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20187332 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio%20Smith | Antonio Smith | Antonio Smith may refer to:
Antonio Smith (artist) (1832–1877), Chilean landscape painter and caricaturist
Antonio Smith (basketball), university basketball player from Flint, Michigan and part of the Flintstones (basketball) phenomenon of the Michigan State team
Antonio Smith (cornerback) (born 1984), American football cornerback
Antonio Smith (defensive end) (born 1981), American football defensive end
Antonio Arnelo Smith, involved in an alleged police brutality incident in Valdosta, Georgia, in 2020
See also
Tony Smith (disambiguation) |
35647868 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon%20Marshall%20%28linebacker%29 | Brandon Marshall (linebacker) | Brandon Markeith Marshall (born September 10, 1989) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. He was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fifth round (142nd overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft, out of the University of Nevada, Reno.
High school career
Born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, Marshall attended its Cimarron-Memorial High School, where he played football and was also a member of the track & field team. In football, he was named a first team All-Sunset Conference as a linebacker and tight end. Marshall was named second team all-state as a linebacker, and was also a two-time all-league on offensive and defense. For his career, on defense, he recorded 68 tackles, 13 sacks, 57 quarterback hurries, four fumble recoveries and one interception. On offense, Marshall recorded 10 touchdowns, while recording 691 yards as a running back and 95 receiving yards as a tight end.
In 2016, Cimarron-Memorial High School retired Marshall's high school jersey on May 13.
College career
Marshall attended the University of Nevada, where he majored in criminal justice. He redshirted as a freshman in 2007, and played in every game in 2008, starting six. For the season, he recorded 33 tackles, 8.5 tackles-for-loss, two sacks, one interception, and two pass break-ups. In 2009, he started every game at outside linebacker, ranked third on the team with 61 tackles and fourth with 9.5 tackles-for-loss. Marshall also recorded one sack one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and four pass break-ups. For the season he was named second team All-WAC by Phil Steele and was named fourth team. In 2010, Marshall started all 13 games and the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. For the season, he finished sixth on the team with 63 tackles. He also recorded eight tackles-for-loss, one sack and two interceptions.
Professional career
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Marshall in the fifth round (142nd overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft. Marshall was the 19th linebacker drafted in 2012.
2012
On June 5, 2012, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed Marshall to a four-year, $2.30 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $100,986.
Throughout training camp, Marshall competed to be a backup linebacker against Kyle Bosworth and Russell Allen. Head coach Mike Mularkey named Marshall the backup left outside linebacker, behind Daryl Smith, to begin the regular season.
He made his professional regular season debut in the Jacksonville Jaguars' season-opener at the Minnesota Vikings and made one solo tackle in their 26-23 loss. Marshall made his first career tackle on a 28-yard kick return by wide receiver Percy Harvin in the first quarter. On October 27, 2012, the Jacksonville Jaguars released Marshall, but re-signed him three days later. On November 1, 2012, Marshall was released by the Jaguars, but was re-signed to the team's practice squad on November 5, 2012. On December 18, 2012, Marshall was promoted to the active roster. He finished his rookie season in 2012 with two combined tackles (one solo) in five games and zero starts.
2013
On January 10, 2013, the Jacksonville Jaguars fired head coach Mike Mularkey after they finished with a 2-14 record in 2012. Throughout training camp, he competed to be a starting outside linebacker against Geno Hayes, J. T. Thomas, Kyle Knox, and LaRoy Reynolds. On August 30, 2013, the Jacksonville Jaguars released Marshall as part of their roster cuts.
Denver Broncos
On September 2, 2013, the Denver Broncos signed Marshall to their practice squad. On December 24, 2013, Marshall was promoted to the 53-man active roster after the Broncos placed Von Miller on injured reserve. Upon joining the active roster, head coach John Fox named Marshall the backup strongside linebacker behind Nate Irving. On December 29, 2013, Marshall made his Denver Broncos debut and made two solo tackles during a 34–14 victory at the Oakland Raiders in Week 17. He finished the regular season with two solo tackles in one game.
The Denver Broncos finished first in the AFC West with a 13–3 record, clinching a playoff berth and a first round bye. On January 12, 2014, Marshall appeared in his first career playoff game as the Broncos' defeated the San Diego Chargers 24–17 in the AFC Divisional Round. The Broncos reached the Super Bowl after defeating the New England Patriots 26–16 in the AFC Championship Game. On February 2, 2014, Marshall appeared in Super Bowl XLVIII and recorded one solo tackle as the Broncos lost 43–8 to the Seattle Seahawks.
2014
Throughout training camp, Marshall competed to be a starting outside linebacker against Steven Johnson, Lamin Barrow, Corey Nelson and Shaquil Barrett. Head coach John Fox named Marshall the starting weakside linebacker to start the regular season after Danny Trevathan sustained a fractured tibia during their first preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks.
He made his first career start in the Denver Broncos' season-opener against the Indianapolis Colts and recorded nine combined tackles (seven solo) and a pass deflection in their 31–24 win. The following week, Marshall recorded eight combined tackles, deflected a pass, forced a fumble, and made his first career sack during a 24–17 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2. Marshall sacked quarterback Alex Smith for a five-yard loss in the fourth quarter and forced a fumble by running back Knile Davis. On November 16, 2014, he collected a season-high 15 combined tackles (13 solo) in the Broncos' 22–7 loss at the St. Louis Rams. In Week 14, Marshall recorded nine solo tackles, a season-high three pass deflections, and made his first career interception in the Broncos' 24–17 win against the Buffalo Bills. Marshall intercepted a pass attempt by quarterback Kyle Orton, that was intended for tight end Scott Chandler, in the third quarter. Marshall sustained a lisfranc fracture to his foot during a Week 15 victory at the San Diego Chargers and was inactive for the last two games of the regular season (Weeks 16–17). He finished the 2014 season with a career-high 113 combined tackles (91 solo), nine combined tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, and an interception in 14 games and 13 starts. His 113 combined tackles led the team.
The Denver Broncos finished first in the AFC West with a 12–4 record and earned a first round bye. On January 11, 2015, Marshall started in his first career playoff game and made six combined tackles in their 24–13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Divisional Round.
2015
On January 12, 2015, head coach John Fox and the Denver Broncos agreed to mutually part ways. On January 28, 2015, the Denver Broncos hired Wade Phillips as their new defensive coordinator after Jack Del Rio accepted the head coaching position with the Oakland Raiders. Marshall was moved to inside linebacker after the base defense was changed from a 4-3 defense to a base 3-4 defense. Marshall entered training camp slated as a starting inside linebacker. Head coach Gary Kubiak officially named Marshall and Danny Trevathan the starting inside linebackers to start the regular season, alongside outside linebackers DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller.
He started in the Denver Broncos' season-opener against the Baltimore Ravens and recorded seven combined tackles, deflected a pass, and sacked quarterback Joe Flacco in their 19–13 victory. In Week 3, he collected a season-high 12 combined tackles (11 solo) during a 24–12 victory at the Detroit Lions. On December 20, 2015, Marshall recorded seven combined tackles, a pass deflection, and an interception during a 34–27 loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 15. Marshall intercepted a pass by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, that was intended for running back DeAngelo Williams, in the fourth quarter with the Broncos losing 34–27 with two minutes remaining. Unfortunately, the Broncos' offense were unable to capatilize and lost after going four and out. Marshall started all 16 games and made 102 combined tackles (77 solo), four pass deflections, two forced fumbles, 1.5 sacks, and an interception. He also finished second on the team in tackles.
The Denver Broncos finished first in the AFC West with a 12–4 record and clinched a first round bye and home-field advantage. They reached the Super Bowl after defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 23–16 in the AFC Divisional Round and the New England Patriots 20–18 in the AFC Championship Game. On February 7, 2016, Marshall started in Super Bowl 50 and made five combined tackles as the Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers 24–10.
2016
On June 14, 2016, the Denver Broncos signed Marshall to a four-year, $32 million contract extension with $20 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $10 million.
On September 8, 2016, Marshall became the third NFL player to join in protest of American police brutality and racism by kneeling during the national anthem before the season opener against the Carolina Panthers. As a result, on September 10, Air Academy Federal Credit Union dropped an advertising endorsement deal with Marshall. On September 14, 2016, in a Super Bowl 50 rematch in the 2016 regular season opener, Marshall was fined $24,309 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Panthers' quarterback Cam Newton.
2017
In 2017, Marshall started all 16 games, recording a team-leading 106 combined tackles, a career-high three sacks, four passes defensed and a forced fumble.
2018
In 2018, Marshall played in 11 games with seven starts, recording 42 combined tackles.
2019
On February 15, 2019, the Broncos declined the option on Marshall's contract, making him a free agent at the start of the new league year.
Oakland Raiders
On March 28, 2019, Marshall signed a one-year contract with the Oakland Raiders. He was released during final roster cuts on August 30, 2019. On October 29, 2019, the Raiders re-signed Marshall, but he was released six days later.
NFL career statistics
Personal life
Marshall is the son of Barbara Marshall. He has an older sister, Sandra, and an older brother, Marcus.
References
External links
Nevada Wolf Pack bio
Jacksonville Jaguars bio
Denver Broncos bio
1989 births
American football linebackers
Jacksonville Jaguars players
Denver Broncos players
Living people
Nevada Wolf Pack football players
Oakland Raiders players
Players of American football from Nevada
Sportspeople from the Las Vegas Valley |
40901659 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing%20of%20Andy%20Lopez | Killing of Andy Lopez | The fatal shooting of Andy Lopez by Sonoma County sheriff's deputy Erick Gelhaus took place on October 22, 2013, in Santa Rosa, California. 13-year-old Lopez was walking through a vacant lot and carrying an airsoft gun that was designed to resemble an AK-47 assault rifle. Gelhaus opened fire on Lopez, presumably mistaking the airsoft gun for a real firearm. The shooting prompted many protests in Santa Rosa, and throughout California.
On November 4, 2013, the Lopez family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit at the U.S. District Court.
On July 7, 2014, District Attorney Jill Ravitch announced no charges would be filed against Gelhaus. On July 1, 2015, the FBI announced no criminal charges would be filed against Gelhaus, due to lack of evidence to prove that he violated Lopez's civil rights.
Backgrounds
Andy Lopez (June 2, 2000 – October 22, 2013) was a 13-year-old boy who attended Cook Middle School in Santa Rosa. He was raised in the Moorland Avenue neighborhood in southwest Santa Rosa. He transferred to Lewis Opportunity School from Cook Middle School one week prior to his death.
Erick Gelhaus is a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy, and has worked with the agency for 24 years. He is also an Iraq War veteran. Gelhaus is a firearms instructor and is a contributing writer to gun publications. He was an instructor for ten years at Gunsite Academy, an Arizona-based company that teaches gun-handling, marksmanship, and law enforcement to "elite military personnel, law enforcement officers and free citizens of the U.S." He specialized in teaching pistol, carbine, shotgun and rifle lessons. He accidentally shot himself in the leg in 1995 while on duty with the sheriff's office, reportedly while holstering a gun during an attempt at searching a teenager for weapons. In his 24 years in law enforcement, he had never shot a suspect until the shooting of Lopez.
Shooting
According to Santa Rosa Police Lieutenant Paul Henry, two Sonoma County sheriff's deputies (Gelhaus and Michael Schemmel; Schemmel was driving the patrol car) were patrolling the Moorland Avenue neighborhood when they spotted Andy Lopez approximately ahead carrying an airsoft replica of an AK-47 assault rifle while he was walking on Moorland, just past the corner of West Robles Avenue. The rifle appeared to be a real weapon, since its orange tip has been previously broken off. As the sheriff's deputies approached the child from behind, Gelhaus radioed an observation of "Code 20, two units" at 3:13:58 p.m. Schemmel activated the light bar and briefly sounded the siren as he parked the patrol vehicle, and Gelhaus exited the passenger's side, calling out to demand that Lopez drop the weapon. Lopez turned to his right, towards the deputies and the barrel allegedly began to ascend.
At 3:14 p.m., Gelhaus fired eight shots at Lopez from his department-issued 9mm handgun. The deputies broadcast "shots fired" to dispatch at 3:14:17 p.m., indicating the total time from initial contact to the shooting was seventeen seconds. By Gelhaus's own testimony, he opened fire "a couple seconds" after issuing the command for Lopez to drop the airsoft gun. Seven bullets hit Andy within six seconds. Two of the shots delivered fatal wounds, with one round hitting Lopez on his side while he was turning to face the police, at least four entering from the rear, according to an autopsy. The deputies remained in defensive position until backups arrived, then approached Lopez with guns drawn; after separating the airsoft gun from Lopez he was handcuffed. He was pronounced dead by medical personnel on the scene. Lopez was found to be under the influence of marijuana after an autopsy.
The missing orange tip is a US legal requirement for all toy guns for import. However, airsoft and pellet rifles are exempted from the marking requirements. It is also a violation of California law to "openly display or expose any imitation firearm in a public place unless the entire exterior surface of the imitation firearm is painted with a specified color". The 13 year old friend from whom Andy had borrowed the replica later reported that he felt responsible "because he allowed Andy to borrow the gun even though the orange tip of the barrel was broken off making it look real, although he'd told his friend not to take it since it was broken."
Investigation
On October 26, 2013, the Federal Bureau of Investigation started to conduct an independent investigation in Lopez's death. Sonoma County Sheriff Steve Freitas announced in a statement on October 25 that he will cooperate fully with federal investigators. It is the first time the FBI has investigated an officer-involved shooting in Sonoma County since the 1997 shooting death of Kuanchung Kao in Rohnert Park.
Investigators said Gelhaus feared for the safety of himself and his partner, and had to make an immediate decision to shoot when Lopez turned around and allegedly began raising the apparent assault weapon in their direction. The gun was later found to be an AK-47 replica air-soft pellet gun with the orange barrel tip marking, required to help distinguish it from a real weapon, broken off, and most witnesses believed it was real or might be real. Witnesses testified that Gelhaus had by then once or twice loudly called upon Lopez to drop the weapon. Gelhaus was in a deputy sheriff's uniform and marked sheriff's patrol car; however, Lopez would not have seen the uniform or patrol car since the officers approached him from behind;
In the autopsy, Lopez was found to have significant levels of THC in his blood, consistent with smoking marijuana 60 to 75 minutes previously; he was also found to have a joint in his pocket. 'A 13-year-old boy high on marijuana would likely have suffered "impaired judgment, slowed decision making and increased mental processing time, particularly when having to deal with performance of a sudden, unanticipated tasks, including decisions that needed to be quickly responded to.'"
Gelhaus was cleared to return to duty on December 9, 2013, but was able to work at his desk and not on patrol. On July 7, 2014, District Attorney Jill Ravitch announced no charges would be filed against Gelhaus. In August 2014, Gelhaus was allowed to return to patrolling the streets.
The district attorney, Jill Ravich, referred the completed investigative report to the Sonoma County Grand Jury, but the civil Grand Jury declined to review it, citing lack of expertise.
On July 1, 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it would not file criminal charges of violating one's civil rights against Gelhaus. According to a Justice Department spokesman, the decision to not file charges against Gelhaus was due to insufficient evidence that he willfully used excessive force that resulted in Lopez's death. A group of federal prosecutors and FBI agents reviewed the case and determine there was a lack of evidence Gelhaus violated Andy Lopez's civil rights.
Aftermath
Civil action
Arnoldo Casillas, the lawyer representing Lopez's family, said that the shooting was unconstitutional because it violated the Fourth Amendment's limits on police authority. On November 4, the Lopez family filed a lawsuit at the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, claiming that Deputy Erick Gelhaus shot Lopez "without reasonable cause."
The civil action trial was initially scheduled to start in April 2016. In February 2016, the trial was delayed by Sonoma County's challenge to the January ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Jean Hamilton that allowed the case brought by the parents of Andy Lopez to go forward. Hamilton had dismissed three of the five claims that Gelhaus violated Lopez's civil rights but said she would leave it to a jury to decide whether he acted unreasonably. Steven Mitchell, the attorney who would have defended Sonoma County in the federal lawsuit filed by Lopez's parents, committed suicide two weeks after the decision to delay the case was made.
On June 25, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Sonoma County's petition, clearing the way for the case against the Sonoma County sheriff's deputy to proceed toward a trial. In December 2018, the lawsuit was settled for $3 million.
Protests
A series of protests were organized and held following Lopez's death. The protests were mainly organized by immigrant, religious and community groups and activists. Many protesters have stated that Lopez's shooting was a case of police brutality, and that Lopez, who was Latino, was a victim of racial profiling by the deputies. On October 25, 2013, more than 100 people, consisting mostly of middle school and high school students, protested at the Santa Rosa City Hall. On October 29, over 1,000 people attended a protest in downtown Santa Rosa, in the form of a mass march. The march initiated in the Courthouse Square in downtown Santa Rosa, and ended at the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office. Lawyer John Burris, who represented the family of police shooting victim Oscar Grant, gave a speech at the rally. Attendees traveled from all over the San Francisco Bay Area to attend the event. Many protesters held picket signs demanding justice. Up to 200 people attended a march in Santa Rosa on November 5, 2013, including activist Cindy Sheehan. They also demanded that District Attorney Jill Ravitch issue an arrest warrant for Gelhaus or put together a grand jury, but she declined to do either until the fact gathering investigation was complete, stating that the investigation would take time.
Rallies were held statewide on November 9, 2013, in Santa Rosa, Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Merced.
On November 26, 2013, several people were detained during protests in Santa Rosa. A dozen demonstrators were cited for blocking traffic, and one demonstrator was
arrested and booked for resisting arrest. There were 80 people attending that protest, consisting of local middle and high-school students, and several members of By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), a Bay Area-based civil rights group.
On December 3, 2013, protesters targeted Ravitch at her re-election fundraiser.
On December 9, 2013, Gelhaus was cleared to return to duty, which resulted in additional protests.
A 31-year-old man was arrested for battery on a police officer for allegedly punching a police officer and hitting another officer with a picket sign during a protest at the Santa Rosa City Hall on December 10, 2013. Charges were dropped against him in May 2014. A second person was arrested for obstructing a police officer and violating probation. Multiple protesters vandalized the front door of the Sonoma County Jail, breaking its glass.
On February 17, 2014, protesters for Andy Lopez gathered at the Santa Rosa Plaza food court to eat lunch while wearing shirts displaying "RIP Andy Lopez". Several mall security guards came up to them and asked them to remove their T-shirts or leave the mall. The attorney for Simon Malls, owner of Santa Rosa Plaza, apologized in a letter issued to relatives of Andy Lopez, stating that they were disappointed that the security guards did not comply with the mall's policies and procedures. The head of security for Santa Rosa Plaza was fired one month later in connection with the incident.
On July 12, 2014, more than 100 protesters held a rally at the Old Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa, demonstrating their disapproval with prosecutors' decision to not file charges against Erick Gelhaus. A small group of protesters marched onto northbound Highway 101, blocking traffic.
On June 2, 2020, a memorial and march was held in Santa Rosa in Lopez’s honor, on what would have been his 20th birthday, and coinciding with the George Floyd protests.
Tributes
A memorial park was created for Lopez in December 2013, located near the site of his death.
In March 2016, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved an additional $1.2 million of fund money for the park and a name for it. The park is named "Andy's Unity Park" and encompasses 4.22 acres. The park's estimated cost was $4 million, with $3 million for the construction. The park was opened in June 2018 with a final cost of $3.7 million. LandPaths, a Sonoma county non-profit, helped create Andy’s Unity Park Community Garden and maintains the park along with community involvement.
See also
List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, October 2013
Police misconduct
Shooting of Michael Brown and the subsequent 2014 Ferguson unrest
Shooting of Tamir Rice
Shooting of Akai Gurley
Shooting of John Crawford III
Shooting of Ezell Ford
Death of William Corey Jackson
Shooting of Kuanchung Kao
Death of Eric Garner
Entertech shooting deaths
Emmett Till
References
External links
2013 in California
Deaths by firearm in California
History of Santa Rosa, California
History of Sonoma County, California
Latino people shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
Incidents of violence against boys
Protests in the United States
Law enforcement in California |
43529715 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Michael%20Brown | Shooting of Michael Brown | On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown Jr., an 18-year-old black man, was fatally shot by 28-year-old white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the city of Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.
Brown was accompanied by his 22-year-old friend Dorian Johnson. Wilson said that an altercation ensued when Brown attacked him in his police vehicle for control of his gun, until it was fired. Johnson said that Wilson initiated a confrontation by grabbing Brown by the neck through his car window, threatening him and then shooting at him. At this point, both Wilson and Johnson state that Brown and Johnson fled, with Wilson pursuing Brown shortly thereafter. Wilson stated that Brown stopped and charged him after a short pursuit. Johnson contradicted this account, stating that Brown turned around with his hands raised after Wilson shot at his back. According to Johnson, Wilson then shot Brown multiple times until Brown fell to the ground. In the entire altercation, Wilson fired a total of twelve bullets, including twice during the struggle in the car; the last was probably the fatal shot. Brown was struck six times, all in the front of his body.
This event ignited unrest in Ferguson. Witnesses to the shooting claimed Brown had his hands up in surrender or said "don't shoot", so protesters later used the slogan "Hands up, don't shoot". A subsequent FBI investigation said that there was no evidence that Brown had done so. Protests, both peaceful and violent, continued for more than a week in Ferguson; police later established a nightly curfew.
The response of area police agencies in dealing with the protests was strongly criticized by both the media and politicians. Concerns were raised over insensitivity, tactics, and a militarized response. Missouri governor Jay Nixon ordered local police organizations to cede much of their authority to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
A grand jury was called and given extensive evidence from Robert McCulloch, the St. Louis County Prosecutor. On , 2014, McCulloch announced the St. Louis County grand jury had decided not to indict Wilson. In March 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice reported the conclusion of its own investigation and cleared Wilson of civil rights violations in the shooting. It found forensic evidence supported Wilson's account, and that witnesses who corroborated the officer's account were credible. Witnesses who had incriminated him were found to be not credible, with some admitting they had not directly seen the events. The U.S. Department of Justice concluded that Wilson shot Brown in self-defense.
A new St. Louis prosecutor, Wesley Bell, spent five months in 2020 reviewing the case with an eye to charging Wilson with either manslaughter or murder. In July, Bell announced he would not charge Wilson with any crime.
Backgrounds
Michael Orlandus Darrion Brown Jr. (May 20, 1996 – August 9, 2014) graduated from Normandy High School in eight days before his death, completing an alternative education program. At the time of his death, he was 18 years old, tall, and weighed . He was an amateur rap musician who posted his songs on the popular music-sharing site SoundCloud under the handle "Big'Mike." He was two days from starting a training program for heating and air conditioning repair at Vatterott College technical school.
Darren Dean Wilson (born , 1986, in Fort Worth, Texas) was tall and weighed about .
Wilson's first police job was in the town of Jennings, Missouri, where he began working in 2009. With respect to this job, Wilson said to The New Yorker in 2015, "I'd never been in an area where there was that much poverty." The police force in Jennings was shut down by the town's city council in March 2011. In October 2011, Wilson began working for the Ferguson Police Department. In February 2013, Wilson won a commendation from the Ferguson Police Department after he apprehended a suspect who was later charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and resisting arrest.
Morning
Surveillance video which was publicly released in the 2017 documentary film Stranger Fruit shows Michael Brown walking into Ferguson Market and Liquor at 1:13 a.m., ten and a half hours before he entered the store for the final time. The footage shows Brown handing a young clerk a brown package, believed by the filmmaker to be marijuana, and then receiving an unpurchased package of cigarillos from the store. After the video was rediscovered and made public in 2017, some, including Brown's family, said they believed Brown had left the package there for safekeeping and later returned to retrieve it. The store owner disputed this through an attorney who dismissed claims that the store traded him "cigarillos for pot." The lawyer claimed "[t]he reason he [Brown] gave it back is he was walking out the door with unpaid merchandise and they [the staff] wanted it back." The store's attorney said the video had been in the hands of Brown's family and law enforcement since the initial investigation, and said the video had been edited to remove the portion where the store clerk returned Brown's package to him. Following this, on March 13, 2017, unedited footage from the store was released by the St. Louis County prosecutor to try to settle questions.
Incident
At , Wilson responded to a call about a baby with breathing problems and drove to Glenark Drive, east of Canfield Drive. About three minutes later and several blocks away, Brown was recorded on camera stealing a box of Swisher Sweets cigars and forcefully shoving a Ferguson Market clerk. Brown and his friend, Dorian Johnson, left the market at about At 11:53, a police dispatcher reported "stealing in progress" at the Ferguson Market and described the suspect as a black male wearing a white T-shirt running toward QuikTrip. The suspect was reported as having stolen a box of Swisher cigars.At 11:57, the dispatch described the suspect as wearing a red St. Louis Cardinals hat, a white T-shirt, yellow socks, and khaki shorts, and that he was accompanied by another male. Ferguson police chief Thomas Jackson said that the incident with Brown stealing cigars had "nothing to do" with why he was stopped by Wilson prior to the shooting, and that the reason Brown and Johnson were stopped was because "they were walking down the middle of the street, blocking traffic."
At , Wilson reported he was back in service and radioed units 25 and 22 to ask if they needed his assistance in searching for the suspects. Seven seconds later, an unidentified officer said the suspects had disappeared. Wilson called for backup at 12:02, saying "[Unit] 21. Put me on Canfield with two. And send me another car."
Initial reports of what happened next differed widely among sources and witnesses, particularly with regard to whether Brown was moving towards Wilson when the shots were fired. At noon on , Wilson drove up to Brown and Johnson as they were walking in the middle of Canfield Drive and ordered them to move off the street. Wilson continued driving past the two men, but then backed up and stopped close to them. A struggle took place between Brown and Wilson after Brown reached through the window of the police SUV, a Chevrolet Tahoe. Wilson was armed with a SIG Sauer P229 pistol, which was fired twice during the struggle from inside the vehicle, with one bullet hitting Brown's right hand. Brown and Johnson fled and Johnson hid behind a car. Wilson got out of the vehicle and pursued Brown. At some point, Wilson fired his gun again, while facing Brown, and hit him with at least 6 shots, all in the front of his body. Brown was unarmed and died on the street. Less than 90 seconds passed from the time Wilson encountered Brown to the time of Brown's death.
An unidentified officer arrived on the scene and, 73 seconds after Wilson's call, asked where the second suspect was. Thirty-one seconds later, a supervisor was requested by Unit 25. At , an officer on scene radioed to dispatch for more units. Also at 12:07, the County police were notified and county officers began arriving on scene at around The County detectives were notified at and arrived about , with the forensic investigator arriving at about
Police dispatched a dozen units to the scene by with another dozen, including two canine units, by Gunshots were recorded in Ferguson police logs at , and by the ambulance dispatch again at , which led to the response of 20 units from eight different municipal forces in the next 20 minutes. As the situation deteriorated, the police commanders had investigators seek cover and detectives assisted in crowd control. At , four canine units arrived on scene, and the SWAT team arrived at The medical examiner began his examination at around and concluded about half an hour later, with the body being cleared to be taken to the morgue. At , Brown's body was signed in by workers at the morgue.
Investigations
Police
Brown was fatally shot by Wilson at about 12:02 p.m. The Ferguson Police Department was on the scene within minutes, as were crowds of residents, some expressing hostility toward the police. Paramedics covered the body with sheets. About after the shooting, the Ferguson Police Chief turned over the homicide investigation to the St. Louis County Police Department (SLCPD). The arrival of SLCPD detectives took about , as they were occupied with another crime scene away. On arrival at 1:30 p.m., they put up privacy screens around the body. Their investigation was slowed due to safety concerns regarding the sound of gunfire in the area and some hostile members of the crowd encroaching on the crime scene. An investigator from the St. Louis County Medical Examiner's office arrived at 2:30 p.m. Brown's body was removed at 4:00 p.m. Local residents criticized authorities for leaving Brown's body in the street for four hours in an action seen as demeaning and disrespectful.
Department of Justice
On , 2014, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) opened a civil rights investigation into the incident. A spokeswoman for the FBI's St. Louis field office said the decision to open an investigation was not motivated by the protests and riots which had ensued. Forty FBI agents went door-to-door looking for potential witnesses who may have had information about the shooting. Additionally, attorneys from the Civil Rights Division and from the United States Attorney's Office were participating in the investigation.
On , 2015, the federal investigation cleared Wilson of civil rights violations in the shooting. The investigation concluded there was no evidence upon which prosecutors could rely to disprove Wilson's asserted belief that he feared for his safety, that witnesses who contradicted Wilson were not credible, that forensic evidence and credible witnesses corroborated Wilson's account, and that the facts did not support the filing of criminal charges against Wilson. Credible witnesses did not support accounts that Brown had his hands up in surrender. He was not shot in the back. Forensic evidence showed he was moving toward Wilson. Numerous witnesses were found to have given accounts of actions they were unable to see from their vantage points, or to be recounting others' accounts.
2020: New prosecutor
A new St. Louis prosecutor, Wesley Bell, spent five months in 2020 secretly reviewing the case with an eye to charging Wilson with either manslaughter or murder. In July, Bell announced he would not charge Wilson with any crime; Bell said he didn't "have the evidence to ethically bring a charge against Darren Wilson."
Grand jury hearing
The grand jury was made up of members who had been impaneled in May 2014 for a regularly scheduled term, to hear all cases put forward by the prosecuting attorney's office. There were three black (one man and two women) and nine white members (six men and three women), an ethnic breakdown that roughly reflects the racial makeup of County, which is about 30% black, and 70% white. On , 2014, the grand jury started hearing evidence in the case State of Missouri v. Darren Wilson, in order to decide whether a crime was committed and if there was probable cause to believe Wilson committed it.
There was intense interest focused on the grand jury. Robert P. McCulloch, the elected prosecuting attorney for County, was in charge of the prosecution but did not participate in the direct handling of the grand jury hearing. It was handled by two Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys of McCulloch's office: Kathi Alizadeh and Sheila Whirley. McCulloch announced an unusual process: the grand jury would hear all the evidence, the proceedings would be transcribed, and the materials would be made public if the grand jury did not indict.
The grand jury took 25 days, over the span of three months, to hear more than 5,000 pages of testimony from 60 witnesses and then deliberate on whether or not to indict Wilson. Most grand juries complete their work in a matter of days. The grand jury was not sequestered during the process.
On the night of , Prosecutor McCulloch reported in a 20-minute press conference that the grand jury had reached a decision in the case and would not indict Wilson.
Following his announcement, McCulloch released thousands of pages of grand jury documents, with materials published on the internet for public perusal. The documents include transcripts of the proceedings, expert statements, and the testimony of some witnesses. On , more witness interviews and more than 50 brief audio recordings between the police dispatchers and responding police officers were released. On , a third release included the transcripts of witness interviews, including one with Dorian Johnson. A video of the two-hour interview of Johnson by FBI and county police was withheld.
Robert P. McCulloch was the main focus of much of the criticism throughout the process and well into its aftermath. Attorney Raul Reyes characterized McCulloch as not being impartial, as his father was a police officer killed in an incident with a black suspect and other members of his family served with the Police Department. A petition calling for McCulloch to recuse himself gained 70,000 signatures. Governor Jay Nixon declined to remove McCulloch and said doing so would potentially jeopardize the prosecution. McCulloch dismissed the claims of bias, and later said he regretted not speaking publicly about his background at the time.
Legal analysts raised concerns over McCulloch's unorthodox approach, saying this process could have influenced the grand jury to decide against indictment and that they were given too much material to assess. The analysts highlighted the significant differences between a typical grand jury proceeding in Missouri and how Wilson's case was handled.
Evidence
Shooting scene
Evidence presented to the grand jury showed that the shooting scene extended approximately along Canfield Drive, near where it intersects Copper Creek Court. The two-lane street runs east to west, and has sidewalks and curbs on both sides. Immediately prior to the incident, Brown was walking eastbound on Canfield and Wilson was driving westbound. Evidence at the scene was generally clustered around Wilson's SUV on the western side of the scene and near Brown's body, which was in the eastern part of the area.
The western area included Wilson's police vehicle, which was angled slightly toward the right curb with its left-rear corner on the center line. Evidence included two bracelets, a baseball cap, and two .40 caliber spent casings. One of these casings was found at the western edge of the scene and the other was located near the rear driver's side of the police vehicle. There were two groups of red stains near the driver's side of the vehicle and a left sandal was also located in the vicinity. The right sandal was approximately east of the western area.
The eastern area, which was approximately east of the western area, was about wide. Brown's body was situated along the center-line of the road with his head oriented in a westerly direction. The distance from the driver's door of the SUV to Brown's head was about . Two groups of red stains were located at the extreme eastern edge of the scene, with the furthest under from Brown's feet.
One apparent projectile was found near the body. There were ten spent casings scattered on the south side of the road near Brown's body. The distribution of the casings, combined with most of the casings being east of the body, was consistent with the officer moving backward while firing. Blood spatter approximately 25 feet behind Brown's body suggested he was moving toward Wilson when he was killed.
DNA
Brown's DNA was found on the gun. His DNA was also found on the left thigh of Wilson's pants and on the inside driver's door handle of Wilson's police SUV, the result of Brown's spilled blood staining Wilson's pants and the door handle. Wilson's DNA was found on Brown's left palm but was not found under Brown's fingernails or on his right hand.
Michael Graham, the St. Louis medical examiner, said blood was found on Wilson's gun and inside the car, and tissue from Brown was found on the exterior of the driver's side of Wilson's vehicle; this evidence was consistent with a struggle at that location. According to Judy Melinek, a San Francisco pathologist who commented on the case as an expert, the official autopsy, which said Brown's hand had foreign matter consistent with a gun discharge on it, supported Wilson's testimony that Brown was reaching for the weapon, or indicated the gun was inches away from Brown's hand when it went off.
According to the detective who performed tests on the gun, he had to decide whether to perform a DNA test or dust for fingerprints, because only one test can be performed without affecting the other. He found the gun stored in an unsealed envelope, contrary to the customary evidence-handling protocol. Documents released after the grand jury proceedings show Wilson washed blood from his hands and checked his own gun into an evidence bag, both actions described by media outlets as unorthodox procedures for such a case.
Autopsies
Three autopsies were performed on Brown's body, with all three noting Brown had been shot at least six times, including twice in the head. He received no shots in his back.
The county autopsy report described gunshot entry and exit wounds to Brown's right arm coming from both the front (ventral, palms facing forward) and the back (dorsal, palms facing backward).
County
The local medical examiner autopsy report released to state prosecutors said Brown was shot in the front part of his body. When Mary Case, the County medical examiner, was asked to provide details, she declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation into Brown's death. The official county autopsy was later leaked to the Post-Dispatch.
The narrative report of investigation from the office of the medical examiner of agreed with Wilson's testimony. It noted Brown had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the head, torso, and right arm, as well as a single gunshot wound to the inside of his right hand near his thumb and palm; it also noted Brown's body had abrasions to the right side of his face and on the back of his left hand.
The autopsy noted the absence of stippling, powder burns around a wound that indicate a shot was fired at a relatively short range. Michael Graham notes gunshot wounds within an inch of the body do not always cause stippling. Microscopic examination of tissue taken from the thumb wound detected the presence of a foreign material consistent with the material which is ejected from a gun while firing. The gunshot wound to the top of Brown's head was consistent with Brown either falling forward or being in a lunging position; the shot was instantly fatal.
A toxicology test performed by a University laboratory revealed the presence of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in Brown's blood and urine. This indicated he used marijuana within a few hours of his death, but not whether he was impaired when he died.
Independent
At the request of Brown's family, on a preliminary autopsy was conducted by Michael Baden, a former chief medical examiner for the City of New York (1978–1979). This autopsy was limited because the previous county autopsy had washed, embalmed, and taken evidence off the body.
According to Baden's report, Brown was shot six times into his front: four of the bullets entered his right arm, one entered his right eye on a downward trajectory, and one entered the top of his skull. All of the rounds were fired from a distance of at least one foot. One of the shots shattered his right eye, traveled through his face, then exited his jaw and reentered his collarbone. Brown could have survived the first bullet wounds, but the bullet that entered the top of his head resulted in a fatal injury.
Baden had no access to the clothing of the victim, and had not yet seen the x-rays showing where bullets were in the body. He could not determine if any gunpowder residue was on that clothing. Baden concluded there was too little information to forensically reconstruct the shooting. At least two commentators noted the results of both autopsies contradicted some aspects of some eyewitness accounts, which had reported Wilson shot Brown in the back and that Wilson shot Brown while holding Brown's neck. In later analysis, Baden reclassified one of Brown's chest wounds as an entry wound.
Baden was assisted by Shawn Parcells, who did not have a degree or credentials in medicine or pathology. Thomas Young, former Jackson County Medical Examiner, said Parcells gave out forensic pathology opinions when he is not qualified to do so. Mary Case, who performed the initial autopsy, said Parcells' involvement could cause issues with the second autopsy. Parcells said all he did was assist Baden. In 2021, Parcells was convicted of six criminal charges relating to autopsies he illegally performed.
Federal
Attorney General Holder ordered a third autopsy of Brown's body. Its findings matched the other two autopsies, but its detailed findings were initially withheld from the public due to the ongoing investigation. The federal autopsy report was among a group of documents released by the County Prosecutor's Office on , two weeks after the grand jury chose not to indict Wilson.
Audio recording of gunshots
On , CNN released an audio recording purported to contain the sounds of the shooting. The recording was made by an anonymous third-party who happened to be recording a video-text message at the time of the incident. Glide, a video messaging service, confirmed the audio had been recorded on their site at on the day of the shooting. The twelve-second recording contains a series of shots, a short pause, and then a second series of shots.
Forensic audio expert Paul Ginsberg says he heard six shots, a pause, and then four additional shots. Ginsberg said, "I was very concerned about that pause ... because it's not just the number of gunshots, it's how they're fired. And that has a huge relevance on how this case might finally end up." CNN's law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes noted most accounts of the shooting say there was a single shot earlier in the incident near the vehicle that is not audible in the recording. The recording was also analyzed by SST, Inc., a company specializing in gunfire locator technology. That analysis found the sound of ten gunshots and seven gunshot echoes within seven seconds, with a three-second pause after the sixth shot. The company's analysis also said all ten rounds were fired from within a radius of , indicating the shooter was not moving.
Handling
The Washington Post said there were unorthodox forensic practices shown in the published testimony of Wilson and other law enforcement officials. It said Wilson washed blood off of his hands without photographing them first. It also said Wilson submitted his gun to evidence by himself, and that initial interviews of Wilson were conducted with other personnel present and were not taped. It described Wilson's face injuries after the shooting as photographed by a local detective at the Fraternal Order of Police building, instead of at Ferguson Police headquarters. An investigator with the County Medical Examiner's office testified he decided not to take measurements at the crime scene nor did he photograph the scene, instead relying on photographs taken by the County Police Department.
Witness accounts
Multiple witnesses saw part or all of the event and have given interviews to the media, testified to the grand jury, and were interviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice. The witness accounts were conflicting on various points. David A. Klinger, a criminologist at the University of Missouri–, said eyewitness testimony often differs from witness to witness, a phenomenon commonly known as the Rashomon effect.
An Associated Press review of the grand jury found numerous problems in the witness testimony, including statements that were "inconsistent, fabricated, or provably wrong". Several of the witnesses admitted changing their testimony to fit released evidence, or other witness statements. Prosecuting attorney Robert McCulloch said, "I thought it was important to present anybody and everybody, and some that were, yes, clearly not telling the truth, no question about it."
The Department of Justice investigation into the shooting determined witnesses who corroborated Wilson's account were credible while those who contradicted his account were not. The witnesses that claimed Brown was surrendering or did not move toward Wilson were not credible; the report said their claims were inconsistent with the physical evidence, other witness statements, and in some cases prior statements from the same witness. No witness statements that pointed to Wilson's guilt were determined to be credible. Twenty-four statements were determined to lack any credibility, while eight which were found credible corroborated Wilson's account. Nine did not completely contradict nor corroborate Wilson's account. Several witnesses reported fear of reprisals from the community for providing evidence that corroborated Wilson's account.
Wilson's interview and testimony
Wilson gave his account of the incident in an interview with a detective on , and in testimony before the grand jury in September. Wilson said he had just left a call involving a sick person when he heard on his radio that there was a theft in progress at a local convenience store. Wilson heard the description of the suspects and soon after observed two black males walking down the middle of the street. Wilson pulled up to them and told the two to walk on the sidewalk, and Johnson replied, "we're almost to our destination". As they passed his window, Brown said "fuck what you have to say".
Wilson then backed up about ten feet to where they were and attempted to open his door. After backing up, Wilson told the two to "come here", and Brown told him in reply, "what the fuck are you gonna do". Wilson shut the door and Brown approached him and he opened the door again "trying to push him back", while telling him to get back. Brown "started swinging and punching at me from outside the vehicle", and Brown had his body against the door. Wilson said the first strike from Brown was a "glancing blow", and at that point he was trying to get Brown's arms out of his face. This was when Brown turned to his left and handed Johnson several packs of the stolen cigarillos he had been holding. Wilson then grabbed Brown's right arm trying to get control, but Brown hit him in the face. Wilson said he "felt like a 5-year-old holding onto Hulk Hogan" while he attempted to restrain Brown when he reached through his police car window. Wilson said it "jarred" him back and he yelled at Brown numerous times to stop and get back. Wilson said he thought about using his mace and his baton, but he was unable to reach either of them. He then drew his weapon and pointed it at Brown and told him to stop or he would shoot him, while ordering him to the ground.
According to Wilson, Brown then said "you're too much of a fucking pussy to shoot me" and grabbed for his gun and twisted it, pointing it at him, into his hip area. Wilson placed his left hand against Brown's hand and his other hand on the gun and pushed forward with both his arms. The gun was somewhat lined up with Brown, and Wilson pulled the trigger twice, but the weapon failed to discharge. On the next try, the gun fired and Brown then attempted to hit him multiple times inside his vehicle. Wilson shot at Brown again, but missed, and Brown took off running east, while Wilson exited his vehicle and radioed for backup. Wilson followed Brown, yelling for him to stop and get on the ground, but he kept running. Brown eventually stopped and turned and made a "grunting noise" and started running at him with his right hand under his shirt in his waistband. Brown ignored Wilson's commands to stop and get on the ground, so Wilson fired multiple shots at him, paused, and yelled at him to get on the ground again, but Brown was still charging at him and had not slowed down. Wilson then fired another set of shots, but Brown was still running at him. When Brown was about eight to ten feet away, Wilson fired more shots, with one of those hitting Brown in the head, which brought him down with his hand still in his waistband. Wilson said two patrol cars showed up approximately fifteen to twenty seconds after the final shot. When his supervisor arrived, he was sent to the police station.
Wilson told detectives Brown had reached his right hand into his waistband and that the hand still appeared to be in the waistband after Brown was shot. The medical investigator at the scene of the shooting did not take any photographs and testified to the grand jury that Brown's left hand was under his dead body, near the waistband, and the right hand was extended outwards.
On , Wilson gave his first public interview about the shooting to ABC News' George Stephanopoulos.
Corroborating Wilson's testimony
Numerous witness accounts were consistent with Wilson's account and also agreed with the physical evidence at hand. Many witnesses corroborated that Wilson acted in self-defense during the event. A number of the witnesses who corroborated Wilson's account of events expressed fear and apprehension in testifying, saying they had been harassed or threatened by individuals from the Ferguson community. The following are a sample of the witnesses whose accounts aligned with Wilson's testimony.
Witness 102 was a 27-year-old biracial male. He said he saw Wilson chase Brown until Brown abruptly turned around. Brown did not put his hands up in surrender but made some type of movement similar to pulling his pants up or a shoulder shrug and then made a full charge at Wilson. Witness 102 thought Wilson's life was threatened and he only fired shots when Brown was coming toward him.
After the shooting, Witness 102 remained in the neighborhood for a short period of time, and corrected a couple of people who claimed Wilson "stood over [Brown] and shot while [he was] on the ground". In response, Witness 102 said Wilson shot Brown because Brown came back toward Wilson. Witness 102 "kept thinking" Wilson's shots were "missing" Brown because Brown kept moving. Witness 102 did not stay in the neighborhood for long, and left the area shortly afterward because he felt uncomfortable. According to the witness, "crowds of people had begun to gather, wrongly claiming the police shot Brown for no reason and that he had his hands up in surrender". Two black women approached Witness 102, mobile phones set to record, asking him to recount what he had witnessed. Witness 102 responded that they would not like what he had to say. The women responded with racial slurs, calling him names like 'white motherfucker'."
Witness 103, a 58-year-old black male, testified that from his parked truck he saw "Brown punching Wilson at least three times in the facial area, through the open driver's window of the SUV... Wilson and Brown [had] hold of each other's shirts, but Brown was 'getting in a couple of blows [on Wilson]'." Wilson was leaning back toward the passenger seat with his forearm up, in an effort to block the blows. Then Witness 103 heard a gunshot and Brown took off running. Wilson exited the SUV, appeared to be using his shoulder microphone to call into his radio, and chased Brown with his gun held low ... Brown came to a stop near a car, put his hand down on the car, and turned around to face Wilson. Brown's hands were then down at his sides. Witness 103 did not see Brown's hands up. Wanting to leave, Witness 103 began to turn his car around in the opposite direction that Brown had been running when he heard additional shots. Witness 103 turned to his right, and saw Brown "moving fast" toward Wilson. Witness 103 then drove away."
Witness 104, a 26-year-old biracial female, witnessed the end of the altercation from a minivan:
[Witness 104] saw Brown run from the SUV, followed by Wilson, who "hopped" out of the SUV and ran after him while yelling "stop, stop, stop". Wilson did not fire his gun as Brown ran from him. Brown then turned around and "for a second" began to raise his hands as though he may have considered surrendering, but then quickly "balled up in fists" in a running position and "charged" at Wilson. Witness 104 described it as a "tackle run", explaining Brown "wasn't going to stop". Wilson fired his gun only as Brown charged at him, backing up as Brown came toward him. Witness 104 explained there were three separate volleys of shots. Each time, Brown ran toward Wilson, Wilson fired, Brown paused, Wilson stopped firing, and then Brown charged again. The pattern continued until Brown fell to the ground, "smashing" his face upon impact. Wilson did not fire while Brown momentarily had his hands up. Witness 104 explained it took some time for Wilson to fire, adding that she "would have fired sooner". Wilson did not go near Brown's body after Brown fell to his death.
Witness 108, a 74-year-old black male, told detectives the police officer was "in the right" and "did what he had to do", and that statements made by people in the apartment complex about Brown surrendering were inaccurate. Witness 108 later told investigators he "would have fucking shot that boy, too", and mimicked the aggressive stance Brown made while charging Wilson. He explained Wilson told Brown to "stop" or "get down" at least ten times, but instead Brown "charged" at Wilson. Witness 108 also told detectives there were other witnesses on Canfield Drive who saw what he saw.
Witness 109, a 53-year-old black male, said he decided to come forward after seeing Dorian Johnson "lie" about the events on television. He said when Wilson asked the two boys to get out of the street, Brown responded something to the effect of "Fuck the police." Afterward, Wilson got out of his car and Brown hit him in the face. Witness 109 said he saw Wilson reach for his taser but dropped it and then grabbed a gun, after which Brown grabbed for Wilson's gun. According to 109, at one point Brown ran away from Wilson, but turned around and charged toward the officer. He said Wilson fired in self-defense, and did not appear to be shooting to kill at first.
Witness 113, a 31-year-old black female, made statements that corroborated Wilson's account. She said she was afraid of the "neighborhood backlash" that might come from her testimony, and feared offering an account contrary to the narrative reported by the media that Brown held his hands up in surrender. She also told investigators she thought Wilson's life was in danger.
Witness 136 was in his apartment using a video chat application on his mobile phone while the shooting occurred. After hearing the first few shots, he recorded the remainder of his chat on his phone and turned it over to the FBI. The recording is about 12 seconds long and captured a total of 10 gunshots. The gunshots begin after the first four seconds. The recording captured six gunshots in two seconds. After a three-second pause, a seventh gunshot is heard. A pause of less than one second gave way to the final three-shot volley within two seconds. The recording was not time-stamped. As detailed below, this recording is consistent with several credible witness accounts as well as Wilson's account, that he fired several volleys of shots, briefly pausing between each one.
Contradicting Wilson's testimony
Several witnesses who originally testified against Wilson were also interviewed by the prosecution. They admitted to lying under oath as to the truthfulness of their testimony. At least one witness took an account from a newspaper; this witness was later discredited by investigators during the process.
Witness 22, who originally claimed she saw Wilson kill Brown in cold blood, admitted she lied to investigators and never saw the incident at all. She said she was just passing along information which her boyfriend told her he saw. The court transcript reads:
Prosecutors also played the grand jury a 10-minute police interview with a man who claimed to have witnessed the shooting. They then played a phone call in which that man admitted he actually had not seen the incident at all. Another witness insisted another officer was with Wilson at the time of the shooting. By all other accounts, Wilson was the only officer present when he shot Brown. This witness described having a clear view of what transpired despite there being a building between the witness' location and where the incident took place.
Witness 35 said Brown was "on his knees" when Wilson shot him in the head. Under questioning, his testimony fell apart, and he admitted fabricating it.
Another witness described Brown on his hands and knees pleading for his life. After a prosecutor confronted the witness and told them what they had seen was not forensically possible based on the evidence, the witness later asked to leave.
Another witness—number 37—testified that, during a confrontation at Wilson's vehicle, Wilson shot Brown point blank in the chest—but Brown did not fall over and was not clearly bleeding as he ran away. This witness gave several different accounts of how many shots were fired. While he was further pressed for answers as to the truthfulness of his statements, he instead posed questions in return, refusing to elaborate on his statements.
Dorian Johnson
Johnson, a friend of Brown, who was with him that day, gave his account of the incident to media outlets in August. In media interviews, Johnson said Wilson pulled up beside them and said, "Get the fuck on the sidewalk." The young men replied they were "not but a minute away from [their] destination, and [they] would shortly be out of the street". Wilson drove forward without saying anything further and abruptly backed up, positioning his vehicle crosswise in their path. Wilson tried to open his door aggressively and the door ricocheted off both of their bodies and closed back on Wilson. Wilson, still in his vehicle, grabbed Brown around his neck through the open window, and Brown tried to pull away, but Wilson continued to pull Brown toward him "like tug of war". Johnson said Brown "did not reach for the officer's weapon at all", and was attempting to get free, when Wilson drew his weapon and said, "I'll shoot you" or "I'm going to shoot", and fired his weapon hitting Brown. Following the initial gunshot, Brown freed himself, and the two fled. Wilson exited the vehicle, and fired several rounds at the fleeing Brown, hitting him once in the back. Brown turned around with his hands raised and said, "I don't have a gun. Stop shooting!" Wilson then shot Brown several more times, killing him.
In his testimony in September to the grand jury, Johnson said he and Brown had walked to a convenience store to buy cigarillos, but Brown instead reached over the counter and took them and shoved a clerk on his way out the door. Johnson testified that on their walk back home, Brown had the cigarillos in his hands in plain sight and two Ferguson police cars passed them, but did not stop. When Wilson encountered them, he told the two to "get the fuck on the sidewalk" and Johnson told him they would be off the street shortly as they were close to their destination. Johnson testified Wilson was the aggressor from the beginning and that for no apparent reason, he backed his vehicle up and tried to open his door, but Brown shut it, preventing him from getting out. Johnson said Wilson then reached out and grabbed Brown by the neck and the two were engaged in a "tug of war", and Wilson said "I'll shoot". Johnson said he never saw Brown hit Wilson and did not think Brown grabbed for Wilson's gun, but that a shot was fired. At that point, Johnson said they both ran and Wilson fired while Brown was running away, Brown turned around and "at that time Big Mike's hands was up, but not so much in the air, because he had been struck". Johnson told the jurors Brown said "I don't have a gun", was mad and tried to say again "I don't have a gun", but "before he can say the second sentence or before he can even get it out, that's when the several more shots came." In his testimony, Johnson maintained Brown did not run at Wilson prior to the fatal shots.
Early reaction and analysis
August 9–14
Peaceful protests and civil disorder broke out the day following Brown's shooting and lasted for several days. This was in part due to the belief among many that Brown was surrendering, as well as longstanding racial tensions between the minority-black population and the majority-white city government and police. As the details of the original shooting event emerged from investigators, police grappled with establishing curfews and maintaining order, while members of the Ferguson community demonstrated in various ways in the vicinity of the original shooting. On , a day of memorials began peacefully, but some crowd members became unruly after an evening candlelight vigil. Local police stations assembled approximately 150 officers in riot gear. Some people began looting businesses, vandalizing vehicles, and confronting police officers who sought to block off access to several areas of the city. Widespread media coverage examined the post-9/11 trend of local police departments arming themselves with military-grade weapons when dealing with protests. In the days following the shooting, state and federal officials weighed in on the matter. On , President Barack Obama offered his condolences to Brown's family and community. On , Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky said in an op-ed in Time Magazine, that the event was a tragedy and that police forces need to be demilitarized.
August 15–30
On , a report and video showing the robbery of a convenience store by Brown was released by the Ferguson Police Department. Brown was accompanied by his friend Dorian Johnson. The report and video were part of a packet that included information about the shooting afterward. The report containing frames of the surveillance footage showed Brown grabbing a box of cigarillos, followed by an apparent struggle or confrontation between Brown and a store clerk. The statutory deadline in the Sunshine Law, Missouri's equivalent of the federal Freedom of Information Act, was the cited reason for the release following requests by Post-Dispatch, Judicial Watch and others.
The Department of Justice had urged the video not be released, saying a release would inflame tension. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon identified the release as an attempt to disparage Brown during the investigation that would inflame the community. Brown's family released a statement in which they condemn the way the police chief chose to disseminate information, calling it character assassination following the "execution-style murder" of their son.
The release of information was criticized as part of an erratic and infrequent release of information by the police. Previously, the police withheld the name of the officer involved in the shooting, citing safety concerns following death threats against the unnamed officer. The County Police incident report lacked details. The Ferguson Police incident report was obtained by the ACLU after a request and subsequent lawsuit. Wilson did not file an incident report and there was no Ferguson Police use-of-force report related to the incident. The Ferguson Police Department refused to commit to a deadline for releasing a full autopsy report.
When the report and video were released, the police said Wilson had known Brown was a suspect in the robbery. In a media conference, Ferguson's chief of police Tom Jackson said the robbery was unrelated to the initial contact, and had nothing to do with Wilson stopping Brown and Johnson. Jackson later clarified Wilson recognized Brown as a suspect because he saw a box of cigars in his hand. Eugene O'Donnell, a former district attorney in New York City who now serves as a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said, while the police officer may have stopped Brown for jaywalking, Brown may have been thinking the officer knew about the robbery: "Obviously the cop's reaction is not affected, but what could be affected is [Brown's] reaction to the cop."
A Pew Research Center Survey published on August 18 suggested differences in American public opinion between whites and blacks. It indicated 80% of blacks and 37% of whites believed the shooting "raises important issues about race".
On , St. Louis held their annual Peace Fest, which had a particular focus on Mike Brown. In attendance was Mike Brown's father, Mike Brown Sr., as well as the parents of Trayvon Martin (an unarmed black teen who was shot and killed in Florida in 2012).
In August, Chief Jackson said Wilson had been injured in the incident. Wilson's medical record shows his injuries were diagnosed as a facial contusion or bruise.
Brown's funeral was held on and was attended by an estimated 4,500 people. Al Sharpton delivered one of two eulogies.
September–November 24
On , anonymous sources leaked to the Post-Dispatch what they described as Wilson's grand jury testimony. The Justice Department issued a statement that it "considers the selective release of information in this investigation to be irresponsible and highly troubling. Since the release of the convenience-store footage, there seems to be an inappropriate effort to influence public opinion about this case." Wilson's defense team denied they were behind the leaks, saying they "[were] not in possession of any of the disclosed reports or the investigative report". The County prosecutor spokesperson said his office would not investigate the leaks because they could not force journalists to divulge their sources, and "you can tell by the information they have that the leaks are not coming from the grand jury or the prosecutor's office." The leaks concerning grand jury testimony were condemned by the Justice Department as inappropriate effort to influence public opinion about this case. The leaks referred to evidence supporting Wilson's testimony and decreased the likelihood of an indictment whilst fanning the flames of angry protesters.
November 24–early December
Following the grand jury announcement, protests, some of them violent, broke out in Ferguson and other cities across the United States. Several Ferguson businesses were looted and fires set by protesters. Protests erupted in 170 cities across the U.S., including St Louis, Philadelphia, Seattle, Albuquerque, New York City, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Oakland, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Chicago, and Boston. Numerous media reports and legal experts criticized the process for failing to return an indictment in cases concerning law enforcement officers.
A December 2014 opinion poll by Washington Post-ABC News showed a majority of blacks do not believe that they receive treatment equal to whites by the police or the criminal justice system. Six out of ten white Americans believe the police treat races equally with roughly half of white Americans believing the criminal justice provides equal treatment, but there is a sharp partisan divide between white Americans. Conservative or Republican white Americans are far more likely to say whites and blacks receive equal treatment in the justice system than the liberal or Democratic white Americans.
March 2015
On , the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wilson would not be charged in the shooting. Its report said "[t]here is no evidence upon which prosecutors can rely to disprove Wilson's stated subjective belief that he feared for his safety," and that accounts that Brown put his hands up are "inaccurate because they are inconsistent with the physical and forensic evidence".
President Obama reacted to the announcement, stating, "The finding that was made [by the Department of Justice] was that it was not unreasonable to determine that there was not sufficient evidence to charge Officer Wilson. That was an objective, thorough, independent federal investigation." He further added, "We may never know exactly what happened. But Officer Wilson like anybody else who is charged with a crime benefits from due process and a reasonable doubt standard."
June–July 2015
In a Gallup Poll taken in June and July 2015, 8% of black respondents answered that local police treat racial minorities "very fairly" while 44% of black respondents answered "fairly". In contrast, 29% of non-Hispanic white respondents answered that local police treat racial minorities "very fairly" while 49% of non-Hispanic white respondents answered "fairly". In the same poll, 38% of black respondents and 18% of non-Hispanic white respondents indicated a preference for "greater police presence in their local communities."
International reactions
Various heads of state and foreign news organizations have commented on the shooting and subsequent protests including the Chinese Xinhua News Agency, Germany's Der Spiegel, Egypt's Ministry of Foreign affairs, the Iranian Islamic Republic News Agency, protesters throughout the Middle East, the Russian Foreign Ministry, Spain's El Mundo, the British Metro, and others.
Amnesty International (AI) sent a team of human rights observers, trainers, and researchers to Ferguson. It was the first time the organization deployed such a team in the United States. In a press release, AI USA director Steven W. Hawkins said, "The U.S. cannot continue to allow those obligated and duty-bound to protect to become those who their community fears most." On , AI published a report declaring human rights abuses in Ferguson. The report cited the use of lethal force in Brown's death, racial discrimination and excessive use of police force, imposition of restrictions on the rights to protest, intimidation of protesters, the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and long range acoustic devices, restrictions imposed on the media covering the protests, and lack of accountability for law enforcement policing protests.
Reactions to grand jury decision
The grand jury process was atypical because of significant and numerous departures from other normal grand jury proceedings. The American grand jury process operates in secret, with the proceedings, evidence and testimony rarely being released to the public in cases of no indictment. From the beginning, McCulloch desired to provide transparency to the process and had the proceeding transcribed with the intention of releasing the materials to the public if there was no indictment. Paul Cassell, former U.S. federal judge, said the investigative grand jury was unique because they were investigating with no assurance that any criminal conduct was present, in contrast to normal grand jury proceedings which have been screened for probable cause by a prosecutor. McCulloch's intentions to present all the evidence resulted in the proceedings which took far longer than regular grand juries which decide within days.
Earlier in the hearing, the prosecution presented a 1979 Missouri statute allowing officers to use deadly force "to effect the arrest or prevent the escape from custody [of a person]". Before the grand jury deliberated, jurors were told to disregard the previous instructions and use case law from the Tennessee v Garner ruling, which said it was unconstitutional for police officers to use deadly force to apprehend non-dangerous fleeing suspects. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, acknowledged the grand jury was given information based on the state law before being informed that deadly force cannot be used merely to prevent the escape of an unarmed suspect. MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell argued that this change amounted to a deliberate attempt by the prosecution to make it impossible to indict Wilson. Andrew F. Branca, a Massachusetts lawyer focusing on self-defense law, attributed O'Donnell's comments as a straw man because self-defense is a completely independent and sufficient justification for the use of deadly force. The Public Radio later clarified that even if Wilson was indicted and convicted at trial based on the Garner ruling, the conviction could be challenged on the basis that Missouri law permitted the use of deadly force.
The prosecution's handling of the case received particular attention. Roger Parloff said prosecutors do not usually exclude truly exculpatory evidence and that prosecutors do not typically indict if they believe the accused is not guilty, disagreeing with the notion that McCulloch should have presented evidence with the purpose of obtaining an indictment. Jay Sterling Silver said the grand jury case indicated a conflict of interest between local prosecutors and police, as the former needs to maintain a good relationship with law enforcement. Mark O'Mara said the unusual process was to avoid arguments that the presentation was to effect a particular result, yet despite this McCulloch was still criticized for the decision. Paul Callan, former deputy chief of homicide in the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, gave a layered response which asserted the choice to present all the evidence was unusual, but not unprecedented in controversial cases. Callan said some prosecutors use the grand jury process as political cover in cases which would not succeed at trial, and in cases in which subsequent investigations and civil lawsuits would raise further criticism. William Fitzpatrick, of the National District Attorneys Association, said it was not strange for prosecutors in police-involved cases to provide all available evidence and not ask for a specific charge and defended McCulloch's inclusion of evidence. Jeffrey Toobin agreed the exoneration may have been well-justified because a conviction would have been very unlikely at a trial, but the process that was used does not inspire confidence in the legal system. In a later interview, McCulloch defended the choice to include all evidence and not skew the presentation just for the sake of getting an indictment.
The New York Times described prosecutors' questioning of Wilson as "gentle" and said it contrasted with the sharp challenges to witnesses whose accounts seemed to contradict Wilson's, and reported this had led some to question whether the process was as objective as McCulloch had claimed. The Times reported prosecutors asked witness after witness if Brown appeared to be reaching for a weapon when confronting Wilson, though few of them said this. Furthermore, contradictions in testimony by Wilson and other law-enforcement officers were left unchallenged by prosecutors. CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin criticized the prosecutors for asking softball questions during the cross examination of Wilson's testimony, and referred particularly to the fact that no witness could corroborate Wilson's story that he had warned Brown twice to lie down on the ground, and when asked, witnesses said they did not hear him say that.
After the grand jury's decision was announced, Brown's stepfather, Louis Head, turned to a crowd of demonstrators who had gathered, and yelled "Burn this bitch down", according to a New York Times video. Moments before, he had said "If I get up [on the platform] I'm gonna start a riot." He later apologized for the outburst.
Aftermath
By September 24, Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson publicly apologized to the family of Michael Brown. By March 12, five months later, Thomas Jackson resigned from the Ferguson Police Department. On , Wilson resigned from the Ferguson police force with no severance, citing security concerns. Wilson's lawyer said Wilson "will never be a police officer again" as he does not want to put other officers at risk due to his presence. The National Bar Association, an organization of African American lawyers and judges, made a complaint to the Missouri Department of Public Safety demanding Wilson's police officer license be revoked. Wilson's attempts to obtain employment as a police officer have been unsuccessful.
President Barack Obama announced the federal government would spend $75 million on body cameras for law enforcement officers, as one of the measures taken in response to the shooting.
According to the Associated Press' annual poll of United States news directors and editors, the top news story of 2014 was police killings of unarmed black people—including the shooting of Brown—as well as their investigations and the protests in their aftermath.
Roger Goldman, emeritus professor at Saint Louis University Law School, Flanders, a Saint Louis University law professor, and Senator Jamilah Nasheed seek the updating of Missouri state law to comply with the 1985 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Tennessee v. Garner.
The cover of The New Yorkers , 2015, issue depicted Martin Luther King Jr. linking arms with Eric Garner and Wenjian Liu, and joined by Trayvon Martin and Brown.
Funds for the Brown family and for Wilson were solicited on the internet, each accumulating hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations.
In August 2018, Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch lost re-election to reformist Wesley Bell by double-digit margins, ending McCulloch's 28-year incumbency.
"Hands up, don't shoot"
"Hands up, don't shoot", or simply "hands up", is a slogan and gesture originating from the incident and was seen in demonstrations in Ferguson and throughout the United States. The gesture became a rallying cry against police violence.
On , 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a report on the shooting, which said, "There is no witness who has stated that Brown had his hands up in surrender whose statement is otherwise consistent with the physical evidence" and "our investigation did not reveal any eyewitness who stated that Brown said 'don't shoot'."
Related incidents
On , two NYPD officers were shot and killed in their police car in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The suspected gunman, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, posted days earlier on Instagram his intention to kill police officers in response to the killings of Brown and Eric Garner. The suspect, who had a long criminal record and had shot his girlfriend in the stomach a few hours earlier, entered the New York City Subway and committed suicide.
On , 2015, two police officers were wounded by gunfire outside the Ferguson police headquarters. The officers, one from nearby Webster Groves, the other from the County Police, were providing security at a protest being staged outside the station. Two days later, 20-year-old Jeffrey L. Williams was arrested in connection with the shooting. Williams' attorney said, although Williams fired the shots, he was not aiming at the officers.
Eighteen-year-old Tyrone Harris (friend of Brown) was shot by police in Ferguson on August 9, 2015, one year after the shooting of Michael Brown. That same day, the Columbia (Missouri) Police Officers' Association (CPOA) proclaimed "Darren Wilson Day", calling Wilson an "innocent, but persecuted, officer" and insisted his ethnicity had nothing to do with their support of him. An ABC affiliate reported the post was shared nearly 60 times on the site before being removed. The CPOA then posted its support for Wilson and "all law enforcement officers who endure similar situations."
Task force on policing
In December 2014, president Barack Obama created a commission to make recommendations for broad police reform in the United States. The commission created by Obama released an interim report on , 2015, with numerous recommendations, including the recommendation that policy be created mandating "external and independent criminal investigations in cases of police use of force resulting in death, officer-involved shootings resulting in injury or death, or in-custody deaths".
DOJ investigation into the Ferguson Police Department
On , 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice began an investigation of the Ferguson, Missouri, police force to examine whether officers routinely engaged in racial profiling or showed a pattern of excessive force. The investigation was separate from the Department's other investigation of the shooting of Brown. The results of the investigation were released in a , 2015, report, which concluded officers in Ferguson routinely violated the constitutional rights of the city's residents, by discriminating against African Americans and applying racial stereotypes, in a "pattern or practice of unlawful conduct within the Ferguson Police Department that violates the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and federal statutory law" .
The report focused on the problem of issuing warrants for sometimes minor offenses. In many states, a chief cause for warrants is unpaid traffic tickets.
Brown family lawsuit
On , 2015, the Brown family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in state court against Wilson, Jackson, and the City of Ferguson, asking for damages in excess of $75,000 as well as attorney's fees. On , 2015, the lawsuit was moved from state court to federal court.
On , 2015, U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber responded to defense motions by dismissing four of the seven counts of the lawsuit and declining to dismiss two other counts. On , 2017, Webber approved a settlement between Brown's parents and the city of Ferguson. Terms of the agreement, including the settlement amount, were sealed from the public. A Ferguson city attorney revealed the city's insurance company paid $1.5 million.
Dorian Johnson lawsuit
On , 2015, Johnson filed a lawsuit in state court against Wilson, Jackson, and the City of Ferguson for being stopped by Wilson without probable cause, reasonable suspicion or legal justification to detain him. The lawsuit claimed that, according to the findings of the , law enforcement efforts focused on generating revenue rather than protecting the town's citizens. Johnson seeks 25,000 in damages. On , 2015, the lawsuit was moved from state court to federal court. The court denied the defendants' motion to dismiss the case; they appealed, and a three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court on July 25, 2017, allowing the lawsuit to go forward. The en banc Eighth Circuit reviewed and reversed the panel's decision on June 17, 2019, directing the district court to dismiss the case.
Appointment of Delrish Moss as police chief
On May 9, 2016, Delrish Moss, a Miami law enforcement veteran and expert in community relations, was sworn in as the first permanent African American chief in Ferguson. He said his challenges would include diversifying the police force and dramatically improving community relations.
Lezley McSpadden announces run for Ferguson City Council
On April 25, 2018, Brown's mother, Lezley McSpadden, announced to a Harvard University forum on police violence that she would run for City Council of Ferguson. She did not win.
In popular culture
The same month Brown was shot, American rappers The Game, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Diddy, Fabolous, Wale, DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz, Yo Gotti, Curren$y, Problem, King and recording group TGT released the song "Don't Shoot" as a tribute to Brown.
On De L'Amour — his final studio album released before his death in 2017 — the French rock and roll singer Johnny Hallyday sings "Dans la peau de Mike Brown", a song against racial crimes and in memory of Mike Brown.
In Prince's song about the 2015 Baltimore protests, "Baltimore", he sings "does anybody hear us pray for Michael Brown or Freddie Gray?".
In 2015, actor Ezra Miller directed a short film titled The Truth According to Darren Wilson. In the film, Wilson recounts his version of events, ending in him being called into a room to tell it to investigators, implying that Wilson unlawfully murdered Brown, and that he later lied about the events of that day.
Brown's death is the subject of the song "What It Means" by Drive-By Truckers on their 2016 album American Band.
Iconographer Mark Dukes created the icon Our Lady of Ferguson in response to the shooting.
Poet Danez Smith published a poem entitled "not an Elegy for Mike Brown", written the night of the incident.
Seattle based rapper Macklemore mentions Wilson in the song "White Privilege II" from his second collaborative effort with producer Ryan Lewis, 2016's This Unruly Mess I've Made: "My success is the product of the same system that let off Darren Wilson – guilty"
English folk singer Reg Meuross included a song called "The Lonesome Death of Michael Brown" on his 2017 album Faraway People. The song's title acknowledges Bob Dylan's song against racism in the 1960s, "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll", which describes the death in Baltimore of a bartender at the hands of a drunk patron, who struck her with a cane causing her to die of a brain hemorrhage.
See also
Black Lives Matter
List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States
List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States
List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, August 2014
Mothers of the Movement
Shooting of Alton Sterling
Shooting of Philando Castile
Shooting of Tamir Rice
Shooting of Walter Scott
Murder of George Floyd
What Killed Michael Brown?
Notes
References
External links
Surveillance video that police contend shows Michael Brown robbing a convenience store.
Police Department incident report of contemporaneous convenience store robbery
Chief of Ferguson Police Press Conference August 15, 2014
Documents from the Ferguson grand jury
Labelled grand jury testimony documents
Video of statement at end of grand jury along with press conference and transcript of statement
DOJ investigation report into shooting
Michael Brown's family's civil lawsuit against Ferguson
2014 controversies in the United States
2014 in Missouri
African-American history of Missouri
African-American-related controversies
August 2014 events in the United States
Civil rights protests in the United States
Crimes in Missouri
Deaths by firearm in Missouri
Deaths by person in the United States
Defensive gun use
Ferguson, Missouri
History of African-American civil rights
History of St. Louis County, Missouri
Law enforcement controversies in the United States
Law enforcement in Missouri
Mass media-related controversies in the United States
Race and crime in the United States
Self-defense |
44662841 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing%20of%20Akai%20Gurley | Killing of Akai Gurley | Akai Gurley, a 28-year-old man, was fatally shot on November 20, 2014, in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, by a New York City Police Department officer. Two police officers, patrolling stairwells in the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)'s Louis H. Pink Houses in East New York, Brooklyn, entered a pitch-dark, unlit stairwell. Officer Peter Liang, 27, had his firearm drawn. Gurley and his girlfriend entered the seventh-floor stairwell, fourteen steps below them. Liang fired his weapon; the shot ricocheted off a wall and fatally struck Gurley in the chest. A jury convicted Liang of manslaughter, which a court later reduced to criminally negligent homicide.
On February 10, 2015, Liang was indicted by a grand jury (seven men and five women) for manslaughter, assault, and other criminal charges (five counts total) after members were shown footage of the unlit house and the 9mm Glock used in the shooting. In evaluating the possibility of equipment failure, they concluded that the 11.5-pound (51-newton) trigger could not have been fired unintentionally. Liang turned himself in to authorities the next day and was arraigned. He was convicted of manslaughter and official misconduct on February 11, 2016, facing up to 15 years of prison time.
The conviction galvanized the Chinese community in New York City and across the United States. Many felt that Liang (an Asian American) was being used as a scapegoat; Chinese Americans organized rallies in major cities via WeChat, Facebook, Twitter, and email.
On March 28, 2016, prosecuting Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth P. Thompson recommended to Kings County Supreme Court Judge Danny Chun that Liang serve only house arrest and community service for his sentence. On April 19, 2016, Justice Chun sentenced Liang to five years probation and 800 hours community service after downgrading his manslaughter conviction to criminally negligent homicide.
Background
Akai Gurley
Akai Kareem Gurley ( – November 20, 2014) was born in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, and moved to New York as a child. He was not a resident of the Pink Houses but lived in nearby Brownsville with his domestic partner, her daughter, and their two-year-old daughter. According to police, Gurley had 24 prior arrests on his record, mostly on drug possession charges and often executed by officers with histories of civil rights violations.
Officer Peter Liang
Peter Liang (born ), a Hong Kong American, had less than 18 months of experience with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) at the time of the shooting. Liang emigrated to the United States as a child to Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, with his parents and grandmother; he also has a younger brother in college. Liang had aspired to become a police officer since he was a child.
Location
The Pink Houses are considered to be among the worst housing developments in New York. Patrick Lynch, head of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association of the City of New York, characterizes them as "among the most dangerous projects in the city" with dimly lit stairwells presenting a particular danger. Police Commissioner Bill Bratton reported that there had been a spike in violence in the neighborhood over the preceding months with two homicides, two robberies, and four assaults.
Two rookie police officers were assigned to the Pink Houses where they were conducting routine vertical patrols, in which officers scan a public housing complex from the roof to the ground floor, stopping on each level. The New York Daily News initiated rumors that their commander had instructed officers in the area not to carry out vertical patrols and instead to conduct exterior policing in the East New York housing project, and that the officers were texting their union representative as Gurley lay dying. The rumors were later debunked by the District Attorney's office but the Daily News did not issue a retraction or apology. The NYPD's policy on whether an officer should keep a weapon holstered on such patrols is purposely vague and the decision as to when to take out a firearm is left to the discretion of the officers, according to Police Commissioner Bill Bratton. The department also insists that officers place their fingers on the trigger only upon encountering extreme and particularized danger. During trial testimony, officers testified that they were taught during academy training to have their guns out at times for fear of possible ambush or when they felt unsafe, and that they were specifically trained to take out their firearm as they approached a roof landing because it was considered dangerous. One officer testified that cops are taught to beware of a possible ambush on vertical patrols specifically. She also testified of being trained to have her firearm out when approaching a roof landing, finger alongside the trigger. At the time the gun was discharged, the stairwell on the 8th floor was pitch black due to a broken light bulb.
Shooting
Gurley was visiting his girlfriend and getting his hair braided before Thanksgiving. He entered the stairwell on the 7th floor, below Officers Landau and Liang. According to the prosecutors, seconds earlier, Liang, who is left-handed, pulled out his flashlight with his right hand and unholstered his 9mm Glock with his left. He then shoved open the stairwell door with his right shoulder with his gun pointed downwards. It appeared neither side knew the other was there and no words were exchanged, according to authorities. Liang's gun discharged as he opened the door and the bullet ricocheted off the wall and struck Gurley once in the chest. He died within a few minutes. Upon entering, Liang said he heard "a quick sound" to his left which startled him. He turned left and "it just went off when my whole body tensed up," Liang testified. It was reported that Gurley actually ran after hearing the gunshot and collapsed on the fifth floor.
Similarity to the shooting of Timothy Stansbury Jr.
The fatal shooting of Gurley is notably similar to the shooting death of Timothy Stansbury Jr. that occurred in January 2004. Officer Richard Neri killed Stansbury, 19, on a roof of the Louis Armstrong Houses in Brooklyn at about 1 am. He had approached the rooftop door with his gun drawn. A grand jury declined to indict Neri on charges of criminally negligent homicide, declaring the event an accident based on testimony that he had unintentionally fired. He asserted to have been startled when Stansbury pushed open a rooftop door in a place where drug dealing was rampant.
Aftermath
New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton declared the shooting to be an accident and that Gurley was a "total innocent." Kings County District Attorney Kenneth P. Thompson said that he planned to impanel a grand jury to look into the shooting. Media initially reported that both officers had text-messaged their union representatives before calling for help; the claim was refuted as being false by both the police union and the District Attorney's office.
When asked by reporters, Mayor Bill De Blasio did not take any sides in this issue, commenting that it was a "tragedy" to Gurley's family and requesting respect to the court's verdict. On the issue of NYPD patrolling, he considered it essential to public safety; he also characterized the notions of Liang being a scapegoat [16] and police brutality cases somehow being linked together to be non-existent.
Gurley's funeral was conducted December 6 at the Brown Memorial Baptist Church in Fort Greene. Initially Al Sharpton offered to speak at the service but stepped down after a dispute within the family. Instead, activist Kevin Powell spoke at the service. Gurley is interred at Rosedale Memorial Park in Linden, New Jersey.
The continued conduct of vertical patrols has also been scrutinized in the wake of Gurley's shooting. Police Commissioner William Bratton has said that the patrols are needed to reduce crime and vertical patrols continue to be conducted in the Pink Houses. On February 5, 2016, while Liang's trial was underway, two NYPD officers were wounded while conducting vertical patrols at a housing development in the Bronx.
Reactions
Chinese-Americans
More than 3,000 protesters, mostly of Chinese American descent, showed up at New York City Hall in March 2015 to support Liang. Thousands walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan's Chinatown in April to demand the charges to be dropped, as had been done in the past with white officers.
Following his conviction, Asian Americans denounced the verdict at various gatherings across the country. There were differing opinions among Liang's supporters, with some feeling he should not have been prosecuted at all while others felt he should have been given a lesser charge—but all agreed the system needed to change. State Assemblyman Ron Kim stated, "I do not believe true justice prevailed. Our system failed Gurley and it failed Liang. It pitted the unjust death of an innocent young black man against the unjust scapegoating of a young Asian police officer who was frightened, poorly trained, and who committed a terrible accident."
Nearly 15,000 people protested on behalf of Liang in New York on February 20, 2016, with similar turnouts across the United States that day. Many of Liang's supporters demanded that all killers should be prosecuted and that there should be no such thing as selective prosecution, scapegoating, or racism. Joseph Lin, a real estate agent and activist, had helped to organize the protests due to feeling that Asian Americans had been too passive with no political voice, saying that, "If he's a black officer, I guarantee you Al Sharpton will come out. If he's Hispanic, all the congressmen will come out. But no, he's a Chinese, so no one is coming out."
New York City councilwoman Margaret Chin stated that she was satisfied with the grand jury indicting Liang but had also asked for leniency in Liang's sentencing. Senators Mark Treyger and William Colton had always spoken on the behalf of Chinese.
Black Lives Matter movement
Gurley's death was one of several police killings of African Americans protested by the Black Lives Matter movement. On December 27, 2014, 200 people marched in Brooklyn to protest the fatal shooting of Gurley on the same day as the funeral for slain NYPD Officer Rafael Ramos, who was a victim of the 2014 killings of NYPD officers, despite calls from the mayor to postpone demonstrations.
Legal proceedings
On February 10, 2015, Officer Liang was indicted by a grand jury for the shooting death of Gurley. He was charged with second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and two counts of official misconduct. Liang had a court date on February 11, and turned himself in that day. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released without having to post bond, and suspended from his job without pay. His trial started on January 25, 2016. Liang was convicted of manslaughter and official misconduct on February 11, 2016, and he was immediately dismissed by the Police Department. Liang faced anywhere from no jail to a maximum of 15 years of prison when sentenced in April. His lawyers submitted an appeal to Judge Danny Chun while Liang remained free without bail. Delores Jones-Brown, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, speculated to The Atlantic that Liang would have avoided conviction had he rendered aid to Gurley, while jurors later reported that the effort required for them to pull the trigger on a police-issued pistol led them to disbelieve that Liang's testimony was completely true.
Landau, the other officer involved, was not criminally implicated in Gurley's death. However, he was fired from the NYPD the day after his partner was convicted. Landau, like Liang, was also within his two-year probationary period and his firing after the trial was permitted by his contract. Landau testified at the trial of his former partner under immunity from prosecution, describing Liang as having been in shock. He said that neither of them tried to revive Gurley, with both of them saying they did not feel qualified to perform CPR. According to Landau's words, his instructor at the police academy helped them to cheat on the exams. Both radioed for an ambulance as Gurley's girlfriend performed CPR.
On April 19, 2016, Justice Chun reduced Liang's conviction from manslaughter to criminally negligent homicide then sentenced Liang to five years of probation and 800 hours community service. He believed Liang would be much more productive spending time in community service.
Arguments used in court
Assistant District Attorney Joseph Alexis claimed the killing wasn't an accident and that Liang chose to place the finger on the trigger. However, one of Liang's defense attorneys, Rae Koshetz, argued that what had happened was a tragedy, not a crime, because the bullet bounced off the wall and coincidentally hit Gurley.
Liang's attorneys, Robert Brown and Rae Koshetz, argued that Liang was in a state of shock after his gun went off and did not realize that he hit anyone.
The defendants also argued that Liang pulling out his gun was still considered in line with protocol because the "lack of lighting is commonly perceived as a sign of criminal activity." Furthermore, the light had been out of service for a number of days without repair. After Liang's bullet ricocheted off the wall and struck Gurley in the chest, the officers did not render CPR.
Ending
In August 2016, New York City reached an agreement with Gurley's family for $4.1 million, settling a lawsuit brought by Kimberley Ballinger, Akaila's mother. The New York Housing Authority paid $400,000 and Liang paid $25,000. The money went into a fund for Akaila, Gurley's then two-year-old daughter, who would have access after turning 18 with the court's approval.
After the settlement of Liang's trial, about $260,000 were returned to the donors. About $325,000 dollars were given to Liang's family and $80,000 would be used for Chinese communities.
Media coverage
The incident received national and international coverage, in part due to the recent police shootings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in Staten Island.
The New York City Police Department's practice of vertical patrols was also criticized. The Village Voice described the incident as part of a year of public relations disasters for the NYPD. Other coverage has focused on the maintenance and public safety issues that led to the death.
The incident is the subject of the 2020 feature documentary Down a Dark Stairwell.
A Shot Through the Wall, a 2021 independent film, was based on the incident.
Other influence
On February 12, 2016, Gurley's family demanded the NYPD permanently end all vertical patrols. They requested Landau be fired from the department and for the city to invest in programs like affordable housing, community centers, and after-school programs, instead of hiring more NYPD officers.
See also
Death of Latasha Harlins
List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States
References
2014 crimes in New York (state)
2014 in New York City
African-American–Asian-American relations
Black Lives Matter
African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
Crimes in New York City
Deaths by firearm in Brooklyn
Deaths by person in New York City
East New York, Brooklyn
New York City Police Department corruption and misconduct
November 2014 events in the United States
November 2014 crimes in the United States |
45179085 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Jerame%20Reid | Shooting of Jerame Reid | Jerame Reid was shot on December 30, 2014, in Bridgeton, New Jersey, by Bridgeton officer Braheme Days when he and his partner, Roger Worley, during a traffic stop for running through a stop sign. The encounter was captured on a dashcam video that was released on January 22, 2015.
Details
The two-minute fatal encounter started from a routine traffic stop, in which Bridgeton officers Braheme Days and Roger Worley pulled over a vehicle for running through a stop sign. While questioning the two men in the car, Leroy Tutt and Jerame Reid, both African-Americans, the video shows Days suddenly shouting to his partner, "We've got a gun in his glove compartment!", followed by "Show me your fucking hands."
Days appeared to recognize Reid, as he is heard calling him by his first name. Days retrieved a large silver handgun from the glove compartment. Days continued to warn Reid to not move, as Reid continued to move his hands around inside the vehicle. Several times, Days exclaimed, "He's reaching for something!"
As the situation intensified, someone in the vehicle can be heard telling the officers, "I'm not reaching for nothing. I ain't got no reason to reach for nothing." Reid then told Days, "I'm getting out and getting on the ground." The officer responded, "No you're not, stay right there, don't move."
A struggle ensued as Reid tried to push the door open, and the officer attempted to keep the door closed. Days stepped back, and Reid pushed the door open, got up, and exited the car with his hands at chest level. Days backed up and fired as Reid exits the vehicle. Reid reacted to the shots by moving his hands upwards. Worley fired one shot, and Reid was fatally wounded. Reid was unarmed at the time.
Legal proceedings
According to a statement from the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office, the two officers told investigators that they feared for their lives, believing that Reid was reaching for a weapon. On August 20, 2015, a grand jury voted not to file charges against the two officers involved in the shooting.
Braheme Days
Braheme Days is African American and formerly worked as a personal finance teacher at Woodbury High School in 2009. During a 2011 meeting of Bridgeton residents, Days suggested violence is a "many-headed beast, and we are going to have to attack it from many angles". Days is the father of Braheme Days, Jr., a shot putter from Bridgeton High School.
Days joined the Bridgeton police force in 2012 after training in the academy for six months. He was praised by Police Chief Mark Ott for winning "four out of the five awards given to recruits in his graduating class". Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae, who knew Days through another community leadership position he held, praised Days' "excellent character". In August 2014, Days and Patrolman Edward Connolly were allegedly shot at by Tyshaun S. Milledge while investigating a burglary. Milledge pleaded not guilty to the charge of shooting at the officers.
Between 2012 and the Reid shooting, there had been nine municipal court complaints filed alleging that Days had "stopped, searched or charged for no reason", but these complaints were dismissed with the reason of a lack of probable cause. In October 2014, a video emerged of a Bridgeton police officer spraying a handcuffed suspect with what appears to be pepper spray, with the suspect questioning why the "macing" was being used against him. People at the scene and within the video identified Days by name as the officer.
In February 2015, a US$ 25 million lawsuit was filed against Braheme Days by Shakera Brown. Brown claimed that from January to December 2014, Days extorted her for sex in exchange for not sending her to jail. The City of Bridgeton settled with Brown out of court for five thousand dollars.
References
2015 controversies in the United States
2014 deaths
2014 in New Jersey
2015 in New Jersey
Civil rights protests in the United States
Crimes in New Jersey
Deaths by firearm in New Jersey
Mass media-related controversies in the United States
African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
Race and crime in the United States
History of African-American civil rights
December 2014 events in the United States
Bridgeton, New Jersey
Law enforcement in New Jersey |
46500223 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Eric%20Harris | Shooting of Eric Harris | The shooting of Eric Harris occurred on April 2, 2015, when 43-year-old African-American Eric Courtney Harris was fatally shot during an undercover sting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as Harris ran from authorities unarmed. While Harris was being subdued, Tulsa County Reserve Deputy Robert Charles Bates, 73, confused his personal weapon, a Smith & Wesson .357 revolver, for a Model X26 Taser. Bates shot Harris in the back when he was on the ground. According to the Tulsa County Sheriff's office, he immediately said afterwards, "Oh, I shot him! I'm sorry." Bates was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter (unintentional homicide resulting from criminal negligence) and sentenced to four years in prison, and was released after serving 18 months.
Aftermath
It was later determined that Harris did not have a gun when he was tackled and shot. A sunglasses-camera video shows his arms flailing as he runs. Bates was later charged with second-degree manslaughter.
Harris family attorney Donald Smolen said the sunglasses video shows Deputy Bates with a yellow Taser strapped to his chest and a .357 revolver in his right hand as he stands over Harris. "There is absolutely no way, if Mr. Bates had been trained at all, which I believe will be reflected ultimately through the lack of records to substantiate his training, that an officer who was trained would [ever] get these two weapons confused," Smolen said.
In the video, Harris can be heard saying, "I'm losing my breath," to which 38-year-old Deputy Joseph Byars replies, "Fuck your breath." 24-year-old Deputy Michael Huckeby is also shown in the video kneeling on Harris' head as the dying Harris is told, "You shouldn't have ran," and "Shut the fuck up." A third deputy restraining Harris was not identified.
Tulsa Police Sgt. Jim Clark, hired as an "expert witness" for the sheriff's department, said at a news conference on April 10, 2015, that Bates "was a true victim of slips and capture", and that it was typical for law enforcement officers to experience diminished hearing, tunnel vision, or go into "autopilot", where a person's behavior "slips" off the path of his intention because it is "captured" by a stronger response and sent in a different direction. "Bates didn't commit a crime," Clark said, and no policy violations occurred.
Smolen told the Tulsa World that Clark's ruling was "premature and ill-advised", challenging a report that Harris was "uncooperative and combative" as firefighters attempted to administer aid, and Harris could hardly be combative since he was struggling with labored breathing and his hands were cuffed. "It's most likely the word 'combative' is being used because that's what they're being told by the Sheriff's Office," Smolen told the World. "The other alternative is their use of the word combative is more a description of Mr. Harris struggling to get air and kind of writhing in pain from the gunshot wound."
Bates' qualification scandal
The Tulsa Police Department immediately sought to clarify their relationships with both Bates and Clark. "Robert Bates has no current affiliation with the Tulsa Police Department and has not had any in 50 years," TPD said in a press release. "Additionally, Mr. Jim Clark, a consultant for the Tulsa County Sheriff, does not represent the Tulsa Police Department nor has the Tulsa Police Department conducted an assessment of this incident." Later that week, the Tulsa World reported that supervisors at the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office had been ordered to falsify Deputy Bates' training records.
Sheriff's spokesperson Shannon Clark later said the documents wouldn't matter because Bates, who donated $2,500 to and chaired Sheriff Stanley Glanz's re-election campaign, had been granted special exceptions.
In 2008, Bates had also donated substantial new equipment to the sheriff's department, including new Dodge Chargers and a Crown Victoria, as well as a computer for one car, and a $5,000 "forensic camera" and lenses. In 2010, Bates donated a used 2007 Ford F-150 and a new 2010 Chevy Tahoe, plus a Motorola hand-held radio "...to be used by the drug unit for surveillance work," according to department records. The next year he gave the department a used 1997 Toyota Avalon intended for "...use as an undercover car by the drug task force."
Glanz said during an interview with a radio station that the sheriff's deputy who certified Bates had moved on to work for the Secret Service, while the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office denied providing Bates with the training he claimed.
Glanz resigned, effective November 1, 2015, as a result of the scandal around Bates' lack of legitimate qualification. An election to replace him was held on March 1, 2016. In 2016 he pleaded guilty for failing to release information that proved the department knew Bates to be unqualified. Glanz was sentenced to one year in jail, but his sentence was suspended.
Legal proceedings
On April 14, 2015, Bates was charged with second-degree manslaughter (unintentional homicide resulting from criminal negligence). He turned himself in at the Tulsa County Jail, where he was released on the same day, having posted $25,000 bail. The charge of second-degree manslaughter carried a maximum of four years in prison. Bates pleaded not guilty on April 21, 2015. On April 28, 2016, Bates was found guilty. Based on the jury's recommendation, he was sentenced to four years in prison. Bates was released from prison on October 19, 2017, after serving 37% of his sentence, including jail time.
In January 2018, Bates was photographed by a customer who was familiar with him, as he had been apparently drinking wine at a bar in contravention of the conditions of his parole from prison. His bar receipt was also photographed.
In March 2018, Tulsa County agreed to pay the family of Eric Harris $6 million as a final settlement of a federal lawsuit.
References
2015 crimes in the United States
African-American history in Tulsa, Oklahoma
American manslaughter victims
Victims of police brutality
African-American-related controversies
African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
2015 in Oklahoma
Filmed killings by law enforcement
Deaths by firearm in Oklahoma
Black Lives Matter
Police brutality in the United States
April 2015 crimes in the United States
April 2015 events in the United States
History of racism in Oklahoma
Law enforcement in Oklahoma |
48410342 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death%20of%20Natasha%20McKenna | Death of Natasha McKenna | Natasha McKenna (January9,1978February8,2015) was a 37-year-old African-American woman who died in Fairfax County, Virginia while in police custody. The catalyst event, extraction from her cell and being tasered while shackled, was captured on the video of the Fairfax County jail.
During a team's efforts to extract the mentally ill prisoner, who resisted, they tasered her four times while she was restrained. No charges were filed against the deputies who tasered McKenna, but the case became the subject of a federal civil rights investigation because of several related issues.
Early life
At the age of 12, McKenna was diagnosed with schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder and depression. (Other sources say the diagnosis was made when she was 14 years old.) According to a family photograph, she was an honors graduate student from high school in Fairfax County.
She had a 7-year-old daughter.
Event
McKenna, a 37-year old woman, was being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center by the Fairfax County Police Department and Fairfax County Sheriff's Office in Fairfax County, Virginia, due to an outstanding warrant issued over her suspected attack on a police officer in Alexandria, Virginia.
Fairfax County officials had notified Alexandria police, whom they expected to pick up the suspect. But, there was an unexplained week-long delay in their response, and Fairfax decided to transport the prisoner to Alexandria. They said her mental condition was deteriorating. In Alexandria, better assistance could be provided, namely, the resources (i.e., legal representation to petition for a mental health hold) that were required to be provided by the warrant-issuing city.
Due to the previous assault charge against her, when McKenna was taken out of her cell, she was restrained with her arms behind her back and in handcuffs, her legs shackled, and a spit mask placed over her head. 17 minutes into the 45-minute struggle to extract her from her cell, McKenna, who was and tall, was tasered. A sheriff's deputy used a stun gun to taser her four times because she wouldn't bend her knees to be put into a wheeled restraint chair.
Because she was classified as mentally ill, a specialized team was attempting to ready her for transport to Alexandria. The team was made up of six members of the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team ("SERT"); they were dressed in full-body biohazard suits and gas masks.
Shortly after being tasered, McKenna suffered cardiac arrest and lost consciousness. She was resuscitated by emergency responders while being taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital. There she was placed on life support. After five days, she was determined to be brain dead and was removed from life support. She was pronounced dead on February 8, 2015.
Response
The Fairfax County Sheriff Department, led by Sheriff Stacey Ann Kincaid, conducted an initial internal investigation. This was later assigned to the Fairfax County Police, which is responsible for investigations of prisoner deaths. There were no criminal charges filed against the officers involved in McKenna's death.
The Virginia medical examiner's office made the determination that McKenna's cause of death was accidental, due to excited delirium, and that it was linked to the use of the stun gun.
Use of the stun gun was questioned by her family and counsel as being an excessive use of force on a restrained person, a small woman. Following McKenna's death, the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office suspended such use of stun guns at the county jail in April 2015.
The question of how police treat mentally ill prisoners became a focus of the discussion surrounding McKenna's death.
The Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team ("SERT") records its work of cell extractions of inmates by video. The video of the incident related to McKenna was released by the Fairfax County Sheriff's office.
The Commonwealth of Fairfax County released a 51-page report prepared by their attorney, Ray Morrogh. A 110 page incident report was also made available.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and other social justice organizations held a public protest in reaction to McKenna's death and the treatment of people of color by police.
See also
Excited delirium
Taser safety issues
List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, February 2015
Fairfax County Police Department
Fairfax County Sheriff's Office
Correctional Emergency Response Team
References
Deaths in police custody in the United States
1978 births
2015 deaths
American people who died in prison custody
Prisoners who died in Virginia detention
Victims of police brutality
Fairfax County, Virginia
Law enforcement in Virginia |
48503346 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Jeremy%20Mardis | Shooting of Jeremy Mardis | On November 3, 2015, Jeremy Mardis, a six-year-old boy, was murdered by police in Marksville, Louisiana, in a shooting that also wounded his father, Chris Few.
Two Marksville law enforcement officers, Derrick Stafford and Norris Greenhouse Jr., were arrested on charges of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder as a result of the incident. The evidence from a police body-worn video camera was cited as being contributory to the speed of the arrests.
On March 24, 2017, Stafford was found guilty on the lesser-included offenses of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
On September 29, 2017, Greenhouse pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and malfeasance in office. He was sentenced to 7 years in prison, but was paroled in 2019 after serving years, a quarter of his initial sentence.
Background
Marksville is a small city with a population of 5,702 at the 2010 census, characterized by familiar relationships and interactions between locals. The city had a series of running conflicts between Mayor John Lemoine and several city officials over budgets. The conflicts reportedly started soon after Lemoine took office in 2009, when he called for several audits of the city court and recommended that the city council lower the budget, including the salary of Marksville Marshal (equivalent to a police chief in other jurisdictions) Floyd Voinche. Citizens have described the politics as "particularly intense and personal". Lemoine was also reportedly in conflict with the Marksville Police Department, which had three different chiefs during Lemoine's five years in office.
About three months prior to the shooting incident, Voinche's office hired several local police officers to work part-time in street patrols and purchased two used Ford Crown Victoria police vehicles for their use. The street patrols involved mostly making traffic stops and issuing citations. Before that, the local marshal office's jurisdiction had been limited to serving court papers. According to Lemoine, speaking after the shooting occurred, Voinche did not consult with the city about this expansion of his operations, including the hiring of full-time police officers. Lemoine had written at least one letter to the office of Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, questioning the legal authority of Voinche's actions. Because state statute gives marshals the authority to enforce the law within their respective jurisdictions, street patrols and issuing tickets were considered to be encompassed in this authority.
Shooting incident
On the night of November 3, 2015, officers Derrick Stafford and Norris Greenhouse of the Marksville Marshal's Office attempted to stop a vehicle driven by Christopher Few. His son, Jeremy Mardis, was a passenger in the front seat. After Few and his fiancée Megan Dixon had an argument at a bar that evening, they had driven away in separate vehicles. Dixon said that she saw Few pass her, followed by a marked police car with two officers.
Greenhouse and Stafford activated the patrol car lights, but Few failed to pull over, resulting in a two-mile car chase. At some point, Greenhouse and Stafford called for backup, and two other officers responded. The chase ended on a dead-end street near, the entrance to the Marksville State Historic Site, at the corner of Martin Luther King Drive and Taensas Street. One of the responding officers used his body camera to record the confrontation.
Greenhouse and Stafford fired eighteen rounds of ammunition into Few's vehicle at approximately 9:30 p.m. Few was struck twice, in the head and chest, despite having his hands in the air, which was recorded on police body-camera footage. Mardis was hit by five bullets, and was also struck in the head and chest. He was thought to have died instantly, according to the coroner for Avoyelles Parish.
Police officers involved
Three of the four involved officers worked both as police officers and as marshals. While in most of Louisiana marshals are authorized only to serve legal documents such as arrest warrants, in Marksville, deputy marshals were empowered earlier in 2015 to make discretionary arrests, "preserve the peace", and issue traffic tickets.
Officers who fired the shots
Norris Greenhouse Jr., 23, and Derrick Stafford, 32, were officers with the Marksville Police Department. Greenhouse was a reserve officer with Marksville and served as a deputy marshal for the nearby Alexandria City Marshal's Office; he had been on the force for one year.
Stafford was a lieutenant and shift supervisor for the Marksville Police Department, and an eight-year veteran of that Department. He was "moonlighting" as a deputy marshal at the time of the shooting. That night, Greenhouse and Stafford were working side jobs for the city marshal's office. They were two of several officers hired by the Marksville Marshal's Office about three months prior to the shooting.
At the time of the shooting, Greenhouse, Stafford and Marksville Police Chief Elster Smith, Jr., were the subjects of a federal civil suit for use of force. Stafford was the subject of five civil suits in Avoyelles Parish; Greenhouse was named in one of these. In addition, Stafford had been indicted in 2011 by Rapides Parish on two counts of aggravated rape but the charges were dropped in 2012.
Responding officers
Lieutenant Jason Brouillette, a 13-year veteran of the Marksville Police Department, and Sergeant Kenneth Parnell, a five-year veteran, responded to the backup call made by Greenhouse and Stafford. Parnell was wearing a body camera, which recorded at least part of the incident.
Brouillette and Parnell were placed on administrative leave following the incident. Investigators do not believe either of them fired their weapons.
Victims
Christopher Few
Christopher Few moved from Mississippi to the Marksville area in April 2014 to work as an apprentice riverboat captain and to be closer to his relatives. He was listed in critical condition on November 3. A family spokesperson said that bullet fragments remained in Few's brain and lung. His condition improved to serious by the following morning. As of November 9, Few was hospitalized in Alexandria, Louisiana, where his condition had been upgraded to fair. He was released from the hospital on November 13. Few and Mardis shared a home with Few's mother prior to the shooting. Body-cam footage reportedly shows Few had his hands up when he was shot.
Jeremy Mardis
Jeremy David Mardis ( 2009 – November 3, 2015) was diagnosed with autism at the age of two. At the time of the shooting, he was in the first grade and attended Lafargue Elementary School in Effie, Louisiana. He had moved with his father to Louisiana from Mississippi the year before. Mardis' mother Katie Mardis, and his sister, still live in Mississippi. Christopher Few's fiancée Dixon described Mardis as an affectionate and intelligent child, and said that Mardis did speak. Mardis and Few shared a home with Few's mother prior to the shooting. Mardis was in the front seat of Few's vehicle and wearing a seatbelt when they were shot. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
A funeral for Mardis was held on November 9 at Moore Funeral Services in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where his mother and sister live. He was buried in Beaumont Cemetery. His father was still hospitalized and unable to attend.
Investigation and prosecution
Charles Riddle, the district attorney for Avoyelles Parish, recused himself from the case because Officer Greenhouse's father is an assistant district attorney in his office. The office of the attorney general of Louisiana prosecuted the cases of Greenhouse and Stafford.
Greenhouse and Stafford surrendered to police on the evening of November 6, and they were charged with second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder. They were transferred on November 9 from a jail in Avoyelles Parish to Rapides Parish Detention Center #3 because, as the police said, the latter facility is "better equipped to isolate [Greenhouse and Stafford] from the general population". It is standard procedure to separate ex-law-enforcement inmates from non-law-enforcement inmates when they are incarcerated.
Investigation
Colonel Mike Edmonson of the Louisiana State Police began an investigation into the shooting. He said that the body-camera video recorded by one of the responding officers was essential to the officers being arrested. Other contributory evidence included interviews with the cooperating officers, 9-1-1 recordings, and unspecified forensic evidence. Legal analysts cited by The Advocate newspaper of Baton Rouge, Louisiana also attributed the arrests to the body-camera footage.
Ballistics tests showed that of the four responding officers, only Greenhouse and Stafford fired their weapons.
Although initial news reports said there was a warrant for Few's arrest prior to or after the shooting, the state police have said this was not true. In addition, Edmonson said that there was no evidence of a firearm inside Few's vehicle.
The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Office of the United States Attorney, are participating in the investigation.
Few's fiancée Megan Dixon said that the police pursuit of Few may have been prompted by his running a red light or by the officers seeing an altercation she had with Few at a traffic light, when he approached her car and they had words. One police vehicle reportedly received damage caused by Few reversing into it.
Dixon also said that Few had encountered Greenhouse a month before the shooting. He threatened to hurt Greenhouse after the officer contacted Dixon, a former high school classmate, and went to the home she shared with Few. She said Few told Greenhouse, "Don't come to my home again, or I'll hurt you".
Gag order
Judge William Bennett of the Louisiana 12th Judicial District Court was assigned to the case and presided over the bail hearing on November 9. He issued a gag order that day, forbidding all parties, including police, victims, and witnesses, from discussing the case with the press. Media outlets had requested the Louisiana State Police to release public records with information about the case, but these requests were denied as a result of the judge's order.
Bail hearing and bond posting
A description of the body-cam video's contents was presented as evidence during the bail hearings, but the video was not shown. Bail was set at for each officer. On November 24, Greenhouse's family posted bond and he was released. Stafford posted bail and was released in March; both men were under house arrest.
Trial dates
Stafford's trial began on March 13, 2017; Greenhouse's trial date was set for June 12, 2017. The judge had postponed these dates in order to allow the defense time to prepare, including for their use of expert witnesses.
Outcome
The jury found Stafford guilty of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter. Stafford was sentenced to forty years in prison, half of which would be served "without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence."
On September 29, 2017, Greenhouse pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and malfeasance in office. He was sentenced to five years for the negligent homicide charge and two years for the malfeasance in office. Sources stated that Few's family agreed to the terms of the plea deal. The attorney general's prosecutor cited differences in the actions of the two officers as the reason for the extreme differences in their sentences. Norris Greenhouse, Jr. was released from prison as of July 3, 2019, after serving only 21 months (25%) of a seven-year sentence.
References
2015 deaths
2015 in Louisiana
2015 controversies in the United States
Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana
Child deaths
Deaths by firearm in Louisiana
Deaths by person in the United States
Filmed killings by law enforcement
Law enforcement controversies in the United States
Law enforcement in Louisiana
Murder in Louisiana
People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
Police brutality in the United States
November 2015 events in the United States
People murdered by law enforcement officers in the United States
Murdered American children
Marksville, Louisiana
Incidents of violence against boys |
48564072 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Corey%20Jones | Shooting of Corey Jones | Corey Jones (February 3, 1984October 18, 2015) was shot to death by police officer Nouman K. Raja, while waiting for a tow truck by his disabled car, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Raja, who was in plainclothes and in an unmarked white van, approached Jones, who was waiting by his disabled vehicle on a highway exit ramp. Within seconds, Raja fired six shots at Jones, striking him three times. After the shooting, Raja falsely claimed to investigators that he had identified himself as a police officer and shot Jones in self-defense; both assertions were disproved by an audio recording of the fatal shooting.
On June 1, 2016, Raja was charged with manslaughter by culpable negligence and attempted first-degree murder with a firearm. He was convicted of the charges on March 7, 2019, following an eight-day jury trial. Raja was sentenced to 25 years in prison on April 25, 2019.
Corey Jones biography
Jones was born to father Clinton Jones, Sr., who renovated houses, and mother, Anita Banks, a guidance counselor, who died from cancer in 2006. Jones' older brother, C. J. Jones, was a football player at University of Iowa and from 2003 to 2009 played as a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). Jones' sisters are Melissa Jones-Elliott and Chanda and Cevon Jones; his stepmother is Katie Jones. Jones was black, and had a very large extended family; among his cousins are NFL defensive tackle Vince Wilfork and NFL wide receiver Anquan Boldin. He lived in Lake Worth, Florida.
Jones attended Christa McAuliffe Middle School in Boynton Beach, Florida, where he played the French horn. His entire family was musical, and played instruments at home and at church. Jones graduated from Santaluces Community High School in Lantana, where he played football. Jones then graduated from the University of Akron with degrees in business administration and music. He worked as a youth mentor at My Brother's Keeper, a nonprofit organization that helps African-American youths.
Jones worked at the Delray Beach Housing Authority for eight years. He was an inspector/assistant property manager, a job that involved inspecting housing units to make sure they were livable. The position also required assisting tenants and landlords with communication.
Jones also worked part-time as a drummer. He played in a band at his church, the Bible Church of God in Boynton Beach, where his grandfather, Sylvester Banks, Sr., is a bishop. He also played with a band called Future Prezidents with bandmates that included Boris Simeonov and Mathew Huntsberger.
Nouman Raja
Nouman Raja is a Muslim of Pakistani ancestry. He was naturalized as an American citizen in 2001. His grandfather was a police chief in Pakistan. He worked for a small Florida police department for several years prior to joining the Palm Beach Gardens police. Raja is married with two children.
Death
On Sunday, October 18, 2015, at about 3:15 am, Nouman K. Raja, working as a plainclothes police officer wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and a baseball cap, in an unmarked white van with tinted windows, stopped by what he said was an abandoned vehicle. The Palm Beach Gardens police officer approached the vehicle at the southbound exit ramp of Interstate 95 and PGA Boulevard. Raja, on duty doing burglary surveillance, said he was confronted by an armed subject, so he discharged his weapon and killed the man later identified as Jones, a musician and local housing authority worker. In total, Raja discharged his weapon six times and hit Jones with three shots. One bullet entered the side of Jones' body, went through his aorta, killing him, and ended up in the top part of his torso, while the other bullets went through his body, hitting his left elbow and right shoulder. Jones' arm was broken from the impact of one of the bullets.
Raja was not wearing a body camera and his vehicle was not equipped with a dashcam.
Jones, who was driving a Hyundai Santa Fe, had car trouble and first called his brother, C.J. Jones, who offered to come help him. Jones was due in church the next morning and needed his car so he told his brother not to come pick him up. Jones' bandmate, Huntsberger, came to help, bringing oil, but they were not able to get the car running. Jones called for a tow truck and with that assurance, Huntsberger left. Jones had been returning home to Boynton Beach, after playing a show in Jupiter, Florida, at Johnny Mangos Tiki Bar and Grill. He had been playing with his band, the Future Prezidents. Jones was on the phone with AT&T roadside assistance when he was approached by the police officer. He had also called Florida Highway Patrol's line for assistance and AT&T #HELP multiple times trying to get help. Jones was using his government-issued work phone, so the records are available under state law.
Jones' body was found a good distance – – away from the vehicle, from which he appeared to have run. Jones had a .380-caliber gun, which he had purchased three days prior to the shooting and for which he had a concealed carry license. It was found on the ground between Jones' body and his car and had not been discharged.
Investigation and response
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office conducted an independent investigation of the incident. The Palm Beach Gardens Police Department released a 90-page personnel file on Raja. The FBI assisted the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office in its investigation.
Raja was an adjunct police academy instructor at Palm Beach State College, where he taught part-time. He was put on administrative leave from the college, as well as the police department, which is normal policy when an officer-involved shooting occurs. Raja previously worked at Atlantis Police Department in Atlantis, Florida, from 2008 to 2015. On November 11, 2015, Raja's employment with the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department, which was in a six-month probationary status from hire date April 13, 2015, was terminated. Around the same time, Raja's employment with Palm Beach State College ended, as a condition of his employment was his job working in the criminal justice system.
Jones' family is represented by Benjamin Crump, who represented the family of Trayvon Martin, as well as attorney Daryl D. Parks. On October 31, a funeral for Jones was held at Payne Chapel AME Church in West Palm Beach. Apostle Sharon Walker delivered the eulogy. Reverend Al Sharpton delivered words to the family.
Criminal conviction of Raja
On June 1, 2016, a grand jury charged Raja with manslaughter by culpable negligence and attempted first-degree murder with a firearm. Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg announced that the grand jury concluded Raja had no justification to shoot Jones, and the charging documents "allege that Raja never identified himself to Jones as a police officer as he drove up to the stranded motorist, yelled commands, and then opened fire."
Raja was arrested and his bond was set at $250,000. After making bail, Raja was released from the Palm Beach County Jail and placed under house arrest. A variety of conditions of pretrial release, including GPS monitoring and surrender of Raja's passport, were imposed.
On January 17, 2017, investigators publicly released evidence in the case, including "more than 3,000 pages of documents and 50 video and audio recordings," in response to a public records request made by the Palm Beach Post and nine other news outlets. Included in the evidence were audio tapes from the phone calls to AT&T Roadside Assistance and 9-1-1 were released. Although Raja had told investigators previously that he had called 9-1-1 before shooting Jones, the audio recording of Jones' roadside assistance call showed the final shot had been fired 33 seconds before Raja dialed. The recording also showed that Raja never identified himself to Jones as a police officer. In a State Attorney's Office report released on January 17, 2017, prosecutors state that Officer Raja lied to investigators, giving an account of events that contradicted the evidence.
On January 18, 2018, defense attorneys for Raja filed a motion to dismiss all charges citing Florida's "stand your ground" laws. In the motion, Raja claims that he identified himself as a police officer as he exited the van, that Jones "immediately jumped out, saying 'I'm okay, man'" as he approached the vehicle, and that Jones then "immediately drew a gun and pointed it at Officer Raja." Defense attorneys claim that Raja "repeatedly yelled for [Jones] to put his hands up and to 'drop the gun.'" Raja further stated he saw the silver muzzle pointing at him, and that he believed the gun was equipped with a red laser.
On March 7, 2019, Raja was found guilty of manslaughter by culpable negligence and attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, following an eight-day jury trial. On April 25, 2019, Raja was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Raja's scheduled release date is February 27, 2044, but under Florida Parole and Probation guidelines his minimum release date is May 29, 2040. As of September of 2019, Raja was being held at the Wakulla Correctional Institution in Crawfordville, a minimum- to medium-security-level prison southeast of Tallahassee.
Civil suit against City and Raja
On July 6, 2016, the family of Corey Jones filed a wrongful death suit, naming the City of Palm Beach Gardens and Raja as defendants.
Memorial
On February 2, 2020, during the broadcast of Super Bowl LIV, the shooting death of Corey Jones was featured in a 60-second commercial sponsored by the Players Coalition and narrated by Jones' cousin, Anquan Boldin. Boldin, a former NFL wide receiver co-founded the Players Coalition to focus on criminal justice reform, police community relations, and economic advancement.
See also
List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, October 2015
References
1984 births
2015 deaths
American manslaughter victims
Deaths by firearm in Florida
People from Boynton Beach, Florida
African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
October 2015 events in the United States
October 2015 crimes in the United States
Victims of police brutality
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Law enforcement in Florida
American murder victims
University of Akron alumni |
48568082 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel%20Holtzclaw | Daniel Holtzclaw | Daniel Ken Holtzclaw (born December 10, 1986) is an American former Oklahoma City Police Department patrol officer who was convicted in December 2015 of multiple counts of rape, sexual battery, forcible oral sodomy, and other sexual charges.
Holtzclaw was convicted of eighteen counts involving eight different women. According to the police investigators, Holtzclaw abused his position as an officer by running background checks to find information that could be used to coerce victims into sex. During the trial, the defense questioned the victims' credibility during cross-examination, bringing up their criminal records. Of the thirteen women who accused Holtzclaw, several had criminal histories such as drug arrests, and all of them were African American. The prosecution argued that victims were deliberately chosen by Holtzclaw for these reasons.
Holtzclaw pleaded not guilty to all charges. On December 10, 2015, he was convicted on 18 of 36 charges, and on January 21, 2016, he was sentenced to 263 years in prison.
Jason Flom (a founding Board Member of the Innocence Project), right-wing commentator Michelle Malkin and others have supported Holtzclaw's claims of innocence. On August 1, 2019, Holtzclaw was denied an appeal by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, which upheld both his convictions and prison sentence. The defense petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States on the basis that merging seventeen cases together "strains credulity". On March 9, 2020, the Supreme Court refused the petition.
Early life
Daniel Holtzclaw was born December 10, 1986, in the U.S. territory Guam, to Eric Holtzclaw and to a Japanese mother Kumiko Holtzclaw. His father is a lieutenant with the Enid Police Department, approximately north of Oklahoma City. Holtzclaw graduated from Enid High School in 2005. While there he played football as a linebacker, setting a school record for 25 tackles in a game. He played linebacker at Eastern Michigan University, where he graduated with a degree in criminal justice in 2010. After graduating, Holtzclaw unsuccessfully attempted to get drafted into the NFL. Following that, he joined the Oklahoma City Police Department.
Criminal charges and conviction
Charges
Holtzclaw was accused of sexually assaulting multiple African American women over the period between December 2013 and June 2014, targeting those from a poorer, majority black portion of the city. According to the police investigators, Holtzclaw ran background checks on women with outstanding warrants or other criminal records, and methodically targeted those victims.
The offense that led to Holtzclaw's arrest happened around 2:00 a.m. on June 18, 2014, after Holtzclaw had already completed his shift on the northeast side of Oklahoma City and was driving to his residence in his assigned police vehicle. During that time, police said, Holtzclaw made a traffic stop without reporting to police dispatch, running a records check on the driver, or revealing that he logged off of his patrol car computer. The driver was Jannie Ligons, a 57-year-old woman who was passing through the impoverished area that police said Holtzclaw was targeting. Unlike other women that police said he had accosted, she was not poor and had no police record. Ligons said that before forcing her to perform oral sex on him, Holtzclaw made her lift her shirt and pull down her pants. She testified that she had begged him to stop and was afraid for her life. Ligons promptly filed a police report.
When Holtzclaw reported to the OKCPD Springlake Division station the following afternoon for his daily 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. shift, he was pulled aside and driven to the department's Sex Crimes Unit by detectives Kim Davis and Rocky Gregory for questioning. After being Mirandized, Holtzclaw underwent a two-hour interrogation during which he denied all accusations of misconduct during the Ligons stop earlier that morning, and buccal swabs were taken for DNA comparison. At the conclusion of the interrogation, the two detectives told Holtzclaw that they believed that he was being untruthful based both on previous evidence and on statements made by Kerri Hunt, his 25-year-old cohabiting girlfriend, that countered claims Holtzclaw had made to the detectives. While he was released after the interrogation, Holtzclaw's commission and entry cards, uniform shirt and pants, badges, firearms (handgun and shotgun), radio, and keys to his assigned police vehicle were seized, and he was placed on indefinite paid administrative leave. After further investigation eventually turned up a dozen additional complainants, Holtzclaw was arrested two months later on August 21, 2014, and originally charged with 16 (and eventually 36) counts of sexual abuse offenses including rape in the first and second degrees, sexual battery, procuring lewd exhibition, stalking, and forcible oral sodomy.
While reviewing Ligons' case, the two sex-crimes detectives remembered a previous report of forced oral sex committed by a police officer. Looking back through police records, the detectives found the report of a woman who said she was stopped in May 2014 and driven to an isolated area by an officer who forced her to perform oral sex. No action had been taken at the time of her report, but when the detectives contacted the woman, she showed them the route that the officer had taken on the night of the attack, and it matched Holtzclaw's GPS route that evening. The detectives then reviewed Holtzclaw's automatically recorded history of running names through the department's two databases, looking specifically for people who had been checked out multiple times, and they contacted those women. In the initial investigation, six women were willing to come forward to testify, and the GPS device on Holtzclaw's patrol car put him at the scene of the alleged incidents. Police records showed that he had called in for a warrant check on all of them. Their investigation covered a six-month period, beginning with the first woman who was willing to come forward, a woman whom Holtzclaw arrested for drug possession in December 2013 and then forced oral sodomy from while she was handcuffed to a hospital bed.
Accusations of sexual assault and rape
Eventually, the police investigation brought together 13 women who were willing to testify; published reports did not include information on any possible further women who were not willing to testify. The earliest incident discovered was from December 20, 2013, where a woman said she had been arrested for drug possession, was hospitalized, and was forced to give oral sex while she was handcuffed to her hospital bed. She said that he again made sexual advances to her on several occasions after she was released from jail. The woman said that she was led to believe that she would be released if she performed oral sex on Holtzclaw. "I didn't think that no one would believe me," she testified at a pretrial hearing. "I feel like all police will work together."
Jury selection
The final jury was an all-white jury which consisted of eight men and four women. Three black men were selected to the first pool of 24 potential jurors but were eventually rejected. The president of the Oklahoma City chapter of the NAACP expressed disappointment in the lack of minority jurors.
Trial
Holtzclaw, who had been on paid administrative leave since he was charged in August 2014, was fired in January 2015 and his trial began on November 2, 2015. He faced 36 charges, including sexual battery, assault, forcible oral sodomy, and stalking, and pled not guilty to all charges.
In court, prosecutors produced DNA evidence that was found on a triangle-shaped spot on the inside of Holtzclaw's uniform close to the zipper. After the hearing, his family made a statement that "The facts are that there is no DNA linking him to any of these women as far as was presented in the hearing." According to The New York Times, however, the DNA did match one of the victims, then aged 17. The DNA that was found was skin DNA; Holtzclaw's DNA was not found in the same area of clothing where the 17-year-old accuser's skin DNA was found. Holtzclaw's defense attorney explained the presence of the skin cells as "secondary transfer" whereby Holtzclaw's hands had possibly come into contact with the woman's skin cells when he searched her purse and later transferred them to the zipper area of his pants. During the trial, Holtzclaw did not contest that he encountered the women, but he maintained his innocence. The defense concentrated on the accusers' lifestyles and called just one witness, a former girlfriend of Holtzclaw's who testified he never exhibited sexually aggressive or inappropriate behavior around her.
On December 10, 2015, he was convicted on 18 of the charges, with the jury recommending that he serve 263 years in prison. Charges included first-degree rape, sexual battery, indecent exposure, stalking, forcible oral sodomy and burglary. He also faced second-degree rape by instrumentation and sexual battery charges. Claiming that evidence was withheld from the defense, Holtzclaw's attorney requested a new trial on January 20, 2016. The request was denied by the judge immediately.
A statement released by Oklahoma City Police Chief Bill Citty reads, in part: "We are satisfied with the jury's decision and firmly believe justice was served."
Soon after his sentencing, all of Holtzclaw's information was removed from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) website. The website shows data on a criminal's offense(s), mug shots, and jail location. When asked where Holtzclaw is currently located, ODOC spokesperson Terri Watkins replied, "We are not going to comment, it is a matter of security." It was later confirmed that he was being held under an alias in an undisclosed Oklahoma state prison. As of April 2020, the ODOC database lists Holtzclaw as being housed at the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center in Lexington, Oklahoma.
In a 2016 interview Holtzclaw reasserted his innocence.
Appeal process
In a unanimous opinion on August 1, 2019, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals denied Holtzclaw's appeal. The ruling, written by Judge Dana Kuehn, rejected the appellant attorneys' claims of insufficient evidence and of improper procedure for bundling all 36 charges together. The opinion denigrated allegations of a "circus atmosphere," noting that the jury returned not guilty verdicts on half of the charges. In his concurrence, Presiding Judge David B. Lewis referred to Holtzclaw as a "sexual predator." In their public condemnation of the ruling, Holtzclaw's family and supporters called Lewis' description a "vicious and false assertion."
On March 9, 2020, Holtzclaw's petition for a writ of certiorari was denied by the Supreme Court of the United States.
Media coverage
According to The Atlantic, mainstream media gave Holtzclaw's trial for serial sexual attacks and rapes "relatively little" attention, although Black Lives Matter activists raised the matter in social media and helped bring attention to the ongoing judicial process. The Guardian reported that local activists were surprised that advocates from national women's groups, who had attended rape trials in the past, were absent from the courtroom at the start of the trial. Racial justice activists who had been very vocal about recent police-involved shootings were also accused of being largely absent from involvement in the Holtzclaw case.
In the absence of national attention, two Oklahoma City women, Grace Franklin and Candace Liger, formed the group OKC Artists for Justice to bring attention to the case. They said that they began to organize when Holtzclaw's bail was reduced from $5 million to $500,000 because it was so "insulting and infuriating", that they "wanted to stand up and say 'No. This is not OK. You cannot let a man who attacked and raped 13 women, per the charges, go home and have Christmas dinner with his family while those women are still in fear.'" Franklin said that they reached out to many national groups but received little response. She said, "It kind of fuels the feeling of separation between black feminists and so-called white feminists. Why aren't there more women out here of all shades, of all backgrounds for these women? Why are we doing this alone?"
An article in Cosmopolitan said that the media consistently ignores the violence perpetrated against black women and girls as compared to the coverage given to white women and girls. The article concluded:
Mainstream media failed these women. The lack of coverage thwarted a national conversation about sexual violence as a distinct form of police brutality. The stories of these women need to serve as an important intervention in conversations about anti-black state violence, rape culture, and the vulnerability of sex workers, ex-offenders, and current and recovering drug addicts to state and state-sanctioned violence. This verdict and Holtzclaw's forthcoming sentencing are entry points for a more thoughtful, humane, and transformative national dialogue about police brutality and sexual violence. With or without mainstream media coverage, we need to continue talking about this trial and everything it represents.
Holtzclaw's case was part of an Associated Press report in a yearlong examination of sexual assaults by police. The report found that approximately 1,000 police officers lost their licenses for sex crimes during a six-year period. Reporting in the case indicates that this may be an undercount due to inconsistencies in how different jurisdictions deal with and report problem officers.
In February 2016, website SB Nation published a lengthy profile of Holtzclaw that focused on his college football career. The piece was immediately criticized as being apologetic and sympathetic to Holtzclaw; it was pulled within hours of publication. SB Nation subsequently suspended and later permanently shut down its long-form journalism program and cut ties with the freelance author responsible.
Conservative columnist Michelle Malkin has written about the case and has repeatedly argued that she believes Holtzclaw is innocent, saying that the forensic evidence backs his version of events, not the accusers' versions, and that the investigators chose not to perform several tests she characterized as routine. Malkin debuted her first and second episodes of CRTV.com's Daniel in the Den on December 12, 2016, in Enid. Malkin released her film about the case, entitled Railroaded: Surviving Wrongful Convictions in 2017.
Jason Flom, a founding Board Member of the Innocence Project, dedicated an episode of his Wrongful Conviction podcast to interviews with Holtzclaw, his sister and a biologist who claims to have detected errors with the prosecution of the case.
References
1986 births
Living people
2014 crimes in the United States
2014 in Oklahoma
21st-century American criminals
African-American–Asian-American relations
American male criminals
American people convicted of rape
American people convicted of sexual assault
American police officers convicted of crimes
American prisoners and detainees
American rapists
Crime in Oklahoma
Criminals from Oklahoma
Eastern Michigan Eagles football players
Enid High School alumni
History of Oklahoma City
Incidents of violence against women
Police misconduct in the United States
Prisoners and detainees of Oklahoma
Racially motivated violence against African Americans
Rapes in the United States
Sexual assaults in the United States
Stalking
Violence against women in the United States |
50322814 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Daniel%20Shaver | Shooting of Daniel Shaver | On January 18, 2016, Daniel Leetin Shaver of Granbury, Texas, was fatally shot by police officer Philip Brailsford in the hallway of a La Quinta Inn & Suites hotel in Mesa, Arizona, United States. Police were responding to a report that a rifle had been pointed out of the window of Shaver's hotel room.
After the shooting, the rifle, which remained in the room, was determined to be a pellet gun. Following an investigation, Brailsford was charged with second-degree murder and a lesser manslaughter charge and later found not guilty by a jury.
Backgrounds
Daniel Shaver
Daniel Leetin Shaver (December 29, 1989January 18, 2016) grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and graduated from Hillwood High School in 2007. He lived in Granbury, Texas, with his wife and two daughters. Shaver was employed as a pest control specialist, and was visiting Mesa for a business trip when he was killed. He was 26 years old.
Philip Brailsford
Philip Mitchell Brailsford, like Daniel Shaver, was 26 years old at the time of the shooting. He had been employed with the Mesa Police Department since 2013. He was “administratively cleared” of wrongdoing in a 2015 incident involving excessive use of force during an arrest of three unarmed teenage suspects. Brailsford's father was a police sergeant who had also worked for the Mesa Police Department. Brailsford graduated from Mesa Desert Ridge High School in 2009, was an LDS missionary in Ecuador, and had signed up with the Arizona National Guard before being hired by Mesa Police. He is married and has a son.
Shooting
According to a police report, Shaver had been staying at a Mesa La Quinta Inn & Suites on business. He invited two acquaintances, Monique Portillo and Luis Nunez, to his room for drinks. There he showed them a scoped air rifle he was using to exterminate birds inside grocery stores. At one point, the gun was pointed outside his fifth-floor window, prompting a witness to notify the hotel receptionist; the police were immediately called.
Nunez left the hotel room shortly before police arrived at about 9:20 p.m. When police arrived at the hotel, they ordered Shaver and Portillo to exit the room. Six officers were in the hotel corridor while Shaver received orders for several minutes. Portillo was taken into custody unharmed.
Police Sergeant Charles Langley then ordered Shaver, who was lying prone, to cross his legs. Moments later, he ordered Shaver to push himself "up to a kneeling position". While complying with the order to kneel, Shaver uncrossed his legs and Langley shouted that Shaver needed to keep his legs crossed. Startled, Shaver then put his hands behind his back and was again warned by Langley to keep his hands in the air. Langley yelled at Shaver that if he deviated from police instructions again, they would shoot him. Sergeant Langley told Shaver not to put his hands down for any reason. Shaver said, "Please don't shoot me". Upon being instructed to crawl, Shaver put his hands down and crawled on all fours. While crawling towards the officers, Shaver moved his right hand towards his waistband. Officer Philip Brailsford, who later testified he believed that Shaver was reaching for a weapon, then opened fire with his AR-15 rifle, striking Shaver five times and killing him almost instantly. Shaver was unarmed and may have been attempting to prevent his shorts from slipping down. An autopsy report found that Shaver was intoxicated (with a blood-alcohol level over three times the legal driving limit), which police stated may have contributed to his confused response to their commands.
Body camera footage
Shaver's widow requested that the Mesa Police Department release bodycam footage of the event. The request for the bodycam footage was initially refused. In a recording released by Shaver's widow, purportedly of a meeting between her and Maricopa County prosecutors, she was told that she could watch the video only if she agreed not to discuss its contents with the press. Prosecutors and defense attorneys in Brailsford's murder trial asked that the bodycam footage be sealed. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sam Myers granted the motion to seal the footage.
On May 25, 2016, Myers ordered portions of the video released. The released video omitted the shooting itself. The redacted version included footage from Brailsford's body camera up to the time when someone exits Shaver's hotel room and footage from another officer's camera while he escorted a woman from the room. The full unedited body camera footage of the shooting was released by the Mesa Police Department hours after Brailsford was found not guilty of murder and reckless manslaughter.
Legal actions
Criminal charges against Brailsford
In early March 2016, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office announced it would pursue second-degree murder charges against Brailsford in relation to the incident. According to a statement by the county attorney, "after carefully reviewing the relevant facts and circumstances, we have determined that the use of deadly physical force was not justified in this instance." Brailsford pleaded not guilty.
Termination from police department
Later that month, the Mesa Police Department fired Brailsford, citing several policy violations and unsatisfactory performance. An internal investigation report revealed that Brailsford had violated department weapon policy by engraving his patrol rifle with the phrases "You're fucked" and "Molon labe" (a Greek expression meaning "come and take it"). Brailsford had also previously been investigated for body slamming a teenager during an arrest.
In the official police report of the incident, Brailsford defended his actions, saying that by crawling towards the officers, Shaver appeared to be "trying to gain a position of advantage in order to gain a better firing position on us". Shaver had indeed crawled towards the officers after one of them instructed him to. The report stated: "Shaver was co-operative, but sometimes confused by the commands and because of his possible intoxication".
Four months after the shooting, Charles Langley, the officer who gave orders to Shaver, retired from the department. By December 2017, Langley had emigrated from the United States to the Philippines.
Criminal trial and acquittal
Brailsford's trial for second-degree murder was originally scheduled for February 2017. A defense motion challenging the state's probable cause to send the case to trial; appeals to the Arizona Supreme Court over the release of controversially redacted footage from Brailsford's body camera made a February trial unrealistic. On February 10, 2017, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge George Foster rescheduled the trial for October 23, 2017. Brailsford faced up to 25 years in prison if found guilty of second-degree murder.
On December 7, 2017, after a six-week trial, a jury acquitted Brailsford of all charges.
Also in December 2017, it was revealed that Brailsford had been involved in a prior incident in 2015 regarding an arrest of teenagers in a store. During the arrest, Brailsford was recorded on video throwing a teenager against a shelf, putting the teenager in a headlock, then slamming the teenager onto the ground. At the time, the incident was publicized (but Brailsford was not named) by a witness to the arrest, who alleged excessive force because the teenagers "weren't doing anything". A spokesman for the Mesa Police Department said that the department "looked at" the incident and "administratively cleared" Brailsford, because "police work sometimes isn't pretty".
Department of Justice investigation
In March 2018, it became known that the United States Department of Justice had reopened the case and was looking into a possible civil rights violation by Brailsford.
Bankruptcy and pension
In January 2018, Brailsford filed for bankruptcy. According to a pay stub attached to Brailsford's bankruptcy file, he has been working for a steel company in Glendale, Arizona.
In August 2018, Brailsford was reinstated by the Mesa Police Department, staying for a further 42 days in what the department described as a "budget position". The department agreed to reimburse Brailsford for medical expenses related to post-traumatic stress disorder suffered due to his shooting of Shaver and the resultant criminal trial. The reinstatement allowed Brailsford to apply for "accidental disability" suffered during the course of work. As a result, Brailsford was unanimously approved to be retired on medical grounds. Brailsford was also given a pension of $2,500 per month. The fact that Brailsford was ultimately medically retired instead of remaining fired was only revealed to the public in July 2019.
Lawsuit against Mesa city
In 2021, Shaver's parents settled with the city for $1.5 million. Shaver's common-law widow, seeking $75 million, refused to settle and may press for a trial.
See also
List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, January 2016
References
2010s trials
2016 controversies in the United States
2016 in Arizona
criminal trials that ended in acquittal
deaths by firearm in Arizona
filmed killings by law enforcement
history of Mesa, Arizona
January 2016 events in the United States
law enforcement controversies in the United States
law enforcement in Arizona
murder trials
people shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
police brutality in the United States
trials in the United States |
52071804 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Deborah%20Danner | Shooting of Deborah Danner | Deborah Danner, 66, was fatally shot by New York Police Department Sgt. Hugh Barry on October 18, 2016, in her home in the Bronx, New York. According to police sources, she was armed with first a pair of scissors and then a baseball bat. According to an emergency medical technician, she had put the scissors down, and later on picked up a baseball bat. Barry was charged with murder and manslaughter in May, 2017. He was acquitted in February 2018.
On October 18, 2016, a neighbor called 911 at 6:05 p.m. and reported that Danner was erratic. Police had been called to her apartment before. According to the police, Danner had scissors, and Barry talked her into putting them down. Then she picked up a baseball bat and swung at him. Barry shot Danner twice, fatally wounding her. He was the only officer in the bedroom, although others were on the scene.
According to court testimony by Brittney Mullings, an emergency medical technician, Mullings had arrived before Barry. Danner had put down the scissors and Mullings was talking to her. Danner was not holding anything in her hands. Mullings was trying to explain to Danner why they had arrived. Barry then arrived, and did not talk to Mullings or Danner. The police interrupted their conversation, and Danner retreated into her bedroom. Six police officers followed Danner into her bedroom, and a minute later, Mullings heard two shots.
Background
Danner was mentally ill and had written an essay, "Living With Schizophrenia", in 2012. She was a parishioner who regularly attended Trinity Church Wall Street, and was active in that community's groups and ministries.
Aftermath
Less than six hours after the death, Sergeant Barry was placed on administrative duty and stripped of his badge and gun. According to The New York Times, "Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference that the sergeant had not followed training or protocols for dealing with those with mental illness, and for some reason had neither used his Taser nor waited for specialized officers trained to deal with such situations."
The death of Danner, who was black, spurred a protest on October 19. Protestors marched from her apartment building to the 43rd Precinct station house. Marchers included members of the New York Black Lives Matter chapter.
Barry was arrested and charged with second-degree murder on May 31, 2017. On February 14, 2018, Barry was acquitted by a judge in a non-jury trial. The judge ruled Barry as innocent of all charges.
References
2016 in New York City
African-American-related controversies
Black Lives Matter
African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
Deaths by firearm in the Bronx
Deaths by person in New York City
New York City Police Department
October 2016 events in the United States
21st century in the Bronx |
54040153 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Jocques%20Clemmons | Shooting of Jocques Clemmons | Jocques Clemmons, a 31-year-old, was fatally shot on February 10, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, after a traffic stop where Clemmons pulled out a gun, leading to a confrontation with Joshua Lippert, a 32-year-old police officer. After an investigation, the Davidson County District Attorney declined to prosecute Lippert on any charges, a decision that was protested by several groups. After reviews at several levels of the Nashville Police and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's work and reports, the U.S. Department of Justice closed the case in August 2017.
Events
Clemmons ran a stop sign and stopped in the parking lot of the James A. Cayce Homes. He got out of the car and was armed. His gun fell to the ground during the altercation with Lippert. Clemmons picked up the weapon before Lippert shot him, once in the abdomen, once in the hip and twice in the back as he tried to run away.
On May 11, 2017, the district attorney of Davidson County, Glenn Funk, decided not to prosecute Lippert. The decision prompted criticisms from the NAACP, the ACLU and Black Lives Matter, and protesters gathered outside the residence of then Nashville Mayor Megan Barry.
In August 2017, the case was closed by three federal government agencies (the United States Attorney's Office in Nashville, the FBI and the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division) after they reviewed the investigations carried out by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The decision was welcomed by the Fraternal Order of Police, which prompted protesters to leave banners on interstate overpasses criticizing them on the day of their annual conference in Nashville.
Parties involved
Jocques Clemmons
Jocques Clemmons was a 31-year-old man. He was raised by his mother, Sheila Clemmons Lee, and his stepfather, Mark T. Lee. He had two sisters, Aja Tate and Britta Goodner. With Tameka Lewis, he had two children, aged 13 and 8.
Clemmons was arrested or given citations for driver's license violations 19 times in the past decade. Clemmons was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2014 for a cocaine conviction. By 2017, he was released on probation, and prohibited from carrying a gun.
Joshua Lippert
Joshua Lippert is a 32-year-old police officer with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
Shooting
The shooting occurred minutes before 1 PM in the parking lot of the James A. Cayce Homes, a housing project in East Nashville, Tennessee. The brick buildings are home to about 2,000 residents.
From his unmarked police car, Lippert saw Clemmons, who was driving a gray SUV, ran a stop sign. When Clemmons parked in the parking lot and got out of his car, he was apprehended by Lippert. Clemmons was carrying a loaded Ruger .357 Magnum gun, which fell to the ground. Lippert tried to keep Clemmons away from the gun but he picked it up and ran away between two parked vehicles; Lippert shot Clemmons once in the hip and twice in the back. Lippert picked up Clemmons' gun and put it in his own pocket.
Lippert and fellow officers performed first aid on Clemmons, to no avail. Clemmons was taken to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he died from injuries during surgery.
Shooting aftermath
Within a few hours on February 10, the area between Sylvan Street and Summer Place on South Sixth Street was closed, and 30-odd policemen and detectives were on the scene. Meanwhile, Lippert was put on a paid administrative assignment but not suspended. Both the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation began investigations. The two entities argued over the conduct of the simultaneous investigations, with the TBI suggesting interviewing witnesses twice was problematic. The TBI also threatened to stop their investigation if the MNPD continued theirs.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department initially said Clemmons and Lippert had two altercations. Later, video cameras showed there was only one.
Clemmons' family raised $11,000 through GoFundMe for his funeral, which was held on February 18, 2017.
On May 9, 2017, Lippert's attorney asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to release their investigative report to the public.
On May 11, 2017, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department released a 20-page Office of Professional Accountability report of their internal investigation. They concluded that Lippert believed he was "in imminent danger" because Clemmons was carrying a gun, and that he acted in self-defense. The conclusion parallels Lippert's statement, who said he thought Clemmons was going to kill him.
The same day, the district attorney of Davidson County, Glenn Funk, decided not to prosecute Lippert, concluding that Lippert had acted in self-defense. He was assisted in his decision by Marcus Floyd, the assistant district attorney general; Amy Hunter, the deputy district attorney general; Roger Moore, the deputy district attorney general; Byron Pugh, the assistant district attorney general; and Ed Ryan, assistant district attorney general. During the conference, Hunter suggested the police report included bias in favor of Lippert. In particular, the MNPD report, which was written only five hours after the shooting, called the incident a "justifiable homicide" and "completed." Nevertheless, both Nashville Mayor Megan Barry and Mark Gwyn, the director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, supported DA Funk's decision not to prosecute Lippert.
Shortly after the decision was made public, a news conference was held by Clemmons' family in the Nashville office of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It was broadcast live on television, and #jocquesclemmons began trending on Twitter. They were joined by their lawyer and a grass-roots group called Justice for Jocques Coalition. During the news conference, their lawyer said the family rejected DA Funk's decision. His sister Aja added that they wanted to get Joshua Lippert dismissed from his position at the police department. Meanwhile, protesters began chanting "no justice, no peace."
Shortly after, the chief of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, Steve Anderson, gave another news conference, also broadcast live on television. Anderson rejected any notion of bias in their investigation.
The police investigation found that Clemmons' gun had been stolen from the home of a Tennessee Department of Correction employee in Ashland City in 2001; the woman initially thought a family member had taken it. Further investigations showed that the gun was sold at a gun show in Smyrna in October 2001.
On May 15, 2017, Clemmons' family declined to rule out filing a civil lawsuit against the city of Nashville.
Also on May 15, police chief Anderson sent a letter to Deputy District Attorney General Amy Hunter in which he said she had misrepresented the MNPD's report; he warned, "Failure to properly acknowledge your error will define your integrity and is likely to attract the attention of any governing or oversight body." On May 16, 2017, District Attorney Funk sent a letter to Mayor Barry responding to Anderson's contentions by saying, "Chief Anderson has responded to our suggestions for improving MNPD policy on terminology with personal attacks." The mayor responded by calling for better communication between the MNPD and the DA's office.
On May 19, 2017, Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle ordered the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation report to be released to the public once it had been redacted. Four days later, she said the report would be posted on the DA's website from June 9, 2017 to July 10, 2017.
On May 31, 2017, Captain Harmon Hunsicker of the MNPD said they were unable to retrieve fingerprints from Clemmons's gun. In response, Clemmons's family suggested once again that they might sue the city of Nashville.
In August 2017, the investigations carried out by the MNPD and the TBI were reviewed and closed by the United States Attorney's office in Nashville, the FBI and the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.
In early February, Clemmons's mother sued the MNPD to retrieve his phone with family pictures on it.
Public response
On May 12, 2017, 70-odd protesters from the Justice for Jocques Coalition and Black Lives Matter dressed in black and carrying a coffin demonstrated in Hillsboro Village, a predominantly white neighborhood. The protesters included Clemmons' family. They walked from Fannie Mae Dees Park near the campus of Vanderbilt University, up Blakemore Avenue and 24th Avenue South, all the way to the residence of Nashville mayor Megan Barry on 20th Avenue South. The protesters were also carrying signs accusing Mayor Barry of being complicit in the DA's decision. They left the coffin outside her house.
On May 20, 2017, the Justice for Jocques Coalition, including Clemmons' parents, held a town hall meeting, but neither the mayor nor the DA came, and their representatives were unable to answer their questions. As for the police department, they did not respond to the invitation nor did they send anyone. A spokesperson for the coalition said, "We are asking to be heard because time and time again, we are dismissed, we are told that we are just a small group of loudmouths and that we'll eventually go away. [...] It does not appear to be politically expedient for them to show up and we want to show them that's not true, that we are indeed speaking for many people in the community."
An article published in the Nashville Scene in May 2017 suggested Funk could have charged Lippert with second-degree murder.
After the investigation was closed by the US Attorney's office, the FBI and the Justice Department in August 2017, the Fraternal Order of Police "released a statement in support of Lippert."
In November 2017, Clemmons's mother visited the MNPD with community activists to ask for Lippert's dismissal; two reporters, including Steven Hale of the Nashville Scene, were escorted out of the building for trespassing by the owner. The issue of Lippert's employment was again raised by Clemmons's mother in December 2017.
On February 7, 2018, an activist group called Community Oversight Now, including members of the Justice for Jocques Coalition, Black Lives Matter, Democracy Nashville, Gideon's Army, the Harriet Tubman House, and the No Exceptions Prison Collective, filed an ethics complaint with the Council Board of Ethical Conduct suggesting Mayor Barry's extramarital affair with Sergeant Robert Forrest of the MNPD may have influenced her objection to Lippert's dismissal and the establishment of a "citizen-led police accountability board" after the shooting. They also sent a letter to Vice Mayor David Briley about it. Barry denied being swayed by the incident in her decisions.
The Justice for Jocques Coalition held a rally outside East Police Precinct on February 8, 2018, calling for Lippert to be let go from his job at the MNPD. On February 10, 2018, a ceremony was held in Clemmons's honor in Kirkpatrick Park.
Alleged race issues
The incident attracted criticism from leaders of the African-American community in Nashville.
Members of the Justice for Jocques Coalition alleged the incident highlighted systemic racism in the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. The president of Nashville's NAACP chapter, Ludye Wallace, said it was "sad day for Nashville," adding "It's more likely you going to get sent to jail for kicking a dog than shooting a black man down in his back while he's running." Gideon's Army said they had collected data suggesting Lippert had a habit of stopping black drivers more often than white drivers.
The Nashville chapter of Black Lives Matter called for Lippert's dismissal, adding "Today Nashville, the liberal stronghold of Tennessee, joins the other numerous localities that fail to find fault or even recognize criminality in police officers when their violence and brutality takes the lives of black people." They argued that an independent community review board should be established. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee agreed that the city of Nashville should establish an independent review board, and called for Nashville police officers to wear body cameras.
On May 15, 2017, members of the Minority Caucus of the Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County said the incident was "reflective of not just how the 'IT' city views and treats its black citizens, but also black elected officials." They added, "The black community is owed this courtesy. The Clemmons family is owed this courtesy. A black man was slain and no black member of the Council was contacted in advance of the announcement exonerating the officer."
References
2017 controversies in the United States
2017 in Tennessee
21st century in Nashville, Tennessee
African-American history in Nashville, Tennessee
African-American-related controversies
Law enforcement controversies in the United States
Deaths by firearm in Tennessee
Race and crime in the United States
February 2017 events in the United States
African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
Law enforcement in Tennessee
History of Nashville, Tennessee |
58077523 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Bijan%20Ghaisar | Shooting of Bijan Ghaisar | On November 17, 2017, Bijan C. Ghaisar, a 25-year-old American, was fatally shot by US Park Police officers Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya after a vehicular chase that followed a traffic collision along the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Northern Virginia. Ghaisar was unarmed and died ten days later in a hospital. A video of the shooting was released by Fairfax County Police, who had assisted with the chase.
The incident was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In December 2019 Fairfax County prosecutors announced that they would seek an indictment for the killing that occurred in their jurisdiction but the assumption of a new prosecutor to that office resulted in further review. In October 2020, Vinyard and Amaya were charged with one count of manslaughter and one count of reckless discharge of a firearm. In court filings, they stated they acted in self defense.
Persons involved
Bijan C. Ghaisar was born at Inova Fairfax Hospital in 1992 to Iranian immigrants. After graduating from Langley High School and Virginia Commonwealth University, he worked for his father's accounting firm in Tysons Corner, Virginia. He was single with no children and had no criminal record. He had attended a Buddhist temple and made a Facebook post opposing guns.
Alejandro Amaya is a US Park Police officer.
Lucas Vinyard is a US Park Police officer.
Shooting
Ghaisar was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee southbound along the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Alexandria City to his parents' house for dinner. When he suddenly stopped in traffic he was rear-ended by an Uber driver in a Toyota Corolla with a female passenger in the back seat. The driver and the passenger both reported the incident to 911. According to a report of the accident, Ghaisar pulled away without giving his information to the Uber driver, an action that would have been a misdemeanor. A lookout for his vehicle was announced and a Park Police car followed in pursuit with Fairfax County Police assisting. The Park Police pulled Ghaisar over with Ghaisar stopping his vehicle. He was approached on foot by a Park Police officer with his gun drawn. As Ghaisar drove off the officer banged on the car with the butt of his gun, dropping his weapon. The pursuit continued at 57 miles per hour.
Ghaisar was stopped a third time in the Fort Hunt area. Park Police parked a vehicle in front of Ghaisar's Jeep to prevent him from fleeing again. As his vehicle slowly rolled away a few feet, Park Police fired ten shots in three different bursts. It was initially reported that there were nine shots fired, but after almost two years the FBI clarified that there were 10 shots. All four fatal shots were fired by the officer who was driving during the pursuit.
Following the shooting, Bijan Ghaisar was hospitalized for ten days in intensive care and he died ten hours after he was taken off a respirator on November 27, 2017.
Aftermath
In January 2018, Fairfax Police released a five-minute video of the chase filmed from one of their vehicles. Fairfax police were involved in the chase but not in the investigation.
The shooting was being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has not released any information about the case. The probe was being overseen by the Department of Justice. The FBI has refused to release any information about the case. Seven months after the shooting, FBI crime scene investigators returned to the intersection with agents using metal detectors to search for additional evidence.
The Ghaisar family organized protests to draw more attention to the slaying and to the fact that few details had been released.
Signs erected on the spot of the shooting have been taken down multiple times. After a sign that read "One year, zero answers" was removed twice, a larger and sturdier sign was constructed near the stop-sign where Ghaisar had been shot. This sign had permission from the landowner to be erected there and was built with the help of a Virginia state delegate. It was, however, also removed by persons unknown.
Park Police
The Park Police have limited jurisdiction in 5 states, including the Maryland and Virginia counties that surround Washington DC plus the city of Alexandria, Virginia, but have no authority to follow a vehicle outside their jurisdiction unless a felony has been committed. According to Park Police policy, lethal force can be used only when there is "imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm" and that “Officers shall not fire at a moving vehicle nor fire from a moving vehicle except when the officer has a reasonable belief that the subject poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person.”
Park Police have provided almost no information about the incident. According to a lawsuit filed by the family, it was twelve hours following the incident before the family learned that Park Police were involved. Two days after the shooting, Park Police Chief Robert MacLean met with the family. MacLean offered condolences but provided no information about what had happened.
The Ghaisar family was not allowed to touch their son for three days following the incident, when he was guarded by the department’s officers. According to the family, when a doctor arrived to examine Ghaisar for organ donation, the Park Police denied access, declaring the brain-dead man "under arrest" and his body "evidence".
For 16 months, Park Police refused to identify the officers involved in the shooting. In response to a wrongful death lawsuit by the family, Park Police identified the shooters as officers Alejandro Amaya and Lucas Vinyard. Both officers were placed on paid administrative duty after the fatal shooting, and after their indictment in state court in October 2020, the officers were placed on paid leave. The Park Police had not launched an internal investigation into the matter, saying that it would not do so until the conclusion of the criminal case.
Recordings of the 911 calls fielded by Arlington’s public safety communications center were transferred to the Park Police, who are keeping the calls and their recordings secret.
Sometime after the shooting, the Park Police changed their pursuit policies. The policies had remained largely unchanged since the late 1990s and the changes were made public in February 2020.
Civil lawsuit
In August 2018, Ghaisar's parents filed a civil lawsuit in federal court, naming the United States as a defendant and seeking $25 million in damages. The parents alleged that the Park Police's pursuit and killing of Ghaisar was improper, and that the Park Police treated the family insensitively in the hours and days immediately after the shooting, including by failing to promptly inform the family, barring the parents from accessing and touching their mortally wounded son, and declaring the brain-dead Ghaisar "under arrest" and his body "evidence."
As part of the proceedings the two sides in the lawsuit filed a list of uncontested facts stating that Amaya and Vinyard have each been the subject of three separate complaints and investigations (dating from 2008 for Vinyard and 2013 for Amaya). The nature of the complaints or how the complaints were resolved was not disclosed. The stipulation of facts also states that on the night of the shooting marijuana and a pipe were found in Ghaisar’s vehicle. In June 2019, the officers made a court appearance in the civil lawsuit and stated they acted in self defense. The officers invoked Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. The officers sought to deny that they were federal agents operating under federal law, as police officers often have greater legal protection. In September 2020, the officers' lawyers in the Ghaisar family's civil suit released some documents from the two-year FBI investigation. These documents included Amaya and Vinyard's statements from that investigation and the information that Ghaisar's autopsy showed marijuana in his system.
In 2021, the civil suit was close to trial, but the proceedings were stayed by U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton pending the resolution of a parallel case involving the Park Police officers' claims of immunity from state prosecution.
Criminal investigations and prosecution
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigated the incident for two years, but decided in November 2019 that it would not bring federal charges against the two U.S. Park Police officers, Alejandro Amaya and Lucas Vinyard.Tom Jackman, Justice Dept. will not allow FBI to testify in Fairfax investigation of Bijan Ghaisar killing, ''(February 14, 2020).
State prosecutors in Fairfax County, Virginia, separately investigated, and in December 2019, Fairfax county prosecutors announced that they would seek an indictment for the two officers responsible for shooting Ghaisar and had tried to empanel a grand jury. Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh obtained documents from the FBI investigation in December 2019, although the FBI withheld about 260 documents from the prosecutor's office.Tom Jackman, FBI withholds hundreds of documents from Fairfax in probe of Bijan Ghaisar killing, Washington Post (June 5, 2020). Testimony was delayed as the FBI considered whether to allow its officers to testify. In February 2020, the DOJ announced that it would block the FBI agents who investigated the Ghaisar killing from testifying before a Fairfax County grand jury. Eric Dreiband, the head of the DOJ Civil Rights Division, said in a letter to Fairfax prosecutors that allowing the FBI agents to testify would create a conflict of interest if DOJ ultimately decided to defend the officers in the civil lawsuit, and also invoked the legal precedent that "a federal officer may not be prosecuted by a State for actions undertaken in the course of performing the officer’s official duties" if the officer's actions are “objectively reasonable." Newly elected Fairfax prosecutor Steve Descano responded that his office's investigation would continue and that they "continue to request and expect the Department's future cooperation when necessary."
In October 2020, the two officers were indicted in Fairfax County Circuit Court by a special grand jury conveyed by Descano. The indictment charged the officers with manslaughter and reckless use of a firearm. The officers were booked in Fairfax County jail and later released on $10,000 bond. As part of Virginia's legal proceedings, radio conversations between police dispatch and the two officers were released in August 2021 which showed that Amaya and Vinyard were told by dispatch that Ghaisar's vehicle was not at-fault in the rear-end accident. Recordings of the communications were included in the 320-page expert witness report on the incident authored by City University of New York criminal justice professor Christopher Chapman for the prosecution.
The officers argued that the Supremacy Clause blocked their prosecution in state court, while Descano and Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring argued that the Supremacy Clause did not bar the indictment. Under the Supremacy Clause, federal agents are immune from prosecution in state court if their actions are "necessary and proper" and undertaken as part of official duties. In November 2020, the officers removed the case to federal court, specifically the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. Tom Jackman, Park Police officers who killed Bijan Ghaisar seek to move their cases to federal court, Washington Post (November 17, 2020). A hearing was held in August 2021 to consider whether the two officers are entitled to immunity. Vinyard and Amaya did not testify at the hearing. In October 2021, U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton dismissed all criminal criminal charges against Vinyard and Amaya, ruling that the officers were entitled to immunity because under the circumstances, "The officers' decision to discharge their firearms was necessary and proper under the circumstances and there is no evidence that the officers acted with malice, criminal intent, or any improper motivation." The Virginia Attorney General's Office and the Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney are appealing the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Legislative and public response
In January 2018, the Washington, D.C. representative to the U.S. Congress, Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton, introduced a bill to require uniformed federal police officers to wear body cameras and have dashboard cameras in marked vehicles. The legislation was directly in response to Ghaisar's death. Park Police Chief Robert MacLean backed out of a scheduled meeting with Holmes Norton to discuss the matter, prompting Holmes Norton to make a statement to "express our astonishment" at his absence".
Following the release of the video, U.S. Senators (both D-VA) Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, and U.S. Representative Don Beyer called on the FBI for more transparency. Beyer unsuccessfully requested a meeting with FBI Director Christopher A. Wray. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke refused requests to release the names of the Park Police involved in the shooting.
In multiple letters to the FBI, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) requested information about the killing. Three months after his first letter, the FBI provided a short response that offered no new information and said the matter remained under investigation.
Following the FBI's November 2019 announcement that Vinyard and Amaya would not be charged for their actions, Beyer stated that the announcement was "not justice". Grassley and Warner also issued statements expressing disapproval. Holmes Norton, Beyer, and U.S. Representative Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), called for the release of 911 tapes related to the shooting. Norton said she believes that U.S. Park Police violated their department policies during the incident.
The National Iranian American Council released a statement asserting that the facts of the case "strongly suggests that the police's shooting was not justified or proportionate."
See also
List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States
List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States, November 2017
References
External links
Official Fairfax County Police Department Video of the US Park Police Shooting of Bijan Ghaisar
2017 deaths
2017 in Virginia
Deaths by firearm in Virginia
Deaths by person in the United States
November 2017 events in the United States
Law enforcement in Virginia
People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
Crimes in Virginia
History of Alexandria, Virginia
Police brutality in the United States
Protests in the United States
Filmed killings by law enforcement
Fairfax County, Virginia
George Washington Memorial Parkway |
59036519 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Jemel%20Roberson | Shooting of Jemel Roberson | On November 11, 2018, Jemel Roberson, a 26-year-old African American security guard for Manny's Blue Room Bar in Robbins, Illinois, was fatally shot by Ian Covey, a white Midlothian police officer responding to a call of shots fired at the bar. Roberson was working for the bar as a security guard when four people were non-fatally shot by a gunman. After Roberson subdued and pinned the shooter to the ground, he was shot by a Midlothian police officer arriving at the scene.
Covey was placed on paid administrative leave while the shooting was investigated. Witnesses stated that Roberson was wearing a vest that had the word "SECURITY" printed on it, while an Illinois State Police (ISP) preliminary investigation stated he was wearing plain black clothing with no markings identifying him as security. The ISP report stated the Midlothian officer gave Roberson "multiple verbal commands" to drop his gun and get on the ground, while witnesses said the officer shot Roberson "not even five seconds" after ordering Roberson to drop the gun he had in his hand. The State's Attorney's Office decided to not file criminal charges against the police officer.
Jemel Roberson
Jemel Roberson was a security guard at the Manny's Blue Room bar in Robbins, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. At the time of his death, Roberson had a 9-month-old son. Roberson himself was an aspiring police officer. He was a 2010 graduate from the Lane Tech High School in the Chicago area, where he had played on the school's basketball team. Apart from working as a security guard, Roberson was also an organist for several local churches, and was supposed to play at the New Spiritual Light Baptist Church later on the day of the shooting. According to the Cook County Sheriff's Office, Roberson was licensed to carry a gun.
Shooting
Around 4 a.m., multiple law-enforcement agencies, including the Midlothian police, responded to 9-1-1 calls of a shooting at Manny's Blue Room Bar in Robbins, Illinois. Prior to police arrival, a security guard had requested a group of drunk men to leave the bar and an armed suspect had returned and opened fire. In response, armed security guards returned fire, and Roberson apprehended the suspect outside the bar. Eyewitnesses claimed that Roberson had the suspect pinned to the ground with his knee when police arrived and fatally shot Roberson, after multiple bystanders had shouted warnings that Roberson was a security guard.
An eyewitness told reporters that after the shooting, another officer had turned to the officer involved and said, "Man you didn't have to do that, you didn't have to do that. We know these guys. We told you they're security."
A statement by the Midlothian police chief said, "Upon arrival, Officers learned there were several gunshot victims inside the bar. A Midlothian Officer encountered a subject with a gun and was involved in an officer involved shooting. The subject the officer shot was later pronounced dead at an area hospital."
Investigation and legal proceedings
The Illinois State Police handled the investigation into the fatal shooting of Roberson. The officer was placed on a paid administrative leave in the meantime. The officer has been with the Midlothian police department for almost seven years, assigned to the patrol division, and is also a SWAT team leader.
The police department initially argued that Roberson had ignored "verbal commands" before the shooting, but later released a second statement claiming that the shooting had been a case of "friendly fire," and that Roberson’s death was a tragic accident. After previously identifying Roberson as an "armed subject" in reports, Midlothian Police Chief Daniel Delaney issued a November statement calling Roberson "a brave man who was doing his best to end an active shooter situation."
On November 12, 2018, an autopsy showed that Roberson had been shot multiple times, and the death was ruled a homicide. The same day, Roberson's mother filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Village of Midlothian and the officer who shot Roberson.
The Cook County State's Attorney's Office announced two years after the incident that no criminal charges would be filed against him.
Protests
Shortly after the death of Roberson, multiple protests ensued in Midlothian, but most were centered around the Midlothian Police Department and Village Hall. In 2020, Midlothian residents again protested the shooting of Roberson in light of the wider George Floyd protests.
References
November 2018 events in the United States
Crimes in Illinois
2018 controversies in the United States
African-American-related controversies
Deaths by firearm in Illinois
Deaths by person in the United States
Robbins, Illinois
African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
Law enforcement in Illinois |
59948475 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting%20of%20Willie%20McCoy | Shooting of Willie McCoy | Willie McCoy, also known as Willie Bo, was an African-American rapper. On February 9, 2019, McCoy was killed by six police officers in Vallejo, California.
Background
Early life and rapping
McCoy lost both parents to cancer by the time he was 12 years old. He did well at sports in school, and earned his GED before dropping out to pursue music. Collaborators noted his work ethic and desire to succeed. Under the stage name Willie Bo, he was part of the group FBG (Forever Black Gods), performing songs about what NBC News described as "money, guns, and street violence," which a collaborator suggested was because "they needed to conform their lyrics, to look cool. I saw it more as a cool thing — kids see you on YouTube like you have all this money." Other lyrics related to overcoming challenges, such as growing up without a father.
Arrest record
On Wednesday, April 11, 2018, Willie McCoy was arrested for kidnapping and human trafficking by San Francisco police; Oakland police subsequently served a search warrant on Willie McCoy's residence, seizing "numerous" firearms. It is unclear what McCoy's role was in the theft of a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun he was carrying when he died.
Police department
Around the time of McCoy's shooting, Vallejo Police Department had about 100 officers and served approximately 122,000 people. Under its Police Chief at the time of McCoy's shooting, Andrew Bidou, it had increased officer training programs and undertaken community outreach initiatives. However, residents had expressed concerns about the department's use of force.
In 2012, its officers committed fatal shootings at around 38 times the national rate, or 20 times the rate in nearby Oakland and San Francisco. A third of the city's homicides were due to police. Around that time, some Vallejo residents asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate Vallejo officers' use of force as it had done in Albuquerque, New Mexico. From 2015–2017, the department spent more per officer in fines or settlements for civil rights abuse claims than any other large police force in the Bay Area. (Settlements, which do not imply wrongdoing, can be easier and cheaper than court hearings.) From 2016–2019, five of Vallejo's police officers shot multiple people. At the time of McCoy's shooting, one of the officers who shot him was under a civil lawsuit for shooting a man dead in February 2018.
Shooting
Around 10:30 pm February 9, 2019, McCoy was found unconscious at the drive-thru of a Vallejo, California Taco Bell, in his car, with a .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun, while the engine was running and the car in drive. A Taco Bell employee called 911, informing the dispatcher that McCoy (who was not identified by name at this point) was unresponsive to people knocking on the car's window or honking their car horns. Six police officers arrived, and activated their bodycams.
The bodycam video and audio, which the police published March 30, 2019, showed that, for several minutes, officers with guns raised conversed next to McCoy's car while he was unconscious. The footage captured an officer saying that McCoy had on his lap a gun with its magazine "half out" such that McCoy would have at most one shot available; although the gun is not visible in the footage. The footage shows that the officers then decided to open the door to retrieve the alleged gun and remove McCoy from the car, but found the door locked and so instead attempted to block McCoy's car in the drive-thru. After some minutes, McCoy scratched his shoulder, though there is no indication he was alert or aware of his surroundings at this time.
McCoy then moved in a manner that was interpreted by the Vallejo Police Department as "hand reaches to gun on lap". The Guardian stated that the videos at that point are "blurry" and "show McCoy’s body moving slightly, but do not capture his hand moving to the firearm, which is not visible in the footage." NBC News said, "McCoy then jerks up and appears to reach down. His face is obscured by the officer's arm, pointing his gun." KTVU said McCoy "seems to bend from the waist and move his left arm." The New York Times said, "The footage showed that Mr. McCoy appeared to be asleep for at least several minutes, and that he was shot about 10 seconds after he began to move. It was unclear whether he was reaching for a gun."
According to the bodycam footage and witness footage, officers then yelled at McCoy, through the closed car window, to put his hands up, and fired at him less than three seconds later. The six officers fired 55 rounds at McCoy over approximately four seconds, before again telling McCoy to put up his hands.
McCoy was pronounced dead at the scene.
Reactions
Vallejo police initially said that McCoy had a gun in his lap, and that officers had opened fire when he did not respond to demands to put his hands up and instead reached downwards. Police also said that this gun had been reported stolen in Oregon.
McCoy's family called the incident "execution by a firing squad", and expressed skepticism that McCoy had had a gun. According to McCoy's family and their attorney, around the time of his death McCoy was fatigued from recent touring and recording.
One of the family's attorneys, who had previously worked in a coroner's office, said McCoy had received roughly 25 wounds in the shooting. The family said McCoy had been shot in the head, ear, neck, chest, arms, shoulders, hands, and back. At the end of February 2019, the family filed a wrongful death claim against the city.
As of March 5, 2019, the Solano County district attorney's office had not responded to journalists' requests for information about an inquiry into the shooting. On March 13, 2019, Vallejo's police chief, Andrew Bidou, announced his retirement amid criticism of his department's conduct. (Vallejo Mayor Bob Sampayan said Bidou's retirement was long-planned, not due to recent criticism of the department. City officials echoed this, voting unanimously for Bidou to remain until succeeded.)
The same day, some members of McCoy's family were permitted to see police footage of the shooting (their lawyer was allegedly refused), based upon which they said that McCoy appeared to still be asleep when the police opened fire, and did not appear to have reached for a gun.
On March 30, 2019, allegedly without notifying McCoy's family, Vallejo police published officers' bodycam videos from the shooting. In an annotation on the footage, police alleged that McCoy had on his lap, prior to the shooting, a gun loaded with an extended 14-round magazine (not a gun with the magazine "half out" as mentioned by an officer in the footage).
In April 2019, McCoy's family said that the handgun McCoy had was for his protection. The police said the gun was stolen.
References
2019 in California
2019 controversies in the United States
African-American-related controversies
Black Lives Matter
Deaths by firearm in California
Deaths by person in the United States
February 2019 events in the United States
Filmed killings by law enforcement
African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
Vallejo, California
Law enforcement in California |
64241078 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue%20of%20Jerry%20Richardson | Statue of Jerry Richardson | A statue of Jerry Richardson was installed outside Charlotte, North Carolina's Bank of America Stadium in 2016. Richardson, the former owner of the National Football League's Carolina Panthers, was involved in a controversy involving allegedly sexist behavior prior to selling the team. The statue was removed from Bank of America Stadium in June 2020 for fear it would be destroyed by protestors.
Background
The statue was a gift to Richardson, the founding owner of the Carolina Panthers, during his 80th birthday, given by the team's minority ownership partners. It stood 13 feet tall outside the north entrance of Bank of America Stadium, depicting Richardson in a suit holding a football and flanked by two life-sized black panthers with green eyes.
When the U.S. National Anthem protests started back in 2016 in response to police brutality, it was reported by numerous Panthers players such as Tre Boston that Richardson prohibited his players from joining the protests. After Richardson was forced to sell the team after the 2017 season following racist and sexist remarks made to team employees in light of the Me Too movement, David Tepper, the new owner, was forced to keep the statue up as a "contractual obligation" of purchasing the Panthers, much to the chagrin of many fans. However, it was taken down and stored in a hidden place by Panthers management in 2020 in light of the George Floyd protests.
Despite no language indicating the fate of the statue, it has been reported that the Panthers organization does not intend on restoring it. Richardson himself has also reportedly "moved on" and that the statue "is not his focus", according to his spokesperson. Boston later commented that the removal of the statue was "best for the community".
See also
List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests
Statue of Calvin Griffith
Statue of Joe Paterno, another sports-related sculpture removed amid controversy regarding the subject
References
Carolina Panthers
Monuments and memorials in North Carolina
Monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests
Outdoor sculptures in North Carolina
Relocated buildings and structures in North Carolina
Sculptures of men in North Carolina
Statues in North Carolina
Statues of sportspeople
2016 sculptures
Statues removed in 2020 |
64266465 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince%20Jones | Prince Jones | Prince Carmen "Rocky" Jones Jr. (1975–September 1, 2000) was an African-American man killed by an African-American police officer in September 2000 in Virginia. Author Ta-Nehisi Coates attended Jones' memorial service, and later wrote at length about Jones' life and death in his 2015 book Between the World and Me, noting that the tragedies of racism are impossible to escape for Black people, even those well-off.
Biography
Jones was the son of Prince C. Jones Sr. and Dr. Mabel Jones, a physician and the daughter of a sharecropper. He attended Howard University, was a personal trainer at a suburban Washington D.C. gym, and was set to enlist in the Navy. He had an infant daughter, Nina, with his fiancé Candace Carson. He was described as upstanding, religious, and a health food fanatic.
Killing by police
On 1 September 2000, Prince Jones was unarmed and driving his Jeep Cherokee to meet his fiancée. Undercover police officer Carlton Jones (no relation) of Prince George’s County, Maryland, followed Prince Jones for 15 miles in an unmarked vehicle into Fairfax County, Virginia. Officer Jones displayed his gun and announced he was police (though he was not in uniform and did not display his badge). According to the officer, Prince Jones rammed the police vehicle with his Jeep, leading the officer to shoot at Jones' Jeep 16 times, striking him six times (including five times in the back). Two witnesses contradicted the officer's account; one testified that Prince Jones's vehicle was not moving when the shots were fired.
Carlton Jones later explained the killing as a case of mistaken identity, and in October 2000 the county prosecutor, Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr., declined to file criminal charges against Officer Jones. This decision aggrieved Prince Jones' family, friends, and local civil rights leaders, who noted Prince George’s County's documented history of police brutality and decried the continued failure of the criminal justice system to hold police accountable for serious misconduct. The county prosecutor's inaction was tantamount to "legitimizing murder", they said. The Prince George's Fraternal Order of Police lauded the prosecutor's decision, and of Officer Jones said "it's clear that he was defending himself."
A memorial service for Jones was held at Howard University. Prince Jones, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Carlton Jones had all spent their undergraduate years at Howard, although none of the men ultimately graduated from the university.
In January 2006, a Prince George’s County Circuit Court civil jury determined that Prince Jones's death at the hands of the Prince George County police was wrongful, and awarded $2.5 million in damages to Prince Jones' daughter.
References
African-American history of Virginia
African-American-related controversies
Law enforcement in Virginia
Law enforcement controversies
African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
Police brutality in the United States
Post–civil rights era in African-American history
Race-related controversies in the United States
1975 births
2000 deaths |
64489247 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian%20Williams%20%28surgeon%29 | Brian Williams (surgeon) | Brian H. Williams (born 1969) is an American surgeon and Professor of Trauma Surgery at the University of Chicago. He specialises in acute surgery and critical care. Alongside his work as a clinician, Williams looks to end racial inequities in healthcare and end the American epidemic of gun violence.
Early life and education
Williams was born in Chicopee, Massachusetts. As a child Williams wanted to play American football for the Miami Dolphins. Williams trained in aeronautical engineering in the United States Air Force Academy and graduated in 1991. He worked as an engineer for the United States Air Force for six years. During his time in the Air Force he befriended many doctors and nurses, which made him interested in a career in medicine. At the age of 27, Williams applied to medical school. He prepared for his medical school exams by purchasing an “MCAT study guide, completed every question, and read every explanation for the answers; cover to cover!”. He chose to attend the University of South Florida for his medical studies. Williams was a medical intern at the Harvard Medical School, before starting a fellowship in trauma surgery at the Grady Memorial Hospital. Here he witnessed that challenges that communities of colour faced accessing healthcare. He has said that at the start of his career he didn't call out inequality because he feared “backlash and marginalization from non-black colleagues”.
Career
In 2010 Williams was appointed to the faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where he was eventually promoted to Associate Professor. Williams led the trauma team who responded to the 2016 shooting of Dallas police officers; a national tragedy whereby five police officers were shot at a march against police brutality. He has said that it was this moment that made him aware of the intersection of racism, gun violence and healthcare. The Mayor of Dallas, Mike Rawlings, named Williams chairman of the Dallas Police Citizens Review Board. Williams since has since launched the podcast Race, Violence & Medicine.
In 2019 Williams relocated to Chicago to better support victims of gun violence. In the first few months of his time in Chicago, Here he was made Director of the University of Chicago Medical Center intensive care unit. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his usual surgeries were replaced by overseeing the COVID-19 unit, where he identified that all "almost every patient was Black". Williams investigated why Black people were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Selected publications
Personal life
Williams is married to Kathianne, with whom he has a daughter.
References
1969 births
Living people
People from Chicopee, Massachusetts
United States Air Force Academy alumni
University of South Florida alumni
American surgeons
Military personnel from Massachusetts |
64860708 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael%20John%20Kennedy | Michael John Kennedy | Michael John Kennedy (March 23, 1937 – January 25, 2016) was an American criminal defense attorney, expert in U.S. Constitutional law, and a civil rights advocate who defended cases for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (NECLC) and in his private practice. Kennedy, who tried cases in 36 states, was a member of the National Lawyers Guild and the State Bar in California and New York.
A trial lawyer for over 50 years, Kennedy was known as an exceptional legal strategist who was a "steadfast defender of the underdog and the First Amendment." Kennedy, who specialized in civil and criminal litigation and complex negotiations, was a guest teacher of trial advocacy at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City.
His clients included Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party; Bernardine Dohrn of the Weather Underground; Cesar Chavez, co-founder of the United Farm Workers; leading advocate for the use of LSD Timothy Leary; members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA); Los Siete de la Raza; and Pablo Guzmán of the Young Lords. While staff at the NECLC Kennedy defended members of the Fort Hood 43 and the late Stanley Neptune, a member of the Penobscot Nation and protester at Wounded Knee.
Kennedy obtained clemency for Jean Harris in 1993. He represented former Sicilian Mafia don Gaetano Badalamenti in the Pizza Connection drug-smuggling case, and Ivana Trump in her contentious divorce with Donald Trump.
Early life and education
Born in Spokane, Washington to Thomas Kennedy and Evelyn (née) Forbes, Kennedy was sent to a Jesuit boarding school when he was four years of age where he remained for over a decade. After high school, Kennedy earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1962, and Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, California.
Career
After receiving his law degree, Kennedy joined a private law firm and began a career as a defense attorney, often pro bono, in many of the country's well-known civil rights cases.
Time in the U.S. Army
In 1964, Kennedy was first lieutenant in the United States Army, where he was often disciplined for making anti-war speeches while in uniform. At an officers' dinner, Kennedy met Eleanora, the woman who would become his life partner. Once he returned to private life, Kennedy's law practice focused on representing draft resistors, conscientious objectors as well as marginalized people and underrepresented groups seeking social justice.
Legal career
Kennedy's specialty was jury trial work with emphasis on constitutional defenses, including human and civil rights. In the First Amendment area, he was regarded as an authority on the laws of libel and tax fraud defense. Kennedy was considered one of the nation's leading authorities on search and seizure law and the emerging area of privacy rights arising out of the Fourth and Ninth amendments. He also tried many cases involving constitutional issues raised by constitutional due process clauses and Sixth Amendment fair trial concerns and right to counsel. He litigated many constitutional issues by Writ of Habeas Corpus.
Kennedy was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States and the Court of Appeals for the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and District of Columbia Circuits. He was also admitted to a number of United States District Courts.
Kennedy, and colleague Michael Tigar, put on many provocative programs for the Litigation Section of the American Bar Association (ABA), including a death penalty case at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, an Israeli/Palestinian mock arbitration about sovereignty and human rights in Gaza and the West Bank, and a much-heralded international tribunal investigating war crimes in Bosnia.
Notable civil rights cases and clients
Michael Kennedy played a central role in the nationwide protests against the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. A new breed of radical attorneys were emerging on the legal scene, which included Kennedy and other contemporaries such as Charles Garry, Michael Tigar, William Kunstler, Michael Ratner, Leonard Boudin, Michael Standard, Victor Rabinowitz, and Charles Nesson who worked on pro bono cases as often as not. Kennedy moved to New York in the late 1960s to take the position of staff counsel of the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, which until 1968 was known as the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee.
1960s
United Farm Workers and Cesar Chavez
Working on behalf of the NECLC Kennedy represented labor leader Cesar Chavez, who along with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the mostly Latino National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which was later renamed as United Farm Workers. Kennedy defended Chavez and migrant farm workers in their protest against exorbitant rents and subpar living conditions. Shortly thereafter, Kennedy got involved in the successful 1965 strike against the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) for selling non-union grapes and lettuce. The five-year boycott, which became known as the Delano grape strike, prompted an international boycott of grapes. The strike, initially organized by the predominantly Filipino AFL–CIO-affiliated Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, led to the creation of the United Farm Workers of America, the first union representing farm workers in the United States.
Fort Hood 43
A group of African American GIs who recently returned from Vietnam were ordered to serve on riot-control duty at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois where protests were anticipated in response to the recent assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The servicemen refused to serve and were consequently court-martialed. Kennedy successfully represented the group, which became known as the Fort Hood 43. One of Kennedy's clients, the decorated Sgt. Robert D. Rucker, later became an attorney then went on to become the second African American to serve as Judge on the Illinois Supreme Court and the first African American to serve on the Indiana Court of Appeals.
The 1968 Democratic Convention and The Chicago Seven
The Chicago Seven were charged with conspiracy to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. While defending Rennie Davis, Kennedy and three other lawyers - Gerald B. Lefcourt, Michael Tigar and Dennis Roberts - were briefly jailed for contempt of court by presiding Judge Julius Hoffman. Attorney William Kunstler, at the time with the Center for Constitutional Rights, was also cited for contempt though all the convictions were overturned unanimously by the Seventh Circuit. Some thirty attorneys in San Francisco protested Hoffman's punitive decision by burning their Bar Association cards on the steps of the federal building. By the end of the five-month trial, referred to as one of the "most bizarre courtroom spectacles in U.S. history" by the Washington Post, Judge Hoffman had issued over 200 citations for contempt of court against the defendants and their attorneys. All seven defendants - Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner - were acquitted on riot conspiracy charges, though found guilty of intent to riot.
House Un-American Activities Committee
Shortly after the 1968 Democratic Convention, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Dave Dellinger and Robert Greenblatt received subpoenas to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Michael Kennedy was among the group's six defense attorneys. The HUAC hearings were viewed by the NECLC as an "attempt by the Johnson administration to use every mechanism at its disposal to legitimize the action of Mayor [Richard) Daley and the Chicago police," and the violence they displayed against protesters during the 1968 DNC. Daley had ordered the entire Chicago police force of 12,000 men to work 12-hour shifts and called in over 5,000 National Guardsmen in addition to some 1,000 Secret Service and FBI agents who were also on duty.
On the opening day of the HUAC hearings, the subpoenaed men and their lawyers, including Kennedy and William Kunstler, staged a "stand-in" to protest the investigations. "The Constitution is being raped and we as lawyers are being emasculated in an armed camp," Kennedy shouted at the hearing.
Los Siete de la Raza
Michael Kennedy, along with co-counsel Charles Garry, defended a group of seven young Hispanic men in San Francisco's Mission District who, while moving a television set into a friend's home in May 1969, were stopped by two plain clothes policemen and asked for their ID cards. An altercation ensued between the young men and police officers Joseph Brodnik and Paul McGoran. In the scuffle, a gun was fired, killing one of the police officers. According to a New York Times account of the shooting, "about the only evidence that is not disputed is that the bullet that killed the policeman, Patrolman Joseph Brodnik, was fired from the gun of his partner, Patrolman Paul McGoran, at a distance of about two inches." During the scuffle, McGoran called the youths "wetbacks."
It was revealed during the much publicized trial that Brodnik had harassed the same young men previously, had 38 counts of police brutality and 4 counts of brandishing a gun in past skirmishes, and was known as a racist. Kennedy and the other defense attorneys proved that Brodnik's partner Paul McGoran had accidentally fired the shot that killed him. After the stormy four-month trial, which had become a cause célèbre in the Latin-American community and the New Left, the young men - Gary Lescallett, Rodolfo Antonio Martinez, Mario Martinez, Jose Rios, Nelson Rodriguez, and Danilo Melendez - were acquitted and freed. The seventh defendant, George Lopez, was never apprehended.
Wolfe 1965]]
Columbia University protests of 1968
Kennedy represented Columbia Law students who tried to shut down the law school in protest of the Vietnam War. Disciplinary hearings were held to expel them. Kennedy represented the students, including Gus Reichbach and Eleanor Stein, who were charged with violating campus rules. Ultimately, charges were dismissed. Stein and Reichbach both went on to become attorneys, then judges.
1960s gay liberation movement
The Committee for Homosexual Freedom (CHF) was a gay and lesbian rights organization founded in San Francisco in April 1969 by gay activists Leo E. Laurence and Gayle Whittington. Both were fired by their employers (respectively, ABC Radio and freight company, State Steamship Line) after a photo of them embracing was published by the countercultural newspaper the Berkeley Barb. Laurence said he was fired by ABC for his "radical politics, revolutionary writings, and strong union activities." Kennedy defended Laurence's case on the basis of what Laurence referred to as "ABC's unwritten discrimination against homosexuals; an attack on freedom of speech and press."
1970s
Kennedy defended numerous conscientious objectors and draft resistors at the height of the Vietnam War. Some draft protesters chose prison over fighting in what they regarded as an immoral and unjust war. Others opted to go to Canada where they were welcomed. Vietnam deserters got as far as Sweden, to where Kennedy traveled to represent persons sought for extradition by the United States.
Andy Stapp and Dennis Ciesielski
Kennedy defended Andy Stapp, an anti-war activist who had formed the American Servicemen's Union, an unofficial union for US military members who opposed the Vietnam War.
In 1968 Kennedy tried the case of Dennis Ciesielski, the first US sailor to refuse orders to serve in Vietnam. Ciesielski, charged with desertion, was convicted of a lesser offense.
The Buffalo Nine
The Buffalo Nine comprised a group of students associated with State University of New York at Buffalo who sought sanctuary in a Unitarian Universalist church in Buffalo, New York. When US Marshals, FBI agents and the Buffalo Police stormed the church with blackjacks, Bruce Beyer - leader of the Buffalo Draft Resistance Union - was arrested along with eight others for evading the draft and assaulting an officer. Their arrest drew national attention. Kennedy, then staff counsel with the NECLC, along with former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, represented members of the group that became known as Buffalo Nine. Beyer, who faced considerable jail time, jumped bail and fled to Canada then eventually made his way to Sweden, where he was granted humanitarian asylum.
Fort Hood and US Army marijuana possession case
The United States military reported that at the height of the Vietnam War, over half of all troops on tour in Vietnam were consuming marijuana. Many didn't stop after they came home. Returning soldiers smoked so much cannabis that the Texas military post, Fort Hood, became known as "Fort Head."
Michael Kennedy's first marijuana case, also the first of its kind in the U.S. military, involved Pfc. Bruce "Gypsy" Peterson who opposed the war on humanitarian grounds and started an underground GI newspaper Fatigue Press at Fort Hood. Peterson also organized anti-war protests for soldiers and civilians. In 1968, while leaving a GI coffee house in Killeen, Texas, local police arrested Peterson on suspicion of drug possession. They turned him over to military authorities at Fort Hood who found such a minuscule amount of marijuana in the lint of his pockets that it was destroyed in the process of analyzing it. Still, Peterson was convicted and sentenced to eight years of hard labor at the Leavenworth military prison. After Peterson served two years, Kennedy, working with the NECLC, got involved in Peterson's appeal. Kennedy managed to get Peterson's conviction overturned on the grounds that the search was illegal, due process had been violated, and that an 8-year sentence for an immeasurable amount of cannabis residue was cruel and unusual punishment. Peterson's case was not only Kennedy's first pot case, but also the first marijuana prosecution case in the history of the U.S. military.
Puerto Rican Vietnam War draft resisters
In the first case of its kind in San Juan, Puerto Rico's Federal Court, Kennedy represented Edwin Feliciano Grafals, a self-described, non-religious conscientious objector, who was studying math and science at the university when he was drafted into the US military. A member of the Movimiento Pro-Independencia de Puerto Rico (MPI), Grafals objected to being drafted and condemned American aggression in Vietnam. Grafals and other Puerto Ricans took issue with forced induction into the U.S. Armed Forces, arguing that Puerto Ricans had no allegiance to, nor received any benefits from, the United States. As an unincorporated territory, Puerto Rico has no US voting rights, no representation in the US Congress and is not entitled to electoral votes in presidential elections. Kennedy, at the time a teacher at Rutgers Law School, moved to Puerto Rico with his wife Eleanora Kennedy to represent Grafals and to train Puerto Rican attorneys in the event there was another similar anti-draft case. However, the Grafals case, for which two U.S. prosecutors were appointed and flown to Puerto Rico, was the last of its kind. Ultimately, presiding Judge Hiram Rafael Cancio ruled in favor of Kennedy's client. Judge Cancio noted in his opinion, issued on January 23, 1970, with regard to Grafals: "You believe, for the same reasons, with the same conviction and just as honestly, that the Military Selective Service Act is not constitutional nor valid, insofar as it applies to Puerto Ricans, who were not represented with a voice and vote in the legislative body which approved it. Your conscience does not permit you to serve compulsorily in the United States Armed Forces, regardless of how justified or unjustified are the wars this nation is engaged in."
H. Bruce Franklin, Freedom of Speech, Stanford University and William Shockley
H. Bruce Franklin, a Stanford professor, renowned Herman Melville scholar and outspoken critic of the Vietnam War was fired from Stanford University in 1972 for allegedly urging protestors to riot, "resist police efforts" and to make "people's war" against the university. Stanford University's president and advisory board had proposed dismissal. But Franklin, a self-proclaimed revolutionary with a sizable campus movement behind him, elected to have a public hearing. He chose Michael Kennedy as his counsel. Franklin and Kennedy argued that the professor's actions involved constitutionally protected free speech but the university prevailed and recommended serious penalty, short of dismissal. At that time, the ACLU got involved and took Franklin's case into the courts where, after eight years of decision and appeal, the case was decided in the university's favor.
William Shockley on race and eugenics challenged
Dr. William B. Shockley of Stanford University, a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics and considered by colleagues to be a genius, evoked controversy and considerable hostility for his insistent views that blacks were genetically inferior to whites and scored lower on intelligence quotient tests as a result of heredity. He also opined that people on welfare should be sterilized.
Shockley's views prompted not only Stanford students but students around the country to protest his lectures. In January 1972, a group of approximately 16 Stanford students and non-students entered his classroom where he was giving a quiz. The students challenged him to a debate. Shockley declined and called campus police who removed the students who were later expelled by Stanford University authorities. Kennedy represented several of the students in court but ultimately the university prevailed. The students, some of whom were months from graduating, remained expelled and Shockley continued teaching at Stanford though his lecture circuit was deeply curtailed as hundreds of students and individuals around the country showed up to protest his racist views.
Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary, former Harvard University psychologist known for his exploration of psychedelic drugs and being referred to as the "most dangerous man in America" by President Richard Nixon, was arrested in 1970 for possession of two cannabis joints. He was sentenced to 10 years and imprisoned in the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo, California. Leary hired Kennedy to appeal his sentence. When the appeal was rejected, allegedly Kennedy planned to break Leary out of prison with the help of the Weather Underground and the Brotherhood of Eternal Love.
Once Leary was free, he fled to Algiers where Eldridge Cleaver and the Black Panther Party received him for a short time until he made his way to Switzerland and then Afghanistan where he was captured in 1973 and returned to the United States.
When investigated by the FBI, Leary accused Kennedy of masterminding his prison escape. As a result, Kennedy faced disbarment, but the FBI was unable to prove Leary's accusations and the charges against Kennedy were eventually dropped.
Michael Randall of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love and the Orange Sunshine LSD
Kennedy represented Michael Randall, co-founder of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love. One of the Brotherhood's utopian plans was to cheaply mass-produce LSD and distribute it to everyone who wanted it. To make "so much Orange Sunshine that it would become virtually free. We had a deep spiritual commitment to what we were doing," Randall said.
Bernadine Dohrn
Among the original members of the Weather Underground, classified by the FBI as a domestic terrorist group, was Bernardine Dohrn who went into hiding in 1969. She was subsequently placed on the FBI's Most Wanted List when she jumped bail after being charged with two counts of aggravated battery, stemming from the Days of Rage and other protests. After 11 years on the run with her husband Bill Ayers and their three sons, Dohrn resurfaced with the assistance of Michael Kennedy and his wife Eleanora Kennedy who helped plan Dohrn and her family's safe return to open society.
Once she turned herself in, Dohrn was called to testify before the Grand Jury against ex-Weatherman Susan Rosenberg. Dohrn refused and was held in contempt of a grand jury and served 7 months in prison.
The Mitchell Brothers: Behind the Green Door
The Mitchell brothers, Jim and Artie Mitchell, owners of pornography and strip clubs in California from 1969 until 1991, produced and directed many adult films, including Behind the Green Door in 1972. The film starred the legendary adult movie actress, Marilyn Chambers, who started her career as the wholesome model on Ivory Snow detergent boxes in the early 1970s. Behind the Green Door played to regular crowds in the Mitchell brothers' club, the O'Farrell Theater in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, until Jim Farrell was arrested for production and exhibition of "obscene material."
The Mitchell brothers hired Kennedy to defend them against the obscenity charges. Kennedy utilized the First Amendment to successfully defend the brothers who continued to show their films, even while being arrested dozens of times over the coming year.
Murder of Artie Mitchell and trial
In 1992, Kennedy defended Jim Mitchell in San Francisco on the charge of murdering his brother, Artie. The trial involved some of the most modern and sophisticated technology, including the first use of 3D computer animation, in a criminal case. Mitchell was found not guilty of the murder charge. He was convicted of a lesser charge of manslaughter.
Black Panther Party, Huey Newton mistrial
Kennedy defended Black Panther Party leader Huey P. Newton, who was accused of killing a 17-year-old prostitute in August 1974. The trial ended in a mistrial with the jurors deadlocked 10 to 2 for acquittal. Newton was also accused of assaulting a tailor.
Newton, a revolutionary political activist, along with fellow Merritt College student Bobby Seale, founded the Black Panther Party in 1966 in the wake of assassination of black nationalist Malcolm X and the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teen named Matthew Johnson by the police in San Francisco. The police shooting of Johnson sparked the Hunters Point Uprising.
1980s–1990s
The Pizza Connection
The so-called Pizza Connection Trial, a criminal trial against Sicilian and American Mafias, was centered on a number of independently owned pizza parlors in New York that were allegedly being used as fronts for trafficking heroin from Southwest Asia to the United States. Michael Kennedy represented Gaetano Badalamenti, who was a capofamiglia (crime boss) in his hometown Cinisi, Sicily and former top boss of the Sicilian Mafia.
The trial, the longest in the judicial history of the United States, lasted from September 30, 1985, to March 2, 1987, ending with 17 convictions handed down on June 22, 1987. The prosecutor in the Pizza Connection case was Rudolph Giuliani.
Badalamenti, known as capo dei capi (boss of bosses), was considered one of the most-wanted fugitives in the world until his arrest in Madrid in 1984, after which he was extradited to the United States. Following his conviction in 1987, Badalamenti was sent to prison then later to the Federal Medical Center in Ayer, Massachusetts where he died in May 2004.
Irish Republican Army gunrunners
When five Irish men in New York were charged with conspiring to smuggle weapons to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), Michael Kennedy and a team of six attorneys, including renowned Irish-American lawyer Frank Durkan, won an acquittal for them in Federal Court in Brooklyn, New York on Nov. 5, 1982. The legal team's defense showed that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had been involved in the IRA gunrunning operation for a period of years. This defense was presented to the jury when one of the main IRA weapons suppliers, George de Meo, formerly regarded as trustworthy by the IRA, was found out to be an undercover CIA agent. With a license to legally export weapons, the CIA was aiding the IRA's gun running operation in order to monitor the flow of arms to Ireland and prevent the IRA from turning to the Soviet Union for weapons, Kennedy's legal team argued. The jury agreed. All five IRA defendants, George Harrison, Michael Flannery, Thomas Falvey, Patrick Mullin, and Daniel Gormley were acquitted and walked free after the 7-week trial.
The CIA had remained silent about the gun running scheme until 2017 when declassified information was uncovered by freedom of information campaigners that showed the accusations to be true. A lawsuit against the CIA finally culminated in the agency releasing the archive, which had previously only been accessible at the through the National Archives and Records Administration
Iran–Contra affair
When convicted Iran-Contra conspirator Richard Secord brought a $36 million libel suit against Leslie Cockburn and Andrew Cockburn for their book, "Out of Control," the Cockburns hired Kennedy. After two years of court battles, Kennedy got Secord's libel lawsuit dismissed.
Jean S. Harris
In January 1993, Kennedy won clemency for Jean S. Harris, who was convicted for the murder of her ex-lover Herman Tarnower, a well-known cardiologist and author of The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet.
Waco Whistleblower
Kennedy represented former assistant U.S. Attorney William Johnston, the so-called Waco whistle-blower, who sparked a probe into whether the federal government was responsible for the deaths of 74 Branch Davidians during the 1993 siege of their compound near Waco, Texas. Johnston had been indicted and charged with two counts of obstruction of justice and three counts of lying to investigators and a federal grand jury.
Dr. Mousa Abu Marzook – Palestine
Gaza-born Dr. Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, a legal resident of the United States since 1982 and whose four out of six children are American-born citizens, was arrested at New York's JFK airport in July 1995. Never charged with a crime in the United States, Abu Marzook, a member of the Hamas Political Bureau and a US educated industrial engineer, was detained on the basis that Israel had sought his extradition on what turned out to be spurious allegations of terrorism, which were never proven.
Though his incarceration and detention were illegal in that he had broken no U.S. laws, Abu Marzook was held in New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center for two years. Noting that Abu Marzook's constitutional right to a speedy trial had long since lapsed, Kennedy contacted the Israeli authorities on his client's behalf, stating that Abu Marzook was prepared to travel immediately to Israel to stand trial. Israel declined and withdrew its bid to extradite Abu Marzook. "Essentially, he called their bluff and said: 'You want me? Take me,'" Kennedy said. "And Israel said, 'we don't want you.'"
Kennedy noted that Israel had a weak case against Abu Marzook because it was based on statements by a Palestinian who subsequently recanted, saying he had been tortured by Israeli interrogators and was forced to sign a confession in Hebrew, a language he did not understand. Israel, Kennedy noted, also acted out of fear that it would lose a high-profile case.
Once Israel suspended Abu Marzook's extradition request, the United States found itself in a difficult position regarding Abu Marzook who admittedly did not present a national security risk and had broken no U.S. laws. Kennedy worked out a deal with Jordan's King Hussein to receive Abu Marzook on humanitarian grounds.
Susan McDougal – Whitewater
In 1996, Susan McDougal was arrested for refusing to give evidence to the Whitewater Special Counsel brought by independent counsel Ken Starr. When McDougal refused to testify against her business partner at the time, former President Bill Clinton then governor of Arkansas, she was incarcerated in a solitary cell for much of her 18 months of confinement until Kennedy helped secure her release in June 1998.
Nicaragua and the Sandinistas
Kennedy opposed American intervention in Nicaragua and US military and financial support for the Contras who were fighting to overthrow the leftist Sandinista government. Kennedy was a legal advisor, friend, and supporter of the Sandinistas and the Nicaraguan people. Kennedy was arrested and jailed in New York on several occasions while protesting against the U.S. funded Contra war against the Sandinistas.
Nicaragua vs. U.S. - International Court of Justice
Kennedy served as a legal advisor in Nicaragua's successful court case, The Republic of Nicaragua v. The United States of America, which was heard in 1986 before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ruling Sandinista government had accused the United States of violating international law by supporting the Contras' violent actions against their government, which included mining Nicaragua's ports. The ICJ ruled that U.S. support for the Contras was illegal, and demanded that the United States pay reparations to the Nicaraguan government. The ICJ stated in its verdict that US training and financing of the anti-Sandinista Contras, the October 1983 attack on Puerto Sandino and interference with maritime commerce constituted breaches of international law.
Northern Ireland Peace Accords
Kennedy was involved in encouraging US government officials and other influential individuals to travel to Northern Ireland during peace negotiations with the British government that ultimately resulted in the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) on April 10, 1998. Also known as the Belfast Agreement, the GFA was ratified in both Ireland and Northern Ireland by popular vote on May 22, 1998. The GFA helped end more than 30 years of armed conflict known as The Troubles.
Kennedy and his wife Eleanora took the former US Senator Robert Torricelli and Bianca Jagger to Belfast, Northern Ireland where they met, among other stakeholders, Gerry Adams, then one of the leaders of the Irish Republican Army and later president of its political wing Sinn Féin.
United Nations
Kennedy and wife Eleanora served as special advisors to the 2008-2009 United Nations General Assembly President, Father Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, who was the former Nicaraguan Foreign Minister. Kennedy also advised the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Influence in American cannabis culture
As a proponent of decriminalizing and legalizing cannabis, Michael Kennedy was influential in raising awareness around marijuana's medical benefits as well as its benign effects as compared to alcohol and other drugs.
High Times Magazine – The War on Drugs
Kennedy served as the General Counsel and Chairman of the Board for High Times Magazine for over 40 years until his death when his wife and board member, Eleanora Kennedy, took the reins. During their four decades at High Times following the death of its founder Tom Forçade in 1978, the Kennedys and the magazine's staff consistently struggled against marijuana prohibition laws and fought to keep the magazine alive and publishing in an anti-cannabis atmosphere.
The magazine's former associate publisher, Rick Cusick, said the only way High Times managed to stay in business and never miss a publication date for over four decades was "Really, really good lawyers even though everybody knew I was talking about just one - Michael Kennedy."
The Kennedys, High Times magazine and its staff were supporters of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) since the organization's founding by attorney Keith Stroup in 1970. Kennedy and Stroup maintained a lifelong friendship, connected by their struggle to legalize marijuana and end the War on drugs. Kennedy was named a "420 Icon" by the Cannabis Business Awards on April 20, 2020 for his contribution to cannabis history and culture.
Pot prisoners
In 2012, Kennedy, his law partner David C. Holland, former High Times editor-in-chief Chris Simunek and Beth Curtis, founder of the website lifeforpot.com, initiated a project to convince US authorities to spare five elderly, non-violent marijuana prisoners "the indignity of dying in prison for the supposed crime of conspiring to distribute large amounts of marijuana to the citizens of the United States of America." Kennedy and Holland wrote the petition and presented it to President Barack Obama for executive clemency on behalf of the five men. As of mid-2020, four of the five elderly "pot prisoners" had been released. On January 19, 2021, in a series of last minute pardons and clemencies issued by outgoing President Donald Trump, John Knock was freed after having served 26 year in federal prison.
Rescheduling cannabis – The White Paper
In November 2014, Kennedy and Jon Gettman, former director of NORML and Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis, co-wrote a widely distributed article titled "Let it grow - the open market solution to marijuana control" presenting the case for "legalizing marijuana by way of a wide-open commercial, competitive market including the allowance of small-scale cultivation for personal use."
Legacy and media appearances
NORML's Michael J. Kennedy Social Justice Award
The Michael J. Kennedy Social Justice Award was set up by NORML with the blessing of his wife Eleanora and daughter Anna Kennedy. The first recipient of the award in May 2016 was long-time NORML activist and criminal defense attorney Gerald H. Goldstein, The 2018 award went to longtime Kennedy friend and colleague, Michael E. Tigar, acclaimed litigator and renowned constitutional lawyer. In 2019, the Award went to activist Bernardine Dohrn and was presented by rock star Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine.
Recipient of the Michael J. Kennedy Social Justice Award will be given to the late Dr. Lester Grinspoon (June 24, 1928 – June 25, 2020). A Harvard Medical School psychiatrist and associate professor, Dr. Grinspoon became a leading proponent of cannabis legalization after his research found that it was less toxic and less addictive than alcohol or tobacco.
Radical Love
Film director William A. Kirkley met Michael Kennedy at his home in New York City in January 2016. Kirkley was seeking a short interview with Kennedy to comple
te his recent movie, Orange Sunshine, a documentary about the Brotherhood of Eternal Love. Kirkley had intended to speak to Kennedy about his role as the attorney to the Brotherhood of Eternal Love. Kirkley ended up spending several hours filming a long conversation with Kennedy, which turned out to be his last public interview. Kennedy passed away three weeks later.
Inspired by Kennedy's story, Kirkley used the interview to begin another documentary, Radical Love, about Michael Kennedy's vast legal work in the area of civil rights defense. Woven into the into the political documentary is the unique love story of Kennedy and his wife and comrade of 47 years, Eleanora. The film also includes significant interviews with two Weathermen, Bernardine Dohrn and her husband Bill Ayers.
The film's producer is Caroline Waterlow, best known for her Oscar-winning documentary O.J.: Made in America.
Radical Love had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City in June 2021. The film was chosen for competition in the Short Documentary category.
Radical Love had been scheduled to premiere at South by Southwest in 2020 until the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of the festival.
Media appearances and New York Public Library
When making the 1990 film, Presumed Innocent, director Alan J. Pakula needed a professional for actor Raúl Juliá to speak with and observe as an experienced trial lawyer, Michael Kennedy was selected.
Along with eleven of New York's most powerful attorneys, Kennedy performed in a production of Twelve Angry Men as a benefit to raise scholarship funds for Legal Aid attorneys. The production was directed by Toni Kotite.
Michael Kennedy's papers and documents are stored at the New York Public Library's Archives and Manuscripts.
Personal life
Michael Kennedy was married to Eleanora (née Baratelli) Kennedy for over four decades. Together they have a daughter, Anna Kennedy. Kennedy also has two children from a former marriage: Lisa Marie Kennedy and Scott Hamilton Kennedy, an Academy Award nominated documentary film director. Kennedy and Eleanora lived in New York City for many years and spent summers in a legendary ocean-front mansion known as "Kilkare," located in Wainscott, Long Island. They spent winter months in a cottage in West Palm Beach, Florida and spent long vacations at their stone house in Ireland.
External links
Michael Kennedy papers, 1967-2014 Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.
References
1937 births
2016 deaths
New York (state) lawyers
California lawyers
University of California, Berkeley alumni
University of California, Hastings College of the Law alumni
Lawyers from Spokane, Washington
20th-century American lawyers
American civil rights lawyers |
64964768 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing%20of%20George%20Robinson | Killing of George Robinson | On January 13, 2019, George Robinson, a 62-year-old Black man, died two days after a violent arrest by three Black police officers in Jackson, Mississippi. According to a grand jury indictment, the officers pulled Robinson out of a car, threw him headfirst into the pavement, and struck and kicked him multiple times in the head and chest. Robinson was treated at the scene but within hours lost consciousness and later died at a hospital. The state coroner ruled the death a homicide.
After an internal Jackson Police Department investigation cleared the officers of wrongdoing, one of the officers continued working for the Jackson Police Department, and the other two were hired by a police department in a nearby town. Following the George Floyd protests a year later, as well as a lengthy grand jury review, all three officers were indicted for second-degree murder on August 5, 2020.
People involved
George Robinson was a 62-year-old Black man.
Desmond Barney, 31 years old as of August 2020, Lincoln Lampley, 33, and Anthony Fox, 35, also Black, were officers in the Jackson Police Department's K-9 unit at the time of the killing.
As of August 2020, Lampley is still an officer with the Jackson Police Department, and Barney and Fox are police officers in nearby Clinton, Mississippi.
Death
According to prosecutors, on January 13, 2019, Barney, Lampley, and Fox were canvassing in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Jackson, Mississippi, looking for suspects in the fatal robbery of a pastor hours earlier.
The officers saw Robinson sitting in his car in front of his house and approached him because they thought they had seen him dealing drugs earlier.
They ordered him to exit his vehicle, but Robinson, a stroke victim, was slow to comply.
According to the indictment, the officers pulled Robinson from his car, threw him headfirst onto the pavement, and struck and kicked him multiple times in the head and chest.
The responding ambulance treated Robinson at the scene and released him.
The officers arrested Robinson on misdemeanor charges of failing to obey a police officer and resisting arrest before releasing him with instructions to appear at a future court date.
Within hours, Robinson's girlfriend saw him losing consciousness and called for another ambulance.
Robinson died at a hospital on January 15.
The state coroner ruled the death a homicide. The coroner's report and other medical reports stated that Robinson died from blunt force trauma to the head and bleeding from the brain, and that he had several broken ribs.
Two other men were later arrested for the pastor's murder.
Prosecution
The three officers were placed on paid administrative leave while the Jackson Police Department's internal affairs division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated, and were later reinstated.
After the Jackson Police Department's internal affairs division cleared the officers of wrongdoing and "multiple agencies looked into the incident and advised that no criminal conduct occurred", Barney and Fox were hired by the police department of nearby Clinton, Mississippi, according to Clinton's mayor.
Lampley continued to be employed by the Jackson Police Department.
On August 5, 2020, all three officers were indicted for second-degree murder.
The three officers posted bond and were freed pending trial.
Lampley was placed on desk duty by the Jackson Police Department, and Barney and Fox were "assigned other duties" at the Clinton Police Department.
On May 20, 2021 all charges against Barney and Lampley were dismissed in a rare "directed verdict". The charges were dismissed with prejudice, an outcome welcomed by the Clinton Police Department.
Robinson's family has filed a civil suit against the city, the three police officers, and the ambulance company that treated Robinson at the scene and released him.
Impact
A march was held shortly after Robinson's death.
According to The New York Times, the officers were charged "amid intense scrutiny of police brutality after the killing in May of George Floyd in the custody of the Minneapolis police". United Press International reported, "The indictment comes as police departments across the country consider reforms in policing in the wake of protests against excessive force and racial bias." However, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba stated that the indictment of the three police officers actually built on a police accountability policy the city adopted in October 2018 which requires all cases of people who died in the custody of the Jackson police to be turned over the district attorney for a grand jury review.
See also
Lists of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States
References
Further reading
2019 controversies in the United States
2019 in Mississippi
African-American-related controversies
Black Lives Matter
Deaths by person in the United States
Deaths in police custody in the United States
January 2019 events in the United States
Law enforcement controversies in the United States
Law enforcement in Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi |
66255285 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing%20of%20Dolal%20Idd | Killing of Dolal Idd | Dolal Idd was a 23-year-old Somali-American man who was killed in an exchange of gunfire with Minneapolis police officers at approximately 6:15 p.m. CST on December 30, 2020, after he shot at them from inside the car he was driving. The fatal encounter happened in the U.S. state of Minnesota during a police sting operation.
Minneapolis police were investigating Idd for illegal possession and sale of firearms. Idd was prohibited from possessing firearms as part of his probation from a prior felony conviction. A confidential police informant intermediated as a buyer for a semi-automatic pistol, and made arrangements for a buyer to purchase the gun from Idd so that police officers could arrest him. Video captured by a police body camera the evening of December 30 showed police officers attempting to arrest Idd who struck several police vehicles with the car he was driving. After the vehicle driven by Idd was blocked by several police vehicles to prevent escape, Idd fired a handgun from inside the car he was driving through a rolled up window that shattered outward and hit a police vehicle containing several police officers. Minneapolis police officers Paul Huynh, Darcy Klund, and Jason Schmit returned several rounds of gunfire, killing Idd at the scene.
The shooting on December 30, 2020, took place in the parking lot of a busy Holiday gas station at the intersection of Cedar Avenue and East 36th Street in the Powderhorn Park neighborhood of Minneapolis, from the location where George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25, 2020. Floyd's murder resulted in prolonged local unrest and worldwide protests. Idd's death was the first killing by a Minneapolis police officer since that of Floyd. The December 30, 2020, shooting affected the local community still in mourning over Floyd's murder seven months prior, and reignited local debate over police brutality and race relations. In several rallies, protesters questioned the police narrative of the December 30 incident and if police officers could have used better de-escalation tactics to prevent an exchange of gunfire.
In the vehicle driven by Idd, law enforcement investigators recovered a pistol and two spent ammunition cartridges on the driver's side, as well as a backpack on the passenger's side that contained ammunition and a Leinad PM-11 machine pistol, the type of gun a confidential police informant arranged to purchase from Idd. The Minneapolis police, citing video footage and witness statements from the incident, said officers returned fire in response to an initial shot by a civilian. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension opened an investigation of the officer-involved shooting. The bureau's preliminary report, issued on January 4, 2021, said that Idd struck several police vehicles with the car he was driving and that he had shot his gun first before police returned fire.
Minneapolis police officers Huynh, Klund, and Schmit fired their weapons at Idd during the December 30 incident. Investigators at the scene recovered six bullets and seven bullet fragments from the rounds that the officers fired at Idd. An autopsy report classified Idd's death as a homicide, due to multiple gunshot wounds. The conduct of the officers, and if they were legally justified in using force, was reviewed by the Dakota County attorney's office. The final charging decision memorandum it released on August 6, 2021, said the officers' actions were justified and that no criminal charges would be filed against them.
Background
Fatal police shootings in Minnesota
Idd's death provoked a strong reaction in the local community as it was reminiscent of recent, fatal police encounters, particularly the shootings of black men. Minneapolis police had shot at people 17 different times from 2015 to the end of 2019, killing a person in five circumstances, most notably Jamar Clark, a black man, in 2015 and Justine Damond, a white woman, in 2017. In the Minneapolis suburb of Falcon Heights in 2016, a police officer from another nearby suburb, St. Anthony, shot and killed Philando Castile, a black man, during a traffic stop.
Murder of George Floyd and the aftermath
Idd's death came as Minneapolis officials attempted to reform the city's policing policies in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer on May 25, 2020. Officials were also addressing a wave of violent crime that followed widespread civic unrest in late May and early June 2020 after Floyd's murder. Idd's death was the 83rd homicide in the city in 2020, a number that eclipsed the previous two years combined. The Powderhorn Park area that featured the George Floyd Square, a street intersection that protesters transformed to an "autonomous zone", had been the location of several violent crimes since Floyd's murder and authorities had investigated firearm dealers that used the barricaded area as cover for illicit activities.
People involved
Dolal Idd
Dolal Bayle Idd (July 18, 1997 – December 30, 2020) was born in Somalia to parents from Kebri Dehar, a city in the Somali region of Ethiopia. His father resettled in the United States from Somalia in 1997, the same year Dolal Idd was born. Dolal Idd was three-years old when he emigrated with other family from Somalia to the United States. The family first resided in San Diego, California, and then moved to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, first residing in the suburb of New Hope, to be near extended family who already lived there. The Idd family had 11 children, including Dolal Idd. Idd resided in the Minneapolis suburb of Eden Prairie for most of his adolescent years. In 2015, Idd graduated from Eden Prairie High School according to the Sahan Journal or Minnetonka High School according to the Star Tribune.
After high school, Idd travelled with the family to Ethiopia and stayed there for several months. In 2016, Idd had briefly enrolled at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minnesota, for the spring semester, and he hoped to study computers or pursue a career as an emergency medical technician. He was also interested in learning more about Islam and the family discussed sending him to Egypt to study the Quran and the Arabic language.
Idd accumulated a criminal record in Minnesota over in next few years that included seven misdemeanors and a felony conviction. In 2018, Idd received jail time on three occasions. In 2019, Idd was jailed for several charges, including that he committed theft, carried a firearm without a permit, possessed marijuana, fled a police officer, and committed credit card fraud. As part of a plea agreement, Idd agreed to live at a residential drug treatment center, and spent three months there in 2019. In October 2020, Idd was booked into a Bloomington city jail on felony suspicion of a stolen vehicle.
Idd's most prominent criminal case was a July 2018 incident when he accidentally fired a gun in a shower of his parent's home as two children slept nearby. At the time of the incident, family members said that Idd was not allowed in the house as he scared the young children who lived there, and he was believed to have broken in through the basement patio door late at night. Idd fled the house after the gun discharged, leaving behind a box of bullets and a gun magazine. Police arrested him a few hours later when responding to a suspicious vehicle in a parking lot in Bloomington, Minnesota. Idd was found asleep in the vehicle and in possession of drug paraphernalia and a loaded Smith & Wesson 9 mm handgun that had been reported stolen out of North Dakota. Idd was eventually charged in October 2018 and he pled guilty in a Hennepin County court in 2019 of illegally possessing and firing a gun. Idd was sentenced to time already served in jail and placed on probation, and was ordered by the judge not to possess firearms. The probationary period had nearly finished at the time of his death.
The 23-year old Dolal Idd's last known address was his parents' home in Eden Prairie, a suburb of Minneapolis, approximately 13 miles from the city's downtown area. Idd's girlfriend said she had been to the family's Eden Prairie home and that Idd lived in the basement. Family members said that Idd moved out of the family's house in early December after his brother, Mohamed Idd, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in connection to a fatal shooting at an apartment complex in Bloomington, Minnesota, that occurred at 5:30 a.m. on November 30, 2020. According to police investigators, surveillance video also showed that Dolal Idd had been at the same apartment complex a few hours prior to that shooting.
After his death, friends and family of Dolal Idd commented about the period of time proceeding his death. They said that he was trying to turn his life around, that he had difficulty securing a job due to prior criminal convictions, and that he was seeing a therapist weekly. They also said that Idd had become increasingly paranoid about the police and fearful that he was being followed. After moving out of his family's home in early December 2020, Idd stayed with a friend, but he left after a couple of weeks. Idd was staying at a hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota, in the days leading up to his death.
Passenger
An adult, female passenger owned the white Chevrolet Cobalt vehicle Idd was driving during the December 30, 2020 incident. She sat in the passenger's seat as Idd exchanged gunfire with Minneapolis police officers. She identified as his girlfriend.
Minneapolis police officers
The Minneapolis police officers who fired at Idd during the December 30 incident were Paul Huynh, Darcy Klund, and Jason Schmitt. By the time of the shooting, Huynh had been with the police department for six years, Schmitt for 23 years, and Klund for 33 years. The three officers were members of a community response team that focused on issues such as drugs and street-level crimes, and had been investigating an increase in carjackings in Minneapolis. Klund was the sergeant in charge of the team. Prior to the December 30 incident, the officers had several civilian complaints against them; Huynh had seven, Klund four, and Schmitt 24. None of the officers were disciplined for the complaints.
Schmitt received a Medal of Honor for his role as a responder to the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse in 2007. In 2014 the police department settled a misconduct lawsuit for $7,000 stemming from a 2007 incident involving Schmitt; he was accused of striking a man with his rifle during an arrest. None of the complaints against Schmitt considered by internal affairs or civilian review resulted in discipline.
Early in his career, Klund was reprimanded for berating another officer and he was temporarily demoted from being a sergeant until he was reinstated by an arbitration process. In a separate instance, he was praised for quick response and showing respect to the family of a homicide victim. In mid 2020, Klund was one of several city police officers that signed a public letter that condemned the murder of George Floyd and pledged to improve community trust.
Hunyh, the newest member of the team, had been reviewed eight times by internal affairs since 2014; none of the reviews resulted in discipline. He received a few awards for his role investigating robberies.
Shooting
Sting operation
A confidential informant, who had been working with the Minneapolis police for over 20 years, became aware of a person on December 21, 2020, who was attempting to sell an AR-15 style rifle. Upon passing the information to Klund and the community response team, police investigators looked up the unidentified seller's mobile phone number records and discovered the seller had daily communication with Mohammed Idd, an inmate at the Hennepin County jail. The AR-15 was sold to an unknown party before police investigators could take any action. The confidential informant learned that the seller was also in possession of a MAC-10-style semiautomatic pistol that could be acquired and that the seller went by “Bird”, a nickname investigators had associated with Dolal Idd from previous investigations, and who was the brother of Mohammed Idd.
The Minneapolis Police Department attempted a sting operation the evening of December 30, 2020. The confidential informant led Idd to believe that they were intermediating for another unknown person who would buy the MAC-10-style gun that Idd wanted to sell, and the confidential informant and Idd communicated via mobile phone. Idd's attempt to sell a firearm was illegal, and a state law prohibited Idd from possessing a firearm because of a prior felony conviction, circumstances the Minneapolis police were aware of as they attempted to arrest Idd.
Idd, who the evening of December 30 was departing Hopkins, Minnesota, said he would meet the unknown buyer in the parking lot of a Holiday Stationstores in Minneapolis near the intersection of East 36th Street and Cedar Avenue. The gasoline and convenience store, situated in a residential neighborhood, was one of the busiest in the area. Idd said he would arrive there in a white Chevy vehicle and sent livestreaming videos of the MAC-10-style gun via mobile phone to the confidential informant. The informant said the unknown buyer would be meet him at the Holiday gas station in a vehicle with a description that matched the black Ford Explorer vehicle that Klund would covertly use for the sting operation.
Schmitt arrived at the Holiday gas station at approximately 5:45 p.m. CST in an unmarked Chrysler Pacifica minivan while three other police squad cars were staged in a nearby alley. Huynh was in a marked squad car. Klund and two other officers were inside an unmarked, black Ford Explorer squad car. At the direction of the police, the confidential informant did not go to the arranged meeting place.
Vehicle encounter
At 6:13 p.m. CST, Idd arrived at the Holiday gas station parking lot in a white Chevrolet Cobalt, a sedan-style automobile, with a woman in the passenger's seat. Idd parked near a car wash building at the north end of station parking lot, next to an uninvolved red pickup truck and two spots away from Schmitt's vehicle. At approximately 6:15 p.m. CST, Minneapolis police officerswho had claimed "probable cause" in a weapons investigation and suspected that the driver had a weaponmoved in on the white vehicle driven by Idd in the parking lot. Huynh approached Idd's vehicle and activated the siren and emergency lights of the marked squad car, as Klund entered the parking lot and activated the unmarked Ford Explorer squad car's emergency lights, and parked his vehicle to block the Cobalt.
In a chaotic scene captured on video, three police squad cars with lights flashing converged on the white Cobalt vehicle. Huynh exited his vehicle and approached the white vehicle on foot with his gun drawn. Huynh identified himself as police and called for Idd to "stop your car!" Schmitt also approach on foot with his firearm drawn and yelled, "Hands up! Hands up!"
Two marked police cars had lights flashing and blocked the front of the white Cobalt driven by Idd by forming a "V" shape. The white Cobalt drove forward and struck the two marked police vehicles, causing visible damage. When Idd attempted to go in reverse, the white vehicle's tires struggled for traction as the parking lot was covered in snow, and a third unmarked police vehiclethe black Ford Explorer driven by Klund with its emergency lights activatedmoved in further to box the white vehicle and prevent Idd from escaping. One officer yelled to the other offices to be aware that a passenger was also in the car with Idd.
After Idd ignored repeated commands from the police to put his hands up and exit the vehicle, he raised up a handgun and pointed it at the black Ford Explorer containing Klund and two other police officers and shot through his the driver's side window of the Cobalt that was rolled-up, which shattered the glass outward with a puff of smoke, and struck the Ford Explorer's hood, which indicated that Idd fired at the officers. One officer then yelled, "Fuck!" Another officer that approached the vehicle ducked for cover. Klund immediately exited the Ford Explorer and drew his firearm. Two seconds later, Huynh, Klund, and Schmitt returned a total of 14 rounds of gunfire.
Result of the shooting
Idd died at the scene. The woman in the passenger's seat of the white vehicle was unharmed. No police officers were injured.
Items recovered
Law enforcement investigators recovered a black-and-silver colored 45-caliber handgun in the white Cobalt vehicle driven by Idd that was located between Idd's body and the vehicle's center console and two spent 45-caliber cartridges inside, one on the driver's side floor and one on the driver's seat.
Investigators recovered six bullets and seven bullet fragments that had been fired by the three police officers.
The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension reported that a MAC-10 assault-style gun was also found in the vehicle driven by Idd; the actual gun model was a MAC-10 variant known as Leinad PM-11. Authorities recovered the Leinad PM-11 and ammunition in a backpack on the passenger's side.
Search of the Idd family home
Probable cause
Soon after the shooting, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension transported the woman passenger of the white vehicle to Minneapolis City Hall and interviewed her there. She said she was Idd's girlfriend and that she knew him only as "Bird", a nickname known to authorities from past investigations, and that she had been with Idd to his family's home in Eden Prairie. The confidential informant who attempted to purchase a gun from Dolal Idd told authorities that Idd had retrieved the MAC-10 he was attempting to sell from his home in Eden Prairie. Authorities used both sources of information to establish probable cause for a search of Idd's home in Eden Prairie for firearms, ammunition, and other materials. When the authorities looked up Idd's address, they found that police had been called to the house several times before for weapons offenses and that Idd had a history of possessing stolen firearms. Officials felt it was necessary to search the home overnight before evidence could potentially be destroyed or moved.
Before they initiated a search of the home, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agents spoke with the Eden Prairie Police Department, who had a history with Idd and home. Eden Prairie police had responded to 19 different incidents with Idd and had 27 calls to the home over the past six years. Dolal Idd was convicted of firing a gun in the basement of the same home, previously. Two of Idd's brothers who had lived at the home were also the subject of recent law enforcement actions. At the time of the search, Idd's 26-year-old brother, Mohamed Idd, was being held in a Hennepin County jail on a $1 million bond for a murder charge related to a November 30, 2020, incident in Bloomington, Minnesota, in which he shot and killed another person with a firearm he possessed illegally. Another brother, Dalal Bayle Idd, a 25-year old, was by the date of the home search in the fifth year of a prison sentence for robbery and assault of a person at a Life Time Fitness gym in Eden Prairie, and for breaking into a random home in Bloomington, Minnesota and assaulting the homeowner in front of his family; both of the victims suffered severe head trauma.
Search warrant
Investigators filed a search warrant at 12:13 a.m. CST on December 31, 2020, that revealed recovery from the December 30 shooting of a handgun found near Idd's body and a spent 45 caliber cartridge on floor of the car driven by Idd, as well as a high-capacity pistol that a confidential informant intended to purchase. The warrant noted a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigation that Idd had possessed a stolen, 12-gauge shotgun. The warrant application also cited Idd's criminal history and the November 30, 2020, homicide allegedly committed by his brother, Mohamed Idd, as further justification for a search of Idd's Eden Prairie home address. Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill electronically signed the warrant at 12:20 a.m.
"Knock and announce" search
The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office assisted the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in executing the search warrant at 2:35 a.m. CST on December 31, 2020. The type of warrant issued at the home was a "knock and announce"which became a key issue in the Breonna Taylor case, a fatal officer-involved shooting of a black woman in Louisville, Kentucky, in March 2020 when authorities had a "no-knock" warrantwhere officers must announce their presence before entering.
After the search of the Idd family home drew controversy, and left the family feeling "terrorized" by the ordeal, the sheriff's office released a 28-minute video from officer body camera footage. The footage revealed deputies announcing, “Police, search warrant!” as they pushed their way into the home with drawn assault riffles and pistols. Several adults in the home had their hands zip-tied by officers, even while appearing cooperative, as questions they had for the officers about the search largely went unanswered. The family was not informed that Dolal Idd had been fatally shot earlier until the end of the two-hour search of their home.
The sheriff's office said that the warranted search of the home was "high risk" and that officers followed protocol, which included use of flexible, plastic handcuffs placed in front of adult bodies.
Result of the search
Authorities did not recover any firearms in a search of the home.
Initial response and reactions
Minneapolis police
In a press conference the night of December 30, 2020, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo gave a preliminary report about the incident, as protestors quickly began gathering at the scene of the shooting who were aware police had shot and killed a civilian. Arradondo said that police conducted a traffic stop that involved a person they characterized as a "felony suspect". He said that according to witnesses to the police, a civilian had fired an initial shot at officers, who then returned fire, killing the civilian. Arradondo said the police would release body camera footage of the incident the following day, and that an outside investigation was already underway by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the agency responsible for investigating officer-involved shootings.
The Minneapolis Police Department released a 27-second video from an officer's body camera on December 31, 2020. A spokesperson for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the city released the video footage to dispel rumors about the incident, and that the segment released had the clearest view of footage they had in possession. Minneapolis police and city officials stated that the shooting would bring back painful memories for the city's residents who were still dealing with the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in May 2020.
Release of the body camera footage within 24 hours of the incident was done so more quickly that in other cases in Minnesota where such releases can take months or even a year after an incident. Minnesota Statute prevented the release of information from active investigations, but Minneapolis officials used a special provision in the statute to release information if it could "dispel widespread rumor or unrest". The same provision was last used in August 2020 when false rumors of a police shooting led to violent rioting in downtown Minneapolis, and officials released a graphic video of a man committing suicide to inform the community about what happened.
At a press conference on December 31, 2020, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said that police officers attempted the traffic stop as "probable cause" in a weapons investigation. The department said it had substantial evidence in the case, but Arradondo did not reveal more details about the department's investigation at that time, such as if Idd had been charged with a crime or if he had a warrant for his arrest. Arradondo also said that video evidence and eyewitness accounts of people who were nearby the December 30, 2020, shooting suggested that Idd fired his weapon at police first. The Minneapolis Police Department deferred to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for further investigation.
Public officials
U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar said in a December 31, 2020, statement on Twitter, "Let's stop normalizing + justifying state sanctioned murder by those who take an oath to uphold the law."
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said in an media interview on January 3, 2021, “Any time you have something like this it’s tragic. Why was someone shooting at the police? Why do we have a fatality? BCA, which is involved in any officer-involved shooting, is doing this (investigation)."
About the raid on the Idd family home, Minnesota State Representative Hodan Hassan said in early January 2021, “I don’t see professionalism. I don’t see any respect for the family. I don’t see cultural sensitivity. And I don’t see compassion."
Minnesota State Senator-elect Omar Fateh, whose district encompassed the Holiday gas station where the shooting took place, said in early January 2021, "This type of treatment for a bereaved family is inhumane and unconscionable. The police have lost the public trust, especially within BIPOC communities. My heart aches for the family of Dolal Idd."
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said at a December 31, 2020, press conference, "Our city is experiencing a lot of raw emotion right now. I know that is especially true for our Somali community, who has lost a young man. Gun violence has gripped our city and today is no exception, but the circumstances and the details of what transpired last night, does not negate the tragedy of yesterday's death."
Minneapolis City Council Member Andrea Jenkins, who represented the city's eight ward, said in early January 2021, “It's a big tragedy. We must have a full and thorough investigation, and if there is any wrongdoing, police need to be held accountable.”
Minneapolis City Council Member Phillipe Cunningham said on January 1, 2021, via Twitter, "Sadly, it appears that Dolal Idd brought an illegal gun into our city, shot at police according to body cam footage, and lost his life as a result."
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said soon after the December 30, 2020, shooting, "I recognize the trauma that our city has been under, and we want to do everything we can to maintain the peace. Our city has gone through too much. We need to keep our officers safe. We need to keep our community safe."
Others
Jaylani Hussein, executive director of Minnesota's Council on American-Islamic Relations, said on December 31, 2020, that the 27-second video released by Minneapolis police of Idd's death was "inconclusive".
Local activist Nekima Levy Armstrong said on December 31, 2020, "It’s still extremely difficult to believe the police version of events.... Why did you pull the man over in the first place? When he tried to leave, why did you cattle him in? Why did you get all ready for some bloodshed?”
A family member disputed the police narrative that Idd fired first. Idd's family felt the police response, which also included a search of the family's Eden Prairie home with a warrant, was excessive and demanded justice over Dolal Idd's death.
Investigation of the shooting
Autopsy
On December 31, 2020, the Hennepin County medical examiner's office identified the deceased person from the shootout as Dolal B. Idd, a 23-year-old black man. An autopsy by the medical examiner revealed the cause of Idd's death to be multiple gunshot wounds. The manner of Idd's death was characterized as a homicide. A toxicology report from the autopsy also found that Idd had positive blood levels for Delta-9 THC and Fentanyl.
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension preliminary findings
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension released a preliminary report about the shooting on January 4, 2021. The report stated that after police received information from an informant, they attempted to purchase a gun from Idd at a gas station as part of a weapons investigation. The report further stated that "when officers surrounded Mr. Idd’s vehicle to arrest him, Mr. Idd struck several police vehicles with his own vehicle, then fired his weapon at officers." Idd died of multiple gunshot wounds from the rounds fired by Minneapolis Police Officers Paul Huynh, Darcy Klund, and Jason Schmitt, according to the report. The bureau confirmed recovery of two guns, a handgun and a MAC-10 gun, in Idd's vehicle. The bureau said that additional information and video footage of the shooting would not be released until after the investigation of the officers involved was closed.
Investigation of the involved officers
The three Minneapolis police officers who fired at Idd were placed on administrative leave after the incident, a standard practice pending further investigation. Idd was killed in Hennepin County. Following an agreement signed by five Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area counties in mid 2020 concerning deadly police encounters, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office said on January 4, 2021, it would defer to prosecutors from another metropolitan county, in this instance Dakota County, about whether to file charges against the officers who shot and killed Idd. To avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, Hennepin County had the option to seek review by another county, or request that the Attorney General of Minnesota's office review the case.
Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said on January 4, 2021, that his office would review the case to determine if the officers were legally justified to use force, and his office would handle any potential charges of the officers. Citing health concerns, the 68-year old Backstrom retired as the county attorney on February 27, 2021, and Kathryn Keena became the next Dakota County attorney. By mid 2021, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension had not finished its investigation of the shooting, and the case had not yet been sent to Dakota County for a possible decision to charge the police officers. In July 2021, the family of Dolal Idd expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of information provided by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and made a public request for Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to take over the case.
Final charging decision of the involved officers
On June 28, 2021, the Dakota County attorney's office received from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension the full case file for the incident that led to Dolal Idd's death. Dakota County Attorney Kathryn Keena released a final charging decision memorandum on August 6, 2021. Her 13-page report "concluded that the use of deadly force was justified in this instance", and there was no legal basis to file criminal charges against Huynh, Klund, or Schmitt. Under Minnesota Statutes, police officers were permitted to use deadly force to protect officers from death or serious harm. According to the report, Idd discharged a firearm during the course of incident that struck the hood of the unmarked police vehicle containing Klund and two other police officers. After the initial shot, Huynh, Klund, and Schmitt returned fire, killing Idd. The female passenger in the vehicle with Idd the night of December 30, 2020, told investigators that as police officers approached the vehicle to arrest Idd, he said he did not want to go to jail, and that he first opened fire with a handgun. Crime scene investigators determined that Idd's gun had fired twice during the incident; two spent cartridges were found inside the white Cobalt vehicle. The reported concluded that in the county attorney's view Idd presented a deadly threat and that it was "objectively reasonable" that the officers returned gunfire.
Protests
Protest the night of the shooting
Protests first emerged the evening of December 30, 2020, when few details were known about the shooting incident. On social media, as news about the incident spread, many disputed the police narrative about the incident, and pointed out that George Floyd's murder in May 2020 was initially described by the police department as a "medical incident", though a bystander's video later showed that Floyd was pinned by a police officer's knee for nearly nine minutes as he struggled to breathe. Protesters over Idd's death demanded more information about the shooting and questioned if police officers could have de-escalated the situation to prevent firing on Idd.
Approximately 100 people gathered at the Holiday gas station near East 36th street and Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis that night in below-freezing temperatures, arriving soon after the shooting incident, and stood opposite police officers who wore riot gear. Some protesters shouted expletives and threw snowballs at police officers who were investigating the scene. In response, officers requested and received dispatch approval to use pepper spray if assaulted by demonstrators; no pepper spray was used. By late evening, the scene was calmer as protesters blocked an intersection and lit a bonfire. The tone of the scene was described as angry, but not violent. A van played loud music and several people gave speeches. Protesters dispersed around midnight and no arrests were reported.
Vigil for Dolal Idd
On December 31, 2020, hours after the release of the a 27-second segment of body camera footage from the incident on December 30, several people attended a vigil near the intersection of Cedar Avenue and East 36th Street in Minneapolis in for Idd and other people they believed were victims of police violence.
South Minneapolis protest march
As many as 1,000 protesters marched peacefully in south Minneapolis on January 3, 2021, to express outrage over the killing of Dolal Idd and a controversial search by law enforcement of the Idd family home. The march from the East 36th Street and Cedar Avenue intersection to East Lake Street and back featured signs, speeches by activists, and chants in a scene reminiscent of local unrest in mid-2020. Participants in the march, which was organized by the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, did not condone Idd's actions, but felt the use of lethal force was unnecessary and that police were leaving questions about the incident unanswered. Activists called for an independent investigation.
Downtown Minneapolis racial justice protest rally
Protests over the killing of Dolal Idd broadened to themes of racial injustice and outrage over other police-related violence. In an event organized by the Minnesota chapter of Black Lives Matter, several hundred people gathered in downtown Minneapolis on January 9, 2021, for a rally that featured speeches, hand-drawn signs, and chants. Protesters connected Idd's death to aggressive police action against black men, such as with the murder of George Floyd and shooting of Jacob Blake, which protesters contrasted to the mob that stormed the United States Capitol building on January 6, 2021, when U.S. Capitol police appeared to take little action to stop them.
Vigil and protest rally in Tukwila, Washington
Approximately 150 people gathered for a vigil for Dolal Idd and racial injustice protest rally outside a public library in Tukwila, Washington, on January 10, 2021. The day's events were coordinated by Somali- and Muslim-American communities in the Seattle metropolitan area. The rally turned into a march to the Tukwila Justice Center, where protesters also called for defunding the police by 50% in lieu of greater investment in the community and youth programs.
Governor's mansion demonstration
On March 21, 2021, a group of demonstrators rallied outside the Saint Paul residence of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to call for greater transparency and an independent investigation of the exchange of gunfire that led to Idd's death. Demonstrators were frustrated by the lack of new information about the investigation at nearly three months since Idd's death, and called for the release of all raw video footage from the shooting and search of his home.
Other protests and events
Protests over the killing of Dolal Idd were held alongside other protests of law enforcement killings and racial injustice in Minneapolis–Saint Paul. In March and April 2021, Dolal Idd's name and family were fixtures at protests and rallies outside the Hennepin County Government Center building in downtown Minneapolis during the trial of Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer charged for the murder of George Floyd that occurred on May 25, 2020, during an arrest. They were also a fixture at protests over the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, a black man, by white police officer Kimberly Potter on April 11, 2021, during a traffic stop in the nearby suburban city of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. In June 2021, protesters who demonstrated over the killing of Winston Boogie Smith, a black man killed by law enforcement in Minneapolis, also sought answers in Dolal Idd's case.
Family members of Dolal Idd and protesters held a march in Minneapolis on June 6, 2021, to seek answers in the case that had no public developments for the past several months. They also held a press conference on July 18, 2021, where they encouraged the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to continue investigating the incident and that Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison review the case.
Reaction to the final charging decision
After a report was released by the Dakota County attorney's office on August 6, 2021, that said the Minneapolis police officer's use of force was legally justified when they shot and killed Dolal Idd, family of Idd and social justice advocates held a news conference the same day outside the Saint Paul residence of Governor Walz. They requested that Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison review the case, called for release of all raw video footage from the shooting, and that an independent agency investigate the officers’ actions. Social justice advocates also said they would continue to pressure state and local officials for further inquiries of Idd's death. Protests seeking another review of the incident leading to Idd's death were held outside the governor's residence in Saint Paul on August 13–15, 2021.
Activists and family members of Idd rallied in Saint Paul on January 4, 2022, outside the official residence of Governor Walz. They called for further investigation of the incident that led to Idd's death and the release of additional evidence in the case.
Aftermath
Somali-American perspectives
Idd's death and the treatment of his family during a search of their home had a lasting impact in the Somali-American community in the months after Idd's death. Commentators in the Somali-American community viewed the December 30, 2020, incident as an unjustified, "military-style" killing. Some viewed Idd's death and the search of his family's home as part of historic, criminal profiling of black and Muslim people in America, and compared the police action against Idd to Islamophobia in the United States after the September 11 attacks. They also felt that authorities too easily justified killings of black and Muslim Americans, such as Dolal Idd, by law enforcement. In the Twin Cities metropolitan area, Idd's death was described as a motivating factor for Somali-American activism to advance police reform and racial justice.
Further investigations of Dolal Idd
On January 13, 2021, the police in Bloomington, Minnesota, obtained a search warrant to investigate Dolal Idd's possible connection to a shootout and homicide on November 30, 2020, allegedly committed by his brother. According to the warrant, surveillance video at 2:30 a.m. CST on November 30, 2020, showed Dolal Idd attempting to enter an apartment building on Old Shakopee Road in Bloomington, texting on his phone, and taking photographs of the building. Three hours later, at approximately 5:30 a.m. CST, an exchange of gunfire at the same apartment building left the 22-year-old Shakur Freed Muhammed of Hopkins, Minnesota, dead.
Dolal Idd's 26-year-old brother, Mohamed Idd, was initially arrested at the apartment building on November 30, 2020, and had suffered gunshot wounds, and was later charged in early December 2020 with second-degree intentional murder in connection with the man's death. Dolal Idd's 27-year old cousin, Abdi Bishar Mohamed, who was also arrested at the apartment building on November 30, 2020, and suffered gunshot wounds, was later charged with aiding an offender and illegal weapons possession. In statements to the police, Mohamed Idd and Abdi Bishar Mohamed gave conflicting accounts about the number of people who were at the scene, with Abdi Bishar Mohamed saying another unnamed accomplice fled out the window when the shooting occurred.
At some point hours before the shooting, Abdi Bishar Muhammed had met up with Mohamed Idd, and Abdi Bishar Muhammed told this girlfriend that he had stolen Percocet pills from him. Witnesses reported seeing two men outside the apartment where Shakur Freed Muhammed was found dead saying, "I’m going to kill you, I’m going to kill you." A search warrant allowed Bloomington police to access Dolal Idd's phone to understand his whereabouts on November 30 and who he was with that day. Bloomington police did make any initial public comments about the search warrant. In July 2021, Mohamed Idd pled guilty to the charge of second-degree murder for shooting that occurred on November 30, 2020, and received a 15-year prison sentence. Abdi Bishar Muhammed pled guilty to charges of aiding an offender and assault with a dangerous weapon, and was sentenced to 11 years in prison in September 2021.
Comparison to other police shootings
After Idd's death, some felt police in Minnesota approached the situation differently for black men than they had for white men. Idd's circumstances were compared to a September 2020 incident involving Ricardo Manuel Baldazo of Prior Lake, Minnesota. When police responded to a 9-1-1 call to his mother's house in Burnsville, Baldazo, who later admitted he was under the influence of drugs, fired gunshots from inside the house in the direction of responding officers. Baldazo exited the house with firearms in his hands and complied with police orders to drop the weapons, and was then arrested by police. Some questioned why Baldazo, who is Hispanic, was given the opportunity to surrender peacefully, while Idd was fired upon by Minneapolis police officers.
Eight days after Idd's death, on January 8, 2021, police officers in the Minneapolis suburb of Robbinsdale shot and killed Brian Eugene Andren, a 47-year old white man from Ramsey, Minnesota. Andren had a warrant for his arrest in South Dakota. He had admitted to a child pornography charge, but he failed to show up to be sentenced in December 2020. After a brief car chase with Robbinsdale police, Andren wielded a knife as officers attempted to subdue and arrest him, and after attempting to use a taser, an officer fired his weapon three times, killing Andren. The shooting was the subject of a protest and counter-demonstration in Robbinsdale.
On June 3, 2021, undercover law enforcement officers participating in a federally led task force shot and killed Winston Boogie Smith, a black man, during an attempted arrest in the Uptown area of Minneapolis. The details of Smith's death were compared to that of Dolal Idd, and protests and unrest occurred in reaction to the shooting over the subsequent weeks.
See also
2020–2021 Minneapolis–Saint Paul racial unrest
History of Somalis in Minneapolis–Saint Paul
List of killings by law enforcement officers in Minnesota
References
External links
Minneapolis Police Department's body camera footage (warning: graphic content)
Body camera footage
Body camera footage slowed speed
Redacted Video for Public Viewing 12 31 2020 by Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, YouTube
Further reading
Arrangement is chronological.
Minnesota Statutes, section 609.066. Authorized Use of Deadly Force by Peace Officers.
"Photos: Reaction to the shooting death of Dolal Idd" (December 31, 2020). Star Tribune. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
Editorial Board (January 5, 2021). "Let investigation continue in Dolal Idd's death". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
Dernbach, Becky Z. and Peters, Joey (January 6, 2021). "Minnesota media consultant, right-wing bloggers question Somali flag raising at Dolal Idd protest". Sahan Journal. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
Sirdar, Marjaan (January 6, 2021). "Murdered by MPD: Dolal Idd". The UpTake. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
Ahmed, Nura (February 6, 2021). "Opinion: The Terrifying Reality Behind the Black Muslim Experience in Amerikkka". South Seattle Emerald. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
Nealis, Wayne (August 5, 2021). "Minneapolis officials still have not taken police violence seriously". Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
Yancey-Baragg, N'dea (September 28, 2021). "A Black cop's murder conviction was overturned. For Minneapolis Somali community, justice is complicated". USA Today. Retrieved September 28, 2021
2020 controversies in the United States
2020 in Minnesota
2020–2021 Minneapolis–Saint Paul racial unrest
2020–2021 United States racial unrest
2020s in Minneapolis
African-American-related controversies
December 2020 events in the United States
Black Lives Matter
African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
Law enforcement controversies in the United States
Law enforcement in Minnesota
Somali-American history
African people shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States |
67713744 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death%20of%20Ronald%20Greene | Death of Ronald Greene | On May 10, 2019, Ronald Hardin Greene, an unarmed 49-year-old Black man, died after being arrested by Louisiana State Police following a high-speed chase outside Monroe, Louisiana. During the arrest, he was stunned, punched, and placed in a chokehold. He was also dragged face down while handcuffed and shackled, and he was left face down for at least nine minutes. At least six white troopers were involved in the arrest.
When Greene's corpse was brought to the hospital, police told doctors that his car had run into a tree, a story a doctor said "does not add up", given the nature of Greene's injuries and the fact that there were two stun-gun probes lodged in his body; police later acknowledged that Greene had died during a struggle, though without mentioning any use of force by officers. Although authorities refused to release body camera footage for two years, the Associated Press obtained and published a portion of it in May 2021. , the exact cause of Greene's death remained unclear.
One trooper involved in the death, Dakota DeMoss, was given letters of reprimand and counseling for violating the department's rules about courtesy and recordings. DeMoss was later arrested for using excessive force while handcuffing a motorist in a separate incident; he was subsequently fired in June 2021. A second trooper, Chris Hollingsworth, died in a single-vehicle car accident in September 2020, hours after learning he would be fired for his role in Greene's death. A third trooper, Kory York, was suspended for 50 hours for dragging Greene and improperly turning off his body camera, and has since returned to duty. , a federal wrongful death lawsuit and a federal civil rights investigation remain pending.
Death
Shortly after midnight on May 10, 2019, State Trooper Dakota DeMoss attempted to pull over Ronald Greene, a 49-year-old African-American barber, for an unspecified traffic violation near Monroe, Louisiana. Greene did not stop, and troopers chased him on rural highways at over . During the chase, DeMoss radioed that "We got to do something. He's going to kill somebody."
When Greene finally did stop, DeMoss and Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth rushed to Greene's vehicle as Greene said repeatedly, "OK, OK. I'm sorry" and appeared to raise his hands. Within seconds, Hollingsworth shot Greene with a stun gun through the driver's window while commanding Greene to get out of the car.
After Greene, who was unarmed, got out through the car's passenger side, one trooper wrestled him to the ground, put him in a chokehold, and punched him in the face. Hollingsworth struck Greene multiple times. While they tried to handcuff Greene, one of the troopers said "He's grabbing me", and another said "Put your hands behind your back, bitch." Greene cried "I'm sorry!" and "I'm your brother! I'm scared!" Another trooper stunned Greene a second time, and said he would shoot again "if you don't put your fucking hands behind your back".
After handcuffing Greene and shackling his legs, Trooper Kory York briefly dragged Greene facedown along the ground. Before York dragged Greene, Greene had tried to prop himself up on his side, leading York to shout at Greene: "Don't you turn over! Lay on your belly!" After dragging Greene, York told him: "You better lay on your fucking belly like I told you to! You understand?"
Instead of rendering aid, the troopers left Greene unattended, facedown and moaning, for at least nine minutes while they cleaned blood off themselves with sanitizer wipes. One trooper said, "I hope this guy ain't got fucking AIDS." Another trooper referred to Greene as a "stupid motherfucker".
At some point during the arrest, the troopers said that they did not want to have Greene sit up because they feared he would spit blood on them, to which Lieutenant John Clary told them not to sit Greene up. At another point, according to an investigator's report filed around early April 2021, "Greene's eyes are squeezed shut as he shakes his head back and forth moaning in pain, movements consistent with having been sprayed in the face with (pepper) spray", and about this time an officer "asked Greene if he has his attention now" and another said, "Yeah, that shit hurts, doesn’t it?"
After several minutes, Greene, unresponsive and bleeding from the head, was put in an ambulance, handcuffed to the stretcher. He was dead on arrival at the hospital.
Cause of death and false statements by police
, the exact cause of Greene's death remained unclear. A medical report states he was bruised, bloodied, and had two stun-gun prongs in his back; the emergency room physician wrote that the troopers' initial claim that Greene had been killed in a collision with a tree "does not add up." An autopsy commissioned by Greene's family found severe injuries to his head and several wounds to his face.
Authorities repeatedly refused to release body camera footage, or details about Greene's death, for two years. Troopers initially told Greene's family that he died by crashing into a tree. Later, troopers released a statement that said Greene "became unresponsive" and died on his way to the hospital after a struggle with the troopers. The troopers' report made no mention of use of force by the troopers.
In 2020, the Union Parish Coroner's office told the Associated Press that Greene's death was attributed to cardiac arrest and ruled accidental. The coroner's file attributed Greene's death to a car crash and does not mention a struggle with police. The full coroner's report, released in 2021, indicated that Greene had high blood levels of cocaine and alcohol, but also had a fractured breastbone and a ruptured aorta.
On the day of Greene's death, the highest-ranked officer at the arrest, Lieutenant John Clary, falsely told investigators that he had no body camera video of the arrest. In fact, Clary's body camera recorded 30 minutes of footage of the arrest. According to state police documents, during the arrest, Clary "immediately" switched off his body camera when another trooper indicated that it was recording. Clary also falsely told investigators that Greene had been "still resisting, even though he was handcuffed. He was still trying to get away and was not cooperating"; this was contradicted by Clary's own body camera footage, according to state police documents. A third false statement from Clary to investigators was his claim that troopers sat Greene up and "immediately held his head up so he could get a clear airway".
Lawsuit and investigation
Greene's family filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against the state police in May 2020, which remains pending . The family released graphic images of Greene's injuries, and images of Greene's car showing minor damage; the images were circulated online in September 2020.
Initially, the Louisiana State Police said the troopers' use of force was justified, describing it as "awful but lawful". State police did not open an administrative investigation until August 2020. A federal civil rights investigation into the death was opened by September 2020.
The state police's internal investigation determined that Hollingsworth should be fired; in September 2020, hours after being informed that he would indeed be fired, he died in a single-car collision. In October 2020, the Associated Press published audio of Hollingsworth apparently telling a colleague that he had "beat the ever-living fuck out of" Greene and "choked him and everything else trying to get him under control", and that Greene "was spitting blood everywhere, and all of a sudden he just went limp."
The internal investigation also resulted in York being suspended without pay for 50 hours for dragging Greene and improperly turning off his body camera. York told investigators that he deactivated the device because it was beeping loudly and his "mind was on other things". After the suspension, York returned to duty, where he remains .
DeMoss received a "letter of counseling" and "letter of reprimand" for violating rules about courtesy and recording equipment in the arrest of Greene.
Clary was not disciplined by the department with regard to Greene's death.
Greene's family was allowed in October 2020 to watch around 30 minutes of body-camera video of Greene's arrest. At this time, Greene's family also met with Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards. The governor said that prosecutors did not allow the video to be released to the public, as investigations were still active.
DeMoss was arrested in February 2021 for using excessive force in a May 2020 arrest of another motorist. An internal investigation concluded that when the motorist had surrendered face-down on the ground, DeMoss attacked him with a knee strike and a slap, and then DeMoss turned off his own body camera. The investigation also determined that the motorist never resisted arrest, despite the troopers' report that he was resisting and trying to flee. The motorist's arrest "bears a strong resemblance" to Greene's, described the Associated Press. In late May 2021, the department made public their plans to fire DeMoss. In June 2021, DeMoss was fired.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Justice Department Civil Rights Division, and the US Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana have opened a criminal investigation into Greene's death. Marc Morial of the National Urban League and Judy Reese Morse of the Urban League of Louisiana sent a letter to the Justice Department, requesting that the investigation be broadened to examine the Louisiana State Police as a whole.
In late June 2021, the Lafayette Daily Advertiser reported that investigators from the Louisiana State Police were prevented from recommending prosecution of any of the involved officers by the senior state police leadership, including the superintendent, Col. Kevin Reeves. Federal investigations were unaffected.
Release of body camera footage
On May 18, 2021, the Associated Press obtained 46 minutes of body camera footage and released an edited clip. One trooper apparently deactivated the body camera's audio about halfway through the video. At least six troopers, who were white, were on the scene, but not all had their body cameras activated; some did not have their audio activated.
On July 7, 2021, the FBI ordered a re-examination of Greene's autopsy taking into account the body camera footage which had not been available during the first autopsy.
References
External links
(Video) "Civil rights investigation underway into death of Ronald Greene" (May 19, 2021). NBC News.
2019 controversies in the United States
2019 in Louisiana
2021 controversies in the United States
African-American-related controversies
Deaths by person in the United States
Deaths in police custody in the United States
Filmed deaths in the United States
Filmed killings by law enforcement
Law enforcement controversies in the United States
May 2019 events in the United States
Monroe, Louisiana
Victims of police brutality in the United States |