to Operation Trident had Duggan under surveillance; police stated that they suspected Duggan was planning to commit a crime in retaliation for the killing of his cousin, Kelvin Easton, who was stabbed to death outside a bar in East London in March 2011. Duggan was described as having been increasingly paranoid as a consequence of his cousin's death. The Daily Telegraph alleged that Duggan was bound to avenge his cousin's death by the "street code" of the gang. After Duggan's death, he was described as a drug dealer by the police and others, an allegation denied by his family and friends. Duggan's family said the allegations against Duggan were "disinformation", and that he was "not a gang member and he had no criminal record". Duggan had been convicted of cannabis possession and handling stolen goods. His fiancée said he had spent time on remand. Shooting Officers of the Metropolitan Police Service stopped a minicab which was carrying Duggan as a passenger at about 18:15 BST on 4 August 2011. There was no CCTV coverage of the place where they stopped the cab. According to an unnamed firearms officer at the trial of Kevin Hutchinson-Foster in September 2012, Duggan pivoted out of the cab and pulled a selfloading pistol or handgun from his waistband. According to the taxi driver, who was granted anonymity at the subsequent inquest, Duggan left the car and ran: The taxi driver told the inquest that an armed officer had threatened to shoot him if he did not stop looking at where Duggan had fallen to the ground and was being handled "quite harsh[ly] and callous[ly]" by officers. The police fired twice, hitting Duggan in the biceps and chest, killing him. A firearm was found at the scene. Paramedics from the London Ambulance Service and medical staff from London's Air Ambulance attended, but Duggan was pronounced dead at the scene at 18:41 BST. The police who shot Duggan were part of the Specialist Firearms Command (CO19), accompanying officers from Operation Trident. According to one eyewitness cited by The Independent, Duggan "was shot while he was pinned to the floor by police". According to another eyewitness cited in The Telegraph, a police officer had "shouted to the man to stop 'a couple of times', but he had not heeded the warning". According to a witness cited by the BBC, a police officer twice shouted: "Put it down" before Duggan was shot. However, the taxi driver who was travelling with Duggan told the inquest the police shouted no warning before shooting. A Metropolitan Police Federation representative asserted that the officer who killed Duggan had "an honest-held belief that he was in imminent danger of him and his colleagues being shot". One of the officers who had surrounded Duggan was hit by a bullet, which lodged in his radio. It had been fired by the policeman identified only as V53 and had passed through Duggan's arm and then hit the officer. The shot policeman was taken to a hospital and discharged the same evening. Subsequent police actions Police proceeded to move the taxi in which Duggan had been travelling. After some dispute over when the vehicle was moved, it was stated that police moved the taxi for examination and then returned it to the scene. A local equality advocate said that the IPCC initially had no knowledge of these events, but later stated that it had sanctioned removal of the vehicle and then requested that it be restored to the scene. An initial "short-form" report of the incident—filed by an officer identified as "W70"—did not say that Duggan had raised a gun. W70 filed another report 48 hours later which described Duggan drawing a gun from his waistband. Officer W70 later testified that short-form reports are "deliberately brief". Police did not inform Duggan's family of his death until a day and a half after he was killed. The police later apologised for this delay. IPCC explanations Initially, a spokesman of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) stated that they "understand the officer was shot first before [Duggan] was shot;" police later called this statement a mistake. A bullet was found embedded in a radio worn by a policeman, and ballistics tests on the projectile indicate it was a "jacketed round", or police issue bullet fired from a Heckler & Koch MP5 semi-automatic carbine used by the police. Its presence may have been due to a ricochet or overpenetration. On 18 November 2011, the IPCC announced that the 9mm gun associated with the scene of the killing had been found 10–14 feet away, on the other side of a fence. QC Michael Mansfield, barrister for the Duggan family, told the IPCC that witnesses had told him they saw police throw the gun over the fence. The IPCC initially reported that three officers had also witnessed an officer throw the gun, but later retracted this report. The IPCC had commissioned tests on the pistol by the Forensic Science Service and had received advice that it was an illegal firearm. The gun was wrapped in a sock, a practice allegedly used to avoid leaving evidence if it was used. The IPCC announced on 9 August that there was no evidence that the gun had been fired, that this had not been ruled out and further tests were being conducted. It was also announced on 18 November 2011 that the IPCC would investigate whether the same gun had been used in an incident six days earlier, on 29 July 2011, when barber Peter Osadebay was assaulted in Hackney by 30-year-old Kevin Hutchinson-Foster after Hutchinson-Foster brandished a gun. On 31 January 2013, Kevin Hutchinson-Foster was found guilty of supplying the gun to Duggan, during which he admitted using the same weapon to beat Osadebay. Duggan's fingerprints were found on a cardboard box, which appeared to have contained the gun when he collected it. The sock, with the gun inside, was found out of this box as much as away from where Duggan was shot. Neither his DNA nor fingerprints were found on the sock which wrapped the gun, nor on the weapon itself. Additional tests found no gunshot residue on Duggan. Aftermath News of Duggan's death was publicised quickly. Soon after Duggan was shot, an image was posted on Facebook showing police standing over a body that may have been his. Outrage about the police killing quickly escalated. Protest and unrest Tension with police There was a long history of tension between black communities and the police before and since the Broadwater Farm riot in 1985, in which, according to David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham, the "cracks that already existed between the police and the community became deep fissures". Since 1985 "there had been some progress made in the relationship between the local community and the police", but the shooting "raised tension". Lammy stated that Duggan's death occurred as part of "a history in Tottenham that involves deaths in police custody". Claudia Webbe, the chairperson of Operation Trident, asserted that many black people see Duggan's shooting as "yet another unjust death in custody" and that young black people in Tottenham are "still six, seven, eight times more likely to be stopped and searched than their white counterparts". Black British novelist Alex Wheatle, who served a term of imprisonment for crimes he committed in the 1981 Brixton riot, asserted that there was "a deep aggravation" that despite many black deaths in police custody there had never been a conviction of a police officer. In 2017, Tony Hanley, the firearms officer who recommended the bullets used to kill Duggan, had a mental breakdown and attempted suicide by police before fatally shooting himself. Hanley described feeling responsible for Duggan's death, seeing his ghost. Riots At about 17:30 BST on 6 August 2011, Duggan's relatives and local residents marched from Broadwater Farm to Tottenham Police Station. The demonstrators chanted "we want answers" and requested information from police about the circumstances of Duggan's death. They also made broader demands for "Justice", seeking to publicise ongoing poor relations with police in their community. A chief inspector spoke with the demonstrators, who demanded to see a higher-ranking officer. About 20:00 BST, a 16-year-old girl approached them and may have thrown a leaflet or a stone. Police swarmed the girl with shields and batons, allegedly causing head injuries. At about 20:20 BST, members of the waiting crowd attacked two nearby police cars, setting them on fire. According to Metropolitan Police Commander Adrian Hanstock, the violence was started by "certain elements, who were not involved with the vigil". Other observers state that the rally began peacefully but was incited by the police attack. Rioting, arson and looting spread to other parts of London, and to elsewhere in England. Rioters expressed mixed motivations for rioting, including policing issues, poverty, and racial tension with police. Duggan's family condemned the disorder. His older brother said, "We're not condoning any kind of actions like that at all." While Duggan's shooting was perhaps the trigger for the violence, several other causes of the rioting have been suggested. Former British Prime Minister David Cameron rejected a causal relationship between the death of Duggan and the subsequent looting. Media coverage Duggan's death quickly became a major media story. Initially the media including the BBC incorrectly reported that one shot was 'discharged from an illegal firearm inside the car'. The Independent stated on 8 January 2014: "The authorities wrongly said that he had been hit in an exchange of fire". Some of the media were criticized for portraying Duggan as a gangster, confused by his criminal record being reported as either extensive or non-existent by different outlets. The media was faulted for uncritically reporting the police's story that Duggan had shot first—also shown to be false. The riots brought international attention to Duggan's death, which one Iranian official described as a "human rights violation". Funeral Duggan's funeral took place at New Testament Church of God in Wood Green on 9 September 2011. The funeral procession was watched by thousands of onlookers. Police maintained a low profile. Investigations IPCC The incident was immediately referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), in accordance with standard practice when anyone dies or is seriously injured following police contact. Investigators distributed leaflets appealing for witnesses to come forward. IPCC officers also searched CCTV footage, 999 calls and radio transmissions. On 12 August 2011 the IPCC announced that in the immediate aftermath of the incident they may have given misleading information to journalists to the effect that shots were exchanged between Duggan and the police. Although a bullet had been found lodged in a police radio, there was no evidence that it had come from the gun in Duggan's possession. In response to rumours that the killing of Duggan was an "execution", the IPCC announced: "Speculation that Mark Duggan was 'assassinated' in an execution style involving a number of shots to the head are categorically untrue." Duggan's family stated that they did not trust the IPCC to conduct a fair and independent investigation of the killing and asked for an independent inquiry into the relationship between the Metropolitan Police and the IPCC. They sought to commission an independent second postmortem. Coroner Andrew Walker scheduled an initial hearing for 12 December 2011. In November 2011, two members of the "community reference group" appointed by the IPCC, resigned from those posts. A third remained in post. One of those who left said "I have been alarmed to learn that not only have the IPCC broken their own guidelines by giving out erroneous information to journalists regarding the 'shoot-out' involving Mark Duggan and police that didn't actually happen. But I have discovered that their investigation … is flawed and in all probability tainted to a degree that means we will never be able to have faith in their final report into the killing." On 29 February 2012 the IPCC upheld a complaint that the Metropolitan Police had not adequately informed Duggan's family of his death on 4 August 2011. The IPCC's inquiry expressly did not address the events of 6 August 2011 and afterwards. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh of the Metropolitan Police had already issued an apology (in August 2011) to the Duggan family for the manner in which police initially communicated with them, suggesting that the IPCC had a responsibility to provide information to Duggan's family. In late March 2012 the IPCC indicated that the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 made it impossible for the organisation to reveal information obtained during its investigation into Duggan's death, making it doubtful if a public coroner's inquest into the killing could ever be held. In April 2012, the BBC aired footage of the immediate aftermath of the shooting. The footage showed paramedics handling Duggan's body. The IPCC condemned the BBC for showing the footage without first consulting them. The IPCC was expected to release its report on the killing in summer of 2012. Because no report had been issued by January 2013, a planned inquest into the killing was delayed until September. The IPCC announced in March 2013 that it would issue a report in April, for delivery to the inquest in May. Referring to the officers who killed Duggan, an IPCC spokesperson announced on 2 August 2013 that "We have found no evidence to indicate criminality at this stage." The IPCC said its investigation had substantially ended and that a final report would be issued later in August. The 11 officers involved initially refused interviews with the IPCC. The officer who killed Duggan, now known as "V53", later submitted testimony in writing. In December 2019, forensic investigators called for the 2011 case to be reopened, claiming that a virtual model of the shooting casts doubt on its findings. Their report was released to the public in June 2020. The IOPC (the successor to the IPCC) said in May 2021 that it would not reopen the investigation because there was nothing in the new reports to suggest that the findings of its investigation were incorrect. Metropolitan Police Police stated that "no officer had done wrong" but announced that the person who shot Duggan would not remain on active firearms duty. The firearms officer involved in the operation known only as V53 provided written statements to the IPCC but refused to be interviewed. David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham, was critical of his refusal. The IPCC asked for the power to interview police officers even if they are not suspected of having committed a crime. Trial of Kevin Hutchinson-Foster In November 2011, the IPCC began an investigation into the "quality of the investigative response" by police to an incident on 29 July 2011, for which police charged Kevin Hutchinson-Foster with possession of a handgun, believing the gun may be the same found at the shooting of Mr. Duggan. On 18 September 2012, Hutchinson-Foster's trial commenced in the Crown Court at Snaresbrook. The defendant was charged with supplying Duggan with the BBM Bruni Model 92 handgun, found near Duggan's car after his death. The defendant denied the charge and gave his explanation for the presence of his DNA on the gun by alleging he had been beaten with the weapon by a gang that included Duggan. During the trial, prosecutor Edward Brown QC of QEB Hollis Whiteman contended that Duggan travelled to Leyton to collect the gun from Hutchinson-Foster, before driving to Tottenham with it. The police alleged that Duggan had received a gun from Hutchinson-Foster 12–15 minutes before he was shot. Police testimony The trial included testimony from seven police officers who were allowed to remain anonymous and use pseudonyms. The Police alleged that Duggan had pulled the gun from his waistband and pointed it at police before they shot him. According to the evidence given by the cab driver and corroborated by one policeman present at the scene, Duggan got out of the taxi and ran in an attempt to escape. The driver stated, "I saw that Mark Duggan got out and ran. At the same time, I heard firing from the front. I saw shots strike Mark Duggan. He fell to the ground." "Mark Duggan only got 2ft–3ft from my car when he was shot", the taxi driver later testified. Pathologist testimony Simon Poole, a pathologist who had performed a post-mortem on Duggan's body, testified in January 2013 at the retrial of Kevin Hutchinson-Foster and asserted that the injuries Duggan sustained in the shooting were not consistent with the account of the incident that was given by the police officer who fired the lethal shot. Questioned by a barrister representing Hutchinson-Foster, Poole said that the police bullet had penetrated Duggan's body on the right side and travelled from right to left. Poole agreed with the barrister's statement: "So the scenario can't be right? The officer fires to his left and the bullet hits Mr Duggan in the chest and it should go from left to right – but it went right to left. Therefore the scenario can't be right?" Poole also later agreed with the prosecution that if Duggan had turned to face the officer who shot him, his position relative to them would have changed. A December 2011 IPCC statement had cited Poole for discovering that a second bullet struck Duggan's arm. Outcome On 17 October 2012, the jury failed to reach a verdict. The re-trial date was set for January 2013, and on 31 January 2013 the defendant was convicted of supplying Duggan with the handgun. On 26 February 2013, the defendant was sentenced to eleven years in prison; seven years for supplying the gun, four years for related offences. The Hutchinson-Foster verdict did not resolve a number of central questions related to Duggan's killing, which remained open until the inquest later in 2013. Reaction to official response Following interviews in the Tottenham area, some residents have revealed that they do not trust police or investigators, and say that Duggan was executed by police. A report due in summer of 2012 was announced delayed in October 2012. Duggan's family and members of his community suggested that they did not consider the IPCC impartial and did not believe that its investigation was succeeding. Frustration with the official investigation mounted in May 2012 when it was announced that the 31 police witnesses would not be required to answer questions—instead submitting written testimony. David Lammy, MP from Tottenham, stated: "It is unacceptable that the police officers have not made themselves available for interview, and it is unacceptable that the IPCC does not have the power to compel them to do so." Duggan's family Duggan's family did not believe that the police have been honest about the shooting, and have pressured the police and IPCC for greater transparency. Duggan's sister, Paulette Hall, has stated: "We want justice. We want them to come clean and tell us what happened. The police are human like us. If you kill someone, you should do the time, just like we would have to do." Hall has reiterated concerns about media portrayals, and produced her own film titled The Real Story of Mark Duggan. Duggan's mother, Pamela, has said: "We still don't have justice. I won't give up until I get justice for Mark. People need to be held to account for my son's death. There needs to be a full inquest, in front of a jury of ordinary men and women, to find out the truth." Mrs. Duggan has sought judicial review for the case, requesting oversight of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the IPCC. London's High Court of Justice rejected her application for judicial review on 18 June 2013. The family have criticized the IPCC for delaying the investigation. Expecting an inquest to begin on 28 January and instead facing indefinite postponement, a barrister for the Duggan family commented: "It is absolutely shocking to find ourselves here today and to hear your counsel saying that there are further investigations, basic investigations, to be conducted such as a reconstruction and forensics." Stafford Scott Stafford Scott, originally appointed as an advisor to Operation Trident, resigned from the investigation because he felt that it was not being conducted fairly. Writing in The Guardian, he stated: The IPCC has broken its own guidelines by giving out erroneous information to journalists regarding the "shoot-out" involving Duggan and police that didn't actually happen. And its investigation is flawed and in all probability tainted – so much so that we can never have faith in its final report. Scott blames the police response to the Duggan shooting for the escalation of the 2011 riots. He later criticized authorities for treating the Hutchinson-Foster as a proxy for the Duggan investigation, while continuing to delay the official inquest on Duggan's death. He says that members of Duggan's community feel ignored and lied to by authorities, writing in March 2012: "In August 2011 the word on the streets was that 'they executed Mark'. Seven months later the word is that the police had control of the gun or worse." After the Hutchinson-Foster trial, Scott criticized the Trident police for inaction, writing: "So it is now clear that the police had a golden opportunity to remove an identified gunman and a firearm off of the streets but somehow managed not to do so. And this is all the more shocking because the police have a special unit, Trident, established specifically to deal with gun crime in the black community." Inquest Preparations At a pre-inquest hearing in June 2012, coroner Andrew Walker said it was "quite extraordinary" that the IPCC refused to provide witness statements. He ordered the material to be disclosed within 28 days. Representing the Duggan family, Michael Mansfield QC said the IPCC's position was "utterly unacceptable", and warned them they would be in contempt if they refused the coroner's order. A public inquest on the killing had been scheduled for 28 January 2013. On 25 January, the inquest was declared indefinitely postponed because the IPCC had not yet released its report. Judge Keith Cutler later announced that the inquest would begin on 16 September 2013. The inquest was expected to last for six to eight weeks. The government created a website for publicizing materials related to the inquest, and considered live broadcast for some of the proceedings. Testimony from firearms officers was to remain entirely anonymous. Members of the inquest jury may also be kept anonymous. Hearings Inquest hearings began on 16 September 2013. The jury began with a visit to the street in Tottenham where Duggan was killed in 2011. Police allegations Police maintained that Duggan was a gang member linked to violent crime. "As well as gun crime, he was involved in supply of class A drugs and possession of ammunition", said Detective Inspector Mick Foote. Foote denied making the claim that Duggan had fired at police, saying he was "surprised" that early reports of the incident described a "shoot out". The IPCC later conceded it had misled journalists shortly after the shooting by saying that shots were exchanged. A police officer appearing in support of the IPCC, wrote in a statement that during informal briefings at the scene of death "officers had apparently thrown a firearm found in his [Duggan's] possession over a fence so that it was out of reach and it would no longer pose a threat to them". No other officer confirmed this. Manner of death The jury learned that Duggan had been killed by a 9mm parabellum, hollow-point bullet, travelling at 870 mph. This type of bullet is designed to cause instant incapacitation. Pathologist Derrick Pounder said that police had "simply got it wrong" in their accounts of the shooting. Pounder testified that Duggan was hit first by a non-fatal shot to the arm, then killed by a second shot to his chest. The gun Lawyers for the Duggan family argued that police had planted the handgun found on the scene. Two witnesses testified that they saw a police officer move something from the minicab to the place where the gun was found, 20 feet away from Duggan's body. One witness ("Miss J") said she saw the officer pick up the gun, adding: "It will never leave me for the simple reason it's not often you see a gun in broad daylight." She said the officer "had an expression like he'd found gold."<ref>Vikram Dodd, "Mark Duggan witness says she saw officer remove gun from car: Woman tells inquest she saw officer emerge from cab with expression 'like he had found gold' 10 minutes after shooting", The Guardian, 16 October 2013.</ref> Miss J was standing 50 metres away from the scene (with a fence in between), and the final IPCC report noted that there were, "many discrepancies between her accounts, which overall lessens the weight that can be attached to her observations, as they render her evidence unreliable and contradictory." The driver of the minicab testified that he did not see a gun in Duggan's hand, nor did he see one fly through the air. He said Duggan was shot in the back. Another witness said there was "definitely" a phone in Duggan's hand.Sam Jones, "Mark Duggan was holding phone as he was shot by police, inquest hears: Witness says Duggan, whose death in London sparked riots in 2011, had stopped and put his hands up before he was shot", The Guardian, 3 December 2013. During the inquest Ian Stern, counsel for the police, suggested that the same witness – the only one to actually see Duggan being shot – had earlier told a journalist that he (Duggan) had been holding a handgun. The witness denied ever making such statements. "V53", the officer who shot and killed Duggan, testified that Duggan was still holding a gun after both of the shots were fired, saying his eyes were "glued to the gun." Military surgeon Jonathan Clasper testified that it would be difficult to imagine Duggan throwing his gun 20 feet after being hit by the two shots. Near the end of the hearings, lawyer Leslie Thomas confronted the police officer "V59" with the possibility that a gun had been planted, saying: "I'm going to suggest to you, V59, that you knew where the gun was before the officers had gone round (the fence), because you, and all of your colleagues had planted it there." The officer replied: "I did not plant any gun at any scene. I find that highly offensive." Thomas also accused officer "W70" of inconsistencies and omissions in testimony. Protests During the inquest, student protesters were heard chanting: "Who killed Mark Duggan? You killed Mark Duggan." On 11 December, students protested outside the Royal Courts of Justice while the inquest was underway. Deliberation and verdict The jury began deliberations on 10 December 2013, asked to render a verdict of unlawful killing, lawful killing, or open verdict. Subsequently, Cutler told the jury that he would accept a conclusion based on a majority agreement by 8 of the 10 jurors.Natricia Duncan, "Mark Duggan inquest adjourned until next year: Anonymous inquest jurors will return in January to decide verdict", The Voice, 19 December 2013. The jury interrupted deliberations over Christmas and resumed on 7 January 2014. They delivered their conclusions at approximately 16:00 on 8 January, concluding (by an 8–2 majority) that Duggan's death was a lawful killing. Legal challenge and appeal Following the inquest, a case was brought by Duggan's mother to the High Court seeking judicial review, arguing that the coroner's directions to the jury were legally incorrect. The direction to the jury instructed them to determine whether or not the officer who shot Duggan was acting on an honest belief that Duggan was a threat, not whether his belief was reasonable. The case challenged the legal standard for self-defence as being incompatible with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights which protects the right to life. In October 2014, the High Court rejected this challenge. Leave was given to appeal the case to the civil division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, but the appellate court also rejected the claims in 2017. In March 2019, Duggan's family brought a civil claim against the Metropolitan Police. The claim was settled in October 2019. The terms of the settlement were confidential. The Metropolitan Police did not admit liability for Duggan's death. See also Race and crime in the United Kingdom List of people killed by law enforcement officers in the United Kingdom Police use of firearms in the United Kingdom List of cases of police brutality in the United Kingdom Death of Anthony Grainger Deaths after contact with the police Ferguson unrest The Hard Stop'' References External links The Mark Duggan Inquest: Government website for information about the inquest The funeral of Mark Duggan – in pictures 2011 controversies 2011 England riots 2011 in London August 2011 events in the United Kingdom Black British history Deaths by person in London Deaths by firearm in London Gun politics in the United Kingdom Law enforcement controversies Metropolitan Police operations People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United Kingdom

33349034

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Barry%20Deloatch

Shooting of Barry Deloatch

The shooting of Barry "Gene" Deloatch occurred on the early morning of September 22, 2011 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Deloatch, an unarmed man, was shot twice and killed by police. Officers later claimed he attempted to hit them with a wooden stick. The circumstances of his death generated significant controversy, leading to a series of high-profile resident protests and an investigation by the Middlesex County Prosecutor. In 2016, the city reached an agreement with the sons of Deloatch in the wrongful death civil suit they filed; the settlement was in the amount of $300,000. Background Deloatch worked at New Brunswick High School as security officer and maintenance staff. He was planning to marry his long-time girlfriend in January 2012. Deloatch was convicted of two drug offenses in New Brunswick in the past decade. The incident Officers approached Deloatch and two other men around 12:12 AM near the intersection of Throop Avenue and Handy Street. Deloatch fled into a nearby alley and two police officers followed. He fled by crawling under a fence, and Officer Mazan attempted to follow him through the fence while Officer Berdel attempted to go around a nearby house to approach from the other side. Officer Mazan became entrapped and unable to access his weapons. According to officers, Deloatch began to hit Officer Mazan in the head with a stick, and failed to follow Officer Berdel's orders to stop attacking the officer. He was shot twice in the side. Deloatch had no firearm, but after the incident occurred, radio recordings state "the suspect was attempting to hit us with a wooden stick". Deloatch was pronounced dead at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital at 12:37 AM. The officers According to court papers, Brad Berdel was the shooter, and his partner was Dan Mazan. The two were subject of nine internal affairs investigations over their careers, with allegations ranging from "demeanor complaints" to "excessive force", and one complaint of "differential treatment" came from a fellow police officer. The two of them were also involved in 10 use-of-force incidents in 2010 (above the department average of five), with 80 percent of them involving black or Latino men. Berdel was one of very few officers to have kicking, uses of chemical spray and use of hands or fists cited in complaints. Protests The community response began with a protest of about 100 people outside City Hall the day following the shooting. Protests continued on a daily basis, including marches down George Street that disrupted commuter traffic. Support to the protestors has come from national civil rights organizations such as the National Action Network and NAACP. The Latino Leadership Alliance has requested to present the case before grand jury. Al Sharpton called for the ACLU to investigate. Deloatch's funeral was held on October 8, and it was marked an additional "Day of Outrage" protest. On October 24, another major protest was held at Feaster park. Aftermath Mayor Cahill held a public forum on police-community relations. The NBPD agreed to some internal affairs reforms. The two police officers involved were placed on administrative leave, and ultimately a Middlesex County grand jury declined to charge either officer. Brad Berdel resigned in August 2012 due to three departmental violations. In 2016, New Brunswick and Deloatch's family reached an agreement on a settlement of $300,000 for the death of Deloatch. See also Police brutality in the United States References Year of birth missing 2011 deaths New Brunswick, New Jersey Deaths by firearm in New Jersey Law enforcement in New Jersey Police brutality in the United States Crimes in New Jersey

39394645

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Kirill%20Denyakin

Shooting of Kirill Denyakin

Kirill Ivanovich Denyakin () was a 26-year-old Kazakhstani national, who was fatally shot by a police officer in Portsmouth, Virginia, United States, on the evening of April 23, 2011. Later found to have been intoxicated but unarmed at the time of the shooting, Denyakin was shot by Officer Stephen Rankin of the Portsmouth Police Department, who was responding to a report of a burglary at the home where Denyakin was staying. According to Rankin and the Portsmouth Police, Denyakin had ignored Rankin's verbal orders and lunged at him aggressively just prior to the shooting, forcing Rankin to defend himself. Denyakin's family and friends have questioned this account of the incident. A grand jury declined to indict Rankin on criminal charges in February 2012, and the jury in a civil trial found him to be not culpable for Denyakin's death in March 2012. Victim Denyakin was a native of Kazakhstan. Early reports gave his surname as Suchin. His father Ivan Denyakin, mother Yelena Denyakina, and younger brother Roman Denyakin resided in Karaganda, Karagandy Province, Kazakhstan. He attended Karaganda School No. 3 and went on to a local university; in his third year of studies there in 2006, he obtained a temporary U.S. visa under the Work and Travel USA program, and moved to the United States. A local newspaper, The Virginian-Pilot, later reported that Denyakin overstayed his visa in order to continue working in the United States. He was sending money back to Kazakhstan to help his parents support his younger brother. At the time of his death, he had been employed as a cook at the Renaissance Portsmouth Hotel for two years. Denyakin had dated a Romanian woman named Nicoletta, but the two later separated. In February 2011, about two months before his death, Denyakin went to the building where his ex-girlfriend lived; Portsmouth police officers were summoned and arrested Denyakin at the scene, alleging that he had broken a window there and threatened them. He was charged with misdemeanor stalking, but the charges were dropped after Nicoletta failed to appear at court proceedings against Denyakin; a friend stated to reporters that she had left the United States. After Denyakin's breakup with Nicoletta, he had no place to live, so friends Maurice and Natalya Wilson invited him to stay with them in their apartment on Green Street in the Olde Towne district of Portsmouth. Natalya was from Ukraine and spoke limited English. She communicated with Denyakin primarily in Russian. Shooting On the afternoon of his death, Denyakin went to the apartment of another friend, Aileen Putnam, to pick up his laundry. While at his friend's home, he consumed four or five screwdriver cocktails. According to a report in The Virginian-Pilot, Putnam became concerned by Denyakin's behavior and texted her boyfriend, who came to her apartment at around 7 PM and told Denyakin to go home and sober up. Denyakin was still intoxicated when he arrived at the Wilsons' apartment at roughly 9 PM; after an argument with Natalya, who had previously told Denyakin that she did not like seeing him drunk around her baby, Natalya left the apartment and went to the restaurant where her husband Maurice worked. She found Maurice and his friend there and asked them to come home and deal with the situation; the two men carried Denyakin outside, took away his keys, and set him on the stoop to sober up, but Maurice had to return to work, leaving Natalya alone. Denyakin awoke roughly an hour later and began pounding on the door. Natalya became alarmed and asked her neighbor to call 9-1-1. During the call, the neighbor suggested that Denyakin was "a stranger". The dispatcher thus announced the incident as a burglary in progress. Officer Rankin was nearby dealing with a homeless man and at 10:10 PM stated to the dispatcher that he would respond to the more serious "in progress" call. According to Rankin and other police sources, Rankin arrived at the Green Street apartment at 10:12 PM and found Denyakin standing at the same door of the building where a break-in had been reported. Rankin gave Denyakin verbal commands to turn around, but Denyakin was unresponsive to these commands, and placed his hands "at the midsection of his body, in the waistband area", before charging at Rankin, who fired his weapon "in an effort to stop the threat". There were no witnesses to the shooting, and because officer Rankin had not synchronized his belt microphone with the dashcam in his police car that night, there was no audio or video recording of the events. The Virginian-Pilot, however, later reported that Natalya had heard officer Rankin order Denyakin to "get down" three times before gunfire erupted. Less than two minutes had elapsed between Rankin's arrival on the scene and the shooting. A second officer arrived at the scene soon after, finding the glass in the front door shattered and Denyakin on the ground. Denyakin was dead by the time paramedics arrived. An autopsy confirmed that he had 11 bullet wounds in his chest, left shoulder, right upper arm, left thigh, right flank, hip, right wrist, and left hand, and a blood alcohol content of 0.28%. Aftermath The shooting attracted considerable media coverage, both in Virginia and in Kazakhstan. The government of Kazakhstan paid the expenses for Denyakin's mother to travel to the United States, make statements to police, and repatriate her son's body. He was buried in the Federovsky Cemetery in Karaganda in May 2011. Erlan Idrisov, Kazakhstan's ambassador in Washington, DC, made a statement of concern to the United States Department of State, demanded a "thorough investigation", and expressed his hopes that Denyakin's relatives would be "compensated" properly. During the investigation, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs communicated frequently with the State Department about the case, and with State Department officials, among them Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O. Blake, Jr. as well as then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Portsmouth Police Department did not initially reveal the identity of the officer who had shot Denyakin, but eventually released Rankin's name. Media reports noted that Officer Rankin had worked for the Portsmouth Police Department for three-and-a-half years, was a native of Central California, had served in the United States Navy from 2002 to 2007, and had been honorably discharged. Once his identity had been revealed, Rankin's social media activity immediately came under scrutiny from media in both the U.S. and Kazakhstan. Facebook postings, including a posting of the Misfits song "Mommy, Can I Go Out & Kill Tonight", an image of a lynching with the slogan "Love is … Doing whatever is necessary," and photographs of Rankin's gun and gun cleaning equipment, on which he had commented that it "would be better if i was dirtying them instead of cleaning them!" This and other incidents involving social media activity led the International Association of Chiefs of Police to issue reminders to all officers to use caution when making social media postings. Rankin later admitted to making numerous comments on online articles at the website of The Virginian-Pilot under the pseudonym "yourealythinkthat", defending his actions and disputing other commenters who questioned them. Criminal investigation An investigation into the shooting was handled by the Virginia State Police, while Commonwealth's Attorney Earle C. Mobley also referred the matter to a state grand jury for consideration of charges. Rankin was placed on administrative leave during the investigation. On February 9, 2012, the grand jury refused to indict Rankin. Civil suit The Denyakin family filed a civil suit against Rankin on July 1, 2011, seeking US $22 million in damages. The suit, a civil action for deprivation of rights under , was filed in the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, and came before Judge Rebecca Smith. In November, the court ordered that the Denyakin family's lawyer could have access to state police investigative records. In February 2012, after the grand jury refused to indict Rankin on criminal charges, the judge in the civil suit ordered a trial so that a jury could hear the case against the respondents. As early as May 2011, Denyakin's lawyers had disputed Rankin's claim that Denyakin had lunged at him, stating that with a blood alcohol of 0.28%, three-and-a-half times the state threshold for driving under the influence of alcohol, Denyakin would not have been able to walk or talk straight, let alone lunge or fight. In court, they argued that Denyakin could not have had his hands in his pants as the witness stated, because he had a bullet wounds on his hands but no holes in his jeans. After hearing three days of testimony, the jury returned its verdict on March 3, 2012, finding that Rankin had not violated Denyakin's civil rights by using excessive force, did not act with gross negligence, and did not commit unprovoked assault and battery causing death. A subsequent appeal by Denyakin's family was unsuccessful. Shooting of William Chapman In 2015, news media drew comparisons between the shooting of Kirill Denyakin and the death of a young, unarmed African-American man who had also been shot by Officer Rankin. Rankin shot William Chapman from several feet away in April 2015, following a struggle after having attempted to arrest him for shoplifting in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Portsmouth. On September 3, 2015, Rankin was indicted on a charge of first degree murder. On August 4, 2016, Rankin was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the case. References External links Court filings in the civil appeal, from Justia.com Audio recording of oral arguments in the civil appeal in MP3 format, from the website of the Fourth Circuit Remembering K., a blog post by Denyakin's friend Danny Donovan 2011 in Virginia Deaths by person in the United States Kazakhstan–United States relations Portsmouth, Virginia

40151927

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Fredy%20Villanueva

Shooting of Fredy Villanueva

The shooting of Fredy Alberto Villanueva occurred on August 9, 2008, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Villanueva, a Honduran immigrant, was shot and killed by a Montreal Police officer in the parking lot of Montreal-Nord's Henri-Bourassa Arena, near Rolland Boulevard and Pascal Street, just after 7:00 p.m. Two other men were injured in the shooting. No criminal charges were filed against the officers involved. Villanueva's death led to protests in Montreal. Background Fredy Alberto Villanueva was born on April 6, 1990 in Honduras, and was 18 at the time of his death. A Montreal resident, Villanueva arrived in Quebec with his older brother, Dany, and his three sisters (Patricia, Wendy, and Lilian) on December 5, 1998. They joined their parents (Gilberto Villanueva Madrid and Lilian), who had been in Canada for refugee status after leaving the Honduras. His father has survived two attempted murders related to a land conflict. Fredy had no criminal record. According to Pierre-Yves Boisvert, SPVM (Service de police de la ville de Montréal) counsel to the inquest, he was not identified as a street gang member. Dany had been arrested on several occasions since 2005, mostly for petty theft. In April 2006, he was sentenced to serve a sentence of eleven months in prison after he had pleaded guilty to a charge of robbery. He was then 19, and it was his first conviction. According to the complainant's version, Dany stole his neck chain without using violence at Henri-Bourassa Park on September 14, 2005. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of being found in a car in the presence of a firearm while he was in the company of four individuals, wearing red scarves. Incident Fredy, Dany, and three other men were playing a game of dice in a parking lot when two patrolling constables, Jean-Loup Lapointe and Stéphanie Pilotte, approached them as their game of dice was contrary to a municipal bylaw. The reason for the police action was the fact that gambling with money is prohibited in Montreal North parks under Article 12 e) of the Regulations parks, pools and public buildings. The constables identified some of those present as local gang members, including a known member of the Bloods street gang, named Jeffrey Sagor Météllus, as well as another man, recognized by Lapointe as another street gang member. Lapointe stopped his car and called the men over. All of them complied with his order exception for Dany, who instead began to walk away. At that point, Lapointe exited his cruiser and ordered the man to identify himself. Dany refused, and Lapointe then tried to take him into custody and worried that Dany might be armed. Lapointe said that some of the men shouted out in protest and began to form a line behind the officers. He said he felt "surrounded and confined against his car." Lapointe said that Villanueva fought back, forcing the officer to push him to the ground. Pilotte was subsequently kicked several times all, and Lapointe was punched in the face. Lapointe then noticed the other four men moving in on him. Two of them appeared to be reaching toward his neck and his belt, where his holstered gun was located. One of the men grabbed Lapointe's neck and he realized that his partner "was not in a position to come to (his) defence... and (he) was not physically capable of overcoming these men." The men were ordered to back up but refused, and Lapointe said that he "saw no other alternative than to fire immediately." Lapointe said his concern about the threat of being disarmed by the men was so great that he shot his gun "three or four times" before he was able to remove it from its holster. One gunshot struck and killed Fredy. Jeffrey Sagor Météllus and another man, Denis Méas, were also struck and injured. Only approximately 60 seconds had passed from the officers exiting their vehicle to the shots being fired. Fredy was seriously injured. Two bullets hit his internal organs, perforating the stomach and causing lacerations to the inferior vena cava, liver left lobe, and pancreas. He was pronounced dead in the operating room at Hôpital Sacré-Coeur at 21:45. At 10:00 PM, the SPVM issued a press release in which it said: "Around 7:10 p.m., police patrolling the Montreal North sector intervened in Henri-Bourassa Park at the intersection of Pascal and Rolland streets. During the intervention, while trying to arrest a suspect at the scene, police were encircled by several individuals. At one point, a group movement was initiated with a number of men rushing the male and female police officers, assaulting them. The male officer then fired towards the suspects, hitting three of them; one was wounded fatally." Constable Pilotte had graduated from the province’s police academy 18 months before the shooting. Coroner's inquest On December 1, 2008, the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DCPP), Louis Dionne, held a press conference in the company of the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Jacques Dupuis, and Mayor Gérald Tremblay. Dionne announced that no charges were brought against the officers Lapointe and Pilotte. Crown Prosecutor François Brière particularly cited several excerpts of the report of Lapointe to explain how the DCPP had reached that conclusion. For his part, Minister Dupuis announced the holding of a public inquiry, chaired by Judge of the Court of Québec Robert Sansfaçon coroner appointed for the occasion. Minister Dupuis said that the inquest was designed to "reassure the population about the merits of the decision that was taken by the Crown prosecutor." The decision not to charge against the police was greeted with disappointment by the Villanueva family. "We wanted to have confidence in the judicial process, but now we do not know what to think," said Patricia Villanueva. "I am shocked, shocked, but not surprised. There is a justice for police officers and for citizens. It was the trial of Villanueva, not the police," denounced Will Prosper, a Montreal-Nord Republik spokesman. For his part, the president of the FPPM (Montreal Police Brotherhood), Yves Francoeur, responded positively to the decision of the DCPP. "The police will keep a high level of confidence in the justice system," he said. Francoeur also welcomed the decision to hold an inquest. The movement "Solidarity Montreal North" (a group represented by a city-linked PR firm) also reacted positively, distributing to the media a statement supporting the holding of the inquest, even before the end press conference of DCPP. Aftermath During a peaceful protest against the officers' actions, riot police were dispatched after bonfires had been set in the streets of Montreal North on August 10 in retaliation to the event. The protest would escalate to looting and car torching. Eventually, one paramedic and two police officers were wounded and one female police officer shot. Seventy-one people were arrested. The death caused the Quebec government to reform how police shootings are investigated in the province. The Canada Border Services Agency attempted to deport Villanueva. A judge ended a seven-year civil suit involving the families of Villanueva and the other two injured. Quebec Superior Court Judge William Fraiberg ruled that the families' lawyers had failed too many times to meet deadlines, which caused unjustified delays. The event was one of the inspirations behind Sophie Deraspe's 2019 film Antigone, which adapted the ancient Greek play by Sophocles into a modern story of police brutality against immigrants. References People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Canada Crime in Montreal Deaths by firearm in Quebec 2008 in Quebec Montréal-Nord

42476489

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20James%20Boyd

Shooting of James Boyd

James Matthew Boyd (April 8, 1975 – March 16, 2014) was an American man who was fatally shot by Albuquerque Police Department officers Keith Sandy and Dominique Perez in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque, New Mexico on the evening of March 16, 2014. A resident of a nearby subdivision called police at 3:28 p.m. to report that a man had been camping on the mountain behind his house for the previous month, a violation of local regulations. Two Open Space officers were the first to respond. They approached Boyd as he lay under a sheet of plastic; Boyd, mentally ill with a diagnosis of schizo-affective disorder, became irate, wanting to know why the "raid". When an officer tried to pat him down, he produced two pocket knives, threatening the officers with them. The caller watched the confrontation from his second-story window and later testified that Boyd threatened the officers. The Open Space officers called for backup and Albuquerque police and New Mexico State police responded. A police officer with crisis intervention training testified that he had made some progress with Boyd, but that his supervisor pulled him off and sent him to secure the perimeter of the standoff location. Officer Mikal Monette testified that Boyd never did drop his knives and surrender, but did put them away and agreed to keep his hands out of his pockets. K-9 officer Scott Weimerskirch stepped into the role of negotiator and supervisor, he said, because there was no dialogue taking place when he arrived. Boyd eventually said he would depart, picked up some of his possessions, and took a step downhill. An officer said "Do it." (referring to the use of a stun grenade). Sandy threw a Stun grenade at Boyd, and Rick Ingram, the acting ROP sergeant at the site, fired his Taser shotgun, but it did not have any noticeable effect on Boyd. At the same time Weimerskirch sent the dog to bite him, then ran to the dog when it attacked the blue bag rather than Boyd. Startled, Boyd produced the knives again. Perez and Sandy testified that they felt he posed an imminent threat to Weimerskirch. Sandy said he moved closer to cover the dog and its handler. As officers approached, Boyd turned a quarter turn to his left and was shot. Boyd fell forward, face first, away from the officers, wheezing but still holding a knife in each hand. When he did not respond to commands to drop the knives, another officer fired three beanbag shotgun rounds which struck his buttock and the police dog was again sent to bite him. Boyd arrived at the University of New Mexico Hospital emergency room at 8:15 p.m., underwent extensive surgery, and was pronounced dead of massive trauma at 2:55 a.m. the next morning. Surgeons had amputated his right arm, removed his spleen, part of one lung and part of his colon in their efforts to save his life. A preliminary hearing was held in August 2015, and the trial of two police officers charged with second-degree murder in Boyd's death began on September 20, 2016. The trial concluded with Judge Alicia Hadfield declaring a mistrial on October 11, 2016. The jury deadlocked with three voting guilty and nine voting not guilty. The jury deliberated for two days after hearing 12 days of testimony in state district court in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In February 2017, Raul Torrez, the Bernalillo County District Attorney, after having several prosecutors around the state review the case, announced that he would not refile charges against Officers Sandy or Perez. In July 2017 the United States Attorney's Office in New Mexico said, "After a careful and thorough review into the facts surrounding the shooting, federal investigators determined that there is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, a violation of the federal statute," ending the inquiry into possible criminal civil rights violations. Sandy retired from the Department. Perez was fired but appealed his termination. He won his arbitration and subsequently returned to work at the Department in May 2017. He was assigned to a desk job for a year and was barred from responding to patrol calls or providing services. He was awarded back pay and benefits in the amount of $143,159. Background James Matthew "Abba" Boyd, 38, was 6'1" and homeless. Authorities said he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. He had been a prisoner in the Bernalillo County Jail in Albuquerque and the Doña Ana County Jail in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He had also been transported to a psychiatric hospital. The last lawyer to represent Boyd, John McCall, says he had no doubt that Boyd was mentally ill. He said, the New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute, the state mental health hospital in Las Vegas, New Mexico, determined that Boyd was not dangerous, and also that no treatment existed that would render him competent to stand trial. Therefore, they released him. McCall said Boyd was creative but clearly delusional. A cousin remembered him fondly from visits to an aunt's farm that allowed them both to escape their families for a while. Boyd's cousin described him as funny, sensitive and intelligent. Boyd's alcoholic mother and physically abusive father lost custody of him when he was five; consequently he was in foster homes by the time he was five, and there he was sexually abused. He entered the juvenile justice system at fifteen, where he remained for two years. He was arrested again soon after turning eighteen. Those charges were eventually dropped, but by then he had spit jalapeño at a jailer's eyes and tried to escape. By the time his family got Boyd a lawyer for the new charges, he had already entered a guilty plea and was waiting to be sentenced. Boyd understood by then that he was mentally ill and asked at his mental health evaluation to receive probation, counseling and job training. But he was found competent to stand trial; he was convicted and sentenced to ten and a half years in jail. All his appeals were denied, and he spent seven years in prison. Todd Holmes, the Alamogordo lawyer who tried to prevent his incarceration in that case, defended Boyd again in 2001. Boyd had been arrested trying to enter Holloman Air Force Base, claiming he was on a mission from former President Gerald Ford that involved national security. Boyd's mental deterioration while in prison was evident to Holmes. He says that, after Boyd's release, the man began to identify as "Abba Mobus Abadon," a name derived from "God" and the Hebrew word for "a bottomless pit". In January 2002, Boyd was arrested while breaking into the Las Cruces offices of the FBI. In 2005 he was arrested for assault after he told a man in downtown Albuquerque's Civic Plaza "I am God and I want to hurt you." Charges were dropped four months later. Boyd was arrested again in 2007, for refusing to leave a fire station. He had told firefighters that he was a government agent and wanted to send them to hell. At the jail, he punched a corrections officer. In 2009, he got into a fight at St. Martin's, an Albuquerque soup kitchen, and cut another man with a box cutter. In 2010, staffers at the downtown library called police because Boyd was telling people that he was God, frightening them. He "was charged with breaking an Albuquerque police officer's nose during [the] scuffle." While incarcerated, Boyd was charged with breaking a window at the jail. He later said guards had refused to feed him. McCall represented him on the new charge of breaking the window, and Boyd was referred again to the state mental health hospital. The confrontation with police that resulted in Boyd's death began with a call to police from Northeast Heights resident Alexander Thickstun. Thickstun had first noticed Boyd on February 27, 2014, when he heard Boyd yelling "irrational things" in the darkness at 1 am, and threatening to kill another man in the area. Thickstun called police once in February, and again on March 16, after he had discovered Boyd's illegal campsite - about 100 yards from his home - while on a hike. During Sandy and Perez's murder trial, Thickstun testified that he called police because he was concerned for his own safety and that of his wife. He described Boyd's behavior as "scary" and said that his wife was "terrified." Standoff Officers responded to the base of U Mound, the foothill area where Boyd was camped in violation of park rules; these require a permit for camping in City of Albuquerque Open Space areas. Boyd's campsite was 300 yards from the Sandia Mountain Wilderness in the Cibola National Forest. He was within the Albuquerque city limits, in the Foothills Open Space area, and approximately a hundred yards from Thickstun's home. Two Open Space officers, the first to respond, arrived with guns drawn but not pointed at Boyd. When they tried to search him, Boyd produced a knife with a partially-serrated blade about 3 1/2" (8.9 cm) long. As the confrontation wore on, Boyd produced another knife and threatened the officers with both of them. A witness, Alexander Thickstun, testified that Boyd threatened to kill the officers if they approached him. One officer, John McDaniel, testified at the preliminary hearing that Boyd did not attack him but threatened him, saying he was going to kill McDaniel and his partner, and refused to show the officers his hands. When the officers tried to pat him down, Boyd displayed two knives and threatened them with the knives, so they did not complete the search, he said. Additional officers responded. Crisis Intervention officer Brock Knipprath, who was at the scene, testified at the preliminary hearing that Boyd would not negotiate and talked nonsense. He testified that this behavior is considered a cue that a person might be mentally ill. Sandy's intent before shooting At his trial, Sandy testified for four hours about his actions in the standoff and a comment he made before the shooting to another officer about how he was going to shoot Boyd, whom Sandy referred to as a "lunatic." Two hours before the shooting, officer Keith Sandy encountered New Mexico State Police Sergeant Chris Ware on Piedra Vista, the street closest to Boyd's campsite. Sandy knew Ware from his prior employment with the State Police, and greeted him. Ware's dash cam and belt recorder continued to record as they spoke. Sandy told Ware that Boyd was "a fucking lunatic" and threatened to shoot him during a conversation about Taser shotguns. Sandy had responded to the standoff because a police sergeant had requested a Taser shotgun, and he was carrying one. Some initially thought his remark was evidence of intent to shoot Boyd, but Ware said that Sandy was referring to using a Taser shotgun when they were talking. Shooting At least 19 police officers eventually responded to the scene, from the SWAT, crisis intervention and field services APD teams, as well as the New Mexico State Police, at Boyd's request. The wrongful death lawsuit filed by Boyd's brother against the City of Albuquerque lists 41 individual officers as defendants in addition to the city itself. Special prosecutor Randi Mcginn presented a slide during her opening statement in the trial that showed 19 officers present, "encircling" Boyd. The standoff between Boyd and police forces lasted about four hours, with Boyd making a variety of claims including that he was on a mission for US Special Forces, and could kill all of the officers present with one phone call. Perez was one of the last to arrive at the scene; he was dispatched at 7:01 p.m. and had been in the South Valley suburb of Los Lunas. Dispatch messages about the call while he was on his way to the scene described Boyd as making threats, with a history of running away from officers and injuring them. He threatened to kill police officers who came near him. At one point crisis intervention officer Mikal Monette was able to talk Boyd into surrendering, but as he was gathering his belongings he was told he could not bring his knives. Boyd stated, "I have every right to bring my knives," and called that deal off. The sun had set by 7:15, and Boyd was still not giving into police demands. At 7:24 p.m., police officers Keith Sandy and Dominique Perez, K-9 officer Scott Weimerskirch, and a police dog approached Boyd's location. Boyd saw them coming, and gathered some of his belongings as if preparing to voluntarily depart. There appeared to be a chance he'd cooperate, according to video released by APD. He said "All right, don't change up the agreement. I'm going to try to walk with you." Boyd picked up his knapsack and slung it over his shoulder, then picked up a blue nylon bag full of other belongings. Boyd's hands were empty. He put on his backpack, reached down to pick up a thermos, put it in his right hand and grabbed a blue... bag in his left hand. Just as he took his first step to walk down, Sandy threw a flash-bang grenade. Sandy said when interviewed that he had wanted to arrest Boyd before complete nightfall, to avoid the problems that darkness would bring. He threw a flash-bang grenade toward Boyd, but it bounced and, according to Sandy, landed in a rocky area to Boyd's right. Officer Rick Ingram fired a Taser shotgun at Boyd, but this did not appear to have any effect. Ingram said later that he had already called for a beanbag shotgun because he knew the Taser would not work. Trial testimony later showed that Boyd was wearing multiple layers of clothing when he was shot, and that one of the Taser probes was returned to police by the medical examiner with Boyd's clothing. Weimerskirch released the police dog to bite Boyd but it was distracted, possibly by the flight and explosion of the flash-bang. In a deposition for the civil rights lawsuit brought by Boyd's family, Weimerskirch said he believed the dog might have been shocked by a Taser probe. As the dog ran up to him, Boyd dropped the bags he had picked up and retrieved his knives from his pockets. With one knife in each hand, he assumed a squared off stance. Officers then ordered Boyd to drop the two knives several times, but he did not comply. The police dog moved in but did not bite Boyd; The dog grabbed one of the bags and brought it to his handler who had moved towards Boyd in order to get the dog to drop the blue bag. His back-up officers followed. Boyd took a step towards the officers and stopped. The canine handler tried to redirect the dog to Boyd. This put him 8'-10' from Boyd, looking down at his dog. Officers Sandy and Perez both testified at their trial that they thought that Boyd presented an imminent deadly threat to Weimerskirch, the dog handler. Sandy and Perez fired a total of three shots each. Three of those bullets hit Boyd from behind, one in the back and one in each arm. He had been turning around to his left before they started firing and he fell to the ground, face down, still holding both of his knives, wheezing. After he fell to the ground Boyd said "Please don't hurt me. I can't move." Police approached cautiously thinking the knives might still present a danger. The officer with a beanbag shotgun summoned by Ingram just arrived with the bean bag shotgun just after the rifle fire, and fired three bean bag rounds at Boyd. The handler released the police dog again and it attacked Boyd's lower right leg, biting and shaking his calf. Police then disarmed and handcuffed Boyd as he lay wheezing on the ground. A forensic pathologist later testified that one of the bullets had passed through Boyd's spleen, transverse colon, and lower and upper lobes of a lung. Boyd died early the next morning at the University of New Mexico Hospital. Forensic pathologist Sam Andrews, a prosecution expert witness, testified at the preliminary hearing that Boyd died from gunshot wounds and sheer loss of blood. A May 29, 2014 autopsy report, by the medical examiner at the University of New Mexico said a toxicology screen had been negative. Boyd did not have either drugs or alcohol in his system when he died. Other considerations The X12 Taser shotgun officer Rick Ingram fired at Boyd had been withdrawn from the market. Taser said this was due to "flagging sales." The drop in sales can be attributed to concerns about reliability, said Perez attorney Luis Robles, who is also a use-of-force expert. "It is an over-engineered weapon that had too many problems and not enough impact," he said. The city had been notified two years earlier that Taser would no longer support or service these shotguns. It was not supposed to be in use, nor were the rounds in the X12, which had expired two months earlier. ROP was the only police unit still using the Taser shotguns. The APD dispatcher had called Sandy, who was off-duty but on call, to ask him to bring a Taser shotgun to the standoff in the foothills. Sandy, despite having been quickly informed that the onsite supervisor intended to call out the Gang unit not ROP, drove to the scene anyway, telling the dispatcher to cancel the call to gangs since he was already en route. He had with him four weapons: his handgun, a bean bag shotgun, the Taser shotgun, which he gave to Ingram, and an assault rifle, which he kept. He volunteered to provide lethal cover and went up the trail with his rifle. Both Albuquerque's inspector general and the New Mexico state auditor have investigated the relationship between Taser and then-police-chief Ray Schultz. According to the prosecutor at the preliminary hearing, Sandy and Perez weren't separated following the incident and weren't interviewed until two days later. Legal proceedings The Albuquerque Police Department maintains that the shooting was justified. Police Chief Gordon Eden said at a press conference following the shooting that he believed it was justified: "Yes, if you follow case law, Garner vs Tennessee there was directed threat to an officer." After Mayor Richard Berry said that Eden was mistaken, Chief Eden said that his comments that the shooting was justified, were premature. The FBI announced on March 28, 2014 that it would investigate the death. The Bernalillo County District Attorney's Office also investigated Boyd's death. Of the 36 lapel camera videos released after the shooting, one belonged to an officer who shot him. The lawyer who represented Boyd's brother in his wrongful death suit against the city described the scene as chaotic and poorly managed, with officers confronting Boyd, rather than seeking to de-escalate the situation. They contradicted his claim that he worked for the Department of Defense and argued with him about whether he was being unreasonable. Criminal charges On January 12, 2015, the Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg charged Keith Sandy and Dominique Perez with an open count of murder. This charge allows them to be convicted of either first or second-degree murder, which carry sentences of 30 years to life and 19 years minimum respectively, or voluntary manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years. During the preliminary hearing Judge Neil Candelaria dismissed the first degree murder charges against the officers, stating that the necessary premeditation did not exist. Sandy and Perez still faced charges of second degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. But on September 28, after the prosecution had completed its case, Judge Alicia Hadfield dismissed the manslaughter charges, leaving only the more serious 2nd degree murder charges remaining, stating that the prosecution had not shown that the officers had been provoked by anger or the heat of passion, necessary factors to support such a charge. By the time the jury started deliberations, the officers faced second degree murder charges and Sandy faced an additional, lesser charge, of aggravated battery.[66][67] The prosecution and defense testimony concluded on October 5, 2016, with closing arguments and jury instructions scheduled for the next day.[68] On October 11, 2016, Judge Alicia Hadfield declared a mistrial in the case. The jury deadlocked with three voting guilty and nine voting not guilty. The state district court jury deliberated for two days after hearing 12 days of testimony. The special prosecutor, Randi McGinn said that she was not surprised by the verdict, adding that police use of force has become a polarizing issue. McGinn said that it would be up to the incoming District Attorney, Raul Torrez, who is running unopposed, to decide whether to retry Sandy and Perez. However, under local rules, the prosecution has 30 days from the date of the mistrial to notify the court whether to schedule a new trial. This period will run out before Torrez takes office. It is unclear if the special prosecutor McGinn or the current DA, whose office was removed from the case, will be the one to make the decision as to a new trial. Sandy's attorney, Sam Bregman, said that the jury sent "a pretty positive message ... that the case is pretty weak." He called the prosecution "misguided" and added that he hopes the DA's office will look at the "weak jury support" and will "let these two good men get on with their lives. According to DA Brandenburg the trial of the officers cost the taxpayers more than $82,850. That includes expert witness fees, travel expenses and transcripts. The Special Prosecutor, Randi McGinn was paid $5,400. The state's use of force expert, Jeff Noble, was paid $7,600 and he was reimbursed for his travel expenses. These figures do not include the costs of what the court paid to hold the trial. Special Prosecutor On January 12, 2015, Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg announced that she would file murder charges against Sandy and Perez. Attorneys for Perez filed a motion with the court to have her removed. As a result, Judge Alisa Hadfield disqualified the entire Second Judicial District Attorney's Office, stating, "Disqualification of DA Brandenburg is necessary to ensure the appearance of fairness of trial and to ensure, public trust or confidence in the criminal justice system." The APD had alleged she tried to bribe and intimidate witnesses in a burglary case against her son. Brandenburg said she spoke to the witnesses as a private individual and did not offer them money, because that would be illegal, but the witnesses said that Brandenburg offered to reimburse them for their losses if they did not tell police or pursue charges against her son. The New Mexico Attorney General, Hector Balderas, said that there was no evidence to prosecute Brandenburg. Brandenburg's son had a string of DUI and theft charges at the time. In January 2016 the son was sentenced to three years in jail in connection with the burglary and larceny charges. He had previously agreed to serve a year in a shoplifting case. Brandenburg heatedly denied wrongdoing either with respect to her son's legal problems or to the shooting charges. State Attorney-General Hector Balderas agreed after he investigated that there was no evidence of wrongdoing, although he did say that she should have asked for a special prosecutor to avoid the appearance of impropriety. He also said that some police actions in the case appeared to stem from "political considerations". Appointment of a special prosecutor On April 16, Brandenburg named private attorney Randi McGinn special prosecutor for the case, saying that the Attorney-General's office and thirteen other DA offices around the state had all declined to take the case for reasons of either budget or case load. McGinn, a civil-rights trial attorney who recently represented a plaintiff in a wrongful death suit against the city, was paid $5,400 what a public defender would receive for a death penalty case. McGinn filed charges of second degree murder and voluntary and involuntary manslaughter against the two officers. At the preliminary hearing, District Court Judge Neil Candelaria dismissed the involuntary manslaughter charges, saying they were not appropriate in this case, which seemed "more of intentional and I haven't heard much of anything unintentional." This was the least serious of the charges, and the officers still faced trial on the voluntary manslaughter, second-degree murder, and assault charges that remained. On June 22, 2015, court document filings showed McGinn seeking charges of second degree murder against Sandy and Perez. The filing also includes accusations of voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, and aggravated assault. A preliminary hearing for the case began on August 3, 2015. The murder trial began in the week of September 21, 2015. Testimony included the reticence of an Albuquerque Open Space officer. officer who said he did not fire because he feared repercussions. APD officer Mikal Monette had crisis intervention training and had successfully resolved hundreds of situations. He testified at trial that an APD sergeant removed him from the bargaining process, replacing him with Detective Sandy and others shortly before Boyd was mortally wounded. This was even though Monette had made some progress and had succeeded in getting Boyd, at one point, to agree to leave with him. The judge dismissed the charges of involuntary manslaughter on September 28, leaving only the more serious 2nd degree murder charges remaining. Under state law, involuntary manslaughter implies either provocation by the victim or behavior emanating from the "heat of passion." The prosecution and defense testimony concluded on October 5, 2016, with closing arguments and jury instructions scheduled for the next day. Wrongful Death Lawsuit In June 2014, the brother of James Boyd, Andrew Jones, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Albuquerque Police Department. The lawsuit asked that the city and the police department put in place given corrective measures including better training for law enforcement officers in how to deal with individuals suffering from mental illness, requiring all officers be trained in crisis intervention, that anyone "subjected to force" during any encounter with the Albuquerque Police Department be given prompt medical attention, and that the city establish a fund called the "James Matthew Boyd Emergency Outreach Team" which would provide resources for local doctors and others to help people who are homeless and experiencing a mental health crisis. The lawsuit was settled in July 2015 for $5 million. Department of Justice Investigation The U.S. Department of Justice released a scathing report on April 10, 2014, saying Albuquerque's Police Department "engages in a pattern or practice of using excessive force during the course of arrests and other detentions in violation of the Fourth Amendment ... Albuquerque police officers often use deadly force in circumstances where there is no imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm to officers or others." It cited an incident in which officers Tasered a man who had poured gasoline on himself, accidentally setting him on fire. The report did not investigate the Boyd shooting, which happened shortly before its release, but said Chief Eden's comments about it as an example of systemic problems in the APD. "The recent remarks by the police chief in response to the James Boyd shooting on March 16, 2014, demonstrate that more work is needed to change the culture of APD," it said. "Supervisors marked as 'reasonable' almost every use of force report form we saw," said the report, and officers were almost never reprimanded for failing to turn on their cameras. The report also cited a pattern of violence against people who were mentally ill or unable to comply due to their mental state. One developmentally disabled man was tasered, kicked and beaten, yet his attacker was never charged with any crime. City officials signed a 106-page consent decree with the Department of Justice in response to the report, but the shootings have continued. "Police shootings have dropped since the DOJ Report was released and the APD instituted changes in policy and training to conform to the consent decree." As a result of the consent decree APD officers now receive training on how to minimize the use of force in high stress situations. The court monitor said, "The SWAT unit has become one of the strongest teams within the department." Officers have used their guns less since receiving this training. In 2013 eight shootings resulting in death or injuries. In 2015 that number dropped to five. Officers used their guns 15 times in 2013 and 10 times in 2015. Officers Keith Sandy had faced criminal fraud charges in 2007, as one of four police officers who were receiving payments for teaching classes from Wackenhut, a private security contractor, while simultaneously working for the New Mexico State Police and being paid to attend a class. One resigned and Sandy and two others were fired. That case against Officer Sandy was later dropped, since no charges had been filed against him. Then-Deputy Chief Mike Castro said when he hired him afterwards as a civilian investigator, that Sandy would not be badged or allowed to carry a gun. Those restrictions were lifted later. Sandy also launched a case against the chief criminal judge in the county, causing the latter's resignation. However the District Attorney of the First Judicial District characterized it as a "terrible" case, and "a mess," and that as a result, it could not be prosecuted. Officer Sandy joined the Repeat Offender Unit, considered an elite assignment. Sandy's father was also an Albuquerque police officer, who was shot on-duty. No video of the Boyd shooting was recovered from Sandy's camera; it either malfunctioned or was never turned on. Sandy was allowed to retire from the Albuquerque Police Department in November 2014. However, the APD internal affairs investigation continued. K-9 officer Scott Weimerkirch was found in the 2012 federal Nelson v City of Albuquerque District Court case to have used his police dog in an unconstitutional use of police force, yet, according to the Boyd wrongful death suit, he had received no disciplinary sanction, counseling, or corrective training as a result. The case was similar to Boyd's, in that the dog tore flesh from Boyd's leg in much the same manner as he had torn flesh from the arm of an unthreatening suspect in Nelson. Weimerkirch and the dog have both since retired. Albuquerque police told the media, "Perez must also complete all of the department's new training related to our settlement agreement, along with state required training, and pass a psychological exam." APD officer Mikal Monette had crisis intervention training and had successfully resolved hundreds of situations. He testified at trial that an APD sergeant removed him from the bargaining process, replacing him with Detective Sandy and others shortly before Boyd was mortally wounded. This was even though Monette had made some progress and had succeeded in getting Boyd, at one point, to agree to leave with him. But when Boyd learned that he could not bring his knives, he stated, "I have every right to bring my knives," and called that deal off. When questioned by the defense, Monette admitted that Boyd would need to actually cooperate with the commands that Monette was giving him, before the situation could be deescalated. Protests A protest was held on March 25, 2014, in response to the shooting of James Boyd. Thousands of people marched through downtown Albuquerque and the Nob Hill area of the city. On the three-month anniversary of Boyd's death, a group of people held a vigil at his campsite in his honor, singing Amazing Grace and vowing to improve the lives of the homeless and the mentally ill in Albuquerque. History of APD Police Shootings The Albuquerque City Council unsuccessfully tried September 7, 2011 to override an August 19 veto by Mayor Richard Berry of the council's bill requesting a Department of Justice investigation into police violence. Because of a long string of police shootings before Boyd's, the United States Department of Justice had already initiated an investigation into APD police violence. A key finding of its April 2014 report was that "the Albuquerque Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of unreasonable use of deadly force in officers' use of firearms." Prior to the charges against Perez and Sandy, no APD officer had faced prosecution in a death resulting from police violence since 1977. On March 25, 2014, the same day as a protest over the shooting of Boyd, APD police officers shot and killed Alfred Redwine, saying that he had discharged a firearm. Witnesses said he only had pointed the gun at his own head. Other witnesses said the "gun" was actually a cellphone. His sister, Tammy Redwine said "Then he was dropping his other hand to drop the gun that he had to his head, and when he dropped everything to his sides, that's when they opened fire and shot him." She told police officers she was on the phone with her brother and he wanted to come out. A neighbor said he heard a man shout "Just do it!" the moment before shots were fired. A KOAT 7 reporter, Mike Springer, narrates a video tape showing the scene as he says, "In this video that was taken by a viewer, you can see Redwine lower his arm. You hear a gunshot and see smoke rise from the ground." It appears as if Redwine fired his gun into the ground. Redwine's death sparked another protest on the 30th, from noon into the night. Police did clash with demonstrators at this demonstration, eventually using tear gas after, they said, some protesters threw rocks. As the FBI launched an investigation into Boyd's death, "graffiti splashed across downtown Albuquerque, declaring, "We are James Boyd," said the Santa Fe New Mexican. On April 21, 2014, APD officer Jeremy Dear killed 19-year-old Mary Hawkes by shooting her three times as she ran away from him. Hawkes was suspected of having been in a stolen car. Dear said she pointed a handgun at him, but his lapel cam either did not record the encounter or was not turned on. Hawkes had methamphetamine in her system when she died. Dear had a history of excessive force complaints and repeated failure to record arrests with his lapel camera. He was fired for insubordination. He successfully appealed his firing; the appeals board voted 3-2 to overturn his termination. City records show that between 2009 and 2014, Albuquerque Police Department officers were involved in 47 shootings. Deaths resulted from 32 of these shootings. The Department of Justice reviewed 20 shootings from 2009-2010 and in its final report said that a majority of them had violated the suspect's constitutional rights. Police Chief Gorden Eden attributed the situation to "systemic failure in our ability to track employee misconduct," and said that he believed "there are people on the force who shouldn't be on the force." However, he said, because union rules make it difficult to discipline officers retroactively, "we may be stuck with them." History of wrongful death litigation Civil lawsuits have cost the city at least $23 million. This figure includes $7.95 million paid to the family of Kenneth Ellis, who was shot as he held a gun to his own head, and $900,000 to the family of Alan Gomez, an unarmed man shot with a spoon in his hand by Sean Wallace, who had previously shot two other men in the line of duty. The city was ordered to pay $6 million in another shooting from April 12, 2011, after a judge said the police officers' story was not credible. The detective in that case jumped over a garden wall and shot a mentally ill man named Christopher Torres in his parents' backyard. The police said that Torres, who was shot in the back, tried to take a gun from the waistband of one of the officers. However, a neighbor called police to report that two men were attacking Torres. The officers wore plainclothes attire and the neighbor thought he was being robbed. See also List of Albuquerque police shootings Kendall Carroll - Albuquerque police shooting Parrish Dennison - Albuquerque police shooting Alfred Redwine shooting Albuquerque police shooting Tennessee v. Garner concerns deadly force by police Graham v. Connor objective reasonableness standard applies to law enforcement use of force AELE (Americans for Effective Law Enforcement)delaying questioning of police officers after stressful situations Notes References External links List of APD police shootings compiled by the Albuquerque Journal Helmetcam Video of Boyd shooting on KRQE website, shows aftermath Autopsy report of Office of Medical Investigator, hosted on KRQE website Details and images of the campsite area, written for hikers CABQ Open Space Resource Management Plan Tijeras Pass detailed description of local terrain Walker Luna report from the late 1990s on police violence 2014 in New Mexico Deaths by firearm in New Mexico Filmed killings by law enforcement History of Bernalillo County, New Mexico People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Police brutality in the United States Protests in the United States Albuquerque Police Department March 2014 events in the United States Law enforcement controversies in the United States

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Michael%20Brown

Shooting of Michael Brown

On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown Jr., an 18-year-old black man, was fatally shot by 28-year-old white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the city of Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Brown was accompanied by his 22-year-old friend Dorian Johnson. Wilson said that an altercation ensued when Brown attacked him in his police vehicle for control of his gun, until it was fired. Johnson said that Wilson initiated a confrontation by grabbing Brown by the neck through his car window, threatening him and then shooting at him. At this point, both Wilson and Johnson state that Brown and Johnson fled, with Wilson pursuing Brown shortly thereafter. Wilson stated that Brown stopped and charged him after a short pursuit. Johnson contradicted this account, stating that Brown turned around with his hands raised after Wilson shot at his back. According to Johnson, Wilson then shot Brown multiple times until Brown fell to the ground. In the entire altercation, Wilson fired a total of twelve bullets, including twice during the struggle in the car; the last was probably the fatal shot. Brown was struck six times, all in the front of his body. This event ignited unrest in Ferguson. Witnesses to the shooting claimed Brown had his hands up in surrender or said "don't shoot", so protesters later used the slogan "Hands up, don't shoot". A subsequent FBI investigation said that there was no evidence that Brown had done so. Protests, both peaceful and violent, continued for more than a week in Ferguson; police later established a nightly curfew. The response of area police agencies in dealing with the protests was strongly criticized by both the media and politicians. Concerns were raised over insensitivity, tactics, and a militarized response. Missouri governor Jay Nixon ordered local police organizations to cede much of their authority to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. A grand jury was called and given extensive evidence from Robert McCulloch, the St. Louis County Prosecutor. On , 2014, McCulloch announced the St. Louis County grand jury had decided not to indict Wilson. In March 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice reported the conclusion of its own investigation and cleared Wilson of civil rights violations in the shooting. It found forensic evidence supported Wilson's account, and that witnesses who corroborated the officer's account were credible. Witnesses who had incriminated him were found to be not credible, with some admitting they had not directly seen the events. The U.S. Department of Justice concluded that Wilson shot Brown in self-defense. A new St. Louis prosecutor, Wesley Bell, spent five months in 2020 reviewing the case with an eye to charging Wilson with either manslaughter or murder. In July, Bell announced he would not charge Wilson with any crime. Backgrounds Michael Orlandus Darrion Brown Jr. (May 20, 1996 – August 9, 2014) graduated from Normandy High School in eight days before his death, completing an alternative education program. At the time of his death, he was 18 years old, tall, and weighed . He was an amateur rap musician who posted his songs on the popular music-sharing site SoundCloud under the handle "Big'Mike." He was two days from starting a training program for heating and air conditioning repair at Vatterott College technical school. Darren Dean Wilson (born , 1986, in Fort Worth, Texas) was tall and weighed about . Wilson's first police job was in the town of Jennings, Missouri, where he began working in 2009. With respect to this job, Wilson said to The New Yorker in 2015, "I'd never been in an area where there was that much poverty." The police force in Jennings was shut down by the town's city council in March 2011. In October 2011, Wilson began working for the Ferguson Police Department. In February 2013, Wilson won a commendation from the Ferguson Police Department after he apprehended a suspect who was later charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and resisting arrest. Morning Surveillance video which was publicly released in the 2017 documentary film Stranger Fruit shows Michael Brown walking into Ferguson Market and Liquor at 1:13 a.m., ten and a half hours before he entered the store for the final time. The footage shows Brown handing a young clerk a brown package, believed by the filmmaker to be marijuana, and then receiving an unpurchased package of cigarillos from the store. After the video was rediscovered and made public in 2017, some, including Brown's family, said they believed Brown had left the package there for safekeeping and later returned to retrieve it. The store owner disputed this through an attorney who dismissed claims that the store traded him "cigarillos for pot." The lawyer claimed "[t]he reason he [Brown] gave it back is he was walking out the door with unpaid merchandise and they [the staff] wanted it back." The store's attorney said the video had been in the hands of Brown's family and law enforcement since the initial investigation, and said the video had been edited to remove the portion where the store clerk returned Brown's package to him. Following this, on March 13, 2017, unedited footage from the store was released by the St. Louis County prosecutor to try to settle questions. Incident At , Wilson responded to a call about a baby with breathing problems and drove to Glenark Drive, east of Canfield Drive. About three minutes later and several blocks away, Brown was recorded on camera stealing a box of Swisher Sweets cigars and forcefully shoving a Ferguson Market clerk. Brown and his friend, Dorian Johnson, left the market at about At 11:53, a police dispatcher reported "stealing in progress" at the Ferguson Market and described the suspect as a black male wearing a white T-shirt running toward QuikTrip. The suspect was reported as having stolen a box of Swisher cigars.At 11:57, the dispatch described the suspect as wearing a red St. Louis Cardinals hat, a white T-shirt, yellow socks, and khaki shorts, and that he was accompanied by another male. Ferguson police chief Thomas Jackson said that the incident with Brown stealing cigars had "nothing to do" with why he was stopped by Wilson prior to the shooting, and that the reason Brown and Johnson were stopped was because "they were walking down the middle of the street, blocking traffic." At , Wilson reported he was back in service and radioed units 25 and 22 to ask if they needed his assistance in searching for the suspects. Seven seconds later, an unidentified officer said the suspects had disappeared. Wilson called for backup at 12:02, saying "[Unit] 21. Put me on Canfield with two. And send me another car." Initial reports of what happened next differed widely among sources and witnesses, particularly with regard to whether Brown was moving towards Wilson when the shots were fired. At noon on , Wilson drove up to Brown and Johnson as they were walking in the middle of Canfield Drive and ordered them to move off the street. Wilson continued driving past the two men, but then backed up and stopped close to them. A struggle took place between Brown and Wilson after Brown reached through the window of the police SUV, a Chevrolet Tahoe. Wilson was armed with a SIG Sauer P229 pistol, which was fired twice during the struggle from inside the vehicle, with one bullet hitting Brown's right hand. Brown and Johnson fled and Johnson hid behind a car. Wilson got out of the vehicle and pursued Brown. At some point, Wilson fired his gun again, while facing Brown, and hit him with at least 6 shots, all in the front of his body. Brown was unarmed and died on the street. Less than 90 seconds passed from the time Wilson encountered Brown to the time of Brown's death. An unidentified officer arrived on the scene and, 73 seconds after Wilson's call, asked where the second suspect was. Thirty-one seconds later, a supervisor was requested by Unit 25. At , an officer on scene radioed to dispatch for more units. Also at 12:07, the County police were notified and county officers began arriving on scene at around The County detectives were notified at and arrived about , with the forensic investigator arriving at about Police dispatched a dozen units to the scene by with another dozen, including two canine units, by Gunshots were recorded in Ferguson police logs at , and by the ambulance dispatch again at , which led to the response of 20 units from eight different municipal forces in the next 20 minutes. As the situation deteriorated, the police commanders had investigators seek cover and detectives assisted in crowd control. At , four canine units arrived on scene, and the SWAT team arrived at The medical examiner began his examination at around and concluded about half an hour later, with the body being cleared to be taken to the morgue. At , Brown's body was signed in by workers at the morgue. Investigations Police Brown was fatally shot by Wilson at about 12:02 p.m. The Ferguson Police Department was on the scene within minutes, as were crowds of residents, some expressing hostility toward the police. Paramedics covered the body with sheets. About after the shooting, the Ferguson Police Chief turned over the homicide investigation to the St. Louis County Police Department (SLCPD). The arrival of SLCPD detectives took about , as they were occupied with another crime scene away. On arrival at 1:30 p.m., they put up privacy screens around the body. Their investigation was slowed due to safety concerns regarding the sound of gunfire in the area and some hostile members of the crowd encroaching on the crime scene. An investigator from the St. Louis County Medical Examiner's office arrived at 2:30 p.m. Brown's body was removed at 4:00 p.m. Local residents criticized authorities for leaving Brown's body in the street for four hours in an action seen as demeaning and disrespectful. Department of Justice On , 2014, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) opened a civil rights investigation into the incident. A spokeswoman for the FBI's St. Louis field office said the decision to open an investigation was not motivated by the protests and riots which had ensued. Forty FBI agents went door-to-door looking for potential witnesses who may have had information about the shooting. Additionally, attorneys from the Civil Rights Division and from the United States Attorney's Office were participating in the investigation. On , 2015, the federal investigation cleared Wilson of civil rights violations in the shooting. The investigation concluded there was no evidence upon which prosecutors could rely to disprove Wilson's asserted belief that he feared for his safety, that witnesses who contradicted Wilson were not credible, that forensic evidence and credible witnesses corroborated Wilson's account, and that the facts did not support the filing of criminal charges against Wilson. Credible witnesses did not support accounts that Brown had his hands up in surrender. He was not shot in the back. Forensic evidence showed he was moving toward Wilson. Numerous witnesses were found to have given accounts of actions they were unable to see from their vantage points, or to be recounting others' accounts. 2020: New prosecutor A new St. Louis prosecutor, Wesley Bell, spent five months in 2020 secretly reviewing the case with an eye to charging Wilson with either manslaughter or murder. In July, Bell announced he would not charge Wilson with any crime; Bell said he didn't "have the evidence to ethically bring a charge against Darren Wilson." Grand jury hearing The grand jury was made up of members who had been impaneled in May 2014 for a regularly scheduled term, to hear all cases put forward by the prosecuting attorney's office. There were three black (one man and two women) and nine white members (six men and three women), an ethnic breakdown that roughly reflects the racial makeup of County, which is about 30% black, and 70% white. On , 2014, the grand jury started hearing evidence in the case State of Missouri v. Darren Wilson, in order to decide whether a crime was committed and if there was probable cause to believe Wilson committed it. There was intense interest focused on the grand jury. Robert P. McCulloch, the elected prosecuting attorney for County, was in charge of the prosecution but did not participate in the direct handling of the grand jury hearing. It was handled by two Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys of McCulloch's office: Kathi Alizadeh and Sheila Whirley. McCulloch announced an unusual process: the grand jury would hear all the evidence, the proceedings would be transcribed, and the materials would be made public if the grand jury did not indict. The grand jury took 25 days, over the span of three months, to hear more than 5,000 pages of testimony from 60 witnesses and then deliberate on whether or not to indict Wilson. Most grand juries complete their work in a matter of days. The grand jury was not sequestered during the process. On the night of , Prosecutor McCulloch reported in a 20-minute press conference that the grand jury had reached a decision in the case and would not indict Wilson. Following his announcement, McCulloch released thousands of pages of grand jury documents, with materials published on the internet for public perusal. The documents include transcripts of the proceedings, expert statements, and the testimony of some witnesses. On , more witness interviews and more than 50 brief audio recordings between the police dispatchers and responding police officers were released. On , a third release included the transcripts of witness interviews, including one with Dorian Johnson. A video of the two-hour interview of Johnson by FBI and county police was withheld. Robert P. McCulloch was the main focus of much of the criticism throughout the process and well into its aftermath. Attorney Raul Reyes characterized McCulloch as not being impartial, as his father was a police officer killed in an incident with a black suspect and other members of his family served with the Police Department. A petition calling for McCulloch to recuse himself gained 70,000 signatures. Governor Jay Nixon declined to remove McCulloch and said doing so would potentially jeopardize the prosecution. McCulloch dismissed the claims of bias, and later said he regretted not speaking publicly about his background at the time. Legal analysts raised concerns over McCulloch's unorthodox approach, saying this process could have influenced the grand jury to decide against indictment and that they were given too much material to assess. The analysts highlighted the significant differences between a typical grand jury proceeding in Missouri and how Wilson's case was handled. Evidence Shooting scene Evidence presented to the grand jury showed that the shooting scene extended approximately along Canfield Drive, near where it intersects Copper Creek Court. The two-lane street runs east to west, and has sidewalks and curbs on both sides. Immediately prior to the incident, Brown was walking eastbound on Canfield and Wilson was driving westbound. Evidence at the scene was generally clustered around Wilson's SUV on the western side of the scene and near Brown's body, which was in the eastern part of the area. The western area included Wilson's police vehicle, which was angled slightly toward the right curb with its left-rear corner on the center line. Evidence included two bracelets, a baseball cap, and two .40 caliber spent casings. One of these casings was found at the western edge of the scene and the other was located near the rear driver's side of the police vehicle. There were two groups of red stains near the driver's side of the vehicle and a left sandal was also located in the vicinity. The right sandal was approximately east of the western area. The eastern area, which was approximately east of the western area, was about wide. Brown's body was situated along the center-line of the road with his head oriented in a westerly direction. The distance from the driver's door of the SUV to Brown's head was about . Two groups of red stains were located at the extreme eastern edge of the scene, with the furthest under from Brown's feet. One apparent projectile was found near the body. There were ten spent casings scattered on the south side of the road near Brown's body. The distribution of the casings, combined with most of the casings being east of the body, was consistent with the officer moving backward while firing. Blood spatter approximately 25 feet behind Brown's body suggested he was moving toward Wilson when he was killed. DNA Brown's DNA was found on the gun. His DNA was also found on the left thigh of Wilson's pants and on the inside driver's door handle of Wilson's police SUV, the result of Brown's spilled blood staining Wilson's pants and the door handle. Wilson's DNA was found on Brown's left palm but was not found under Brown's fingernails or on his right hand. Michael Graham, the St. Louis medical examiner, said blood was found on Wilson's gun and inside the car, and tissue from Brown was found on the exterior of the driver's side of Wilson's vehicle; this evidence was consistent with a struggle at that location. According to Judy Melinek, a San Francisco pathologist who commented on the case as an expert, the official autopsy, which said Brown's hand had foreign matter consistent with a gun discharge on it, supported Wilson's testimony that Brown was reaching for the weapon, or indicated the gun was inches away from Brown's hand when it went off. According to the detective who performed tests on the gun, he had to decide whether to perform a DNA test or dust for fingerprints, because only one test can be performed without affecting the other. He found the gun stored in an unsealed envelope, contrary to the customary evidence-handling protocol. Documents released after the grand jury proceedings show Wilson washed blood from his hands and checked his own gun into an evidence bag, both actions described by media outlets as unorthodox procedures for such a case. Autopsies Three autopsies were performed on Brown's body, with all three noting Brown had been shot at least six times, including twice in the head. He received no shots in his back. The county autopsy report described gunshot entry and exit wounds to Brown's right arm coming from both the front (ventral, palms facing forward) and the back (dorsal, palms facing backward). County The local medical examiner autopsy report released to state prosecutors said Brown was shot in the front part of his body. When Mary Case, the County medical examiner, was asked to provide details, she declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation into Brown's death. The official county autopsy was later leaked to the Post-Dispatch. The narrative report of investigation from the office of the medical examiner of agreed with Wilson's testimony. It noted Brown had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the head, torso, and right arm, as well as a single gunshot wound to the inside of his right hand near his thumb and palm; it also noted Brown's body had abrasions to the right side of his face and on the back of his left hand. The autopsy noted the absence of stippling, powder burns around a wound that indicate a shot was fired at a relatively short range. Michael Graham notes gunshot wounds within an inch of the body do not always cause stippling. Microscopic examination of tissue taken from the thumb wound detected the presence of a foreign material consistent with the material which is ejected from a gun while firing. The gunshot wound to the top of Brown's head was consistent with Brown either falling forward or being in a lunging position; the shot was instantly fatal. A toxicology test performed by a University laboratory revealed the presence of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in Brown's blood and urine. This indicated he used marijuana within a few hours of his death, but not whether he was impaired when he died. Independent At the request of Brown's family, on a preliminary autopsy was conducted by Michael Baden, a former chief medical examiner for the City of New York (1978–1979). This autopsy was limited because the previous county autopsy had washed, embalmed, and taken evidence off the body. According to Baden's report, Brown was shot six times into his front: four of the bullets entered his right arm, one entered his right eye on a downward trajectory, and one entered the top of his skull. All of the rounds were fired from a distance of at least one foot. One of the shots shattered his right eye, traveled through his face, then exited his jaw and reentered his collarbone. Brown could have survived the first bullet wounds, but the bullet that entered the top of his head resulted in a fatal injury. Baden had no access to the clothing of the victim, and had not yet seen the x-rays showing where bullets were in the body. He could not determine if any gunpowder residue was on that clothing. Baden concluded there was too little information to forensically reconstruct the shooting. At least two commentators noted the results of both autopsies contradicted some aspects of some eyewitness accounts, which had reported Wilson shot Brown in the back and that Wilson shot Brown while holding Brown's neck. In later analysis, Baden reclassified one of Brown's chest wounds as an entry wound. Baden was assisted by Shawn Parcells, who did not have a degree or credentials in medicine or pathology. Thomas Young, former Jackson County Medical Examiner, said Parcells gave out forensic pathology opinions when he is not qualified to do so. Mary Case, who performed the initial autopsy, said Parcells' involvement could cause issues with the second autopsy. Parcells said all he did was assist Baden. In 2021, Parcells was convicted of six criminal charges relating to autopsies he illegally performed. Federal Attorney General Holder ordered a third autopsy of Brown's body. Its findings matched the other two autopsies, but its detailed findings were initially withheld from the public due to the ongoing investigation. The federal autopsy report was among a group of documents released by the County Prosecutor's Office on , two weeks after the grand jury chose not to indict Wilson. Audio recording of gunshots On , CNN released an audio recording purported to contain the sounds of the shooting. The recording was made by an anonymous third-party who happened to be recording a video-text message at the time of the incident. Glide, a video messaging service, confirmed the audio had been recorded on their site at on the day of the shooting. The twelve-second recording contains a series of shots, a short pause, and then a second series of shots. Forensic audio expert Paul Ginsberg says he heard six shots, a pause, and then four additional shots. Ginsberg said, "I was very concerned about that pause ... because it's not just the number of gunshots, it's how they're fired. And that has a huge relevance on how this case might finally end up." CNN's law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes noted most accounts of the shooting say there was a single shot earlier in the incident near the vehicle that is not audible in the recording. The recording was also analyzed by SST, Inc., a company specializing in gunfire locator technology. That analysis found the sound of ten gunshots and seven gunshot echoes within seven seconds, with a three-second pause after the sixth shot. The company's analysis also said all ten rounds were fired from within a radius of , indicating the shooter was not moving. Handling The Washington Post said there were unorthodox forensic practices shown in the published testimony of Wilson and other law enforcement officials. It said Wilson washed blood off of his hands without photographing them first. It also said Wilson submitted his gun to evidence by himself, and that initial interviews of Wilson were conducted with other personnel present and were not taped. It described Wilson's face injuries after the shooting as photographed by a local detective at the Fraternal Order of Police building, instead of at Ferguson Police headquarters. An investigator with the County Medical Examiner's office testified he decided not to take measurements at the crime scene nor did he photograph the scene, instead relying on photographs taken by the County Police Department. Witness accounts Multiple witnesses saw part or all of the event and have given interviews to the media, testified to the grand jury, and were interviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice. The witness accounts were conflicting on various points. David A. Klinger, a criminologist at the University of Missouri–, said eyewitness testimony often differs from witness to witness, a phenomenon commonly known as the Rashomon effect. An Associated Press review of the grand jury found numerous problems in the witness testimony, including statements that were "inconsistent, fabricated, or provably wrong". Several of the witnesses admitted changing their testimony to fit released evidence, or other witness statements. Prosecuting attorney Robert McCulloch said, "I thought it was important to present anybody and everybody, and some that were, yes, clearly not telling the truth, no question about it." The Department of Justice investigation into the shooting determined witnesses who corroborated Wilson's account were credible while those who contradicted his account were not. The witnesses that claimed Brown was surrendering or did not move toward Wilson were not credible; the report said their claims were inconsistent with the physical evidence, other witness statements, and in some cases prior statements from the same witness. No witness statements that pointed to Wilson's guilt were determined to be credible. Twenty-four statements were determined to lack any credibility, while eight which were found credible corroborated Wilson's account. Nine did not completely contradict nor corroborate Wilson's account. Several witnesses reported fear of reprisals from the community for providing evidence that corroborated Wilson's account. Wilson's interview and testimony Wilson gave his account of the incident in an interview with a detective on , and in testimony before the grand jury in September. Wilson said he had just left a call involving a sick person when he heard on his radio that there was a theft in progress at a local convenience store. Wilson heard the description of the suspects and soon after observed two black males walking down the middle of the street. Wilson pulled up to them and told the two to walk on the sidewalk, and Johnson replied, "we're almost to our destination". As they passed his window, Brown said "fuck what you have to say". Wilson then backed up about ten feet to where they were and attempted to open his door. After backing up, Wilson told the two to "come here", and Brown told him in reply, "what the fuck are you gonna do". Wilson shut the door and Brown approached him and he opened the door again "trying to push him back", while telling him to get back. Brown "started swinging and punching at me from outside the vehicle", and Brown had his body against the door. Wilson said the first strike from Brown was a "glancing blow", and at that point he was trying to get Brown's arms out of his face. This was when Brown turned to his left and handed Johnson several packs of the stolen cigarillos he had been holding. Wilson then grabbed Brown's right arm trying to get control, but Brown hit him in the face. Wilson said he "felt like a 5-year-old holding onto Hulk Hogan" while he attempted to restrain Brown when he reached through his police car window. Wilson said it "jarred" him back and he yelled at Brown numerous times to stop and get back. Wilson said he thought about using his mace and his baton, but he was unable to reach either of them. He then drew his weapon and pointed it at Brown and told him to stop or he would shoot him, while ordering him to the ground. According to Wilson, Brown then said "you're too much of a fucking pussy to shoot me" and grabbed for his gun and twisted it, pointing it at him, into his hip area. Wilson placed his left hand against Brown's hand and his other hand on the gun and pushed forward with both his arms. The gun was somewhat lined up with Brown, and Wilson pulled the trigger twice, but the weapon failed to discharge. On the next try, the gun fired and Brown then attempted to hit him multiple times inside his vehicle. Wilson shot at Brown again, but missed, and Brown took off running east, while Wilson exited his vehicle and radioed for backup. Wilson followed Brown, yelling for him to stop and get on the ground, but he kept running. Brown eventually stopped and turned and made a "grunting noise" and started running at him with his right hand under his shirt in his waistband. Brown ignored Wilson's commands to stop and get on the ground, so Wilson fired multiple shots at him, paused, and yelled at him to get on the ground again, but Brown was still charging at him and had not slowed down. Wilson then fired another set of shots, but Brown was still running at him. When Brown was about eight to ten feet away, Wilson fired more shots, with one of those hitting Brown in the head, which brought him down with his hand still in his waistband. Wilson said two patrol cars showed up approximately fifteen to twenty seconds after the final shot. When his supervisor arrived, he was sent to the police station. Wilson told detectives Brown had reached his right hand into his waistband and that the hand still appeared to be in the waistband after Brown was shot. The medical investigator at the scene of the shooting did not take any photographs and testified to the grand jury that Brown's left hand was under his dead body, near the waistband, and the right hand was extended outwards. On , Wilson gave his first public interview about the shooting to ABC News' George Stephanopoulos. Corroborating Wilson's testimony Numerous witness accounts were consistent with Wilson's account and also agreed with the physical evidence at hand. Many witnesses corroborated that Wilson acted in self-defense during the event. A number of the witnesses who corroborated Wilson's account of events expressed fear and apprehension in testifying, saying they had been harassed or threatened by individuals from the Ferguson community. The following are a sample of the witnesses whose accounts aligned with Wilson's testimony. Witness 102 was a 27-year-old biracial male. He said he saw Wilson chase Brown until Brown abruptly turned around. Brown did not put his hands up in surrender but made some type of movement similar to pulling his pants up or a shoulder shrug and then made a full charge at Wilson. Witness 102 thought Wilson's life was threatened and he only fired shots when Brown was coming toward him. After the shooting, Witness 102 remained in the neighborhood for a short period of time, and corrected a couple of people who claimed Wilson "stood over [Brown] and shot while [he was] on the ground". In response, Witness 102 said Wilson shot Brown because Brown came back toward Wilson. Witness 102 "kept thinking" Wilson's shots were "missing" Brown because Brown kept moving. Witness 102 did not stay in the neighborhood for long, and left the area shortly afterward because he felt uncomfortable. According to the witness, "crowds of people had begun to gather, wrongly claiming the police shot Brown for no reason and that he had his hands up in surrender". Two black women approached Witness 102, mobile phones set to record, asking him to recount what he had witnessed. Witness 102 responded that they would not like what he had to say. The women responded with racial slurs, calling him names like 'white motherfucker'." Witness 103, a 58-year-old black male, testified that from his parked truck he saw "Brown punching Wilson at least three times in the facial area, through the open driver's window of the SUV... Wilson and Brown [had] hold of each other's shirts, but Brown was 'getting in a couple of blows [on Wilson]'." Wilson was leaning back toward the passenger seat with his forearm up, in an effort to block the blows. Then Witness 103 heard a gunshot and Brown took off running. Wilson exited the SUV, appeared to be using his shoulder microphone to call into his radio, and chased Brown with his gun held low ... Brown came to a stop near a car, put his hand down on the car, and turned around to face Wilson. Brown's hands were then down at his sides. Witness 103 did not see Brown's hands up. Wanting to leave, Witness 103 began to turn his car around in the opposite direction that Brown had been running when he heard additional shots. Witness 103 turned to his right, and saw Brown "moving fast" toward Wilson. Witness 103 then drove away." Witness 104, a 26-year-old biracial female, witnessed the end of the altercation from a minivan: [Witness 104] saw Brown run from the SUV, followed by Wilson, who "hopped" out of the SUV and ran after him while yelling "stop, stop, stop". Wilson did not fire his gun as Brown ran from him. Brown then turned around and "for a second" began to raise his hands as though he may have considered surrendering, but then quickly "balled up in fists" in a running position and "charged" at Wilson. Witness 104 described it as a "tackle run", explaining Brown "wasn't going to stop". Wilson fired his gun only as Brown charged at him, backing up as Brown came toward him. Witness 104 explained there were three separate volleys of shots. Each time, Brown ran toward Wilson, Wilson fired, Brown paused, Wilson stopped firing, and then Brown charged again. The pattern continued until Brown fell to the ground, "smashing" his face upon impact. Wilson did not fire while Brown momentarily had his hands up. Witness 104 explained it took some time for Wilson to fire, adding that she "would have fired sooner". Wilson did not go near Brown's body after Brown fell to his death. Witness 108, a 74-year-old black male, told detectives the police officer was "in the right" and "did what he had to do", and that statements made by people in the apartment complex about Brown surrendering were inaccurate. Witness 108 later told investigators he "would have fucking shot that boy, too", and mimicked the aggressive stance Brown made while charging Wilson. He explained Wilson told Brown to "stop" or "get down" at least ten times, but instead Brown "charged" at Wilson. Witness 108 also told detectives there were other witnesses on Canfield Drive who saw what he saw. Witness 109, a 53-year-old black male, said he decided to come forward after seeing Dorian Johnson "lie" about the events on television. He said when Wilson asked the two boys to get out of the street, Brown responded something to the effect of "Fuck the police." Afterward, Wilson got out of his car and Brown hit him in the face. Witness 109 said he saw Wilson reach for his taser but dropped it and then grabbed a gun, after which Brown grabbed for Wilson's gun. According to 109, at one point Brown ran away from Wilson, but turned around and charged toward the officer. He said Wilson fired in self-defense, and did not appear to be shooting to kill at first. Witness 113, a 31-year-old black female, made statements that corroborated Wilson's account. She said she was afraid of the "neighborhood backlash" that might come from her testimony, and feared offering an account contrary to the narrative reported by the media that Brown held his hands up in surrender. She also told investigators she thought Wilson's life was in danger. Witness 136 was in his apartment using a video chat application on his mobile phone while the shooting occurred. After hearing the first few shots, he recorded the remainder of his chat on his phone and turned it over to the FBI. The recording is about 12 seconds long and captured a total of 10 gunshots. The gunshots begin after the first four seconds. The recording captured six gunshots in two seconds. After a three-second pause, a seventh gunshot is heard. A pause of less than one second gave way to the final three-shot volley within two seconds. The recording was not time-stamped. As detailed below, this recording is consistent with several credible witness accounts as well as Wilson's account, that he fired several volleys of shots, briefly pausing between each one. Contradicting Wilson's testimony Several witnesses who originally testified against Wilson were also interviewed by the prosecution. They admitted to lying under oath as to the truthfulness of their testimony. At least one witness took an account from a newspaper; this witness was later discredited by investigators during the process. Witness 22, who originally claimed she saw Wilson kill Brown in cold blood, admitted she lied to investigators and never saw the incident at all. She said she was just passing along information which her boyfriend told her he saw. The court transcript reads: Prosecutors also played the grand jury a 10-minute police interview with a man who claimed to have witnessed the shooting. They then played a phone call in which that man admitted he actually had not seen the incident at all. Another witness insisted another officer was with Wilson at the time of the shooting. By all other accounts, Wilson was the only officer present when he shot Brown. This witness described having a clear view of what transpired despite there being a building between the witness' location and where the incident took place. Witness 35 said Brown was "on his knees" when Wilson shot him in the head. Under questioning, his testimony fell apart, and he admitted fabricating it. Another witness described Brown on his hands and knees pleading for his life. After a prosecutor confronted the witness and told them what they had seen was not forensically possible based on the evidence, the witness later asked to leave. Another witness—number 37—testified that, during a confrontation at Wilson's vehicle, Wilson shot Brown point blank in the chest—but Brown did not fall over and was not clearly bleeding as he ran away. This witness gave several different accounts of how many shots were fired. While he was further pressed for answers as to the truthfulness of his statements, he instead posed questions in return, refusing to elaborate on his statements. Dorian Johnson Johnson, a friend of Brown, who was with him that day, gave his account of the incident to media outlets in August. In media interviews, Johnson said Wilson pulled up beside them and said, "Get the fuck on the sidewalk." The young men replied they were "not but a minute away from [their] destination, and [they] would shortly be out of the street". Wilson drove forward without saying anything further and abruptly backed up, positioning his vehicle crosswise in their path. Wilson tried to open his door aggressively and the door ricocheted off both of their bodies and closed back on Wilson. Wilson, still in his vehicle, grabbed Brown around his neck through the open window, and Brown tried to pull away, but Wilson continued to pull Brown toward him "like tug of war". Johnson said Brown "did not reach for the officer's weapon at all", and was attempting to get free, when Wilson drew his weapon and said, "I'll shoot you" or "I'm going to shoot", and fired his weapon hitting Brown. Following the initial gunshot, Brown freed himself, and the two fled. Wilson exited the vehicle, and fired several rounds at the fleeing Brown, hitting him once in the back. Brown turned around with his hands raised and said, "I don't have a gun. Stop shooting!" Wilson then shot Brown several more times, killing him. In his testimony in September to the grand jury, Johnson said he and Brown had walked to a convenience store to buy cigarillos, but Brown instead reached over the counter and took them and shoved a clerk on his way out the door. Johnson testified that on their walk back home, Brown had the cigarillos in his hands in plain sight and two Ferguson police cars passed them, but did not stop. When Wilson encountered them, he told the two to "get the fuck on the sidewalk" and Johnson told him they would be off the street shortly as they were close to their destination. Johnson testified Wilson was the aggressor from the beginning and that for no apparent reason, he backed his vehicle up and tried to open his door, but Brown shut it, preventing him from getting out. Johnson said Wilson then reached out and grabbed Brown by the neck and the two were engaged in a "tug of war", and Wilson said "I'll shoot". Johnson said he never saw Brown hit Wilson and did not think Brown grabbed for Wilson's gun, but that a shot was fired. At that point, Johnson said they both ran and Wilson fired while Brown was running away, Brown turned around and "at that time Big Mike's hands was up, but not so much in the air, because he had been struck". Johnson told the jurors Brown said "I don't have a gun", was mad and tried to say again "I don't have a gun", but "before he can say the second sentence or before he can even get it out, that's when the several more shots came." In his testimony, Johnson maintained Brown did not run at Wilson prior to the fatal shots. Early reaction and analysis August 9–14 Peaceful protests and civil disorder broke out the day following Brown's shooting and lasted for several days. This was in part due to the belief among many that Brown was surrendering, as well as longstanding racial tensions between the minority-black population and the majority-white city government and police. As the details of the original shooting event emerged from investigators, police grappled with establishing curfews and maintaining order, while members of the Ferguson community demonstrated in various ways in the vicinity of the original shooting. On , a day of memorials began peacefully, but some crowd members became unruly after an evening candlelight vigil. Local police stations assembled approximately 150 officers in riot gear. Some people began looting businesses, vandalizing vehicles, and confronting police officers who sought to block off access to several areas of the city. Widespread media coverage examined the post-9/11 trend of local police departments arming themselves with military-grade weapons when dealing with protests. In the days following the shooting, state and federal officials weighed in on the matter. On , President Barack Obama offered his condolences to Brown's family and community. On , Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky said in an op-ed in Time Magazine, that the event was a tragedy and that police forces need to be demilitarized. August 15–30 On , a report and video showing the robbery of a convenience store by Brown was released by the Ferguson Police Department. Brown was accompanied by his friend Dorian Johnson. The report and video were part of a packet that included information about the shooting afterward. The report containing frames of the surveillance footage showed Brown grabbing a box of cigarillos, followed by an apparent struggle or confrontation between Brown and a store clerk. The statutory deadline in the Sunshine Law, Missouri's equivalent of the federal Freedom of Information Act, was the cited reason for the release following requests by Post-Dispatch, Judicial Watch and others. The Department of Justice had urged the video not be released, saying a release would inflame tension. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon identified the release as an attempt to disparage Brown during the investigation that would inflame the community. Brown's family released a statement in which they condemn the way the police chief chose to disseminate information, calling it character assassination following the "execution-style murder" of their son. The release of information was criticized as part of an erratic and infrequent release of information by the police. Previously, the police withheld the name of the officer involved in the shooting, citing safety concerns following death threats against the unnamed officer. The County Police incident report lacked details. The Ferguson Police incident report was obtained by the ACLU after a request and subsequent lawsuit. Wilson did not file an incident report and there was no Ferguson Police use-of-force report related to the incident. The Ferguson Police Department refused to commit to a deadline for releasing a full autopsy report. When the report and video were released, the police said Wilson had known Brown was a suspect in the robbery. In a media conference, Ferguson's chief of police Tom Jackson said the robbery was unrelated to the initial contact, and had nothing to do with Wilson stopping Brown and Johnson. Jackson later clarified Wilson recognized Brown as a suspect because he saw a box of cigars in his hand. Eugene O'Donnell, a former district attorney in New York City who now serves as a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said, while the police officer may have stopped Brown for jaywalking, Brown may have been thinking the officer knew about the robbery: "Obviously the cop's reaction is not affected, but what could be affected is [Brown's] reaction to the cop." A Pew Research Center Survey published on August 18 suggested differences in American public opinion between whites and blacks. It indicated 80% of blacks and 37% of whites believed the shooting "raises important issues about race". On , St. Louis held their annual Peace Fest, which had a particular focus on Mike Brown. In attendance was Mike Brown's father, Mike Brown Sr., as well as the parents of Trayvon Martin (an unarmed black teen who was shot and killed in Florida in 2012). In August, Chief Jackson said Wilson had been injured in the incident. Wilson's medical record shows his injuries were diagnosed as a facial contusion or bruise. Brown's funeral was held on and was attended by an estimated 4,500 people. Al Sharpton delivered one of two eulogies. September–November 24 On , anonymous sources leaked to the Post-Dispatch what they described as Wilson's grand jury testimony. The Justice Department issued a statement that it "considers the selective release of information in this investigation to be irresponsible and highly troubling. Since the release of the convenience-store footage, there seems to be an inappropriate effort to influence public opinion about this case." Wilson's defense team denied they were behind the leaks, saying they "[were] not in possession of any of the disclosed reports or the investigative report". The County prosecutor spokesperson said his office would not investigate the leaks because they could not force journalists to divulge their sources, and "you can tell by the information they have that the leaks are not coming from the grand jury or the prosecutor's office." The leaks concerning grand jury testimony were condemned by the Justice Department as inappropriate effort to influence public opinion about this case. The leaks referred to evidence supporting Wilson's testimony and decreased the likelihood of an indictment whilst fanning the flames of angry protesters. November 24–early December Following the grand jury announcement, protests, some of them violent, broke out in Ferguson and other cities across the United States. Several Ferguson businesses were looted and fires set by protesters. Protests erupted in 170 cities across the U.S., including St Louis, Philadelphia, Seattle, Albuquerque, New York City, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Oakland, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Chicago, and Boston. Numerous media reports and legal experts criticized the process for failing to return an indictment in cases concerning law enforcement officers. A December 2014 opinion poll by Washington Post-ABC News showed a majority of blacks do not believe that they receive treatment equal to whites by the police or the criminal justice system. Six out of ten white Americans believe the police treat races equally with roughly half of white Americans believing the criminal justice provides equal treatment, but there is a sharp partisan divide between white Americans. Conservative or Republican white Americans are far more likely to say whites and blacks receive equal treatment in the justice system than the liberal or Democratic white Americans. March 2015 On , the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wilson would not be charged in the shooting. Its report said "[t]here is no evidence upon which prosecutors can rely to disprove Wilson's stated subjective belief that he feared for his safety," and that accounts that Brown put his hands up are "inaccurate because they are inconsistent with the physical and forensic evidence". President Obama reacted to the announcement, stating, "The finding that was made [by the Department of Justice] was that it was not unreasonable to determine that there was not sufficient evidence to charge Officer Wilson. That was an objective, thorough, independent federal investigation." He further added, "We may never know exactly what happened. But Officer Wilson like anybody else who is charged with a crime benefits from due process and a reasonable doubt standard." June–July 2015 In a Gallup Poll taken in June and July 2015, 8% of black respondents answered that local police treat racial minorities "very fairly" while 44% of black respondents answered "fairly". In contrast, 29% of non-Hispanic white respondents answered that local police treat racial minorities "very fairly" while 49% of non-Hispanic white respondents answered "fairly". In the same poll, 38% of black respondents and 18% of non-Hispanic white respondents indicated a preference for "greater police presence in their local communities." International reactions Various heads of state and foreign news organizations have commented on the shooting and subsequent protests including the Chinese Xinhua News Agency, Germany's Der Spiegel, Egypt's Ministry of Foreign affairs, the Iranian Islamic Republic News Agency, protesters throughout the Middle East, the Russian Foreign Ministry, Spain's El Mundo, the British Metro, and others. Amnesty International (AI) sent a team of human rights observers, trainers, and researchers to Ferguson. It was the first time the organization deployed such a team in the United States. In a press release, AI USA director Steven W. Hawkins said, "The U.S. cannot continue to allow those obligated and duty-bound to protect to become those who their community fears most." On , AI published a report declaring human rights abuses in Ferguson. The report cited the use of lethal force in Brown's death, racial discrimination and excessive use of police force, imposition of restrictions on the rights to protest, intimidation of protesters, the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and long range acoustic devices, restrictions imposed on the media covering the protests, and lack of accountability for law enforcement policing protests. Reactions to grand jury decision The grand jury process was atypical because of significant and numerous departures from other normal grand jury proceedings. The American grand jury process operates in secret, with the proceedings, evidence and testimony rarely being released to the public in cases of no indictment. From the beginning, McCulloch desired to provide transparency to the process and had the proceeding transcribed with the intention of releasing the materials to the public if there was no indictment. Paul Cassell, former U.S. federal judge, said the investigative grand jury was unique because they were investigating with no assurance that any criminal conduct was present, in contrast to normal grand jury proceedings which have been screened for probable cause by a prosecutor. McCulloch's intentions to present all the evidence resulted in the proceedings which took far longer than regular grand juries which decide within days. Earlier in the hearing, the prosecution presented a 1979 Missouri statute allowing officers to use deadly force "to effect the arrest or prevent the escape from custody [of a person]". Before the grand jury deliberated, jurors were told to disregard the previous instructions and use case law from the Tennessee v Garner ruling, which said it was unconstitutional for police officers to use deadly force to apprehend non-dangerous fleeing suspects. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, acknowledged the grand jury was given information based on the state law before being informed that deadly force cannot be used merely to prevent the escape of an unarmed suspect. MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell argued that this change amounted to a deliberate attempt by the prosecution to make it impossible to indict Wilson. Andrew F. Branca, a Massachusetts lawyer focusing on self-defense law, attributed O'Donnell's comments as a straw man because self-defense is a completely independent and sufficient justification for the use of deadly force. The Public Radio later clarified that even if Wilson was indicted and convicted at trial based on the Garner ruling, the conviction could be challenged on the basis that Missouri law permitted the use of deadly force. The prosecution's handling of the case received particular attention. Roger Parloff said prosecutors do not usually exclude truly exculpatory evidence and that prosecutors do not typically indict if they believe the accused is not guilty, disagreeing with the notion that McCulloch should have presented evidence with the purpose of obtaining an indictment. Jay Sterling Silver said the grand jury case indicated a conflict of interest between local prosecutors and police, as the former needs to maintain a good relationship with law enforcement. Mark O'Mara said the unusual process was to avoid arguments that the presentation was to effect a particular result, yet despite this McCulloch was still criticized for the decision. Paul Callan, former deputy chief of homicide in the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, gave a layered response which asserted the choice to present all the evidence was unusual, but not unprecedented in controversial cases. Callan said some prosecutors use the grand jury process as political cover in cases which would not succeed at trial, and in cases in which subsequent investigations and civil lawsuits would raise further criticism. William Fitzpatrick, of the National District Attorneys Association, said it was not strange for prosecutors in police-involved cases to provide all available evidence and not ask for a specific charge and defended McCulloch's inclusion of evidence. Jeffrey Toobin agreed the exoneration may have been well-justified because a conviction would have been very unlikely at a trial, but the process that was used does not inspire confidence in the legal system. In a later interview, McCulloch defended the choice to include all evidence and not skew the presentation just for the sake of getting an indictment. The New York Times described prosecutors' questioning of Wilson as "gentle" and said it contrasted with the sharp challenges to witnesses whose accounts seemed to contradict Wilson's, and reported this had led some to question whether the process was as objective as McCulloch had claimed. The Times reported prosecutors asked witness after witness if Brown appeared to be reaching for a weapon when confronting Wilson, though few of them said this. Furthermore, contradictions in testimony by Wilson and other law-enforcement officers were left unchallenged by prosecutors. CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin criticized the prosecutors for asking softball questions during the cross examination of Wilson's testimony, and referred particularly to the fact that no witness could corroborate Wilson's story that he had warned Brown twice to lie down on the ground, and when asked, witnesses said they did not hear him say that. After the grand jury's decision was announced, Brown's stepfather, Louis Head, turned to a crowd of demonstrators who had gathered, and yelled "Burn this bitch down", according to a New York Times video. Moments before, he had said "If I get up [on the platform] I'm gonna start a riot." He later apologized for the outburst. Aftermath By September 24, Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson publicly apologized to the family of Michael Brown. By March 12, five months later, Thomas Jackson resigned from the Ferguson Police Department. On , Wilson resigned from the Ferguson police force with no severance, citing security concerns. Wilson's lawyer said Wilson "will never be a police officer again" as he does not want to put other officers at risk due to his presence. The National Bar Association, an organization of African American lawyers and judges, made a complaint to the Missouri Department of Public Safety demanding Wilson's police officer license be revoked. Wilson's attempts to obtain employment as a police officer have been unsuccessful. President Barack Obama announced the federal government would spend $75 million on body cameras for law enforcement officers, as one of the measures taken in response to the shooting. According to the Associated Press' annual poll of United States news directors and editors, the top news story of 2014 was police killings of unarmed black people—including the shooting of Brown—as well as their investigations and the protests in their aftermath. Roger Goldman, emeritus professor at Saint Louis University Law School, Flanders, a Saint Louis University law professor, and Senator Jamilah Nasheed seek the updating of Missouri state law to comply with the 1985 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Tennessee v. Garner. The cover of The New Yorkers , 2015, issue depicted Martin Luther King Jr. linking arms with Eric Garner and Wenjian Liu, and joined by Trayvon Martin and Brown. Funds for the Brown family and for Wilson were solicited on the internet, each accumulating hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations. In August 2018, Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch lost re-election to reformist Wesley Bell by double-digit margins, ending McCulloch's 28-year incumbency. "Hands up, don't shoot" "Hands up, don't shoot", or simply "hands up", is a slogan and gesture originating from the incident and was seen in demonstrations in Ferguson and throughout the United States. The gesture became a rallying cry against police violence. On , 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a report on the shooting, which said, "There is no witness who has stated that Brown had his hands up in surrender whose statement is otherwise consistent with the physical evidence" and "our investigation did not reveal any eyewitness who stated that Brown said 'don't shoot'." Related incidents On , two NYPD officers were shot and killed in their police car in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The suspected gunman, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, posted days earlier on Instagram his intention to kill police officers in response to the killings of Brown and Eric Garner. The suspect, who had a long criminal record and had shot his girlfriend in the stomach a few hours earlier, entered the New York City Subway and committed suicide. On , 2015, two police officers were wounded by gunfire outside the Ferguson police headquarters. The officers, one from nearby Webster Groves, the other from the County Police, were providing security at a protest being staged outside the station. Two days later, 20-year-old Jeffrey L. Williams was arrested in connection with the shooting. Williams' attorney said, although Williams fired the shots, he was not aiming at the officers. Eighteen-year-old Tyrone Harris (friend of Brown) was shot by police in Ferguson on August 9, 2015, one year after the shooting of Michael Brown. That same day, the Columbia (Missouri) Police Officers' Association (CPOA) proclaimed "Darren Wilson Day", calling Wilson an "innocent, but persecuted, officer" and insisted his ethnicity had nothing to do with their support of him. An ABC affiliate reported the post was shared nearly 60 times on the site before being removed. The CPOA then posted its support for Wilson and "all law enforcement officers who endure similar situations." Task force on policing In December 2014, president Barack Obama created a commission to make recommendations for broad police reform in the United States. The commission created by Obama released an interim report on , 2015, with numerous recommendations, including the recommendation that policy be created mandating "external and independent criminal investigations in cases of police use of force resulting in death, officer-involved shootings resulting in injury or death, or in-custody deaths". DOJ investigation into the Ferguson Police Department On , 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice began an investigation of the Ferguson, Missouri, police force to examine whether officers routinely engaged in racial profiling or showed a pattern of excessive force. The investigation was separate from the Department's other investigation of the shooting of Brown. The results of the investigation were released in a , 2015, report, which concluded officers in Ferguson routinely violated the constitutional rights of the city's residents, by discriminating against African Americans and applying racial stereotypes, in a "pattern or practice of unlawful conduct within the Ferguson Police Department that violates the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and federal statutory law" . The report focused on the problem of issuing warrants for sometimes minor offenses. In many states, a chief cause for warrants is unpaid traffic tickets. Brown family lawsuit On , 2015, the Brown family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in state court against Wilson, Jackson, and the City of Ferguson, asking for damages in excess of $75,000 as well as attorney's fees. On , 2015, the lawsuit was moved from state court to federal court. On , 2015, U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber responded to defense motions by dismissing four of the seven counts of the lawsuit and declining to dismiss two other counts. On , 2017, Webber approved a settlement between Brown's parents and the city of Ferguson. Terms of the agreement, including the settlement amount, were sealed from the public. A Ferguson city attorney revealed the city's insurance company paid $1.5 million. Dorian Johnson lawsuit On , 2015, Johnson filed a lawsuit in state court against Wilson, Jackson, and the City of Ferguson for being stopped by Wilson without probable cause, reasonable suspicion or legal justification to detain him. The lawsuit claimed that, according to the findings of the , law enforcement efforts focused on generating revenue rather than protecting the town's citizens. Johnson seeks 25,000 in damages. On , 2015, the lawsuit was moved from state court to federal court. The court denied the defendants' motion to dismiss the case; they appealed, and a three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court on July 25, 2017, allowing the lawsuit to go forward. The en banc Eighth Circuit reviewed and reversed the panel's decision on June 17, 2019, directing the district court to dismiss the case. Appointment of Delrish Moss as police chief On May 9, 2016, Delrish Moss, a Miami law enforcement veteran and expert in community relations, was sworn in as the first permanent African American chief in Ferguson. He said his challenges would include diversifying the police force and dramatically improving community relations. Lezley McSpadden announces run for Ferguson City Council On April 25, 2018, Brown's mother, Lezley McSpadden, announced to a Harvard University forum on police violence that she would run for City Council of Ferguson. She did not win. In popular culture The same month Brown was shot, American rappers The Game, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Diddy, Fabolous, Wale, DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz, Yo Gotti, Curren$y, Problem, King and recording group TGT released the song "Don't Shoot" as a tribute to Brown. On De L'Amour — his final studio album released before his death in 2017 — the French rock and roll singer Johnny Hallyday sings "Dans la peau de Mike Brown", a song against racial crimes and in memory of Mike Brown. In Prince's song about the 2015 Baltimore protests, "Baltimore", he sings "does anybody hear us pray for Michael Brown or Freddie Gray?". In 2015, actor Ezra Miller directed a short film titled The Truth According to Darren Wilson. In the film, Wilson recounts his version of events, ending in him being called into a room to tell it to investigators, implying that Wilson unlawfully murdered Brown, and that he later lied about the events of that day. Brown's death is the subject of the song "What It Means" by Drive-By Truckers on their 2016 album American Band. Iconographer Mark Dukes created the icon Our Lady of Ferguson in response to the shooting. Poet Danez Smith published a poem entitled "not an Elegy for Mike Brown", written the night of the incident. Seattle based rapper Macklemore mentions Wilson in the song "White Privilege II" from his second collaborative effort with producer Ryan Lewis, 2016's This Unruly Mess I've Made: "My success is the product of the same system that let off Darren Wilson – guilty" English folk singer Reg Meuross included a song called "The Lonesome Death of Michael Brown" on his 2017 album Faraway People. The song's title acknowledges Bob Dylan's song against racism in the 1960s, "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll", which describes the death in Baltimore of a bartender at the hands of a drunk patron, who struck her with a cane causing her to die of a brain hemorrhage. See also Black Lives Matter List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, August 2014 Mothers of the Movement Shooting of Alton Sterling Shooting of Philando Castile Shooting of Tamir Rice Shooting of Walter Scott Murder of George Floyd What Killed Michael Brown? Notes References External links Surveillance video that police contend shows Michael Brown robbing a convenience store. Police Department incident report of contemporaneous convenience store robbery Chief of Ferguson Police Press Conference August 15, 2014 Documents from the Ferguson grand jury Labelled grand jury testimony documents Video of statement at end of grand jury along with press conference and transcript of statement DOJ investigation report into shooting Michael Brown's family's civil lawsuit against Ferguson 2014 controversies in the United States 2014 in Missouri African-American history of Missouri African-American-related controversies August 2014 events in the United States Civil rights protests in the United States Crimes in Missouri Deaths by firearm in Missouri Deaths by person in the United States Defensive gun use Ferguson, Missouri History of African-American civil rights History of St. Louis County, Missouri Law enforcement controversies in the United States Law enforcement in Missouri Mass media-related controversies in the United States Race and crime in the United States Self-defense

43690208

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Charles%20Vacca

Shooting of Charles Vacca

On August 25, 2014, 39-year-old Charles Vacca was accidentally shot and killed while instructing a nine-year-old girl in how to shoot a Mini-Uzi. The accident occurred at the Arizona Last Stop Gun Range (also known as "Bullets and Burgers") in White Hills, Arizona, where Vacca had worked for about eighteen months. According to county law officials the shooting is being viewed as an industrial accident. The minimum age set by the shooting range to fire a weapon is eight years old provided that the child is supervised by a parent, as the girl was. It was also legal for Arizona Last Stop to own the fully automatic Uzi because it was manufactured and purchased prior to the passage of the Firearm Owners Protection Act in 1986 and added to the NFA machine gun registry where all fully automatic civilian owned firearms are registered. Sequence of events According to the girl's father, their family had traveled from their Las Vegas hotel to the Last Stop at approximately 9:45 AM. The family then took a ride on a monster truck before arriving at the gun range. At the range, the girl's father was the first to shoot, followed by the girl herself. The girl's mother videotaped her daughter trying out the Uzi, and said she watched as the gun recoiled and her daughter lost control of it. The girl reportedly said the Uzi was "too much" for her after she fired the weapon and was unable to control the muzzle rise, causing the barrel to be directed at Vacca. Vacca is believed to have died from a single shot to the head. He was airlifted to the University Medical Center hospital in Las Vegas, where he died. Reactions The shooting ignited a discussion regarding whether children should be legally allowed to handle fully automatic weapons such as Uzis. Mel Robbins, writing for CNN, argued that it should be against the law for such a young child to shoot an Uzi. She added that, in her view, the girl was not to blame for her instructor's death, but that the instructor and the girl's parents were at fault. The owner of Last Stop, Sam Scarmardo, said it was considered pretty standard to allow children onto the range, and that he was reconsidering this policy in light of the accident. Writing for National Review Online, Robert B. Young wrote that only one other incident had occurred in which a child killed someone with an automatic weapon, and therefore concluded that "two incidents in six years do not an epidemic make, not even a trend." He also concluded that as gun ownership increased, the frequency of serious gun accidents involving children had decreased, attributing this to "improved education for young people becoming acquainted with firearms". Vacca's family members Vacca's family, including his ex-wife, Anamarie Vacca, have said they harbor no ill will toward the girl who accidentally killed Charles Vacca. Anamarie also said that her children want to write a letter to the girl, "knowing their family has to grieve through the same process." In an interview aired on The Today Show on August 29, Vacca's daughter Ashley said that her father's death was a "tragic accident" and expressed her sympathy for the girl and her family. On September 12, Vacca's four children wrote a letter to the girl, in which they said that "Our dad would want you to know that you should move forward with your life." On the one-year anniversary of the shooting, Charles Vacca's children launched the We Have A Voice initiative, which is an online petition aimed at building a coalition to support and pass legislation that prohibits young children from using fully automatic weapons. The girl's family members Members of the family of the girl who shot Vacca released a statement on September 2 saying they were "devastated" by the accident. The family's lawyer, Kevin Walsh, stated that the family "prayed day and night that [Vacca] would survive his injury, and they continue to pray for his family during this terribly difficult time." Legislators In response to the shooting, Victoria Steele, a Democratic member of the Arizona House of Representatives, proposed a ban on allowing children under the age of sixteen to use machine guns. Steele told the Phoenix New Times that "I'm disgusted that we even need such a law -- that parents can't be trusted to not give a machine gun to a 9-year-old girl." In addition, on September 4, 2014, Democratic senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein (both from California) wrote a letter to the president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation urging him to help implement policies prohibiting children from shooting fully automatic weapons at shooting ranges. In February 2015, the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health recommended that a range-safety officer should be on site at the shooting range where Vacca was shot. They also recommended limiting weapons available to certain shooters and ensuring shooters are comfortable with weapons before they are switched into automatic. In March 2015, Barbara Norton, a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, introduced a bill to prohibit children under the age of twelve from using Uzis. Investigations The shooting was investigated by the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health, the state's workplace safety agency. It was also investigated by the Mohave County Sheriff's Office, which, after this investigation concluded, declined to pursue criminal charges against the girl. On September 2, police reports were released indicating that immediately after the shooting, the girl had said she felt the gun was too much for her and had hurt her shoulder. The report also indicated that the girl's family had been focused on her just after the shooting, because they thought she was injured, and had not realized that Vacca had been shot until one of his colleagues ran over to him. References 2014 in Arizona August 2014 events in the United States 2014 deaths Accidental deaths in Arizona Deaths by firearm in Arizona Deaths by person in the United States 2014 controversies in the United States

44642890

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Corey%20Jackson

Shooting of Corey Jackson

William "Corey" Jackson was a 34-year-old African-American man who was fatally shot by a police officer in Geneva, New York, in May 2011. The incident On May 20, 2011, police stopped a car with three men in it. William "Corey" Jackson was in the back seat, and he was wanted in connection with an alleged strong armed robbery that morning with a theft of $150, a cell phone and a pack of cigarettes. Sgt. Carmen Reale said Jackson was repeatedly reaching under the seat of the car and then turned toward another officer with an object in his hand. Reale shot through the window, shooting Jackson in the head. Jackson died on May 22 at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York. Geneva Police Chief Frank Pane stated that the sergeant who shot Jackson feared he was armed and possibly reaching for a gun. Police did not find a gun, but they did find two cell phones and a knife. Jackson's father said his son had been texting someone with his phone, telling them he was going to be arrested. Aftermath After the killing of Jackson, the civil rights organization NAACP stated that many African Americans and others had contacted it voicing concerns about police harassment in the city. NAACP and family members then hired an independent lawyer to investigate. An Ontario County Grand Jury found in July 2011 that Sgt. Reale's action was justified under the law, and accepted that the officer was afraid and misidentified a cell phone as a gun. Sgt. Reale was put on administrative leave (with full pay), and never returned to the force. In January 2014, he officially retired from the Geneva Police Department. He had been with the department for 18 years. References Jackson, Corey Jackson, Corey 2011 in New York (state) Jackson, Corey Geneva, New York Law enforcement in New York (state)

44671186

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20John%20Crawford%20III

Shooting of John Crawford III

The shooting of John Crawford III occurred on August 5, 2014. Crawford was a 22-year-old African-American man shot and killed by a police officer in a Walmart store in Beavercreek, Ohio, near Dayton, while he was holding a BB gun that was for sale in the store. The shooting was captured on surveillance video and led to protests from groups including the NAACP and the Black Lives Matter movement. A grand jury declined to indict the two officers involved on criminal charges. The City of Beavercreek eventually settled civil claims for wrongful death brought by Crawford's estate and family. Shooting Crawford picked up an un-packaged BB/pellet air rifle inside the store's sporting goods section and continued shopping in the store. Another customer, Ronald Ritchie, called 9-1-1 claiming that Crawford had been pointing the gun at fellow customers. Security camera footage showed that Crawford was talking on his cellphone and holding the BB gun as he shopped, but at no point did he aim the BB gun at anyone. After the security camera footage was released, Ritchie recanted his statement that led to the fatal shooting and stated, "At no point did he shoulder the rifle and point it at somebody", while maintaining that Crawford was "waving it around". Two officers of the Beavercreek Police arrived at the Walmart shortly after their dispatcher informed them of a "subject with a gun" in the pet supplies area of the store. Crawford was later pronounced dead at Dayton's Miami Valley Hospital. A second person, Angela Williams, died after suffering a heart attack while fleeing from the shooting. Her death was ruled a homicide (which legally means only that the death was as a direct result of the actions of another and does not imply guilt or responsibility on anyone's part). Police account According to initial accounts from Officer Williams and the other officer involved, David Darkow, Crawford did not respond to verbal commands to drop the BB gun and lie on the ground, and eventually began to move as if trying to escape. Believing the BB gun was a real firearm, one of the officers fired two shots into Crawford's torso and arm. He died of his injuries shortly afterwards. Store video The shooting was captured by the store's security video camera. Crawford was talking on his cell phone while holding the BB/Pellet air rifle when he was shot to death by Williams. The video shows the officers fired almost immediately after entering the store and sighting Crawford holding the BB gun. From the video, it is unclear whether officers gave verbal commands, and whether Crawford was shot before or after he reacted to the officers. Aftermath The Guardian revealed in December that immediately after the shooting, police aggressively questioned Crawford's girlfriend, Tasha Thomas, threatening her with jail time. The interrogation caused her to sob uncontrollably, with hostile questions suggesting she was drunk or on drugs when she stated that Crawford did not enter the store with a gun. She was not yet aware of Crawford's death at the time of the interrogation. Thomas died in a car crash in Dayton several months later on January 1, 2015. Following the shooting, a grand jury decided not to indict any of the officers involved on charges of either murder, reckless homicide, or negligent homicide. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) conducted its own investigation. Sean Williams, the officer who shot Crawford, was removed from normal duties until the federal investigation was complete. In 2017, the DOJ announced that it declined to seek federal charges against the officer, who returned to full duty soon after. The 2017 DOJ report stated: "To establish willfulness, federal authorities would be required to show that the officer acted with the deliberate and specific intent to do something the law forbids. This is one of the highest standards of intent imposed by law. Mistake, misperception, negligence, necessity, or poor judgment are not sufficient to establish a federal criminal civil rights violation... ...To establish that Officer Williams acted willfully, the government would be required both to disprove his stated reason for the shooting – that he was in fear of death or serious bodily injury – and to affirmatively establish that Officer Williams instead acted with the specific intent to violate Mr. Crawford’s rights. The evidence here simply cannot satisfy those burdens. Accordingly, the review into this incident has been closed without prosecution." Crawford's mother believes that the surveillance tape shows the police lied in their account of events, and has spoken out against the killing at a "Justice for All" march. The family filed lawsuits for negligence and wrongful death against Walmart, the city of Beavercreek, and the police officers involved. In 2020, the city of Beavercreek and the family settled their suit for $1.7 million. Ohio State Representative Alicia Reece proposed a "John Crawford's Law", which would change the way toy guns look to prevent similar tragedies. Ohio is an "open carry" state, in which the open carrying of firearms is legal with or without a license, which prompted discussion of gun rights and race. Media reaction The incident received local and international coverage, in part due to the time of its occurrence; the then-recent police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and the subsequent unrest there had attracted public attention, as did the death of Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York, and the shooting of Tamir Rice in Cleveland. See also Swatting - the dispatching of emergency response teams based on false reports that there is an ongoing critical incident Entertech shooting deaths Shooting of Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr. References 1992 births 2014 controversies in the United States 2014 deaths 2014 in Ohio African-American-related controversies African-American history of Ohio August 2014 events in the United States Beavercreek, Ohio Black Lives Matter Deaths by firearm in Ohio Law enforcement controversies in the United States Law enforcement in Ohio Protests in the United States Walmart African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States

44810520

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Kuanchung%20Kao

Shooting of Kuanchung Kao

The shooting of Kuanchung Kao occurred on April 29, 1997 in Rohnert Park, California. Kao was waving a wooden stick in the street in front of his driveway, prompting multiple 911 calls placed by Kao's neighbors. He was then fatally shot by public safety officer Jack Shields. Kao's family filed a lawsuit against Rohnert Park which was settled for $1 million. Background Kuanchung Kao ( – ; ) was a Taiwan-born microbiologist working as a quality control engineer. He was married to Ayling Wu, a registered nurse, and they had three children together. Officer Mike Lynch was the first police respondent on the scene. Officer Jack Shields was the second respondent, a 25-year veteran Rohnert Park public safety officer (the combined police and fire departments) at the time of the shooting in 1997. He had been promoted to police lieutenant soon after joining the force, and was later promoted to fire commander after serving more than twenty years as a police lieutenant. He was demoted to patrol officer after a year as fire commander after he was found guilty of falsifying time cards for other employees. Shooting On the night of April 28, 1997, Kao was drinking at the Cotati Yacht Club in celebration of a new job. While at the bar, he was involved in two scuffles with at least one other bar patron. In the first, he corrected a patron by stating he was Chinese, not Japanese, to which the other patron responded by saying "You all look alike to me." The bartender, who was familiar with Kao, separated them by seating them at opposite ends of the bar. The same patron later approached Kao and whispered some inflammatory words, instigating an altercation to which police were called. Kao was sent home in a taxicab by the bartender, who said the bar fight was inconsistent with Kao's usual behavior. Upon arriving home, Kao stayed outside, crying "Neighbors, please help me!" Postmortem tests showed Kao's blood alcohol level was 0.23%. Neighbors called 911 to report a drunken disturbance at 2:11a.m. Kao retrieved a wooden stick comparable to a closet rod from a motorhome parked in his driveway at around this time. Four minutes later police officer Lynch arrived and stopped his patrol vehicle close to Kao in what witnesses felt was an attempt to scare him, but Kao hit the patrol car with the stick. Lynch backed the car away and remained in the car waiting for backup. Almost simultaneously, officer Shields arrived, training a spotlight on Kao and exiting his vehicle, despite Lynch radioing Shields to remain in his car. Shields later testified that he left the car to find Kao's wife Ayling Wu. Lynch and Shields were in uniform and arrived in marked patrol cars with their sirens on but an eyewitness later stated neither of them identified themselves as police officers. When the officers arrived, Kao's wife Ayling Wu was outside trying to calm Kao and grab the stick. Shields commanded Wu to step away from Kao. She believed the officer would grab the stick but once she had retreated, Shields shot Kao once in the chest. Shields later testified that Kao charged him with the stick raised over his head in a striking posture, closing to within . Four separate eyewitnesses contradicted Shields' testimony, saying that Kao was never closer to Shields than . Kao was then handcuffed behind his back and left face down on his driveway to await paramedics. Ayling Wu, a trained medical professional, said she could see her husband breathing and tried to administer aid but was physically restrained by the officers and threatened with arrest. By the time paramedics arrived some ten minutes later Kao was dead. His body remained in the driveway until noon, and his 5-year-old daughter witnessed part of the disturbance. Shields later testified that he feared for his life as Kao was waving the stick in "a threatening martial arts fashion." Kao never studied martial arts. A warrant executed the next day had police comb through Kao's house for evidence of martial arts training or paraphernalia. None was found. Legal actions Sonoma County District Attorney The Sonoma County Sheriff's Department conducted an investigation of the shooting and filed a 600-page report with the Sonoma County District Attorney's office in May 1997. On June 19, 1997, Sonoma County District Attorney Michael Mullins decided not to file criminal charges against Officer Jack Shields, concluding that Officer Shields had acted in self-defense. The California Attorney General's office investigated whether the decision not to prosecute was an abuse of discretion, concluding in a March 24, 1998 letter from Dan Lungren that deadly force was justified. Rohnert Park On August 5, 1997, the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety ruled Officer Shields acted in accordance with departmental policies and procedures for the use of deadly force. Federal Bureau of Investigation The United States Attorney in San Francisco requested an FBI investigation of the shooting shortly after it occurred, on the suspicion that Kao's civil rights had been violated through the use of excessive force, which potentially could have led to a life sentence. Senator Barbara Boxer met with Ayling Wu and Nancy Wang on October 3, 1997; following the meeting Boxer stated she would relay concerns to the US Attorney. On January 28, 1998, US Attorney Michael Yamaguchi declined to file criminal charges against Officer Shields, citing insufficient evidence that Kuanchung Kao's civil rights were violated. Civil suit On October 1, 1997, John Burris and the Asian Law Caucus filed an administrative wrongful death claim, followed by the February 2, 1998 filing of a  million federal suit against Rohnert Park, its Police Department, and the two officers involved. The suit was settled out-of-court for  million in 2001 with no admission of liability. Aftermath The shooting of Kuanchung Kao mobilized Asian-American activists to protest the perceived racial factors in his killing. Days after the August 1997 Rohnert Park investigation cleared Shields, on the 100-day anniversary of Kao's death, a vigil was held in San Francisco in part demanding a new investigation. Activist pressure along with a growing trend of fatal police shootings in Sonoma County culminated in a United States Commission on Civil Rights investigation, which held a public hearing on February 20, 1998. Police and police supporters packed the meeting, forcing those with different viewpoints to stand outside the meeting room. Kao's widow Ayling Wu and their three children moved to Orange County by 1998. Most of the lawsuit settlement was consumed by legal fees and moving expenses. Wu was forced to sell the family dog, a 3 year old fawn American Mastiff named Nala, which was purchased as a puppy by Kao for their daughter several years prior. Wu received temporary support with childcare from the family nanny, who assisted with the moving transition to Orange County for several months. All of Kao and Wu's extended families reside in Taiwan, and gradually ceased contact after Kao's death. Following the departure of the family nanny after the move south, Wu fell into a period of extreme depression and experienced suicidal thoughts, while struggling to make ends meet while also attempting to raise the children on her own. Wu's condition gradually improved over the years and continues to lead a moderately successful career as a Director of Nursing, but never remarried or fully recovered from the trauma and isolation. One of the twins is pursuing graduate studies in physical therapy while the other twin is a wildland firefighter. Jack Shields retired from the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety in 2000 with over 30 years of service and moved to Hamlin, Texas, later becoming the mayor of Hamlin. Mike Lynch left the Department of Public Safety within one year of the shooting, and was last known to be working in a local pet shop. See also Murder of Vincent Chin Shooting of Andy Lopez Shooting of Cau Bich Tran References Notes Bibliography External links 1997 deaths 1997 in California Asian-American-related controversies Deaths by firearm in California History of Sonoma County, California People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Protests in the United States Law enforcement in California Rohnert Park, California

44917539

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Douglas%20Zerby

Shooting of Douglas Zerby

The fatal shooting of Douglas Zerby occurred on December 12, 2010 in Long Beach, California. Zerby was shot by two Long Beach Police Department officers while playing with a garden hose nozzle. They claimed that they mistook the hose nozzle for a gun and fired at Zerby, killing him, and did not make any verbal warnings or commands. It was later discovered through audio recordings of the officers radios that a house phone rang startling an officer causing him to shoot. The other officers fired once the first shooter did, blaming it on "contagious fire" proving the officers were not trained well. Los Angeles County prosecutors cleared the two officers of the shooting. The family of Zerby filed a lawsuit against the city of Long Beach and were awarded $6.5 million after a jury found the Long Beach Police Department to be responsible for Zerby's death, acting with malice and recklessness, and violating Zerby's Fourth Amendment rights. The officers also had to pay $5,000 each to Zerby's family. Backgrounds Douglas Marthew Zerby (October 4, 1975 - December 12, 2010) was 35 years old, and had an eight-year-old son. The two officers, Jeffrey Shurtleff and Victor Ortiz, had six years and ten years of law enforcement experience, respectively. Shooting At 4:45 pm, LBPD Officers Jeffrey Shurtleff and Victor Ortiz shot Zerby as he was sitting on a step of an apartment complex in the Belmont Shore neighborhood playing with a hose nozzle. He was at the apartment to visit his friend. A neighbor had called police reporting that a man had a "six-shooter" gun in a backyard and was waving it around. Zerby was drunk with a blood alcohol content of 0.42 percent and was reportedly pointing the nozzle at the officers who arrived at the scene, according to authorities. The two officers claimed to have mistaken the device for a gun and opened fire without warning. The officers fired a shotgun and a handgun, hitting Zerby 12 times. Zerby suffered from four fatal wounds. He was struck in the lower leg and chest areas. Ortiz was 38 feet away from Zerby when he fired his shotgun, and Shurtleff was 23 feet away when he fired his handgun. A third officer who was present at the scene of the shooting, was 56 feet away with a telescopic rifle but did not fire. A fourth officer at the scene was armed with an assault rifle and said that he saw Zerby point a firearm in his direction, but not at Ortiz. He was separated from Zerby by a gate, and said in his testimony that he did not fire because he did not want to hit the fence. Immediately before the shooting, officers requested additional helicopters, a police helicopter, and the Long Beach Police Department's Mental Health Evaluation Team to assist in the situation, but claimed that when Zerby stretched his arms and pointed the nozzle at them, they heard a telephone ring and fired. Forensics reports would prove their claims false, once it was discovered that the water nozzle was found under his thigh, a place it could never have ended up if he were extending it outward like a pistol. Legal proceedings Criminal investigation The shooting was investigated by the Long Beach Police Department, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Justice System of Integrity Division, and the Los Angeles County coroner's office. In November 2011, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office declined to file charges against Ortiz and Shurtleff in the shooting, citing that they acted in self-defense. The decision led to protests in Long Beach. According to prosecutors, Zerby's arm positions were consistent with someone pointing an object at officers. Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a press conference that the officers did not give verbal warnings or commands before shooting Zerby. Civil lawsuit Douglas Zerby's family and their lawyers, Dale Galipo and Bryan Claypool, filed a lawsuit against the city of Long Beach and Victor Ortiz and Jeffrey Shurtleff. They asked for $21.5 million in damages. Roger Clark, a former lieutenant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, testified that the officers did not need to shoot Zerby and had no reason to not give him an opportunity to drop the nozzle before using deadly force. Clark said that the officers had good cover from brick walls and a fireplace, and that because Zerby had committed no crime, that it would reasonable of the officers to have announced their presence. An attorney for the city argued that Ortiz and Shurtleff opened fire because they believed that Zerby was going to shoot them. An attorney for Zerby's father said that Shurtleff accidentally discharged his handgun and fired one shot, causing Ortiz to believe Zerby fired a shot and then fire his shotgun. The jury awarded Zerby's family $6.5 million in wrongful-death damages. $2 million of the judgment was awarded to Zerby's father, Mark, while the remaining $4.5 million will be shared by Zerby's mother, Pamela Amici, and his son, River. The verdict was affirmed on appeal. References 2010 deaths 2010 in California Deaths by firearm in California December 2010 events in the United States History of Long Beach, California People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Law enforcement in California Police brutality in the United States Protests in the United States

44938436

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Ezell%20Ford

Shooting of Ezell Ford

Ezell Ford, a 25-year-old African-American man, died from multiple gunshot wounds after being shot by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers in Florence, Los Angeles, California on August 11, 2014. In the weeks and months that followed, Ford's shooting triggered multiple demonstrations and a lawsuit by Ford's family claiming $75 million in damages. The officers and eyewitnesses offered competing accounts of the events surrounding the shooting, and an investigation by the LAPD's watchdog unit, Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners, concluded in June 2015 that one officer had been justified in the shooting, while the other officer was unjustified, had acted outside of LAPD policy, and had violated Ford's civil rights by detaining him. Backgrounds Ezell Ford Ezell Earl Ford (October 14, 1988August 11, 2014) was the oldest of seven children. At the time of his birth his parents, Tritobia and Edsell, were 16 and 17 years old respectively. His parents said in August 2014 they had been living in the same neighborhood for 15 years. Ford attended 66th Street Elementary, Marcus Garvey Elementary, Bethune Middle School, and Verbum Dei High School, which he left before completing a full term. As a child he played basketball, and wanted to play professionally and to study medicine. In his youth Ford suffered from asthma and difficulty breathing. In September 2007 Ford was arrested on felony charges of carrying a loaded firearm and possession of marijuana with intent to sell. He argued the marijuana was for personal use, and in January 2008 the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor, for which he paid a small fine. He pleaded guilty to the firearm charge and was sentenced to 90 days in jail. In 2008 Ford was shot in the leg in a gang-related incident. A neighbor said that Ford was an innocent bystander in the shooting, and that his mental illness became more evident from then on. Ford also had a prior conviction for trespassing. After his death his parents said their son had been diagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and that everybody in the neighborhood, as well as police, were aware of this. They recalled that Ford had become more introverted and melancholy around the age of 18, and took medication that made him less active. Ashanti Harrison, a neighbor, said he had grown up with Ford, who "did not bother nobody. He was kind of slow. The whole neighborhood took care of him." Harrison also described Ford as having "the mental capacity of an 8-year-old", while another neighbor said "He had a mind of a 10-year-old". Another neighbor said while Ford "wasn't all there, he was there enough to follow orders and know to stop when the police tell him to stop." Leroy Hill, who described himself as an eyewitness to the shooting, and Harrison both said Ford was not involved in gangs. A neighbor said the officers who shot Ford had harassed him in the past, including the day before the shooting. Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas The officers involved in the shooting were named on August 28 as Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas, both gang enforcement officers in the LAPD's Newton Division. Wampler had been on the force for twelve years, Villegas for eight. Wampler is Asian American and Villegas is Latino. The two men had been working together in the Newton Division for five months. Wampler had previously arrested Ford on marijuana possession charges in 2008. He was also one of two officers accused in a 2011 lawsuit of assaulting and pepper spraying members of a South Los Angeles family in 2009. A settlement was reached in the case in 2012 but details were not disclosed in court records. Shooting LAPD accounts According to LAPD commander Andy Smith in August 2014, Wampler and Villegas saw Ford walking on the sidewalk at 65th Street and left their vehicle. Wampler said he knew Ford, but did not recognize him at the time. The two officers confronted Ford as part of an "investigative stop" at around 8:20p.m. They told investigators that though they carried a Taser in the patrol car, neither took it out, and Villegas instead drew his gun. Villegas said he believed Ford may have been armed because he was in "a gang area". Villegas soon put the gun away and repositioned himself as the "cover" officer while Wampler approached Ford. After the release of Ford's autopsy, LAPD chief Charlie Beck said Ford walked away after Wampler and Villegas left their vehicle to speak to him. An earlier press release said Ford looked towards the officers but kept walking and "made suspicious movements, including attempting to conceal his hands". According to Beck, Wampler and Villegas told detectives Ford concealed his hands as they attempted to stop him. According to Beck's account the officers then followed Ford to a driveway where he crouched between a car and some bushes. Wampler and Villegas said they believed Ford was trying to dispose of drugs that were in his possession, which Wampler felt was sufficient evidence to arrest him. No drugs were found in the vicinity, however. Smith said as they were walking towards him Ford "whirled around and basically attacked the lead officer." Wampler told investigators he had approached Ford from behind and pulled back his shoulder with the intention of handcuffing him. The officers and an LAPD spokesman said in August 2014 that Ford had "tackled" one of the officers and that a struggle ensued after Ford tried to remove the officer's handgun from its holster. Smith said Ford "grabbed the officer around the waist, threw him to the ground and was laying on top of the officer" when he was shot. In Beck's account, Wampler and Villegas told detectives that Ford had been on top of one of the officers and reaching for the officer's gun when they both opened fire. Wampler told investigators he had been tackled by Ford and had landed on top of Ford, but Ford rolled over immediately and took the top position. Villegas responded by pushing his knee into Ford's back and attempting to handcuff him. Wampler said he then felt Ford grasping at his holstered pistol. Villegas said he feared for his life and that of his partner and shot Ford in the arm, then at Wampler's urging fired a second round into Ford's side. Wampler said Ford continued to resist, causing him to retrieve his backup gun and used it to reach around Ford and shoot him in the back. Smith said Ford had been on the ground when he was shot, and said "This was an extremely rapidly unfolding event. Basically the fight was on." After the shooting, Wampler handcuffed Ford. Wampler told investigators a crowd appeared, including one man who appeared angry but left after Wampler pointed his gun at him. Thirteen seconds elapsed from the time that Wampler and Villegas left their vehicle to the first shot. LAPD lieutenant Ellis Imaizumi said the officers sustained minor abrasions that did not require hospitalization. An LAPD news release said neither had been injured. Smith said Ford had been unarmed. Other accounts Two witnesses disputed the officers' claim that Ford had concealed his hands, and said that he had raised his hands as the officers left their vehicle. They also said that Ford did not tackle an officer, and was instead tackled to the ground by one of the officers. Tritobia Ford said her son was lying on the ground and complying with officers' orders when he was shot. Other family members supported her account, including a man who identified himself as Ford's cousin and said: They laid him out and for whatever reason, they shot him in the back, knowing mentally, he has complications. Every officer in this area, from the Newton Division, knows that — that this child has mental problems. The excessive force ... there was no purpose for it. The multiple shootings in the back while he's laying down? No. Then when the mom comes, they don't try to console her ... they pull the billy clubs out. Harrison, who said he saw the shooting from a second-story window, said Ford had put his hands in the air when he was tackled to the ground and shot three times. Harrison said that while on the ground Ford "was struggling like he didn't want anyone on top of him, didn't want anyone holding him down". Two women who were in the home adjacent to the driveway said Ford had not been on top of one of the officers, and had instead been face-down with the officer on top of him. Dorene Henderson, a friend of the Ford family, said she heard someone yell "Get down, get down." She said she heard a pop and neighbors telling officers "He's got mental problems." Hill said "I was sitting across the street when it happened ... The cops jumped out of the car and rushed him over here into this corner. They had him in the corner and were beating him, busted him up, for what reason I don't know he didn't do nothing." Hill said he heard an officer say "Shoot him", followed by three gunshots, while Ford was on the ground. Ina Smalls, who lives across the street from Ford, said she ran outside after hearing gunshots and saw Ford "on the ground, shot dead, handcuffed on his stomach". Smalls said she did not believe that Ford had tried to take the officer's gun. Fred Sayre, Ford's parents' attorney, said none of the witnesses he had spoken to could decisively say whether Ford grabbed for the officer's gun. Events immediately following the shooting Ford was taken to California Hospital Medical Center, where he underwent surgery, and was pronounced dead at 10:10p.m. Tritobia Ford said police had refused to inform her where her son was hospitalized. Police initially offered little information about the shooting, and did not initially release Ford's name or specify why they stopped him. Imaizumi said police had declined to release information due to a "gathering" at the scene. Response Comparisons to Michael Brown Local civil rights leaders and some on social media drew comparisons between Ford and the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri two days previously. Earl Ofari Hutchinson, the president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, released a statement soon after the shooting commenting "The killing of Ezell Ford — coming on the heels of the Michael Brown killing in Ferguson, Missouri — again raises the issue and problem of tense police-community relations". Hutchinson also said "If in fact Ferguson hadn't happened, if in fact we hadn't seen what we've seen the last two days there ... I don't know there would be the same sense of urgency. I think coming on the heels of that, it does give it a sense of urgency." Investigations, autopsy and LAPD response Initial response Both officers were placed on paid leave. In the aftermath of the shooting, and in response to threats on social media, the LAPD directed all officers to travel in pairs. Hutchinson and other civil rights leaders met with LAPD officials on August 14. Hutchinson said he was reassured by the meeting and believed the LAPD was taking the concerns seriously, and that it would fast-track the investigation while ensuring transparency. The activists who attended the meeting stressed that they did not want to see in Los Angeles rioting similar to that seen in Ferguson or in L.A. in 1992. LAPD officials named Wampler and Villegas on August 28. Wampler's name had been leaked the previous day by blogger Jasmyne Cannick. In a statement the department commented "it was necessary to investigate evidence ... regarding potential threats to the safety of the officers and ensure that measures were taken to mitigate those threats." Both officers remained on paid administrative leave. In December 2014 a department spokesman said both officers had been reassigned to administrative duties. In August 2014, Paysinger said the LAPD would investigate the shooting with oversight by the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners, its Office of Inspector General, and the office of the Los Angeles District Attorney. On August 18 Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti said he would ensure a "full and fair investigation" took place. Autopsy On August 18 the LAPD placed a "security hold" on the release of the report of Ford's autopsy. Smith said the hold was due to the risk that the autopsy's findings would affect witnesses' testimonies, but Hutchinson said it would fuel "suspicions about the LAPD's version of the Ford killing." In October 2014 the South Central Neighborhood Council passed a resolution calling on Los Angeles City Council member Curren Price to direct the LAPD to release Ford's autopsy report. A spokesman said the LAPD was reluctant to release information that could adversely affect ongoing investigations, and that the department had seen little success in finding witnesses. On November 13 Garcetti said the report would be made public by the end of 2014. The autopsy was released on December 29. It showed Ford was shot three times, in the back, side and right arm. The gunshot wound in his back bore a "muzzle imprint" suggesting the shot was fired at very close range. It also noted multiple abrasions to Ford's hand and arm. Experts consulted by the Los Angeles Times said none of the autopsy's findings were unexpected or contradicted the officers' accounts. Beck investigation Beck concluded in a report that Wampler and Villegas had been justified in their actions. His investigation found that Wampler had grounds to reasonably suspect that Ford had been in possession of drugs. Bustamante investigation Steve Soboroff, the president of the Board of Police Commissioners, said in August 2014 that he had asked the office of the Inspector General to prioritize its investigation of Ford's case. On September 2 Inspector General Alex Bustamante issued a statement urging witnesses to come forward. Bustamante said despite the conflicting accounts of the shooting, he had only succeeded in contacting one witness. In November 2014 Beck, District Attorney Jackie Lacey and Price called on witnesses to come forward. On December 4 Beck said no new witnesses had been identified. Beck and Bustamante reiterated in December 2014 and January 2015 that the department had encountered difficulties in finding witnesses, and that witnesses whose names were provided by the Ford family's attorney had been uncooperative. Bustamante's report found that Wampler and Villegas's actions had been justified, but found that Wampler did not have grounds to reasonably suspect that Ford had been in possession of drugs. The report criticized Wampler's decision to initiate physical contact with Ford as a "substantial deviation from tactical training" that put him at risk of assault. Bustamante explained that, though Ford was looking back at Wampler and Villegas while taking his hands in and out of his pockets, this alone was not enough "to cross the threshold of reasonable suspicion". Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners investigation On June 5, 2015 the Los Angeles Times reported that, "according to sources with knowledge of the investigation", the Board of Police Commissioners had determined that both Wampler and Villegas were justified in the shooting. Soboroff responded the same day that the Board had received several recommendations but had yet to make a decision. On June 9, 2015 the Board's ruling stated that Villegas was justified in the shooting, but Wampler violated Ford's civil rights by detaining him. The commission rejected Beck's conclusion that Wampler had adhered to LAPD policy. The investigation found that Villegas did not have a good reason to initially draw his gun, and that Wampler did not have grounds to reasonably suspect that Ford had been in possession of drugs. Nine different determinations were issued: Wampler was found in violation of policy in four areas (tactics, drawing of weapon, use of non-lethal force, use of deadly force), while Villegas was within policy in three areas (tactics, use of non-lethal force, and use of deadly force) and one part of another area (drawing of weapon on the second occasion) but in violation of policy in another part of the same area (drawing of weapon on the first occasion). The Board's decision to consider the "totality of the circumstances, and not just the moment in which force was used" marked a departure from its previous approach to police shootings, which involved assessing only whether officers faced a deadly threat at the moment they opened fire. More than 100 people attended the Board's public meeting on June 9. The Board's decision is not legally binding. Its findings will be sent to the LAPD's internal affairs group, and after a few months, will be forwarded to Beck, who will determine if he will discipline the officers involved. Any possible criminal charges will be determined by Lacey. Speaking after the Board's ruling, Beck downplayed the disagreement between its report and his own, and said the result was the outcome of a system of checks and balances. Beck also released a video message in which he told LAPD officers, "You have my support. You have the support of the mayor. You have the support of the vast majority of the people of Los Angeles." Soboroff questioned Beck's failure to also mention the Board of Police Commissioners, which he described as "hurtful but ... untrue." Beck said it was not his intention to suggest that the Board did not support officers. Craig Lally, the president of the LAPPL, criticized the ruling, and claimed the Board had dealt with the officers severely to prevent civil unrest. Lally and other LAPPL officials addressed Commissioners at the Board's first public meeting following the decision, where he criticized Commissioner Paula Madison for comments she made on KNBC, in which she compared changing use of force laws to changing laws that once condoned slavery or barred women from voting. Lally described Madison's remarks as "disturbing and insulting." Lally also described Ford as a "known gang member". Garcetti commented on the Board of Police Commissioner's report on June 13, 2015. He said "I think it's so important for law enforcement officers to know that they are supported," and emphasized the need "to strengthen the bonds between community and between police." Garcetti also met with Tribotia Ford, and told reporters "It was a really beautiful meeting between the two of us, I think". Ford said she was grateful to the mayor but the meeting had come "10 months late." Disciplinary process and long-term response In June 2015 Beck criticized confidentiality laws, which he argued prevented him from making public the disciplinary measures to be placed on Wampler and Villegas, and called for "greater leeway for the police department to make not only the decisions known, but the rationale behind the decision." He said that these confidentiality requirements prevented him from discussing what measures would be taken against Wampler, or what form they could take. In July 2015 officials told KPCC that the LAPD would re-train all its officers in de-escalating confrontations with suspects and in approaching people with mental illnesses, in part in response to the shootings of Ford and Michael Brown. Protests and community response August 2014 On the morning of August 13 a group of men gathered at a makeshift memorial featuring candles and sign reading "police brutality must stop". On August 14, a rally and march was attended by around 100 protesters who marched from Leimert Plaza Park along Crenshaw Boulevard to the LAPD's 77th division statement. Protesters marched with their hands raised shouted "hands up, don't shoot", and chanted Ford's name. The protest took place simultaneously with demonstrations in 90 other U.S. cities as part of a National Moment of Silence for Michael Brown. Lavell Ford, Ezell Ford's brother, spoke, saying "They killing us all, they killing us all. Blacks, Latinos, everybody, they just killing us. And we gotta take a stand. It happens everyday around in this neighborhood, everyday. That could've been me laying out there." After the protest many demonstrators went to the scene of the shooting. Another protest took place the following day, and was attended by around 36 people. On August 15, Paysinger favorably compared the Los Angeles' community's reaction to Ford's death to the reaction to Brown's death in Missouri, and attributed the absence of violence to "the confidence the public has in the police department to conduct an immediate, a thorough, a thoughtful investigation". Paysinger added that the LAPD does "a much better job reaching out to the community" than it had done previously. Soboroff described the comparison as "apples to oranges," due to the LAPD's emphasis on community policing. Price said "Los Angeles is not Ferguson. Much work has gone into changing the culture of our police department. Our progress is evidenced this evening by the presence of our chief of police and his command staff." On August 15 a video entitled "Fuck the Police" was posted online accompanying a song by Ceebo the Rapper. The song's lyrics state "When they killed Ez' [Ford], they should have killed me," and described police as "the enemy" and "KKK in the flesh." On August 21 the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) called for officers to be on heightened alert in response to the video. Ceebo the Rapper, a cousin of Ford, said "There was never any intent [in the song] to threaten any police or nothing. But I guess that's how they want to take it". Another protest occurred on August 17, in response to Ford's death as well as that of Brown. Several hundred protesters marched to LAPD headquarters, where several speeches were made, and then to Union Station, La Placita, through Little Tokyo and Chinatown to City Hall. Protesters carried signs carrying the names of Ford and Brown; others wore Guy Fawkes masks. The protesters again chanted "Hands up, don't shoot", and called for charges to be brought against the officers involved in Ford's death, and for the names of the officers to be released. Speakers also demanded increased civilian oversight of the police and mandatory body cameras. Interactions between police and protesters were minimal and no violence was reported. On August 19, Beck answered questions before an audience of around 300 community members at Paradise Baptist Church in South Los Angeles, including members of Ford's family. Beck told the audience there remained "more questions than answers" in the Ford investigation, and said "We wonder the same things: Was it necessary? Was it justified? Could there have been another way? I want exactly what you want ... and that is the truth." Beck declined to name the officers or share information on why they had stopped Ford, explaining "I will not give you half a story ... We have to find out all the facts"; and promised the names would be released when the department believed they were no longer in danger of retaliation. Soboroff, Bustamante, Deputy District Attorney James Garrison, and Price also attended. Another protest also took place on the same day. After attending the meeting Paysinger said "You think you're in a good place, but then you find yourself at that meeting ... It was patently clear to me that we need to get busy." Paysinger also commented that two decades previously such a meeting would not have taken place and said he "found great satisfaction, at least in some way, that people came. They had an ability to voice their dissatisfaction with the LAPD because I think somewhere deep down, they do believe that something is going to happen." Around 100 people took part in another protest on August 21. Ford's funeral was held on August 30 at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles. County supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, Price, U.S. Representative Maxine Waters and former U.S. Representative Diane Watson spoke at the service. Speakers linked Ford's death to other encounters between officers and unarmed African-American men, including the shooting of Michael Brown. Later events On December 29, 2014, following the release of Ford's autopsy, demonstrators gathered outside LAPD headquarters and at Leimert Park. That evening protesters briefly blocked traffic on the 110 Freeway. In December 2014 a group of activists including Hutchinson announced the Ezell Ford Police Conflict Reduction Plan, calling for mandatory body cameras, a review of deadly force policies, retraining on mental health issues, a conflict mediation task force, and for referring all officer-involved shootings to criminal prosecutors. Another demonstration took place on January 3, 2015, organised by the Coalition for Community Control Over the Police, with around 50 participants. In late December 2014 and early January 2015 protesters camped outside LAPD headquarters. On January 5 they were forced to leave, with two arrests made after participants tried to pass barricades to deliver their demands to Beck. The following day demonstrators attended the weekly meeting of the Los Angeles Board of Commissioners, demanding greater transparency and civilian control over the LAPD. Later in January protesters continued to gather daily outside LAPD headquarters, demanding that Wampler and Villegas be terminated and that Lacey file charges against the officers. An activist interviewed by ColorLines said LAPD officers had used "intimidation tactics" against the encampment. On January 9 leaders met with Beck, who did not accept the demand that the officers be fired but agreed to treat the protesters with greater respect. Following the meeting police removed the metal barricade used to keep the protesters away from the building. Prior to the Board of Commissioners' announcement of its findings in June 2015 a protest camp was established outside Garcetti's home. Later in June a small group of protesters gathered in response to reports that Beck and Bustamante would find that Wampler and Villegas were justified in shooting Ford. After the ruling community activists called on Lacey to file criminal charges against Wampler. Tritobia Ford applauded the outcome and joined in calling for Lacey to file charges. She also said she was "kind of surprised" by the decision. In July 2015 Garcetti announced he would meet with Black Lives Matter activists who called for the dismissal of Beck, Wampler and Villegas. Ford's family held a memorial service for Ford at Inglewood Park Cemetery on August 8, 2015. Protesters disrupted a meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners on August 11, the first anniversary of Ford's death. Protesters shouted at a woman who spoke in support of police officers, and held photographs of Ford. An LAPD lieutenant declared an unlawful assembly, and demonstrators delivered written demands that Beck, Wampler and Villegas attend a "people's tribunal". No arrests were made and the demonstration continued outside LAPD headquarters. Legal proceedings In September 2014, Ford's family members filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit against the LAPD. They voluntarily dismissed this suit in June 2016. In March 2015, Ford's parents filed a second wrongful-death lawsuit in state court, alleging that Wampler and Villegas intentionally or negligently shot Ford and that Wampler and Villegas violated Ford's constitutional rights. The suit also alleged that the LAPD had a longstanding practice of violating civil rights, and that Wampler and Villegas were motivated by Ford's race and their "prejudice, disdain and contempt for African Americans or persons of black skin tone." The City of Los Angeles settled this lawsuit in October 2016 for $1.5 million. In January 2017 Los Angeles County prosecutors said Wampler and Villegas would not face criminal charges in connection with the shooting. See also BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old African American man, in California in January 2009 Shooting of Andy Lopez, a 13-year-old Hispanic boy, by a police officer in California in October 2013 Death of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old African American man, after being placed in a chokehold by a police officer in New York in July 2014 List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, August 2014 Shooting of John Crawford III, a 22-year-old African American man, by a police officer in Ohio in August 2014 Shooting of Akai Gurley, a 28-year-old African American man, by police in New York in November 2014 Shooting of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old African American boy, by a police officer in Ohio in November 2014 Shooting of Antonio Martin, an 18-year-old African American man, by a police officer in Missouri in December 2014 Shooting of Walter Scott, a 50-year-old African American man, by a police officer in South Carolina in April 2015 Death of Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old African American woman, in a jail cell in Texas in July 2015 Shooting of Samuel DuBose, a 43-year-old African American man, by a police officer in Ohio in July 2015 Death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African American man, from injuries sustained during an arrest in Maryland in April 2015 Murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man, after being choked by a police officer's knee in Minneapolis in May 2020 References External links Lawsuit against the LAPD, Wampler and Villegas, filed by Ford's parents in September 2014 Ezell Ford autopsy report, published in the Los Angeles Times in December 2014 LAPD chief Charlie Beck's report into the shooting, completed in May 2015 Abridged reports of the LAPD chief, LAPD Office of Inspector General, and Board of Police Commissioners, June 2015 2014 in California Los Angeles Police Department 2014 deaths Deaths by firearm in California African-American history in Los Angeles Law enforcement in California Deaths by person in the United States Protests in the United States 2014 in Los Angeles African-American-related controversies Black Lives Matter August 2014 events in the United States African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States

45179085

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Jerame%20Reid

Shooting of Jerame Reid

Jerame Reid was shot on December 30, 2014, in Bridgeton, New Jersey, by Bridgeton officer Braheme Days when he and his partner, Roger Worley, during a traffic stop for running through a stop sign. The encounter was captured on a dashcam video that was released on January 22, 2015. Details The two-minute fatal encounter started from a routine traffic stop, in which Bridgeton officers Braheme Days and Roger Worley pulled over a vehicle for running through a stop sign. While questioning the two men in the car, Leroy Tutt and Jerame Reid, both African-Americans, the video shows Days suddenly shouting to his partner, "We've got a gun in his glove compartment!", followed by "Show me your fucking hands." Days appeared to recognize Reid, as he is heard calling him by his first name. Days retrieved a large silver handgun from the glove compartment. Days continued to warn Reid to not move, as Reid continued to move his hands around inside the vehicle. Several times, Days exclaimed, "He's reaching for something!" As the situation intensified, someone in the vehicle can be heard telling the officers, "I'm not reaching for nothing. I ain't got no reason to reach for nothing." Reid then told Days, "I'm getting out and getting on the ground." The officer responded, "No you're not, stay right there, don't move." A struggle ensued as Reid tried to push the door open, and the officer attempted to keep the door closed. Days stepped back, and Reid pushed the door open, got up, and exited the car with his hands at chest level. Days backed up and fired as Reid exits the vehicle. Reid reacted to the shots by moving his hands upwards. Worley fired one shot, and Reid was fatally wounded. Reid was unarmed at the time. Legal proceedings According to a statement from the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office, the two officers told investigators that they feared for their lives, believing that Reid was reaching for a weapon. On August 20, 2015, a grand jury voted not to file charges against the two officers involved in the shooting. Braheme Days Braheme Days is African American and formerly worked as a personal finance teacher at Woodbury High School in 2009. During a 2011 meeting of Bridgeton residents, Days suggested violence is a "many-headed beast, and we are going to have to attack it from many angles". Days is the father of Braheme Days, Jr., a shot putter from Bridgeton High School. Days joined the Bridgeton police force in 2012 after training in the academy for six months. He was praised by Police Chief Mark Ott for winning "four out of the five awards given to recruits in his graduating class". Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae, who knew Days through another community leadership position he held, praised Days' "excellent character". In August 2014, Days and Patrolman Edward Connolly were allegedly shot at by Tyshaun S. Milledge while investigating a burglary. Milledge pleaded not guilty to the charge of shooting at the officers. Between 2012 and the Reid shooting, there had been nine municipal court complaints filed alleging that Days had "stopped, searched or charged for no reason", but these complaints were dismissed with the reason of a lack of probable cause. In October 2014, a video emerged of a Bridgeton police officer spraying a handcuffed suspect with what appears to be pepper spray, with the suspect questioning why the "macing" was being used against him. People at the scene and within the video identified Days by name as the officer. In February 2015, a US$ 25 million lawsuit was filed against Braheme Days by Shakera Brown. Brown claimed that from January to December 2014, Days extorted her for sex in exchange for not sending her to jail. The City of Bridgeton settled with Brown out of court for five thousand dollars. References 2015 controversies in the United States 2014 deaths 2014 in New Jersey 2015 in New Jersey Civil rights protests in the United States Crimes in New Jersey Deaths by firearm in New Jersey Mass media-related controversies in the United States African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Race and crime in the United States History of African-American civil rights December 2014 events in the United States Bridgeton, New Jersey Law enforcement in New Jersey

45627590

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Tony%20Robinson

Shooting of Tony Robinson

The shooting of Tony Terrell Robinson Jr. occurred on March 6, 2015, in Madison, Wisconsin. Robinson, an unarmed 19-year-old man, was fatally shot by Madison police officer Matthew Kenny, during a "check-person" call. Kenny was responding to dispatch reports that Robinson was jumping in front of cars and acting erratically, and that he had harmed someone in an apartment. On May 12, 2015, the shooting was determined to be justified self-defense by the Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne. The death was protested by the Black Lives Matter movement; Robinson was biracial, with a black father and a white mother. Shooting On March 6, 2015, the police received reports that 19-year-old Tony Robinson was yelling and jumping in front of cars. Robinson had reportedly been running in and out of the street while shouting at bystanders. Some of the reports were from friends of Robinson, who were concerned by his erratic behavior and called for help. The original caller and witnesses all stated that Robinson was unarmed and expressed concern over his well-being. 45-year-old officer Matt Kenny responded to the call to "check person" at 6:30 pm. Kenny was backed up by Sergeant Gary and Officer Christian. Gary and Christian arrived to the front of the residence as Kenny was standing in the entrance to the stairwell by the open door. Kenny went into the open side porch door into a stairway of twelve steps. According to Kenny, based upon shouting he overheard, he believed that Robinson was assaulting someone in the second-floor apartment, and went in to stop it. Kenny encountered an Robinson at the top of the stairs, who punched Kenny in the head, causing Kenny to sustain a concussion. Kenny said he feared for his life, thinking he could be knocked down the stairs and have his weapon taken, and fatally shot Robinson. The Robinson estate's description of the events alleges that Kenny was dispatched to a "check person" call, knew that he should wait for backup, but entered the building with his weapon drawn anyway. The estate further said that, as Kenny stood near the bottom of the stairwell, Robinson appeared at the top, and fired unnecessarily. They further stated that Robinson fell down the stairs and Kenny fired the fatal shots as he lay helpless at the bottom of the stairs. Sergeant Gary, first on scene after Kenny, asked Kenny if Robinson had any weapons. Kenny replied that Robinson did not have any weapons. Gary saw Robinson laying at the bottom of the stairs on his back with his feet out the door. Gary saw Robinson gasp for breath and pull his hands inward toward the front of his body near his stomach. Gary noted that Robinson had nothing in his hands. Gary also noted that Kenny appeared to have no injuries. Physical evidence at the scene showed all bullet casings at the bottom of the stairs, the entryway, and outside the stairwell on the porch. Squad video footage showed Kenny exiting the house as he was firing the final 3-4 shots. Further evidence at the scene showed Robinson's blood on the wall at 5 feet above the top of the fifth step from the entryway. Gary went upstairs and "cleared" the apartment but did not find anyone. Kenny went to the hospital, and photographs indicate that he had a cut on the left side of his head, near his hairline. Medical personnel cleaned the cut and did not need to bandage it. 28 days later, Officer Kenny claimed to have suffered a concussion in the course of the event with Robinson. However, Judge James Petersen ruled that Kenny's claims of concussion were not verifiable. Kenny's medical expert, Andrew Dennis, DO, acknowledged that despite the officer's claims on workman's compensation forms, there was no objective evidence in the record that Kenny suffered a concussion. Robinson was taken to the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison where he was pronounced dead. Autopsy results confirmed that Robinson had been struck by 7 bullets that were from 0–5 foot range. Robinson was determined post-mortem to have ingested Xanax, psilocybin mushrooms, and THC hours before the shooting. The drugs may have contributed to his erratic behavior. Background Court documents show that Robinson was on probation after pleading guilty to armed robbery in 2014. This stemmed from a home-invasion robbery in which Robinson was caught by police fleeing the scene, armed with a fake, but realistic-looking gun. In 2007, Officer Matt Kenny had shot and killed Ronald Brandon, who was standing on the porch of his home, holding what was later learned to be a pellet gun. The case was determined to be "suicide by cop". Aftermath The Black Lives Matter movement protested about Robinson's death. Some 1,500 protesters, mostly high school students who had staged a walk-out, filled the state capitol on March 9 to protest against Robinson's death, yelling the "Hands up, don't shoot" chant through the capital building. The Wisconsin Department of Justice investigated the Robinson shooting, as required by Wisconsin law. Robinson's uncle said that the family had faith that the Division of Criminal Investigation will "handle [the investigation] with integrity". In 2015, Future released a song called March Madness in which he addresses police shootings. The accompanying music video, directed by Vincent Lou, specifically addresses the shooting of Tony Robinson. On May 12, 2015, Dane County District Attorney, Ismael Ozanne, announced that Officer Matt Kenny would not face charges for the shooting of Tony Robinson. The shooting was labeled a "lawful use of deadly police force." In February, 2017, Robinson's mother, Andrea Irwin, accepted a $3.35 million settlement from the city, to settle a civil rights lawsuit, filed under the 14th and 4th amendments. References External links Wisconsin DOJ Investigation Report The Shooting of Tony Robinson Jr. Deaths by firearm in Wisconsin History of Madison, Wisconsin African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States 2015 in Wisconsin Civil rights protests in the United States African-American history of Wisconsin 2015 controversies in the United States 2015 deaths Race and crime in the United States Black Lives Matter Filmed killings by law enforcement March 2015 events in the United States History of racism in Wisconsin Law enforcement in Wisconsin

46369340

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Bich%20Cau%20Thi%20Tran

Shooting of Bich Cau Thi Tran

The shooting of Bich Cau Thi Tran (also known as Cau Bich Tran) occurred in San Jose, California, on July 13, 2003. She was fatally shot by a San Jose Police officer in her home. Tran was wielding an Asian vegetable peeler at two police officers and was then shot once in the chest. The incident led to controversy among the Vietnamese American community in San Jose, accusing the officer of using excessive force. The family of Tran was awarded $1.8 million in a lawsuit filed against the city of San Jose. Backgrounds Tran was a 25-year-old Vietnamese immigrant who spoke little English. She was born in Vietnam on May 2, 1978, the first child of and . She immigrated to the United States in 1997, taking a job at the NUMMI assembly plant in Fremont, California. She was the mother of two boys, then 2 and 4 years old, with whom she lived with in an apartment, along with her boyfriend Dang Quang Bui. She was tall and weighed . She had a history of mental health problems and had stopped taking anti psychotic medication. Tran had at least nine interactions with police from 2001 to 2003 due to mental health issues and outbursts, and had been hospitalized at least three times for mental health issues. The two officers, Chad Marshall and Tom Mun, were employed by the San Jose Police Department. Marshall, then 30 years old, had four years of law enforcement experience, while Mun had two and a half years of experience. Shooting At 6:00p.m., Bich Cau Thi Tran was heard and seen by neighbors yelling in Vietnamese and waving her arms while roaming around the streets of their neighborhood. According to a neighbor, Tran was "marching zombielike down the sidewalk" and ignoring her youngest son, who was wandering in traffic at the intersection of Taylor and 12th Streets crying and asking for "his mommy." The neighbor told Tran to "go take care of your little babies," and Tran's boyfriend, Dang Quang Bui, took her into their family's home and drew the blinds. The neighbor phoned the police to report the wandering toddler, which prompted a dispatch to the scene to check on the welfare of the toddler. Tran's family stated that she had tried to enter an accidentally-locked bedroom from the outside, through the window, and had not noticed that one of her sons had followed her outside. While officers were en route, Tran was heard by neighbors screaming in her home, prompting more calls to the police as a suspected domestic violence issue. Two officers arrived on scene in separate patrol cars. Officer Chad Marshall and Officer Tom Mun arrived at the East Taylor Street apartment complex where Tran lived with her boyfriend and the couple's two sons. The officers heard Tran acting distraught and pounding and screaming inside. The officers pounded on the door for several minutes, and Mun asked Marshall if they should break it down. Tran's boyfriend, Dang Quang Bui, then opened the door and pointed the officers to the kitchen, where Tran was, stating that "she's crazy." Tran was holding a Asian vegetable peeler, a , that had a blade and was about away from the officers. Initial police reports stated that after police entered the apartment, Tran screamed at the officers to get out, and when they did not, she retrieved what looked like a cleaver out of a drawer and waved it at them. Tran's family disputed that account, saying that she had already been gesturing angrily with the utensil within the kitchen before officers arrived, as she had been employing it to try to pry the locked bedroom door open. Mun would later testify that she screamed at the officers to go away while shaking the raised blade, which Mun said appeared to be a kitchen knife. A knife expert would later testify the peeler "would have been able to cut a piece of meat". Mun believed she was about to throw the blade at either the officers, Bui, or the couple's two sons, all standing nearby. Marshall described the knife as a cleaver and said he thought she was raising it over her head in preparation to throw it at him. Within three or "seven to eight" seconds of entering the apartment, Marshall responded by firing one gunshot into Tran's chest, killing her. According to Bui's testimony, Marshall did not warn Tran or demand that she drop the weapon before opening fire, although Mun said Marshall twice ordered Tran to "drop the knife." Bui also testified that Tran was gesturing in frustration at a locked bedroom door with the peeler, which she had tried to pry open before police arrived on scene. Bui testified that Tran had exhibited symptoms of mental illness after their second child was born in 2000, but would often stop taking her anti-psychotic medication because it made her tired. Bui related several incidents that occurred in 2001 requiring police responses to Tran's actions. Officer Christopher Hardin responded to the scene just as the shooting occurred. He entered the apartment immediately after hearing gunfire, and described what he saw: Tran was lying on her back, "slowly shifting her head and limbs and gasping for breath" with Marshall's eyes "very large ... [looking] sad and scared at the same time" as Tran's sons were "screaming and clutching onto [Marshall's] legs." A responding paramedic, Maria Rios, testified that her dispatchers told her to wait outside the apartment for six minutes while police "secured" the scene. Rios would pronounce Tran dead fifteen minutes after the shooting. A pathologist, Dr. Richard Mason, testified the shot had pierced Tran's heart, fatally wounding her. The damage was so massive that emergency medical treatment would have been ineffective, even if the paramedics had not been delayed from entering the apartment. Investigation The Santa Clara County District Attorney's office held a criminal grand jury of 18 members to decide on whether or not Marshall should be indicted for the shooting death. The grand jury hearing was held publicly at the request of Santa Clara County District Attorney George Kennedy and the grand jury foreman to "... help eliminate any public concern or mistrust about the case." Santa Clara County Deputy District's Attorney Dan Nishigaya provided evidence to the grand jury over a two-week span. Nishigaya asked the officers why they did not choose to use pepper spray or other nonlethal tactics to subdue Tran, and Tom Mun testified that the incident "happened too quickly" and that it appeared to be an imminent threat that endangered the lives of the two officers and Tran's relatives. During the presentation of testimony, grand jurors would ask why police kept referring to the vegetable peeler as a knife, and Nishigaya admonished a crime scene investigator for calling Tran "the suspect." A police training instructor, Officer Alan Soroka, brandished a training knife in response to a grand juror's question why the police did not shoot at the weapon instead. Soroka was attempting to demonstrate how difficult it would be to shoot the knife from an attacker's hand to explain why police are trained to shoot at the attacker's torso and not the weapon, but observers in the courtroom felt the testimony was highly prejudicial as the instructor was wielding a combat-style training knife. Other police training instructors testified to the danger of any edged tool, stating that a charging attacker could stab an officer within 1.5 seconds from a distance of . On October 30, 2003, the grand jury declined to indict Marshall after two hours of deliberation on charges of either manslaughter or murder in Tran's death after a seven-day proceeding. Tran's family filed a civil lawsuit on November 12, 2003 against the city of San Jose, Officer Chad Marshall, and the San Jose Chief of Police, alleging wrongful death. The lawsuit also accused the police department of attempting to deflect blame by exaggerating the nature of the Tran's "weapon" (the police had called it a "large cleaver") and increasing the time elapsed between entering the apartment and the shooting (the police had said 55 seconds elapsed). In 2005, Tran's family was awarded $1,825,000. $800,000 of it went to Tran's sons. According to San Jose Attorney Rick Doyle, the city wanted to avoid a "drawn-out case" and make sure Tran's sons would be provided for. Reaction Tran was buried on August 2, 2003 at Oak Hill Memorial Park. The Cau Bich Tran Memorial Fund was established in her memory. The shooting lead to many protests organized by Vietnamese community leaders and immigrant activists, and distrust from some of the Vietnamese community leaders and citizens in the San Jose area, stating that the shooting was a result of excessive force. Three days after Tran was killed, 300 protesters marched from her apartment to the San Jose City Hall. A vigil with 400 people was held for Tran within days of the shooting, notable as one of the first responses by the Vietnamese-American community to issues in America, as opposed to anti-communist activism targeting Vietnam. The shooting led to the formation of the Coalition for Justice and Accountability, founded by Richard Konda, a director of the Asian Law Alliance. It was an organization that sought for justice in the case and demanded the San Jose Police Department to be culturally sensitive and adopt nonlethal tactics for subduing mentally disturbed people. The organization held multiple protests at the San Jose City Hall and in November 2003, after the grand jury declined to indict Chad Marshall, the ethnically diverse group called for a federal investigation of Tran's killing, contending that her history of interactions with the police, where she was angry yet remained nonviolent, illustrated that police were too quick to perceive ethnic minorities as inherently more threatening. On August 11, 2015, Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 227 into law, making California the first state to ban the use of grand juries to indict officers facing charges for fatal shootings. The law effectively left the decision whether or not to present criminal charge(s) against officers involved in fatal shootings to the presiding district attorney. See also Shooting of Kuanchung Kao References Bibliography External links People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Law enforcement in California 21st century in San Jose, California Deaths by firearm in California Protests in the United States 2003 in California American people of Vietnamese descent Asian-American-related controversies

46449003

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Dontre%20Hamilton

Shooting of Dontre Hamilton

On April 30, 2014, Dontre Hamilton was shot and killed by police officer Christopher Manney, at Red Arrow Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. No charges were brought, but Manney was fired from the force. As a result of the shooting and subsequent protests, Milwaukee police officers were equipped with body cameras. Background Dontre D. Hamilton (1983 – April 30, 2014), of Milwaukee, was 31 years old at the time of his death. Hamilton had a history of mental illness. According to Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn, Hamilton had a prior history of arrests in Milwaukee which were "directly connected to mental health issues." Although it was later revealed that Dontre had no history of arrest and the reference history actually belong to his brother. Hamilton's family stated that Hamilton had been treated for schizophrenia but was not violent. In the days before his death, Hamilton told his family that he was "tired and hungry, and that somebody was going to kill him." Shooting On April 30, 2014, Manney shot Hamilton fourteen times, killing him. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel summarized the events as follows: No additional weapons were found on Hamilton's person. Aftermath Investigation The investigation was carried out by the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation, a statewide agency, but the lead agents for the investigation were former Milwaukee police officers. The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office conducted an investigation. In December 2014, District Attorney John Chisholm found the use of force to be in self-defense and declined to prosecute. A federal investigation took place, and was closed in November 2015, with federal authorities determining that there was insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against Manney. Firing of Manney After the shooting, Manney applied for duty disability, saying the shooting and its aftermath caused him to experience severe post-traumatic stress disorder. Police Chief Edward Flynn fired Manney after the shooting. In March 2015, a three-member panel of the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission unanimously upheld the firing, sustaining and confirming the two conclusions of an internal investigation, which determined that: Manney had conducted a frisking process without a reasonable suspicion. Manney did not follow departmental "Defense and Arrest Tactics." The firing does not affect Manney's pending disability application. Lawsuit In 2014, Jovan Blacknell was retained by the family of Hamilton. In 2017, the Hamilton family received a 2.3 million dollar settlement from the City of Milwaukee. Protests Dontre's brother, Nate Hamilton, has also since co-founded the Coalition for Justice, an organization that has led rallies, marches, and street clean-ups. The Black Lives Matter movement has also protested Hamilton's death. Policy changes In the aftermath of Hamilton's death, "Hamilton's family members worked with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the Police Department and other city leaders to have all officers receive Crisis Intervention Team training, considered the gold standard for working with people in psychiatric crisis, by 2017." Additionally, eight Milwaukee aldermen and a majority of the Milwaukee Common Council, called in December 2014 for equipping all city police officers with body cameras on an expedited basis. In October 2015, the Fire and Police Commission approved, by a 4–1 vote, a new policy requiring "most Milwaukee police officers to wear body cameras at all times while on duty, though they will not be required to have the devices always activated." A four-phase implementation process was developed, and officers began to wear the cameras in October 2015. However, following a similar police shooting of a Milwaukee black man in 2016, the Milwaukee Police Department was criticized for not submitting a review of its new patterns and practices. Film In 2017, the film The Blood is at the Doorstep was released, which features Hamilton's family in the immediate months following his death. Directed by Erik Ljung, it was nominated for a SXSW Grand Jury Award, and won a Golden Badge Award at the Wisconsin Film Festival. See also Mothers of the Movement List of killing by law enforcement officers References 2014 controversies in the United States 2014 deaths 2014 in Wisconsin 21st century in Milwaukee April 2014 events in the United States Black Lives Matter Milwaukee Police Department Race and crime in the United States Victims of police brutality Law enforcement controversies in the United States African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States

46500223

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Eric%20Harris

Shooting of Eric Harris

The shooting of Eric Harris occurred on April 2, 2015, when 43-year-old African-American Eric Courtney Harris was fatally shot during an undercover sting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as Harris ran from authorities unarmed. While Harris was being subdued, Tulsa County Reserve Deputy Robert Charles Bates, 73, confused his personal weapon, a Smith & Wesson .357 revolver, for a Model X26 Taser. Bates shot Harris in the back when he was on the ground. According to the Tulsa County Sheriff's office, he immediately said afterwards, "Oh, I shot him! I'm sorry." Bates was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter (unintentional homicide resulting from criminal negligence) and sentenced to four years in prison, and was released after serving 18 months. Aftermath It was later determined that Harris did not have a gun when he was tackled and shot. A sunglasses-camera video shows his arms flailing as he runs. Bates was later charged with second-degree manslaughter. Harris family attorney Donald Smolen said the sunglasses video shows Deputy Bates with a yellow Taser strapped to his chest and a .357 revolver in his right hand as he stands over Harris. "There is absolutely no way, if Mr. Bates had been trained at all, which I believe will be reflected ultimately through the lack of records to substantiate his training, that an officer who was trained would [ever] get these two weapons confused," Smolen said. In the video, Harris can be heard saying, "I'm losing my breath," to which 38-year-old Deputy Joseph Byars replies, "Fuck your breath." 24-year-old Deputy Michael Huckeby is also shown in the video kneeling on Harris' head as the dying Harris is told, "You shouldn't have ran," and "Shut the fuck up." A third deputy restraining Harris was not identified. Tulsa Police Sgt. Jim Clark, hired as an "expert witness" for the sheriff's department, said at a news conference on April 10, 2015, that Bates "was a true victim of slips and capture", and that it was typical for law enforcement officers to experience diminished hearing, tunnel vision, or go into "autopilot", where a person's behavior "slips" off the path of his intention because it is "captured" by a stronger response and sent in a different direction. "Bates didn't commit a crime," Clark said, and no policy violations occurred. Smolen told the Tulsa World that Clark's ruling was "premature and ill-advised", challenging a report that Harris was "uncooperative and combative" as firefighters attempted to administer aid, and Harris could hardly be combative since he was struggling with labored breathing and his hands were cuffed. "It's most likely the word 'combative' is being used because that's what they're being told by the Sheriff's Office," Smolen told the World. "The other alternative is their use of the word combative is more a description of Mr. Harris struggling to get air and kind of writhing in pain from the gunshot wound." Bates' qualification scandal The Tulsa Police Department immediately sought to clarify their relationships with both Bates and Clark. "Robert Bates has no current affiliation with the Tulsa Police Department and has not had any in 50 years," TPD said in a press release. "Additionally, Mr. Jim Clark, a consultant for the Tulsa County Sheriff, does not represent the Tulsa Police Department nor has the Tulsa Police Department conducted an assessment of this incident." Later that week, the Tulsa World reported that supervisors at the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office had been ordered to falsify Deputy Bates' training records. Sheriff's spokesperson Shannon Clark later said the documents wouldn't matter because Bates, who donated $2,500 to and chaired Sheriff Stanley Glanz's re-election campaign, had been granted special exceptions. In 2008, Bates had also donated substantial new equipment to the sheriff's department, including new Dodge Chargers and a Crown Victoria, as well as a computer for one car, and a $5,000 "forensic camera" and lenses. In 2010, Bates donated a used 2007 Ford F-150 and a new 2010 Chevy Tahoe, plus a Motorola hand-held radio "...to be used by the drug unit for surveillance work," according to department records. The next year he gave the department a used 1997 Toyota Avalon intended for "...use as an undercover car by the drug task force." Glanz said during an interview with a radio station that the sheriff's deputy who certified Bates had moved on to work for the Secret Service, while the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office denied providing Bates with the training he claimed. Glanz resigned, effective November 1, 2015, as a result of the scandal around Bates' lack of legitimate qualification. An election to replace him was held on March 1, 2016. In 2016 he pleaded guilty for failing to release information that proved the department knew Bates to be unqualified. Glanz was sentenced to one year in jail, but his sentence was suspended. Legal proceedings On April 14, 2015, Bates was charged with second-degree manslaughter (unintentional homicide resulting from criminal negligence). He turned himself in at the Tulsa County Jail, where he was released on the same day, having posted $25,000 bail. The charge of second-degree manslaughter carried a maximum of four years in prison. Bates pleaded not guilty on April 21, 2015. On April 28, 2016, Bates was found guilty. Based on the jury's recommendation, he was sentenced to four years in prison. Bates was released from prison on October 19, 2017, after serving 37% of his sentence, including jail time. In January 2018, Bates was photographed by a customer who was familiar with him, as he had been apparently drinking wine at a bar in contravention of the conditions of his parole from prison. His bar receipt was also photographed. In March 2018, Tulsa County agreed to pay the family of Eric Harris $6 million as a final settlement of a federal lawsuit. References 2015 crimes in the United States African-American history in Tulsa, Oklahoma American manslaughter victims Victims of police brutality African-American-related controversies African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States 2015 in Oklahoma Filmed killings by law enforcement Deaths by firearm in Oklahoma Black Lives Matter Police brutality in the United States April 2015 crimes in the United States April 2015 events in the United States History of racism in Oklahoma Law enforcement in Oklahoma

46546166

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Rekia%20Boyd

Shooting of Rekia Boyd

Rekia Boyd was a 22-year-old black American woman who was fatally shot in Chicago, Illinois by Dante Servin, an off-duty Hispanic Chicago police detective, on March 21, 2012. Shooting Servin, an off-duty police officer, drove his car to Douglass Park on the West Side of Chicago after calling the police to make a noise complaint. He then approached a group of four individuals who had been partying in the park and had some form of verbal altercation with them. Reports are unclear as to whether Servin was calm and polite or rude and aggressive. One of the victims, Antonio Cross, accused Servin of attempting to buy drugs from the group, to which Cross allegedly told Servin to get his "crackhead ass" out of there. Servin fired on the group, hitting Rekia Boyd in the head, and Antonio Cross in the hand. Initially the Chicago police department claimed that Servin had discharged his weapon after Cross had approached him with a gun. The Boyd family quickly responded that the object was in fact a cell phone. No weapon was ever recovered from the scene. Aftermath In November 2013, Servin was charged with involuntary manslaughter, but was cleared of all charges on April 20, 2015, by Judge Dennis J. Porter in a rare directed verdict. Porter's reasoning was that since the shooting was intentional, Servin could not be charged with recklessness. "It is intentional and the crime, if any there be, is first-degree murder," said Porter in his ruling. Attorney Sam Adam, Jr., accused state prosecutor Anita Alvarez of deliberately undercharging Servin knowing that the charges would be dropped, in order to curry favor with the police department. Following this ruling, Servin could not be charged with murder due to double jeopardy protections. Servin claimed he fired because someone in the group was holding a gun, but it was actually only a cellphone. Witnesses said that Servin appeared drunk at the time of the incident. In November 2015, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police superintendent Garry McCarthy both suggested that Dante Servin should be fired by the Chicago Police Board. The city paid $4.5 million to Boyd's family. Servin resigned on May 17, 2016, two days before the departmental hearing which was to decide whether he should be fired. In November 2019, Servin requested that the case be expunged from his record. The request was denied by a judge, as was a subsequent request to seal the case's records. Protests While there was some public protest of the ruling, the community response was overall more muted compared to protests against the acquittals of other police officers involved in the deaths of African Americans, such as those who killed Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Freddie Gray. Some commentators pointed to "the sexism of those ostensibly committed to black liberation" that "can leave us blind to the taste of brutality that black women are getting from the police." The Black Lives Matter movement has protested the deaths of black girls and women at the hands of police, including Boyd's. References 2012 deaths 2012 in Illinois 2010s in Chicago Deaths by firearm in Illinois History of Chicago African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Protests in the United States Black Lives Matter March 2012 events in the United States Victims of police brutality in the United States Law enforcement controversies in the United States

46611026

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Brian%20Moore

Shooting of Brian Moore

The murder of Brian Moore, a New York City police officer, took place on May 2, 2015, in Queens, New York, where he was shot. Moore died two days later at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, at the age of 25. His partner, Erik Jansen, was shot at but escaped injury. Demetrius Blackwell was arrested in connection with the shooting, and was formally charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and other charges. On December 19, 2017, Blackwell was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. Brian Moore Brian Moore (June 30, 1989 – May 4, 2015) was the son of an NYPD Sergeant with whom he lived at the time he was shot. He grew up in North Massapequa, New York on Long Island and graduated Plainedge High School in 2007. He made over 150 arrests during his five-year career. Events On the night of May 2, Moore, who was on duty as a plainclothes officer at the time, and his partner, Erik Jansen, were patrolling Hollis, Queens, a residential neighborhood, when they saw a 35-year-old man, identified as Demetrius Blackwell, adjust his waistband. According to New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton, the officers then told Blackwell to stop, whereupon Blackwell turned and began firing shots into the officers' car. Police said that Blackwell fired at least two rounds into the car. Moore was shot in the head and his partner, Erik Jansen, was uninjured. Moore was killed with a .38-caliber Taurus revolver that police believe was stolen from a shop in Perry, Georgia, on October 3, 2011. Legal proceedings Blackwell was taken into custody on the night of the shooting and charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon, and attempted murder. According to Bratton, Blackwell had a lengthy arrest record. After Moore died at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, the district attorney of Queens County, Richard A. Brown, said that the charges filed against Blackwell would be elevated to include first-degree murder. On June 11, 2015, Blackwell was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder, aggravated assault on a police officer, first-degree assault, and weapons possession. He faced a maximum of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole if convicted of the first-degree murder charge. A lawyer for Blackwell argued that his client, who struggled for years with seizures from severe epilepsy, had been wrongly identified as Moore’s assailant. On November 9, 2017, Blackwell was found guilty on all counts. On December 19, 2017, Blackwell was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Reactions After Moore's death, Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, said, "Our hearts are heavy today as we mourn the loss of police officer Brian Moore. For five years, Brian served with distinction, and he put his life on the line each day to keep us all safe." New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, "The shooting of Officer Brian Moore over the weekend was a deplorable act of violence that has robbed New York of one of its finest." On May 5, the New York Mets wore NYPD hats and held a moment of silence before their game against the Baltimore Orioles that day. In July 2015, the City Council voted to rename an intersection named after him; the street is to be called "Detective 1st Grade Brian Moore Way". Funeral Moore's funeral mass was held on May 8, 2015, at St. James Roman Catholic Church in Seaford, New York. JetBlue offered free airfare to all police officers traveling to attend the funeral. Thousands of police officers from around the United States attended the mass, where Bratton posthumously promoted Moore to the rank of detective. See also 2014 killings of NYPD officers Shooting of Darren Goforth References 2015 in New York City 21st century in Queens Moore, Brian Moore, Brian Crimes in Queens, New York Moore, Brian Moore, Brian May 2015 crimes in the United States Moore, Brian

46612927

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Parrish%20Dennison

Shooting of Parrish Dennison

Parrish Dennison was shot and killed by police in New Mexico in 2013. There was disagreement over the justification for the fatal shooting. Fatal shooting On March 5, 2013, Parrish Dennison was shot and killed by Albuquerque police officers Perdue, Dedler and Aragon. Dennison was suspected of being one of three people attempting to sell a stolen banjo from the robbery of a local music store. Police alleged that Dennison pointed a revolver at them before they shot him. Dennison's mother, Charlotte Ingraham, asserted that footage from a helicopter camera showed otherwise. Police video from after the shooting showed Dennison on the ground with a gun in his hand. The shooting was ruled as justified by the Bernalillo County District Attorney's Office. After the incident, Dennison’s family filed a lawsuit for wrongful death. A witness to the incident stated that Dennison did not point a gun at officers before the shooting, and that Dennison tried to break through a window but bounced off before police fired upon him. The witness said, "He never once pointed the gun at them, nothing… He just hit that window and just bounced back and then boom, boom, boom." See also Kendall Carroll Shooting of James Boyd Alfred Redwine shooting List of Albuquerque police shootings References People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States 2013 in New Mexico 2013 deaths Police brutality in the United States Albuquerque Police Department Deaths by firearm in New Mexico

46616143

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Kendall%20Carroll

Shooting of Kendall Carroll

Kendall Carroll was shot and killed on March 19, 2013, just two weeks after the fatal Albuquerque Police Department (APD) shooting of Parrish Dennison. Kendall and his brother were both involved in an officer stand off. The stand off lasted for more than four hours. Michael the younger brother surrendered midway while Kendall continued on. State police sniper Shane Todd fired the lethal shot to end the stand off. Throughout the altercation police threw tear gas into the apartment that the men were shooting at them from. Police were originally called to the scene because Kendall was a suspect in an earlier shooting which involved wounding an APD officer. See also Shooting of James Boyd Alfred Redwine shooting List of Albuquerque police shootings References Year of birth missing 2013 deaths People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States 2013 in New Mexico Albuquerque Police Department

46831506

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Ramarley%20Graham

Shooting of Ramarley Graham

The shooting of Ramarley Graham took place in the borough of the Bronx in New York City on February 2, 2012. Richard Haste, a New York Police Department officer, shot Graham in the bathroom of the latter's apartment. The 18-year-old Graham was in possession of marijuana when officer Haste tried to stop him on the street. Graham fled to his grand mother’s house, and went into the bathroom to flush the marijuana. Officer Haste forced his way into the building, kicked down the front door and then broke down the bathroom where he shot Ramarley Graham to death. Haste could be seen on surveillance cameras smiling and laughing with the responding officers and detectives—the same men who would later testify they had told Haste that Graham had a gun. Haste claimed to believe Graham had been reaching for a gun in his waistband, but no weapon was recovered. Haste was charged with manslaughter, but the charge was dropped. On the day the judge dismissed the charges, rows of NYPD officer lined the courthouse steps and applauded Haste as he exited. The blue salute took place right in front of Ramarley Graham's family. The city of New York settled a civil suit, paying the family $3.9 million in 2015, but The NYPD Firearms Discharge Review Board found the shooting to be within department guidelines. In 2017, an internal NYPD investigation explored whether Haste used "poor tactics" leading up to the shooting. The investigation led to a determination of fault on the part of Haste, and he ultimately resigned from the NYPD rather than face separation of employment. Background Ramarley Graham was an 18-year-old Jamaica-born teenager from the Bronx. Richard Haste was a police officer serving on the NYPD's Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit (SNEU). Haste had six prior Civilian Complaint Review Board complaints, although none were substantiated. Shooting Graham was spotted by officers from the NYPD's Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit as he left a bodega on White Plains Road and East 228th Street on Thursday, February 2, 2012, at approximately 3:00 PM. The officers alleged that they witnessed Graham adjusting and tugging a gun at his waistband. The officers then began to follow Graham as he left the bodega and went into an apartment building, reporting over their radio that they saw the "butt of a gun" on the teen. No gun was recovered. The officers claimed that they approached Graham when he left the building, identifying themselves as police officers and telling him not to move. Then, the officers stated in their official report, Graham started to run from them toward his home. However, video evidence showed Graham casually walking into his home while officers followed in pursuit. According to video footage from a nearby private home, Richard Haste chased Graham into the home he shared with his grandmother. Haste did not have permission to enter the home. Haste entered upon his own volition, hurriedly opening the front door to the private home, running inside to follow Graham. Graham was in the bathroom, dumping a small amount of marijuana that was wrapped in aluminum foil, attempting to flush it down the toilet. Haste shot multiple rounds into the 18 year old, killing him in front of his grandmother. Graham was pronounced dead a short time later at nearby Montefiore Medical Center. There was no confrontation or struggle between Graham and Officer Haste, and no weapon was ever recovered from the scene. Officer Haste was immediately placed on modified duty. He was charged with manslaughter four months later, in June 2012, and pleaded not guilty. Bronx County Supreme Court Justice Steven Barrett later vacated Haste's manslaughter indictment, ruling the prosecution had given the grand jury flawed instructions. He dismissed the indictment without prejudice and gave the district attorney the option to seek an indictment from another grand jury at a later date. The Bronx County District Attorney’s office presented evidence before another grand jury in 2013, but the grand jury declined to re-indict Haste on charges of manslaughter. The NYPD performed an internal disciplinary review of the incident, which found that Haste used "poor tactical judgment and recommended his dismissal." Haste was informed of the decision on March 24, 2017, and upon learning that he was to be terminated, submitted his resignation two days later. Lawsuit The lawsuit by Graham's family alleging civil rights violations by the NYPD was settled for $3.9 million in January 2015. Of that total, $2.95 million was given to Graham's estate, while Graham's brother received $500,000, his grandmother received $400,000, and his mother received $40,000. References New York City Police Department corruption and misconduct 2012 deaths 2012 in New York City 2012 controversies in the United States Deaths by firearm in the Bronx Deaths by person in New York City African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Black Lives Matter African-American-related controversies Law enforcement controversies February 2012 events in the United States History of the Bronx 21st century in the Bronx Williamsbridge, Bronx

47206422

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Kate%20Steinle

Shooting of Kate Steinle

On July 1, 2015, 32-year-old Kathryn ("Kate") Steinle was shot and killed while walking with her father and a friend along Pier 14 in the Embarcadero district of San Francisco. She was hit in the back by a single bullet. The man who fired the gun, José Inez García Zárate, said he had found it moments before, wrapped in cloth beneath a bench on which he was sitting, and that when he picked it up the weapon went off. The shot ricocheted off the concrete deck of the pier and struck the victim, who was about 90 feet (27m) away. Steinle died two hours later in a hospital as a result of her injuries. On November 30, 2017, after five days of deliberations, a jury acquitted García Zárate of all murder and manslaughter charges. He was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, but that conviction was overturned on appeal on August 30, 2019. García Zárate's immigration status made the shooting controversial and led to political criticism of San Francisco's status as a sanctuary city, as García Zárate is an illegal immigrant residing in the United States who had previously been deported five times. Donald Trump, at the time a presidential candidate, cited García Zárate in support of his proposal to deport criminal illegal immigrants living in the United States, and mentioned Steinle during his acceptance speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Shooting García Zárate told ABC station KGO-TV in a jailhouse interview that he started wandering on Pier 14, a tourist attraction area at the Embarcadero waterfront district, Wednesday July 1, 2015, after taking sleeping pills he found in a dumpster. He said he then picked up a gun that he found. García Zárate fired one shot from a .40-caliber SIG Sauer P239 handgun with a seven-cartridge magazine. One bullet struck Steinle in the back and pierced her aorta. She collapsed to the pavement while screaming to her father, who was accompanying her at the pier, for help. Her father and others performed CPR on Kathryn before paramedics arrived and took her to an ambulance. She died two hours later at San Francisco General Hospital. García Zárate was arrested about an hour after the shooting at Pier 40, about south of Pier 14, and divers from the San Francisco Police Department Underwater Recovery Unit found the gun in the bay alongside Pier 14 the following day. On July 5, 2015, investigators returned to the pier and found a point from García Zárate's presumed location where a bullet had ricocheted off of the concrete. Following his arrest, García Zárate was booked into San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of murder. The gun used by García Zárate had been stolen in downtown San Francisco from a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) ranger's personal vehicle on June 27, 2015, according to the Bureau of Land Management. The ranger, John Woychowski, testified at trial that he had left the weapon holstered and unsecured in a backpack under the front seat of his personal vehicle while he went to dinner with his family. The car's window had been broken. Victim Kathryn Michelle (Kate) Steinle (December 13, 1982 – July 1, 2015) was originally from Pleasanton, California, grew up in Germany as a "military brat" and graduated from Amador Valley High School. She earned a communications degree from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She was employed at Medtronic in San Francisco and was living on Beale Street, close to Pier 14, the site of the shooting. Her funeral was held at a winery in Pleasanton on July 9. Killer José Inez García Zárate (or Juan Francisco López-Sánchez), of Guanajuato, Mexico, is an illegal immigrant who was deported from the U.S. a total of five times, most recently in 2009. He was on probation in Texas at the time of the shooting. He had seven felony convictions, none of them for violent crimes. When he was apprehended, García Zárate was listed as 45 years old by police, but as 52 in jail records. García Zárate arrived in the U.S. sometime before 1991, the year he was convicted of his first drug charge in Arizona. He worked in Washington state in roofing and construction, and was also convicted three times there for felony heroin possession and manufacturing narcotics. Following another drug conviction and jail term, this time in Oregon, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) deported García Zárate in June 1994. However, García Zárate returned to the U.S. within two years and was convicted again of heroin possession in Washington state. He was deported for the second time in 1997. On February 2, 1998, García Zárate was deported for the third time, after reentering the U.S. through Arizona. United States Border Patrol caught him six days later at a border crossing, and a federal court sentenced García Zárate to five years and three months in federal prison for unauthorized reentry. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), successor of the INS, deported García Zárate in 2003 for his fourth deportation. However, he reentered the U.S. through the Texas border and got another federal prison sentence for reentry before being deported for the fifth time in June 2009. Less than three months after his fifth deportation, García Zárate was caught attempting to cross the border in Eagle Pass, Texas. He pleaded guilty to felony reentry; upon sentencing, a federal court recommended García Zárate be placed in "a federal medical facility as soon as possible". On March 26, 2015, at the request of the San Francisco Sheriff's Department (SFSD), United States Bureau of Prisons (BOP) had turned García Zárate over to San Francisco authorities for an outstanding drug warrant. San Francisco officials transported García Zárate to San Francisco County Jail on March 26, 2015, to face a 20-year-old felony charge of selling and possessing marijuana after García Zárate completed his latest prison term in San Bernardino County for entering in the country without the proper documents. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had issued a detainer for García Zárate requesting that he be kept in custody until immigration authorities could pick him up. However, as a sanctuary city, San Francisco's "Due Process for All" ordinance restricted cooperation with ICE to only cases where the immigrant had both current violent felony charges and past violent felony convictions; therefore, San Francisco disregarded the detainer and released him. He was released from San Francisco County Jail on April 15, 2015, and had no outstanding warrants or judicial warrants, as confirmed by the San Francisco Sheriff's Department. Legal proceedings García Zárate was formally charged with first-degree murder and possession of illegal narcotics on July 6. García Zárate admitted in a KGO-TV interview that he committed the shooting but said he found the gun wrapped in a T-shirt under a bench after taking sleeping pills he found from a trash can. He first claimed that he was aiming at sea lions, then that the gun had fired while he was picking up the wrapped package, and that Steinle's shooting was accidental. During a pretrial hearing, a judge disallowed the interview to be used as evidence. García Zárate pleaded not guilty to the charges, and was held on $5-million bail. García Zárate's attorney, Matt Gonzalez, stated in court that the shooting was likely accidental. On July 28, prosecutors filed an additional charge against García Zárate: being a felon in possession of a firearm. On September 4, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Brendan Conroy stated that there was enough evidence to try García Zárate. Initially charged with first-degree murder, García Zárate was eventually tried for second-degree murder. If found guilty of the charges of second-degree murder, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and an enhancement of using a firearm, García Zárate could have faced life in prison without the possibility of parole. The jury also had the option of deciding if he was guilty of involuntary manslaughter (where the death occurs without intent but "through the negligent or reckless actions of the defendant"). In August, a judge set December 2 as the date to assign the case to a judge for trial. García Zárate's public defender said there were no discussions of a plea deal. However, the trial date set for December 2016 was postponed. García Zárate returned to court July 14, 2017. The trial was postponed again on July 25, but the defendant asserted his right to a speedy trial, meaning that the trial was required to begin within 60 days. The trial began October 23, 2017, with opening statements and a brief testimony from Steinle's father. On subsequent days, jurors heard testimonies from eyewitnesses of the shooting, local investigators and the BLM ranger whose stolen gun was used in the crime. Police revealed how they had lied to García Zárate in order to motivate him to confess to the shooting by saying that they had more evidence than had actually been collected at the time. The prosecution contended he brought the stolen gun to the crime scene while the defense claimed the weapon was found under a Pier 14 seat. The defense called its first witness, the crime lab supervisor, after the prosecution rested its case after two weeks of testimony. Their case was that the shooting was accidental and occurred when García Zárate picked up the newly found gun. Experts regarding video enhancement and Spanish translation were heard to bolster the claim of an accidental shooting and incomplete investigation. A key point of contention was the ease with which the weapon could have been fired accidentally. A supervising criminologist at the San Francisco Police Department crime lab testified that the gun was in excellent condition and would not have fired without someone pulling the trigger. The defense emphasized that the Sig Sauer pistol has no external safety mechanism to prevent accidental firing, and pointed to a record of even police trained in the use of Sig Sauer pistols having made accidental discharges. As examined by the criminologist, it was placed in single-action mode (where the hammer is cocked), rather than double-action mode (where a single pull of the trigger both cocks and releases the hammer). While it is typical for a gun that has been fired to be in single-action mode, a gun in single-action mode also requires less trigger pressure to fire. The defense argued that this made it more plausible that García Zárate could have pulled the trigger accidentally while picking up or unwrapping the bundled gun. Woychowski, a BLM ranger, testified that he always left the pistol in double-action mode, but that he typically loaded it in single-action mode, and couldn't definitively say that he had returned it to double-action mode before it was stolen. The defense rested its case after four days. Prior to closing arguments, Judge James Feng agreed to a request by the prosecutor Diana Garcia to instruct the jury in first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and involuntary manslaughter. "The jury will be instructed on multiple theories of homicide," said District Attorney's Office spokesman Alex Bastian. Jury deliberations began after 12 days of testimony, dozens of witnesses and two days of closing arguments on November 21, 2017. On November 30, 2017, after five days of deliberations, the jury acquitted García Zárate of all murder and manslaughter charges, but convicted him of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The Department of Justice unsealed a federal arrest warrant for García Zárate following his trial. The charges include felon in possession of a firearm, involuntary manslaughter, and assault with a deadly weapon. There is an existing federal detainer for García Zárate to be transported to the Western District of Texas by U.S. Marshals. On January 11, 2019, García Zárate filed an appeal of his felon in possession conviction in the First Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal. On August 30, 2019, the California state 1st District Court of Appeals overturned the gun conviction saying "the judge failed to instruct the jury on one of his defenses". Investigation The gun used in the shooting was confirmed by forensic crime laboratory technicians to be the same one stolen from a federal agent's car. The .40-caliber handgun had been taken from a U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) ranger's car that was parked in downtown San Francisco, on June 27, 2015. The ranger, John Woychowski, was in San Francisco for an official government business trip. He testified at trial that he had left the weapon holstered and unsecured in a backpack under the front seat of his personal vehicle while he went to dinner with his family. Woychowski immediately reported the theft to San Francisco police, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Crime Information Center. Police issued a citywide crime alert but did not call in CSI technicians to examine the scene. Ballistics experts for both the prosecution and defense agreed with the investigators finding that, after García Zárate fired the gun, the bullet ricocheted off the pavement away from him before traveling another and striking Steinle. Family lawsuit In September 2015, the Steinle family announced their intention to file a lawsuit against the City of San Francisco, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Bureau of Land Management, alleging complicity and negligence in the death of their daughter. On January 7, 2017, Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero dismissed the family's claims against San Francisco and former Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi. The magistrate also dismissed their claim against ICE, but he ruled that the lawsuit accusing the Bureau of Land Management of negligence could proceed. In January 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Kate's family could not sue the city of San Francisco. Reaction The killing sparked fierce criticism and political debate over San Francisco's sanctuary city policy, which disallows local officials from questioning a resident's immigration status. Multiple Republican presidential candidates, including Donald Trump and Jeb Bush, made statements blaming the immigration policy for Steinle's death; Trump further called for the need for a secure border wall. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest stated that the U.S. would be safer if Republican lawmakers had approved comprehensive immigration reform backed by President Barack Obama. 2016 U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton joined California Senator and former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, in condemning the policy. Clinton said, "The city made a mistake, not to deport someone that the federal government strongly felt should be deported ... So I have absolutely no support for a city that ignores the strong evidence that should be acted on." That same week, Feinstein penned a public letter to San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee that stated, "The tragic death of Ms. Steinle could have been avoided if the Sheriff's Department had notified ICE prior to the release of Mr. Sanchez, which would have allowed ICE to remove him from the country." Local and state reaction San Francisco County Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi received criticism by anti-illegal immigration activist groups, including Californians for Population Stabilization, and a range of politicians, including San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and California U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, for García Zárate's release from custody before the shooting. Lee stated the sanctuary city ordinance allows the sheriff to coordinate with federal immigration and ICE agents. On July 7, Feinstein stated that the San Francisco County Sheriff's Department should have notified ICE before García Zárate was released, so that he could be deported from the county. In a press conference held on July 10, Mirkarimi blamed federal prison and immigration officials for the series of events that led up to the release of García Zárate. Ross Mirkarimi lost his bid for re-election to Vicki Hennessy on November 3, 2015, receiving 38% of the vote. Political reactions The Donald Trump presidential campaign for the 2016 election released the political advertisement "Act of Love", showing García Zárate and criticizing rival Jeb Bush's policy on immigration. Later, when accepting the Republican nomination for president at the 2016 Republican National Convention, Trump mentioned Steinle's death as a rationale to deport illegal aliens in the United States. After the 2017 Presidential Inauguration, President Trump again mentioned Steinle and other victims of violent crime by illegal aliens when creating the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office within ICE. Kate's Law In response to the controversy, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz from Texas and U.S. Representative Matt Salmon from Arizona introduced , the Establishing Mandatory Minimums for Illegal Reentry Act of 2015, also known as Kate's Law. No vote was ever held. In July 2015, however, the House did pass the Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act (), a related bill that is often confused with Kate's Law. Members of Steinle's family did not want her to be in the middle of a political controversy, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "I don’t know who coined 'Kate’s Law,'" Kate's father Jim Steinle told the paper. "It certainly wasn't us." In July 2016, a Senate version of the law () was filibustered with the motion to invoke cloture receiving 55–42 votes mostly by Senate Republicans, therefore insufficient to defeat the filibuster. The Senate also voted on another bill often confused with Kate's Law, the Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act (). The bill failed to proceed to a final vote in the Senate. On June 23, 2017, U.S. Representative Bob Goodlatte from Virginia reintroduced two bills, Kate's Law () and No Sanctuary for Criminals, an anti-sanctuary city policy (), into the House which passed on June 29 and proceeded to the Senate. See also Illegal immigration to the United States and crime Killing of Mollie Tibbetts Office of Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement References 2015 controversies in the United States 2015 crimes in the United States 2015 in San Francisco 2015 murders in the United States Crimes in San Francisco Criminal trials that ended in acquittal Female murder victims Steinle, Kathryn Illegal immigration to the United States Political controversies in the United States July 2015 crimes in the United States July 2015 events in the United States

47377684

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Samuel%20DuBose

Shooting of Samuel DuBose

On July 19, 2015, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Samuel DuBose, an unarmed black man, was fatally shot by Ray Tensing, a white University of Cincinnati police officer, during a traffic stop for a missing front license plate and a suspended driver's license. Tensing fired after DuBose started his car. Tensing stated that DuBose had begun to drive off and that he was being dragged because his arm was caught in the car. Prosecutors alleged that footage from Tensing's bodycam showed that he was not dragged, and a grand jury indicted him on charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter. He was then fired from the police department. He was released on bond before trial. A November 2016 trial ended in mistrial after the jury became deadlocked. A retrial begun in May 2017 also ended in a hung jury. The charges against Tensing were later dismissed with prejudice. Backgrounds Samuel DuBose Samuel Vincent DuBose (March 12, 1972 – July 19, 2015), a black 43-year-old man, was a rapper, music producer, entrepreneur, and motorcycle enthusiast. He was the founder of a motorcycle club, Ruthless Riders. He attended high school in Cincinnati and was the father of 13 children. Raymond Tensing Raymond Tensing (born November 13, 1989), a white police officer who was 25 years old at the time of the shooting, had four years of law enforcement experience. He joined the University of Cincinnati Police Department (UCPD) in April 2014, having previously been an officer with the department of Greenhills, Ohio. He had left the Ohio State Highway Patrol's training academy after attending for just one day. According to a highway patrol spokesman, he was unable to adapt to the physical and mental requirements. Tensing graduated cum laude with a degree in criminal justice from University of Cincinnati Clermont College in 2012 and officially had a clean performance record. University of Cincinnati Police Department The University of Cincinnati Police Department is certified by the state of Ohio and has full police authority throughout the state. They focus their patrols areas on three campuses and the areas around them. UCPD officers receive 616 hours of training at the police academy, plus 80 of rookie training, while city police officers spend 1,040 hours in training. Since the UCPD's patrol area was expanded to include neighboring areas in 2009, the number of reported crimes in those areas was cut in half by 2014. Officers increased their traffic stops on- and off-campus, tripling the number from 2012 to 2015. Of its 72 officers, 4 are African American and 1 is Asian American. Unlike the Cincinnati Police Department (CPD), the UCPD was not included in federally mandated reforms following the nearby riots of 2001 that had been in reaction to a shooting of a young black man by city police. One UCPD chief resigned in 2013 amid reported low morale, and he was not replaced immediately. Two other black men had been killed by UCPD officers, both with Tasers: a mental patient in 2010 and a student in 2011. Shooting At , on Rice Street near Thill Street in the Mount Auburn district, Tensing was patrolling off-campus when he stopped DuBose for failure to display a front license plate, which was a primary offense for vehicles with Ohio license plates. The incident was recorded on Tensing's bodycam, which he activated before the traffic stop. Seen in the bodycam video, Tensing repeatedly requests a driver's license and DuBose replies that he has a driver's license, then stating that he does not have it with him. Tensing asks, "Are you suspended?" Tensing starts to open the driver's door and orders DuBose to remove his seat belt. DuBose pulls the door closed, starts the engine, and puts the car in drive. Within the next few seconds, Tensing reaches into the car with his left hand, yells "Stop! Stop!", draws his pistol with his right hand, and fires once striking DuBose. Sources differed as to whether the car was moving before the shot was fired. According to the Kroll Report, "it is difficult to determine with precision how much, if at all, the car moved [prior to the gunshot], but whatever movement may have occurred appears to have been minimal." After firing, Tensing falls away from the vehicle which accelerates as he and two other officers run after it. After travelling about , the vehicle collided into a telephone pole and came to a stop. After the officers reach the car, the video shows DuBose inside with a gunshot wound to his head. The county coroner's preliminary autopsy results, released on , confirmed that as the cause of death. In bodycam footage, Tensing repeatedly tells other officers that he was dragged when his arm became caught in the car, possibly in the steering wheel. In the police report that he filed after the incident, he stated that he was dragged, forcing him to fire his weapon. Through lawyers, he released a public statement that he was afraid that he would be run over. On , authorities released Tensing's bodycam video, which, according to prosecutors, shows that Tensing was not dragged. A day after the shooting, it was reported that DuBose was driving on an indefinitely suspended driver's license, and had four bags and a jar of marijuana and about $2,600 cash in the car. Investigation and police reports UCPD officers Phillip Kidd and David Lindenschmidt arrived at the scene just after the gunshot. In his bodycam video, Kidd is heard supporting Tensing's statement that he was dragged by the car. According to County Prosecutor Joe Deters, neither officer stated in his official statement to Cincinnati police that he saw Tensing being dragged. Officer-in-Training Lindenschmidt, who had started working in the field only that month, made what have been called "rookie mistakes" in picking up Tensing's fallen flashlight and moving Tensing's vehicle. Eric Weibel, a UCPD officer who did not witness the shooting, stated in a report that Tensing's uniform looked like he had been dragged. The CPD took over the investigation soon after they were called to the scene. Aftermath Official reactions On , Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney Joe Deters stated in a press conference that the shooting was "asinine" and "senseless". He said that DuBose was not acting violently or aggressively. With "an abundance of caution in anticipation" of Deters' announcement, the University of Cincinnati closed its Uptown and Medical campuses at The campuses resumed normal operations the next day. On , the Fraternal Order of PoliceOhio Labor Council, a union that represents UCPD employees, filed a grievance asking that Tensing be reinstated to his position on the police force, asserting that he was terminated "without just cause". Resolution of the grievance is postponed pending the outcome of the criminal case. In the wake of the shooting, Deters called for the disbandment of the UCPD force and its replacement with city police officers. The incident also drew attention to the presence of armed law enforcement on college campuses. There was some public and academic criticism of Deters' comments, on the basis that his rhetoric would jeopardize Tensing's right to a fair trial and that they were anti-police. The Chief of the CPD said that the memorandum of understanding, signed in 2009 by his predecessor, which allowed UCPD to patrol areas neighboring the university, should be revoked. He said, "I don't believe their officers have the skill set to police Cincinnati with the same philosophy of fairness and cultural competency that my officers display." Public reactions The body camera recording of Tensing shooting DuBose has garnered considerable attention. The footage has been compared to a first-person-shooter video game and described as so "disturbing" that Cincinnati police prepared for large protests and riots before the footage's release. As of , at least four demonstrations have been held around the country in response to DuBose's death. A Black Lives Matter vigil and rally in support of DuBose was held in Cincinnati on , the third such event since the shooting. The victim's mother said, "As long as we stand up for the righteous, we going to be OK. I would come out here every night, I will go city to city because now I'm involved, my child was involved." Participants chanted "I am Sam DuBose." Around 300 participants subsequently walked through Over-the-Rhine to Fountain Square. Six people were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest during the march. One hundred protesters joined a "United March for Justice" on , linking DuBose's killing with the deaths of Tamir Rice, John Crawford, and Samantha Ramsey. Kroll Report A report, commonly called the "Kroll Report", released in September 2015 by Kroll Inc., a risk consulting firm hired by the university, said that Tensing's bodycam video showed that he was not dragged. It also said that the car had not moved, or had barely moved, before the gunshot was fired. It faulted both men for unnecessarily escalating the situation, DuBose by failing to comply with Tensing's command to get out of the car and starting the engine. The report offered no opinion as to Tensing's guilt or innocence in the criminal case. Tensing's attorney said, "I don't agree with their analysis or their conclusions." The report's recommendations include reviewing the scope of the UCPD's jurisdiction, improving relevant training and policies, clarifying reporting requirements following officer-involved shootings, providing cultural diversity training, and assessing the diversity of officers within the UCPD. University reactions Following the shooting the UCPD stopped making off-campus traffic stops. On , a student group, named "Irate 8" for the eight percent of black students at University of Cincinnati campuses, presented a list of demands to the university president. The list includes taking officers Kidd and Lindenschmidt off patrol, conducting full background checks of police and other university employees, and mandating racial sensitivity training for all staff and students. President Santa J. Ono agreed to meet with them and discuss their demands. Legal proceedings Kidd and Lindenschmidt were not indicted by the grand jury. "These officers have been truthful and honest about what happened and no charges are warranted," Deters said. Kidd and Lindenschmidt were placed on administrative leave during a university investigation. On , 2015, Tensing was indicted on charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter. The murder charge carries a penalty of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 15 years. As a result of the indictment, he was fired from the UCPD. At his arraignment, he pleaded not guilty to the charges, and he was released on $1 million bond later that day. A trial began on , 2016; on , the judge declared a mistrial after the jury became deadlocked. Ten days later the prosecution announced that they intended to retry Tensing, requesting a change of venue due to the amount of publicity surrounding the case in the Cincinnati area. A judge denied the change of venue, while extending a gag order in the case. A retrial was slated to begin on May 25, 2017. The presiding judge ruled that prosecutors could not present the T-shirt Tensing was wearing at the time of the shooting to the jury. The shirt depicted a Confederate battle flag, and the judge agreed with Tensing's defense that allowing the shirt as evidence would be prejudicial. On June 23, 2017, the second trial also ended in mistrial due to a deadlocked jury. On July 18, 2017, Deters said he was dropping the case against Tensing, as two previous juries could not reach a unanimous agreement on murder and voluntary manslaughter charges. Stew Mathews, Tensing's attorney, said that Tensing was being dragged by the car, and that the officer fired in self-defense while fearing for his life. Mathews said that video from Lindenschmidt's bodycam helped substantiate that claim. However, video forensics expert and FBI instructor Grant Fredericks disagreed with these claims—testifying the video showed Tensing had never been dragged, and in fact pulled and aimed his gun at Dubose's head before the vehicle moved. Fredericks further testified he believed the vehicle's later acceleration occurred after the shooting, as a result of a "post-mortem reflex." In January 2016, following two days of mediation with civil rights attorney Al Gerhardstein, the University of Cincinnati agreed to pay $4.85 million to the DuBose family. In addition to financial compensation, the settlement included free undergraduate education for DuBose's children, the creation of a memorial in his name, an apology from the school's president, and engagement by the family in police reform at the university. It also protected all potential defendants from any future civil litigation in DuBose's death. On March 23, 2018, Ray Tensing was awarded nearly $350,000 in compensation for unfair dismissal from his former employer. See also List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States References External links University of Cincinnati police report from Eric Weibel 2015 in Ohio 2015 controversies in the United States 21st century in Cincinnati African-American history in Cincinnati African-American-related controversies Deaths by firearm in Ohio Law enforcement in Ohio Law enforcement controversies in the United States African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Protests in the United States Race and crime in the United States University of Cincinnati Crimes in Cincinnati Black Lives Matter Filmed killings by law enforcement July 2015 crimes in the United States July 2015 events in the United States

47562324

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20John%20Geer

Shooting of John Geer

The shooting of John Geer occurred on August 29, 2013, in the Pohick Hills neighborhood of Springfield, Virginia. Geer was killed by Fairfax County Police Department Officer Adam Torres, after a 42-minute standoff. Geer was unarmed with his hands raised above his shoulders, but a holstered gun was reportedly on the floor away from his body, as he was standing inside his Springfield townhouse. Geer's daughters filed a lawsuit that was settled in 2015 for $2.95 million. Torres was charged with second degree murder on August 27, 2015, and on June 25, 2016, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to one-year imprisonment, including time served. Torres was released on June 29, 2016, just 5 days after he was convicted. Backgrounds John Geer, 46, had two daughters. He was a graduate of J.E.B. Stuart High School. Adam Torres, 32, had eight years of law enforcement experience. He had never fired his service weapon before shooting Geer. A number of news reports have been published on Torres' anger management issues, including statements made by Torres post-shooting regarding marital fights that may have been a factor. Shooting Geer's partner called police to say that they were arguing, and that Geer was throwing her belongings onto the front lawn of the townhouse they shared. Fairfax County police arrived and Geer showed them a holstered firearm and told them "I have a gun; I will use it if I need to because you guys have guns" and then placed it on a nearby staircase. He continued to speak to a police hostage negotiator for approximately 42 minutes. Officer Torres had his handgun aimed at Geer from 17 feet away, and remained on post the entire time of the incident. Geer repeatedly asked Barnes to have Torres lower his weapon, which Barnes relayed to Torres on at least two occasions. Geer's daughters were taken to a neighbor's house during the stand-off, and one of them opened the door and shouted at the police, "Don't you hurt my daddy!" An officer responded by saying "Don't come out. Keep the door closed." Sometime between 3:30 PM and 3:45 PM, Torres claims that Geer started to lower his hands; however, four other police officers, including Officer Barnes, disagreed with Torres' version of the scene, including a statement that "he [Geer] didn't have to die that day." Torres fired one shot at Geer without warning, killing him. As Geer was shot, he swung around and went back inside his house and closed the front door. Not knowing the degree of injury to Geer, nor the threat he may have posed to both officers and the viewing spectators, a SWAT team arrived with an armored truck outfitted with a battering ram. When they entered the house, they found Geer lying just inside the front door. Paramedics pronounced him dead. Legal proceedings The Fairfax County police homicide unit investigated the shooting and provided its file to Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh in late 2013. Torres was fired from the Fairfax County Police Department on July 31, 2015, due to violating the department's policies and procedures on the use of force. On August 17, 2015, a special grand jury in Fairfax County returned the indictment against Torres after hearing six days of testimony from nearly 20  witnesses. He was indicted on the charge of second-degree murder, and turned himself into Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on the same day. He was held without bail. It was the first time in the 75-year history of the Fairfax County Police Department that an officer had faced criminal charges in connection with an on-duty shooting. On June 24, 2016, having pled guilty to manslaughter, Torres was sentenced to one year in jail. With time served of greater than 10 months, Torres was released 5 days after his sentencing hearing. Lawsuit Geer's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Fairfax County on September 1, 2014, seeking $12 million in damages. On April 20, 2015, Fairfax County agreed to pay $2.95 million to Geer's daughters. Reaction A group entitled Justice for Geer was established on Facebook, and has participated in protest events in Fairfax County. On January 8, 2015, members of the group participated in a demonstration held at the Fairfax County Police Department headquarters. References 2013 in Virginia 2013 crimes in the United States August 2013 crimes in the United States Crimes in Virginia Deaths by firearm in Virginia Springfield, Virginia People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Police brutality in the United States Protests in the United States

47599043

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Jonathan%20Ferrell

Shooting of Jonathan Ferrell

On September 14, 2013, Jonathan Ferrell (born October 11, 1988), a 24-year-old former college football player for the Florida A&M University Rattlers, allegedly charged at and was shot and killed by police officer Randall "Wes" Kerrick in Charlotte, North Carolina. Kerrick was charged with voluntary manslaughter, but not convicted. Shooting Ferrell, an African American, was unarmed at the time he was shot. While giving a co-worker a lift home on the night of September 14, 2013, he crashed his car, went to a house in the Bradfield Farms neighborhood and knocked on the door. The resident, Sarah McCartney, called the police and three officers came. Ferrell then ran towards them, whereupon one of the officers fired a taser at Ferrell and missed. That same officer, Officer Thornel Little, testified that Ferrell had said "shoot me" twice as he ran up on the officers. Kerrick then opened fire on Ferrell, shooting him twelve times and killing him. A toxicology test of Ferrell's blood showed a blood alcohol level within the legal limit for driving. Legal proceedings The day following the shooting, Officer Randall "Wes" Kerrick was charged with voluntary manslaughter, and was released on $45,000 bail from jail. On January 21, 2014, a grand jury declined to indict Kerrick with voluntary manslaughter. On January 27, a second grand jury did indict Kerrick on a voluntary manslaughter charge. On August 21, 2015, a 26th District judge declared a mistrial in the case after the jury reached a deadlock, with eight jurors on one side and four on the other. The Attorney General of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, said that the state would not re-try Kerrick. On May 14, 2015, the city of Charlotte settled a separate lawsuit with Ferrell's family for $2.25 million. Reaction Ferrell's cousin, Morris A. Young (Sheriff of Gadsden County, Florida), said of the incident that Ferrell had always been on the right track and was only looking for help after getting into a traffic collision late at night, yet "the next thing you know, law enforcement comes and sees a young black male at night in that neighborhood. And sometimes people react to that." On August 21, 2015, after the mistrial declaration, protesters took to the streets of Charlotte. Several areas of the city were shut down as a result, and two people were arrested. On October 2, 2015, Kerrick resigned from the police force. See also Shooting of Keith Lamont Scott References Deaths by firearm in North Carolina Protests in the United States History of Charlotte, North Carolina 2013 in North Carolina Black Lives Matter September 2013 events in the United States African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Law enforcement in North Carolina

47644694

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20William%20Chapman

Shooting of William Chapman

The shooting of William L. Chapman II, a black 18-year-old, on April 22, 2015, in Portsmouth, Virginia, when Chapman was shot and killed in a Wal-Mart parking lot by Portsmouth Police Officer Stephen D. Rankin. Rankin had been responding to a report of suspected shoplifting, and engaged in a physical struggle with Chapman, who instigated the altercation, while trying to arrest him. The shooting occurred approximately four years after the death of Kirill Denyakin, who died after being shot by Rankin in 2011. In September 2015, Rankin was indicted on the charge of first-degree murder in Chapman's death, and was found guilty by a jury of voluntary manslaughter on August 4, 2016. Shooting Wal-Mart store security called police at 7:30 a.m., reporting that a shoplifter was leaving the store. Rankin approached William Chapman across the parking lot, and a struggle between the two ensued. According to witnesses, Chapman broke free but then stepped back towards Rankin, at which point Rankin shot him twice. He was shot in the face and chest. An autopsy on Chapman found no evidence of a close-range gunshot, indicating that he was shot from several feet away. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Chapman's body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner with his hands cuffed behind his back. A state toxicology report indicated Chapman had no traces of alcohol or drugs in his system. Legal proceedings The Commonwealth of Virginia's Attorney's Office announced they were seeking an indictment. On September 3, a grand jury indicted Rankin on a charge of first degree murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony. Rankin turned himself in to a jail and was released on $75,000 bond. Prosecutors said that Rankin could have used non-lethal force. Rankin's defense said that he had to shoot Chapman after a stun gun failed to stop him. A crane driver stated that Chapman had acted aggressively toward the police officer and had charged at him. However Gregory Provo, a Wal-Mart security guard who reported the allegations of Chapman shoplifting, testified that Chapman never charged at the officer, and had his hands raised in a boxing-style, and said "Are you going to fucking shoot me?" when he was standing away from Chapman. On August 4, 2016, Rankin was found not guilty by a jury of first-degree murder, but was found guilty on the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. He received a sentence of 30 months in October 2016. Rankin was released from the Dillwyn Correctional Center on November 19, 2018. References 2015 crimes in the United States 2015 deaths 2015 in Virginia American manslaughter victims Crimes in Virginia Deaths by firearm in Virginia Deaths by person in the United States Police brutality in the United States Death of William Chapman African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Law enforcement in Virginia

47671602

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Darren%20Goforth

Shooting of Darren Goforth

The Shooting of Darren Goforth ( 1968 – August 28, 2015) refers to the shooting death of a ten-year deputy sheriff of the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Goforth, who was in uniform at the time, was killed by Shannon Miles, a repeat offender with a history of mental illness, who shot Goforth repeatedly in the back of the head with a .40 caliber handgun while Goforth was fueling his car. Miles' mother provided an alibi, but the police found the murder weapon in his garage, and he pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty; he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in September 2017. The murder led to a scandal in the Harris County Sheriff's Department. The passenger in Goforth's car and witness to the murder was reportedly his mistress, who was also involved with two other officers. They were terminated, as was a third officer, who harassed the woman. Shooting At approximately 8:30 p.m., Goforth pulled into a Chevron gas station at the intersection of West Road and Telge Road near Cypress, a town about 25 miles from downtown Houston. While he was filling up his car with gas, a black male in a red Ford Ranger walked up behind him and shot him repeatedly in the back of the head. The gunman fired a total of fifteen shots, emptying his firearm and killing Goforth. The attack appeared to be completely unprovoked. The gun used to murder Goforth was described as a large handgun. Goforth was married to a woman named Kathleen, and he had two children, aged five and twelve at the time of his death at the age of 47. Shannon Miles Shannon J. Miles was a native of Cypress, who lived about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) from the crime scene. Miles attended the Prairie View A&M University from fall 2003 to spring 2004 and the University of Houston in 2011 or 2012. He had an arrest record dating back to 2005, consisting mostly of minor misdemeanor arrests, including resisting arrest, criminal mischief, trespassing, evading detention, and disorderly conduct with a firearm. Two of his arrests involved him using force against the arresting officers. In 2012, Miles was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection to an incident in which he attacked a man at an Austin homeless shelter over control of a television remote. He was found mentally incompetent to stand trial and was sent to North Texas State Hospital for six months, after which a second evaluation found him to be mentally competent. However, the charge was dropped after authorities could not find the assault victim. Arrest and legal proceedings The next morning, Miles was brought in for questioning as a person of interest after investigators linked his car to the one driven by the killer. He was arrested and charged with capital murder after a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber handgun discovered in a baseball bag in Miles's garage was confirmed through ballistics tests to be the same one used to kill Goforth. Several items were seized from the home by police, including clothes matching the ones said to be worn by the shooter and 34 rounds of ammunition. Authorities do not believe anyone else was involved in the killing. The ongoing investigation has been marred by police and judicial misconduct. Harris County Deputy Craig Clopton was fired on October 24, 2015, for inappropriate sexual misconduct toward a witness in the case; Presiding Judge Denise Collins recused herself for undisclosed reasons. On February 10, 2016, the Harris County Sheriff's Office fired another deputy, Marc De Leon, involved in the investigation. Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman said that De Leon was fired for being untruthful to investigators, but some Houston media outlets are reporting that De Leon also had a consensual sexual relationship with the witness. The Houston Chronicle reported on February 10 that a third HCSO deputy is also under investigation for having a sexual relationship with the same witness. Miles was charged with capital murder and held without bond. On September 13, 2017, in order to avoid the death penalty, Miles pleaded guilty to murdering Goforth and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Aftermath Reactions Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared in a statement that "heinous and deliberate crimes against law enforcement" would not be tolerated. Harris County district attorney Devon Anderson said she felt it was time for the silent majority to come out and support law enforcement. She also said, "There are a few bad apples in every profession, that does not mean that there should be open warfare declared on law enforcement." Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman denounced the shooting as "senseless and cowardly" and stated that while investigators were not aware of a motive at the moment, it appeared that Goforth was targeted "because he wore a uniform." The shooting drew comparisons to the shooting deaths of two officers with the New York City Police Department, which occurred the year before. The shooting also brought criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement, alleging that they were responsible for inspiring the attack. Hickman stated, "We've heard 'black lives matter.' All lives matter. Well, cops' lives matter, too. So why don't we just drop the qualifier and just say 'lives matter,' and take that to the bank." Texas State Representative Garnet Coleman (D) criticized Hickman and Anderson for "politicizing a death that, I don't know that anyone knows what was in the mind of the shooter." Activist DeRay Mckesson tweeted that it was "sad that some have chosen to politicize this tragedy by falsely attributing the officer's death to a movement seeking to end violence." In the aftermath of the shooting, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz stated that U.S. President Barack Obama and officials in the Obama administration had partial moral responsibility for Goforth's death. Cruz blamed what he labeled as efforts to "vilify law enforcement" and stated that Obama had remained "silent" on the murder. Cruz's comments brought criticism from commentators in progressive publications such as Mother Jones and The Texas Observer, while conservative publications such as Right Wing News expressed support for Cruz. Despite the accusations of being "silent" on the murder, President Obama made an official statement to the family and Houston community. Funeral service On September 4, 2015, a funeral service for Goforth took place at the Second Baptist Church Houston. Thousands of mourners were in attendance, including police officers and other law enforcement personnel from various parts of the U.S. Flags in Texas were flown at half-staff. Scandal in the Harris County Sheriff's Department The investigation into Goforth's death soon revealed that Goforth, who was married, was with another woman at the time of the shooting. This woman claimed to be Goforth's mistress. Two other Harris County deputies involved in the investigation of Goforth's murder were found to be having romantic relationships with this same woman, and were terminated. A third deputy was terminated, though Goforth's mistress said this was after she reported that deputy for trying to force a relationship with her and for sending inappropriate texts and emails. Legacy A county park in Northwest Houston was later named in Goforth's memory. See also 2014 killings of NYPD officers Shooting of Jesse Hartnett 2016 shooting of Dallas police officers 2016 shooting of Baton Rouge police officers List of American police officers killed in the line of duty References American police officers killed in the line of duty 2015 in Texas Deaths by firearm in Texas Assassinated police officers Deaths by person in the United States Harris County, Texas

47979716

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Jeremy%20McDole

Shooting of Jeremy McDole

Jeremy "Bam Bam" McDole was a 28-year-old African American paraplegic who was shot and killed by police in Wilmington, Delaware on September 23, 2015, at 3:00 pm. McDole was in a wheelchair at the time of the shooting. Police and bystanders have offered differing accounts of the event. The exact cause of the shooting remains unclear. The officers were cleared of wrongdoing by the Delaware state department, but were later found responsible for the death in a civil trial and were ordered to pay $1.5 million to McDole's family. Shooting On September 23, 2015, at around 3:00p.m., local police in Wilmington, Delaware responded to a 911 call about a man who had suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The female caller told the dispatcher that a man had shot himself, still had the weapon, and had fallen onto the ground but was moving back into his wheelchair. The officers who responded were Joseph Dellose, Thomas Lynch, James MacColl, and Danny Silva. Police arrived and found Jeremy McDole sitting in a wheelchair. The incident escalated when police instructed McDole to raise his hands, followed by McDole being shot and killed by police. According to police, a .38-caliber pistol was found on McDole after the shooting. Relatives of McDole have stated that he was unarmed. Video footage taken on a cellphone showed McDole shuffling in his chair and moving his hands while officers ordered him several times to put them up. Investigation The shooting was investigated by both Delaware's Department of Justice's Office of Civil Rights and Public Trust and the Wilmington Police Department. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has stated that a special prosecutor is needed to ensure an impartial investigation. A report of the incident was compiled by the Attorney General of Delaware Matt Denn, in which it was announced that the office had decided against criminal charges against the four Wilmington police officers involved, although investigators concluded one officer, Joseph Dellose, showed "extraordinarily poor" police work. Legal action The Delaware Department of Justice had begun to compile a case against Dellose for a felony assault charge, but experts determined that he had acted within Delaware law and that prosecution would likely be unsuccessful. The report cleared the other three officers outright, noting they fired their weapons due to a subjective belief that greater harm would come to innocent parties if they did not. Shortly after the announcement that none of the four officers would be charged, the lawyer for the McDole family announced that the lack of charges would not stop the federal civil suit around the death. In January 2017, a federal judge approved the city's $1.5 million settlement with McDole's family. Arrest of Phyllis McDole Subsequent to the shooting, Phyllis McDole, the mother of Jeremy, allegedly assaulted a woman she believed made the 911 call that lead to the death of her son. Phyllis McDole was arrested on charges of conspiracy, terroristic threats, and assault and subsequently released on bail. The state later agreed to drop the charges and she did not receive jail time after a plea deal was arranged for the charge of burglary. Response After the release of the Attorney General report regarding the incident, the head of the Wilmington Police Officers' Union, Harold Bozeman, alleged that the report was only made for political gain. He stated, "The attorney general appears to be a man whose political ambition has trumped impartiality." Local activists questioned police tactics that allowed for a shooting to occur while no threat to an officer was ever made. The African-American community in Wilmington called for a peaceful response. Of the four officers involved, three are white and one is Hispanic. The death of Jeremy McDole garnered the attention of Black Lives Matter activists on Twitter, and a local Black Lives Matter group joined McDole's family in leading subsequent marches and protests. Marches and protests In October 2015, a march was organized by the family of Jeremy McDole and other local residents. Additional demonstrations took place during the months of December 2015 and January 2016. Family of McDole stated they had not received official updates on the investigation, and called for the disruption of commercial activity and the resignation of city officials. During the protests against the murder of George Floyd in Wilmington, Delaware, McDole's mother spoke to the crowd who marched in memory of George Floyd and Jeremy McDole. References 2015 deaths Death of Jeremy McDole 2015 controversies in the United States African-American-related controversies Law enforcement controversies in the United States Deaths by firearm in Delaware African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Filmed killings by law enforcement Black Lives Matter September 2015 events in the United States Law enforcement in Delaware Death of Jeremy McDole

48503346

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Jeremy%20Mardis

Shooting of Jeremy Mardis

On November 3, 2015, Jeremy Mardis, a six-year-old boy, was murdered by police in Marksville, Louisiana, in a shooting that also wounded his father, Chris Few. Two Marksville law enforcement officers, Derrick Stafford and Norris Greenhouse Jr., were arrested on charges of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder as a result of the incident. The evidence from a police body-worn video camera was cited as being contributory to the speed of the arrests. On March 24, 2017, Stafford was found guilty on the lesser-included offenses of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison. On September 29, 2017, Greenhouse pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and malfeasance in office. He was sentenced to 7 years in prison, but was paroled in 2019 after serving years, a quarter of his initial sentence. Background Marksville is a small city with a population of 5,702 at the 2010 census, characterized by familiar relationships and interactions between locals. The city had a series of running conflicts between Mayor John Lemoine and several city officials over budgets. The conflicts reportedly started soon after Lemoine took office in 2009, when he called for several audits of the city court and recommended that the city council lower the budget, including the salary of Marksville Marshal (equivalent to a police chief in other jurisdictions) Floyd Voinche. Citizens have described the politics as "particularly intense and personal". Lemoine was also reportedly in conflict with the Marksville Police Department, which had three different chiefs during Lemoine's five years in office. About three months prior to the shooting incident, Voinche's office hired several local police officers to work part-time in street patrols and purchased two used Ford Crown Victoria police vehicles for their use. The street patrols involved mostly making traffic stops and issuing citations. Before that, the local marshal office's jurisdiction had been limited to serving court papers. According to Lemoine, speaking after the shooting occurred, Voinche did not consult with the city about this expansion of his operations, including the hiring of full-time police officers. Lemoine had written at least one letter to the office of Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, questioning the legal authority of Voinche's actions. Because state statute gives marshals the authority to enforce the law within their respective jurisdictions, street patrols and issuing tickets were considered to be encompassed in this authority. Shooting incident On the night of November 3, 2015, officers Derrick Stafford and Norris Greenhouse of the Marksville Marshal's Office attempted to stop a vehicle driven by Christopher Few. His son, Jeremy Mardis, was a passenger in the front seat. After Few and his fiancée Megan Dixon had an argument at a bar that evening, they had driven away in separate vehicles. Dixon said that she saw Few pass her, followed by a marked police car with two officers. Greenhouse and Stafford activated the patrol car lights, but Few failed to pull over, resulting in a two-mile car chase. At some point, Greenhouse and Stafford called for backup, and two other officers responded. The chase ended on a dead-end street near, the entrance to the Marksville State Historic Site, at the corner of Martin Luther King Drive and Taensas Street. One of the responding officers used his body camera to record the confrontation. Greenhouse and Stafford fired eighteen rounds of ammunition into Few's vehicle at approximately 9:30 p.m. Few was struck twice, in the head and chest, despite having his hands in the air, which was recorded on police body-camera footage. Mardis was hit by five bullets, and was also struck in the head and chest. He was thought to have died instantly, according to the coroner for Avoyelles Parish. Police officers involved Three of the four involved officers worked both as police officers and as marshals. While in most of Louisiana marshals are authorized only to serve legal documents such as arrest warrants, in Marksville, deputy marshals were empowered earlier in 2015 to make discretionary arrests, "preserve the peace", and issue traffic tickets. Officers who fired the shots Norris Greenhouse Jr., 23, and Derrick Stafford, 32, were officers with the Marksville Police Department. Greenhouse was a reserve officer with Marksville and served as a deputy marshal for the nearby Alexandria City Marshal's Office; he had been on the force for one year. Stafford was a lieutenant and shift supervisor for the Marksville Police Department, and an eight-year veteran of that Department. He was "moonlighting" as a deputy marshal at the time of the shooting. That night, Greenhouse and Stafford were working side jobs for the city marshal's office. They were two of several officers hired by the Marksville Marshal's Office about three months prior to the shooting. At the time of the shooting, Greenhouse, Stafford and Marksville Police Chief Elster Smith, Jr., were the subjects of a federal civil suit for use of force. Stafford was the subject of five civil suits in Avoyelles Parish; Greenhouse was named in one of these. In addition, Stafford had been indicted in 2011 by Rapides Parish on two counts of aggravated rape but the charges were dropped in 2012. Responding officers Lieutenant Jason Brouillette, a 13-year veteran of the Marksville Police Department, and Sergeant Kenneth Parnell, a five-year veteran, responded to the backup call made by Greenhouse and Stafford. Parnell was wearing a body camera, which recorded at least part of the incident. Brouillette and Parnell were placed on administrative leave following the incident. Investigators do not believe either of them fired their weapons. Victims Christopher Few Christopher Few moved from Mississippi to the Marksville area in April 2014 to work as an apprentice riverboat captain and to be closer to his relatives. He was listed in critical condition on November 3. A family spokesperson said that bullet fragments remained in Few's brain and lung. His condition improved to serious by the following morning. As of November 9, Few was hospitalized in Alexandria, Louisiana, where his condition had been upgraded to fair. He was released from the hospital on November 13. Few and Mardis shared a home with Few's mother prior to the shooting. Body-cam footage reportedly shows Few had his hands up when he was shot. Jeremy Mardis Jeremy David Mardis ( 2009 – November 3, 2015) was diagnosed with autism at the age of two. At the time of the shooting, he was in the first grade and attended Lafargue Elementary School in Effie, Louisiana. He had moved with his father to Louisiana from Mississippi the year before. Mardis' mother Katie Mardis, and his sister, still live in Mississippi. Christopher Few's fiancée Dixon described Mardis as an affectionate and intelligent child, and said that Mardis did speak. Mardis and Few shared a home with Few's mother prior to the shooting. Mardis was in the front seat of Few's vehicle and wearing a seatbelt when they were shot. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A funeral for Mardis was held on November 9 at Moore Funeral Services in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where his mother and sister live. He was buried in Beaumont Cemetery. His father was still hospitalized and unable to attend. Investigation and prosecution Charles Riddle, the district attorney for Avoyelles Parish, recused himself from the case because Officer Greenhouse's father is an assistant district attorney in his office. The office of the attorney general of Louisiana prosecuted the cases of Greenhouse and Stafford. Greenhouse and Stafford surrendered to police on the evening of November 6, and they were charged with second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder. They were transferred on November 9 from a jail in Avoyelles Parish to Rapides Parish Detention Center #3 because, as the police said, the latter facility is "better equipped to isolate [Greenhouse and Stafford] from the general population". It is standard procedure to separate ex-law-enforcement inmates from non-law-enforcement inmates when they are incarcerated. Investigation Colonel Mike Edmonson of the Louisiana State Police began an investigation into the shooting. He said that the body-camera video recorded by one of the responding officers was essential to the officers being arrested. Other contributory evidence included interviews with the cooperating officers, 9-1-1 recordings, and unspecified forensic evidence. Legal analysts cited by The Advocate newspaper of Baton Rouge, Louisiana also attributed the arrests to the body-camera footage. Ballistics tests showed that of the four responding officers, only Greenhouse and Stafford fired their weapons. Although initial news reports said there was a warrant for Few's arrest prior to or after the shooting, the state police have said this was not true. In addition, Edmonson said that there was no evidence of a firearm inside Few's vehicle. The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Office of the United States Attorney, are participating in the investigation. Few's fiancée Megan Dixon said that the police pursuit of Few may have been prompted by his running a red light or by the officers seeing an altercation she had with Few at a traffic light, when he approached her car and they had words. One police vehicle reportedly received damage caused by Few reversing into it. Dixon also said that Few had encountered Greenhouse a month before the shooting. He threatened to hurt Greenhouse after the officer contacted Dixon, a former high school classmate, and went to the home she shared with Few. She said Few told Greenhouse, "Don't come to my home again, or I'll hurt you". Gag order Judge William Bennett of the Louisiana 12th Judicial District Court was assigned to the case and presided over the bail hearing on November 9. He issued a gag order that day, forbidding all parties, including police, victims, and witnesses, from discussing the case with the press. Media outlets had requested the Louisiana State Police to release public records with information about the case, but these requests were denied as a result of the judge's order. Bail hearing and bond posting A description of the body-cam video's contents was presented as evidence during the bail hearings, but the video was not shown. Bail was set at for each officer. On November 24, Greenhouse's family posted bond and he was released. Stafford posted bail and was released in March; both men were under house arrest. Trial dates Stafford's trial began on March 13, 2017; Greenhouse's trial date was set for June 12, 2017. The judge had postponed these dates in order to allow the defense time to prepare, including for their use of expert witnesses. Outcome The jury found Stafford guilty of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter. Stafford was sentenced to forty years in prison, half of which would be served "without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence." On September 29, 2017, Greenhouse pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and malfeasance in office. He was sentenced to five years for the negligent homicide charge and two years for the malfeasance in office. Sources stated that Few's family agreed to the terms of the plea deal. The attorney general's prosecutor cited differences in the actions of the two officers as the reason for the extreme differences in their sentences. Norris Greenhouse, Jr. was released from prison as of July 3, 2019, after serving only 21 months (25%) of a seven-year sentence. References 2015 deaths 2015 in Louisiana 2015 controversies in the United States Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana Child deaths Deaths by firearm in Louisiana Deaths by person in the United States Filmed killings by law enforcement Law enforcement controversies in the United States Law enforcement in Louisiana Murder in Louisiana People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Police brutality in the United States November 2015 events in the United States People murdered by law enforcement officers in the United States Murdered American children Marksville, Louisiana Incidents of violence against boys

48511051

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20John%20T.%20Williams

Shooting of John T. Williams

On August 30, 2010, John T. Williams, a Native American woodcarver, was shot four times by Officer Ian Birk of the Seattle Police Department. Williams died at the scene. The shooting was ruled "unjustified" by the police department's Firearms Review Board. The department's actions were scrutinized by the United States Department of Justice as a result of the incident. Biography John T. Williams was born on February 27, 1960. He was a member of the Nuu-chah-nulth tribe, and during his childhood, lived in Seattle, and Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia. According to Williams' family, he was a seventh-generation woodcarver. Williams was an extremely talented artist. Williams had hearing difficulties, and had battled problems with alcohol much of his adult life. He had spent time at the mental institution Western State Hospital. Shooting At about 4:15 p.m. on August 30, 2010, Birk was driving his patrol car and saw Williams near Boren Avenue and Howell Street. The dashboard camera of Birk's patrol car showed Williams walk "through the crosswalk, hunched over (with) something in his hands, then disappear(ing) offscreen". Birk emerged from his patrol car with his pistol drawn. Birk yelled, "Hey", "Hey… Hey!", "Put the knife down", "Put the knife down. Put the knife down!" Less than 5 seconds after the first "Hey", the sound of gunshots was recorded on the camera. Williams had been holding a "scrap of wood" and "a single-blade pocketknife". Officers who arrived on the scene after the shooting and nearby witnesses later observed that the knife Williams was carrying was closed. Investigation Birk stated to the Firearms Review Board that Williams appeared to be impaired, and that he had an open knife in his hand. Birk also stated that when Williams began to turn toward Birk that Williams was "brandishing" the knife in a "very confrontational posture" and that Williams did not obey Birk's orders to drop the knife. Birk stated that he was mindful of the fact that Williams was approximately away from him and might attack before Birk had the opportunity to react, and at that point Birk made the decision to fire. The report of the Firearms Review Board concluded that Birk acted appropriately in contacting Williams, but that the decision to use deadly force was unjustified. The Firearms Review Board found a number of problems in Birk's actions and his subsequent testimony. The FRB found that when Birk first made the decision to contact Williams that Birk was in the safety of his patrol car and that his radio communication to police dispatchers indicated that he was conducting a routine stop of a suspicious person, but the correct action would have been for Birk to indicate explicitly to dispatchers that he "observed a man with a knife", to request backup, and to wait for backup to arrive before initiating contact. The FRB also found that Birk's decision to exit his vehicle with his firearm drawn were inconsistent with a routine assessment of a suspicious circumstance; that Birk failed to adequately identify himself as a police officer in his verbal commands to Williams; that there were inconsistencies in Birk's testimony; that whether or not the knife was open was the subject of debate but the FRB based its findings with the belief that Birk was correct in stating that the knife was open when he confronted Williams; that Birk made the decision to move to approximately within 10 feet of Williams and that this close distance is insufficient to establish a justification for the use of deadly force; that based on Williams' posture "Officer Birk's decision to use deadly force was premature", and the unanimous conclusion that Birk's discharge of his firearm was "unjustified and outside of policy, tactics and training". Aftermath Birk resigned from the Seattle Police Department on February 16, 2011, one day after King County prosecutor Dan Satterberg decided not to press criminal charges against him. Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn declared February 27, 2011, to be "John T. Williams Day" in the city. In August 2011, the City of Seattle paid Williams' family a settlement of $1.5 million. A high totem pole honoring Williams was erected at the Seattle Center on February 26, 2012. In 2011, A Tribe Called Red recorded "Woodcarver". The song samples recordings from the shooting and the music video includes dashcam footage. In 2016, a crosswalk painted in the style of a white deer was unveiled at Boren Avenue and Howell Street, where Williams was shot, and dedicated to him. References External links 2010 in Seattle 2010 in Washington (state) Deaths by firearm in Washington (state) Native American history of Washington (state) Native American-related controversies People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Police brutality in the United States

48564072

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Corey%20Jones

Shooting of Corey Jones

Corey Jones (February 3, 1984October 18, 2015) was shot to death by police officer Nouman K. Raja, while waiting for a tow truck by his disabled car, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Raja, who was in plainclothes and in an unmarked white van, approached Jones, who was waiting by his disabled vehicle on a highway exit ramp. Within seconds, Raja fired six shots at Jones, striking him three times. After the shooting, Raja falsely claimed to investigators that he had identified himself as a police officer and shot Jones in self-defense; both assertions were disproved by an audio recording of the fatal shooting. On June 1, 2016, Raja was charged with manslaughter by culpable negligence and attempted first-degree murder with a firearm. He was convicted of the charges on March 7, 2019, following an eight-day jury trial. Raja was sentenced to 25 years in prison on April 25, 2019. Corey Jones biography Jones was born to father Clinton Jones, Sr., who renovated houses, and mother, Anita Banks, a guidance counselor, who died from cancer in 2006. Jones' older brother, C. J. Jones, was a football player at University of Iowa and from 2003 to 2009 played as a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). Jones' sisters are Melissa Jones-Elliott and Chanda and Cevon Jones; his stepmother is Katie Jones. Jones was black, and had a very large extended family; among his cousins are NFL defensive tackle Vince Wilfork and NFL wide receiver Anquan Boldin. He lived in Lake Worth, Florida. Jones attended Christa McAuliffe Middle School in Boynton Beach, Florida, where he played the French horn. His entire family was musical, and played instruments at home and at church. Jones graduated from Santaluces Community High School in Lantana, where he played football. Jones then graduated from the University of Akron with degrees in business administration and music. He worked as a youth mentor at My Brother's Keeper, a nonprofit organization that helps African-American youths. Jones worked at the Delray Beach Housing Authority for eight years. He was an inspector/assistant property manager, a job that involved inspecting housing units to make sure they were livable. The position also required assisting tenants and landlords with communication. Jones also worked part-time as a drummer. He played in a band at his church, the Bible Church of God in Boynton Beach, where his grandfather, Sylvester Banks, Sr., is a bishop. He also played with a band called Future Prezidents with bandmates that included Boris Simeonov and Mathew Huntsberger. Nouman Raja Nouman Raja is a Muslim of Pakistani ancestry. He was naturalized as an American citizen in 2001. His grandfather was a police chief in Pakistan. He worked for a small Florida police department for several years prior to joining the Palm Beach Gardens police. Raja is married with two children. Death On Sunday, October 18, 2015, at about 3:15 am, Nouman K. Raja, working as a plainclothes police officer wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and a baseball cap, in an unmarked white van with tinted windows, stopped by what he said was an abandoned vehicle. The Palm Beach Gardens police officer approached the vehicle at the southbound exit ramp of Interstate 95 and PGA Boulevard. Raja, on duty doing burglary surveillance, said he was confronted by an armed subject, so he discharged his weapon and killed the man later identified as Jones, a musician and local housing authority worker. In total, Raja discharged his weapon six times and hit Jones with three shots. One bullet entered the side of Jones' body, went through his aorta, killing him, and ended up in the top part of his torso, while the other bullets went through his body, hitting his left elbow and right shoulder. Jones' arm was broken from the impact of one of the bullets. Raja was not wearing a body camera and his vehicle was not equipped with a dashcam. Jones, who was driving a Hyundai Santa Fe, had car trouble and first called his brother, C.J. Jones, who offered to come help him. Jones was due in church the next morning and needed his car so he told his brother not to come pick him up. Jones' bandmate, Huntsberger, came to help, bringing oil, but they were not able to get the car running. Jones called for a tow truck and with that assurance, Huntsberger left. Jones had been returning home to Boynton Beach, after playing a show in Jupiter, Florida, at Johnny Mangos Tiki Bar and Grill. He had been playing with his band, the Future Prezidents. Jones was on the phone with AT&T roadside assistance when he was approached by the police officer. He had also called Florida Highway Patrol's line for assistance and AT&T #HELP multiple times trying to get help. Jones was using his government-issued work phone, so the records are available under state law. Jones' body was found a good distance –  – away from the vehicle, from which he appeared to have run. Jones had a .380-caliber gun, which he had purchased three days prior to the shooting and for which he had a concealed carry license. It was found on the ground between Jones' body and his car and had not been discharged. Investigation and response The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office conducted an independent investigation of the incident. The Palm Beach Gardens Police Department released a 90-page personnel file on Raja. The FBI assisted the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office in its investigation. Raja was an adjunct police academy instructor at Palm Beach State College, where he taught part-time. He was put on administrative leave from the college, as well as the police department, which is normal policy when an officer-involved shooting occurs. Raja previously worked at Atlantis Police Department in Atlantis, Florida, from 2008 to 2015. On November 11, 2015, Raja's employment with the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department, which was in a six-month probationary status from hire date April 13, 2015, was terminated. Around the same time, Raja's employment with Palm Beach State College ended, as a condition of his employment was his job working in the criminal justice system. Jones' family is represented by Benjamin Crump, who represented the family of Trayvon Martin, as well as attorney Daryl D. Parks. On October 31, a funeral for Jones was held at Payne Chapel AME Church in West Palm Beach. Apostle Sharon Walker delivered the eulogy. Reverend Al Sharpton delivered words to the family. Criminal conviction of Raja On June 1, 2016, a grand jury charged Raja with manslaughter by culpable negligence and attempted first-degree murder with a firearm. Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg announced that the grand jury concluded Raja had no justification to shoot Jones, and the charging documents "allege that Raja never identified himself to Jones as a police officer as he drove up to the stranded motorist, yelled commands, and then opened fire." Raja was arrested and his bond was set at $250,000. After making bail, Raja was released from the Palm Beach County Jail and placed under house arrest. A variety of conditions of pretrial release, including GPS monitoring and surrender of Raja's passport, were imposed. On January 17, 2017, investigators publicly released evidence in the case, including "more than 3,000 pages of documents and 50 video and audio recordings," in response to a public records request made by the Palm Beach Post and nine other news outlets. Included in the evidence were audio tapes from the phone calls to AT&T Roadside Assistance and 9-1-1 were released. Although Raja had told investigators previously that he had called 9-1-1 before shooting Jones, the audio recording of Jones' roadside assistance call showed the final shot had been fired 33 seconds before Raja dialed. The recording also showed that Raja never identified himself to Jones as a police officer. In a State Attorney's Office report released on January 17, 2017, prosecutors state that Officer Raja lied to investigators, giving an account of events that contradicted the evidence. On January 18, 2018, defense attorneys for Raja filed a motion to dismiss all charges citing Florida's "stand your ground" laws. In the motion, Raja claims that he identified himself as a police officer as he exited the van, that Jones "immediately jumped out, saying 'I'm okay, man'" as he approached the vehicle, and that Jones then "immediately drew a gun and pointed it at Officer Raja." Defense attorneys claim that Raja "repeatedly yelled for [Jones] to put his hands up and to 'drop the gun.'" Raja further stated he saw the silver muzzle pointing at him, and that he believed the gun was equipped with a red laser. On March 7, 2019, Raja was found guilty of manslaughter by culpable negligence and attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, following an eight-day jury trial. On April 25, 2019, Raja was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Raja's scheduled release date is February 27, 2044, but under Florida Parole and Probation guidelines his minimum release date is May 29, 2040. As of September of 2019, Raja was being held at the Wakulla Correctional Institution in Crawfordville, a minimum- to medium-security-level prison southeast of Tallahassee. Civil suit against City and Raja On July 6, 2016, the family of Corey Jones filed a wrongful death suit, naming the City of Palm Beach Gardens and Raja as defendants. Memorial On February 2, 2020, during the broadcast of Super Bowl LIV, the shooting death of Corey Jones was featured in a 60-second commercial sponsored by the Players Coalition and narrated by Jones' cousin, Anquan Boldin. Boldin, a former NFL wide receiver co-founded the Players Coalition to focus on criminal justice reform, police community relations, and economic advancement. See also List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, October 2015 References 1984 births 2015 deaths American manslaughter victims Deaths by firearm in Florida People from Boynton Beach, Florida African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States October 2015 events in the United States October 2015 crimes in the United States Victims of police brutality Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Law enforcement in Florida American murder victims University of Akron alumni

48943845

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Mohamed%20Taufik%20Zahar

Shooting of Mohamed Taufik Zahar

The shooting of Mohamed Taufik Zahar took place around 4:36 a.m. on 31 May 2015, near the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore where the Shangri-La Dialogue was being held; police officers fatally shot Mohamed Taufik bin Zahar, a 34-year-old logistics mover. Taufik, who was driving a red Subaru Impreza and was carrying two passengers, had encountered a roadblock set up in relation to the dialogue. When instructed to open the Subaru's boot for checks, Taufik accelerated the vehicle towards police officers, crashing through concrete barriers erected by the police, and continued driving the vehicle despite repeated warnings to stop. Anticipating threats to their safety, police officers opened fire at the vehicle and shot Taufik dead through the windscreen. After the incident, the two passengers, Mohamed bin Ismail and Muhammad Syahid Mohamed Yasin, were convicted of drug offences and sentenced to 8 and 7 years' jail, respectively, and 3 strokes of the cane each. This is the fourth police shooting in Singapore in 15 years. Taufik's wife, Nassida Nasir, opined that death was disproportionate punishment for Taufik, but the public was generally supportive of the actions of the police. The Singapore government has also defended and commended the actions of the police officers. A coroner's inquiry into the death of Taufik was scheduled. References People shot dead by law enforcement officers Deaths by person in Singapore 2015 in Singapore Drugs in Singapore Law enforcement in Singapore May 2015 events in Asia People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Singapore

49043698

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Jesse%20Hartnett

Shooting of Jesse Hartnett

In the late evening of January 7, 2016, in a sudden attack with no precipitating event, Edward Archer rushed towards and shot Philadelphia police officer Jesse Hartnett while he drove his patrol car, inserting the gun into the window of the car and firing at point blank range. Despite being shot multiple times in the left arm, Hartnett was able to exit his car and shoot the fleeing suspect, Edward Archer. Later in the hospital, Archer claimed he pledged allegiance to ISIS. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated the shooting as a terrorist attack. The case is widely cited in scholarly work on lone wolf terrorism, as in example of an individual who carries out an act of terrorism without having had actual contact with terrorist groups or individuals. Archer was convicted of the attempted murder of Officer Hartnett in January 2018. He was sentenced to between 48.5 and 97 years behind bars. Events Uniformed police officer Jesse Hartnett was driving his marked Chevrolet Impala patrol car at about 11:40 p.m. at 60th Street and Spruce Street in West Philadelphia, when Archer, who had had no previous contact with the police on that particular evening, suddenly rushed toward the patrol car and fired 13 shots at Harnett, shoving his gun through the window to fire at point blank range. The attacker, who was wearing a white thawb (a robe generally worn by Muslim men), reportedly waved down the police car, then began firing as the car slowed down. He first fired through the driver's side window, then ran up to the car, reached through the shattered window, and continued firing directly at Hartnett, who shielded his head with his left arm. Altogether, Archer fired 13 bullets at Harnett at close range; 3 of the bullets hit the officer. Hartnett, badly wounded and bleeding from three gunshot wounds to his left arm, nevertheless managed to stop the car, get out, and give chase. He was able to fire off three gunshots, shooting Archer in the buttocks before radioing for help. Archer was arrested a block away by other responding officers. The 9mm Glock 17 that Archer used to shoot Officer Harnett was recovered at the scene; the pistol had been stolen from the home of a police officer in 2013. After he was arrested, Archer told investigators, "I follow Allah," and, "I pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, and that's why I did what I did." Perpetrator Edward Archer, aged 30, was unemployed and living with his mother at Yeadon, Pennsylvania, at the time of the shooting. He was allegedly armed with a 9mm Glock 17 handgun capable of carrying 13 rounds, which was reported stolen from the home of a police officer in October 2013; the gun was recovered shortly after the shooting in Archer's thawb. Archer confessed that he committed the attack "in the name of Islam", that Allah ordered him to commit the attack, and that he targeted a police officer because they defended laws that went against the teachings of the Quran. Archer was said to have become interested in Islam during his teenage years. He was well known to Asim Abdur Rashid, imam of Masjid Mujahideen on south 60th Street in West Philadelphia, who knew him by his Muslim name, Abdul Shaheed. According to Imam Rashid, Archer had made the Haj to Mecca and had studied for perhaps six months in Egypt. He was described by local Muslims as devout, interested in the religion, and closely involved in the establishment of community activities. According to an FBI official, Archer spent time in Saudi Arabia from October to November 2011 for Hajj (the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca). He also traveled to Egypt for eight months in 2012 to study Arabic. According to acquaintances, Archer was the target of racist comments during his time in Egypt, which came to a point where he returned to the U.S. prematurely. The FBI began investigating both of the trips following the shooting, citing that Archer, who was unemployed and had no prior foreign travels, could not have been able to acquire a passport and pay for an extended stay in the Middle East; suspicions of the trips being funded by people or organizations with links to terrorism have been raised. It was later found that the trip was funded by a group of local Muslim men who would give donations to finance such trips for newcomers. In March 2015, Archer pleaded guilty to a firearms offense, aggravated assault, and making terroristic threats, among other offenses, in relation to an incident that occurred in January 2012, in which he and two other men confronted the husband of Archer's ex-wife. He was sentenced to prison, but the sentence was reduced to time served and he was released and placed on probation. In November 2015, he had been found guilty of several charges that included fraud and forgery; he was out on probation and awaiting sentencing for that case at the time of the shooting. According to Archer's mother, he suffered from head injuries from playing football and a moped accident. She also added that he had some form of mental illness, specifying that he would hear voices in his head. In addition, she claimed he felt targeted by police. A former classmate recalled that Archer was a loner in high school who had a passion for football and was not religious. Two associates stated that he had become more drastic and combative following his trips to the Middle East, though another said the trips seemed to have a calming effect on him. Motivation of perpetrator Discussion of whether this shooting was an instance of lone wolf terrorism inspired by Islamist propaganda, or was a crime committed by an individual suffering from some form of mental illness began immediately and have continued, provoked by Archer's claim, made shortly after he was arrested, that he shot the police officer in the name of Islam. In February 2016, Clive Watts, a homeland security expert, asserted that "This is headline-inspired, not ISIS-inspired. It tends to happen after a successful attack, like what happened in Paris. People who already have psychological issues pick up a weapon and decide to act. It's more personal than ideological." A 2016 report by the Congressional Research Service included this shooting as one of a group of "Attacks in the United States 'Inspired' by the Islamic State." In their 2017 book Age of Lone Wolf Terrorism, Mark Hamm, a criminologist at Indiana State University and Ramon Spaaij, a sociologist at Victoria University, Australia, describe Archer as a lone wolf terrorist, a type of individual who, according to Hamm and Spaaij, are usually unemployed, single, white males with a criminal record who tend to be older, and who are likely to have less education, and also more likely to have a record of mental illness, than other violent criminals. Hamm and Spaaij define lone wolf terrorists as attackers who are politically motivated and have acted entirely alone. The authors of an article in the CTC Sentinel entitled "Is There a Nexus Between Terrorist Involvement and Mental Health in the Age of the Islamic State?" discuss this shooting as a case in which "mental health problems were alluded to by non-experts (often family, friends, neighbors) but latched onto by the wider media as concrete evidence of a disorder’s presence (and presumably direct role in the violent intent/actions)." They conclude that media reports about Archer's mental health problems show "disturbingly low levels of evidence," that Archer suffered from "a mental disorder." In his book Unholy Alliance: The Agenda Iran, Russia, and Jihadists Share for Conquering the World, First Amendment attorney Jay Sekulow places Archer in a group of "Muslims (who) choose to bring Islam to the West through violent acts of jihadist terrorism." By contrast, in their book Countering Terrorism, political science professor Martha Crenshaw and criminology professor Gary LaFree argue that despite Archer's "claim(s) to be acting in the name of Allah and ISIS," his "motives were obscure." Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney condemned the shooting, but asserted that, "In no way, shape or form does anybody in this room believe that Islam or the teaching of Islam" have anything to do with the shooting, a statement for which he was taken to task by Dorothy Rabinowitz, who accused the Mayor of making an assertion that was "bizarre in their determined denial of the deluge of facts delivered by top police officials standing next to him," at the press conference held shortly after the attack. Kenny's statement was also harshly criticized by political commentator Dana Loesch in her book Flyover Nation: You Can't Run a Country You've Never Been To. In Loesch's opinion, the shooter ought to have still been serving his 10-year sentence for a 2012 conviction on felony gun possession (his sentence has been reduced.) Loesch characterizes such early releases of convicted criminals as "a deadly judicial pattern." General Michael Flynn called Mayor Kenny's statement, "absurd." Amara Chaudhry Kravitz of Upon Further Review (a journal published by the Philadelphia Bar Association,) criticized the Philadelphia District Attorney's prosecution of Archer and argued that Archer can, and should, be prosecuted pursuant to Pennsylvania's criminal terrorist statute, 18 Pa.C.S.A. 2717, based upon facts known to investigators at this time. She also argued that such a prosecution would double the maximum statutory sentence Archer could receive in state court and, at the same time, would not preclude a subsequent federal prosecution if investigators were to find sufficient facts to justify a federal terrorism prosecution. Fellow Upon Further Review writer Susan Lin responded critically to Kravitz's article, citing Archer's apparent mental health issues. Officer Hartnett Officer Jesse James Hartnett, aged 33, was at the time a four-year veteran with the Philadelphia Police Department. He graduated from Monsignor Bonner High School in 2001. Hartnett previously served with the United States Coast Guard, joining right after the September 11 attacks occurred and serving on active duty throughout August 2008. He then served with the Coast Guard Reserve from 2009 to November 2015. In September 2010, he became an officer for the East Lansdowne police force and worked there until July 2011, which was when he transferred to the Philadelphia Police Department. Hartnett was struck by 3 bullets, suffering a broken arm and nerve damage. He was classified as being in critical but stable condition, and went into surgery at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. He was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time of the shooting. An online fundraising campaign was set up on January 9 to aid Hartnett in recovering from his injuries, Hartnett was discharged from the hospital on January 22. but reparative surgery and recuperation were still ongoing a year later. On April 11, 2016, Hartnett was honored by the Philadelphia Phillies by being invited to throw the opening pitch, and also permitted to propose marriage to his girlfriend on the ballfield. He was given the Sgt. Robert Wilson III Valor Award by the Philadelphia Police Department. Legal proceedings Archer was taken into custody immediately after the shooting. Criminal investigation Immediately after the shooting, the FBI searched two residences connected to the suspect. They also began scouring through the suspect's online activities and phone records. On January10, three days after the shooting, an unidentified woman stopped a police officer on a street and informed him that the suspect was "part of a [radical] group that consists of three others", that he "is not the most radical of the four", and that "the threat to police is not over". The tipster also informed the officer that the other three men frequented the area where Hartnett was shot and claimed to have an affiliation with the group. As a result, all law enforcement agencies in Philadelphia were put on high alert, officers were ordered to work in pairs, and an investigation into the tip by a federal and local Joint Terrorism Task Force was launched. Investigators are aware of the names of two of the three men in question, but are still seeking the identity of the third. On January 13, six days after the shooting, FBI Director James Comey announced that the FBI was investigating the shooting as a terrorist attack. The next day, Comey announced that the FBI at the time had not found any evidence that Archer was involved with any terrorist cells or that there were any other planned attacks in Philadelphia. He also downplayed the significance of the January 10 tip. Arraignment and trial On January 9, Archer was arraigned on one count of attempted murder, along with charges of aggravated assault on a police officer, reckless endangerment, making terroristic threats, possessing an instrument of crime, violating a uniform firearms act, and related offenses. He was held without bail. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for January 25. This hearing was postponed to March 10 and scheduled to be held in Philadelphia Municipal Court. Archer appeared in court at the March 10 preliminary hearing, which was attended by several police officers. Hartnett testified at the hearing, describing the details of his attack and the aftermath. Municipal Court Judge Marsha H. Neifield ordered Archer to be held "on all charges, including attempted murder and aggravated assault, assaulting a law enforcement officer, several gun counts, and receiving stolen property" referring to the stolen pistol used in the shooting. He was formally arraigned in Common Pleas Court on March 31, 2016. On December 18, 2017, an attempt by Archer's attorney to persuade the court that Archer was mentally unfit to stand trial failed when the court ruled that Archer was mentally competent to stand trial. The trial was scheduled to begin on Monday, January 22, 2018. A video of Archer was shown at the trial, in which he states that “I did what I did because I pledge my allegiance to the Islamic State.” In the video, he continues speaking asserting that police officers enforce a law that is not Allah's law and stating that he will fight against disbelievers. When the judge asked Archer whether he wished to testify, he responded only by saying, “Speak to Allah.” Conviction and Sentencing Archer was convicted of attempted murder and aggravated assault on February 1, 2018. He was sentenced to the maximum term available to the court for this crime, between 48.5 and 97 years behind bars. Context In their 2017 book Age of Lone Wolf Terrorism, Mark Hamm and Ramon Spaaij regard this shooting as part of a 21st-century pattern of "targeting uniformed police and military personnel" by lone wolf terrorists. Writing in the journal CTC Sentinel, Sam Mullins describes this shooting as an instance of "jihadist-inspired violence," noting that such attacks may be carried out not only by individuals "directed and funded by foreign terrorist organizations" and by "autonomous groups and individuals who are often lacking substantial overseas connections but nevertheless share the same murderous ideology," but also by "troubled individuals who seem to be driven at least as much by mental illness as by exposure to jihadi propaganda or related media coverage." Writing in the Journal of Strategic Security, Martin J. Gallagher, describes this crime and Archer's assertion of motivation as one of a series of "known lone wolf terrorist attacks in 2016." Gallagher, a British police official charged with the investigation of and response to serious crime national crisis events, discusses the "wave" of which this shooting is part as "a tsunami of attacks perpetrated by individuals" who fit the definition of lone wolf terrorist offered by Michael Becker in his 2014 paper, Explaining Lone Wolf Target Selection in the United States. Gallagher asserts that "there must be an unequivocal acceptance that mental health is a factor in lone wolf terrorism, and that the actions of those who are ill need to be seen as those of a terrorist when appropriate. The Wall Street Journal placed this shooting in the context of a series of ISIS-inspired lone wolf incidents in the United States, including the 2015 San Bernardino attack, pointing out that some 60 individuals were arrested in 2015 in the United States charged with giving support to ISIS; the Journal quoted Michael Nacht, a former official with the U.S. Defense Department, now a Professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy, who stated that calling on Muslims worldwide to attack non-Muslims is "a very effective ISIS strategy." The case was revisited by the press in December 2017 when an immigrant from Egypt who was a naturalized citizen of the United States, Ahmed El-Mofty, opened fire on police just outside the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Harrisburg attacker was shot and killed, but the incident sparked a debate about his motivation that was compared with the debate over Archer's motive. Impact In light of this attack, and a similar attack on French police that occurred earlier on the same day, officers of the New York City Police Department were instructed to "exercise heightened vigilance" and take "proactive measures". A SWAT unit and two units assigned to the Philadelphia Police Department's counter-terrorism unit were added to the police patrols in recent days. On January 12, five days after the shooting, a march was held in Philadelphia in support for Hartnett and other police officers. Reactions Police Commissioner Richard Ross denounced the shooting as "absolutely evil". He also commended Officer Hartnett's survival, which he called "absolutely amazing". Governor Tom Wolf said in a statement, "This alleged intentional act of violence against an officer seeking to help a fellow citizen is horrifying and has no place in Pennsylvania." Pennsylvania Senators Pat Toomey and Bob Casey, Jr. both decried the shooting, with Toomey calling it an act of terror. Republican U.S. presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio also reacted to the shooting. See also 2014 shootings at Parliament Hill, Ottawa 2014 Tours police station stabbing 2014 Queens hatchet attack January 2016 Paris police station attack References 2016 crimes in the United States 2016 in Philadelphia Anti-police violence in the United States Attacks in the United States in 2016 Crimes in Philadelphia Islamic terrorism in the United States Islamic terrorist incidents in 2016 January 2016 crimes in the United States Terrorist incidents in Pennsylvania Terrorist incidents in the United States in 2016 Violence in Pennsylvania Crimes against police officers in the United States Hartnett, Jesse

49384571

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Leonard%20Deadwyler

Shooting of Leonard Deadwyler

Leonard Deadwyler (February 19, 1941 – May 7, 1966) was an African-American man who was shot and killed by LAPD officer Jerold M. Bova after allegedly speeding and running red lights while driving his wife, who was in labor, to the hospital. His wife later sued Los Angeles for wrongful death, and was represented by Johnnie Cochran, but lost the case. However, his death helped spur the building of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital in South Central. Life Deadwyler was born on February 19, 1941, in Gainesville, Georgia. He was the oldest of three children. He met his wife Barbara (nee Buffington) in kindergarten, and they married in 1960. Shortly after, they moved to Kansas; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and finally, Los Angeles. The Deadwylers had two children together. At the time of his death, Barbara Deadwyler was pregnant with their youngest son, Michael. Shooting Barbara Deadwyler was eight months pregnant and began experiencing what she believed to be labor pains. Deadwyler tied a white handkerchief to the car's antenna, to signify an emergency, a common sign in Georgia, where the couple had moved from a year earlier. While driving, Deadwyler ran through several red lights while speeding, causing a police chase that began at 108th Street and Avalon Boulevard, which he mistook as a police escort. Bova eventually pulled the car over at 60th Street and Avalon, where he approached Deadwyler with his gun drawn and leaned into the car. Bova testified that the car lurched forward, causing his gun to go off and shoot Deadwyler at point-blank range. Deadwyler's wife stated that no such movement had taken place and that Bova "shot him for no reason." Investigation and inquest During testimony, the State proffered that Deadwyler had a .35 blood-alcohol level and was drunk. His widow refuted this, as he had not been drinking, and an alcohol level that high would make it very difficult for an individual to function and drive safely at a high speed. Bova testified that the car had lurched forward, while the defense argued that it would be near impossible, as the car had been parked behind another vehicle. On May 31, 1966, a coroner's jury ruled Deadwyler's death an accidental homicide, with one juror calling it an "excusable homicide." The jury, who deliberated for two hours and 35 minutes consisted of eight men and one female. Only one member of the jury was Black. At the time, it was the longest inquest over the death of a single individual in the Los Angeles County Coroner's office, lasting eight days with testimony from 49 witnesses and 87 exhibits. It was also the first televised inquest in California. References 1941 births 1966 deaths People from South Los Angeles African-American-related controversies African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Los Angeles Police Department

49636546

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Abdullahi%20Omar%20Mohamed

Shooting of Abdullahi Omar Mohamed

The shooting of Abdullahi "Abdi" Omar Mohamed occurred in Salt Lake City, Utah, on February 27, 2016. Mohamed, a 17-year-old Somali refugee, was shot and injured by police after allegedly being involved in a confrontation with another person. Mohamed was armed with a metal broomstick, and was asked to drop it by responding officers. On August 8, 2016, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's office declined to file charges against the officers involved. The shooting was recorded on officers' body cameras and the footage was released to the public after it was shown in court on January 23, 2017. Abdi Mohamed Mohamed was born in April 1998 in Somalia, and had lived in a refugee camp in Kenya. He moved to Utah with his family when he was six years old. The shooting and unrest At 8:00 p.m., Mohamed became involved in an altercation with another man at 200 South Rio Grande Street in downtown Salt Lake City when officers were called to the scene. According to Salt Lake County prosecutors, Mohamed was involved in a fight after a failed drug deal and dispute over $1.10 near a homeless shelter. A man had come into the homeless shelter to obtain food, and asked Mohamed for marijuana, but he only had methamphetamine. Mohamed then demanded the man's money. Mohamed was holding a metal broomstick at the time, and had used it to hit the other man at least once. Responding officers asked Mohamed to drop the broomstick at least ten times. When he did not drop the broomstick and appeared to try to hit the man again, he was shot four times by officers Kory Checketts and Jordan Winegar. Mohamed's family disputed the claim, and his cousin, Muslima Weledi, said that witnesses told her Mohamed was armed with a wooden broomstick. The man battered with the broomstick received welts and bruises. Abdullahi was left in critical condition. Following the shooting, many locals in the downtown area began to throw rocks and bottles at police. The police deployed 100 riot officers and barricaded four city blocks. Aftermath Mohamed became comatose following his injuries, and had awoken from his medically-induced coma on March 13. Legal proceedings On August 8, 2016, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said that no charges would be filed against officers Kory Checketts and Jordan Winegar. He said that the two officers believed that Mohamed was about to seriously injure or kill a man with a metal pole. While the shooting was recorded on the officers' body cameras, prosecutors declined to release the footage to the public until January 2017. Mohamed faces charges in juvenile court of aggravated robbery and possessing drugs with an intent to distribute after officers said they found methamphetamine in his pocket. On January 23, 2017, a preliminary hearing was held in juvenile court. In June 2017, Mohamed was released from the juvenile court system with a $500 fee. As part of the plea bargain, he admitted to aggravated assault and drug possession. Response Protests followed in the days after the incident, criticizing the police's use of force. On February 29, 1,000 people rallied and marched in Salt Lake City. The American Civil Liberties Union criticized the police use of force and riot removal tactics. A group, Utah Against Police Brutality, planned to protest on August 9 in downtown Salt Lake City, in response to the district attorney's decision to not file charges against the officers involved. See also Glenville shootout Shooting of Michael Brown References 2016 in Utah 2016 riots Black Lives Matter February 2016 events in the United States 2010s in Salt Lake City Law enforcement in Utah Protests in the United States Race and crime in the United States Somali-American history Non-fatal shootings Salt Lake City Police Department

50322814

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Daniel%20Shaver

Shooting of Daniel Shaver

On January 18, 2016, Daniel Leetin Shaver of Granbury, Texas, was fatally shot by police officer Philip Brailsford in the hallway of a La Quinta Inn & Suites hotel in Mesa, Arizona, United States. Police were responding to a report that a rifle had been pointed out of the window of Shaver's hotel room. After the shooting, the rifle, which remained in the room, was determined to be a pellet gun. Following an investigation, Brailsford was charged with second-degree murder and a lesser manslaughter charge and later found not guilty by a jury. Backgrounds Daniel Shaver Daniel Leetin Shaver (December 29, 1989January 18, 2016) grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and graduated from Hillwood High School in 2007. He lived in Granbury, Texas, with his wife and two daughters. Shaver was employed as a pest control specialist, and was visiting Mesa for a business trip when he was killed. He was 26 years old. Philip Brailsford Philip Mitchell Brailsford, like Daniel Shaver, was 26 years old at the time of the shooting. He had been employed with the Mesa Police Department since 2013. He was “administratively cleared” of wrongdoing in a 2015 incident involving excessive use of force during an arrest of three unarmed teenage suspects. Brailsford's father was a police sergeant who had also worked for the Mesa Police Department. Brailsford graduated from Mesa Desert Ridge High School in 2009, was an LDS missionary in Ecuador, and had signed up with the Arizona National Guard before being hired by Mesa Police. He is married and has a son. Shooting According to a police report, Shaver had been staying at a Mesa La Quinta Inn & Suites on business. He invited two acquaintances, Monique Portillo and Luis Nunez, to his room for drinks. There he showed them a scoped air rifle he was using to exterminate birds inside grocery stores. At one point, the gun was pointed outside his fifth-floor window, prompting a witness to notify the hotel receptionist; the police were immediately called. Nunez left the hotel room shortly before police arrived at about 9:20 p.m. When police arrived at the hotel, they ordered Shaver and Portillo to exit the room. Six officers were in the hotel corridor while Shaver received orders for several minutes. Portillo was taken into custody unharmed. Police Sergeant Charles Langley then ordered Shaver, who was lying prone, to cross his legs. Moments later, he ordered Shaver to push himself "up to a kneeling position". While complying with the order to kneel, Shaver uncrossed his legs and Langley shouted that Shaver needed to keep his legs crossed. Startled, Shaver then put his hands behind his back and was again warned by Langley to keep his hands in the air. Langley yelled at Shaver that if he deviated from police instructions again, they would shoot him. Sergeant Langley told Shaver not to put his hands down for any reason. Shaver said, "Please don't shoot me". Upon being instructed to crawl, Shaver put his hands down and crawled on all fours. While crawling towards the officers, Shaver moved his right hand towards his waistband. Officer Philip Brailsford, who later testified he believed that Shaver was reaching for a weapon, then opened fire with his AR-15 rifle, striking Shaver five times and killing him almost instantly. Shaver was unarmed and may have been attempting to prevent his shorts from slipping down. An autopsy report found that Shaver was intoxicated (with a blood-alcohol level over three times the legal driving limit), which police stated may have contributed to his confused response to their commands. Body camera footage Shaver's widow requested that the Mesa Police Department release bodycam footage of the event. The request for the bodycam footage was initially refused. In a recording released by Shaver's widow, purportedly of a meeting between her and Maricopa County prosecutors, she was told that she could watch the video only if she agreed not to discuss its contents with the press. Prosecutors and defense attorneys in Brailsford's murder trial asked that the bodycam footage be sealed. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam Myers granted the motion to seal the footage. On May 25, 2016, Myers ordered portions of the video released. The released video omitted the shooting itself. The redacted version included footage from Brailsford's body camera up to the time when someone exits Shaver's hotel room and footage from another officer's camera while he escorted a woman from the room. The full unedited body camera footage of the shooting was released by the Mesa Police Department hours after Brailsford was found not guilty of murder and reckless manslaughter. Legal actions Criminal charges against Brailsford In early March 2016, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office announced it would pursue second-degree murder charges against Brailsford in relation to the incident. According to a statement by the county attorney, "after carefully reviewing the relevant facts and circumstances, we have determined that the use of deadly physical force was not justified in this instance." Brailsford pleaded not guilty. Termination from police department Later that month, the Mesa Police Department fired Brailsford, citing several policy violations and unsatisfactory performance. An internal investigation report revealed that Brailsford had violated department weapon policy by engraving his patrol rifle with the phrases "You're fucked" and "Molon labe" (a Greek expression meaning "come and take it"). Brailsford had also previously been investigated for body slamming a teenager during an arrest. In the official police report of the incident, Brailsford defended his actions, saying that by crawling towards the officers, Shaver appeared to be "trying to gain a position of advantage in order to gain a better firing position on us". Shaver had indeed crawled towards the officers after one of them instructed him to. The report stated: "Shaver was co-operative, but sometimes confused by the commands and because of his possible intoxication". Four months after the shooting, Charles Langley, the officer who gave orders to Shaver, retired from the department. By December 2017, Langley had emigrated from the United States to the Philippines. Criminal trial and acquittal Brailsford's trial for second-degree murder was originally scheduled for February 2017. A defense motion challenging the state's probable cause to send the case to trial; appeals to the Arizona Supreme Court over the release of controversially redacted footage from Brailsford's body camera made a February trial unrealistic. On February 10, 2017, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge George Foster rescheduled the trial for October 23, 2017. Brailsford faced up to 25 years in prison if found guilty of second-degree murder. On December 7, 2017, after a six-week trial, a jury acquitted Brailsford of all charges. Also in December 2017, it was revealed that Brailsford had been involved in a prior incident in 2015 regarding an arrest of teenagers in a store. During the arrest, Brailsford was recorded on video throwing a teenager against a shelf, putting the teenager in a headlock, then slamming the teenager onto the ground. At the time, the incident was publicized (but Brailsford was not named) by a witness to the arrest, who alleged excessive force because the teenagers "weren't doing anything". A spokesman for the Mesa Police Department said that the department "looked at" the incident and "administratively cleared" Brailsford, because "police work sometimes isn't pretty". Department of Justice investigation In March 2018, it became known that the United States Department of Justice had reopened the case and was looking into a possible civil rights violation by Brailsford. Bankruptcy and pension In January 2018, Brailsford filed for bankruptcy. According to a pay stub attached to Brailsford's bankruptcy file, he has been working for a steel company in Glendale, Arizona. In August 2018, Brailsford was reinstated by the Mesa Police Department, staying for a further 42 days in what the department described as a "budget position". The department agreed to reimburse Brailsford for medical expenses related to post-traumatic stress disorder suffered due to his shooting of Shaver and the resultant criminal trial. The reinstatement allowed Brailsford to apply for "accidental disability" suffered during the course of work. As a result, Brailsford was unanimously approved to be retired on medical grounds. Brailsford was also given a pension of $2,500 per month. The fact that Brailsford was ultimately medically retired instead of remaining fired was only revealed to the public in July 2019. Lawsuit against Mesa city In 2021, Shaver's parents settled with the city for $1.5 million. Shaver's common-law widow, seeking $75 million, refused to settle and may press for a trial. See also List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, January 2016 References 2010s trials 2016 controversies in the United States 2016 in Arizona criminal trials that ended in acquittal deaths by firearm in Arizona filmed killings by law enforcement history of Mesa, Arizona January 2016 events in the United States law enforcement controversies in the United States law enforcement in Arizona murder trials people shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States police brutality in the United States trials in the United States

50823846

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Eula%20Love

Shooting of Eula Love

Eula Mae Love (commonly referred to as Eula Love) was a 39-year-old African-American mother and widow who was shot and killed on January 3, 1979, by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department. Although Love's death sparked outcry in South Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County District Attorney exonerated both of the police officers involved in the shooting on April 17, 1979. Death Six months before the incident, Love's husband died of sickle cell anemia, leaving Love financially strapped and solely responsible for the care of their three young daughters. On the day of the shooting, Love had an altercation with a service person from the Southern California Gas company sent to her house to collect an overdue utility bill. After going to the store to cash a check to pay the bill, Love returned home to find additional personnel from the gas company, who had called the police on her. Further upset by the new utility workers, Love went into her house and came out with a knife. When police arrived, Love threatened the officers with a boning knife. In response, the two officers Edward M. Hopson and Lloyd W. O'Callaghan fired twelve shots into Love at close range, killing her instantly. The officers alleged that they shot her in self-defense. Aftermath The killing generated widespread coverage in the local news media and sparked public outrage, which led the Los Angeles Police Commission to conduct its own investigation of the shooting. Black Angelenos' confidence in the LAPD declined precipitously in 1979 due in part to this case, according to Allen John Scott's book The City: Los Angeles and Urban Theory at the End of the Twentieth Century. The report led to "significant reforms in the Department's procedures on use of force." The academic journal Crime and Social Justice later reprinted the Police Commission's report on the circumstances of the shooting. Journal editors expressed the opinion that "her killing is a crime against humanity." Journalist Joe Domanick (author of two books on the department) described Love's shooting as emblematic of the "bad old days" of the Los Angeles Police Department. Love's death has been cited as the event that put the phrase "officer-involved shooting" into widespread use by mainstream media outlets. See also Lists of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States Police brutality in the United States Police reform in the United States References External links Eulia Love Story: Protest Flare Up via UCLA Film/TV Archive African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Police misconduct in the United States Los Angeles Police Department Law enforcement in California Deaths by firearm in California African-American-related controversies Deaths by person in the United States Protests in the United States History of Los Angeles 1979 in Los Angeles 1979 controversies 1979 deaths

51129124

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Charles%20Kinsey

Shooting of Charles Kinsey

On July 18, 2016, Charles Kinsey, a mental health therapist, was shot in the leg by a police officer in North Miami, Florida. Kinsey had been retrieving his 27-year-old autistic patient, Arnaldo Rios Soto, who had run away from his group home. Police encountered the pair while they were searching for an armed suicidal man. Kinsey was lying on the ground with his hands in the air, and trying to negotiate between officers and his patient, when he was shot. The officer who shot Kinsey said he had been aiming at the patient, who the officer believed was threatening Kinsey with a gun. Both Kinsey and his patient were unarmed. Following the shooting, Kinsey said he was handcuffed and left bleeding on the ground for 20 minutes without police giving him medical aid. Authorities said they were investigating the incident, which received significant media attention following the appearance of cellphone video footage. The officer who shot Kinsey, Jonathan Aledda, was arrested in 2017, and charged with attempted manslaughter and negligence. In June 2019, Aledda was found guilty by a jury of culpable negligence. One day after being found guilty, Aledda was also fired from the police force. He was sentenced to probation and required to write a 2,500 word essay on policing. He ultimately served a total of 5 months of probation before being released. After Aledda was found guilty, Kinsey and the City of North Miami reached a settlement for an undisclosed amount in a federal lawsuit Kinsey had filed. Background On July 18, 2016, shortly before 5:00 p.m. EDT, a 27-year-old male non-verbal severely autistic man clutching a silver toy tanker truck ran away from his mental health facility, MacTown Panther Group Homes. Charles Kinsey, a 47-year-old mental health worker, followed his patient out of the facility to retrieve him. Kinsey had worked at the facility for over a year, was involved in community efforts to keep local kids in school, and is the father of five children. According to NPR, Kinsey has been a member of the local "Circle of Brotherhood" group whose mission is "Serving and Protecting our Community". The police were at the same time responding to reports of a man threatening to shoot himself in the area, at Northeast 127th Street and 14th Avenue. Police received a call around 5:30 p.m. The North Miami Assistant Police Chief, Neal Cuevas, said that the autistic man did not comply with orders when the police arrived on the scene. Shooting While Kinsey lay on the ground with his hands raised, one officer, North Miami Police Department Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team member Jonathan Aledda, who was away, said he thought the patient was holding the therapist hostage and that the small silver toy truck being clutched by the patient was a gun, following a report made by a passing female motorist, at whom the patient had pointed the toy truck which the motorist believed appeared to be a firearm, and a dispatch to the police officers that there was a "male with a gun". Aledda said "It appeared he [the Black therapist] was screaming for mercy or for help or something. In my mind, the white male [the patient] had a gun. I couldn't hear what the black man was saying. In my mind, I thought he might get shot." Aledda said he had not aimed at Kinsey, but rather had been aiming at Rios-Soto, who he believed was threatening the therapist with a gun. Aledda fired three .223 caliber rounds from his Colt M4 Carbine rifle, which did not have advanced optical sights, with one bullet striking Kinsey in the right leg. The shooting occurred a block from the group home where Kinsey worked at 1365 NE 128th St. Kinsey's lawyer Hilton Napoleon II provided the Miami Herald with a cellphone video of Kinsey lying on the ground, his hands in the air, moments before the shooting. The man who took the video initially thought that the patient had a gun in his hands. In the video Kinsey asks police not to shoot him, while his patient plays with his toy truck. Kinsey said he was trying to convince his patient, who was clutching a small toy truck, to obey officers' commands. The video also shows Kinsey telling police that he is unarmed. In the video Kinsey is seen telling police, "All he has is a toy truck. A toy truck. I am a behavior therapist at a group home." Kinsey is also shown telling his patient, "Please be still... lay down on your stomach." While two of his fellow officers were close enough to hear what Kinsey was saying, the shooting officer was not. Kinsey said that after he was shot, police turned him on his back, handcuffed him, and left him bleeding on the road for 20 minutes, and that police did nothing to stop Kinsey's bleeding before an ambulance arrived. A second video shows officers carrying rifles and patting down Kinsey and his patient while they lie on the ground. Aftermath A witness to the shooting told the Associated Press that when police arrived, he grabbed binoculars and saw that the autistic man seated in the road, next to Kinsey, was holding a toy truck. He informed an officer that the man was holding a toy and not a gun, but she told him to back up and did not inform other officers. Kinsey was shot shortly afterwards. One officer, about 15–20 feet away, heard Kinsey yelling and said over the radio to "use caution" because "the person advised that it's a toy." A minute later, at least 30 seconds before shots were fired, that officer said over the radio to the other police officers at the scene that he had a visual, and that the item did not appear to him to be a firearm, but appeared to be a toy truck. Kinsey said he was more worried about his patient, who did not have his hands raised, and did not believe he himself would be shot. "As long as I've got my hands up, they're not gonna shoot me, that's what I'm thinking," Kinsey said. "Wow, I was wrong." Kinsey said that being shot "was so surprising, it was like a mosquito bite." He said that when he was shot his life flashed before his eyes, and he thought of his family. According to Kinsey, when he asked the officer why he had shot him, the officer replied, "I don't know." Kinsey's lawyer said that when another officer asked the shooting officer "why did you shoot this guy", the shooter again responded, "I don't know." Kinsey survived the shooting after being taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital. Kinsey's wife said, "I'm just grateful he's alive and able to tell his story." Following the shooting, the name of the police officer who shot Kinsey was not immediately revealed to the public. Police later announced that the shooter was a 30-year-old Hispanic officer who had worked in the police department for four years, and was a member of the SWAT team. Miami police subsequently identified the officer as Jonathan Aledda. A police department employee told the Herald that the officer fired because the autistic patient did not obey police commands. On July 22, the local president of the Florida Police Benevolent Association chapter in Dade County, John Rivera, said that the officer who fired the bullets was aiming for Kinsey's patient, and was "trying to save Kinsey's life." Rivera said that Kinsey "did everything right." In response, Napoleon and some media outlets questioned the explanation that Kinsey was shot accidentally, and asked why Kinsey was handcuffed and left bleeding on the ground after being shot. A second officer was initially placed on administrative leave, but prosecutors then found that the officer had not lied when he told investigators he didn't witness the shooting, because he had in fact returned to a police cruiser when the shot was fired. Police announced that the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office would assist with an ongoing investigation. An inquiry into the shooting was performed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, at the request of both North Miami police and the state attorney's office. Legal proceedings On August 3, 2016, Kinsey filed a federal lawsuit against Jonathan Aledda, claiming he violated his civil rights and used excessive force and falsely arrested him. In his complaint, Kinsey stated that Aledda violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from excessive force during police seizures when he shot him in the leg. He also stated that Aledda put handcuffs on him that were too tight, cutting off his circulation. On April 12, 2017, Jonathan Aledda was arrested on charges of attempted manslaughter and negligence for his role in the affair. On June 15, 2017, Rios Soto's family filed a lawsuit against North Miami on his behalf alleging the police falsely imprisoned him and intentionally inflicted pain and suffering. A confidential settlement was reached in 2019. In March 2019, the case was declared a mistrial as the jury could not reach a verdict on all charges. The jurors voted to acquit Aledda of one misdemeanor count of culpable negligence for shooting at Rios Soto. However they could not reach a decision on the three remaining charges, one of misdemeanor culpable negligence for his shot at Kinsey, and two charges of felony attempted manslaughter. In June 2019, Jonathan Aledda was retried and found not guilty on two counts of attempted manslaughter (felony charges) but guilty of culpable negligence, a misdemeanor. He was not sentenced to prison, and was instead sentenced to one year of administrative probation, 100 hours of community service, and to write a 2,500-word essay on communication and weapon discharges. His conviction would also not appear on a criminal record due to the withholding of adjudication. He was released from probation less than five months later. After Aledda’s sentencing, Charles Kinsey and the City of North Miami reached a settlement for an undisclosed amount in the federal suit Kinsey had filed against the city and its police. Reactions After the release of the video, Florida Congresswoman Frederica Wilson tweeted that she was shocked and angered by Kinsey's shooting, writing, "Like everyone else I have one question: Why?" Mayor Smith Joseph apologized to the family and promised a complete investigation stating "I have made it clear that I will not tolerate anything that goes against the process." On Thursday after the shooting, Black Lives Matter activists protested outside the North Miami police department, stating that it was Kinsey who was "protecting and serving" in the incident, and confronting police officials. Protestors demanded that the shooting officer be fired. NPR wrote that the incident "has renewed discussions of officers' use of force". Abroad, France TV wrote that while the incident could have ended far more tragically, it was "no less absurd and worrisome", calling the event "surreal". Le Figaro wrote that the story broke at a time when the United States has been "plagued by intense controversy following the death of several black people shot by police, and attacks on five policemen." References 2016 in Florida African-American history of Florida Black Lives Matter July 2016 events in the United States Law enforcement controversies in the United States Law enforcement in Florida North Miami, Florida African-American-related controversies 2016 controversies in the United States Police brutality in the United States History of racism in Florida Non-fatal shootings

51236487

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Korryn%20Gaines

Shooting of Korryn Gaines

The shooting of Korryn Gaines occurred on August 1, 2016, in Randallstown, Maryland, near Baltimore, resulting in the death of Gaines, a 23-year-old woman, and the shooting of her son, who survived. According to the Baltimore County Police Department, officers sought to serve Gaines a warrant in relation to an earlier traffic violation. She had refused to vacate her vehicle or show her driver's license, and resisted arrest. Immediately after the first officer entered her home to serve the warrant, Gaines pointed a shotgun at him, prompting him to withdraw without shots being fired. The Baltimore County SWAT team responded and a standoff began. She recorded and live streamed to Facebook where Gaines's friends told her to "continue on". She is seen to have told her son that "the police are coming to kill us". Upon her refusal to let them in, police got a key from the rental office but found the chain lock blocked their entry. An officer then kicked in the door. Police say Gaines pointed a shotgun at an officer, telling him to leave. Upon police request, Facebook deactivated Gaines' Facebook and Instagram accounts, leading to criticism of the company's involvement in the incident. In 2018, a jury awarded the Gaines family $38 million in damages after finding that the first shot, fired by Royce Ruby and killing Gaines, was not reasonable, and thus violated their civil rights. That verdict was overturned in February 2019 by Judge Mickey Norman who ruled that physical evidence suggests Gaines' was raising her weapon when shot, thus posing a threat to Ruby and his team. Judge Norman described Ruby's actions as 'objectively reasonable'. In July of 2020, an appeal court reinstated the $38 million award. Background Korryn Shandawn Gaines was a 23-year-old woman from Randallstown, Maryland, and was employed as a hairstylist. Her father, Ryan Gaines, had worked as a police dispatcher, according to depositions of Gaines' family in a 2012 civil suit. Her mother, Rhonda Dormeus, aged 49, is a registered nurse. She also has a 32-year-old sister and 26-year-old brother. Gaines was wanted on a bench warrant for failing to appear in court on charges related to previous cases of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest following a March 10 traffic stop and other traffic offenses, according to Baltimore County Police. Gaines was pulled over by a police officer for driving without a license plate. March incident According to police reports, Gaines was stopped for a traffic violation for having a piece of cardboard with writing on it in place of a license plate. The cardboard plate read "Any government official who compromises this pursuit of happiness and right to travel, will be held criminally responsible and fined, as this is a natural right and freedom." Gaines was pulled over for invalid license plates which she contends was valid under constitutional law. She did not have the car registered in the state of Maryland and a citation from the police officers was in order along with repossession of the vehicle. Upon being stopped, the police removed her keys from the vehicle as to stop her from driving off since the officer deemed her non-compliant with police. The officers gave her the citation, ordering her to exit her vehicle, and informing her that they would be impounding it as it has no license and was no longer registered in the state of Maryland. A subsequent verbal conflict ensued. She replied to the officer, "You're not going to kidnap me." After the officers ordered her to get out of the vehicle, she told them, "You will have to kill me". At that point, she began holding her child. Shooting Baltimore County Police Department officers arrived at Gaines' apartment at Carriage Hill Apartments on Sulky Court to serve her a warrant. Gaines was in the apartment with her five-year-old son, and, according to a police statement, armed herself with a Mossberg shotgun; a standoff between Gaines and police ensued. Police say that after several hours of standoff, Gaines threatened officers with a shotgun. One police officer fired a shot and Gaines fired back with buckshot. Officers responded with three shots, hitting Gaines. Gaines' five-year-old son, Kodi, was shot by police in the crossfire. Kodi's arm was struck by bullets and suffered an elbow injury and bullet fragments in his face. Gaines' boyfriend, Kareem Kiean Courtney (age 39), who was living with Gaines, was able to leave the apartment with Gaines' 1-year-old daughter, upon which he was briefly detained by police before being released. The shooting was not recorded as officers were not wearing police bodycams; initially police reported they were unsure if that was the case, as their bodycam program had recently begun. However, portions of the standoff were recorded by Gaines and posted to social media. Police later stated that while there is no police footage of inside the apartment, some officers assigned to support roles outside were wearing body cameras. Filming and social media According to news reports, during the standoff with police, Gaines posted videos on Facebook and Instagram during the incident. The videos appear to show Gaines talking with police in the doorway to her apartment and to her son. In one clip, she asks her son what the police are trying to do. He replies "They trying to kill us." She then asks: "Do you want to go out there?" "No," the boy replies. She then asks "What'd you wanna do?" He appears confused and stays silent. Gaines says, "there is no wrong answer." Police contacted Facebook via the company's "law enforcement portal" and requested the account be taken offline. According to a police spokesperson, the account had been suspended but not deleted, adding that the video would be used as evidence. This was the first instance where Baltimore County police requested Facebook to deactivate an account in such a situation. In a statement following the incident, Baltimore County police reported that they asked Facebook to suspend Gaines' Facebook and Instagram accounts during the standoff because of comments made by others to her video posts encouraging her to not comply with orders from officers. Facebook complied with the emergency request. In early November, a new video was released from the incident showing Gaines talking into the camera, expressing her exhaustion but concurrent refusal to back down from arriving officers: "I'm at peace. I'm in my home. I ain't trying to hurt nobody. ... They been quiet a while so they plotting to come in here and disturb the peace. ... I am not a criminal." Reactions The death of Gaines, who was of African-American descent, received international news coverage. Activists have called for protests under the "Say Her Name" banner, noting that black women who are killed by police receive less media attention than black males. Gaines was the ninth black woman to be killed by police in the United States in 2016 and although in nearly every incident questions were raised as to whether or not the women attacked police, only Gaines' death received nationwide coverage. Police allege that Gaines, though not actively affiliated with any specific anti-government group, identified and behaved as a 'free person' who does not recognize governmental authority. Police say there have been multiple threats to police following the incident, and have called for patience while the incident is being investigated. Because of threats against officers, police have opted not to identify the officer who killed Gaines during the incident, though the department's standard procedure is to release the names of officers involved in shootings about 48 hours after such an incident. In a county report, the officer is described as a 46-year-old white male. Some conservative outlets criticized the extensive coverage of the event, and the allegations of racial disparity as a contributing factor, stating that the police officers involved behaved rationally and did not provoke the shootout, and that Gaines unlawfully threatened police. In the days following the shooting, local artists in Baltimore gathered to sell works to raise money for Gaines' family. A candlelit vigil was held at sunset at the entrance of Baltimore City College, the school where Gaines graduated from in 2010. In a number of cities across the United States, upon the urging of Black Feminist Future, a number of altars were laid to honor Gaines' and other black women killed by police. A number of the altars used the phrase "defend black womanhood" alongside other slogans. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund requested information and records from Baltimore County police including body camera footage, policies on the execution of arrest warrants and a copy of the department's agreement with the county police union. Police stated there is no body camera footage from inside the apartment, but that some officers assigned to support roles outside were wearing cameras. Following the publicized NAACP request, Baltimore County police published their response providing some of the requested details and documents but declined to release certain information, stating that the public would need to wait until after the investigation is complete. Protests According to some reports, Gaines' death was initially protested by supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement. In the days following the incident, a protest was held in New York City, approximately 100 people attended, with the involvement of Black Youth Project 100 and a local group named "NYC Shut It Down" as part of a reoccurring protest event titled "People's Monday". The Phoenix chapter of the African National Women's Organization held a protest for Gaines and two others recently killed by police. On August 13, 2016, in Portland, Oregon, protesters associated with Black Lives Matter and "Don't Shoot Portland" conducted a sit-in demonstration near Pioneer Courthouse Square and disrupted train services. On August 15, 2016, a protest was held outside of the Maryland Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) conference at the Hyatt-Regency hotel. The protest was organized by Baltimore Bloc and the Black Youth Project 100. Twelve protesters were arrested for trespassing on private property. A local police union official was suspended for describing the protesters as "thugs" in a department-wide email. A small protest occurred on August 27, 2016, at McKeldin Square in the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore; the group was led by the People's Power Assembly. The protest marched from McKeldin Square to the Randallstown police station. Criticism of police The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maryland condemned the shooting, releasing a statement saying that the police "decided that they needed to use deadly force to execute that warrant, and needed to expose themselves to the known risk of deadly force being used on them, knowing that a five year old child might be in the line of fire" The National Organization for Women called for the United States Department of Justice to investigate Gaines' death, arguing that police were only at Gaines' home to serve warrants (not to arrest her) and were unable to deescalate the standoff. The National LGBTQ Task Force condemned the shooting, calling on state and federal authorities to investigate the incident. Members of Gaines family have voiced skepticism of the police account of the shooting. Civil rights activists cautioned against the authenticity of police reports released following such events. Gaines' mother was reportedly at the scene before the fatal shooting, however, she stated she was not allowed to intervene in the standoff, though she had pleaded to negotiate to end the confrontation. Gaines' family members reported being prevented by police from seeing Gaines' son when the boy was in the hospital. Some news outlets have called into question why the Baltimore County Crisis Intervention Team was not deployed. Police say trained negotiators were involved but could not respond as to why the unit was not dispatched. Others suggest there are deficiencies in the way law enforcement attempt to deescalate interactions in minority communities, suggesting that Gaines' interactions with police may have been shaped by attitudes and beliefs regarding police and the justice system in urban black communities. According to Vox Media reports, legally, the police officers only must reasonably believe that their lives were in immediate danger, but are not required to ascertain whether the shooting victim actually posed a threat; however, activists maintain the police should have sought other means of resolving the conflict. Others have called for the hiring of more female police officers, arguing that policewomen would be less likely to use lethal force to resolve conflicts. Criticism of Facebook The incident is noted as being further evidence of a trend of live-streaming confrontations between citizens (specifically, black Americans) and police in the United States. A senior ACLU attorney questioned the request by Baltimore County police to shut down Gaines' accounts, and Facebook's decision to comply, stating that Facebook must exercise caution when dealing with requests by police to censor content. Artist and journalist Ferrari Sheppard also criticized Facebook's involvement in the incident on Twitter, saying "Facebook helped Baltimore police kill #KorrynGaines in the dark." The corporate watchdog group SumOfUs criticised Facebook for setting a precedent of censorship by orders of police, stating that the move is a threat to civil liberties, owing to the current use of shareable video on social media as an instrument in exposing police violence in the United States. Activists maintain that cutting off an account or otherwise controlling social media access becomes a strike against those fighting police abuse. The police may then have an advantage in controlling the narrative of the incident. Legal proceedings On September 11, 2016, Gaines family lawyers filed a wrongful death lawsuit, alleging officers shot Gaines out of a loss of patience from the prolonged standoff. On September 21, Scott Shellenberger announced the officer who shot Gaines would not receive any charges. On October 11, Gaines family lawyers said that they had filed an amended lawsuit, naming Officers John Dowell and Allen Griffin as defendants; the Gaines family alleged they entered the apartment illegally, though this had previously been dismissed by Shellenberger and police officials. In February 2018, a jury of 6 women awarded more than $37 million (more than $36 million by other accounts) in damages to the Gaines family after finding that the first shot, fired by Royce Ruby and killing Gaines, was not reasonable, and thus violated their civil rights. A statement from Baltimore County government attorney Mike Field said the county was disappointed with the verdict and reviewing its options, including an appeal. On March 19, 2018, Baltimore County filed an appeal. On February 14, 2019, Judge Mickey J. Norman dismissed the original complaint and consequently remitted the award of over $37 million. The family had stated they would file an appeal. On Wednesday, July 1, 2020, after appealing, an appeal court reinstated the original $38 million verdict and ruled it was for the jury to decide questions of fact, not Judge Norman. List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States References 2016 deaths 2016 in Maryland August 2016 events in the United States Black Lives Matter Deaths by firearm in Maryland African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Law enforcement in Maryland Randallstown, Maryland Sovereign citizen movement Facebook criticisms and controversies

51252666

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Paul%20O%27Neal

Shooting of Paul O'Neal

The shooting of Paul O'Neal occurred on July 28, 2016, when he was shot in the back by Chicago Police Department officers following a grand theft auto chase. O'Neal, 18, struck two police cars, a parked car, while operating a stolen Jaguar. Police say that O'Neal, who was unarmed, fled from the vehicle after the chase and refused to stop. The shooting was classified by the medical examiner as a homicide. The three officers who discharged their weapons were removed from duty following a preliminary investigation. Following an investigation, no criminal charges were brought against the officers involved. The LA Times notes Chicago's use-of-force policy specifically prohibits police from shooting into a car when the vehicle represents the only danger. However, this policy is not absolute and expressly applies "unless such force is reasonably necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to the sworn member or to another person." In March 2020, two officers were fired for breaking Chicago Police Department internal regulations for firing at O'Neal's vehicle on a residential street. This did not include officer Jose Diaz, who fired the fatal shots, who was ruled to have a justified belief that O'Neal was armed and had fired at the officer. These shots in fact came from the two, subsequently terminated, officers who shot at O'Neal's vehicle. Chicago police released vehicle and body-worn camera video of the shooting on August 5, 2016. Prior to the release, the agency warned that civil unrest could follow. Shooting At 7:23 p.m., Chicago police officers attempted to stop O'Neal in the South Shore neighborhood as he drove a Jaguar convertible reported stolen in Bolingbrook. O'Neal struck two Chicago police vehicles while in the car, and two officers fired at him while he was inside the car. O'Neal fled from the Jaguar, and a third officer chased him behind a home and fatally shot him. O'Neal died from a single gunshot wound to the back. About fifteen shots were fired in total by the three officers. References 2016 controversies in the United States 2016 in Illinois July 2016 events in the United States History of Chicago Law enforcement controversies Chicago Police Department Filmed killings by law enforcement

51669413

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Terence%20Crutcher

Shooting of Terence Crutcher

On September 16, 2016, Terence Crutcher, a 40-year-old black motorist, was shot and killed by police officer Betty Jo Shelby in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was unarmed, standing near his vehicle in the middle of a street. The shooting led to protests in Tulsa. Six days later, on September 22, the Tulsa County District Attorney charged Shelby with first-degree manslaughter after the shooting was labeled a homicide. On May 17, 2017, a jury found her not guilty of first-degree manslaughter. Background Terence Tafford Crutcher, Sr. (b. August 16, 1976) was a 40-year-old man. Crutcher's twin sister, Dr. Tiffany Crutcher, described him as a father and said that at the time of his death he was enrolled to study music at Tulsa Community College. According to his sister, Crutcher was involved in his church and sang in the choir. The officers involved in the incident at Tulsa, Oklahoma, on September 16, 2016, were Betty Shelby and Tyler Turnbough. Turnbough became an officer in 2009 and Shelby in 2011. Incident At 7:36 p.m. on September 16, 2016, police received a 9-1-1 call about an abandoned vehicle in the middle of 36th Street North just west of Lewis Avenue. One caller said: "Somebody left their vehicle running in the middle of the street with the doors wide open...The doors are open. The vehicle is still running. It's an SUV. It's like in the middle of the street. It's blocking traffic...There was a guy running from it, saying it was going to blow up. But I think he's smoking something. I got out and was like, 'Do you need help?' and he was like, 'Come here, come here, I think it's going to blow up.'" Another caller said: "There is a car that looks like somebody just jumped out of it and left it in the center of the road on 36th Street North and North Lewis Avenue...It's dead in the middle of the street...It's a Navigator. The driver-side door is open like somebody jumped out. It's on the yellow line, blocking traffic." Police stated that Crutcher kept reaching into his pocket, refused to show his hands, walked towards his vehicle despite being told to stop, and then angled towards and reached into his vehicle. Critics have disputed this saying that the driver's side window was up when Crutcher was shot. However, the Jury concluded "It is clear to the Jury after intensely studying the video, still photos, and testimony that the windows to the SUV driven by Terrance Crutcher that evening were open and that the jury believes from said evidence that Terrance Crutcher did in fact reach into the window disobeying the instructions of the police officers on location." Officers in the helicopter conversed with each other: "This guy's still walking and isn't following commands." "It's time for a taser, I think." "I've got a feeling that's about to happen." "That looks like a bad dude, too, could be on something." At this point, Turnbough tased Crutcher, and Shelby shot him. Approximately two minutes after the shot, an officer checked Crutcher's pockets, and approximately 45 seconds later, someone crouched to offer aid. Police said Crutcher died in the hospital later that day. Tulsa police chief Chuck Jordan said no weapon was recovered from Crutcher's body or vehicle. Immediate aftermath Police dashcam and helicopter video as well as the dispatch audio were released by police three days after the event on September 19, 2016. Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan called the video "disturbing" and "difficult to watch". The officers involved were placed on paid administrative leave. Crutcher's twin sister said at a press conference, "You all want to know who that big, bad dude was? That big, bad dude was my twin brother. That big, bad dude was a father. That big, bad dude was a son. That big, bad dude was enrolled at Tulsa Community College — just wanting to make us proud. That big, bad dude loved God. That big, bad dude was at church, singing, with all his flaws, every week." The Tulsa Police Department started a criminal investigation of the shooting. Homicide Sergeant Dave Walker stated that PCP had been recovered from Crutcher's car. Shelby's attorney had previously stated that she thought Crutcher might be under the influence of PCP based on what she learned during her drug-recognition training. Crutcher's father had stated in a 2012 affidavit that his son had a history of PCP use. The police department paid $216,000 in overtime costs for 10 days after the death for services related to increased demonstrations, staffing of patrols, marches, Crutcher's funeral, and news conferences by the district attorney and Crutcher family during which the Incident Management Team also had a command post operating. Reactions The United States Department of Justice opened a civil rights probe into the shooting. However, the Department of Justice later determined that no civil rights charge would be filed against any individual involved. Crutcher's twin sister said that federal Department of Justice officials told her (in her words): "because of the way the laws are written that it was almost next to impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt in these cases of police misconduct and use of force." Dozens of protestors gathered on September 19 by the courthouse. Ahead of the release of the video and audio recordings, the Tulsa chapter of Black Lives Matter held a protest outside the courthouse. Crutcher's family, protestors, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma called for Shelby to be charged with his death. Autopsy results Autopsy results released by the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner indicated that Terence Crutcher had "acute phencyclidine (PCP) intoxication" at the time of the shooting. The report stated that Crutcher had 96 nanograms per milliliter of PCP in his blood at the time of death. The report also indicated that tenocyclidine (TCP), a psychostimulant and hallucinogen which is more potent than PCP, was present. Criminal charges and trial Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler charged Shelby with first-degree manslaughter. Shelby turned herself in at the Tulsa County Jail on the early morning of September 23, 2016, where she was booked, posted a bond of $50,000 and was released. Shelby was accused of "unlawfully and unnecessarily" shooting Crutcher. On May 17, 2017, a jury found Betty Shelby not guilty. Betty Shelby quit the Tulsa Police Department soon after the trial and became a Rogers County, Oklahoma Sheriff's Deputy. See also List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States References External links White Tulsa Officer Is Acquitted in Fatal Shooting of Black Driver (May 17, 2017) 2016 in Oklahoma African-American history in Tulsa, Oklahoma Black Lives Matter Criminal trials that ended in acquittal Deaths by firearm in Oklahoma Deaths by person in the United States Filmed killings by law enforcement Law enforcement in Oklahoma September 2016 events in the United States History of Tulsa, Oklahoma History of racism in Oklahoma African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States

51693510

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Keith%20Lamont%20Scott

Shooting of Keith Lamont Scott

Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old African-American man, was fatally shot on , 2016, in Charlotte, North Carolina, by Brentley Vinson, an African-American city police officer. It sparked both peaceful and violent protests led by Black Lives Matter in Charlotte. The shooting prompted investigations by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Justice. As is customary for the department, Vinson was placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation. In November 2016, county prosecutors decided not to charge Vinson, concluding that the shooting was justified. Backgrounds Keith Lamont Scott Keith Lamont Scott (February 3, 1973 – September 20, 2016) was an African-American man. He was married and had seven children. His neighbors stated that he had previously suffered brain damage in an accident and had difficulty communicating. He often parked his truck in a shaded part of the apartment parking lot, reading while waiting for his son's school bus in the afternoon. Scott had an extensive criminal record, including multiple cases of aggravated assault. Brentley Vinson Brentley Vinson, African American, has been an officer with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) since , 2014. He attended Liberty University, studying criminal justice. Shooting The shooting incident occurred before in the parking lot of the Village at College Downs apartment complex, near the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Vinson fatally shot Scott while Scott was facing away with his hands at his sides. The officer was in plainclothes, wearing a police vest but not a body-worn camera. Three other officers on the scene were in uniform and wearing cameras. Police account According to police, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) officers saw Scott exit a vehicle in the parking lot of his apartment complex while carrying a handgun, and refused to comply with their orders to drop it. At a news conference on , CMPD Chief Kerr Putney described Scott as an "imminent deadly threat." Chief Putney said that false rumors had been spread by social media. He told reporters that a handgun was seized at the scene. Four days after the shooting, the CMPD released an updated statement of their account of the shooting incident, along with a dashcam video and a bodycam video. The statement said that the incident began as Vinson and another plainclothes officer were sitting in an unmarked police vehicle, preparing to serve an arrest warrant in an unrelated case. A white SUV pulled up and parked beside them, driven by a man later identified as Scott. The officers observed Scott rolling what they believed to be a marijuana "blunt", but they decided that the warrant operation had higher priority than the drug activity. Soon afterward, Vinson claims he saw Scott hold a gun up, giving the officers probable cause to arrest him for the drug violation and investigate the gun possession. The officers left the area to retrieve equipment and don "marked duty vests" that would identify them as police officers. When they returned, they identified themselves as police officers and "gave clear, loud and repeated verbal commands to drop the gun". A uniformed officer arrived to assist and tried to break Scott's front passenger window with a baton. Scott got out of his vehicle, backing away from the vehicle while failing to respond to further commands to drop the gun. Perceiving Scott's actions and movements as an "imminent physical threat" to the officers, Vinson fired at Scott, hitting him. Officers "immediately rendered first aid and requested Medic to respond to the scene". According to the statement, Scott was found to be wearing an ankle holster and the gun was found to be loaded. Police say that no book was found at the scene of the incident. The statement said that lab analysis found Scott's DNA and fingerprints on the gun recovered at the scene. Police also released photographs of a gun, a holster, and a marijuana "blunt" which they claim were recovered at the scene. Unnamed sources said the gun was stolen, and that the person who stole it said he had sold it to Scott. Witness accounts Scott's wife was a witness and disputes the officer's accounts. She says that Scott was non-aggressive: “He had no gun. He was not a threat. He was just not a threat, period. He didn’t have a gun, he wasn’t a threat. What is your purpose? What was your reasoning? Why" Ms. Scott also believes that Vinson, the only black officer at the scene, was not the shooter. “Because of the positioning, when the shooting actually occurred. Officer Vinson was to my left, further... he’s at a distance. He’s not a part of the interaction.” Scott's family and neighbors say that he was in his car reading a book when the incident began, and he was holding the book, and not a gun. Video recordings Police videos Two police cameras recorded the incident—a dashcam and a body camera. The dashcam video shows that Scott exited his car upon commands to do so, and was walking backward with his hands at his sides when Vinson fired at him four times. Before the shooting, audio can be heard of police saying "drop the gun," and of Scott's wife saying "he doesn't have a gun." The bodycam video shows police aiming their guns at Scott, as well as Scott standing outside his car with his hands at his side, but does not show the moment of the shooting. As Scott exited the vehicle and was stepping backward, the right leg of his pants is seen to be raised, revealing something dark above his shoe. There was no audio from the bodycam until after Scott was shot. Audio is not available at the start of the recording because the officer failed to activate his bodycam until 30 seconds after he arrived at the scene. While video is recorded while the camera is inactive, audio is not. Initially the police department declined to make the video of the shooting public, despite substantial public pressure to do so from activists, community leaders, the press, local clergy, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and William J. Barber II, president of the NAACP's North Carolina chapter. Although Putney did not initially make the video public, he allowed Scott's family and its legal counsel to privately watch videos of the shooting. After viewing the videos on , the family asked that the videos be made public. On , Putney announced that the department would release dashboard and body camera recordings taken by the police of the shooting. He also announced that they would release DNA evidence as well as the footage. The ACLU called on the CMPD to release all remaining video footage related to the incident. The CMPD responded that, while there may be additional footage from officers arriving after the shooting, there is no more footage of the shooting or the events preceding it. In the statement issued by the family through its attorney, the family agreed with police that "[i]t is impossible to discern from the videos what, if anything, Mr. Scott is holding in his hands." But perceptions of the video otherwise diverge. The family said that Scott was not a threat; that he had obeyed when ordered to exit his vehicle "in a very calm, nonaggressive manner;" and that at the time the officer opened fire, Scott's hands "were by his side, and he was slowly walking backwards." Putney, the police chief, claims that the video supports the police's account, but admits that the video "does not definitively show Scott pointing a gun at officers." Scott's wife's video On , a recording of the moments that led to the shooting was released by Scott's family to the public. The footage was recorded by Scott's wife on her cell phone camera. She can be heard pleading repeatedly "Don't shoot him, he has no weapon." The footage shows police officers surrounding a vehicle in the parking lot. A male police officer can be heard saying "drop the gun." Scott's wife says, "He doesn't have a gun. He has a TBI [traumatic brain injury]. He's not going to do anything to you guys. He just took his medicine." She then says, "Keith! Don't let them break the windows. Come on out' the car." Then "Keith! Keith! ...Don't you do it" a moment before four shots are heard. The proximity of the two last statements has been the subject of speculation. In an interview on CBS This Morning, Scott's wife said that she said "Don't do it" to the officers who she could see changing their stances, getting ready to fire. While the footage does not show Scott being killed or officers firing their guns, gunshots can be heard. Investigations In accordance with police department policy, Vinson was placed on paid administrative leave following the shooting. The Charlotte Observer reported: "As is standard procedure with any fatal police shooting, CMPD's Internal Affairs Bureau will conduct a separate but parallel investigation to determine whether CMPD policies and procedures were followed." On , at the request of Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) launched an independent inquiry into the shooting. Scott's family had requested such an investigation; under North Carolina state law, district attorneys must make a request to the SBI upon the request of the family of a person fatally shot by an on-duty officer. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said that the U.S. Department of Justice was opening an investigation into the shooting of Scott. The Justice department sent four members of its Community Relations Service to Charlotte, and also offered the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. District Attorney's report On November 30, 2016, Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray announced that his office had decided not to charge Vinson and released a report of the investigation. Murray said that Vinson "acted lawfully" and that "All of the credible and available evidence suggests that he [Scott] was in fact armed." Murray stated the following findings regarding a gun, ammunition, and ankle holster. At the time of the shooting, Scott had a .380 semiautomatic handgun with a round of ammunition in the chamber and had illegally purchased the weapon online. The gun fell to the ground after Scott was shot and was cocked, with the safety off, and with Scott's DNA on it. Store records suggested that Scott had purchased .380 caliber ammunition. Ammunition was found in Scott's vehicle. A surveillance video of Scott, which was recorded at a convenience store shortly before the shooting, showed his pants bulging at the ankle, which was consistent with an ankle holster. Murray said that Scott did not raise the gun at officers but did not comply with police orders to drop it. He added that Scott was a deadly threat because reaction-time studies showed that a person could raise a gun and wound or kill before officers had time to react. Murray noted that Scott's wife said he did not have any guns after January 2016. However, he added that a month before the shooting Scott's wife had a text message argument with her husband about a gun in his possession. Scott's family expressed disappointment in the decision not to charge Vinson, but appealed for calm. Protests and rioting Night of September 20–21 Protests followed word of the shooting when the victim was identified as Keith Lamont Scott. The Charlotte Observer reported "The protesters began to gather as night fell, hours after the shooting. They held signs that said 'Stop Killing Us' and 'Black Lives Matter,' and they chanted 'No justice, no peace.' The scene was sometimes chaotic and tense, with water bottles and stones thrown at police lines, but many protesters called for peace and implored their fellow demonstrators not to act violently." The demonstration eventually turned violent, as protesters threw water bottles and rocks at police (one officer was injured by a rock). Tear gas was deployed by police shortly before Two police vehicles—a squad car and an SUV—were damaged. Three WBTV reporters were assaulted, one of whom was hospitalized after being hit in the head. One person was arrested. The Charlotte Observer reported that the "destruction late Tuesday and early Wednesday included blocking all lanes of Interstate 85, breaking into a semi-trailer and burning the contents inside, and looting a Walmart on North Tryon Street at about " Night of September 21–22 Over "a chaotic night of gunfire, tear gas and arrests in Charlotte's city center" on , 44 people were arrested; nine civilians were injured; two officers sustained "relatively minor" eye injuries; and three officers were treated for heat-related ailments. Police Chief Kerr Putney stated that protests were initially peaceful, as demonstrators lawfully gathered at Marshall Park from 7:00 to Violence broke out at around or , with people engaging in violence and vandalism, including jumping on cars, damaging property at EpiCentre, an entertainment complex uptown, and shutting down Interstate 277. WSOC reported that the crowd blocking the interstate threw objects at vehicles. Arrests were made for a variety of charges, including failing to disperse, assault, and breaking and entering; authorities said that they were reviewing video recordings and could make further arrests based on the investigation. The police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds. Amid the rioting and throughout the night, Toussaint Romain emerged as a peace keeper, acting as a physical barrier between police and protesters at times. The Charlotte light-rail system suspended service at around midnight due to the rioting. Violence and vandalism continued until about Over the course of the night, rioters looted shops, set fires, threw rocks, and stole money from an ATM. Most damage occurred at the EpiCentre, "where businesses saw their facades smashed and merchandise looted." Outside the Omni hotel, "the Charlotte Hornets NBA team store, a CVS and the EpiCentre Sundries were later looted." Vandalism occurred elsewhere; windows were smashed and other items were vandalized at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Charlotte Convention Center, Hilton Garden Inn, and Hampton Inn. At the downtown Hyatt House Hotel, bricks were thrown through the window, and a valet and front desk attendant were punched in the face. A US Army veteran who recently retired from service after deployment to Afghanistan was out dining with his family and friends near the Charlotte EpiCentere and became separated from his group, he was approached by a group of 10 men who and assaulted the retired sergeant, the sergeant was punched in the face causing broken bones requiring surgery. As the outnumbered unarmed Sergeant fled the attackers one of them could be heard on a now-deleted YouTube video yelling "You’re in the danger zone, white boy!” Following the night's violence, Pat McCrory, governor of North Carolina, declared a state of emergency in Charlotte upon the request of Chief Putney. McCrory ordered the deployment of the North Carolina National Guard and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol to the area. Death of Justin Carr One person was shot in the head during the night protests. The shooting occurred at North College and East Trade streets and was reported at around Authorities stated that both the shooter and the victim were civilians; the Charlotte Clergy Coalition for Justice claimed that the individual was shot by police. Members of the elite Charlotte Fire Department tactical fire company unit immediately provided care to the shooting victim. The picture of Charlotte Fire Department tactical members extracting the unconscious victim made international headlines. The shooting victim, later identified as Justin Carr, age 26, was transported to the Carolinas Medical Center, where he died the next day. On the morning of , Rayquan Borum, age 23, was arrested and charged with the murder of Carr. Borum was indicted on first-degree murder charges on October 5. According to prosecutors, he confessed to the crime. He was found guilty by a jury on March 8, 2019 and sentenced to approximately 30 years in prison. Night of September 22–23 On the night of Thursday, , Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts imposed a citywide curfew of midnight to On the night of , in contrast to the previous two nights, protests were mainly peaceful and orderly, except for an event around in which marchers briefly blocked John Belk Freeway (i.e., I-277), prompting a confrontation with police in which they were ultimately dispersed. Several hundred State Highway Patrol officers and National Guardsmen patrolled the city, protecting property. By Friday morning, , regular business activity largely resumed in Charlotte. Mayor Roberts announced that the curfew would be in effect again that night, meaning the streets had to be empty from midnight to Reactions Companies Following the violence on the night of , major companies in the region instructed or allowed their employees to work remotely in order to stay away from the area of disturbances. Among companies taking this measure were Bank of America (15,000 employees), Wells Fargo (12,000 employees), Ally Financial (900 employees in two Charlotte offices); Duke Energy (500 employees and contractors); and Fifth Third Bank. Officials In a statement after the chaotic night of , U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch upheld the right of persons to peacefully protest and condemned violence. Lynch stated: "I urge those responsible for bringing violence to these demonstrations to stop, because you're drowning out the voices of commitment and change, and you're ushering in more tragedy and grief in our communities." North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory said in a statement: "Any violence directed toward our citizens or police officers or destruction of property should not be tolerated." North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said in a statement: "Violence will not bring justice ... We must come together as a community to get answers and find a better path forward." Scott's family In a Facebook Live video after the shooting, Scott's daughter accused the police officers of shooting her father because he was black and of planting evidence. Scott's wife issued a statement on the afternoon of saying: "As a family, we respect the rights of those who wish to protest, but we ask that people protest peacefully. Please do not hurt people or members of law enforcement, damage property or take things that do not belong to you in the name of protesting." See also 2016 Milwaukee riots Shooting of Jonathan Ferrell List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, September 2016 References 2016 controversies in the United States 2016 deaths 2016 in North Carolina 2016 riots African-American history in Charlotte, North Carolina African-American-related controversies Black Lives Matter Civil rights protests in the United States Crimes in North Carolina Deaths by firearm in North Carolina Deaths by person in the United States Law enforcement controversies in the United States Filmed killings by law enforcement History of Charlotte, North Carolina African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Race and crime in the United States September 2016 events in the United States

52071804

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Deborah%20Danner

Shooting of Deborah Danner

Deborah Danner, 66, was fatally shot by New York Police Department Sgt. Hugh Barry on October 18, 2016, in her home in the Bronx, New York. According to police sources, she was armed with first a pair of scissors and then a baseball bat. According to an emergency medical technician, she had put the scissors down, and later on picked up a baseball bat. Barry was charged with murder and manslaughter in May, 2017. He was acquitted in February 2018. On October 18, 2016, a neighbor called 911 at 6:05 p.m. and reported that Danner was erratic. Police had been called to her apartment before. According to the police, Danner had scissors, and Barry talked her into putting them down. Then she picked up a baseball bat and swung at him. Barry shot Danner twice, fatally wounding her. He was the only officer in the bedroom, although others were on the scene. According to court testimony by Brittney Mullings, an emergency medical technician, Mullings had arrived before Barry. Danner had put down the scissors and Mullings was talking to her. Danner was not holding anything in her hands. Mullings was trying to explain to Danner why they had arrived. Barry then arrived, and did not talk to Mullings or Danner. The police interrupted their conversation, and Danner retreated into her bedroom. Six police officers followed Danner into her bedroom, and a minute later, Mullings heard two shots. Background Danner was mentally ill and had written an essay, "Living With Schizophrenia", in 2012. She was a parishioner who regularly attended Trinity Church Wall Street, and was active in that community's groups and ministries. Aftermath Less than six hours after the death, Sergeant Barry was placed on administrative duty and stripped of his badge and gun. According to The New York Times, "Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference that the sergeant had not followed training or protocols for dealing with those with mental illness, and for some reason had neither used his Taser nor waited for specialized officers trained to deal with such situations." The death of Danner, who was black, spurred a protest on October 19. Protestors marched from her apartment building to the 43rd Precinct station house. Marchers included members of the New York Black Lives Matter chapter. Barry was arrested and charged with second-degree murder on May 31, 2017. On February 14, 2018, Barry was acquitted by a judge in a non-jury trial. The judge ruled Barry as innocent of all charges. References 2016 in New York City African-American-related controversies Black Lives Matter African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Deaths by firearm in the Bronx Deaths by person in New York City New York City Police Department October 2016 events in the United States 21st century in the Bronx

52334647

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Benjamin%20Marconi

Shooting of Benjamin Marconi

On November 20, 2016, Benjamin Marconi, a detective with the San Antonio Police Department, was shot to death in San Antonio, Texas. In the shooting, a motorist stopped his car, got out, and shot and wounded Marconi while the latter was sitting in his marked patrol car in front of the department's headquarters, writing a ticket for another driver during a routine traffic stop. Marconi, who was shot twice in the head, later died at a hospital, while the shooter fled in his car. A suspect, identified as Otis Tyrone McKane, was arrested the next day after a massive manhunt, and charged with capital murder. The shooting, which occurred on the same day as three other unrelated attacks against police officers elsewhere in the U.S., increased already high concerns about the safety of law enforcement. Shooting The shooting occurred in front of the San Antonio Police Department headquarters before noon. Detective Marconi was sitting inside his patrol car, writing a traffic ticket for a motorist he had pulled over. Another motorist pulled up from behind him, walked out of his car, approached Marconi's side window, and shot him in the head. He then reached through the open window, shot Marconi in the head again and then fled in his car. The shooter was believed to have had no relationship to the original motorist who was pulled over. Marconi, a 50-year-old officer who had been with the department for 20 years, later died at the San Antonio Military Medical Center at 12:22 p.m. He was the first San Antonio police officer to die in the line of duty since 2013. Aftermath Investigators believed the shooter was targeting police officers in general. The shooting took place on the same day as three other attacks against police officers in St. Louis and Gladstone, Missouri, and Sanibel, Florida; these shootings were unrelated to one another and the San Antonio shooting, and resulted in serious but non-fatal injuries. At the time of these shootings, there was already an "alarming spike in ambush-style attacks", and the total number of attacks on uniformed officers was reportedly up in 2016. This was also the 60th shooting homicide of a police officer in 2016, already representing a significant increase from 2015's total of 41 officers shot and killed. San Antonio Police Chief William McManus compared the killing to the recent mass shootings in Dallas, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Suspect Otis Tyrone McKane, aged 31, was identified as the suspected shooter. He was arrested on the day following the shooting, after a massive manhunt, while riding in a car owned by his wife, Christian Chanel Fields, with an unidentified woman and a child sitting inside, on Interstate 10. McKane allegedly visited the San Antonio police headquarters and briefly spoke to a clerk four hours before the shooting. He had a criminal record, including a charge of assault causing bodily harm to a spouse, recorded in 2012. He married Fields the morning after the shooting, and was arrested later that day. Following his arrest, McKane was charged with capital murder and jailed on a bond. While being escorted out of the police station to be taken to Bexar County Jail, he claimed to reporters that he had been upset at the court system for not allowing him to see his son, and also issued an apology to Marconi's family. Legal proceedings The trial was first scheduled for early 2019. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the trial was postponed until July 12, 2021. This was the first death penalty case in Bexar County in five years. On 28 July, 2021, McKane was found guilty of Marconi's murder. After the verdict was announced, McKane removed his tie, unbuttoned and untucked his shirt and struck a bailiff attempting to handcuff him in the face with his elbow before being tackled out of the courtroom by several other deputies. On August 7, 2021, McKane was sentenced to death. Reactions Governor Greg Abbott condemned the killing and proclaimed that "attacks against law enforcement officers will not be tolerated in Texas and must be met with swift justice." Mayor Ivy Taylor also condemned the killing, called for patience in the ongoing investigation, and extended her condolences to Marconi's family. President-elect Donald Trump called Marconi's family to offer his condolences. Other law enforcement agencies sent tributes for Marconi on social media. On the day after the shooting, Governor Abbott urged the Texas Legislature to pass his proposed Police Protection Act, which would classify attacks against law enforcement officers as hate crimes. The act received support from James Pasco, executive producer of the Fraternal Order of Police, who also expressed concern about the San Antonio killing and the three other shootings in Missouri and Florida, and blamed the erosion of trust in law enforcement on politicians, activists, and the media. The San Antonio Police Department made a Facebook post announcing McKane's arrest, which was accompanied by his mug shot. County Judge James Oakley, the "chief legislator and executive" for Burnet County, Texas, who does not preside over criminal courts, controversially re-posted the mug shot with the comment "Time for a tree and a rope...", which was taken as a reference to lynching. Oakley deleted the comment shortly afterwards and apologized for his choice of words. He told the Huffington Post that he did not intend to make a racially charged comment, and later described his intent for the post as being to reflect on "the cowardly crime of the senseless murder of a law enforcement officer" and that his view of McKane "is the same regardless of ethnicity." Chief McManus announced that, as a result of the shooting, San Antonio police officers would not be conducting traffic stops alone. The four shootings on November 10 prompted some police departments to send their officers out in pairs until further notice. See also 2016 shootings of Des Moines police officers Gun violence in the United States List of American police officers killed in the line of duty References 2016 in Texas 21st century in San Antonio American police officers killed in the line of duty Assassinated police officers Attacks in the United States in 2016 Deaths by firearm in Texas Deaths by person in the United States November 2016 crimes in the United States Law enforcement in Texas History of San Antonio

52334723

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Bernard%20Whitehurst

Shooting of Bernard Whitehurst

Bernard Whitehurst, Jr. was shot in the back and killed on December 2, 1975 by Donald Foster, a Montgomery, Alabama police officer who said he thought Whitehurst was the suspect in the robbery of a neighborhood grocery store. In a subsequent cover-up, police officers planted a gun on him. The initial police report said that Whitehurst fired a gun at the officers, and the police returned fire. There was no autopsy and the body was quickly embalmed before the family was contacted; the coroner relied on police reports that Whitehurst was killed by a bullet fired through the chest. Six months later, after an investigation by the local newspaper and local attorney Donald Watkins raised questions about the facts of the case, the District Attorney ordered the body to be exhumed and an autopsy performed, which showed that Whitehurst had been shot in the back. A perjury indictment was issued for three police officers. Eight police officers were forced to resign or were terminated. No police officer was convicted of a crime. The attempted cover-up led to the resignation of the mayor and the Director of Public Safety. In October 1976, District Judge Robert E. Varner ruled that any conspiracy to violate Whitehurt's civil rights ended with his death. Following the ruling, the jury returned a verdict in favor of former Police Chief Wright, his top aide, Swindall, and Foster. In 2012, the City of Montgomery acknowledged wrongdoing but no compensation has been given to Whitehurst's family. The Montgomery City Council adopted a resolution that formally expressed regret for the shooting death of Whitehurst. In April 2013, the City of Montgomery placed a historic marker that tells the story of the shooting and the police cover-up in Lister Hill Plaza across from Montgomery City Hall. In June 2015, after the City rejected a request to rename a street for Whitehurst, an agreement was reached for the city to place a second historic marker near the spot where Whitehurst was shot and killed. The second marker was dedicated on the 40th anniversary of his death in December 2015. Investigation by the Montgomery Advertiser From the date of the killing, the Montgomery Advertiser covered the shooting of Bernard Whitehurst, Jr. by police and later investigated the subsequent controversy, publishing news stories and editorials that questioned the original police reports. Reporter Bruce Maulden was main reporter who covered the Whitehurst Case, though a variety of other reporters wrote articles about it as well. During the controversy over Whitehurst's death, the police department took issue with some of the newspaper's reporting. To counter claims that his newspaper was fabricating stories, editor and publisher Harold E. Martin took and passed a polygraph. Resignations instead of prosecution Law enforcement resignations In 1976, three Montgomery police detectives faced perjury charges related to the gun found next to Whitehurst's body, though the only trial resulted in a mistrial. In an attempt to resolve the case, Alabama Attorney General William Baxley agreed that the police involved in the alleged cover-up would not be prosecuted if they passed a polygraph test. Under the agreement, officers who refused to take the test or who failed would be terminated from their jobs. The perjury case against the three officers was dismissed after they resigned instead of taking the polygraph. Eventually, eight police officers were forced to resign or were terminated. No police officer was convicted of a crime. The city’s mayor, James Robinson, and the Director of Public Safety, Ed Wright, also resigned. Lawsuit Acting as the administrator of Whitehurst's estate, his mother Ida Mae Whitehurst filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the fatal shooting and police cover-up deprived Whitehurst of rights guaranteed by the fifth, sixth, thirteenth and fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution. In October 1976, District Judge Robert E. Varner ruled that any conspiracy to violate Whitehurst's civil rights ended with his death. Following the ruling, the jury returned a verdict in favor of former Police Chief Wright, his top aide Charles Swindall, and Donald Foster. Legacy A study of the killing, Closed Ranks by Foster Dickson, was published in November 2018 by NewSouth Books. See also Shooting of Greg Gunn by Montgomery police officers References 1975 deaths Deaths by firearm in Alabama Law enforcement scandals Police misconduct in the United States People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Law enforcement in Alabama Montgomery, Alabama

52489293

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Ong%20Teik%20Kwong

Shooting of Ong Teik Kwong

The shooting of Datuk Ong Teik Kwong occurred on 1 December 2016, on Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway, Penang, Malaysia. Datuk Ong, a 32 year old businessman, was driving his car to Penang with his bodyguard and a passenger. The bodyguard, Ja'afar Halid, pulled out his gun and shot Ong. Ja'afar Halid's subsequent shooting also accidentally hit seven people at the scene, resulting in two more deaths and four injured. Background Datuk Ong Teik Kwong was a 32 year old businessman and was the chairman of Persatuan Kebajikan Amal CK One. Police also identified Datuk Ong as the deputy leader of Gang 24 in Penang. Datuk Ong's bodyguard, Ja'afar Halid who was believed to be mentally unstable, was on his first day at work when the shooting happened. Shooting At about 19:30 MYT (11:30 UTC), on route to Penang in a car, Ong and his business partner, Lim Boon Leng were seated at the front while Ja'afar Halid was seated behind. Ja'afar Halid had an argument with Ong and subsequently shot Ong in the head from behind. The car Ong was driving crashed into several vehicles in front. As the car stopped, Lim Boon Leng panicked as the bodyguard then targeted him and ran out of the car with Ja'afar Halid chasing. Ja'afar Halid shot at Lim multiple times. All the 17 shots missed Lim, but resulted in two other deaths and four people injured. Later, Lim managed to get a ride from a female driver who dropped him at a petrol kiosk. Lim then called his friend to send him to the Penang hospital. Casualties A 28 year old RTM cameraman, Muhamad Amirul Amin Amir, was shot in the chest and was sent to the hospital immediately. Another victim was a 38 year old TNB assistant manager, Nurul Huda Abdul Aziz, 33 year old doctor, Arivarni Krishnann, a 32 year old banker, Poh Bee Joo, and a 56 year old factory worker, Lee Hong Boon. The dead were identified as Choi Hon Ming, a 32 year old children's entertainer, and Senthil Murugaiah, a 38 year old florist. Aftermath Arrests and investigation Ja'afar Halid was arrested at the scene and Lim was later detained. The Malaysian police carried out investigation under Section 302 of the Malaysia Penal Code for murder. Halid and Lim were remanded a total of seven days to facilitate investigations. Police closed parts of Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway for the forensics team to carry out investigations on 7 December 2016 between 10:30 and 17:00. Charges Ja'afar Halid faced three charges for murder, five attempted murders and causing hurt with a weapon. Ja'afar Halid was charged under Section 302 of the Malaysian Penal, Section 307 which is an attempt to murder and Section 324 which is voluntarily causing hurt with a weapon. Judge of the Sessions Court, Honorable Roslan Hamid, advised Halid to engage counsel through the National Legal Aid Foundation as Ja'afar Halid could not afford one. Ja'afar Halid denied trying to kill the bystanders and injuring Lim Boon Leng. On 16 December 2020, Ja'afar Halid was sentenced to death after being found guilty for the murder of Datuk Ong Teik Kwong. References 2016 in Malaysia Ong Teik Kwong Ong Teik Kwong Ong Teik Kwong

52503277

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Larry%20Jackson%20Jr.

Shooting of Larry Jackson Jr.

On July 26, 2013, Larry Jackson Jr. was shot dead by Austin Police Department Detective Charles Kleinert in Austin, Texas. Jackson was at the scene of a bank robbery earlier that day in central Austin. When questioned by Kleinert as to why he falsely identified himself to a bank employee, Jackson ran. When Kleinert caught up to Jackson a struggle between Jackson and Detective Charles Kleinert ensued. One gunshot was fired, fatally striking Jackson in the back of the neck. Kleinert was indicted by a grand jury on the charge of manslaughter. In October 2015, a judge dropped the charge against Kleinert. Background Larry Eugene Jackson Jr. was 32 years old. Details As Kleinert was questioning Jackson concerning why he identified himself to bank employees as a different bank customer and requested access to the account, Jackson ran. Kleinert chased Jackson, enlisted the aid of a passing motorist, and followed on foot under a bridge where a struggle took place. Kleinert's weapon unintentionally discharged striking Jackson in the back of the neck. Kleinert reported that the shooting was accidental. Jackson did not have a weapon on him but had not been searched before running. Aftermath After the incident, Kleinert retired from the police force. He was indicted for manslaughter in May 2014. The Austin City Council approved a $1.25 million settlement to Jackson's children in August 2014. Austin Attorney Bobby Taylor represented the children of Larry Jackson. In October 2015, after being removed to federal court a federal judge ruled that Kleinert, a member of a FBI task force, was acting in his capacity as a federal officer. The judge dismissed the case with prejudice asserting the Supremacy Clause applied. References 2013 in Texas Black Lives Matter Deaths by firearm in Texas History of Austin, Texas Law enforcement in Texas July 2013 events in the United States

52529924

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Brian%20Stack

Shooting of Brian Stack

Brian Stack (1935/1936 — 29 September 1984), the chief prison officer at Portlaoise Prison, was shot in the neck in 1983 by members of the Provisional IRA and died after 18 months in hospital. He was the only officer in the Irish Prison Service to be killed in connection with the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Political controversy arose in 2016 around allegations that Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Féin, knew the identity of the killers. Shooting and death Portlaoise Prison is the Republic of Ireland's high security prison and the place of detention for most of those convicted under the Offences against the State Act, including republican paramilitaries convicted in relation to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. As chief prison officer, Stack was responsible for reviewing security at the prison to prevent escape attempts. Stack's family later believed his efficacy in this role was what motivated his killers. In a 2013 statement, the IRA said "In Portlaoise a brutal prison regime saw prisoners and their families suffer greatly. This is the context in which IRA volunteers shot your father." On 25 March 1983, Stack watched an Irish Amateur Boxing Association tournament in the National Stadium in Dublin. He was returning to his parked car on South Circular Road when he was shot in the neck from behind. The shooter escaped on a motorcycle driven by an accomplice. Stack was taken to hospital in a coma. He awoke with paraplegia and brain damage and remained in hospital until his death on 29 September 1984. Investigations Brian Stack's son Austin, later a senior officer at Wheatfield Prison, has been critical of the initial criminal investigation carried out by the Garda Síochána (police). A 2007–08 cold case review led to a restart by the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI); in 2015, the Irish Independent reported that the NBCI had interviewed a suspect now living in Spain and sent a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The IRA initially denied involvement in the shooting. After Gerry Adams' 2013 meeting with Austin Stack, the IRA released a statement that its army council had conducted an internal investigation, determined that some of its members had carried out the shooting, and "disciplined" the perpetrators for acting without authorisation from their IRA superiors. Sinn Féin legacy Austin Stack has campaigned for information about his father's killers. In 2013, he and his brother Oliver had several meetings with Gerry Adams. Austin Stack and Adams have given conflicting accounts of the number and locations of the meetings and who else was present at them. Adams claims the Stacks named two Sinn Féin members of the Oireachtas (parliament) whom they said the Garda suspected of involvement; Adams further claimed the two denied involvement when he questioned them. Stack claims he only asked for names and did not give any names to Adams. In the run-up to the 2016 Irish general election, Stack was critical of Adams' 2013 actions. In December 2016, Adams made a "personal explanation" in the 32nd Dáil giving his version of the 2013 events; afterwards, Alan Farrell of Fine Gael used parliamentary privilege to suggest Martin Ferris and Dessie Ellis were the two Sinn Féin members alluded to. Both denied this and alleged Farrell was abusing privilege; Ellis noted that he was in prison at the time of the 1983 shooting. In March 2018, Senator Máire Devine was suspended from Sinn Féin for three months for retweeting a parody Twitter account's tweet describing Brian Stack as a "sadist". Commemoration On 3 May 2013, Alan Shatter, the Minister for Justice, attended a commemoration at the Midland Prison Centre in Portlaoise, where he unveiled a bust of Stack; renamed Beladd House, location of the Irish Prison Service College, as Brian Stack House; renamed the gold Merit Medal, the Irish Prison Service's highest honour, as the Stack Medal; and presented the first Stack Medal to Brian Stack's widow. References People killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army Unsolved murders in Ireland Murder in 1983 Deaths by firearm in the Republic of Ireland People murdered in the Republic of Ireland 1984 deaths 1930s births Date of birth missing 2016 in Irish politics Political scandals in the Republic of Ireland March 1983 events in Europe 1984 crimes in the Republic of Ireland 1984 murders in Europe 1980s murders in the Republic of Ireland

52801655

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Collin%20Rose

Shooting of Collin Rose

On November 22, 2016, Collin Rose, a police officer with the Wayne State University Police Department who worked with police dogs, was shot to death in Detroit, Michigan. The shooting occurred following an attempt by the officer to stop and question a bicyclist riding near the Wayne State University campus in an area which was experiencing an increase in thefts. The bicyclist was arrested and charged, but later released due to lack of evidence. Rose, who was shot in the head, died the following day at 5:45 p.m. at Detroit Receiving Hospital. He was surrounded by his family and close friends while his co-workers and fellow law enforcement waited in the hospital lobby. Rose was the first Wayne State University Police Department officer to die in the line of duty. He was also the fifth police officer shot in the United States within three days. Event At 6:31 p.m. ET on Tuesday, November 22, 2016, Rose radioed into dispatch requesting backup and saying he was approaching a bicyclist at 3650 Lincoln Street. Arriving back-up officers found Rose on the ground and with a gunshot wound to the head. The officers loaded Rose into the back of a patrol car and rushed him to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where he was taken into surgery. Shortly after, the bicyclist was named a person of interest in the shooting. They were taken into custody at approximately 9:45 p.m., following a search involving multiple police agencies and helicopters. Following surgery, Rose was on a ventilator and listed as being in a critical, but stable, condition. However, he died from his injuries the following day, November 23, at approximately 5:35 p.m. at Detroit Receiving Hospital. At the time of his death, he was surrounded by family and friends. More than 150 other police officers stood vigil in the lobby. Victim Collin James Rose (April 1, 1987 – November 23, 2016) was a police officer who specialized in working with police dogs, posthumously promoted to Sergeant, with the Wayne State University Police Department at Wayne State University. He had been with the department for five years, and wore badge number 128. For three years he had been working with Clyde, the only narcotics-sniffing Rottweiler in the Great Lakes region. He had recently begun working with an additional dog, Wolverine, a German Shorthaired Pointer named in honor of Detroit Police Department Officer Patrick "Wolverine" Hill, who died in the line of duty in 2013. Rose was born on April 1, 1987, and grew up in the Kalamazoo, Michigan area. He graduated from Gull Lake High School in 2006, where he was captain of the football team and had a summer job at a ferry service taking passengers across the Straits of Mackinac to Mackinac Island. He also interned for the Richland Police Department in Richland, Michigan. Rose then attended and graduated from Ferris State University's criminal justice program in 2010, where he was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. He was a Cadet with the New Baltimore Police Department in New Baltimore, Michigan in 2010. He then worked part-time for the Richland Police Department before joining the Wayne State University Police Department a few months later in March 2011. Rose was a supporter of efforts related to fallen police officers. He regularly attended funerals and memorials around the state. In 2013 he traveled to Boston for the funeral of Massachusetts Institute of Technology Police Officer Sean Collier. In 2014 he traveled to Scranton, Penn. for the funeral of Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Bryon Dickson. Rose rode in the Police Unity Tour beginning in 2015. He had just started fundraising with his teammate in early November. He was slated to ride again in May 2017. He proposed to his fiancée at the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial following the 2016 ride. He was also a member of the Metro Detroit Schutzhund Club, which trains dogs using the Schutzhund method. He was a resident of St. Clair Shores, Michigan, and attended the city's St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church. Rose was engaged to be married in October 2017. At the time of his death, his fiancée worked with Detroit Dog Rescue, a local animal rescue group. Rose was pursuing a master's degree in dispute resolution and was one class away from completion. He had volunteered at the Wayne Mediation Center in Dearborn. Following his death, Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson announced he would be receiving his master's degrees posthumously at the university's next commencement ceremony. He was 29 years old when he died. While two other Wayne State officers have been shot in the line of duty since the department's formation in 1966, Rose was the first line of duty death. He was the third police officer who worked in Detroit to die in the line of duty since September 2016, and the fifth police officer shot in the United States within three days. A viewing and memorial for Rose was held at Ford Field on November 29, 2016. His funeral was held at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in St. Clair Shores on December 1, 2016. Investigation The bicyclist Rose was pursuing, who was taken into custody soon after the shooting, was charged with first-degree murder, murder of a police officer, being a felon in possession of a firearm, three felony firearm charges, and being a habitual offender. However, the charges were dropped on December 7, 2016. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced the person was no longer a suspect. Police also announced they were continuing their search for suspects. On March 15, 2017 two Detroit Police Department officers were shot and wounded after stopping to question a man, Raymond Durham, who was walking in the street near Tillman and Ash. The Third Precinct officers who were shot exchanged gunfire with Durham, striking him in the leg and arm. They were transported to Detroit Receiving Hospital by responding officers and admitted with non-life-threatening injuries. Responding officers established a perimeter and located Durham hiding near Michigan and Vinewood. Durham was transported to Henry Ford Hospital for treatment of his gunshot wounds. A sample of his DNA was submitted to the state police forensic science laboratory to check against the trace evidence left at the scene where Rose was shot. The investigation is still ongoing in both shootings, but it is believed that Durham is in fact the person who shot and killed Collin Rose. Durham was arraigned on the shooting of the Third Precinct officers and pending initial court proceedings. The murder investigation continues, but Detroit Police Chief James Craig said during a press conference on March 17 that scientists found a "positive DNA match between Durham and the suspect in Rose's murder." Chief Craig also added, "We are calling him (Durham) a suspect in this matter, so that is a big first step". On August 3, 2017 at 2 p.m. a press conference was held at the Wayne State University Police Department. Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced her office had charged Raymond Durham with first degree premeditated murder, murder of a peace officer, possession of a firearm by a felon and two counts of felony firearm. "It's taken eight months of hard, diligent work to bring these charges," Worthy said. Wayne State Police Chief Anthony Holt and Detroit Police Chief James Craig were on hand for the announcement. "This will bring a sense of closure to the family, our officers and the Wayne State University community at large," Holt said. "This is a solemn time, not one of celebration, as our department is still recovering, but it does provide some comfort." Craig reminded the public that officers are still recovering from the March shooting and said "I am hopeful the (murder) charge will send a strong message to anyone who would harm our officers." At 3:20 p.m. Raymond Durham appeared before 36th District Court Judge Kenneth King for a competency hearing for the March shooting of Detroit Police Officers James Kisselburg and Ben Atkinson. A review was heard and Durham remains incompetent to stand trial. The matter was scheduled for a review on November 3. Immediately after the hearing, Durham was arraigned on the murder charges. Randy and Karen Rose were present along with Detroit Police Homicide Sgt. Lance Sullivan, Wayne State University Police Captain Patrick Saunders and Officers Chris Powell and Patrick Cecile. Durham was ordered back to the Center for Forensic Psychiatry, a 210-bed psychiatric facility that provides diagnostic services to the criminal justice system and psychiatric treatment for criminal defendants adjudicated incompetent to stand trial or acquitted by not guilty by reason of insanity. Reactions and legacy Michigan Governor Rick Snyder released a statement while Rose was still in critical condition which in part said, "Our police officers need our support and appreciation. This recent wave of violence against those sworn to protect and serve must end. Let's hope Officer Rose can make a full recovery and let's never forget the sacrifice he has made in service to his state." He also ordered for all United States and Michigan flags to be lowered to half-staff on all State of Michigan government buildings on December 2, 2016. Wayne State University Police Chief Anthony Holt said Rose was "one of the best canine handlers not only in the state, but probably in the country." Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson said "This is a tragedy felt by all of us." He added that Collin served Wayne State with distinction, and we owe those he left behind our deepest sympathies and our strong support." Ferris State University President David Eisler said in a statement, "Officer Rose was an excellent student, a leader among his peers and a consummate professional dedicated to protecting and serving." More than 200 people attended a candlelight vigil held for Rose in Scripps Park, a Detroit park near where the shooting occurred, on Saturday, November 26, 2016. A viewing and memorial for Rose was held at Ford Field on November 29, 2016. Hundreds of police officers, family, friends, and community members lined up in the stadium's atrium to view his casket. Mourners gathered for a candlelight vigil on Wayne State University's campus on November 29 and bowed their head in a moment of silence at 6:31 p.m., exactly one week after Rose radioed in his request for backup. During the event, Chief Holt posthumously promoted Rose to Sergeant, and awarded him the Citation of Valor — the highest award issued by the department. Only three other officers have received the award since the department was created. Wayne State University President Wilson also announced the creation of a 25,000 scholarship in Rose's name. Wayne State University posthumously awarded Rose his master's degree in dispute resolution during commencement ceremonies. The village of Richland, Michigan placed a memorial marker beneath a newly planted tree on December 8, 2016. The Detroit Tigers held a winter caravan ceremony at Wayne State University Police Department on January 20, 2017 honoring Rose and cobringing attention to the request for information in the investigation of the shooting. On July 17, 2017 the Officer Collin Rose Memorial Foundation was incorporated by some of Rose's friends. The organization was created to ensure the fallen hero is never forgotten. Accordingly they sought to further Officer Rose's legacy by providing assistance in the following areas: Support of the Wayne State University Police Department canine and honor guard teams, Support of participants in the annual Police Unity Tour memorial bicycle ride, Support of the First Responders: Sergeant Collin J. Rose Memorial Scholarship at Gull Lake Community Schools Foundation, Support of nonprofit canine safety organizations, animal welfare organizations and the Collin Rose Enrichment Center at Detroit Dog Rescue Emotional and financial support of fellow Line of Duty Death survivors. On June 12, 2018, the Michigan State passed SB 209, which would designate a portion of Michigan 10 in Wayne County as "Sergeant Collin Rose Memorial Highway." The bill was referred to the Michigan House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure See also 2016 shootings of Des Moines police officers Shooting of Benjamin Marconi Gun violence in the United States List of American police officers killed in the line of duty References 2016 crimes in the United States 2016 in Michigan 2016 in Detroit American police officers killed in the line of duty Attacks in the United States in 2016 Crimes in Detroit Deaths by firearm in Michigan Deaths by person in the United States November 2016 crimes in the United States Law enforcement in Michigan Wayne State University

53177919

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Johnny%20Robinson

Shooting of Johnny Robinson

Johnny Robinson (1947–1963) was a young African-American teenager who, at age 16, was shot and killed by a police officer in the unrest following the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama. Robinson and several others were allegedly throwing rocks at a car draped with a Confederate flag. A Birmingham police officer, Jack Parker, who was riding in the back seat of a police car, shot and killed Robinson. Parker was never indicted for the killing and claimed that he had only fired a warning shot, and that a stray pellet must have killed Robinson. Background Johnny Robinson was born in 1947 and had a difficult upbringing in Birmingham, as the city had seen 50 racially driven bombings from 1945 to 1963. He was the oldest of three children and attended the Alberta Shields School. A few years prior to his death, Robinson's father was murdered by a neighbor, leaving his mother alone to raise her children in a city fraught with racial violence. Robinson had a juvenile record. At 13 years old he was arrested on suspicion of burglary and grand larceny. Events Early on Sunday morning, September 15, 1963, a Ku Klux Klan member placed a bomb with a timing device under the side steps of the 16th Street Baptist Church, which had served as the headquarters for the Birmingham Children's Crusade during April and early May. Two hundred worshipers were expected in the church that day and after the bomb detonated in the late morning, three 14-year-old girls and an 11-year-old girl were found killed, with twenty-two wounded. The incident prompted civil unrest that was further provoked by the shooting deaths of two young black men that day: 16-year-old Johnny Robinson, and 13-year-old Virgil Ware. Ware had been riding on the handlebars of his brother's bicycle when he was shot twice with a revolver by Larry Joe Sims, a white 16-year-old who supported the segregationist movement. Earlier that day, Sims had joined a fellow teenager, Michael Lee Farley, at the headquarters for the National States' Rights Party and set out to cruise the neighborhood together. Sims was later charged with first-degree murder but was convicted of second-degree manslaughter, while Farley pled guilty to second-degree manslaughter. Both teens were sentenced to seven months in jail, which was changed to two years probation. Robinson was about to join his sister for Sunday dinner, but had accompanied his friends to a gas station that was not far from the 16th Street Baptist Church. Several Caucasian men drove by, yelling racial slurs, waving Confederate flags, and throwing bottles. Robinson and his friends allegedly retaliated by throwing rocks at the cars. A police car then arrived on the scene; a police officer named Jack Parker was in the back seat, pointing a shotgun out the window. Parker later gave two differing accounts of the event, as he both claimed to have fired a warning shot and that the gun went off accidentally. Parker was white, as were all Birmingham Police officers at that time. He had joined the police force in 1951 and was 48 years old when he shot Robinson. At the time he was also the head of a Fraternal Order of Police. Aftermath After a week of funerals related to the bombing, co-founder of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights Nelson Smith remarked that their people would be hard to restrain when they were still under active threat of bombings. Two grand juries refused to indict Parker, claiming that there were no reliable witness accounts. Not long after the shooting, he signed a newspaper advertisement advocating against integrating the police department of Birmingham. He resigned 10 years after the shooting. References 1947 births 1963 deaths 1963 in Alabama African-American history in Birmingham, Alabama African-American-related controversies African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Civil rights movement Crimes in Alabama Deaths by firearm in Alabama History of racism in Alabama Police brutality in the United States Race and crime in the United States September 1963 events in the United States

53798892

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Robert%20Godwin

Shooting of Robert Godwin

On April 16, 2017, 74-year-old Robert Lee Godwin Sr. (September 7, 1942 April 16, 2017) was shot and killed with a firearm while walking in the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The perpetrator, identified as 37-year-old Steve Stephens, posted a cellphone video of the shooting on his Facebook account, leading many media outlets, both during the manhunt and afterward, to dub Stephens the "Facebook killer". A warrant was issued for Stephens for aggravated murder. Two days later, he died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound when cornered by police in Erie County, Pennsylvania. Shooting The shooting happened at around 2:00 p.m. EDT on April 16, 2017 (Easter Sunday), in the 600 block of East 93rd Street in Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood. Stephens uploaded a video of the event. Seconds before the shooting, Stephens exited his car, approached the victim and then asked Godwin to say the name of a woman with whom Stephens had been in a romantic relationship. Stephens then said "She's the reason why this is about to happen to you", before fatally shooting Godwin, who fell to the ground after he was shot. Facebook said the video was uploaded to the website after the fact, not livestreamed as initially reported. In other Facebook posts, Stephens claimed responsibility for 13 murders, but police said they were not aware of any other victims. Manhunt A search for Stephens began soon after the shooting, prompting lockdowns at a number of locations, including Cleveland State University. Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams told reporters that detectives talked with Stephens by cellphone shortly after the shooting, but had no further contact with him since that time. The manhunt expanded to other states on the morning of April 17. Residents in Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, and Michigan were asked to be on alert, and a US$50,000 reward was offered for information leading to Stephens' arrest on a charge of aggravated murder. The FBI also aided the Cleveland Police Department. At 11:10 a.m. on April 18, Stephens pulled into the drive-through lane of a McDonald's restaurant in Harborcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, 100 miles (160 km) from the location of the shooting. An employee recognized Stephens from news reports and, after verifying with fellow employees, provided Stephens with part of his order, but stalled him by stating that his fries were still cooking. During this time police were called to the restaurant. Stephens, wary, left without his fries. As Stephens pulled out of the restaurant, state police gave chase heading westbound through Wesleyville, Pennsylvania. Stephens made it to the corner of Buffalo Road and Downing Avenue in the city of Erie, where Pennsylvania State Police successfully executed a tactical maneuver to bring the car to a stop. As police approached Stephens' car, he shot himself in the head and died instantly. Perpetrator Steve William Stephens (December 10, 1979 April 18, 2017) worked as a vocational specialist at Beech Brook, a behavioral health agency for children and families. He was wearing his work ID badge and repeatedly mentioned Beech Brook in multiple videos on the day of the murder. Police confirmed there was no known connection between Godwin and Stephens prior to the shooting and that Godwin was selected at random. Stephens' mother was quoted as having told authorities that Stephens told her by phone he was "shooting people" because he was "mad with his girlfriend" of about three years, who was confirmed to be safe and was cooperating with investigators at the time. Criticism of Facebook The graphic video of Godwin's killing remained accessible to the public on Stephens' Facebook page for more than two hours on April 16 before it was removed by Facebook, according to a timeline shared by the company. The delay generated renewed criticism of Facebook over its handling of offensive content and, in particular, public posts of video and other content related to violent crimes. "We have a lot of work [to do], and we will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening", Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in his April 18 keynote address at F8, Facebook's annual developers' conference. "Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Robert Godwin Sr.," Zuckerberg added. On May 3, 2017, Facebook announced that it was adding additional personnel to its "global community operations" team to proactively screen Facebook Live content for violent and other inappropriate content. The new reviewers "will also help us get better at removing things we don't allow on Facebook like hate speech and child exploitation", Zuckerberg said. Tributes On September 2, 2017, a section of East 146th Street in Cleveland (where Godwin lived most of his adult life) was renamed "Robert Godwin Sr. Way" as a posthumous honor of his life and legacy in the neighborhood. References 2017 deaths 2017 in Internet culture 2017 in Ohio 2017 in Pennsylvania 2017 murders in the United States April 2017 crimes in the United States Crimes in Cleveland Deaths by firearm in Ohio Deaths by person in the United States Facebook criticisms and controversies Filmed murder–suicides Murder in Ohio Murder–suicides in the United States Suicides by firearm in Pennsylvania

53966188

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Stephen%20Ballard

Shooting of Stephen Ballard

Corporal Stephen J. Ballard (28 January 1985 – 26 April 2017) was a Delaware State Police Officer. On 26 April 2017 Ballard was shot and killed after approaching a suspicious vehicle at a Wawa in Bear, Delaware. Shooting Ballard was shot and killed on April 26. 2017 after he approached a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of a Wawa gas-station in Bear, Delaware. After asking the driver and passenger in the car for identification, Ballard asked the passenger, Burgon Sealy Jr., to step out of the car. Sealy got into a struggle with Ballard, then began shooting at him. When Ballard, who was unable to draw his weapon in time, attempted to find cover from Sealy, Sealy pursued and continued to shoot, hitting Ballard multiple times in the upper body and continuing to shoot even after the officer fell to the ground. Victim Ballard was born in Bowie, Maryland on January 28, 1985. He graduated from Delaware State University in 2007 with a degree in Criminal Justice, after which he was recruited into the Delaware State Police academy. He graduated from the academy in 2009. At the time of his death Ballard had served eight years on the Delaware State Police. Perpetrator shot and killed Law enforcement officers trailed the shooter, Burgon Sealy, Jr. (26), to his home on St. Michaels Drive in the Brick Mill Farm development of Middletown, Delaware. Sealy barricaded himself inside the house and a standoff with Delaware State Police and F.B.I. agents ensued. In the early morning hours of April 27, 2017 authorities breached the house by using explosive charges to open windows and attempted to persuade Sealy to surrender. Sealy fired several rounds at police, then exited the house and was shot by police. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Reactions The death of Ballard resulted in an outpouring of support for law enforcement in northern Delaware. Thousands of locals placed blue tape on their car's rear windows in a sign of appreciation towards police. Wawa donated 50,000 dollars to Ballard's family and set up donation drives at all of its Delaware locations. WSFS Bank and M&T Bank establishments in the area displayed signs of support for Ballard. DART First State offered free rides to the funeral events honoring Ballard. On 5 May 2017 a large funeral honoring Ballard was held in Wilmington Delaware. The ceremony at the Chase Center was attended by hundreds of police officers from Delaware and other states. A funeral procession proceeded down Interstate 95 to New Castle, Delaware. Ballard was laid to rest in Gracelawn Memorial Cemetery. Delaware death penalty reinstatement The shooting occurred shortly before Delaware legislators voted to postpone a vote on repealing the state's death penalty. Delaware Representative Steve Smyk, (Republican, District 20), a retired Delaware State Trooper, said that he believed support for reinstating the death penalty had increased with this murders of Ballard and of Delaware prison guard Steven Floyd. On May 9, 2017, Delaware House members voted to reinstate the death penalty citing Ballard's murder as one of the motivating reasons. However, the bill failed to get a committee hearing in the state Senate. In May 2019, Smyk introduced a similar bill. References 2017 in Delaware Deaths by firearm in Delaware Deaths by person in the United States Law enforcement in Delaware

54003867

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Mansur%20Ball-Bey

Shooting of Mansur Ball-Bey

On August 19, 2015, a Moorish man named Mansur Ball-Bey was shot and killed by a St. Louis police officer who was executing a search warrant at a house where Ball-Bey was present. Rumors surrounded the killing of Ball-Bey as to whether he was unarmed when shot by police, and crowds gathered in the street to express anger at the killing. The demonstrators eventually turned violent as the day wore on, and civil unrest lasted into the night. The St. Louis Circuit Attorney's office conducted a subsequent investigation and determined that the evidence did not support criminal charges against the two officers involved. Shooting On the morning of August 19, 2015, at least 15 police officers and ATF agents arrived at Ball-Bey's aunt's home in the Fountain Park neighborhood of St. Louis to execute a search warrant. As police prepared to enter the home, Ball-Bey and one other man ran from the house. Police said that Ball-Bey had pointed a handgun with extended ammunition magazine at them, prompting them to open fire. After police fired their weapons, Ball-Bey was struck in the back and killed. Police said that crack cocaine were recovered from the scene. Police also said that they recovered two stolen firearms at the scene, specifically .40-caliber handguns. No usable DNA evidence was recovered from the guns, which is not unusual. However, social media postings by Ball-Bey showed me holding a gun matching the guns found on the scene. Ball-Bey had no criminal history, but "photos found on his cellphone and YouTube videos show him wearing T-shirts naming a gang in St. Louis." One witness, an off-duty officer "said he saw Ball-Bey running with a gun in his hand and his arm extended before the witness ducked behind a parked truck. The witness said he could hear the shooting but could not see it but reported seeing Ball-Bey toss a gun near a trash bin afterward." The gun was loaded. Ball-Bey's family disputed the police claim, claiming that the gun had been planted on Ball-Bey by police. The family's attorney claimed Ball-Bey was running from police when shot, explaining the bullet wound to the back. In contrast, the attorney for the two officers stated that "My client fired in defense of his partner ... when (Ball-Bey) turns toward (one officer) with a gun that has an extended clip with a 30-round magazine, the policemen have no choice but to pull the trigger." Protest and civil unrest in immediate aftermath In the afternoon of the same day, angry residents took to the streets of Fountain Park to express outrage at the killing of Ball-Bey. Police responded with riot officers, and protests soon took a turn for the worse as protesters began throwing bricks, rocks and bottles at the police, who responded with tear gas. According to police, over the course of the night, bricks and bottles were thrown at officers, and police responded with tear gas to disperse crowds. The police chief reported nine arrests, the torching of one car, and several reports of attempted robbery. St. Louis Alderman Antonio French reported that the disordered was partially fueled by misinformation, including false reports that Ball-Bey was 13 years old. The day following the shooting, about 200 people attended a vigil in St. Louis in protest of the killing; unlike the events of the previous night, the vigil was peaceful. Lawsuit over police response to protests In 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri (ACLU) filed a lawsuit over the police handling of protests following the shooting of Ball-Bey. The ACLU of Missouri alleges that the police deployed tear gas indiscriminately and without warning. Investigation A few days after the shooting, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce announced that her office would conduct an investigation. In June 2016, the circuit attorney office's report was made public, and Joyce announced that no charges would be filed against the two officers who shot Ball-Bey. Joyce said that more than two dozen people were interviewed during the investigation. She stated that eyewitness accounts and other evidence showed that it could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers did not act in self-defense. Joyce did, however, concluded that "there were several factors in the execution of this search warrant that we believe need to be reviewed and addressed" by the St. Louis police department. Specifically, Joyce criticized the lack of any surveillance conducted on the rear of the building before beginning the search. See also Shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith References 2015 in Missouri History of St. Louis Riots and civil disorder in Missouri African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States

54040153

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Jocques%20Clemmons

Shooting of Jocques Clemmons

Jocques Clemmons, a 31-year-old, was fatally shot on February 10, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, after a traffic stop where Clemmons pulled out a gun, leading to a confrontation with Joshua Lippert, a 32-year-old police officer. After an investigation, the Davidson County District Attorney declined to prosecute Lippert on any charges, a decision that was protested by several groups. After reviews at several levels of the Nashville Police and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's work and reports, the U.S. Department of Justice closed the case in August 2017. Events Clemmons ran a stop sign and stopped in the parking lot of the James A. Cayce Homes. He got out of the car and was armed. His gun fell to the ground during the altercation with Lippert. Clemmons picked up the weapon before Lippert shot him, once in the abdomen, once in the hip and twice in the back as he tried to run away. On May 11, 2017, the district attorney of Davidson County, Glenn Funk, decided not to prosecute Lippert. The decision prompted criticisms from the NAACP, the ACLU and Black Lives Matter, and protesters gathered outside the residence of then Nashville Mayor Megan Barry. In August 2017, the case was closed by three federal government agencies (the United States Attorney's Office in Nashville, the FBI and the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division) after they reviewed the investigations carried out by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The decision was welcomed by the Fraternal Order of Police, which prompted protesters to leave banners on interstate overpasses criticizing them on the day of their annual conference in Nashville. Parties involved Jocques Clemmons Jocques Clemmons was a 31-year-old man. He was raised by his mother, Sheila Clemmons Lee, and his stepfather, Mark T. Lee. He had two sisters, Aja Tate and Britta Goodner. With Tameka Lewis, he had two children, aged 13 and 8. Clemmons was arrested or given citations for driver's license violations 19 times in the past decade. Clemmons was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2014 for a cocaine conviction. By 2017, he was released on probation, and prohibited from carrying a gun. Joshua Lippert Joshua Lippert is a 32-year-old police officer with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. Shooting The shooting occurred minutes before 1 PM in the parking lot of the James A. Cayce Homes, a housing project in East Nashville, Tennessee. The brick buildings are home to about 2,000 residents. From his unmarked police car, Lippert saw Clemmons, who was driving a gray SUV, ran a stop sign. When Clemmons parked in the parking lot and got out of his car, he was apprehended by Lippert. Clemmons was carrying a loaded Ruger .357 Magnum gun, which fell to the ground. Lippert tried to keep Clemmons away from the gun but he picked it up and ran away between two parked vehicles; Lippert shot Clemmons once in the hip and twice in the back. Lippert picked up Clemmons' gun and put it in his own pocket. Lippert and fellow officers performed first aid on Clemmons, to no avail. Clemmons was taken to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he died from injuries during surgery. Shooting aftermath Within a few hours on February 10, the area between Sylvan Street and Summer Place on South Sixth Street was closed, and 30-odd policemen and detectives were on the scene. Meanwhile, Lippert was put on a paid administrative assignment but not suspended. Both the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation began investigations. The two entities argued over the conduct of the simultaneous investigations, with the TBI suggesting interviewing witnesses twice was problematic. The TBI also threatened to stop their investigation if the MNPD continued theirs. The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department initially said Clemmons and Lippert had two altercations. Later, video cameras showed there was only one. Clemmons' family raised $11,000 through GoFundMe for his funeral, which was held on February 18, 2017. On May 9, 2017, Lippert's attorney asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to release their investigative report to the public. On May 11, 2017, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department released a 20-page Office of Professional Accountability report of their internal investigation. They concluded that Lippert believed he was "in imminent danger" because Clemmons was carrying a gun, and that he acted in self-defense. The conclusion parallels Lippert's statement, who said he thought Clemmons was going to kill him. The same day, the district attorney of Davidson County, Glenn Funk, decided not to prosecute Lippert, concluding that Lippert had acted in self-defense. He was assisted in his decision by Marcus Floyd, the assistant district attorney general; Amy Hunter, the deputy district attorney general; Roger Moore, the deputy district attorney general; Byron Pugh, the assistant district attorney general; and Ed Ryan, assistant district attorney general. During the conference, Hunter suggested the police report included bias in favor of Lippert. In particular, the MNPD report, which was written only five hours after the shooting, called the incident a "justifiable homicide" and "completed." Nevertheless, both Nashville Mayor Megan Barry and Mark Gwyn, the director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, supported DA Funk's decision not to prosecute Lippert. Shortly after the decision was made public, a news conference was held by Clemmons' family in the Nashville office of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It was broadcast live on television, and #jocquesclemmons began trending on Twitter. They were joined by their lawyer and a grass-roots group called Justice for Jocques Coalition. During the news conference, their lawyer said the family rejected DA Funk's decision. His sister Aja added that they wanted to get Joshua Lippert dismissed from his position at the police department. Meanwhile, protesters began chanting "no justice, no peace." Shortly after, the chief of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, Steve Anderson, gave another news conference, also broadcast live on television. Anderson rejected any notion of bias in their investigation. The police investigation found that Clemmons' gun had been stolen from the home of a Tennessee Department of Correction employee in Ashland City in 2001; the woman initially thought a family member had taken it. Further investigations showed that the gun was sold at a gun show in Smyrna in October 2001. On May 15, 2017, Clemmons' family declined to rule out filing a civil lawsuit against the city of Nashville. Also on May 15, police chief Anderson sent a letter to Deputy District Attorney General Amy Hunter in which he said she had misrepresented the MNPD's report; he warned, "Failure to properly acknowledge your error will define your integrity and is likely to attract the attention of any governing or oversight body." On May 16, 2017, District Attorney Funk sent a letter to Mayor Barry responding to Anderson's contentions by saying, "Chief Anderson has responded to our suggestions for improving MNPD policy on terminology with personal attacks." The mayor responded by calling for better communication between the MNPD and the DA's office. On May 19, 2017, Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle ordered the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation report to be released to the public once it had been redacted. Four days later, she said the report would be posted on the DA's website from June 9, 2017 to July 10, 2017. On May 31, 2017, Captain Harmon Hunsicker of the MNPD said they were unable to retrieve fingerprints from Clemmons's gun. In response, Clemmons's family suggested once again that they might sue the city of Nashville. In August 2017, the investigations carried out by the MNPD and the TBI were reviewed and closed by the United States Attorney's office in Nashville, the FBI and the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. In early February, Clemmons's mother sued the MNPD to retrieve his phone with family pictures on it. Public response On May 12, 2017, 70-odd protesters from the Justice for Jocques Coalition and Black Lives Matter dressed in black and carrying a coffin demonstrated in Hillsboro Village, a predominantly white neighborhood. The protesters included Clemmons' family. They walked from Fannie Mae Dees Park near the campus of Vanderbilt University, up Blakemore Avenue and 24th Avenue South, all the way to the residence of Nashville mayor Megan Barry on 20th Avenue South. The protesters were also carrying signs accusing Mayor Barry of being complicit in the DA's decision. They left the coffin outside her house. On May 20, 2017, the Justice for Jocques Coalition, including Clemmons' parents, held a town hall meeting, but neither the mayor nor the DA came, and their representatives were unable to answer their questions. As for the police department, they did not respond to the invitation nor did they send anyone. A spokesperson for the coalition said, "We are asking to be heard because time and time again, we are dismissed, we are told that we are just a small group of loudmouths and that we'll eventually go away. [...] It does not appear to be politically expedient for them to show up and we want to show them that's not true, that we are indeed speaking for many people in the community." An article published in the Nashville Scene in May 2017 suggested Funk could have charged Lippert with second-degree murder. After the investigation was closed by the US Attorney's office, the FBI and the Justice Department in August 2017, the Fraternal Order of Police "released a statement in support of Lippert." In November 2017, Clemmons's mother visited the MNPD with community activists to ask for Lippert's dismissal; two reporters, including Steven Hale of the Nashville Scene, were escorted out of the building for trespassing by the owner. The issue of Lippert's employment was again raised by Clemmons's mother in December 2017. On February 7, 2018, an activist group called Community Oversight Now, including members of the Justice for Jocques Coalition, Black Lives Matter, Democracy Nashville, Gideon's Army, the Harriet Tubman House, and the No Exceptions Prison Collective, filed an ethics complaint with the Council Board of Ethical Conduct suggesting Mayor Barry's extramarital affair with Sergeant Robert Forrest of the MNPD may have influenced her objection to Lippert's dismissal and the establishment of a "citizen-led police accountability board" after the shooting. They also sent a letter to Vice Mayor David Briley about it. Barry denied being swayed by the incident in her decisions. The Justice for Jocques Coalition held a rally outside East Police Precinct on February 8, 2018, calling for Lippert to be let go from his job at the MNPD. On February 10, 2018, a ceremony was held in Clemmons's honor in Kirkpatrick Park. Alleged race issues The incident attracted criticism from leaders of the African-American community in Nashville. Members of the Justice for Jocques Coalition alleged the incident highlighted systemic racism in the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. The president of Nashville's NAACP chapter, Ludye Wallace, said it was "sad day for Nashville," adding "It's more likely you going to get sent to jail for kicking a dog than shooting a black man down in his back while he's running." Gideon's Army said they had collected data suggesting Lippert had a habit of stopping black drivers more often than white drivers. The Nashville chapter of Black Lives Matter called for Lippert's dismissal, adding "Today Nashville, the liberal stronghold of Tennessee, joins the other numerous localities that fail to find fault or even recognize criminality in police officers when their violence and brutality takes the lives of black people." They argued that an independent community review board should be established. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee agreed that the city of Nashville should establish an independent review board, and called for Nashville police officers to wear body cameras. On May 15, 2017, members of the Minority Caucus of the Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County said the incident was "reflective of not just how the 'IT' city views and treats its black citizens, but also black elected officials." They added, "The black community is owed this courtesy. The Clemmons family is owed this courtesy. A black man was slain and no black member of the Council was contacted in advance of the announcement exonerating the officer." References 2017 controversies in the United States 2017 in Tennessee 21st century in Nashville, Tennessee African-American history in Nashville, Tennessee African-American-related controversies Law enforcement controversies in the United States Deaths by firearm in Tennessee Race and crime in the United States February 2017 events in the United States African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Law enforcement in Tennessee History of Nashville, Tennessee

55274255

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Scout%20Schultz

Shooting of Scout Schultz

On September 16, 2017, Scout Schultz, a 21-year-old student of the Georgia Institute of Technology, was shot once and killed by Tyler Beck, an officer of the Georgia Tech Police Department. Schultz was carrying a multitool and walked towards the police, asking them to shoot. The multitool contained a screwdriver and a short blade that was not out. The incident was followed by protests and civil unrest, which led to multiple arrests. The arrests and legal persecution of Scout’s friends, following the post-vigil protest, resulted in two trans women of color committing suicide shortly after Scout’s death. Schultz's parents filed a wrongful death suit. The shooting was investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. In March 2020, it was announced that Tyler Beck would not face charges. Background Scout Schultz was born in Rockville, Maryland in 1995. Schultz was born with hypospadias. The Schultz family later moved to Lilburn, Georgia. Schultz was a fourth year computer engineering major at Georgia Institute of Technology, and expected to graduate a semester early according to their father. Schultz was bisexual, nonbinary and intersex and used singular they pronouns. Schultz was the president of Pride Alliance on campus. Schultz, who suffered from clinical depression, had spent time in counseling after attempting suicide by hanging in 2015. Shooting Schultz, a 21-year-old student at the Georgia Institute of Technology, called 9-1-1 on September 16, 2017, around 11:17 p.m. Schultz said there was a suspicious person on campus with a knife and possibly a gun. Schultz gave a description matching Schultz's own appearance, saying that the person had long blond hair, a white t-shirt, and blue jeans, and said that the person might be intoxicated. Four police officers approached Schultz outside a dormitory on campus. Schultz had a multitool, which included a small knife, but no gun. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the multitool's blade was not extended. Schultz refused to drop the multitool and walked towards the police, with arms hanging down, while shouting "shoot me!" Schultz was shot and shortly after was pronounced dead at the Grady Memorial Hospital. The incident was captured on a cell-phone video. Three suicide notes were found in Schultz's dorm room. The police officer who shot Schultz was identified as Tyler Beck. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Beck was certified by the Georgia Peace Officer and Standards Training Council (POST) but had not undergone Crisis Intervention Training, which trains police on how to handle mentally ill suspects." Shortly after the shooting, Beck was put on paid leave. Aftermath and reactions Schultz's family attorney, Chris Stewart, said the police overreacted. Stewart said the idea that the death was a "suicide by cop" did not justify what happened. He also said, "The area was secured. There was no one around at risk." Schultz's mother, Lynne Schultz, suggested the police should have used pepper spray or Tasers instead of gunning them down. (According to a spokesman, Georgia Tech police are equipped with the former but not the latter.) Scout's father, William Schultz, said at a news conference, "Why did you have to shoot? That's the only question that matters right now. Why did you kill my son?" G. P. "Bud" Peterson, the president of Georgia Tech, said the shooting was a "heart-wrenchingly painful time" for the university. Despite Schultz not finishing senior year, Georgia Tech awarded them a diploma. The shooting was investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. In September 2018, with the investigation still on-going, the parents announced that they had grown frustrated with the lack of criminal charges. Schultz's parents filed a wrongful death suit naming the university, Tyler Beck, and the Georgia Board of Regents in September 2019. In March 2020, the county's district attorney announced that Beck would not face charges, saying that, according to use-of-force experts, the shooting was justified. In December 2021, Georgia Tech announced a settlement with the family of Schultz for $1 million. Vigil and protest A peaceful vigil for Schultz was held on campus on September 18. Twenty minutes later, about 50 protesters marched through campus while carrying a banner which read "Protect LGBTQ" and chanting "Justice Now". The protest turned violent and a police car was set on fire. Three people were arrested, one of them a Georgia Tech student. They were charged with "inciting a riot and battery of an officer." In the following weeks three more people were arrested for "misdemeanor obstruction of law enforcement." Schultz's parents appealed for calm. On September 22, a teach-in and protest occurred at Georgia Tech, which led to the Student Center building being closed early at 3 p.m. See also List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, September 2017 Suicide by cop References 2017 in Atlanta 2017 controversies in the United States 2017 in Georgia (U.S. state) 2017 in LGBT history Deaths by firearm in Georgia (U.S. state) Suicides by firearm in Georgia (U.S. state) Assisted suicide in the United States Deaths by person in the United States Filmed killings by law enforcement Georgia Tech History of Atlanta Law enforcement in Georgia (U.S. state) LGBT in Georgia (U.S. state) People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States September 2017 events in the United States

55459841

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Patrick%20Harmon

Shooting of Patrick Harmon

Patrick Harmon was a 50-year-old African-American man fatally shot from behind by police officer Clinton Fox in Salt Lake City, Utah, on August 13, 2017. The shooting took place after Harmon was pulled over by an officer for riding a bicycle without proper lighting. The incident led to protests in Salt Lake City, some organized by Black Lives Matter. Incident Harmon had been pulled over by police officer Kris Smith for bicycling without a red rear light. Officers tried to arrest Harmon after discovering an outstanding warrant. Harmon attempted to flee the scene and was chased by the police, at which point officers said he turned towards them with a knife and was shot. The shooting of Harmon by Fox was recorded by police body cameras. Police also stated that Harmon verbally threatened them prior to the shooting saying "I’ll cut you". Harmon was tasered by Smith while or when on the ground after being shot by Fox. Aftermath The police and district attorney's office initially declined to release the body camera footage, prompting public protest in Salt Lake City. In early October 2017, some of the body camera footage was released, and the district attorney in Salt Lake City announced the decision not to file charges against the officers. The district attorney claimed that Harmon posed a threat to the officers. Critics have argued that the video footage from the scene does not show such a threat because he was running away when he was shot. A local Black Lives Matter representative said that the community wanted the district attorney to resign, or else they would respond with protesting marches. Salt Lake City police Sgt. Brandon Shearer claimed that the officers had used police de-escalation tactics. Fox was criticized by a Black Lives Matter representative, for failing to de-escalate the situation. In October 2017, following further public protests, the district attorney asked the FBI to review his decision not to prosecute the police involved. See also Biking while black List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States Shooting of Abdullahi Omar Mohamed References 2010s in Salt Lake City 2017 controversies in the United States 2017 in Utah August 2017 events in the United States Black Lives Matter Deaths by person in the United States Filmed killings by law enforcement Law enforcement in Utah African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Taser Salt Lake City Police Department Cycling safety

56491209

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Mohamed%20Bah

Shooting of Mohamed Bah

The shooting of Mohamed Bah was an incident that occurred on September 25, 2012. During the incident, Mohamed Bah was fatally shot 8 times inside his Manhattan apartment by New York City Police officers. The incident prompted the Bah family to file a $70 million civil lawsuit against New York City. The lawsuit demanded the city implement changes in the way police deal with people suffering from a mental illness. In 2017, the Bah family settled in court for $2.21 million. The officers were found to have used unnecessary force but did not face charges. iedereen zn moeder 2012 deaths Deaths by firearm in Manhattan Deaths by person in New York City Victims of police brutality in the United States

56560914

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Colten%20Boushie

Shooting of Colten Boushie

Colten Boushie (October 31, 1993 – August 9, 2016) was a 22-year-old Indigenous man of the Cree Red Pheasant First Nation who was fatally shot on a rural Saskatchewan farm by its owner, Gerald Stanley. Stanley stood trial for second-degree murder and for a lesser charge of manslaughter, but was ultimately acquitted in February 2018. Boushie was a resident of the Cree Red Pheasant First Nation. After getting a flat tire, he and four friends drove to a farmhouse near Biggar, Saskatchewan, owned by Stanley. They had been drinking and had earlier tried to break in to a truck at another farm. One of the group tried to start an ATV on the property while Stanley and his son were outside. Stanley's son ran to the vehicle and used a hammer to smash the windshield. The people in the SUV attempted to take off and crashed their vehicle into one of Stanley's cars. Stanley reacted by going into his home, returning with an old handgun, and firing two shots into the air. Two of the individuals in the SUV fled on foot, while Boushie moved to the front seat. Stanley then approached the SUV – with Boushie in the driver's seat – when the gun discharged. Boushie was shot in the neck just below the ear and died instantly. Stanley's defence claimed the shot was an accident and the gun's trigger was not pulled. Instead, the defence argued a third round loaded into the magazine was fired, yet failed to detonate, precipitating a hang fire. The circumstances of the shooting, the RCMP investigation, the trial, and the verdict are flashpoints of controversy in Canada. The case drew significant attention, sparking protests and provoking debates about racism in Saskatchewan and across Canada. People who supported Stanley generally perceived the trial as fair, given the circumstances of events leading up to the shooting. Supporters of the Boushie family felt the trial was unfair due to the selection of what appeared to be an all-white jury. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould denounced the verdict. Critics scorned these comments for politicizing the trial and discrediting the Canadian judiciary system. The mayor of Saskatoon, Charlie Clark, said the trial and its aftermath represented "a defining moment for this community and this country". Legislation eliminating peremptory challenges from jury selection was enacted in 2019 and upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada in the October 2020 case R v Chouhan. Two 2021 reports by the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found that RCMP's death notification to Boushie's family had been discriminatory and noted serious investigative and communications failures in an otherwise professional response. Background Colten Boushie (October 31, 1993 – August 9, 2016) was a resident of the Cree Red Pheasant First Nation of Saskatchewan. According to the police Information To Obtain warrant (ITO), which was produced in the early stages of the investigation and obtained by The Globe and Mail on August 9, 2016, 22-year-old Colten Boushie and his girlfriend Kiora Wuttunee, Belinda Jackson and her boyfriend Eric Meechance, and Cassidy Cross-Whitstone, all from the Red Pheasant First Nation, had spent the day swimming, drinking, and shooting at the Maymont River. Wuttunee's grey 2003 Ford Escape SUV got a flat tire. The ITO stated that Boushie's group first visited a neighbouring farm belonging to the Fouhy family, where they "attempted to steal vehicles and items" by trying to smash the window of a truck with a .22 calibre rifle. Cross-Whitstone broke the stock of the rifle in this failed attempt. They then drove on to Gerald Stanley's property near Biggar, Saskatchewan, in the Rural Municipality of Glenside No. 377, which is about from their home. When the SUV entered the Stanley property, Gerald Stanley and his son Sheldon were repairing a fence, while Stanley's wife Leesa was mowing the lawn not far away. The SUV's occupants first entered a truck belonging to one of Gerald's customers, then mounted an ATV. Sheldon chased them away and smashed the SUV's windshield with a hammer. It "crashed into Stanley's wife's car and came to a halt". Stanley took a semi-automatic handgun from his shed, loaded it and "fired warning shots in the air" as Cross-Whitstone and Meechance ran from the ATV and fled the property. Sheldon Stanley went into the house to get his truck keys. Gerald Stanley then approached the SUV with Boushie in the driver's seat and Jackson and Wuttunee in the back. Stanley would later testify he saw the lawnmower his wife was using and thought that she had been run over. He reached in with his left hand to turn off the ignition while holding his handgun in his right hand. The handgun then discharged and Boushie was shot in the "back of the head at point blank range" at about 5:30 pm. The RCMP later found a loaded .22-calibre rifle near Boushie's body. Aftermath of the shooting Boushie's supporters expressed frustration with the "flawed and inadequate" police inquiry, stating that it "initially focused more on the actions of the five young Indigenous people than on the killing of Mr. Boushie". The person initially in charge of the investigation was a junior constable; no forensic experts were brought in. The Ford Escape SUV in which Boushie was killed, was "left uncovered, its doors open, for two rainy days, washing away evidence". On August 10, 2016, a media release from the RCMP said, "A man was declared dead at the scene. Another man 'associated to the property' was arrested by police at the scene without incident. No charges were immediately laid. Three occupants of the vehicle—one woman, one girl and one man—were taken into custody as part of a related theft investigation, police said. Police later identified and located a fourth boy who was in the vehicle." This release explained that the witnesses to Boushie's killing were taken into custody "as part of a related theft investigation". None of them were charged as the result of a plea deal in exchange for testimony. Ultimately their testimony was deemed inconclusive due to inconsistencies of their accounts. On August 12, the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) representing 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan, issued a media release expressing disappointment in the way the RCMP presented the shooting incident. The RCMP statement "provided just enough prejudicial information for the average reader to draw their own conclusions that the shooting was somehow justified. The messaging in an RCMP news release should not fuel racial tensions ... The media's initial portrayal of the event made the incident sound like a crime was about to be committed by the passengers in the car." The FSIN called for a review of the RCMP's communication policies and writing guidelines. The FSIN said that the "RCMP news release was biased and not in line with the relationship the FSIN and the RCMP have been building with measures such as the RCMP FSIN Partnership Protocol". The FSIN blamed the RCMP's August 10 statement for "racially charged social media posts" that were posted on the Saskatchewan Farmers Group's Facebook pages with photos of "farmers carrying firearms". The RCMP Superintendent held a press conference asking "residents to put their guns away". The Federation said that the RCMP media release "made it appear that Boushie's killing was justified" by the "right to defend" and that the way the RCMP shared information about the incident had fuelled racial tensions in Saskatchewan. On the same day, the RCMP responded to the August 12 FSIN statement. Three days after the shooting, on August 12, 2016, CBC News reported that the "event had stimulated a lot of discussion on various social media platforms". Paul Dornstauder, CBC's Executive Producer for Radio Current Affairs in Saskatchewan, described how "there was a vigorous and at times rancorous debate about what had happened and why, some of which was racist". The article was the subject of investigation by CBC's ombudsman, following CBC's receipt of 25 complaints from readers concerned that "it was wrong of CBC News to publish this article, that it fed into a racist argument about Indigenous peoples that saw Mr. Boushie as a menace. It was seen as an endorsement of the use of violence by some readers." One complainant asserted that the article mistakenly linked "property rights" to Boushie's death. The complainant called the article "irresponsible and damaging" as it "could fan racist sentiment". The article has since been revised. Dornstauder described "this story as having had an electrifying effect in Saskatchewan". It is "complex and controversial", requiring sensitivity and "likely will continue to for some time to come". On August 15, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall called the comments "unacceptable, intolerant and a betrayal of the very values and character of Saskatchewan". He described them as "dangerous". More than five hundred comments representing both sides of the debate appeared on Wall's Facebook page in response to his remarks. By August 17, 2016, the National Farmers Union published a statement in which they expressed their "profound sadness over the tragic shooting of Colten Boushie", and extended "deepest condolences to his family and community" and "as farmers", condemned "the rampant racist remarks that have circulated since the death of Colten Boushie, including comments made on the 'Saskatchewan Farmers' Facebook group". Robert Innes, a University of Saskatchewan professor, described the "racial tension" in Saskatchewan as a "tinder box" with "some farmers" "blaming First Nations people for rural crime. Their mentality is to protect their property." Bail hearing Gerald Stanley's bail hearing was held in North Battleford on August 18, 2016. Hundreds of people protested outside the North Battleford courthouse with RCMP on rooftops observing. On August 19, Stanley was granted bail on a $10,000 cash surety. His bail included a number of conditions, including that he stay within of his home and that he have no contact with Boushie's family or any of the witnesses. Trial The trial for second-degree murder took place from January 30, 2018, to February 9, 2018, at the Court of Queen's Bench Saskatchewan in Battleford with Saskatchewan Chief Justice Martel D. Popescul presiding. The jury selection system allowed trial lawyers to use "peremptory challenges" to reject a limited number of potential jurors without giving a specific reason. Seven hundred and fifty people were randomly summoned based on health cards for potential jury duty from the Battleford Jury Boundary, a huge area that stretches to the north of Saskatchewan. The pool which was almost double the normal size was enlarged to help secure a more representative jury, though only 204 of the 750 individuals who were summoned actually showed up. Five who appeared to be First Nations were challenged by the defence, leaving what appeared to be an all-white jury. During the trial, Stanley's attorney Scott Spencer said there was "no evidence" that Stanley intentionally killed Boushie. By February 8, 2018, the jurors were deliberating on a verdict behind closed doors. Judge Popescul "warned people in the gallery about making comments during [the] tense trial" and said that "it was the first time in his long career that he had to say that in court based on a complaint from a juror". During Judge Popescul's charge to the jury, he instructed them: You must not find Gerald Stanley guilty unless you are sure he is guilty. Even if you believe that Mr. Stanley is probably guilty or likely guilty, that is not sufficient. In those circumstances, you must give the benefit of the doubt to Mr. Stanley and find him not guilty because the Crown has failed to satisfy you of his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If you have a reasonable doubt about Mr. Stanley's guilt arising from the evidence, the absence of the evidence, or the credibility or the reliability of one or more of the witnesses then you must find him not guilty. In short, the presumption of innocence applies at the beginning and continues throughout the trial, unless you are satisfied after considering the whole of the evidence that the Crown has displaced the presumption of innocence by proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. "Hang fire" defence The defence case relied heavily on the assertion that the fatal shot was unintentional and the result of a hang fire. The casing from the fatal shot had an unusual bulge which testing of the gun could not reproduce. The gun used was a 1947 Tokarev T33 with surplus military ammunition from 1953. The ammunition had been stored in an unheated shed where the temperature varied between and . Experts concluded nevertheless that the gun was functioning properly and a misfire could not be replicated during testing. Verdict Stanley was acquitted on February 9, 2018. Since Canadian jurors are legally barred from discussing the proceedings, it is not known how the jury reached its verdict or whether the jury accepted that the gunshot that killed Boushie was hang fire. Impact The story attracted widespread attention from social media and mainstream media. Following the announcement of the acquittal, about 1,000 people, including the mayor of Saskatoon, Charlie Clark, gathered at a rally at the Saskatoon court house to show support for Boushie's family and to express frustration with the acquittal. Other rallies and vigils took place in Battleford, Winnipeg, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Toronto, and Ottawa to challenge the verdict. Clint Wuttunee, Chief of the Red Pheasant First Nation, called the verdict "absolutely perverse" and stated that "an all-white jury formed the twisted view of that obvious truth and found Stanley not guilty". In response to the verdict, Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations's Vice-chief David Pratt, challenged the jury selection system, saying that "defence counsel used peremptory challenges to block every potential juror who appeared to be Indigenous". Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement on February 10, saying, "I am going to say we have come to this point as a country far too many times. Indigenous people across this country are angry, they're heartbroken and I know Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians alike know that we have to do better." Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said he would be meeting with Trudeau and with First Nations leadership. Canadian Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada Jody Wilson-Raybould made a comment in a Tweet that Canada "can and must do better". Jagmeet Singh, a criminal defence lawyer and the Leader of the New Democratic Party, told reporters on February 13 that "justice was not served for Colten Boushie". Toronto-based criminal defence lawyer Sean Robichaud said that it was "wholly inappropriate for elected officials to publicly undermine findings of a lawfully delivered verdict, particularly when it is one of a jury". He cautioned that there could be ramifications. "By commenting on a particular case, it may affect the ability for Crown to proceed with the case if an appeal is granted." Lisa Raitt, Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party, Rob Nicholson, and other Conservatives also criticised comments by Trudeau and Wilson-Raybould. At a press conference hosted by Saskatoon Tribal Council, Mayor Clark described the "high-profile trial and its aftermath—which included rallies across Canada—represent a defining moment for this community and this country. A defining moment for our city, our province, our country, where we decide what kind of country we’re going to be." The Saskatoon StarPhoenix reported that Clark called for a "prompt reckoning across the country" as the acquittal had sparked "anxiety and anger". Many chiefs across Saskatchewan, including northern communities, travelled to Saskatoon to attend the rally. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) issued a statement to remind concerned parties to "conduct themselves in a peaceful and civil manner regardless of the outcome", warning that "people will be held responsible for what they say or post online and police will investigate any complaints of suspected criminal behaviour". On February 10, thousands attended rallies across Canada in a day-of-action activities to support Boushie's family. About 200 people gathered at Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square to protest the verdict that day. On February 12, over 300 people gathered to march from Calgary City Hall to Reconciliation Bridge, in temperatures and wind chill that felt like , to show support for Colten Boushie's family. By February 11, Colten Boushie's mother Debbie Baptiste, his cousin Jade Tootoosis, and uncle Alvin had travelled to Ottawa from their remote community for potential meetings with Wilson-Raybould, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and other ministers, to advocate for justice. They called for "an end to peremptory challenges in jury selection, which were used in Mr. Stanley's trial to block every potential juror who appeared to be Indigenous". They are also challenging "a number of systemic problems in the justice system, as well as specific complaints arising from the way Mr. Boushie's death was investigated and prosecuted". On February 28, the Justice for our Stolen Children Camp was set up on Wascana Park in Regina in response to the death of Colten Boushie and Tina Fontaine. nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up, a documentary film by Tasha Hubbard about the Colten Boushie case, won the award for Best Canadian Feature Documentary at the 2019 Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival, and the Colin Low Award for Best Canadian Documentary at the 2019 DOXA Documentary Film Festival. Post-trial developments Legislative changes In response to controversy over how defendant's legal team used peremptory challenge to remove all Indigenous jurors from the jury pool and get what seemed to be an all-white jury, the federal government passed Bill C-75, which eliminated peremptory challenges during jury selection. The law came into effect in September 2019. In October 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in R v Chouhan that the legislation was constitutional, as well as its retroactive application to jury selection. Civilian Review and Complaints Commission reports into RCMP conduct In March 2021, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police released two reports on the conduct of the RCMP during the case. One of the reports stemmed from an appeal by the Boushie family of a 2017 RCMP internal investigation into the case in which it mostly cleared itself. Concurrent to handling the appeal the CRCC launched its own public interest investigation to produce a second report. Both reports were completed in 2020 but the release was delayed so that the RCMP could review and reply to the reports. The CRCC found that the way that Boushie's family were notified of his death was discriminatory, but that other RCMP actions were not racially motivated. It also found that with the exception of serious shortfalls in the investigation and the dealings with Boushie's family, the RCMP had otherwise acted professionally and reasonably. The CRCC found that surrounding the Boushie home with cars, training lights on the home, and approaching the home with carbines drawn was an unreasonable approach to the risk that one of Boushie's companions may have been there and armed. The CRCC also found that a subsequent search of the home violated the Charter, however it found no evidence that the RCMP's tactical decisions or illegal search were racially motivated. This was contested by the Boushie family's lawyer, who said that a similar overreaction would not have occurred to a non-Indigenous family. However, the CRCC did find that the armed, tactical approach was a poor way to deliver the death notification. Asking whether Boushie's mother had been drinking and smelling her breath for alcohol after she took her son's death poorly was found to be insensitive and discriminatory. The CRCC also criticized the RCMP's later decision to update Boushie's mother on the investigation during her son's wake as insensitive. The main investigative failures involved handling of physical evidence at the crime scene and treatment of witnesses. The vehicle at the centre of the shooting was left uncovered despite having an available tarp and being aware of upcoming bad weather, which led to crucial evidence being destroyed by rainfall. Stanley's wife and son were also allowed to retrieve another vehicle at the crime scene to travel to a police interview together, despite crime scenes normally being restricted and witnesses usually being separated before interviews to avoid cross-contamination of their testimony. The RCMP also failed to warn the Stanleys not to discuss the case, contrary to standard operating procedure. By contrast, Boushie's three companions, who were arrested for criminal mischief that night – charges which were not pursued – were kept overnight in cells, with one witness testifying that she couldn't sleep because she was still covered in Boushie's blood. The interviews were then conducted the next day after police warned them not to incriminate themselves. The CRCC found that historic distrust between RCMP and Indigenous peoples, shock from the shooting, poor rest, potential hangovers, and the RCMP's coercive approach led to poor witness cooperation. The CRCC found that these witness interviews and their continued detainment afterwards were unreasonable. A separate issue brought up by the CRCC reports involved the Saskatchewan RCMP's press releases, which while factually accurate, disproportionately focused on the allegations of theft. The CRCC found that this fueled the implication that Boushie's death was somehow deserved and inflamed racial tensions. Shortly after the shooting and initial criticism, the Saskatchewan RCMP updated its communications policies. The CRCC also found that there was no evidence that Boushie was engaged in any property offences the night of the shooting. The reports also criticized the RCMP for destroying recordings and transcripts in August 2018, which detailed radio communications between its officers who had responded to the shooting. The destruction of these records meant the CRCC had less evidence to assess the RCMP justification for its tactical approach to delivering the death notification. The RCMP said that because these records had no evidentiary value to the criminal case against Stanley, they were destroyed following the standard RCMP records retention policy to only keep records for two years. The CRCC investigation of the RCMP's conducts was announced in March 2018, and the Boushie family's civil lawsuit against the RCMP had also been filed before August 2018. The lawyer for Boushie's family said that the records were relevant to both of those cases and should have been retained. RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki agreed with the CRCC's discrimination ruling for the death notification, accepted most of the report's findings such as those on poor handling of evidence and witnesses, and poor communications policies. She committed to fix the issues raised by measures such as new operational guidance, changes to the force's operational manual, and increased cultural awareness training. Lucki contested some aspects of the CRCC report, such as the tactical approach they took for the death notification because of perceived risk from Boushie's companion. The CRCC said Commissioner Lucki's response to their reports failed to take responsibility for the issues at the heart of the report and focused on minor staffing considerations. The National Police Federation, a police union representing over 20,000 RCMP officers condemned the CRCC report and RCMP leadership for accepting some of the reports' recommendations for disrespecting the RCMP and bringing its professionalism into question. Notes References Deaths by firearm in Saskatchewan Real property law Property crimes 2018 in Canadian case law

56917990

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Stephon%20Clark

Shooting of Stephon Clark

In the late evening of March 18, 2018, Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old African-American man, was shot and killed in Meadowview, Sacramento, California by Terrence Mercadal and Jared Robinet, two officers of the Sacramento Police Department in the backyard of his grandmother's house while he had a phone in his hand. The encounter was filmed by police video cameras and by a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department helicopter which was involved in observing Clark on the ground and in directing ground officers to the point at which the shooting took place. The officers stated that they shot Clark, firing 20 rounds, believing that he had pointed a gun at them. Police found only a cell phone on him. While the Sacramento County Coroner's autopsy report concluded that Clark was shot seven times, including three shots to the right side of the back, the pathologist hired by the Clark family stated that Clark was shot eight times, including six times in the back. The shooting caused large protests in Sacramento, and Clark's family members have rejected the initial police description of the events leading to Clark's death. The Sacramento Police Department placed the officers on paid administrative leave and opened a use of force investigation. Police have stated they are confident that Clark was the suspect responsible for breaking windows in the area prior to the encounter. On March 2, 2019, the Sacramento County district attorney announced that the Sacramento police officers who killed Clark would not be charged and that they had probable cause to stop Clark and were legally justified in the use of deadly force. Stephon Clark Stephon Clark (born Stephan Alonzo-Clark, August 10, 1995 – March 18, 2018) an African American, graduated from Sacramento High School in 2013, where he was on the football team. He was 22 years old at the time he was killed. According to The Los Angeles Times, Clark lived in a "tough neighborhood" characterized by tense relations with the Sacramento Police Department. His older brother, Stevante Clark, told KOVR that he and Stephon had come from "underprivileged, broken homes". Their 16-year-old brother was killed in a shooting in 2006. Stephon had been released from county jail about a month before the shooting and was staying with his grandparents on and off. His brother said, "He was arrested before, but he's been different lately. He really changed his life." Sacramento County court records show that Clark had a history of convictions for robbery, domestic abuse, and a prostitution-related offense. At the time of his death he was on probation for a 2014 robbery conviction. According to the investigation, Clark had searched online for ways to commit suicide. A toxicology report also released by police found traces of cocaine, cannabis, and codeine in Clark's system. Codeine and hydrocodone were found in Clark's urine. Multiple leaders in the community opined that Clark's criminal record was immaterial to his death. Domestic incident On March 16, a neighbor called the police to report on behalf of Salena Mohamed Manni, the mother of Clark's child, to report that the two had been arguing and the argument had turned violent. When police arrived at their apartment, Clark was not present, but officers found Manni with extensive injuries to her face and a hole in the wall of the apartment. Clark, on probation from two domestic violence convictions and one conviction of assault with a deadly weapon, evaded police in the days leading up to the shooting. Shooting The Sacramento Police Department stated that on Sunday, March 18 at 9:18 p.m., two officers responded to a 9-1-1 call that an individual was breaking car windows. In a media release after the shooting, police stated that they had been looking for a suspect hiding in a backyard. They said the suspect was a thin black man, in height, wearing dark pants and a black hooded sweatshirt. A sheriff's helicopter spotted a man at 9:25 p.m., in a nearby backyard and told officers on the ground that he had shattered a window using a tool bar, run to the front of that house, and then looked in an adjacent car. Officers on the ground entered the front yard of Clark's grandmother's home, and saw Clark next to the home. Vance Chandler, the Sacramento Police Department spokesman, said that Clark was the same man who had been breaking windows, and was tracked by police in helicopters. Chandler said that when Clark was confronted and ordered to stop and show his hands, Clark fled to the back of the property. Police body camera footage from both of the officers who shot Clark recorded the incident, though the footage is dark and shaky. In the videos, officers spot Clark in his grandmother's driveway and shout "Hey, show me your hands. Stop. Stop." The video shows that the officers chased Clark into the backyard and an officer yells, "Show me your hands! Gun!" About three seconds elapse and then the officer yells, "Show me your hands! Gun, gun, gun", before shooting Clark. According to the police, before being shot, Clark turned and held an object that he "extended in front of him" while he moved towards the officers. The officers said they believed that Clark was pointing a gun at them. The police stated that the officers feared for their safety, and at 9:26 p.m., fired 20 rounds, hitting Clark multiple times. According to an independent autopsy, Clark was shot eight times, including six times in the back. The report found that one of the bullets to strike Clark from the front was likely fired while he was already on the ground. Body-cam footage shows that after shooting him, the officers continued to yell at him as one shined a flashlight at him and they kept their guns aimed at him. One officer stated in one of the body-cam videos, "He had something in hands, looked like a gun from our perspective." Three minutes after the shooting, a female officer called to him and said "We need to know if you're OK. We need to get you medics, so we can't go over and get you help until we know you don't have a weapon." They waited five minutes after shooting Clark before approaching and then handcuffing him. Clark was found to have an iPhone, and was unarmed. Clark's girlfriend later said the phone belonged to her. After more officers arrived, one officer said "Hey, mute", and audio recording from the body camera was turned off. The Police Department stated on March 19, one day after the shooting, that Clark had been seen with a "tool bar". On the evening of that day, police revised their statement to say that Clark was carrying a cell phone, and not a tool bar, when he was shot. Police added that Clark might have used either a concrete block or an aluminum gutter railing to break a sliding glass door at the house next door to where he was shot, and that they believed Clark had broken windows from at least three vehicles in the area. Investigation The Sacramento Police Department began a use-of-force investigation and placed both officers on paid administrative leave. On March 27, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said that his department would provide independent oversight into the investigation, and separately would scrutinize the police department's use-of-force policies and training procedures. Prior to the release of the county coroner's report, the family requested a second, independent autopsy, results of which were released March 30, 2018. The pathologist, Dr. Bennet Omalu, said Clark had been shot eight times from the back or side, adding "You could reasonably conclude that he received seven gunshot wounds from his back." The Sacramento County Coroner's report was subsequently released to the public on May 1, 2018. The county autopsy, conducted by forensic pathologist Dr. Keng-Chih Su, indicated that Clark had been shot once in the front of the left thigh, three times directly to the side, and three times in the right side of the back. The Coroner's office had Dr. Su's autopsy reviewed by "the county’s chief forensic pathologist, and two county coroner pathologists, in addition to" forensic pathologist Dr. Gregory Reiber. On June 7, 2018, a New York Times team published an analysis also based on videos made by two police body cameras and by an overhead, heat-sensing helicopter camera. During the investigation, it was discovered that Clark's phone records showed that he had called Salena Mohamed Manni 76 times leading up to the shooting, causing her to block his phone number. Clark also attempted to get ahold of his probation officer in the 48 hours after he was reported for domestic violence, but was unable to do so. Clark had also received text messages from Manni telling him that he would be sent back to prison for the domestic incident and that he would not see his children for a long time. Clark also texted other ex-girlfriends seeking drugs, as well as texting Manni that he was going to commit suicide. An examination of his internet search history also showed that he had been researching websites about suicide. On March 2, 2019, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert announced that her office would not be filing criminal charges against the police officers involved in Clark's death. Schubert stated that the officers had probable cause to stop and detain Clark and that they were legally justified in using deadly force against him. On March 5, 2019, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced that his office could not file criminal charges for Clark's death. On September 26, 2019, US Attorney McGregor Scott and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced there was "insufficient evidence" to bring federal civil right charges against the officers. The Sacramento Police Department also said the department's investigation found no policy or training violations related to the shooting. The officers were cleared to return to active duty after they had been assigned to desk duty. Officers The Sacramento Police Department initially stated that they would release the names of the officers who shot Clark within 10 days of the event. Sources leaked what they alleged were the names of the shooters; however, the Sacramento Police Department did not confirm the validity of the names citing fears for the officers' safety. In March 2019 shortly after the district attorney decided to not press charges against them, the two officers came forward and revealed their identities (Terrance Mercadal and Jared Robinet), and opened up about their experience during the shooting in an interview with The Sacramento Bee. Protests There were numerous public protests in Sacramento after the killing. On March 22, 2018, Black Lives Matter led a march that shut down Interstate 5 and prevented NBA fans from entering a Sacramento Kings game, resulting in a delay of the game. One week after the shooting, the Sacramento Kings and Boston Celtics NBA teams wore shirts with Clark's name and the words "Accountability" and "We are One" during warm-ups and the national anthem. On March 31, after an independent autopsy had concluded that Clark was shot eight times, mostly in the back, hundreds of protesters gathered in downtown Sacramento. The peaceful protest was led by retired NBA player Matt Barnes, who announced that he is starting a scholarship fund for Clark's sons. Local activist Wanda Cleveland was struck by a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department vehicle at a rally. Video of the incident shows that a number of protesters converged on official vehicles and were ordered over loudspeakers to step away. One sheriff's vehicle hit Cleveland and knocked her down while she was standing in front of the car. According to Cleveland the vehicle was accelerating and "never even stopped" when it hit her. She was hospitalized with bruises on her head and arm and released the next morning. Members of the progressive advocacy group National Lawyers Guild who were present during the protest said the vehicle "accelerated very fast" as it hit Cleveland and then "sped off". According to the sheriff's department, "A collision occurred while the patrol vehicle was traveling at slow speeds." The California Highway Patrol is investigating the matter. At a press conference, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones blamed "paid professional protesters" and "professional instigators that infiltrate the protests for their own purposes" for the incident. Protest organizers denied the allegation and were outraged by his comments. Sociology and political science professor David Meyer said Jones's allegation was not realistic. PolitiFact concluded that Jones did not provide evidence to his claim, and rated his claim as false. On March 2019, the district attorney decided not to pursue charges for Clark's death, which led to protests. 84 people, including journalists, were arrested. About 100 protesters marched through east Sacramento. One protester said they went through the area populated by Sacramento's elite because it was "a neighborhood that would likely never experience such a tragic and violent loss of one of its residents, so we are bringing the discomfort and pain of our trauma to their doorstep". Responses Elected officials and political activists Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, initially said he would not second-guess decisions made by officers on the ground. Following public backlash, Steinberg stated the videos of Clark's shooting made him feel "really sick" and that the shooting was "wrong," however declined to comment whether the officers should be charged. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi stated that Clark "should be alive today". Reverend Al Sharpton stated that he was alarmed by the story, which he said had not received enough media attention. On March 26, White House spokesman Raj Shah stated that he was unaware of any comments from President Donald Trump regarding the incident. Two days later, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders stated that Trump is "very supportive of law enforcement" and that the incident was a "local matter" that should be dealt with by the local authorities. Clark family Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents the Clark family, stated that the autopsy finding was inconsistent with the official narrative that Clark was charging toward the police officers when they fired. Clark's family expressed skepticism of the police version of events. Clark's brother, Stevante Clark, said of police statements: "They said he had a gun. Then they said he had a crowbar. Then they said he had a toolbar ... If you lie to me once, I know you'll lie to me again." Clark's aunt Saquoia Durham said that police gave Clark no time to respond to their commands before shooting him. According to Crump the officers did not identify themselves as police when they encountered Clark. The police have stated that the officers who confronted Clark were wearing their uniforms at that time. In January 2019, Clark's two underage sons filed a civil lawsuit against Sacramento and the two officers who shot Clark, seeking $20 million in damages. In September 2019, the city settled the lawsuit for $2.4 million; each son will receive $900,000 tax-free when they turn 22. Policing experts University of South Carolina criminology professor Geoffrey Alpert stated that it might be hard for officers to justify their conclusion that Clark was armed, since they had been told he was carrying a toolbar. Peter Moskos, assistant professor of Law and Police Science at John Jay College, said that the officers appeared to think they had been fired upon following the shooting. Alpert, Clark's family, and protesters questioned officers' decisions to mute their microphones. Police Chief Daniel Hahn said he was unable to explain the muting. Cedric Alexander, former police chief in Rochester, New York, and former president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, said that the muting did not appear to violate any policy, although the action would reflect poorly on the officers. He also stated that it is not unusual for police to mute their body cams and that attorneys advise the police to mute conversations to prevent recording any comments that could be used in administrative or criminal proceedings. Policy changes In April 2018, the city of Sacramento enacted a policy that generally prohibits police officers from shutting down their body cams and audio recording devices. In July 2018, the Sacramento Police Department changed its foot pursuit policy, requiring officers to assess the danger chasing a suspect poses to officers and to the public. See also Lists of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States Police use of deadly force in the United States Killing of Joseph Mann References 2018 deaths 2018 in California Deaths by firearm in California Filmed killings by law enforcement Law enforcement controversies in the United States History of Sacramento, California Race and crime in the United States March 2018 events in the United States 2018 controversies in the United States African-American-related controversies African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Law enforcement in California

56939414

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Yassar%20Yaqub

Shooting of Yassar Yaqub

The death of Yassar Yaqub occurred on the evening of 2 January 2017 near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Yaqub was a passenger in a car stopped by police on a sliproad near junction 24 of the M62 motorway and was fatally shot by a West Yorkshire Police firearms officer. Mohammed Yaqub, Yaqub's father, paid for additional private autopsy and ballistics tests and insisted that his son was doing "nothing wrong" at the time of the shooting. During the 2018 trial at Leeds Crown Court the driver of the car, Mohsin Amin, was found guilty of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison. The two other males, David Butlin and Rexhino Arapaj were cleared of firearms charges but Butlin was found guilty of possessing an offensive weapon – a push dagger. Yaqub was in one of two cars traveling in a convoy when four unmarked police vehicles stopped them at junction 24 of the motorway in Huddersfield. While Amin obeyed police instructions, Yaqub had crouched down and as he brought his hands back up the officer was "under no doubt he was holding a handgun", The Judge told Amin at sentencing: "You knew that Yassar Yakub had a gun, which you both intended should be used in a way that endangered life in a preconceived and imminent way." The Crown Prosecution Service said there was evidence of "an ongoing drug feud". Journalist Mobeen Azhar has created a BBC documentary series and a BBC Sounds podcast about the case, both called "Hometown: A Killing". They aired from 2019–2020. References 2017 deaths 2017 in England 2010s in West Yorkshire Deaths by person in England Huddersfield January 2017 events in the United Kingdom People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United Kingdom

57713358

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Jos%C3%A9%20Rodr%C3%ADguez

Shooting of José Rodríguez

On October 10, 2012, at the Mexico–United States border near Nogales, Arizona, U.S. Border Patrol agent Lonnie Swartz fired 16 shots at teenager José Antonio Elena Rodríguez (born January 4, 1996), killing him, on the grounds that young men threw rocks at him and other law enforcement agents. Rodriguez was hit 10 times from behind by Swartz's shots. Swartz was charged with second degree murder for the killing. He was acquitted on the murder charge and the jury failed to reach a verdict on lesser charges. Incident Around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 10, 2012, John Zuñiga, a police officer in Nogales, Arizona, received a call reporting "suspicious activity" on International Street, a road running directly along the border. Getting to the scene, Zuñiga heard from another police officer from Nogales, Quinardo Garci, that two men carrying "bundles taped to their backs" had climbed the fence into the United States. Identifying the bundles, on the basis of similar incidents in the past, as most probably containing marijuana, they called out for back up. After several Border Patrol and Customs agents arrived, they saw the two men scaling the fence back into Mexico, empty-handed and with nothing on their backs. They commanded the two men to climb back down. At that time, Garcia and Zuñiga stated in their reports that they saw "rocks flying through the air" at the assorted agents and also heard "gunfire", although they were unable to identify its source. In the days following the incident, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency stated that After verbal commands from agents to cease [assaulting the agents with rocks] were ignored, one agent then discharged his service firearm. One of the subjects appeared to have been hit. The person hit was José Antonio Elena Rodríguez, a 16-year old resident of Nogales, Mexico. He was unarmed, standing on the Mexican side of the border on a sidewalk on Calle Internacional street, in front of a doctor's office, below a sign reading "Medical Emergencies" in Spanish. He was hit from behind by 10 bullets. The autopsy revealed that gunshot wounds to the head, lungs, and arteries killed him. Trial U.S. Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Ray Swartz was charged with second degree murder for the killing of José Rodríguez. There had been a number of similar incidents in the preceding decade, but this was the first time a US law enforcement officer was charged in relation to a killing that took part across the US–Mexican border. In the trial, the defendant said he had used deadly force because Rodriguez "had been throwing rocks". A witness testified that Rodríguez was not throwing rocks at the law enforcement officers but prosecutors acknowledged that Rodríguez was throwing rocks across the border and went on to state that "he did not deserve to die" for this. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection refused to release surveillance-camera footage of the incident. After the testimony of the director of the medical examiner in Miami-Dade County, Florida, Emma Lew, who stated that Swartz's first shot "likely hit the boy in the middle of his back as he was running," the prosecution rested its case in the trial on April 5, 2018. On April 23, 2018, Swartz was acquitted of the charge for second-degree murder; the jury was deadlocked on lesser charges. Aftermath The judge presiding on the trial, Raner Collins, declared a mistrial. The head of the Tucson union for Border Patrol officers, stated, after the jury's decision was announced, that "justice was properly served" and that the union was "pretty happy with it". After the jury's decision was reported, protesters gathered outside the federal courthouse in downtown Tucson late Monday afternoon, on 23 April, and blocked off the intersection in front of it. Among those participating in the protest was the mother of Carlos LaMadrid, another Mexican teen who had been shot and killed by Border Patrol agents (in 2011). Retrials On November 21, 2018, Swartz was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter, and the jury could not reach a verdict on voluntary manslaughter. On Friday 13 December 2019, Assistant U.S. Attorney May Sue Feldmeier announced that prosecutors would seek a retrial on the two lesser charges against Swartz, who waived his right to appear in court. The case's presiding judge, U.S. District Judge Raner C. Collins, set the start of the new trial for 23 October 2020, with a motion hearing scheduled in July 2020. In 2019, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a suit in the federal district court in Tucson on behalf of the family of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez against the border patrol agent who shot and killed him seeking civil damages. In a preliminary hearing on Monday 9 December 2019, a video reconstruction of the shooting, including portions of video clips shot by two border cameras operated by the Border Patrol, was shown by the prosecution. Defense attorneys asked the judge not to permit the video reconstruction to be shown at the trial, arguing that "the video evidence is unreliable." Review of similar incidents A 2013 review by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) reviewed 67 shooting incidents that resulted in 19 people dying, during the period from January 2010 through October 2012. The review found agents guilty of criminal conduct in 3 of the incidents. Two agents faced disciplinary action in the form of an "oral reprimand". See also List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, October 2012 Hernandez v. Mesa Notes References External links International incidents People shot dead by law enforcement officers Mexico–United States border 2012 in Arizona 2012 in Mexico Mexican drug war October 2012 events in North America Nogales, Arizona Nogales, Sonora October 2012 events in Mexico

58065997

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Markeis%20McGlockton

Shooting of Markeis McGlockton

The shooting of Markeis McGlockton, a 28-year-old man at a parking lot in Clearwater, Florida, United States, on July 19, 2018, was widely reported by news media as another instance of Florida's controversial stand-your-ground law, six years after the killing of Trayvon Martin generated international attention and debate. McGlockton was shot by Michael Drejka, (pronounced ) outside a local convenience store. Shortly before the shooting, Drejka approached McGlockton's car and began to confront McGlockton's girlfriend, Britany Jacobs, for parking in a disabled parking space without a placard. McGlockton came out of the store and shoved Drejka to the ground. At this point, Drejka drew his handgun and McGlockton began to back away. Two and a half seconds after Drejka hit the ground, he shot McGlockton. McGlockton later died from his injuries at a local hospital. He was unarmed at the time he was shot. Drejka, a 47-year-old man, was not initially charged for the killing by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, with Sheriff Bob Gualtieri citing Florida's stand-your-ground law as the reason. The investigation was then handed over to the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida State Attorney Bernie McCabe, who charged Drejka with one count of manslaughter on August 13, 2018. Drejka pleaded not guilty to the charge. His trial began on August 19, 2019. Drejka was convicted of manslaughter on August 23, 2019, and was sentenced to imprisonment for twenty years on October 10, 2019. Parties involved Markeis McGlockton Markeis Deon McGlockton (March 28, 1990 – July 19, 2018) grew up in Clearwater, Florida, and formerly lived in St. Petersburg. Within Pinellas County Schools, McGlockton attended middle school in St. Petersburg; and attended Boca Ciega High School but later dropped out. In 2009, McGlockton met Britany Jacobs through a friend while she was a student at Dunedin High School. The couple had three children together during his lifetime. Jacobs publicly revealed her pregnancy with their fourth child in December 2018. McGlockton formerly worked at a Burger King. He later worked nights as a clerk at a 7-Eleven until his death. While Jacobs worked in the daytime as a certified nursing assistant, McGlockton was a stay-at-home dad for their children. Michael Drejka Michael Andrew Drejka (born August 5, 1970) originally lived in Delaware. His father was a Delaware State Trooper. He had a concealed carry license. Drejka worked for Asplundh Tree Expert Company as a tree-trimmer and often performed cleanup work. He quit the tree-trimming business in 2007 and lived with his girlfriend Cara Lynne Brooks. In 2010, Drejka moved to Pinellas County, where he got married. He later worked as an Uber driver until problems with his vehicle forced him to quit. Shooting On the afternoon of July 19, 2018, McGlockton picked up Jacobs from her employer with their three children in the vehicle, reportedly a 2016 Chrysler 200. Jacobs took over the wheel and drove the family to the Circle A Food Store so McGlockton could buy snacks for the children. Jacobs illegally parked the vehicle in the store's only handicapped parking space, located on the side of the building. McGlockton went into the store with their five-year-old son, Markeis Jr. While Jacobs was sitting inside the vehicle, Drejka pulled up in his Toyota 4-Runner, also parking illegally, after having come from the WaWa on Missouri Ave in Largo. Drejka got out of his SUV and searched for a disabled parking placard on Jacobs' vehicle. Video surveillance shows Drejka starting a confrontation with Jacobs over the parking space. She had the other two children, aged three years and four months, seated in the car at the time. McGlockton had not yet finished checking out when he overheard the store clerk being informed of the situation. Around 3:30 pm, video surveillance shows McGlockton walked out of the store and walked up to Drejka and shoved him to the ground and kept walking towards him. Three seconds later, Drejka pulled out a .40-caliber Glock, which he steadied with both hands. McGlockton immediately backed up when confronted with the firearm. As McGlockton backed up to his vehicle he began to turn towards the front of the store and away from Drejka. Drejka then fired a single shot striking McGlockton in the chest. After being shot, McGlockton ran back into the store and collapsed in front of his son. Paramedics arrived 19 minutes later and rushed McGlockton to Morton Plant Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:04 pm. Location The shooting occurred at Circle A Food Store located on Sunset Point Road in Clearwater. The convenience store has been locally owned by Abdalla "Ali" Salous for twenty years. He was not present in the store at the time of the shooting. Salous previously had issues with Drejka at his business. Both Drejka and McGlockton were regular customers at the store. Salous said that Drejka came to his store daily to buy Monster drinks. A month after the shooting, Salous said the incident hurt the business, but added the public should not be afraid simply because of the assailant's actions. After Drejka was released from jail on bond, Salous stated that Drejka was banned from the property. Drejka was represented by criminal defense attorneys John Trevena and Bryant Camareno. Investigations Pinellas County Sheriff's Office The incident took place in an unincorporated area of Clearwater, falling outside the local police department's jurisdiction; thus the investigation was conducted by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, rather than the Clearwater Police Department. Drejka questioned and released Following the shooting, Drejka reportedly put the gun in his SUV as he waited for law enforcement to arrive. Drejka cooperated with deputies on the scene, and was transported to the North District Station in nearby Dunedin, Florida, for further questioning by detectives. Deputies took possession of his gun. While being questioned by detectives, Drejka stated that he was in fear of physical harm and had acted in self-defense when he shot McGlockton. He claimed that they did not exchange words with each other and that he thought McGlockton had stepped toward him before he fired his gun. Drejka said he would not have shot at McGlockton if he had stayed still or retreated. Drejka was asked to re-enact the incident, with a detective filling in for McGlockton. Drejka told detectives that he had carried a gun since the age of 22. He revealed that the gun he used to shoot McGlockton formerly belonged to a Delaware police officer. The interview lasted six hours. Gualtieri cites stand-your-ground On July 20, 2018, the day after the shooting, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri held a 30-minute press conference in which he announced that his agency would not charge Drejka for the shooting death of McGlockton. At the press conference, Gualtieri walked through the events leading up to the shooting and revealed the surveillance video to the media. He started by saying "I'm a big believer in this adage that just because you can, doesn't mean you should. This case may be an example of that. Nonetheless, we don't build it, we just sail it. What I mean by that is: I don't make the law, I enforce the law." Gualtieri cited Florida Statute 776.032 and stated that his office was precluded from making an arrest, due to Drejka's claim of self-defense through Florida's stand-your-ground law. Gualtieri said the investigation would continue before being turned over to the local state attorney's office. In a second 55-minute press conference on July 31, Gualtieri defended his decision not to arrest Drejka. The Pinellas County Ministerial Alliance and NAACP Clearwater were scheduled to stand with Gualtieri during this press conference, but backed out a half hour before it began. State Attorney's investigation On August 1, 2018, Sheriff Gualtieri announced that the investigation had been turned over to State Attorney Bernie McCabe for review. The following day, McCabe said there was no time frame for how long it would take to complete the investigation. On August 10, Detective George Moffett sent a capias request to State Attorney McCabe recommending charges of manslaughter with a firearm against Drejka. Moffett cited three drivers who alleged that Drejka threatened them with a gun in past incidents. Drejka was formally charged with a single count of manslaughter on August 13. Drejka pleaded not guilty to the charge on August 17. Witness accounts A man who witnessed the argument between Drejka and Jacobs walked into the store to report it, which led to McGlockton confronting Drejka. After McGlockton was shot, deputies interviewed multiple witnesses at the scene. Two 9-1-1 calls from witnesses were released by the Pinellas County Regional 911 Center on August 16. There were over 100 witnesses in the case. Britany Jacobs Jacobs was a major eyewitness in the case. She explained her decision to park her vehicle in the handicapped space; although video surveillance shows there were other spaces available, Jacobs told prosecutors that two pickup trucks blocked her from accessing those spaces. Jacobs claimed that Drejka began yelling and motioning at her. Jacobs said that she told Drejka to mind his own business. According to Jacobs, McGlockton told Drejka to "stay away from my girl" as he flung Drejka to the ground. When McGlockton was shot, she attempted to apply pressure to his wound with a shirt. Jacobs claimed the bullet struck McGlockton in the left side of the abdomen, contrary to Sheriff Gualtieri's account that he was shot in the chest. Drejka's account of events Within a day of the shooting, Drejka had a sign posted outside his home that read: "NO COMMENT". Drejka refused to speak to the press for over a month following the shooting; until late-August his only public account of events came from statements he made while being questioned by detectives. First media interview On August 31, 2018, Drejka sat down with WTSP reporter Reginald Roundtree for a jailhouse interview. Early in the interview, Drejka spoke about his early life and work profession; the financial and physical hardships he and his wife are facing; and threats made to them immediately after the shooting. Regarding McGlockton's shove, Drejka said he thought he was "tackled". Drejka stated he was in fear for his life and felt that he followed the stand-your-ground law. Drejka said abuse of handicapped parking spaces is a sensitive issue to him, as his mother-in-law and deceased high school girlfriend were handicapped. Drejka denied he was a racist. While Drejka wouldn't change his actions, he did apologize for the results of actions to McGlockton's family. Drejka's wife was subsequently interviewed by Roundtree, with her face hidden by a gray curtain to protect her identity. Public response Activism and protests The first protest related to the shooting occurred on July 21 at the Circle A Food Store. A vigil for McGlockton was held at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church the following afternoon, followed by a mass march from the church to the Circle A that evening. On July 25, community activists held a fish fry at Circle A to raise money for McGlockton's family. On the morning of July 27, a protest was staged at State Attorney Bernie McCabe's office. An activist group in Jacksonville held a vigil for McGlockton and other victims of gun violence at the John A. Delaney Student Union later that night. On July 29, members of Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg created a prayer circle in the middle of a busy intersection to protest the shooting. On August 5, Al Sharpton and Benjamin Crump led the Markeis McGlockton Rally for Justice at St. John Primitive Baptist Church. The Tampa chapter of Black Lives Matter organized a rally outside the church that was held at the same time. On September 19, a vigil was held at Wright Park in Clearwater. Supporters gathered with McGlockton's family and friends at the same park to celebrate what would have been Markeis's 29th birthday. On the one-year anniversary of McGlockton's death anniversary, a memorial and vigil titled Justice for Markeis: A Legacy Never Forgotten was held at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church. Color of Change created an online petition directed to State Attorney McCabe, calling for the arrest of Michael Drejka. The petition received over 10,000 signatures by July 25, and had reached over 45,000 signatures when Drejka was charged with manslaughter on August 13. On July 31, the organization opened a state-level political action committee as part of an effort to repeal Stand-Your-Ground in Florida. While advocating in favor of Florida Amendment 4 in 2018, Marissa Alexander mentioned the McGlockton case as an example of the state's criminal justice issues. Call for a DOJ investigation On July 27, Democratic Party U.S. Senator Bill Nelson from Florida sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights John M. Gore, requesting the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Criminal Section to open an investigation into the shooting death of McGlockton. The letter was signed by Nelson and four fellow Democratic lawmakers: Senators Kamala Harris from California and Cory Booker from New Jersey; and U.S. Representatives Charlie Crist and Alcee Hastings, who both represent Florida in the 13th district and 20th district, respectively. The NAACP, along with its Florida State Conference and Clearwater/Upper Pinellas County Branch, called for a DOJ investigation as well. Criticism of Gualtieri's decision Sheriff Gualtieri received bipartisan criticism over his interpretation of Stand-Your-Ground and his decision to not arrest Drejka. Marion Hammer, former president and lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, stated that nothing in the law prevents a sheriff from making an arrest based on probable cause. Republican Party Florida State Senators Dennis Baxley and Rob Bradley, along with Florida State Representative Bobby Payne, were also critical of Gualtieri's assertion. Five Democratic gubernatorial candidates disagreed with Sheriff Gualtieri's decision, as did the Republican front-runner. The Pinellas County Green Party issued a statement, telling Gualtieri to "get the hell out of Pinellas!" Within a week of the shooting, protesters created chants and T-shirts calling for Gualtieri's removal from office. McGlockton's father expressed regret voting for Gualtieri. In a statement made after Drejka was charged by the State Attorney's Office, members of Black Lives Matter pledged to "continue examining the racist policies and practices of Sheriff Gualteri and the entire structure that allows for this type of vigilantism to flourish." Al Sharpton During his speech at the Markeis McGlockton Rally for Justice, Sharpton told the crowd "It is not the sheriff's job to determine whether Stand-Your-Ground applies. That ought to be decided in a courtroom and the state attorney's office." Sharpton suggested there was racial bias in the case, saying "If you got to the scene, Mr. Sheriff, and Markeis had been standing over the white man, you would have cuffed him and taken him in jail." Sharpton then criticized Gualtieri: "(Drejka) killed an unarmed black man who was standing up for his family. Lock him up, or give up your badge." Sharpton received a standing ovation from the crowd for the comment. Lock him up, or give up your badge was the top headline on the front page of Tampa Bay Times the following day. The paper's Kirby Wilson listed Sharpton's quote at No. 17 in "18 Tampa Bay quotes that captured 2018". During an unrelated press conference the day after the rally, Sheriff Gualtieri initially said he had no comment on the event. When asked by a reporter about Sharpton's criticism of him, Gualtieri responded: "It's a bunch of rhetoric. I don't pay much attention to it to tell you the truth. I wasn't there, and I don't really care what Al Sharpton has to say. Go back to New York. Mind your own business." Sharpton responded to Gualtieri's remarks, comparing them to "those of sheriffs out of the 1960s that used to call civil rights leaders invited in by victims, “outside agitators.” I came at the invitation of the family & literally thousands of people in his county. Additionally, five candidates for governor joined me because he did not take care of his business. It would not be necessary for me to do so if he took care of his own, and until he does I will keep coming to Clearwater." In a subsequent interview, Gualtieri said about his previous remarks: "I can see where it may not have been the best thing to say, to not do what he was doing, which was to ramp it up. But also I think people like him, who are doing that, need to get called out on it, and people need to say, and not be afraid to say, we're not going to tolerate that here, either. I might say the same thing again." Politicians The shooting death of McGlockton prompted responses from politicians. Following Drejka's arrest, Tampa Bay Times reported the shooting had become highly politicized. Khary Penebaker, Democratic National Committee Representative from Wisconsin, wrote on Twitter: "Markeis McGlockton is dead & his shooter walks free, what the NRA wanted". Cynthia McKinney, former Democratic U.S. Representative from Georgia and 2008 presidential nominee of the Green Party, asked her followers on Twitter: "What does this look like to you?" Doctor Ron Daniels, the 1992 presidential nominee of the Peace and Freedom Party, urged the black community to boycott Florida. David Jolly, former Republican U.S. Representative from Florida, said "You've seen response from elected officials who maybe believe he should have handled it differently but still generally support the sheriff. He has broad support across Pinellas County and across very diverse constituencies. This will be one of the chapters, but I don't think it will be the defining moment." Florida candidates in 2018 elections The shooting occurred a month before the primary elections held in Florida on August 28. General elections were held on November 6. Candidates in statewide and local elections expressed their thoughts on the shooting, with some outlining their positions on stand-your-ground laws. Congressman Charlie Crist briefly addressed the shooting at a Clearwater town hall meeting on July 29, noting his call for a federal investigation into McGlockton's death. During the primary race for U.S. Senator of Florida, outgoing Republican Governor Rick Scott expressed sorrow for the family of McGlockton while campaigning at an event in Lakeland, Florida; he placed emphasis on Florida's crime rate, which he claimed to be at a 47-year low. During his governorship, Scott had been criticized for his inaction regarding stand-your-ground cases. Scott's opponent, incumbent Democratic Senator Bill Nelson led a call for a federal investigation into the shooting, but did not immediately comment on SYG during this election cycle. During the primary race for Governor of Florida, five major Democratic candidates — Andrew Gillum, Chris King, Gwen Graham, Jeff Greene and Philip Levine — pledged to repeal SYG if they were elected governor. King spoke about his opposition to the law on July 23. At a press conference in Clearwater on July 26, King said he believed race was a factor in the killing. King was in attendance at McGlockton's funeral. Gillum addressed the shooting at length during a town hall meeting in Clearwater on July 29. The following day, Gillum called on Governor Scott to declare a state of emergency and suspend SYG until the Florida Legislature can offer clarity on how and when the law should be applied. On the morning of August 5, Al Sharpton interviewed Greene and Gillum about the case on PoliticsNation, prior to Sharpton's arrival in Clearwater for a McGlockton rally that afternoon. The campaigns of Greene, Levine, Gillum, Graham and King announced their intentions to attend the rally led by Sharpton. The five candidates spoke at the event and pledged to repeal SYG. On August 8, Gillum participated in a protest at Governor Scott's office in Tallahassee, where he staged a sit-in and sang "We Shall Overcome", which his campaign livestreamed on Facebook. Gillum later took a meeting with Jack Heekin, Scott's deputy chief of staff, as Scott was in Colombia that day. Also on August 8, King released a campaign ad titled "Change Hearts", which features his remarks from the August 5 rally. Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Putnam defended Sheriff Gualitieri's decision to not arrest Drejka, but later supported State Attorney McCabe's decision to charge Drejka with manslaughter. Putnam continued to support SYG but was open to making technical changes to help direct law enforcement officials when deciding on a relevant case. Ron DeSantis, a supporter of SYG, initially remained silent about the case. In a statement published by Politico on August 6, DeSantis defended the law but criticized Sheriff Gualtieri, stating he believed Gualtieri did not analyze it properly. Putnam then expressed his support for Gualtieri, noting that DeSantis had no endorsements from Florida sheriffs and accused DeSantis of siding with Sharpton and liberal Democrats. In an opinion piece published the day before the primary election, Peter Schorsch of Orlando Rising listed the McGlockton shooting as one of the twenty-five defining moments of the gubernatorial primary. In a Rolling Stone profile about Andrew Gillum published six days before the general election, Jamil Smith wrote that Gillum made Markeis McGlockton "a staple of his stump speech." During the primary race for Florida Attorney General, Democrats Sean Shaw and Ryan Torrens both stated they planned to work towards their goal of repealing SYG. Shaw met with the McGlockton family and provided his thoughts and prayers to them. Republicans Ashley Moody and Frank White both said they did not want to see the law change, though Moody showed sympathy for McGlockton's family. Alleged ethical issues Allegations against Drejka According to documents from the Pinellas County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, Drejka has been named the accused aggressor in four prior road incidents ranging from 2012 to 2018. In three of these cases, prosecutors allege Drejka threatened drivers with a gun. Drejka has denied these allegations. Investigators documented the first three cases in police reports; the fourth incident, which allegedly occurred at the same location where Drejka shot McGlockton, was shared with authorities after McGlockton's death. State prosecutors sought to use Drejka's past incidents against him during his trial. Media coverage The story broke in the Tampa Bay market within hours of the shooting. When Sheriff Gualtieri declined to arrest Drejka, New York Post covered the story that day, while The New York Times covered it the following day. The story was reported on multiple television network news programs (ABC News, CBS News, and NBC News), with video of the altercation aired repeatedly. The story also received coverage on cable news networks such as CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. On the following Monday, Jacobs appeared on ABC's Good Morning America and Nightline. Jacobs and Crump appeared on Anderson Cooper Full Circle the evening after State Attorney McCabe charged Drejka. The story was also covered nationally by The Washington Post, The Hill, The Young Turks, HuffPost, and Vox. The story was featured in African-American publications such as Blavity, Ebony, The Root, The Burning Spear, and The Grio. The story was covered internationally by BBC News, The Week, The Independent, and PerthNow. The New Zealand Herald ran the Washington Post article on their website. The shooting is the subject of the first episode of the BET docu-series Finding Justice (2019). The episode, titled "Stand Your Ground", premiered on March 10, 2019. Trial, conviction and aftermath On December 14, 2018, Judge Joseph Bulone set the trial of Michael Drejka to begin on August 19, 2019. Drejka was no longer using a "Stand Your Ground" defense. On August 23, Drejka was found guilty of manslaughter with the use of a firearm. On October 10, 2019, Drejka was sentenced to 20 years in prison with credit of 92 days for time served. He is imprisoned at Lancaster Correctional Institution, near Trenton, Florida, where he was attacked and reportedly wounded by another inmate on February 11, 2020. In December 2021, a three-judge panel of the Florida Second District Court of Appeal upheld the conviction and the sentencing. References External links Case Documents for State of Florida vs. Drejka, Michael 18-09851-CF CH13 surveillance video provided by Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Finding Justice | Season 1 | Episode 1 | Stand Your Ground on BET Incident at Gun Violence Archive Interactive timeline maintained by WTSP Markeis McGlockton, age 28 maintained by National Gun Violence Memorial Markeis McGlockton Archives at Florida Politics Media Updates Regarding the Markeis McGlockton Case maintained by Benjamin Crump 2018 controversies in the United States 2018 crimes in Florida 2018 deaths 2010s trials 21st-century American trials African-American history of Florida Black Lives Matter Clearwater, Florida Controversies in Florida Deaths by firearm in Florida Deaths by person in the United States Filmed killings July 2018 crimes in the United States July 2018 events in the United States Manslaughter in the United States Manslaughter trials Men in Florida Stand-your-ground law History of racism in Florida

58077523

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Bijan%20Ghaisar

Shooting of Bijan Ghaisar

On November 17, 2017, Bijan C. Ghaisar, a 25-year-old American, was fatally shot by US Park Police officers Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya after a vehicular chase that followed a traffic collision along the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Northern Virginia. Ghaisar was unarmed and died ten days later in a hospital. A video of the shooting was released by Fairfax County Police, who had assisted with the chase. The incident was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In December 2019 Fairfax County prosecutors announced that they would seek an indictment for the killing that occurred in their jurisdiction but the assumption of a new prosecutor to that office resulted in further review. In October 2020, Vinyard and Amaya were charged with one count of manslaughter and one count of reckless discharge of a firearm. In court filings, they stated they acted in self defense. Persons involved Bijan C. Ghaisar was born at Inova Fairfax Hospital in 1992 to Iranian immigrants. After graduating from Langley High School and Virginia Commonwealth University, he worked for his father's accounting firm in Tysons Corner, Virginia. He was single with no children and had no criminal record. He had attended a Buddhist temple and made a Facebook post opposing guns. Alejandro Amaya is a US Park Police officer. Lucas Vinyard is a US Park Police officer. Shooting Ghaisar was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee southbound along the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Alexandria City to his parents' house for dinner. When he suddenly stopped in traffic he was rear-ended by an Uber driver in a Toyota Corolla with a female passenger in the back seat. The driver and the passenger both reported the incident to 911. According to a report of the accident, Ghaisar pulled away without giving his information to the Uber driver, an action that would have been a misdemeanor. A lookout for his vehicle was announced and a Park Police car followed in pursuit with Fairfax County Police assisting. The Park Police pulled Ghaisar over with Ghaisar stopping his vehicle. He was approached on foot by a Park Police officer with his gun drawn. As Ghaisar drove off the officer banged on the car with the butt of his gun, dropping his weapon. The pursuit continued at 57 miles per hour. Ghaisar was stopped a third time in the Fort Hunt area. Park Police parked a vehicle in front of Ghaisar's Jeep to prevent him from fleeing again. As his vehicle slowly rolled away a few feet, Park Police fired ten shots in three different bursts. It was initially reported that there were nine shots fired, but after almost two years the FBI clarified that there were 10 shots. All four fatal shots were fired by the officer who was driving during the pursuit. Following the shooting, Bijan Ghaisar was hospitalized for ten days in intensive care and he died ten hours after he was taken off a respirator on November 27, 2017. Aftermath In January 2018, Fairfax Police released a five-minute video of the chase filmed from one of their vehicles. Fairfax police were involved in the chase but not in the investigation. The shooting was being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has not released any information about the case. The probe was being overseen by the Department of Justice. The FBI has refused to release any information about the case. Seven months after the shooting, FBI crime scene investigators returned to the intersection with agents using metal detectors to search for additional evidence. The Ghaisar family organized protests to draw more attention to the slaying and to the fact that few details had been released. Signs erected on the spot of the shooting have been taken down multiple times. After a sign that read "One year, zero answers" was removed twice, a larger and sturdier sign was constructed near the stop-sign where Ghaisar had been shot. This sign had permission from the landowner to be erected there and was built with the help of a Virginia state delegate. It was, however, also removed by persons unknown. Park Police The Park Police have limited jurisdiction in 5 states, including the Maryland and Virginia counties that surround Washington DC plus the city of Alexandria, Virginia, but have no authority to follow a vehicle outside their jurisdiction unless a felony has been committed. According to Park Police policy, lethal force can be used only when there is "imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm" and that “Officers shall not fire at a moving vehicle nor fire from a moving vehicle except when the officer has a reasonable belief that the subject poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person.” Park Police have provided almost no information about the incident. According to a lawsuit filed by the family, it was twelve hours following the incident before the family learned that Park Police were involved. Two days after the shooting, Park Police Chief Robert MacLean met with the family. MacLean offered condolences but provided no information about what had happened. The Ghaisar family was not allowed to touch their son for three days following the incident, when he was guarded by the department’s officers. According to the family, when a doctor arrived to examine Ghaisar for organ donation, the Park Police denied access, declaring the brain-dead man "under arrest" and his body "evidence". For 16 months, Park Police refused to identify the officers involved in the shooting. In response to a wrongful death lawsuit by the family, Park Police identified the shooters as officers Alejandro Amaya and Lucas Vinyard. Both officers were placed on paid administrative duty after the fatal shooting, and after their indictment in state court in October 2020, the officers were placed on paid leave. The Park Police had not launched an internal investigation into the matter, saying that it would not do so until the conclusion of the criminal case. Recordings of the 911 calls fielded by Arlington’s public safety communications center were transferred to the Park Police, who are keeping the calls and their recordings secret. Sometime after the shooting, the Park Police changed their pursuit policies. The policies had remained largely unchanged since the late 1990s and the changes were made public in February 2020. Civil lawsuit In August 2018, Ghaisar's parents filed a civil lawsuit in federal court, naming the United States as a defendant and seeking $25 million in damages. The parents alleged that the Park Police's pursuit and killing of Ghaisar was improper, and that the Park Police treated the family insensitively in the hours and days immediately after the shooting, including by failing to promptly inform the family, barring the parents from accessing and touching their mortally wounded son, and declaring the brain-dead Ghaisar "under arrest" and his body "evidence." As part of the proceedings the two sides in the lawsuit filed a list of uncontested facts stating that Amaya and Vinyard have each been the subject of three separate complaints and investigations (dating from 2008 for Vinyard and 2013 for Amaya). The nature of the complaints or how the complaints were resolved was not disclosed. The stipulation of facts also states that on the night of the shooting marijuana and a pipe were found in Ghaisar’s vehicle. In June 2019, the officers made a court appearance in the civil lawsuit and stated they acted in self defense. The officers invoked Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. The officers sought to deny that they were federal agents operating under federal law, as police officers often have greater legal protection. In September 2020, the officers' lawyers in the Ghaisar family's civil suit released some documents from the two-year FBI investigation. These documents included Amaya and Vinyard's statements from that investigation and the information that Ghaisar's autopsy showed marijuana in his system. In 2021, the civil suit was close to trial, but the proceedings were stayed by U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton pending the resolution of a parallel case involving the Park Police officers' claims of immunity from state prosecution. Criminal investigations and prosecution The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigated the incident for two years, but decided in November 2019 that it would not bring federal charges against the two U.S. Park Police officers, Alejandro Amaya and Lucas Vinyard.Tom Jackman, Justice Dept. will not allow FBI to testify in Fairfax investigation of Bijan Ghaisar killing, ''(February 14, 2020). State prosecutors in Fairfax County, Virginia, separately investigated, and in December 2019, Fairfax county prosecutors announced that they would seek an indictment for the two officers responsible for shooting Ghaisar and had tried to empanel a grand jury. Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh obtained documents from the FBI investigation in December 2019, although the FBI withheld about 260 documents from the prosecutor's office.Tom Jackman, FBI withholds hundreds of documents from Fairfax in probe of Bijan Ghaisar killing, Washington Post (June 5, 2020). Testimony was delayed as the FBI considered whether to allow its officers to testify. In February 2020, the DOJ announced that it would block the FBI agents who investigated the Ghaisar killing from testifying before a Fairfax County grand jury. Eric Dreiband, the head of the DOJ Civil Rights Division, said in a letter to Fairfax prosecutors that allowing the FBI agents to testify would create a conflict of interest if DOJ ultimately decided to defend the officers in the civil lawsuit, and also invoked the legal precedent that "a federal officer may not be prosecuted by a State for actions undertaken in the course of performing the officer’s official duties" if the officer's actions are “objectively reasonable." Newly elected Fairfax prosecutor Steve Descano responded that his office's investigation would continue and that they "continue to request and expect the Department's future cooperation when necessary." In October 2020, the two officers were indicted in Fairfax County Circuit Court by a special grand jury conveyed by Descano. The indictment charged the officers with manslaughter and reckless use of a firearm. The officers were booked in Fairfax County jail and later released on $10,000 bond. As part of Virginia's legal proceedings, radio conversations between police dispatch and the two officers were released in August 2021 which showed that Amaya and Vinyard were told by dispatch that Ghaisar's vehicle was not at-fault in the rear-end accident. Recordings of the communications were included in the 320-page expert witness report on the incident authored by City University of New York criminal justice professor Christopher Chapman for the prosecution. The officers argued that the Supremacy Clause blocked their prosecution in state court, while Descano and Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring argued that the Supremacy Clause did not bar the indictment. Under the Supremacy Clause, federal agents are immune from prosecution in state court if their actions are "necessary and proper" and undertaken as part of official duties. In November 2020, the officers removed the case to federal court, specifically the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. Tom Jackman, Park Police officers who killed Bijan Ghaisar seek to move their cases to federal court, Washington Post (November 17, 2020). A hearing was held in August 2021 to consider whether the two officers are entitled to immunity. Vinyard and Amaya did not testify at the hearing. In October 2021, U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton dismissed all criminal criminal charges against Vinyard and Amaya, ruling that the officers were entitled to immunity because under the circumstances, "The officers' decision to discharge their firearms was necessary and proper under the circumstances and there is no evidence that the officers acted with malice, criminal intent, or any improper motivation." The Virginia Attorney General's Office and the Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney are appealing the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Legislative and public response In January 2018, the Washington, D.C. representative to the U.S. Congress, Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton, introduced a bill to require uniformed federal police officers to wear body cameras and have dashboard cameras in marked vehicles. The legislation was directly in response to Ghaisar's death. Park Police Chief Robert MacLean backed out of a scheduled meeting with Holmes Norton to discuss the matter, prompting Holmes Norton to make a statement to "express our astonishment" at his absence". Following the release of the video, U.S. Senators (both D-VA) Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, and U.S. Representative Don Beyer called on the FBI for more transparency. Beyer unsuccessfully requested a meeting with FBI Director Christopher A. Wray. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke refused requests to release the names of the Park Police involved in the shooting. In multiple letters to the FBI, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) requested information about the killing. Three months after his first letter, the FBI provided a short response that offered no new information and said the matter remained under investigation. Following the FBI's November 2019 announcement that Vinyard and Amaya would not be charged for their actions, Beyer stated that the announcement was "not justice". Grassley and Warner also issued statements expressing disapproval. Holmes Norton, Beyer, and U.S. Representative Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), called for the release of 911 tapes related to the shooting. Norton said she believes that U.S. Park Police violated their department policies during the incident. The National Iranian American Council released a statement asserting that the facts of the case "strongly suggests that the police's shooting was not justified or proportionate." See also List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, November 2017 References External links Official Fairfax County Police Department Video of the US Park Police Shooting of Bijan Ghaisar 2017 deaths 2017 in Virginia Deaths by firearm in Virginia Deaths by person in the United States November 2017 events in the United States Law enforcement in Virginia People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Crimes in Virginia History of Alexandria, Virginia Police brutality in the United States Protests in the United States Filmed killings by law enforcement Fairfax County, Virginia George Washington Memorial Parkway

59036519

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Jemel%20Roberson

Shooting of Jemel Roberson

On November 11, 2018, Jemel Roberson, a 26-year-old African American security guard for Manny's Blue Room Bar in Robbins, Illinois, was fatally shot by Ian Covey, a white Midlothian police officer responding to a call of shots fired at the bar. Roberson was working for the bar as a security guard when four people were non-fatally shot by a gunman. After Roberson subdued and pinned the shooter to the ground, he was shot by a Midlothian police officer arriving at the scene. Covey was placed on paid administrative leave while the shooting was investigated. Witnesses stated that Roberson was wearing a vest that had the word "SECURITY" printed on it, while an Illinois State Police (ISP) preliminary investigation stated he was wearing plain black clothing with no markings identifying him as security. The ISP report stated the Midlothian officer gave Roberson "multiple verbal commands" to drop his gun and get on the ground, while witnesses said the officer shot Roberson "not even five seconds" after ordering Roberson to drop the gun he had in his hand. The State's Attorney's Office decided to not file criminal charges against the police officer. Jemel Roberson Jemel Roberson was a security guard at the Manny's Blue Room bar in Robbins, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. At the time of his death, Roberson had a 9-month-old son. Roberson himself was an aspiring police officer. He was a 2010 graduate from the Lane Tech High School in the Chicago area, where he had played on the school's basketball team. Apart from working as a security guard, Roberson was also an organist for several local churches, and was supposed to play at the New Spiritual Light Baptist Church later on the day of the shooting. According to the Cook County Sheriff's Office, Roberson was licensed to carry a gun. Shooting Around 4 a.m., multiple law-enforcement agencies, including the Midlothian police, responded to 9-1-1 calls of a shooting at Manny's Blue Room Bar in Robbins, Illinois. Prior to police arrival, a security guard had requested a group of drunk men to leave the bar and an armed suspect had returned and opened fire. In response, armed security guards returned fire, and Roberson apprehended the suspect outside the bar. Eyewitnesses claimed that Roberson had the suspect pinned to the ground with his knee when police arrived and fatally shot Roberson, after multiple bystanders had shouted warnings that Roberson was a security guard. An eyewitness told reporters that after the shooting, another officer had turned to the officer involved and said, "Man you didn't have to do that, you didn't have to do that. We know these guys. We told you they're security." A statement by the Midlothian police chief said, "Upon arrival, Officers learned there were several gunshot victims inside the bar. A Midlothian Officer encountered a subject with a gun and was involved in an officer involved shooting. The subject the officer shot was later pronounced dead at an area hospital." Investigation and legal proceedings The Illinois State Police handled the investigation into the fatal shooting of Roberson. The officer was placed on a paid administrative leave in the meantime. The officer has been with the Midlothian police department for almost seven years, assigned to the patrol division, and is also a SWAT team leader. The police department initially argued that Roberson had ignored "verbal commands" before the shooting, but later released a second statement claiming that the shooting had been a case of "friendly fire," and that Roberson’s death was a tragic accident. After previously identifying Roberson as an "armed subject" in reports, Midlothian Police Chief Daniel Delaney issued a November statement calling Roberson "a brave man who was doing his best to end an active shooter situation." On November 12, 2018, an autopsy showed that Roberson had been shot multiple times, and the death was ruled a homicide. The same day, Roberson's mother filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Village of Midlothian and the officer who shot Roberson. The Cook County State's Attorney's Office announced two years after the incident that no criminal charges would be filed against him. Protests Shortly after the death of Roberson, multiple protests ensued in Midlothian, but most were centered around the Midlothian Police Department and Village Hall. In 2020, Midlothian residents again protested the shooting of Roberson in light of the wider George Floyd protests. References November 2018 events in the United States Crimes in Illinois 2018 controversies in the United States African-American-related controversies Deaths by firearm in Illinois Deaths by person in the United States Robbins, Illinois African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Law enforcement in Illinois

59174863

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Camilo%20Catrillanca

Shooting of Camilo Catrillanca

Camilo Marcelo Catrillanca Marín (13 September 1994 – 14 November 2018) was a Mapuche farmer from Temucuicui in Chile who was shot to death by the Chilean police force. The incident led to protests against police violence, and occurred in the broader context of the ongoing conflict over Mapuche civil rights. Biography Camilo Catrillanca was a grandson of the former Mapuche chief Juan Catrillanca and son of Marcelo Catrillanca, the president of the "Ignacio Queipul Millanao" Mapuche community. He was a leader of the student movement in the Liceo de Pailahueque and worked for the reclamation of Mapuche lands in Ercilla, in the Chilean region of La Araucanía. In 2011, he led a protest by a group of high school students in Ercilla, which ended 13 days later, after reaching an agreement to create an intercultural high school and to increase scholarships. At the time of his death he had a 6-year-old daughter, and his wife was pregnant. Death Catrillanca was killed by a shot he received in the head on November 14, 2018, in the Mapuche community of Temucuicui, a Mapuche community located some 600 kilometers south of Santiago, during an operation carried out by a unit of the Special Police Operations Group of Carabineros called the "Tactical Reaction Group", and known in the press as the "Jungle Commando". Catrillanca was riding with a 15-year-old teenager on a tractor when he was shot in the back of the neck by Jungle Commando squad member who suspected the two of involvement with car theft among others. The teenager who was traveling next to Catrillanca, identified by the initials MACP, who was the primary witness of his death, was arrested along with three other people by the Carabineros, but his arrest was declared to have been illegal, and he was released. MACP reported he had been severely beaten by police during the arrest. The National Institute of Human Rights announced a criminal complaint for the torture to which MACP had been subjected during his detention. Conflicting versions of events The police report stated that the shooting occurred as the carabineros were investigating the theft of three teachers' cars from the Santa Rosa School of Ancapi Ñancucheo, in Ercilla. After a chase, the carabineros managed to recover two vehicles. Both the police and the government said that Catrillanca was involved with the crime. The community of Temucuicui denied this version, stating that the "Jungle Commandos" entered the town firing bursts of bullets, without provocation, and that the Human Rights Unit of the La Araucanía Public Prosecutor's Office announced it would investigate the facts of the case. The mayor of La Araucanía, Luis Mayol, said on 14 November that Catrillanca "had a history of receiving stolen vehicles". On 16 November, Congresswoman Pamela Jiles published Catrillanca's background sheet, which indicated that he had no criminal record. Interior Minister Andrés Chadwick said that Catrillanca did have a police record, though not a criminal record, and that he had been arrested on October 22, 2018 for receiving stolen property, but that he had not been convicted. The Carabineros asserted on 17 November that the events had not been recorded by its officers, but the following day the government announced that Catrillanca's death was recorded on video, but that said recordings had been destroyed by Carabineros. It was also announced that four carabineros had been dismissed, and that two high-ranking officers had resigned; La Araucanía mayor Luis Mayol also subsequently resigned. Two police videos of Catrillanca's death were found in December 2018, and they show that Catrillanca was unarmed, conflicting with previous assertions by the officers involved. Following this revelation, Chilean president Sebastián Piñera forced the resignation of the national police chief, Hermes Soto, as well as ten other police commanders. Responses to his death Catrillanca's death led to protests and demonstrations in Santiago and other cities. Opposition leaders and rights groups called for the dismantling of the Jungle Commando units and the resignation of Interior Minister Andrés Chadwick. Amnesty International described the killing as "outrageous and alarming". Investigations Interior Minister Chadwick and his undersecretary, Rodrigo Ubilla, were summoned to testify before the congressional human rights commission and the state attorney general to answer questions both about Catrillanca's case itself and about police obstruction in the investigation. Jungle Commando leader Manuel Valdivieso resigned after he was accused of lying about the case and forcing those in his command to lie as well. Carlos Alarcon, the main suspect in Catrillanca's killing, testified that Valdivieso and a lawyer forced him and others to lie about the attack, saying that Catrillanca was attacking them with firearms and that there was no body camera footage of the events. See also Death of Francisco Martínez Eye injury in the 2019–2020 Chilean protests References External links Video of Camilo Cantrillanca's involvement with the student protests in Ercilla in 2011 Mapuche conflict 2018 in Chile 2018 deaths Deaths by firearm in Chile Police brutality in the 2010s Law enforcement controversies in Chile

59948475

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Willie%20McCoy

Shooting of Willie McCoy

Willie McCoy, also known as Willie Bo, was an African-American rapper. On February 9, 2019, McCoy was killed by six police officers in Vallejo, California. Background Early life and rapping McCoy lost both parents to cancer by the time he was 12 years old. He did well at sports in school, and earned his GED before dropping out to pursue music. Collaborators noted his work ethic and desire to succeed. Under the stage name Willie Bo, he was part of the group FBG (Forever Black Gods), performing songs about what NBC News described as "money, guns, and street violence," which a collaborator suggested was because "they needed to conform their lyrics, to look cool. I saw it more as a cool thing — kids see you on YouTube like you have all this money." Other lyrics related to overcoming challenges, such as growing up without a father. Arrest record On Wednesday, April 11, 2018, Willie McCoy was arrested for kidnapping and human trafficking by San Francisco police; Oakland police subsequently served a search warrant on Willie McCoy's residence, seizing "numerous" firearms. It is unclear what McCoy's role was in the theft of a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun he was carrying when he died. Police department Around the time of McCoy's shooting, Vallejo Police Department had about 100 officers and served approximately 122,000 people. Under its Police Chief at the time of McCoy's shooting, Andrew Bidou, it had increased officer training programs and undertaken community outreach initiatives. However, residents had expressed concerns about the department's use of force. In 2012, its officers committed fatal shootings at around 38 times the national rate, or 20 times the rate in nearby Oakland and San Francisco. A third of the city's homicides were due to police. Around that time, some Vallejo residents asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate Vallejo officers' use of force as it had done in Albuquerque, New Mexico. From 2015–2017, the department spent more per officer in fines or settlements for civil rights abuse claims than any other large police force in the Bay Area. (Settlements, which do not imply wrongdoing, can be easier and cheaper than court hearings.) From 2016–2019, five of Vallejo's police officers shot multiple people. At the time of McCoy's shooting, one of the officers who shot him was under a civil lawsuit for shooting a man dead in February 2018. Shooting Around 10:30 pm February 9, 2019, McCoy was found unconscious at the drive-thru of a Vallejo, California Taco Bell, in his car, with a .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun, while the engine was running and the car in drive. A Taco Bell employee called 911, informing the dispatcher that McCoy (who was not identified by name at this point) was unresponsive to people knocking on the car's window or honking their car horns. Six police officers arrived, and activated their bodycams. The bodycam video and audio, which the police published March 30, 2019, showed that, for several minutes, officers with guns raised conversed next to McCoy's car while he was unconscious. The footage captured an officer saying that McCoy had on his lap a gun with its magazine "half out" such that McCoy would have at most one shot available; although the gun is not visible in the footage. The footage shows that the officers then decided to open the door to retrieve the alleged gun and remove McCoy from the car, but found the door locked and so instead attempted to block McCoy's car in the drive-thru. After some minutes, McCoy scratched his shoulder, though there is no indication he was alert or aware of his surroundings at this time. McCoy then moved in a manner that was interpreted by the Vallejo Police Department as "hand reaches to gun on lap". The Guardian stated that the videos at that point are "blurry" and "show McCoy’s body moving slightly, but do not capture his hand moving to the firearm, which is not visible in the footage." NBC News said, "McCoy then jerks up and appears to reach down. His face is obscured by the officer's arm, pointing his gun." KTVU said McCoy "seems to bend from the waist and move his left arm." The New York Times said, "The footage showed that Mr. McCoy appeared to be asleep for at least several minutes, and that he was shot about 10 seconds after he began to move. It was unclear whether he was reaching for a gun." According to the bodycam footage and witness footage, officers then yelled at McCoy, through the closed car window, to put his hands up, and fired at him less than three seconds later. The six officers fired 55 rounds at McCoy over approximately four seconds, before again telling McCoy to put up his hands. McCoy was pronounced dead at the scene. Reactions Vallejo police initially said that McCoy had a gun in his lap, and that officers had opened fire when he did not respond to demands to put his hands up and instead reached downwards. Police also said that this gun had been reported stolen in Oregon. McCoy's family called the incident "execution by a firing squad", and expressed skepticism that McCoy had had a gun. According to McCoy's family and their attorney, around the time of his death McCoy was fatigued from recent touring and recording. One of the family's attorneys, who had previously worked in a coroner's office, said McCoy had received roughly 25 wounds in the shooting. The family said McCoy had been shot in the head, ear, neck, chest, arms, shoulders, hands, and back. At the end of February 2019, the family filed a wrongful death claim against the city. As of March 5, 2019, the Solano County district attorney's office had not responded to journalists' requests for information about an inquiry into the shooting. On March 13, 2019, Vallejo's police chief, Andrew Bidou, announced his retirement amid criticism of his department's conduct. (Vallejo Mayor Bob Sampayan said Bidou's retirement was long-planned, not due to recent criticism of the department. City officials echoed this, voting unanimously for Bidou to remain until succeeded.) The same day, some members of McCoy's family were permitted to see police footage of the shooting (their lawyer was allegedly refused), based upon which they said that McCoy appeared to still be asleep when the police opened fire, and did not appear to have reached for a gun. On March 30, 2019, allegedly without notifying McCoy's family, Vallejo police published officers' bodycam videos from the shooting. In an annotation on the footage, police alleged that McCoy had on his lap, prior to the shooting, a gun loaded with an extended 14-round magazine (not a gun with the magazine "half out" as mentioned by an officer in the footage). In April 2019, McCoy's family said that the handgun McCoy had was for his protection. The police said the gun was stolen. References 2019 in California 2019 controversies in the United States African-American-related controversies Black Lives Matter Deaths by firearm in California Deaths by person in the United States February 2019 events in the United States Filmed killings by law enforcement African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Vallejo, California Law enforcement in California

60108263

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Vivian%20Strong

Shooting of Vivian Strong

On June 24, 1969, Vivian Strong, a 14-year-old African American girl, was killed in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, when a white police officer shot her in the back of the head without warning. The white police officer, and his Black partner, had been dispatched to the location because there were "juveniles breaking in." When they arrived at the scene a small group of teenagers fled out of an abandoned apartment where they had been dancing. The killing sparked three days of riots in Omaha's predominantly African-American Northeast neighborhood. After being suspended and then fired, the officer was charged with and pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. After the case, in which he personally testified, he was acquitted by an all-white jury and served two more years on the Omaha police force. The shooting has since been showcased in several theatrical adaptations. Vivian Strong The daughter of James and Kasie Strong, Vivian was born on December 24, 1954 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She attended Tech Jr. High in Omaha, Nebraska and planned to become a secretary, but because of a heart condition she developed in 1964 (a leaky aortic valve), her attendance was irregular and sporadic. She routinely visited local hospitals and care facilities; for example in January of 1964 she stayed at the University of Nebraska Medical Center for over a month (January 23 - February 27), and from April to November of the same year, she was a "bed patient" at Hattie B. Munroe Home. She had one sister and six brothers. Shooting On June 24, 1969, no more than nine teenagers gathered, played music, and danced at a party hosted in a vacant apartment in the Logan Fontenelle Housing Project. Following a call to police about a suspected robbery, two officers arrived, and the teenagers fled out of the back door. James Loder—the white officer of the two—shot into the fleeing group without warning, which struck the then 14-year old Strong in the back of the head, killing her. Both James W. Smith—Loder's African American partner—and Strong's sister, Carol, asked Loder, "Why did you shoot her?", but he did not reply. In the first news article about the incident, which appeared on the cover of the Omaha World Herald on June 25, 19-year old Linda Bradley, Strong's babysitter at the time, said, "We were playing records in the alley. We do it all the time. I even went around to the neighbors to see that it would be alright." She said when the police arrived they "went to see what was going on," and she concluded by saying Loder "shot her right in the head. He didn't holler, or shoot in the air or anything. There was only one shot." Community response Unrest followed for three days in Omaha's Northeast neighborhood, resulting in 88 injuries and over one million dollars in property damage and making national headlines. In just those three days, fifty-six arrests were made, all of them being African-Americans. During the riots, the Black Panthers, armed with weapons, protected Black churches and the local Black newspaper, the Omaha Star. Within the week, on June 28th, 30 Black and white women accused police of brutality in the Near North Side of Omaha, and of having a double standard for the treatment of white and Black people. The police chief denied both charges and talked to the delegation for over an hour. One of the women argued that police should give more attention to psychiatric screening of recruits before they are sent into the field. Similarly, two days later, Omaha Mayor Eugene Leahy met with a delegation of 15 African-American women, who complained about discrimination by the police; in response, the Mayor said their grievances would "be studied and analyzed". Several days after the killing, activist Ernie Chambers called on the city to pay damages of $100,000 to the parents of Strong. Mayor Leahy responded by saying it was "ridiculous" and, "I'm not saying the $100,000 figure is ridiculous for a girl's life but it is ridiculous to demand that the city pay it," saying instead the remedy would be appropriately found in court. Members of the United Presbyterian Church contributed approximately $300 to the family of Strong, and approximately 35 Omaha policemen and firemen, most of who were African American, contributed $150. Funeral Strong was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Omaha, Nebraska. Reverend General R. Woods, president of the Coordinating Committee for the Civil Liberties in Omaha, spoke at the funeral and said the death of Strong was due to "the actions as well as the inactions of the police, the city council, members of the legislature and citizens of Nebrakska." Nebraska state senator Edward Danner said, "I feel ashamed to stand here today because I tried so hard in my legislative efforts." Senator Danner had tried to persuade the legislature to pass an amendment that would have made police more responsible for their actions. Legal proceedings Initially, Police Chief Richard R. Anderson indicated Loder would be suspended for 15 days and then fired. Loder was released from jail on a $500 bond, and Local 531 of the AFL-CIO Employees Union contributed at least $3,000 to Loder's defense. He entered a plea of "not guilty" to the charge of manslaughter. In the time period between the shooting and court case, Loder sought reinstatement by the City Personnel Board, but the board chose to withhold action pending the outcome of the criminal case. Preliminary hearing Since officials banned all statements following the shooting, it was not until the preliminary hearing that the public heard Loder's version of what happened. Loder's statement, taken three hours after the shooting, was read in court, saying, "If I had known it was a female, I wouldn't have fired the shot." Loder claimed he called out three times to the fleeing person, "Stop or I'll shoot." During his testimony, Officer Smith said, "I believe Officer Loder said something like 'halt' or 'stop'." On the second day of the preliminary hearing, the defense raised two motions to dismiss charges against Officer Loder, though these were rejected. On that same day, the judge commented from the bench to clarify that entering the vacant apartment at 1701 North 21st Avenue Plaza, a vacant apartment, was not a felony because it had not been established whether the front or back doors were locked. A total of 21 witnesses were called by the state during the preliminary hearing. Two witnesses, ages 12 and 24, were dismissed when they started "sobbing" while testifying. Judge Simon A. Simon presided over the hearing, the county attorney was Donald Knowles, and the defense attorneys were Joseph J. Vance and Paul Watts. Loder was ordered to stand trial for manslaughter in Douglas County District Court after a four-day preliminary hearing. After announcing his decision, Judge Simon said, "After we adjourn and everybody clears this courtroom, I don't want anything done or said that will offend the defendant or any police officer. I don't want any arguments or remarks made to provoke an argument in the courtroom or in the halls of the third floor of City Hall." Afterward, in an interview, Judge Simon said he relied heavily upon a 1929 Nebraska Supreme Court decision in the case of Broquet vs. The State of Nebraska. In that case, the Supreme Court asked the jury to consider, "A police officer, in arresting one who is guilty of a misdemeanor, may use such force as, to an ordinarily prudent person, appears reasonably necessary under the circumstances, even to the taking of life; but, if the officer slay the offender while effecting his arrest, the question as to whether he used more force than was, under the circumstances, reasonably necessary." Trial James Loder's trial for manslaughter began on Monday, March 9, 1970 with District Court Judge Lawrence C. Krell. The defense lawyers were Joseph J. Vance and Paul Watts. The county attorney was Donald Knowles and the deputy attorney was Lawrence Corrigan. Loder faced a possible prison sentence of one to ten years. 32-witnesses were called to testify by the state. During opening remarks, Corrigan said the original call made to police mentioned "juveniles breaking in." He said that when Loder chased Strong, there were "children all over", but that Loder had not called for the fleeing person to halt. But for the defense, Watts argued that there was no mention of juveniles in the original call to Car 206, but instead, "parties breaking in now," and that Loder had indeed called out a command to halt three times before firing. He also noted Loder's more than ten years of experience with the police and military. His partner, Smith, testified that he heard Loder shout, "'Hey halt, stop' or something like that", while all other witnesses said Loder gave no warning. One witness stated that when Loder pulled his gun, one child playing in the area shouted, "Don't shoot her mister!" Loder and his partner both testified that the call to Car 206 said, "parties are breaking in." But radio dispatchers had said—as recordings of the calls proved—"juveniles breaking in." On Thursday, March 12, Sheriff Janing of Douglas County was visited by FBI agents in his office, saying that the agents expressed concern about out-of-town Black "militants" in Omaha, possibly to "exploit the Loder case". Also on the fourth day, Lew Davis, a member of the National Committee to Combat Facism, read a statement in the courthouse lobby: "Black people have gathered here at the courthouse for the trial of James Loder to show that we are dissatisfied with the way that the Loder case is being dealt with. Namely, that the prosecution and the defense lawyers are cooperating very clearly in an attempt to get Loder acquitted." Early on the fifth day, a telephoned bomb threat shut down the courtroom, but following a search, nothing was found. Afterward, one member of the jury was dismissed and replaced, and the state rested its case. The defense attorney asked that the trial be dismissed because the "state had failed to prove its case"; Judge Krell took it under advisement. In rebuttal, county attorney Knowles argued that if Strong committed any crime prior to Loder's arrival—such as her entry in the apartment—it was a misdemeanor and did not call for the use of force. Loder testimony Loder testified on the sixth day of the trial, Monday, March 16, on the stand for approximately an hour. After receiving a dispatch to investigate a break-in, Loder said that he and his partner drove quickly without sirens or lights to the location, about ten blocks away. The area was dimly lit and his partner, Smith, was arresting one young person while Loder ran into a playground area to the south, in which he heard a thump and turned around. There, he saw someone haunched over, outside a window. He pursued the person around a corner and through a backyard area, shouting (according to Loder) three times for the fleeing person to halt, or he would shoot. "I drew my weapon, I fired one shot," he said. Apparently afraid the person was getting away, he testified that he needed to shoot. On the stand he denied testimony from other witnesses that he had kicked Strong's body to turn her over. Instead, he said he lifted her arm to turn her partway over, to look for a wound, but did not find one. Verdict On March 17, 1970, after approximately 12 hours of deliberation, an all-white jury of six men and six women acquitted James Loder of manslaughter. One juror said, "It was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make. I felt that if you don't give police the authority to act we are just not going to have any law and order at all." Of the acquittal, Strong's mother said, James Loder after the verdict Loder returned to the police force, where he served for two more years. The Omaha World Herald published an editorial on 2 April 1970, that disagreed with the decision to reinstate Loder to the police force, After serving at a desk job for many months, on February 1, 1971, Loder was assigned to a patrol cruiser from 6  to 2  in a police district that included Near North Omaha, the location of Strong's shooting. The reassignment was made public, and complaints were made to the mayor of Omaha and governor of Nebraska, and Loder was subsequently assigned to patrol the west side of Omaha. On Monday 29 November 1971, Loder was fired by police Chief Richard Andersen for a series of rule infractions, including failure to appear in court to testify as a city witness, misuse of police radio, insubordination to a sergeant, and failure to pass uniform inspection. Loder was the estranged natural son of Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr and actor John Loder, who had both claimed him as their adopted son. Lemarr had done so in 1941, long before marrying Loder, in order to conceal his illegitimacy. Aftermath Strong's parents were divorced at the time of the shooting. During the unrest, her father, James Strong, said, One of Strong's younger sisters, Carol, was with her when she was killed; Carol did not receive any counseling afterward. Her mother had a nervous breakdown, and Carol subsequently took over the care of her younger brothers and sisters. In March 1970, approximately nine months after the deadly shooting, Strong's mother, Kasie Strong, sued James Loder for $75,000 in district court for future loss of "earnings, support, and service". Strong's 17 year-old brother, Orlando, was fined $100 and sentenced to 90 days in jail after throwing a rock toward a police cruiser on April 10, 1970, less than a month after the Strong verdict. Later the same year, on 25 October 1970, Orlando published a poem about the shooting of his sister in the classified newspaper section of the Omaha World Herald. The poem ends with the four lines He could have fired a warning shot as he gunned her down in a very small lot. What a price for suspicion of burglary and Loder walked away – scott free. Legacy Vivian Strong Memorial Liberation School The summer of Strong's death, the Black Panther Party (BPP) established the Vivian Strong Memorial Liberation School. The BPP established Liberation Schools in several US cities. The school in Omaha may have operated for only a week before it closed down. Theater Sometime between 1969 and 1972, the Afro Academy of Dramatic Arts in Omaha presented a play written by Reverend Darryl Eure comparing the killing of Strong to Emmett Till. Since then, two plays have been produced about Strong. Monica Bauer's 2019 play, Vivian's Music: 1969, imagines the last days of her life; it won an award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and was produced off-off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters in New York City. Christopher Maly's 2018 play, The Blues of Knowing Why, was a "community account" of her short life based on interviews with friends, family, media, and members of resistance organizations, produced in Omaha's Union for Contemporary Arts. References External links Vivian's Music, 1969 A theatrical play by Monica Bauer The Blues of Knowing Why A theatrical play written by Christopher Maly DEAR VIVIAN: SHORT FILM based on a true story. 1969 deaths Deaths by firearm in Nebraska History of civil rights in the United States Police brutality in the United States African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States African-American history in Omaha, Nebraska Law enforcement in Nebraska History of Omaha, Nebraska Law enforcement controversies in the United States 1969 riots History of racism in Nebraska Riots and civil disorder in Nebraska History of women in Nebraska

61040385

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20David%20Ortiz

Shooting of David Ortiz

On the evening of June 9, 2019, Dominican-American retired professional baseball player David Ortiz, formerly of the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins, was shot and severely wounded while at a bar in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Ortiz survived and received emergency medical treatment, while an investigation quickly resulted in the arrest of several suspects in the attack. The suspected shooter was identified as Rolfi Ferreira Cruz. It was quickly reported that the attack was a paid hit job. On June 19, the Dominican Attorney General announced that Ortiz was shot by mistake, with another person named Sixto David Fernandez being the intended target of the shooting. Accounts of the event changed over time, leading to doubts about the truthfulness of the official account. Background Ortiz was born and raised in the Dominican Republic. Although he has lived in numerous other places during his career, and has resided in Miami with his wife Tiffany and two of their children since 2017, he has continued to maintain a home in the Dominican Republic. According to Ortiz's friends in the Dominican Republic, Ortiz often went to popular nightspots with them without any security presence, "trusting his fans to protect him." Shooting Security camera footage revealed that on June 9, 2019, at approximately 5:40 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time, one of the suspects involved in the shooting, Alberto Miguel Rodriguez Mota arrived at the Dial Bar and Lounge in East Santo Domingo. Rodriguez Mota waited for several hours for the arrival of the intended target of the attack, Sixto David Fernandez, a friend of David Ortiz. After Fernandez arrived and sat down at his usual table, Rodriguez Mota took a picture of him, but the picture was blurry and the black pants being worn by Fernandez were obscured by a white object in the bar. Rodriguez Mota texted the picture to Jose Eduardo Ciprian, an inmate at 15 de Azua prison. Ciprian then texted the picture to another suspect Gabriel Alexander Perez Vizcaíno, who showed the picture to several other suspects in a meeting at a gas station. In the interim, however, Ortiz had arrived at the bar wearing white pants, and wearing a patterned shirt similar to that being worn by Fernandez, and sat next to Fernandez at the same table. Just prior to the incident, security camera footage showed two men on a motorcycle allegedly planning the attack with a man in a car near the bar where the shooting took place. At approximately 8:50 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time, Ortiz was "ambushed by a man who got off a motorcycle", saw Ortiz wearing white pants, and shot him with a single bullet in the back. Jhoel López, a Dominican TV host who was with Ortiz, was also wounded in the leg during the shooting. Medical response According to Ortiz's spokesperson, Ortiz underwent a six-hour operation performed by three local physicians at the Abel Gonzalez Clinic. During the surgery, a portion of his intestines and colon, as well as his gallbladder, were removed; liver damage was also reported. On June 10, a medical flight sent by Ortiz's former team, the Boston Red Sox, brought Ortiz to Boston, so he could receive further treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He underwent a second surgery shortly after arriving at MGH, and was reported to be "making good progress toward recovery." A spokesman for Ortiz reported that it was considered to be a good sign that Ortiz was able to walk a few steps "just one day after surgery." Tiffany Ortiz released a statement on June 13 indicating that her husband was "in guarded condition in the surgical intensive care unit," advised that his condition was upgraded to "good" on June 18, and that he was moved out of intensive care on June 22. On July 11, the Red Sox released an update on behalf of Tiffany Ortiz, noting that her husband had undergone a third surgery, at MGH, and was "recovering well and is in good spirits." After more than six weeks at MGH, he was released from the hospital on July 26, 2019. López, struck by the same bullet that passed through Ortiz, was injured in the right thigh and did not need surgery. On July 29, in his first Instagram comments since leaving the hospital, Ortiz stated, "too bad I can't crush food yet". He made his first public appearance on September 9, throwing out a ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park. Investigation and legal response The first person to be arrested was Eddy Feliz Garcia, who reportedly fell off the motorcycle used to transport the shooter, and was beaten by patrons of the bar before being taken into custody. By June 12, six suspects had been arrested in relation to the shooting and more were being sought. Police Major General Ney Aldrin Bautista Almonte revealed that the alleged organizer of the attack was promised 400,000 Dominican pesos (approximately $7,800) to carry out the attack. By June 14, eight men and one woman had been arrested and charged in connection with the attack. Police also recovered the gun used in the attack, a Browning Hi-Power 9mm. On June 14, a 10th suspect turned himself in to police. Also on June 14, prosecutors announced that they would reveal the motive and a "full narrative of how the case happened" within the following week. On June 18, law enforcement officials identified an eleventh suspect in police custody, Franklin Junior Merán, whom they alleged to have rented one of the vehicles involved in the attack. Among the suspects arrested was 25-year-old Rolfi Ferreira Cruz (also reported as Rolfi Ferreras Cruz and Rolfy Ferreyra Cruz), who was indicated by authorities to be the suspected shooter. Cruz was noted to be wanted in connection with several robberies and firearms-related charges in New Jersey. After Cruz was arrested for the shooting, he released a statement from his confinement claiming that Ortiz was "not his intended victim," asserting that although he was hired to kill someone, the intended target was described by what they would be wearing, and that he mistakenly shot Ortiz because he "got confused by his clothing." A Dominican prosecutor initially dismissed Cruz's explanation as a ploy to avoid being assaulted in jail due to Ortiz's popularity in the Dominican Republic. However, a few days later, Dominican Attorney General Jean Alain Rodríguez announced that the shooting had indeed been a case of mistaken identity, with the intended target of the attack being Sixto David Fernandez, a friend of Ortiz who was a frequent visitor to the bar, and who usually sat in the seat occupied by Ortiz at the time of the shooting. On June 17, Dominican court documents disclosed that Alberto Miguel Rodriguez Mota had been identified as the suspected mastermind of the operation, having allegedly communicated with another suspect a week before the shooting. At the time his name was disclosed, Rodriguez Mota was still at large and being sought. Dominican officials further identified Dominican drug trafficker Víctor Hugo Gómez, a known associate of the Gulf Cartel, and a cousin of the intended victim, as having solicited the murder. According to the authorities, Gómez "suspected his relative of betraying him to Dominican drug investigators years earlier." Gómez was arrested by Dominican authorities on June 28, 2019. Following his arrest, it was reported that Gomez was now the suspected mastermind of the shooting. In a news conference on June 30, Dominican authorities said the price for the shooting was $30,000 and not $7,800 as previously claimed. On August 25, 2019, the Boston Globe reported that Ortiz had hired Ed Davis, a former commissioner of the Boston Police Department, to investigate the shooting. In June 2021, the Globe reported that Davis had left the case, saying that the official investigation in the Dominican Republic was ongoing. Named suspects Suspects identified in the investigation include: Rolfi Ferreira Cruz, the alleged shooter Alberto Miguel Rodriguez Mota, alleged to have taken a picture of the intended victim Víctor Hugo Gómez Vasquez, alleged to have solicited the attack. He has also been charged with federal drug trafficking offenses in Texas. Jose Eduardo Ciprian, prison inmate alleged to have received and conveyed a picture of the intended victim Gabriel Alexander Perez Vizcaíno, alleged to have shown the picture of the intended victim to other suspects Luis Alfredo Rivas Clase, also known as “The Surgeon," who allegedly met Vizcaíno hours before the shooting. He was killed in 2021. Rivas Clase had been wanted in connection with an attempted homicide in Pennsylvania Eddy Feliz Garcia, alleged to have been on the motorcycle used to transport the shooter Franklin Junior Merán, alleged to have rented a vehicle involved in the attack Maria Fernanda Villasmil Manzanilla, "The Venezuelan," who was allegedly in the car with Rivas Clase when he met Vizcaíno Reactions News of the shooting was met with messages of love and support for Ortiz from many notable figures, particularly those involved with baseball. Among the players sending such messages were Pedro Martínez, Mike Trout, Alex Rodriguez, David Wells, Marcus Stroman, Nelson Figueroa, and Travis Shaw. Eduardo Núñez of the Red Sox, who was born in the Dominican Republic, said it was unimaginable that Ortiz was shot there, and that it was "an international shame." Sports reporter Erin Andrews tweeted a message of support with a Sports Illustrated cover featuring Ortiz posing alongside first responders in the weeks after the Boston Marathon bombing. Former President Barack Obama also tweeted a reminiscence about Ortiz helping the city of Boston recover from the bombing, and "wishing him a speedy recovery of his own." Later, in response to the official explanation that Ortiz was shot by mistake, Sports Illustrated said it "invites skepticism," while Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe called it "simply not believable." Fernandez, identified as the target of the attack, said that he has no enemies and does not look like Ortiz. Dominicans, including Pedro Martínez, have since expressed divided views on the official account, doubting claims made by the government, but also doubting that Ortiz was the actual target of the attack. References Further reading June 2019 crimes in North America 2019 in the Dominican Republic Violence in the Dominican Republic Major League Baseball controversies 2019 crimes in the Dominican Republic Ortiz, David

63455701

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Danny%20Hansford

Shooting of Danny Hansford

Daniel Lewis Hansford (March 1, 1960 – May 2, 1981) was an American shooting victim who was killed by his employer, preservationist Jim Williams, at Williams' home in Savannah, Georgia, United States. His death was documented in John Berendt's 1994 non-fiction book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and its 1997 film adaptation. After four trials, Williams was acquitted of Hansford's murder. Early life Danny Hansford was born in Savannah, Georgia, to Emily Bannister. He was one of three sons, the others being John and William. Shooting In the early hours of May 2, 1981, Hansford and preservationist Jim Williams had an argument at Williams's residence at Mercer House, in Monterey Square, Savannah, Georgia. During the argument, Hansford, of whom Williams had been a sexual partner for about two years, pushed over an 18th-century English grandfather clock. Williams was in his study at the time, and Hansford soon entered, whereupon he drew a gun on Williams. The gun jammed upon firing, however, and Williams pulled a 9mm Luger pistol from his desk and shot Hansford in what he claims was self-defense. Prosecutors claimed Williams then proceeded to stage the crime scene to make it appear as if Hansford had actually fired at him. Williams called the police at 3:00 A.M. to report the shooting, just over half an hour after the incident occurred. He was taken into custody and charged with murder. Superior Court Judge Eugene H. Gadsden set Williams' bond at $25,000, which he soon posted. Hansford, 21, was buried in Greenwich Cemetery, which is adjacent to Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah. He is buried beside his mother, who died in 2005 at age 65. Trials Williams was tried four times, a record for the state of Georgia. Bobby Lee Cook defended Williams during the first trial in 1982, presided over by Judge George Oliver. Williams was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. He appealed, posting the $100,000 bond. Cook later anonymously received a copy of the police report showing that the arresting officer had contradicted himself about a bullet hole in a floor in Mercer House. The verdict was overturned in January 1983 by the Georgia Supreme Court and a new trial was ordered. As Berendt wrote in his book: "The ruling appeared to be little more than a temporary reprieve. The hole in the floor had been unimportant in the trial; the main points of evidence in Spencer Lawton's case against Williams still remained intact." Sonny Seiler assumed Williams' defense at the second trial beginning in September 1983 and decided to have Williams openly bring up his sexuality. Little else differed from the first trial: on October 8, Williams was again found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. In June 1985, the Georgia Supreme Court overturned the conviction again, stating that the sheriff should not have been allowed to testify as an expert, and that the prosecutor waited until his closing argument to demonstrate some evidence. The third trial, held in the spring of 1987, resulted in a mistrial. New evidence showed Hansford's hands were not bagged by the police at the crime scene, which meant that — if there was gunpowder residue present on the victim's hands — it could have been rubbed off during the subsequent movement of the body. During deliberations, a juror supposedly called a paramedic to ask some medical questions, though it could not be proven. After two deliberations, the jury still had not reached a verdict, with one woman adamantly insisting she saw reasonable doubt and would not alter her verdict. On June 9, 1987, with 11-1 jurors in favor of a "guilty" verdict, it was declared a hung jury. The fourth and final trial, which was moved to Augusta, resulted in Williams' acquittal in May 1989, eight years after his conviction, after the jury's hour-long deliberation. On January 14, 1990, after eight months of being a free man, Williams collapsed and died at home. He is believed to have died in his study, the scene of the shooting. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Hansford was renamed Billy Hanson in the 1997 Clint Eastwood-directed movie adaptation of the book, in which he was portrayed by Jude Law. The book's author, John Berendt, did not visit Savannah until the year after Hansford's death. References External links Danny Lewis Hansford at FindAGrave.com A mugshot of Hansford 1981 controversies in the United States 1981 in Georgia (U.S. state) Deaths by firearm in Georgia (U.S. state) Deaths by person in the United States Defensive gun use History of Savannah, Georgia May 1981 events in the United States

63751545

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Duncan%20Lemp

Shooting of Duncan Lemp

On March 12, 2020, Duncan Socrates Lemp was fatally shot at his home in Potomac, Maryland during a no-knock police raid by the Montgomery County Police Department's SWAT team. Police have said that Lemp was shot after "confronting" an officer during the execution of the raid. Lemp's family have said through their attorney that, based on an eyewitness, they believe Lemp was shot without warning while he was asleep. Lemp has since been described as a "martyr" for the Libertarian boogaloo movement, some adherents to which believe Lemp was murdered by police because of his involvement with the movement and his anti-government beliefs. Background Lemp was a student and a software developer. Lemp associated himself with the Three Percenters, a far-right paramilitary militia group, and had set up websites for other such organizations. He was a member of the United States Transhumanist Party, having joined on September 6, 2019. A week before the raid, Lemp posted a picture of two people armed with rifles on Instagram, with text referring to "boogaloo", a term used by the boogaloo movement as coded language for an anticipated war against the government or left-wing political opponents. Lemp had also made an Instagram post with a caption referring to the Three Percenters and a post captioned with the phrase sic semper tyrannis. The phrase, which means "thus always to tyrants", is the state motto of Virginia. The New York Times noted it had also been used both by Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, and the Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh. Warrant Montgomery County Police detectives received an anonymous tip that Lemp illegally possessed firearms. Police stated that "detectives applied for and received a no-knock search warrant for the crimes of possession of an assault weapon and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person." Police stated that Lemp had a criminal history in juvenile court that prohibited him from legally possessing firearms until the age of 30. An attorney for Lemp's family said the family had been unaware of any conviction that would have prevented Lemp from owning a gun. Raid The raid was conducted at approximately 4:30 AM by the Montgomery County Police Department's SWAT team. "The officers entering the residence announced themselves as police and that they were serving a search warrant," police said. "Officers gave commands for individuals inside the residence to show their hands and to get on the ground." The Montgomery County Police Department said that Lemp "confronted" police and was shot by one of their officers. "Upon making contact with Lemp, officers identified themselves as the police and gave him multiple orders to show his hands and comply with the officer's commands to get on the ground," police said. "Lemp refused to comply with the officer's commands and proceeded towards the interior bedroom door where other officers were located." Police also stated that "Lemp was found to be in possession of a rifle and was located directly in front of the interior bedroom entrance door." Lemp's family maintains that according to an eyewitness, the officers initiated gunfire and flash bangs from outside the house through Duncan's window without warning and while Lemp was sleeping. , neither body camera footage nor the arrest warrant had been released, despite public record requests by Reason magazine and MuckRock. Police stated that Lemp had rigged a booby-trap device that was designed to "detonate a shotgun shell at the direction of anyone entering" the bedroom. "After officers entered the bedroom, the other occupant of the room warned the officers to be careful of the device rigged to the exterior door," and Montgomery County bomb-squad technicians were brought in to "render the device safe," police said. Three rifles and two handguns were recovered during the raid. Aftermath The Lemp family said that Lemp was asleep next to his girlfriend when a police officer shot him. His girlfriend, who was pregnant, was forced to remain in the room for over an hour with Lemp after he was killed. "The Lemp family requests that the Montgomery County Police immediately release all body camera footage and audio from this horrific event," Lemp family attorneys said. The attorney stated that nobody in the house the morning of the shooting had a criminal record, but juvenile records would be sealed and therefore unavailable. The Lemp family released a statement that said, "The police had obtained a search warrant for the home, however the search warrant makes no mention of any imminent threat to law enforcement or the community. No resident of the home had any criminal record." As of May 11, 2020, the warrant application had not been made available to Lemp's family. After his death, Lemp became a "martyr" among some in the boogaloo movement who have speculated he was murdered for his participation with the movement, his anti-government beliefs, and involvement with other right-wing militias. Adherents of the boogaloo movement have adopted the phrases "we are Duncan Lemp" and "his name was Duncan Lemp", which The New York Times says they "repeat... like mantras". Boogaloo adherents have also posted to Lemp's girlfriend's Instagram account promising to someday avenge his death. On March 15, 2020 the United States Transhumanist Party announced an "official week of mourning" in his honor. A GoFundMe campaign to pay for Lemp's funeral and his family's legal fees raised over $17,000. In July 2020, Lemp's killing was being investigated by the State's Attorney's Office of Howard County, under a mutual agreement with Montgomery County where prosecutors from each of the two adjacent counties investigate fatal police shootings in the other. In December 2020, this investigation was concluded with prosecutors stating they would not be charging any officers with any wrongdoing. References 2020 deaths 2020 in Maryland March 2020 events in the United States People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Deaths by firearm in Maryland Potomac, Maryland Boogaloo movement

64100356

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Tony%20McDade

Shooting of Tony McDade

On May 27, 2020, after 11 a.m., a 38-year-old African-American transgender man, Tony McDade, was fatally shot in the Leon Arms apartment complex by an officer of the Tallahassee Police Department, following the fatal stabbing of Malik Jackson on nearby Saxon Street. Early reports of the incident misgendered McDade as a "woman", and on May 28, the police department described McDade as a woman who "identified as a man". McDade is a suspect in the fatal stabbing and police stated that McDade pointed a gun at police and that a bloody knife was found at the scene. Some witnesses have contradicted statements by the Police Department that McDade was armed with a gun. People involved Malik Jackson, a 21-year-old African-American man, who was fatally stabbed. Tony McDade, a 38-year-old African-American trans man. On the morning of the incidents, McDade stated on a Facebook Live video that he would get revenge on some men who had attacked him the day before. His funeral took place on June 6. An officer of TPD, whose identity was withheld under a controversial application of Florida law, who was placed on administrative leave following the incident, which is common practice with officer involved shootings in the United States. Background In 2020, McDade entered into a relationship with Jennifer Jackson, a neighbor of his who was the mother of Malik Jackson. According to her family members, McDade entered Jackson's home on May 25 and pistol-whipped her. On May 26, McDade returned to Jackson's home and allegedly became verbally abusive. This led to a physical altercation with Malik Jackson and other members of Jackson's family. Early on May 27, McDade went live on Facebook to recount being jumped by a group of men, which had been a one-on-one fight before an insult caused four others to join, and vowed revenge. McDade stated he had weapons and planned to fight one of the men; He detailed his wounds from the altercation which included a bloody elbow and two lumps on his head. He potentially alludes to an attempted suicide by cop or gun fight with the man; Incident According to the Tallahassee Police Department they approached McDade on May 27, as a suspect in the fatal stabbing of Malik Jackson earlier in the day. The Department Police Chief Lawrence Revelle told reporters that; "the suspect was in possession of a handgun, and a bloody knife was found at the scene" and that McDade had pointed a gun at the responding officer. The officer reported this information over the department's radio frequency. Witnesses have disputed this, claiming that officers said "Stop moving, n--r" and then shot McDade after he stopped moving. The witnesses also claim that officers never identified themselves or told McDade initially to stop his actions. Investigations On May 27, investigations were launched into the stabbing incident, and the officer involved in the subsequent shooting. The officer has been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation. On September 3, a Leon County grand jury found that the police use of force against McDade was justified. Shortly afterward, the City of Tallahassee released video from a police body camera showing McDade pointing a firearm at one of the police officers before being shot. Reactions Separate vigils took place for both victims on May 28. McDade's was organized by the Tallahassee Community Action Committee, to draw attention to the three police-related deaths (McDade, Wilbon Cleveland Woodard, and Mychael Johnson), since Lawrence Revell assumed the office of Chief of Police in December 2019. On May 27, a petition was created to publicize the case, and for McDade to be recognised as a transgender man in reports and official statements. On May 29, Tori Cooper of the LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, said "LGBTQ people of color are at greater risk for violence every day in this country. This must end. Our hearts are heavy as we mourn with Tony's family and friends." Over 100 LGBTQ Organizations included McDade in a list of recent transgender killings. A GoFundMe.com campaign raised over $190,000 for McDade's family in its first week. Activist Nicole Cardoza expressed concern that McDade's shooting had received insufficient attention from the Black Lives Matter movement writing, "Throughout the protests, the stories, Black trans people who were victims of police violence, like Tony McDade, got lost in the larger conversation around Black Lives Matter." References 2020 controversies in the United States 2020 in Florida 2020s in Florida African-American history of Florida African-American-related controversies Tallahassee, Florida Black Lives Matter Violence against trans men Law enforcement controversies in the United States Deaths by firearm in Florida Deaths by person in the United States May 2020 events in the United States 2020 deaths African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States History of racism in Florida Law enforcement in Florida LGBT African Americans Transgender and transsexual men

64121871

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Jamarion%20Robinson

Shooting of Jamarion Robinson

On August 5, 2016, Jamarion Rashad Robinson, a 26-year-old African American man who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was shot 59 times and killed in a police raid in East Point, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. The shooting occurred when at least 14 officers of a Southeast Regional Fugitive Taskforce from at least seven different agencies, led by U.S. Marshals, forcibly entered the apartment of Robinson's girlfriend to serve a warrant for his arrest. The warrant was being served on behalf of the Gwinnett County police and the Atlanta Police Department, and authorities said they had sought his arrest after he fired a gun at police or pointed a gun at police during a previous encounter. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) stated that Robinson had been repeatedly ordered to put down a weapon and that officers who had been involved in the shooting reported Robinson fired at them three times. The case was highlighted as an example of use of force by law enforcement officers after they were shot at, a lack of knowledge in police who interact with people who have a mental illness, a lack of transparency and accountability surrounding the actions of police officers, and a lack of use of body cameras by police and U.S. Marshals when serving arrest warrants. On October 27, 2021, police officers Eric Heinze and Kristopher Hutchens were charged with felony murder, burglary, aggravated assault and making false statements in connection with the shooting. Background Jamarion Robinson had been a biology student at Clark Atlanta University (CAU), and had been a running back on the football teams of CAU and Tuskegee University, but he had paused his education several years prior to the incident. According to his mother, he was in the process of transferring to Tuskegee University and had texted her two days before the shooting to tell her he had just enrolled there for what would be his final semester. He had no criminal record other than a series of misdemeanor traffic violations in the previous two years. His family said they believe the police were seeking him due to mistaking him for someone else. Police showed a photo of the man they were seeking to his grandmother, and she said "That's not my grandson." Incident U.S. Marshals traveled to the apartment in order to arrest Robinson. His mother had called the police to try to get them to help him get mental health assistance, as a few weeks prior he had poured gasoline on the floor beneath his bed and in front of his mother's bedroom. When she called, they also had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. He had allegedly pointed a gun at officers before fleeing when he was confronted at the apartment complex of a friend. His mother had told police about his recent diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, but they did not bring any mental health practitioners with them for the raid. Robinson was staying with his girlfriend at the time of the incident, and lived with his mother in Lawrenceville. Officers claimed they had opened fire after Robinson refused to exit his girlfriend's apartment and was seen with a gun in his hand. Warning shots and the continued gunfire was filmed by a resident standing near the apartment on their cellphone. According to the video recording, the shooting continued for nearly three minutes. According to an investigator hired by the family, the evidence showed that after killing Robinson, police handcuffed his hands behind his back, dragged his body down the stairs from the second floor to the living room on the lower level, and threw a flash-bang grenade into the area after the shooting in an apparent attempt to confuse the investigation of the scene. The body was also found to be wearing an oxygen rebreathing mask when recovered by the medical examiner. The family said that a pathologist found that Robinson had been shot several times through the palms of both hands. The medical report on Robinson's body listed 76 bullet wounds, 59 of which were identified as entry wounds and the other 17 as exit wounds. None of the officers were injured in the incident. None of the police officers involved in the shooting wore body cameras. Investigation Projectiles recovered at the scene included 9mm and .40 ammunition. Two of the 9mm projectiles were later recovered at the scene by the family's investigator, who found them embedded deep into the floor at the top of the stairwell and said they appeared to have been fired directly downwards into Robinson or the floor (although this was on the second floor, above where the police were standing when the shooting began). On the day after the shooting, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) released a statement saying Robinson had been repeatedly ordered to put down a weapon before the shooting began. A handgun was later recovered at the scene that the GBI said was "believed to be associated with Robinson", and it was reported that officers who had been involved in the shooting said Robinson fired at them three times, but a lawsuit filed by the family said the handgun was actually damaged and was not operable. Lack of body camera use The ACLU highlighted the case as an illustration of how police officers, and particularly U.S. Marshals, were often not wearing body cameras, and strongly advocated that they start using them under more circumstances. District Attorney Paul Howard agreed, saying "If we had body cams, a lot of the issues that have been raised about that case would go away." It was reported that U.S. Marshals were never wearing body cameras, even when serving arrest warrants. Some of the officers involved in the raid were from the East Point Police, who ordinarily had vehicles outfitted with dash cameras, but in this instance new vehicles were used that did not have cameras installed. Legal action In January 2018, Robinson's family filed a lawsuit against the officers involved in the shooting, alleging that Robinson had not posed any immediate threat to the officers or others at the time of the shooting and that the officers violated Robinson's civil rights. The suit claimed the officers had "conspired among and between themselves to unreasonably stop, seize, shoot and injure Jamarion Robinson in violation of his Constitutional rights, to destroy and fabricate evidence, to complete false, inaccurate and misleading reports, and to make false statements to superior officers in order to conceal their wrongdoing." In addition to officers of the U.S. Marshals Service, those named in the suit were officers from the police or fire departments of Atlanta, Clayton County, East Point, Fayette County and Fulton County. Paul Howard, the District Attorney of Fulton County, tried to investigate the shooting, but the U.S. Marshals Service did not cooperate with his investigation. On December 28, 2018, he filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for failing to provide information about the case in response to Freedom of Information Act requests. He said that federal authorities had prevented his prosecutors from interviewing the officers who were involved in the shooting and had refused to turn over any documents relating to the case. According to his lawsuit filing, more than 90 rounds of ammunition had been fired into or within the apartment. In January 2019, after the Department of Justice raised procedural objections, Howard withdrew subpoenas to interview some of the officers involved in the shooting, which he said was in a "spirit of cooperation" with the agency. In June 2020, Robinson's family said they had lost confidence in Howard's investigation. Robinson's mother said "Paul Howard has failed my family and has not tried to indict the officers who murdered my son even though he's been promising me he's going to take action for nearly four years. ... I do not believe him at all!" Criminal proceedings On October 27, 2021, a grand jury indicted law enforcement officers Eric Heinze and Kristopher Hutchens on charges of felony murder, burglary, aggravated assault and making false statements in connection with the shooting. Heinze was a U.S. deputy marshal at the time of the shooting; Hutchens was a police officer. The two defendants were members of a fugitive taskforce executing an arrest warrant for Robinson when he was shot. The case marks the first time that a member of the U.S. Marshals Service (Heinze) has faced charges for a fatal shooting while on duty. Shortly after the indictment was filed, lawyers for Heinze and Hutchens requested that the trial be moved to a federal court due to the two defendants being federal agents. The Fulton County District Attorney's office subsequently filed a motion that the trial remain in a state court, citing the fact that they were indicted on state murder charges for killing a Georgia citizen while executing a state warrant. A decision has not yet been reached; the officers appeared in state court on March 1, 2022. They pleaded not guilty to all charges. Protest action Robinson's death was highlighted by activists during the "National Day of Outrage" on October 28, 2019, along with the deaths of Atatiana Jefferson, Kendrick Johnson, Nicholas Thomas, and Jimmy Atchison. Members of the New Black Panther Party organized and marched in honor of African-American individuals shot and killed by police in recent years. Students at the Atlanta University Center used the hashtag #AUCShutItDown to voice support of Robinson's family and draw attention to his death. The case was also highlighted during nationwide protests in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020. One of the officers involved in the shooting was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and property damage in June 2020 in an incident involving the tasing of two students as they sat in their car during a protest held around Atlanta University Center during the George Floyd–related protests. This officer had also been involved in other previous cases of alleged excessive force, including the shooting death of an unarmed shop customer in the mid-1990s that resulted in a settlement of $1.4 million paid by the city and the shooting of another unarmed man in 2012. References 2016 deaths Deaths by firearm in Georgia (U.S. state) African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States 2016 controversies in the United States 2016 in Georgia (U.S. state) Law enforcement controversies in the United States Law enforcement in Georgia (U.S. state) August 2016 events in the United States East Point, Georgia