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Old 03-28-2018, 06:25 PM   #441
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Default Copy of lawsuit can be found on link

SAPD officer pulled out woman's tampon, did vaginal search on side of road, lawsuit claims

https://www.ksat.com/news/sapd-officer-pulled-out-womans-tampon-did-vaginal-search-on-side-of-road-lawsuit-claims

A lawsuit filed in federal court Friday claims a San Antonio Police officer pulled a woman's tampon out and searched her vaginal cavity along the shoulder of a public street in 2016.

Natalie D. Simms' attorney filed the lawsuit against the City of San Antonio and a female officer, identified as Mara Wilson, stating that the search violated Simms' constitutional rights.

According to the filing, Simms was approached by officers while sitting on a curb, talking on the phone and waiting for her boyfriend. The lawsuit claims Simms consented to a search of her car, which was parked across the street from where she was sitting, and that authorities found no illegal items.

Then, the lawsuit alleges, authorities called a female officer, Wilson, to the scene to search Simms.

The lawsuit details parts of the conversations between Simms and Wilson, recorded from Wilson's body camera. According to the court documents, Simms and Wilson went back and forth about the kind of clothes she was wearing before Wilson began searching her vaginal cavity.
The following is a quotation of a conversation between Simms and Wilson, included in the lawsuit, leading up to the search:

Wilson: Stand up straight. Kind of lean back a little bit. (Inaudible) This
is -- these are shorts? Oh, it's a skirt-short?
Simms: Yes.
Wilson: Oh, hell. Okay. Look straight ahead, okay. Spread your legs. I'm
gonna ask you, do you have anything down here before I reach down here?
Simms: No. I don't have nothing in my --.
Wilson: Okay.

The lawsuit alleges Wilson assured she would not "reach," rather "just look," but that Simms kept flinching.
The following is a quotation of a conversation between Simms and Wilson, included in the lawsuit, during the search:

Wilson: Uh-huh. Are you wearing a tampon, too?
Simms: Yes.
Wilson: Okay. I just want to make sure that's what it is. Is that a tampon?
Simms: Come on. Yes.
Wilson: Huh? Is that a tampon?
Simms: It's full of blood, right? Why would you do that?

The lawsuit alleges Simms asked why she had to be searched on the side of a road and not at "the station," to which Wilson said "Which (police station)? We got a whole bunch of them."

Court documents report that Wilson told a detective she was "searching everything," and had removed Simms' tampon because she "just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything in there."

The document states Simms never consented to the vaginal cavity search and that authorities never found anything illegal during their search. She was allowed to leave.

An internal investigation, the lawsuit states, revealed the officer that called Wilson to the scene "never indicated to do a cavity search." Court documents state Wilson retired on May 1.

Simms' attorney is asking for a jury trial.

The city's attorney said his office is still reviewing the lawsuit and had no comment Sunday.
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Old 04-01-2018, 09:56 AM   #442
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Stephon Clark protester hit by Sacramento County sheriff's vehicle during march

http://www.sacbee.com/news/article207598209.html

A protester at a vigil Saturday night for Stephon Clark was hit by a Sacramento County Sheriff's Department vehicle on Florin Road, the latest tense moment between law enforcement and activists following the March 18 police shooting death of the unarmed black man.

Witnesses and the struck protester said the sheriff's vehicle left the scene.

The collision, captured on video by Guy Danilowitz of the National Lawyers Guild, occurred as protesters marched down Florin Road in south Sacramento.

The activist struck was Wanda Cleveland, a regular at Sacramento City Council meetings. She lay immobile on her side in the street until a fire department crew arrived to pick her up.

Cleveland was released from Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center after midnight, with bruises on her arm and the back of her head.

"He never even stopped. It was a hit and run. If I did that I’d be charged," Cleveland said at the hospital. "It's disregard for human life."

In a press release early Sunday morning, sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Shaun Hampton confirmed the accident had occurred. The release said two sheriff's department vehicles were surrounded at about 8:40 p.m. by protesters who were yelling and kicking the vehicles.

"Vandals in the crowd" caused "scratches, dents, and a shattered rear window" to a sheriff's vehicle, the release said. The release did not address why the vehicle that struck Cleveland did not stop, and Hampton did not immediately respond to a request for further details.

Dominique Poydras, who was attending the vigil, said a group of protesters had surrounded a Sheriff's Department vehicle and a few were throwing eggs at it.

Based on footage captured by Channel 10, a sheriff's vehicle pulled up, lights flashing, as protesters marched in the street. About three dozen people then surrounded the vehicle and kept chanting.

The sheriff's deputy four times sounded his siren and said, "Back away from my vehicle." He slowly pulled forward and left the scene. A second sheriff's vehicle followed and struck Cleveland, sending her to the curb, the Channel 10 video shows.

Cleveland said that when the first vehicle said to clear out, she started to walk toward the curb because her arthritis was making her knees weak. The second vehicle driver made no request, she said, and abruptly accelerated and hit her in the knee, sending her into the air.

"I heard wheels spin. And then I saw her body flung to the curb," Tifanei Ressl-Moyer, another legal observer who witnessed the incident, said. "The vehicle sped off and some protesters went after them."

The sheriff's department release said the patrol vehicle was traveling at "slow speeds" when the collision occurred.
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Old 04-03-2018, 11:15 AM   #443
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Video shows police repeatedly punching man pinned to street as he cries, 'Why?'

http://www.kcra.com/article/video-shows-police-repeatedly-punching-man-pinned-to-street-as-he-cries-why/19667978

Police in Texas are investigating a weekend arrest in which an officer was caught on video kneeling on a black man’s back and punching him while another officer kneed him.

In the 50-second video of Saturday’s arrest posted on Facebook by the Next Generation Action Network, which organizes demonstrations against police abuse, two Fort Worth police officers can be seen restraining Forrest Curry, 35, as he lies face-down in the street. A white officer kneels on Curry’s back and repeatedly punches him as he cries, “Why the f--- are you punching me? Why?” A black officer next to Curry knees him repeatedly in his side.

Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald said in a statement Sunday that the officers were responding to a call for backup from fire department personnel, who told the officers that Curry “appeared to be intoxicated and had attempted to assault them.”

It took three officers and one supervisor about five minutes to subdue Curry, Fitzgerald said.

Curry, 35, was booked into Tarrant County Corrections Center on charges of resisting officers and evading arrest. He was released on bond Monday afternoon.

One of his attorneys, L. Chris Stewart of Atlanta, said Curry has a history of seizures and had one Saturday while walking that caused him to collapse in the street.

When Fort Worth emergency medical staff arrived in response to a call for help, Curry came to and, disoriented, took off running.

“It’s just sad that in a medical emergency, (police) couldn’t have been more patient or understanding,” Stewart said.

It is the latest in a string of confrontations that have raised questions about the Fort Worth Police Department’s use of force policies.

Two lawsuits related to the use of force by city police officers were filed in December.

In one of them, Jeremi Rainwater, who is white, contends that an officer shot him in the back without cause and several other officers colluded to cover up the flawed police response.

A grand jury that reviewed the officers’ behavior in the 2015 shooting did not file any charges against them.

In the other, Jacqueline Craig, who is black, is suing over a December 2016 arrest in which a Fort Worth officer wrestled her and her teenage daughter to the ground. Those arrests were captured on cellphone video.

Charges against Craig and her daughter were dropped, and the officer served a 10-day suspension for violating departmental policies.

In addition, last December, a Fort Worth police sergeant was fired for ordering a rookie officer to use a stun gun on a woman who had called for help during a domestic dispute. Fitzgerald released a 12-minute video from the body camera of the rookie officer that he said showed the sergeant’s behavior was “absolutely unacceptable.”
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Old 04-04-2018, 06:43 AM   #444
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Texas Officer Indicted In Brutal Beating of Black Man Who Was Just Waiting for His Ride at Hospital

http://atlantablackstar.com/2018/04/03/texas-officer-indicted-brutal-beating-black-man-just-waiting-ride-outside-hospital/

A Dallas-Fort Wort officer has been indicted on charges stemming from the brutal beating of a Black man at a local hospital in November 2016.

Officer John Preston Romer Jr., 38, was indicted earlier this month on charges of official oppression, making a false report to a peace officer, and aggravated perjury, The Dallas Morning News reported. He was released from the Tarrant County Jail on March 15 after posting bail.

The Nov. 5 incident unfolded at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital, where Romer, who was working private security at the time, encountered 21-year-old Henry Newson. According to NBC Dallas-Fortworth, Newson had just spent two days in the hospital for a stomach ailment and was waiting for his mom to pick him up.

Surveillance footage of the shocking incident shows Romer approach the Black man and immediately begin questioning him.

“I’m just trying to figure out what you’re doing,” the security officer asks, to which Newson replies he’s waiting for a ride.

The incident quickly escalates from there as Romer continues pressing the young man about being at the hospital.

“Hey get off the phone. Shut up. Get off the phone. Let’s go,” Romer is heard saying in the footage before placing his hand on Newson’s chest and shoving him backward, seeming to take offense to the man calling him “bro.”

“Bro?” Romer repeats before punching Newson in the head, placing him in a chokehold and wrestling him to the ground. Other security officers are seen rushing to help Romer.

Newson was arrested and charged with trespassing and resisting arrest, both of which were later dropped, according to The Dallas Morning News. He spent two days behind bars.

As for Romer, the-then officer tried to escape his wrongdoings by telling investigators in 2017 that his use of force was approved. He later lied to a grand jury when he said he’d informed Newson he was under arrest before punching him and forcing him to the ground. Surveillance footage of the incident contradicted his story, however. Romer was subsequently suspended from the force.

Newson is now suing the city and the hospital for the “racially motivated attack.”

“He doesn’t resist, he doesn’t fight back,” Newson’s attorney, Matthew Bobo, said. “It was fast. It was violent and there was nothing that would have indicated that that should have happened or was going to happen. But it happened immediately. There was no provocation by Mr. Newson.”

Bobo also questioned why the Fort Worth police department took no action against the officer following the incident. NBC Dalls-Fort Worth reported that Romer remained on the street until December and the department didn’t strip him of his gun and badge until two weeks ago when he was indicted.

“The first time somebody ever saw that video, they should have put him on a desk, taken him off,” Bobo argued. “They should have terminated him, quite frankly. I mean, period.”
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Old 04-05-2018, 02:54 PM   #445
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Man Arrested After Refusing to Leave Hospital Dies Hours Later in Jail

https://themighty.com/2018/01/marconia-kessee-dies-police-custody-discharged-norman-regional-hospital-oklahoma/

An Oklahoma man’s death has been called into question following the release of police bodycam footage last Tuesday. Marconia Kessee died in police custody after being discharged from Norman Regional Hospital on Jan. 16 in Norman, Oklahoma. He was arrested for trespassing after he was discharged from the hospital and refused to leave.

Kessee went to the emergency room for a headache, his uncle, Michael Washington, told Oklahoma’s News 4. “I wasn’t there, but I believe it in my heart that he refused to leave because he wasn’t treated and he felt that he needed more medication because his headache was still hurting him,” Washington said.

According to police body camera footage, the responding officers told Kessee he could seek shelter at the local Salvation Army. Kessee laid on the ground near the hospital entrance and was arrested.

“Here in about 15 seconds, I’m going to drag your [expletive] to the curb to get you off this property and then you can find your own way to the Salvation army. OK? Put your shoe on. I’m losing patience,” an officer says in the video. The footage later shows the officers dragging Kessee over to a police car.

While at Cleveland County Jail, police said Kessee tried to hurt himself, and was moved to a padded cell where he was checked on routinely. During one of these checks, Kessee was unresponsive and brought back to the same hospital, several hours after he was previously discharged.

Kessee’s cause of death has not been released. Both the hospital and police department are launching their own investigations into his death.

“Norman Regional Health System is saddened by this loss of life. We are internally reviewing this case,” a representative for the hospital told The Mighty.

An administrative review of the officers’ actions is also underway. Both officers have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

Washington told News 4 his nephew was diagnosed with ADHD and bipolar disorder as a child, and that his nephew should have been taken to a crisis center if he was “wigged out,” which is what the hospital security officer requested when calling 911 to have Kessee removed from the hospital.

“We believe that there was no actual mental evaluation, we believe that the doctors, hospitals, did not review or take the physical assessment of my nephew and that they are partly responsible, and they will be held accountable,” Washington told News 4.
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Old 04-07-2018, 08:11 AM   #446
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Family Calls on Police to Release Video in Fatal Shooting of Savannah Prom King

https://www.thedailybeast.com/family-calls-on-police-to-release-video-in-fatal-shooting-of-savannah-prom-king?via=twitter_page

Georgia police say Ricky Boyd was wielding a BB gun when officers shot and killed him at his grandmother’s house one January morning.

But Boyd’s family claims he was unarmed—and that authorities showed them body-camera footage that proves Boyd’s hands were raised. Video of the fatal encounter, which involved a group of Savannah officers, has not been released.

The 20-year-old restaurant worker died Jan. 23, not long after he was gunned down on the concrete porch of his home in front of his grandmother and four siblings. Police say Boyd was a suspect in a local murder that occurred two days before.

Jameillah Smiley, Boyd’s mother, says her son was innocent and is demanding authorities release the body-cam footage and clear his name.

“I haven’t been out here marching, protesting. I’m not for all of that right now. I just want answers to what happened to Ricky Boyd III,” Smiley told The Daily Beast.

“That’s my son. He was my everything,” she said through tears.

Will Claiborne, an attorney for Smiley, said Savannah police have refused to release video or copies of the incident report.

So Claiborne and Smiley have published a YouTube video of their own demanding Savannah’s police chief Mark Revenew release the body-camera footage and identify the other officers involved in Boyd’s death.

Smiley’s fight for justice comes days after White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called police-involved shootings of African-American citizens “a local matter” that “should be left up to the local authorities,” not the feds.

And after Louisiana’s attorney general declined to charge officers for shooting Alton Sterling—a 37-year-old father of five—six times at point-blank range in July 2016. The officer who killed Sterling called him a “stupid motherfucker” after spraying him with bullets, according to video released last week.

“What are we supposed to do when local officials lie?” Claiborne asked of the White House’s apparent position on police-involved shootings of minority suspects. “Explain to me how that is supposed to work.”

Claiborne said Boyd was “wrongfully implicated” in the murder of 24-year-old Balil Whitfield, who was found shot to death in his vehicle. (A spokeswoman for the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department said the Whitfield investigation remains open—a fact which Claiborne claims shows cops had the wrong guy.)

“He has no prior criminal record. He was a good kid. We want his name cleared. He did not commit that homicide. He did not shoot a police officer. He did not come out the door with the gun,” Claiborne told The Daily Beast.

“If the suspect is dead, why in the world is this still an open investigation?” the attorney said, adding that Whitfield’s killer “is still walking free.”

Savannah police and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) declined to comment for this story. Bill Bodrey, a special agent with GBI, said the probe into Boyd’s death was referred to the district attorney’s office.

A spokeswoman for Chatham County DA Meg Heap said their office received the case file this week and it’s under review.

According to a GBI press release, a group of officers belonging to Savannah PD and the U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, arrived at the Marian Circle home around 6:15 a.m. to arrest Boyd for Whitfield’s slaying.

Several of Boyd’s relatives exited the front door. When Boyd came out, he confronted cops “with what appeared to be a firearm,” GBI stated. “However, it was later determined to be a CO2 powered BB air gun.”

Officers fired at Boyd after he raised the BB gun in their direction, GBI claims. Boyd died soon after he was transported to the hospital.

Sgt. Sean Wilson of the Savannah-Chatham police department was shot during the incident and released. (Claiborne says this was friendly fire, not from Boyd. In January, Bodrey told the Associated Press that Wilson “did suffer gunshot wounds as well as other possible injuries.” But when asked if Wilson was shot by fellow officers, Bodrey said, “It’s still being investigated.”)

Authorities haven’t released an autopsy report, nor a cause of death or information on where and how many times Boyd was shot. Still, no one disputes Boyd was killed by law enforcement, Claiborne said.

Boyd had multiple gunshot wounds to his body, including one to his left hand, Smiley told The Daily Beast.

Meanwhile, Claiborne says cops are trying to pin a BB gun on Boyd, who didn’t own one. Authorities haven’t disclosed where the BB gun was found, he said.

The attorney’s YouTube video shows a photo taken by a neighbor, who spotted the BB gun underneath a pine tree near his house. This photo suggests the BB gun was 43 feet away from Boyd’s body, Claiborne said.

“If law enforcement’s version of this story is to be believed, he committed the [Whitfield] homicide with an actual gun, not a BB gun. Then less than two days later, they go to arrest him and he’s in the house. He does not have a firearm, but instead decides to calmly walk out the door holding a BB gun … it just doesn’t make any sense,” Claiborne said.

“And then after they shoot him, he throws the gun 43 feet. If he’s trying to commit suicide by cop, why would he throw the gun 43 feet away from himself?”

Police claim there’s only one body-cam video, despite at least 10 officers participating in the deadly arrest, Claiborne said.

Smiley met with a GBI agent, who showed her a copy of the body camera video, at the courthouse on March 31.

One detective allegedly told Smiley, “Ma’am, your son wanted to die,” and that Boyd emerged from the house hoisting a gun.

Smiley then told the officer, “Okay, I want to see this tape.”

She watched the footage on a laptop and was told to pay close attention, because the encounter escalated pretty quickly.

“I see Ricky appear,” Smiley recalls of the video. “He was wiping his eye and walked out the door.” Boyd was facing the officers and had his arms outstretched, she said. His palms were up and at waist level.

Someone said something to Boyd that made him turn toward a neighbor’s house, Smiley says. “Before you notice anything, you see my son’s hands coming together and then he falls down. Immediately. It wasn’t a second before he made that turn and they was shooting my child,” Smiley said.

Smiley said she saw no firearm or BB gun in the video clip.

“They were trying to tell me my son wanted to die,” Smiley said of one detective, who allegedly brought a BB gun to prove the shooting was justified.

“They didn’t have to kill my son. They did not even give him a chance at all,” Smiley said.

Smiley said Boyd was her first child, whom she had when she was 15 years old. “I worked ever since I was 16. Fifteen going on 16,” Smiley said, choking up. “I made sure Ricky had everything he needed. Anything he needed.”

She described Boyd as an old soul and hard worker, who loved basketball and cowboy movies. He worked at the Crab Shack, a restaurant on Tybee Island.

Before he graduated from Savannah High School in May 2016, Boyd was voted Prom King, as well as “best dressed.”

The mother said she recently received certification from a local college to become an office specialist. But she doesn’t know if she’ll attend graduation next month, now that her oldest son won’t be there to see her.

“I gotta push myself, because I wanted my son to be there, to let him know he could do it, too,” Smiley said.
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Old 04-15-2018, 11:00 AM   #447
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Trooper tases teen on ATV. Police video reveals what happens next.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2018/04/13/police-video-michigan-state-police-taser/499525002/

As 15-year-old Damon Grimes lay dying in the middle of Rossini Drive last August, Michigan State Police Trooper Mark Bessner crouched over his body.

“He’s got a pulse, and he’s breathing. He’s unconscious,” Bessner said into his police radio, adding later, “He slowed down. We tased him, and he crashed out.”

Grimes had been driving about 35 mph on an ATV when Bessner — a passenger in a moving patrol car — fired his stun gun at the teen during a chase on Detroit’s east side.

Over 25 hours of video and audio detail an ATV crash in Detroit involving 15-year-old Damon Grimes, who was allegedly tased by Michigan State Police trooper Mark Bessner during a chase in August of 2017.

Grimes slammed into the back of a parked truck and flew off his ATV. The impact of the crash ripped gashes into his forehead, both cheeks and upper lip and dislocated his skull. Doctors pronounced him dead on arrival at St. John Hospital.

Bessner, who resigned from his job amid a criminal investigation, has been charged with murder.

To better understand what happened the evening of Aug. 26, the Free Press used the Michigan Freedom of Information Act to request extensive records related to the crash. It received almost 11 hours of footage captured by cameras mounted in patrol cars, on nearby businesses and worn by Detroit Police officers, who also responded to the incident.

The Free Press also obtained almost 16 hours of audio recordings from police radios and phones as well as more than 600 pages of documents and more than 500 photos. Michigan State Police took six months to provide those records, which were heavily redacted. For example, State Police withheld all footage captured from the camera in Bessner's squad car, and also blurred the video of Grimes.

Still, the video and audio files that were turned over by MSP show elements of the chase and its aftermath from dozens of angles and perspectives with candid, real-time comments provided by police officers seeing the events unfold in front of them.

Communities across the nation are equipping officers with body cameras to document police contacts with the public. Detroit Police began wearing them in 2016 but little footage from their cameras has become public — until now.

The chase is on

"Give us priority," Bessner is heard saying into a police radio. "Chasing an ATV east on Rossini from Reno. It's a red quad. Black male, black shirt."

A security camera mounted on the Embassy Coney Island restaurant at the corner of Gratiot and Rossini was pointed at the parking lot, but in the background, it showed a view of Rossini where Grimes' ATV appears followed closely by a State Police patrol car. Just as the ATV exits the camera frame, it bounces back into the frame after striking a parked Ford F-150 pickup. The security camera footage didn't include sound, but police cameras did.

“He flipped,” Detroit Police Officer J. Williams said before quickly reporting the accident over his radio.

Williams and his partner, Officer Cameron Boersma, pulled up about 20 seconds after the crash. As they stepped out of their police cruiser, Bessner was bent over Grimes, who lay in the middle of the street beside the pickup, his overturned ATV nearby.

Michigan State Police were patrolling in area that day as part of the Secure Cities Partnership, an initiative launched in 2012 to bring additional police resources to high-crime areas of Detroit, Flint, Saginaw and Pontiac.

The videos the Free Press obtained show a view from another security camera, and appear to depict the overhead emergency lights on Bessner’s squad car activating 24 seconds after the crash. State Police policy requires troopers to turn on their emergency lights, sirens and in-car video recording systems during a pursuit.

Asked this week, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office wouldn't comment on whether the lights were on during the chase, saying she couldn't discuss evidence before trial.

Around the time of the crash, State Police issued two news releases saying the lights had been on during the chase. Asked again this week, First Lt. Mike Shaw, a department spokesman, declined to comment because the criminal case is pending.

He said the cameras typically are activated in one of several ways. They begin recording automatically when a trooper turns on the emergency lights. Troopers also can activate them by pushing a button on the dash or by turning on a microphone worn on the trooper's belt.

“Have EMS step it up,” a person at the scene urged soon after the first two Detroit police officers arrived. As police waited for the ambulance, Grimes’ condition quickly worsened.

“I don’t know if he’s got a pulse anymore,” a voice is heard over the radio.

As another Detroit patrol car arrived, officers radioed for another update on the ambulance, noting Grimes' pulse was weakening.

Officers disgusted

“His pulse is weakening because he was on that fuckin' thing, and you chased his ass,” Detroit Police officer Kimberly Buckner muttered to herself as she stepped out of her vehicle, her body camera recording every step and word.

As she walked toward Grimes, an unidentified Detroit police officer reached out his hand to cover the lens of Buckner's body camera quietly saying: "They fuckin' tased his ass while he was cruisin'."

The body camera views come only from Detroit Police. State Police don't have them.

State Police reported over the radio that “he’s fading fast.” The ambulance arrived about seven minutes after the crash — about a minute faster than the city’s average response time for life-threatening calls.

By then, a crowd had gathered in the neighborhood watching as ambulance crews loaded Grimes onto a stretcher. Witnesses recorded the scene on cell phones, some questioning the pace at which first responders were moving.

“He is dead because if he wasn’t they’d be rushing,” a woman said on a witness recording obtained by the Free Press.

'A bad-ass 15'

Officer Emily Stephenson's body cam shows her approaching a fellow Detroit Police officer, whose name is not clear from the video. She asks whether police should escort the ambulance to the hospital.

“Hell no,” he responded, noting the ambulance has lights and sirens, and escorts are reserved for police. “If an officer was shot, we’ll do that.”

Shortly after the ambulance pulled away, Buckner approached that same officer and said Grimes' mother needed to be at the hospital.

“That’s a grown-ass man,” he said of Grimes, a 6-foot-1, 234-pound teenager.

“No, he’s 15,” she replied. “He’s 15 years old.”

“He’s a bad-ass 15,” the male officer said, later adding: "No sympathy at all for bullshit. Motherfucker wanna be grown, ya act grown, you gotta fuckin' deal with it.”

Detroit Police Chief James Craig said Wednesday that supervisors weren't aware of the officer's comments until the Free Press asked about them.

After reviewing the body camera video himself, Craig ordered an internal investigation and pulled the 22-year veteran from his position of neighborhood resource officer. He has been reassigned to a non-patrol duty.

Craig called the remarks insensitive and said he expects better of officers at a critical scene.

"It's troubling, especially when you talk about a young man who lost his life," Craig said.

Without defending the comments, Craig said the officer who made them may mistakenly have thought Grimes' injuries were not life-threatening.

Craig declined to name the officer, citing the investigation. The Free Press identified him from a photograph as Neighborhood Police Officer Aubrey Wade. When reached by telephone Wednesday, the officer declined comment, saying he was speaking to his lawyer at the time.

Other Detroit Police officers at the scene appeared more sensitive, trying to get Grimes' mother to the hospital to see her son. One appeared to express disgust with the use of a stun gun in that situation.

“They tased his ass while he was driving,” Buckner whispered to Stephenson, “causing him to flip and crash.”

Unanswered questions

Many details surrounding the chase remain unclear because Michigan State Police heavily redacted the written reports in addition to the videos and audios.

In a typed report Berger filed after the incident, he said that he and Bessner were on Reno near Fairmount when they observed Grimes popping a "wheelie" on his ATV.

“The 4-wheeler ATV continued to approach our fully marked MSP patrol vehicle at a high rate of speed southbound Reno St. as I was driving northbound Reno St.,” Berger wrote.

State Police redacted what Berger said happened after that. Later, Berger's report said EMS loaded Grimes onto a backboard then a cot. An autopsy concluded Grimes died of blunt force head trauma.

“After EMS arrived on scene and transported the ATV driver, Tpr. Bessner and I followed critical incident protocol and separated ourselves from other troopers and sergeants,” wrote Berger, who was later suspended.

Witness reports

Residents in the neighborhood recorded the aftermath on cell phone video, voicing their emotions.

“They don’t give a damn,” a man said while police investigated after sundown. “They’re gonna still go home to their wife and kids and still get paid.”

People in the area said police can't be trusted.

“They’re supposed to protect and serve,” a man’s voice is recorded saying.

One witness also reporting seeing a piece of a police Taser, and quickly concluded that it was used on Grimes. Witnesses spotted a pair of earbuds, which a police photo shows lying in a pool of blood.

Police and prosecutors would not say whether Grimes was wearing the earbuds when he crashed.

That evening, as a Detroit firefighter hosed blood from the street, a woman, who identified herself as Grimes' cousin, said they are cleaning up the blood.

“Unbelievable,” she said in the video. “Fifteen years old — killed by the State Police. Unbelievable.

Murder charge, lawsuit

Within hours of the crash, Detroit Police brass and Grimes' family demanded answers about the teen's death.

“You guys had a pursuit today ... and now our bosses want some information,” a Detroit police sergeant said to a State Police dispatcher in a recorded conversation.

Detroit Police policy prohibits high-speed chases for traffic offenses and misdemeanors but State Police allowed them at the time. After the crash, State Police announced a policy review and suspended chases in Detroit involving traffic or misdemeanor violations. That policy was later adopted statewide.

State Police halted their Detroit patrols in September after Grimes’ death and they have not resumed.

Craig told the Free Press that he and State Police Col. Kriste Etue decided together that, “given the seriousness of this offense, that the Secure Cities aspect, meaning troopers being deployed in the 9th Precinct, would be terminated for now."

When Grimes' family sought answers about his death, State Police told them the case was still being investigated, and that reports are available under the Freedom of Information Act, according to documents obtained by the Free Press.

State Police took six months to provide the records the Free Press requested under FOIA.

By then, Southfield attorney Geoffrey Fieger had filed an excessive force lawsuit on behalf of Grimes' family. Fieger told the Free Press on Wednesday that he has seen unredacted video that shows the Taser incident.

"It's horrible," Fieger said. "It shows him shooting ... using him for target practice."

Fieger declined to show the unredacted video to the Free Press. Last month, a judge issued an order that prohibits the parties from sharing material from MSP with anyone other than those involved in the lawsuit.

"There is no defense to this case," Fieger said. "The defense is 'How much do we have to pay?' ”

Fieger also criticized Detroit Police for not doing more to try to stop the chase that ended Grimes' life.

"I think they were watching it," Fieger said, adding that the disparaging comments from the Detroit police officer were insensitive and uncaring.

A federal lawsuit filed by Grimes' family is proceeding with a trial expected to begin in summer 2019.

In December, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges against Bessner.

“Trooper Bessner unnecessarily deployed his Taser at Mr. Grimes without legal justification or excuse as Mr. Grimes was traveling at least 35 to 40 miles per hour,” Worthy said when she announced the charges Dec. 20.

Worthy declined to charge Berger and Sgt. Jacob Liss, a supervisor. Both those men remain suspended amid an internal investigation, Shaw said.

Bessner, a 44-year-old husband, father and lawyer, is free on bond and wearing a tether to track his movements. His criminal trial is scheduled to start July 9 in Wayne County Circuit Court.

Bessner's attorney, Richard Convertino, agreed to an interview, but then didn't respond to requests to schedule it.

Convertino previously called Grimes' death tragic, noting the teen drove the ATV “recklessly and dangerously” and “actively resisted and evaded arrest.”

“During the pursuit, Trooper Bessner was forced to make a split-second decision under circumstances on the scene and at the moment which was tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving,” Convertino told the Free Press in the e-mail, shortly after the crash.

Bessner has a history of using excessive force and has been reprimanded before for using his Taser inappropriately, including using the device on handcuffed suspects. The investigation into Bessner’s conduct shows that over a four-year span ending in 2017, he had 40 use of force incidents, 17 pursuits and five car accidents.

Shaw said use of force reports cover a broad range of contact between troopers and suspects, including things like wrestling someone to the ground, using pepper spray or a Taser, all the way up to using deadly force. The number of such contacts may vary based on a trooper's assignment, Shaw said.

"There's no way to look at that and say this is high, this is low," he said.
Neighbors outraged

Neighbors were outraged at the death of Grimes, who was about to begin ninth grade at Michigan Collegiate in Warren. School officials described him as a considerate student who excelled in science and math.

Four days after the crash, Berger said he returned to the area looking for the black Ford F-150 Grimes' barreled into and saw more than 100 people at the corner of Gratiot and Rossini — some on ATVs, golf carts and dirt bikes. News crews also were present.

Berger never got out of his patrol car.

“The large crowd of people were not pleased with our presence and began to taunt us by yelling and screaming at us,” his report said. “The large crowd displayed multiple hand gestures (middle fingers) with explicit language.”

MSP detectives interviewed residents as part of their investigation and can be heard on one audio recording, discussing what a local woman said about the crash.

“She’s like, 'All these people in here are wanting to talk about protesting the police. He drives this neighborhood recklessly all the time. Why didn’t he just stop?’ ” an investigator recalled her saying.

The woman's voice was redacted from the audio recording provided to the Free Press.

The detectives go on to say two people made bad decisions.

“It could have been handled differently on both sides as far as I’m concerned,” one of the men said. “Had I been out here chasing him … I guarantee I would have done it differently. Guaranteed, I would have done it differently.”
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Old 04-15-2018, 11:28 AM   #448
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Trooper tases teen on ATV. Police video reveals what happens next.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2018/04/13/police-video-michigan-state-police-taser/499525002/

As 15-year-old Damon Grimes lay dying in the middle of Rossini Drive last August, Michigan State Police Trooper Mark Bessner crouched over his body.

“He’s got a pulse, and he’s breathing. He’s unconscious,” Bessner said into his police radio, adding later, “He slowed down. We tased him, and he crashed out.”

Grimes had been driving about 35 mph on an ATV when Bessner — a passenger in a moving patrol car — fired his stun gun at the teen during a chase on Detroit’s east side.

Over 25 hours of video and audio detail an ATV crash in Detroit involving 15-year-old Damon Grimes, who was allegedly tased by Michigan State Police trooper Mark Bessner during a chase in August of 2017.

Grimes slammed into the back of a parked truck and flew off his ATV. The impact of the crash ripped gashes into his forehead, both cheeks and upper lip and dislocated his skull. Doctors pronounced him dead on arrival at St. John Hospital.

Bessner, who resigned from his job amid a criminal investigation, has been charged with murder.

To better understand what happened the evening of Aug. 26, the Free Press used the Michigan Freedom of Information Act to request extensive records related to the crash. It received almost 11 hours of footage captured by cameras mounted in patrol cars, on nearby businesses and worn by Detroit Police officers, who also responded to the incident.

The Free Press also obtained almost 16 hours of audio recordings from police radios and phones as well as more than 600 pages of documents and more than 500 photos. Michigan State Police took six months to provide those records, which were heavily redacted. For example, State Police withheld all footage captured from the camera in Bessner's squad car, and also blurred the video of Grimes.

Still, the video and audio files that were turned over by MSP show elements of the chase and its aftermath from dozens of angles and perspectives with candid, real-time comments provided by police officers seeing the events unfold in front of them.

Communities across the nation are equipping officers with body cameras to document police contacts with the public. Detroit Police began wearing them in 2016 but little footage from their cameras has become public — until now.

The chase is on

"Give us priority," Bessner is heard saying into a police radio. "Chasing an ATV east on Rossini from Reno. It's a red quad. Black male, black shirt."

A security camera mounted on the Embassy Coney Island restaurant at the corner of Gratiot and Rossini was pointed at the parking lot, but in the background, it showed a view of Rossini where Grimes' ATV appears followed closely by a State Police patrol car. Just as the ATV exits the camera frame, it bounces back into the frame after striking a parked Ford F-150 pickup. The security camera footage didn't include sound, but police cameras did.

“He flipped,” Detroit Police Officer J. Williams said before quickly reporting the accident over his radio.

Williams and his partner, Officer Cameron Boersma, pulled up about 20 seconds after the crash. As they stepped out of their police cruiser, Bessner was bent over Grimes, who lay in the middle of the street beside the pickup, his overturned ATV nearby.

Michigan State Police were patrolling in area that day as part of the Secure Cities Partnership, an initiative launched in 2012 to bring additional police resources to high-crime areas of Detroit, Flint, Saginaw and Pontiac.

The videos the Free Press obtained show a view from another security camera, and appear to depict the overhead emergency lights on Bessner’s squad car activating 24 seconds after the crash. State Police policy requires troopers to turn on their emergency lights, sirens and in-car video recording systems during a pursuit.

Asked this week, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office wouldn't comment on whether the lights were on during the chase, saying she couldn't discuss evidence before trial.

Around the time of the crash, State Police issued two news releases saying the lights had been on during the chase. Asked again this week, First Lt. Mike Shaw, a department spokesman, declined to comment because the criminal case is pending.

He said the cameras typically are activated in one of several ways. They begin recording automatically when a trooper turns on the emergency lights. Troopers also can activate them by pushing a button on the dash or by turning on a microphone worn on the trooper's belt.

“Have EMS step it up,” a person at the scene urged soon after the first two Detroit police officers arrived. As police waited for the ambulance, Grimes’ condition quickly worsened.

“I don’t know if he’s got a pulse anymore,” a voice is heard over the radio.

As another Detroit patrol car arrived, officers radioed for another update on the ambulance, noting Grimes' pulse was weakening.

Officers disgusted

“His pulse is weakening because he was on that fuckin' thing, and you chased his ass,” Detroit Police officer Kimberly Buckner muttered to herself as she stepped out of her vehicle, her body camera recording every step and word.

As she walked toward Grimes, an unidentified Detroit police officer reached out his hand to cover the lens of Buckner's body camera quietly saying: "They fuckin' tased his ass while he was cruisin'."

The body camera views come only from Detroit Police. State Police don't have them.

State Police reported over the radio that “he’s fading fast.” The ambulance arrived about seven minutes after the crash — about a minute faster than the city’s average response time for life-threatening calls.

By then, a crowd had gathered in the neighborhood watching as ambulance crews loaded Grimes onto a stretcher. Witnesses recorded the scene on cell phones, some questioning the pace at which first responders were moving.

“He is dead because if he wasn’t they’d be rushing,” a woman said on a witness recording obtained by the Free Press.

'A bad-ass 15'

Officer Emily Stephenson's body cam shows her approaching a fellow Detroit Police officer, whose name is not clear from the video. She asks whether police should escort the ambulance to the hospital.

“Hell no,” he responded, noting the ambulance has lights and sirens, and escorts are reserved for police. “If an officer was shot, we’ll do that.”

Shortly after the ambulance pulled away, Buckner approached that same officer and said Grimes' mother needed to be at the hospital.

“That’s a grown-ass man,” he said of Grimes, a 6-foot-1, 234-pound teenager.

“No, he’s 15,” she replied. “He’s 15 years old.”

“He’s a bad-ass 15,” the male officer said, later adding: "No sympathy at all for bullshit. Motherfucker wanna be grown, ya act grown, you gotta fuckin' deal with it.”

Detroit Police Chief James Craig said Wednesday that supervisors weren't aware of the officer's comments until the Free Press asked about them.

After reviewing the body camera video himself, Craig ordered an internal investigation and pulled the 22-year veteran from his position of neighborhood resource officer. He has been reassigned to a non-patrol duty.

Craig called the remarks insensitive and said he expects better of officers at a critical scene.

"It's troubling, especially when you talk about a young man who lost his life," Craig said.

Without defending the comments, Craig said the officer who made them may mistakenly have thought Grimes' injuries were not life-threatening.

Craig declined to name the officer, citing the investigation. The Free Press identified him from a photograph as Neighborhood Police Officer Aubrey Wade. When reached by telephone Wednesday, the officer declined comment, saying he was speaking to his lawyer at the time.

Other Detroit Police officers at the scene appeared more sensitive, trying to get Grimes' mother to the hospital to see her son. One appeared to express disgust with the use of a stun gun in that situation.

“They tased his ass while he was driving,” Buckner whispered to Stephenson, “causing him to flip and crash.”

Unanswered questions

Many details surrounding the chase remain unclear because Michigan State Police heavily redacted the written reports in addition to the videos and audios.

In a typed report Berger filed after the incident, he said that he and Bessner were on Reno near Fairmount when they observed Grimes popping a "wheelie" on his ATV.

“The 4-wheeler ATV continued to approach our fully marked MSP patrol vehicle at a high rate of speed southbound Reno St. as I was driving northbound Reno St.,” Berger wrote.

State Police redacted what Berger said happened after that. Later, Berger's report said EMS loaded Grimes onto a backboard then a cot. An autopsy concluded Grimes died of blunt force head trauma.

“After EMS arrived on scene and transported the ATV driver, Tpr. Bessner and I followed critical incident protocol and separated ourselves from other troopers and sergeants,” wrote Berger, who was later suspended.

Witness reports

Residents in the neighborhood recorded the aftermath on cell phone video, voicing their emotions.

“They don’t give a damn,” a man said while police investigated after sundown. “They’re gonna still go home to their wife and kids and still get paid.”

People in the area said police can't be trusted.

“They’re supposed to protect and serve,” a man’s voice is recorded saying.

One witness also reporting seeing a piece of a police Taser, and quickly concluded that it was used on Grimes. Witnesses spotted a pair of earbuds, which a police photo shows lying in a pool of blood.

Police and prosecutors would not say whether Grimes was wearing the earbuds when he crashed.

That evening, as a Detroit firefighter hosed blood from the street, a woman, who identified herself as Grimes' cousin, said they are cleaning up the blood.

“Unbelievable,” she said in the video. “Fifteen years old — killed by the State Police. Unbelievable.

Murder charge, lawsuit

Within hours of the crash, Detroit Police brass and Grimes' family demanded answers about the teen's death.

“You guys had a pursuit today ... and now our bosses want some information,” a Detroit police sergeant said to a State Police dispatcher in a recorded conversation.

Detroit Police policy prohibits high-speed chases for traffic offenses and misdemeanors but State Police allowed them at the time. After the crash, State Police announced a policy review and suspended chases in Detroit involving traffic or misdemeanor violations. That policy was later adopted statewide.

State Police halted their Detroit patrols in September after Grimes’ death and they have not resumed.

Craig told the Free Press that he and State Police Col. Kriste Etue decided together that, “given the seriousness of this offense, that the Secure Cities aspect, meaning troopers being deployed in the 9th Precinct, would be terminated for now."

When Grimes' family sought answers about his death, State Police told them the case was still being investigated, and that reports are available under the Freedom of Information Act, according to documents obtained by the Free Press.

State Police took six months to provide the records the Free Press requested under FOIA.

By then, Southfield attorney Geoffrey Fieger had filed *snipped*
This is so horrible, so heartbreaking.

I can hardly talk about it, but both my son's are biracial African-American. The last time I saw my youngest son was when he came home for his birthday, over a year ago last February. I haven't seen him since he left to go find work. I've gotten a trail of medical emergency response bills from all over the US. The scariest notices came from Michigan, Maryland, Rhode Island, NYC (where he was falsely arrested), and the last notice I got came from Florida. I've been worried sick over my youngest sons safety. He's not well. And because by law he's considered an adult, no law enforcement agency will intervene.

That's all can reveal publicly in our community, but I'm brokenhearted over how both my son's have been treated and I know a lot of my youngest son issues center upon racial inequality, prejudicial treatment and no social supportive network to intervene on behalf of either of my boys.

JUST the other day, I was visiting with another rider on public transit, probably as old as my youngest son. He said was from Detroit looking for work. I showed him a picture of my youngest son and asked if by chance he'd seen him. He hadn't. I gave him some money to buy food, and gave him an litany of resources here to find work.

Thanks always,

Kätzchen
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Old 04-19-2018, 06:07 PM   #449
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Utah Man Shot and Killed While Complying with Police Commands to Show His Hands

http://atlantablackstar.com/2018/04/18/utah-cops-order-black-man-remove-hands-pocket-fatally-shoot/

Newly released body camera footage shows the moment Utah officers opened fire on an unarmed Black man as he removed his right hand from his pocket — which the officers instructed him to do.

West Valley City police officers pursued 20-year-old Elijah James Smith on April 8, as he matched the description of a suspect accused of stealing from a nearby cell phone store, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Police said Smith hopped the fence to the backyard of a home in an effort to flee, but the homeowner asked him to leave. That’s when he barged into another neighborhood home and hid in its garage.

When officers arrived at the second home, a 13-year-old boy answered the door and told them a man had enterered into his house. Two other children, aged 9 and 10, were also inside the home at the time of the incident.

Police soon went down to the garage where they found Smith standing next to the car.

“Put your hands up now. Let me see your hands,” officers shout repeatedly from the stairs that led to the garage. Smith initially only raised his left hand but left his right hand tucked in his pocket, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. Another officer is heard ordering the man to take out his other hand, after which Smith raised his right elbow as he removed his right hand.

Three shots are fired, one of them striking Smith. At the same time one officer fired their weapon, another officer discharged their stun gun, which didn’t reach the suspect. Smith would later die from his injuries.

After the shooting, authorities said they found a “modified” screwdriver on the floor next to the Smith. Investigators think it was the object tucked in his right-side pocket when he was reluctant to remove his hand.

In a news conference, West Valley City Police Chief Colleen Jacobs said officers perceived Smith as a threat because he “rapidly” removed his hand from his pocket, despite the fact that they instructed him to do so. The officer who fired the shots has since been placed on administrative leave, according to the newspaper.

News of Smith’s killing sparked protests across the community.

” …Once again, it’s clear that police will see whatever they want to see in order to justify violence against people of color,” Dave Newlin, a local activist with Utahns Against Police Brutality, told The Salt Lake Tribune via email.

“I see a terrified young man with his hand in the air, desperately and clearly trying to put up his other hand exactly as police have demanded,” Newlin added. “I see someone who’s trapped after running for his life, who knows that at any moment, the violent racism of Utah’s police could take his life, as indeed it does.”
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Old 04-27-2018, 06:49 AM   #450
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‘I can’t breathe’: Former NFL player completely unconscious after being slammed to the ground by police

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/04/cant-breathe-former-nfl-player-completely-unconscious-slammed-ground-police/

While shouting “I’m not even doing nothing! I’m not even fighting back!” former NFL defensive back Desmond Marrow was grabbed by police and slammed to the ground.

According to 11Alive news, however, Marrow appeared to go limp after being pinned to the ground by three white Henry County Police officers.

Marrow was warned he was going to get tased, handcuffed first then pressed against a white truck. One officer lifted his right leg and Marrow was then thrown to the ground.

Off camera, a person can be heard saying that the incident is “unbelievable.”

An officer was seen leaning near Marrow’s head with his hands around the handcuffed man’s throat.

“I can’t breathe,” Marrow can be heard saying. The plea for help a haunting reminder of the chokehold from New York Police that killed Eric Garner.

Marrow then went completely limp.

In a Facebook post, Marrow explained that officers tried to say that he had a gun in his pocket, however, it was only a cell phone. He said that the police “knocked my teeth out, slammed me on my head and choked me out until I was unconscious. In addition I suffered a shoulder strain and a concussion.”

In a separate interview, Marrow revealed how terrifying the incident was.

“I was fully cooperating with the officers with ZERO resistance. I thought I was going to die. I was sure I was passing out or dying.”

No videos show what occurred that led to the incident. It is unclear if there is any body cam video.
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Old 05-14-2018, 08:39 PM   #451
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Death of black man during arrest in Louisiana ruled homicide

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/14/us/jefferson-parish-sheriffs-office-suspect-death-homicide/index.html

The death of a 22-year-old African-American man shortly after a struggle with police last week has been ruled a homicide, authorities in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana said Monday.

Keeven Robinson, of Metairie, died last Thursday, following a police chase and an altercation with narcotics detectives from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, located outside of New Orleans, according to authorities.

An initial autopsy found significant traumatic injuries to the soft tissue of Robinson's neck, said Jefferson Parish Coroner Dr. Gerry Cvitanovich, who cautioned that the results from the autopsy, which was conducted Saturday, are preliminary and more tests need to be conducted.

Cvitanovich said the findings are consistent with compressional asphyxia, which will likely be cause of death at the end of the process.

The four detectives involved in the incident are white, said Sheriff Joseph P. Lopinto, who declined to release their names at this point.

"I understand ... this investigation will be under a microscope, understand it fully," Lopinto told reporters.

Gaylor Spiller, president of the West Jefferson Parish NAACP branch, said Robinson's family is also seeking a second independent autopsy.

"I like the fact that Sheriff Lopinto stepped up to plate, and he's doing his part," Spiller said, according CNN affiliate WDSU. "He knows that the NAACP will be on his trail."

Robinson was being investigated by narcotics detectives early Thursday, Lt. Jason Rivarde, spokesman for Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, told CNN.

Undercover detectives assigned to the case tracked Robinson down at a local gas station and tried to arrest him, according to Rivarde. But Robinson jumped back in his vehicle and led police on a chase after spotting them, Rivarde said.

The suspect rammed several police cars before crashing his vehicle, according to Rivarde.

Robinson took off on foot, jumping several fences before deputies caught him in a backyard of a nearby residential neighborhood, Rivarde said.

Rivarde says a struggle ensued with deputies who eventually handcuffed Robinson. Once handcuffed, detectives noticed Robinson was not breathing, Rivarde said. Detectives administered life saving techniques before Robinson was taken to a local hospital where he died, Rivarde said.

The agency is not equipped with body cameras or dash cameras, according to Rivarde.

"They were in a struggle," Lopinto said. "They used force." He added that the officers admitted to using force during the arrest.
But the sheriff said he's "not coming to the conclusion that this was a chokehold."

Lopinto said he contacted the Louisiana State Police on Saturday after he was told of the initial findings, and asked them to assist in the investigation.

The sheriff said he has "every faith" in his officers to do their job well.

"I know they have the expertise because this is what they do every day, but I also understand that an independent set of eyes is something that's appropriate in a case like this," he said.

The four detectives involved in the arrest were read their rights and have given statements, Lopinto said.

They are being reassigned to administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation, the sheriff's said.

The FBI's Civil Rights Task force is also looking into the matter after he contacted them Saturday, the sheriff said.

The actions of the coroner's office were largely praised Monday by Robinson's family.

Hester Hilliard, an attorney for Robinson's family, thanked the coroner's office "for their professionalism and their transparency."

"Today is just as hard as Thursday for this family. They're grieving, and today they had to find out that Keeven lost his life at the hands of another," she said, according DSU. "And that's very, very hard for them."

"Now, it's time for us to move on to making funeral arrangements for a 22-year-old that should not have died," she said.

In an interview with CNN, Hilliard said she is hoping "to see the same justice for Keeven as with any other individual who has died at the hands of someone other than the police."

"We are hoping for a thorough investigation, an arrest and prosecution of those that caused his death unjustifiably," she said.
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Old 05-20-2018, 02:39 PM   #452
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https://www.facebook.com/shaunking/photos/pcb.1814863611885882/1814863501885893/?type=3&theater

This woman was kidnapped and raped by a Texas State Trooper— OFFICER HUBBARD, she is now being held hostage in Ellis County Jail!

Sherita Dixon Cole just happens to be a close personal friend of Civil Rights Attorney and my close friend Lee Merritt. These are the facts he was able to get together after speaking with Sherita’s family:

On May 20th, 2018 at approximately 1:30AM Sherita Dixon Cole was pulled over in Waxahachie, TX by a Texas State Trooper— Officer Hubbard, near a abandoned car dealership (I287 South & I35 South). She was told she was being stopped because Hubbard expected she was driving while intoxicated. Cole voluntarily performed and passed all dui/dwi protocol including a breathalyzer. However, Hubbard decided he “didn’t like [her] attitude” and that he was going to take her to jail anyway. He handcuffed her hands behind her back and placed Cole in the front passenger seat of his patrol vehicle. Hubbard then took a seat beside Cole and placed his hand on her thigh. He asked her if she wanted to go home as he hiked up her skirt. He told her that she could earn her way home, if she really wanted to go.

Cole had called her boyfriend to the scene of the stop when she was first pulled over. He arrived just as the officer began to accost her. Hubbard asked Cole who was in the car. When she explained it was her fiancé he asked her was he armed. When she said he was not, Hubbard retorted “If you tell him what happened he will be armed and his fire arm will be visible when I have to shoot him.” Hubbard went out to speak with Cole’s boyfriend and allowed him to speak with her briefly in his presence. She told him that she passed the DUI/DWI protocol but the officer said he was taking her in anyway “because of [her] attitude.” Hubbard immediately ended the conversation and told Cole he was taking her to the Ellis County Jail. Her fiancé told Hubbard that he would follow them to the jail but Hubbard warned him that he could not follow him and would be arrested if he tried. Cole’s fiancé drove a short distance up the road and waited for the officer to head toward the jail.

Instead, Hubbard reentered the patrol car after placing Cole back into front passenger seat with her hands cuffed behind her back. He drove the car behind the vacant dealership and told Cole “why don’t you just give me some of that sweet pussy you have been given your fiancé and then you can go home.” Cole begged Hubbard to just take her to jail. He placed his hands back up her skirt and penetrated her vagina, warning her “not to be stupid!” He explained, she could “go home tonight” if she just gave him what he wanted. When Hubbard’s patrol car didn’t come up the road, Cole’s fiancé looped around the highway and made its way behind the dealership. When Hubbard saw the car approaching he drove off while Cole’s fiancé followed at a distance. Hubbard maneuvered his vehicle down back streets and was successfully able to lose the vehicle tailing him. He told Cole that he knew a place where they could go and where he could get what he wanted so she did not have to go to jail. He continued to pull at her clothes and place his hand down her shirt and up her skirt. Cole continued to beg to just be taken to jail as her boyfriend searched for her. Finally, Hubbard relented and drove back to the highway and to Ellis County jail where she was booked for DUI/DWI. Cole currently remains in police custody but has been allowed to speak with her family and fiancé. We are actively working to get her released and to get the full identify of this officer in order to get him off the streets.

This woman is a mother and a corporate professional. She didn’t just make this up. A horrible crime was committed against her and it needs to be deal with immediately.

Sherita we are getting you out and getting you justice!
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Old 05-22-2018, 09:48 PM   #453
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Taylor police face federal lawsuit over rough arrest caught on video in 2016

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/taylor-police-face-federal-lawsuit-over-rough-arrest-caught-on-video-in-2016

TAYLOR, Mich. - A Metro Detroit man is accusing Taylor police officers of using excessive force during a 2016 arrest outside his home.

"I stopped at a stop sign, and they followed me home from there," Cody Meredith said.

What started as a drive home for Meredith ended with him landing in the back seat of a Taylor police car with injuries from the arrest.

"Somebody I expected to protect me basically didn't protect me," Meredith said.

On March 29, 2016, two Taylor police officers saw Meredith heading home at 2:30 a.m. Police reports claim he "braked heavily in order to not run a stop sign" and "(went) 35 mph in a 25 mph zone."

Meredith was just a block from his house, and when he turned into his driveway, he didn't use a turn signal, according to police. That's when the officers turned on their lights.

"Not using your turn signal is not a crime," said Amir Makled, Meredith's attorney.

The incident was captured on audio and video. The audio recording began the moment officers turned the lights on. At the time, Meredith was already out of his car.

"Oh s---, get back in the car, man," an officer said.

"Where you guys coming from? Get up off me," Meredith said.

Video shows a fight ensuing, and that's the core of a federal lawsuit.

"I was tased twice," Meredith said.

"An officer said stop. Why didn't you stop?" Local 4's Jermont Terry said.

"At that point, in my mind, I'm thinking, 'Why did I get stopped?'" Meredith said. "Why did I get followed home when they could have pulled me over before I got to my home?"

Video shows several blows being thrown during the fight.

"Look at that: one, two, three right to his face," Makled said. "They still haven't told him what he did wrong."

"There was no opportunity to say anything," Meredith said. "As soon as they got close to me they threw me to the ground and started beating me."

Taylor police claim the then-18-year-old resisted officers, resulting in the aggressive takedown.

"Outrageous conduct," Makled said. "Totally against the policy and procedure of any law enforcement agency."

Meredith and his attorneys said police used excessive force, especially when additional officers arrived.

"They join in on the fray, and he's continued to be kicked while a supervisor is there," Makled said.

Makled said the supervisor witnessed an officer kneeing Meredith in the back while he was already in handcuffs.

"I was being choked," Meredith said. "I was being beaten. I was in handcuffs being kicked in my face. There was a lot of stuff going on."

The incident happened in front of Meredith's mother's house, and he can be heard in the video screaming for her during the arrest.

Meredith has since moved out of Taylor and hopes to move forward. He said he never resisted officers and didn't deserve to end up in the hospital.

"They're police officers," Meredith said. "I'm a black male. That answers the question. They're going to do and say what they can to protect themselves."

But the officers aren't saying much. Local 4 requested an interview with the police chief, but he said he isn't allowed to talk about the case, the lawsuit or the actions of five officers. That's especially troubling to attorney Cyril Hall, who believes the case points to bigger problems with Taylor police.

"I don't believe it's isolated because we've had one of the officers listed in the complaint," Hall said. "He's been sued on other occasions (for excessive force)."

In the video, an officer told Meredith, "Shut the f--- up you piece of s---" and claimed Meredith had a warrant out for his arrest.

Meredith didn't have any outstanding warrants, and the moment that police realized they had the wrong person was caught on video. But police did find a small bag of marijuana inside the car when the searched it.

"They had no right to go into the vehicle," Makled said.

"It feels good to beat me a--?" Meredith asked in the video.

"No, you gripped onto me, buddy," an officer said.

"I didn't grip you guys at all," Meredith said.

"Yeah, you did," two police officers said.

Meredith said it isn't easy for him to watch the video of the arrest, even though two years have passed.

"It puts a terrible feeling in my body," Meredith said. "I feel empty, like I was worth nothing."

He said it's hard for him to visit his mother's house.

"Every time I go to the house I pull up and I look at that little spot and I remember every little thing and how it happened," Meredith said. "It's not a place I like to be. I don't call it home anymore. Your home is where you're supposed to feel safe. I don't feel safe there. I don't even feel safe being in the area."

Meredith said he hopes nobody else will experience what he did.

Police charged Meredith with drug possession and two counts of assaulting a police officer. Meredith had a medical marijuana card, so the drug possession charge was dropped.

Taylor police insisted in reports that Meredith was resisting arrest. But he now has a criminal record for what he feels was an incident escalated by Taylor police. He's seeking more than $70,000 in damages from the lawsuit.

The Taylor Police Department hasn't revealed if any of the officers involved were disciplined or whether they remain on the force.
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Old 05-23-2018, 09:31 PM   #454
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It has been determined this never happened and the officer was very professional.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrea View Post
Taylor police face federal lawsuit over rough arrest caught on video in 2016

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/taylor-police-face-federal-lawsuit-over-rough-arrest-caught-on-video-in-2016

TAYLOR, Mich. - A Metro Detroit man is accusing Taylor police officers of using excessive force during a 2016 arrest outside his home.

"I stopped at a stop sign, and they followed me home from there," Cody Meredith said.

What started as a drive home for Meredith ended with him landing in the back seat of a Taylor police car with injuries from the arrest.

"Somebody I expected to protect me basically didn't protect me," Meredith said.

On March 29, 2016, two Taylor police officers saw Meredith heading home at 2:30 a.m. Police reports claim he "braked heavily in order to not run a stop sign" and "(went) 35 mph in a 25 mph zone."

Meredith was just a block from his house, and when he turned into his driveway, he didn't use a turn signal, according to police. That's when the officers turned on their lights.

"Not using your turn signal is not a crime," said Amir Makled, Meredith's attorney.

The incident was captured on audio and video. The audio recording began the moment officers turned the lights on. At the time, Meredith was already out of his car.

"Oh s---, get back in the car, man," an officer said.

"Where you guys coming from? Get up off me," Meredith said.

Video shows a fight ensuing, and that's the core of a federal lawsuit.

"I was tased twice," Meredith said.

"An officer said stop. Why didn't you stop?" Local 4's Jermont Terry said.

"At that point, in my mind, I'm thinking, 'Why did I get stopped?'" Meredith said. "Why did I get followed home when they could have pulled me over before I got to my home?"

Video shows several blows being thrown during the fight.

"Look at that: one, two, three right to his face," Makled said. "They still haven't told him what he did wrong."

"There was no opportunity to say anything," Meredith said. "As soon as they got close to me they threw me to the ground and started beating me."

Taylor police claim the then-18-year-old resisted officers, resulting in the aggressive takedown.

"Outrageous conduct," Makled said. "Totally against the policy and procedure of any law enforcement agency."

Meredith and his attorneys said police used excessive force, especially when additional officers arrived.

"They join in on the fray, and he's continued to be kicked while a supervisor is there," Makled said.

Makled said the supervisor witnessed an officer kneeing Meredith in the back while he was already in handcuffs.

"I was being choked," Meredith said. "I was being beaten. I was in handcuffs being kicked in my face. There was a lot of stuff going on."

The incident happened in front of Meredith's mother's house, and he can be heard in the video screaming for her during the arrest.

Meredith has since moved out of Taylor and hopes to move forward. He said he never resisted officers and didn't deserve to end up in the hospital.

"They're police officers," Meredith said. "I'm a black male. That answers the question. They're going to do and say what they can to protect themselves."

But the officers aren't saying much. Local 4 requested an interview with the police chief, but he said he isn't allowed to talk about the case, the lawsuit or the actions of five officers. That's especially troubling to attorney Cyril Hall, who believes the case points to bigger problems with Taylor police.

"I don't believe it's isolated because we've had one of the officers listed in the complaint," Hall said. "He's been sued on other occasions (for excessive force)."

In the video, an officer told Meredith, "Shut the f--- up you piece of s---" and claimed Meredith had a warrant out for his arrest.

Meredith didn't have any outstanding warrants, and the moment that police realized they had the wrong person was caught on video. But police did find a small bag of marijuana inside the car when the searched it.

"They had no right to go into the vehicle," Makled said.

"It feels good to beat me a--?" Meredith asked in the video.

"No, you gripped onto me, buddy," an officer said.

"I didn't grip you guys at all," Meredith said.

"Yeah, you did," two police officers said.

Meredith said it isn't easy for him to watch the video of the arrest, even though two years have passed.

"It puts a terrible feeling in my body," Meredith said. "I feel empty, like I was worth nothing."

He said it's hard for him to visit his mother's house.

"Every time I go to the house I pull up and I look at that little spot and I remember every little thing and how it happened," Meredith said. "It's not a place I like to be. I don't call it home anymore. Your home is where you're supposed to feel safe. I don't feel safe there. I don't even feel safe being in the area."

Meredith said he hopes nobody else will experience what he did.

Police charged Meredith with drug possession and two counts of assaulting a police officer. Meredith had a medical marijuana card, so the drug possession charge was dropped.

Taylor police insisted in reports that Meredith was resisting arrest. But he now has a criminal record for what he feels was an incident escalated by Taylor police. He's seeking more than $70,000 in damages from the lawsuit.

The Taylor Police Department hasn't revealed if any of the officers involved were disciplined or whether they remain on the force.
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Old 05-28-2018, 08:03 AM   #455
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New Jersey cop caught on camera punching 20-year-old woman drinking beer during beach arrest

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/n-caught-camera-punching-woman-beach-arres-article-1.4013088?cid=bitly

A hotheaded New Jersey cop is under investigation after a viral video showed him pummeling a young mother on the beach in front of horrified Memorial Day weekend revelers.

What began as a day of fun in the sun Saturday turned into a beach-blanket beatdown after a Wildwood cop was caught slugging a 20-year-old woman in the head at least two times while trying to handcuff her, according to video of the encounter.

The disturbing clash was caught on a cell phone camera by a woman who had been napping on the Jersey Shore. Her video showed the officer straddling the woman in the sand, and whaling away at her head as he ordered her to "stop resisting."

The woman, who was arrested, and later identified by police as Emily Weinman, cried out, "You're not allowed to hit me like that! I didn't do anything wrong," while struggling under the tight grip of two officers.

Weinman, in a Facebook post quoted by Newsweek, said her 18-month-old daughter was among those who witnessed the beatdown.

Neither the officer who hit Weinman, another cop who grabbed her legs nor a third who stood by has been identified. Two of the cops have been placed on desk duty, pending the results of the internal probe, officials said.

The arrest took place on a beach in the resort city about 30 miles south of Atlantic City.

Weinman, who lives in Philadelphia, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, aggravated assault by spitting bodily fluids at a police officer, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction and being a minor in possession of alcohol.

The footage, shared on Twitter Saturday night, has since gotten more than 2.3 million views.

Weinman, in a Facebook post that has since been removed, said she had been drinking a beer, according to NJ.com. The website said she was approached by officers on the beach around 4 p.m. Weinman said she passed a Breathalyzer test and cops followed her when she went to make a phone call.

"I asked them don't they have something better to do as cops than to stop people for underage drinking on the beach," the Facebook post said. That's when Weinman claims an officer said, "I was gonna let you go but now I'll write you up."

Weinman said she refused to give the officer her name. She said she tripped and fell as she was backing away, and that's when the officer tackled her.

Weinman turns 21 in September, according to court records.

Philadelphia's KYW-TV said Weinman kicked an officer in the groin during the arrest, but the video does not appear to show it.

Weinman pleaded guilty to simple assault and reckless endangerment in November for a 2016 arrest, records show.

Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano told Philly.com that the officers were wearing body cameras that will show Weinman insulting and spitting at them. Wildwood Police Chief Robert Regalbuto found the video upsetting, authorities said.

"Chief Regalbuto stated that while he finds this video to be alarming, he does not want to rush to any judgment until having the final results of the investigation," the department said in a statement posted on Facebook.
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Old 06-08-2018, 08:21 AM   #456
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Anybody following the police brutality story on national news, down in Mesa (on TV)?

I cried while watching a young black man be taken down by police, suckered punched (over and over again, and in the face) by an officer of African American ethnicity.

This is nearly what happened to my oldest son, nearly nine years ago. I hate that this is going on. I hate that it's happened to my eldest son. I hate that it happens to anyone.

It hurts my heart. It makes me sick at heart for victims of police brutality.
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Old 06-22-2018, 07:35 AM   #457
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Report: Police officer fired after traffic stop involving his daughter’s boyfriend

LORAIN, Ohio —

An Ohio police officer has been fired following an investigation into a traffic stop involving his daughter's boyfriend.

Fox 8 reports the incident took place on April 16, when Lorain police Patrolman John Kovach, a 26-year veteran of the force, initiated a traffic stop investigators determined was purely personal and an "abuse of power."

Dashcam video of the incident shows an agitated Kovach approach a stopped vehicle.

"You can get out," Kovach said.

"For what?" the driver asks.

"You're going to jail."

"For what?"

"Have a seat in my car. We'll make (expletive) up as we go."

Kovach later told investigators the driver was his daughter's boyfriend and that he did not approve of the relationship.

Police say Kovach found the boyfriend by tracing his daughter's computer to a friend's home in the neighborhood.

According to The Chronicle, the boyfriend did as he was asked and sat in Kovach's cruiser. Three other passengers were left in the stopped car.

The mother of two of the passengers came out of her nearby home. Kovach told the woman his daughter's computer was in her house. She initially gave him permission to search the home but later requested he come back with a warrant.

Kovach allegedly then threatened to give the woman's daughter a $300 ticket for not wearing a seat belt.

The mother says she is calling 911, and at this point Kovach noticed his daughter in the stopped vehicle. She initially refuses order to go with Kovach, saying she is 18 and cannot be arrested without cause, but eventually gets in the cruiser.

"You have to give me a reason, by law. Daddy, why are you pushing me? Why are you (expletive) pushing me? Why are you doing this?" she asks.

"Get in the car," Kovach orders.

While this is all going on, Kovach has reportedly been ignoring dispatchers trying to send him to a road rage incident.

“These actions are not acceptable for members of our police department and we felt it warranted immediate dismissal,” Safety-Service Director Dan Given said.

Police Chief Cel Rivera said the actions were “an abuse of police authority and a serious departure from appropriate protocol…they are contrary to the mission, values and policies of the Lorain Police Department.”

The police department’s union is appealing the decision.

Kovach told fellow officers that his ex-wife had alerted him to a post that his daughter's boyfriend made on Facebook, saying he was going to “put (Katlyn) out” as a prostitute to make money for the two of them.

However, when interviewed by Lt. Ed Super, the ex-wife said she did not know what Facebook post Kovach was referring to. She did say that she believed he was trying to be a father and did “not want him to lose everything” as she and Kovach have concerns about the daughter's boyfriend.
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Old 06-27-2018, 11:13 AM   #458
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Prosecutors Haven't Charged Miami-Dade Cops Despite Footage Showing Them Beating Man, Lying About It

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/miami-dade-cops-beat-man-and-lied-but-faced-no-discipline-10471151

Ephraim Casado allegedly did nothing but throw a bottle from his car on March 27, 2017. According to documents and footage New Times obtained, Miami-Dade County cops responded by repeatedly punching him in the face, grinding his body into the asphalt, and painfully hoisting him into the air by his arms before arresting him on charges of "resisting an officer with violence," criminal mischief, and misdemeanor cannabis possession.

After reviewing body-camera footage from the ordeal, prosecutors dropped the case and wrote that the video evidence directly contradicted what the cops claimed had happened. MDPD detectives punched the suspect on video and later lied on their arrest affidavits, prosecutors discovered last August. But State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle's office never charged the officers.

"I reviewed the body-worn camera footage and was troubled by what I saw," Assistant State Attorney Natalie Pueschel wrote in an August 9 close-out memorandum clearing Casado of any wrongdoing. "It is my belief that these officers were less-than-truthful about the actual events that occurred during this incident."

Despite the clear violations detailed in the memo, MDPD spokesperson Det. Alvaro Zabaleta confirmed that the two officers involved are still active and that the department's internal affairs investigation "revealed no criminal or administrative wrongdoing; therefore, there is no disciplinary action forthcoming." Internal Affairs ruled that Pueschel's account of the events was inaccurate.

The memo from Rundle's office details what seems to be a laundry list of policy violations, if not downright violations of the law. Officers claimed that Casado refused to pull over and that when he finally stopped in front of his house, he exited the car "concealing his hands" before "committing a battery upon the detective" outside his home on NW 91st Street in West Little River.

But when prosecutors obtained the body-camera footage, the clip clearly contradicted the cops' sworn arrest affidavits. Prosecutors wrote that the footage actually shows Casado exiting his car calmly with his hands in the air and that the cops forced him out of his car at gunpoint before punching him.

In the gruesome body-camera footage, which New Times also obtained, the video show Casado exiting his car by sticking his hands directly in the air above his head — and a cop then grabs Casado by the arm and whips him around and pins him onto the trunk of the car.

Another video begins by showing a cop pummeling Casado in the face.

"You just punched me in the face!" Casado yells.

"Fucking right I did," the cop responds.

In separate footage from a different officer, Casado is shown slipping out of the officers' grasp, before an officer grabs him by the wrist and pulls him to the ground. Casado briefly rolls on top of the officer before a team of cops handcuffs him.

In a different clip, Casado can be heard screaming in pain in the back seat of the police car. Seconds later in the same clip, one of the cops turns to the camera and says to another officer: "Don't say anything. The cameras are rolling." Casado also repeatedly complains that officers put him in handcuffs "without reading [him his] rights."

"My head is bleeding and my mouth is bleeding!" Casado shouts in one portion of the footage. "What's your badge number?"

"What are you going to do about it?" one officer asks sarcastically in response. Another officer repeatedly refuses to tell Casado's friends and family why he's being detained.

Casado then kicks the door of his police car a few times — the officers respond by ripping Casado from the car and placing him face-down on the sun-baked asphalt. He screams in agony as a team of cops pins him to the ground, uses a "hobble" restraint to tie his ankles together, cuffs his arms behind his body, and hoists him into the air by his wrists, yanking his arms backward in a painful position.

Prosecutors noted the officers seemed to switch their body cameras on and off during the struggle:

Casado filed a lawsuit in federal court last week against MDPD and the officers involved. His lawyer, Igor Hernandez, told New Times yesterday that Casado was stuck living on house arrest for four months while he waited for prosecutors to drop the case. Hernandez said that in addition to getting punched in the face "six or seven times," Casado was also "in the process" of getting a new job but lost his chance because he was stuck at home while the case progressed.

"This case should not have been filed, but they proceeded due to all the allegations that the cops made up," Hernandez said. "The physical aspect of this case is one thing, but the loss of liberty too was probably even worse. Plus, this is just not right — cops can’t just be doing this kind of stuff."

The county has not yet responded to the lawsuit in court; MDPD does not comment on active lawsuits.

Why hasn't Rundle's office charged any of the officers involved with lying in their sworn statements? Her spokesperson, Ed Griffith, said only that the decision not to charge the cops was "addressed in the case file."

Rundle's office has been criticized repeatedly for refusing to discipline police officers and state employees for wrongdoing. She has never charged a Miami-area cop for an on-duty killing during her 25 years as the county's top prosecutor. This past April, she quietly cleared an MDPD cop for fatally shooting a Liberty City man despite the fact that her own prosecutors confirmed 27-year-old Anthony Ford was unarmed.

This is also not the first time Rundle's prosecutors have declined to take action after mentioning in close-out documents that cops have lied in sworn reports. In 2012, prosecutors wrote that then-City of Miami Police Lt. and Fraternal Order of Police President Javier Ortiz had written sworn documents that were "inconsistent" with video evidence taken at the scene of a police-involved beating. Rundle's office never charged Ortiz with a crime.

Earlier this year, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez vetoed the creation of an independent civilian oversight panel that would have investigated complaints against Miami-Dade County Police officers. MDPD Director Juan Perez stood in front of the county commission in February and argued there is "no widespread mistrust of his police department" and, therefore, the panel was "not needed."
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Old 06-27-2018, 03:19 PM   #459
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Officer who fatally shot East Pittsburgh teen Antwon Rose charged with criminal homicide

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/officer-who-fatally-shot-east-pittsburgh-teen-antwon-rose-charged-n886896

The suburban Pittsburgh police officer who fatally shot unarmed black teenager Antwon Rose has been criminally charged after prosecutors say that he was never threatened during the incident and acted with "no justification."

East Pittsburgh Police Officer Michael Rosfeld turned himself in on Wednesday after being charged with one count of homicide, according to court records.

"You can't take somebody's life under these circumstances," District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. said during a news conference.

Rose, a rising 17-year-old senior and honor student at Woodlands High School, was shot three times, including in the back, on June 19 as he and another teen ran away from a vehicle during a traffic stop. The vehicle had matched the description of a car connected to a drive-by shooting earlier that night.

Zappala told reporters that the evidence supports a case for third-degree murder, which carries a sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison, but added that he believed prosecutors could argue first-degree murder, which would send Rosfeld to prison for life if convicted.

In a video posted on social media by a bystander in a nearby home, Rose and Zaijuan Hester, 17, are seen getting out of the passenger side of a silver Chevy Cruze. As they begin to run, shots are heard and the witness gasps and asks, "Why are they shooting at them?"

Earlier in the day, surveillance cameras captured a light-colored Chevy Cruze that was involved in a drive-by shooting, according to an affidavit. The video showed the rear passenger window rolled down before a handgun emerged and fired .40 caliber bullets. Casings from those bullets at the scene of the shooting were later positively identified as having come from a .40 caliber Glock found under the back portion of the Chevy's passenger's seat.

Detectives said that the person in the front passenger seat, where Rose had been sitting, did not fire any of the shots, the complaint said.

“Antwon Rose didn’t do anything except be in that vehicle,” Zappala said.

One person was struck by the gunfire and transported to a local hospital "where he was treated for a grazing gunshot wound to the abdomen," according to the affidavit.

After the traffic stop was made, the driver of the Chevy Cruze was ordered out of the car by the officers when Rose and the other male "bolted from the vehicle on foot," Allegheny County Police Superintendent Coleman McDonough later said.

McDonough said Rose was unarmed but that two semi-automatic handguns were found on the floor of the vehicle.

Rose was struck by bullets fired by Rosfeld in the arm, face and abdomen, according to the affidavit. A medical examiner determined the bullet to the abdomen hit Rose's heart and lungs, and was determined to be the fatal shot.

The driver of the vehicle was arrested and later released without charges. The driver told police he was operating as a jitney driver, McDonough said.

Hester was taken into custody late Monday night on a probation violation, according to NBC News affiliate WPXI. He was charged with attempted homicide Wednesday morning in relation to the drive-by shooting that caused the initial traffic stop, WPXI reported.

Zappala said that Hester has not cooperated with investigators.

Rosfeld, 30, had been sworn into the East Pittsburgh Police Department just hours prior to the shooting. He was an officer in other departments in the area, according to WPXI.

Immediately after the shooting, Rosfeld had been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

Zappala was deeply critical of the East Pittsburgh Police Department during Wednesday's news conference, saying he has concerns "about the lack of policies and procedures in East Pittsburgh" and that the city has "a lot of answering to do."

The City of Pittsburgh Fraternal Order of Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.

According to the affidavit, Rosfeld told investigators inconsistent stories about believing Rose had a weapon. Initially, he said, he thought he saw something dark that he perceived as a gun, but when asked to repeat his story, Rosfeld told detectives that he did not see a gun.

In regard to the inconsistency, Rosfeld told investigators he saw something in Rose's hand but was not sure what it was, according to the affidavit.

Rose died later that night on June 19 at a nearby hospital. His funeral was held on Monday.

After what appeared to be inaction by the district attorney's office, protests took place in Pittsburgh outside the Allegheny County Courthouse over the latest fatal shooting involving a white officer and an unarmed black male.

Rosfeld was arraigned Wednesday morning. His next court date is scheduled for July 6.

The officer was remorseful, Zappala said, adding, "You do not shoot someone in the back if they're not a threat to you."

Rosfeld's bail was set at $250,000, according to court documents. He was released from custody after posting unsecured bond, according to WPXI.

The prosecution, much less conviction, of on-duty police officers involved in fatal shootings is rare.

From 2005 to 2017, 82 officers across the United States have been charged with murder or manslaughter resulting from on-duty shootings, according to research by Philip Stinson, an associate professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. In the last 13 years, only one officer was convicted of intentional murder, according to Stinson.
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Old 06-28-2018, 06:07 PM   #460
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Shaun King shared a post.

This police officer in Lancaster, Pennsylvania should be fired immediately for what he did to this man. After he is fired, the District Attorney should immediately press charges for criminal assault.

What he did here is completely illegal.

This man was compliant, calm, unarmed, and non-violent.

Hundreds of people have been killed by police from Tasers electrocuting them to death.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=190039018320570&id=100019 434198312
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