The (AP) reports – A lawyer says a grand jury in New York City has declined to indict a white police officer on criminal charges in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man in July.
Jonathon Moore, an attorney for the victim’s family, said Wednesday he was told there would be no indictment of Officer Daniel Pantaleo (Pahn-TUH’-lay-oh) in the death of 43-year-old Eric Garner. Garner was stopped in Staten Island on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.
Amateur video shot by an onlooker showed Garner refusing to be handcuffed. Pantaleo responded by putting Garner in an apparent chokehold, which is banned under NYPD policy. Garner was heard yelling, “I can’t breathe!”
This is my first reaction to what just happened in Ferguson. My stomach is in knots. Buildings are burning. There are people who have criticized the title of my blog “America The Not So Beautiful.” They wanted something more optimistic, softer. Can you argue with the title now? I mean can you really? We are retreating in this country. As other nations forge ahead, we are back in the 1950’s and 60’s. It’s Selma all over again and watts and even further back, into the dark ages. This is where we are now. No justice and certainly no peace.
We all sat together, watched, listened together. Listened as the corrupt St. Louis County Prosecutor named Bob McCulloch, told the nation, told all of us, from San Francisco to Chicago to New York to Miami and to the heart of the tragedy, Ferguson, Missouri, that Darren Wilson, the police officer who killed Michael Brown, will not face charges. Yes, most of us expected it, dreaded it. But now it was real, it had actually happened. Justice denied, again. Again.
McCulloch stood there, and described an execution, then in the next breath said there was nothing to see here. He didn’t sound like any prosecutor I have heard before. He sounded much more like a defense attorney, the defense attorney for Darren Wilson. A prosecutor wants an indictment when they go to a grand jury so therefore in the almost non-existent cases where they don’t get one, they are distraught, just as they are when they lose a case in court. McCulloch hardly seemed upset about the decision, in fact he seemed vindicated, just like a defense attorney would be after they got their client off.
I’m not surprised at all. I expected this decision. We all did. But like everyone else, I was dreading this moment. I knew the fix was in. There was something disquieting about watching McCulloch throwing that fact in our collective faces. He threw it in our faces and hid behind a grand jury. I don’t blame them at all. As all legal experts have said, the grand jury does what the prosecutor wants. This time he didn’t want an indictment so he stacked the deck to get the result he wanted. McCulloch is a coward, and just like a defense attorney who does not put everything on the line for their client, McCulloch should be forced out of office and not be allowed to practice law ever again. He put nothing on the line for Michael Brown, in fact, Brown, the VICTIM wasn’t represented at all.
Look, this is what it comes down to. A cop can kill who they want. If they kill a black person they will get off 100 percent of the time. If they kill a white person that probably drops to about 95 percent. This is why whites shouldn’t think they are safe. WE are not. They say a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich, but police officers aren’t ham sandwiches. In the minds of too many they are filet mignon. They are the top of the line and can do no wrong. If they shoot and kill it’s always because they have to. Whether it’s a kid walking in the street, or a man with a fake gun at his side in a toy store or a 12 year old with a gun that even the guy who called 911 knew was fake but the trained cop didn’t, it simply does not matter. They can kill you if they feel like it that day. There is no recourse.
McCulloch admitted that Wilson shot 12 times, that’s a dozen shots. Once again though, nothing to see here. No question from the idiot reporters in the media pool, about how far away Brown was when Wilson shot at him several times, including the fatal shot to his head. No question to McCulloch about the need for a cop to justify each and every shot, all 12 in this case. Nobody asked him why he allowed Wilson to testify for four hours and if he will afford ALL defendants that leeway from now on. What McCulloch painted was the picture of a hulking black thug charging at Wilson, after he was already shot at least twice, charging AT BULLETS. That Wilson needed all 12 shots against an unarmed 18 year old kid in order to save his own life. Incredulity doesn’t describe it well enough.
McCulloch didn’t present a case. He dumped a case file in the hands of 12 people who were not legal experts and said have at it. He knew there were inconsistencies in testimony, because guess what…there ALWAYS is. If that were a reason to not indict, most of the people in prison wouldn’t be there. This was a game for McCulloch, a game he knew he could manipulate and win. He didn’t want to indict a cop and he knows that juries don’t want to either. So a little prod here and there is all he would need.
Scumbag Rudy Giuliani continues to spew at the mouth about “black on black” crime. But when a black person kills another black person they go to jail in about 23 seconds. As we have seen once again, when a cop kills someone, no matter what the evidence, no matter how many witnesses, no matter what, there is no justice.
Yes Ferguson is burning right now. But the entire country continues to smolder. None of us are protected from the flames.
More police brutality video, and this one comes with a bit of night stick to the head, skull crushing sounds, compliments of a New York police officer, apparently doing his best to protect and to serve.
The young man being protected in this video is 20 year old Donovan Lawson, who allegedly jumped a turnstile in Brooklyn, trying to avoid paying the $2.50 fare to ride the train.
The footage, obtained by New York telelvision station PIX11, showed a struggle between the cop and the young man, Donovan Lawson, 20, already in progress.
Seconds into the video, the unidentified police officer smashed his nightstick over Lawson’s head.
A loud crack could be heard as the stick hit Lawson’s skull, prompting screams from onlookers in the station.
Covering his head, Lawson then stumbled away from the officer, who proceeded to grab him by the collar and push him out of the station. In the final moments of the video, blood was visible streaming down the young man’s face.
The man who shot the footage told PIX11 that the officer also sprayed the young man with pepper spray before the video was recorded.
An NYPD official told the television station that officer in the tape was being reviewed by the Internal Affairs unit.
Yes, he carried a toy sword in the streets of Utah. But was that a crime punishable by death? Wait. Lemme ask that question this way. Was carrying a toy sword a crime punishable by an execution squad, firing and killing the victim, hitting him in the back as he ran for his life?
That was the outcome for Darrien Hunt when he walked a street in Utah with the sword – in Utah, that is not a crime – and the Utah police disposed of Mr. Hunt as if he were a rabid animal.
And now this: It was ruled that the officers who took Darrien’s life, did nothing wrong.
Back in September, two Saratoga Springs police officers fired a total of seven shots, Utah County Attorney Jeff R. Buhman told reporters, hitting Darrien Hunt, 22, six times — at least once in the back as he ran away. Buhman’s office investigated the Sept. 10 incident for nearly two months.
Buhman told reporters in a televised news conference that the officers had stopped to talk to Hunt, who was carrying the sword in public — which is not a crime in Utah — and that Hunt lunged “abruptly and without apparent provocation.”
The officers opened fire and may have wounded Hunt, who fled with the officers in pursuit. One of them, Cpl. Matthew Schauerhamer, shot Hunt from behind because he feared that Hunt would attack other people, Buhman said.
The shooting, Buhman decided, “was reasonable given Mr. Hunt’s prior unreasonable” attack on the officers.
Hunt was a resident of Saratoga Springs, which is about 35 miles south of Salt Lake City.
Hunt’s family rejected the county attorney’s decision and promised to file a civil lawsuit over the shooting.
Way to get your name in the news guys, because doing your job and peacefully transporting a psychiatric prisoner to the hospital is too mundane, no excitement and no one knows your name. But pulling over your patrol car and killing the prisoner? Excitement, people know your name and you get a paid vacation.
More about Sgt. Scott Cullen and Adam Daniel Lopp.
Sgt. Scott Culler, a Davidson County deputy, said he shot and killed Lopp on the side of Interstate 40 because he was under attack. Lopp, a 41-year-old patient who was involuntarily committed, has no known criminal history — not even an arrest, and other deputies did not report any other trouble with Lopp, according to local reporting by NBC Charlotte.
The Iredell County Sheriff’s office said there was a confrontation betwen Culler and Lopp after Culler pulled over, and that it’s not clear whether the exchange started in the vehicle, which did not contain a partition sometimes used for transport in police cars. Culler called for back-up, but he shot Lopp before other officers reported to the scene. Culler had no injuries. A spokesman for the department declined to comment to ThinkProgress on whether Lopp was armed or was restrained during transport, but there is no indication that Lopp had access to a weapon.
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is assessing whether criminal charges will be filed, and Culler is on administrative leave.
The incident happened on July 14th of this year in Michigan. The man, identified as 46-year-Timothy Mitchell was at an auto dealership when police was called because according to the caller, Mitchell was drunk and acting up. Mitchell left the dealership, driving away in his car and a high-speed chase ensued when cops spotted him.
The chase was eventually called off due to public safety concerns and Timothy’s car vanished. Shortly afterwards, a police officer named Justin Schlabach, spotted Timothy’s car crashed along the roadside. With his dash-cam filming, officer Justin Schlabach is seen pulling up to the scene. He exited his car and walked towards Timothy, his gun drawn.
The camera, which is capable of recording sound, is suspiciously quiet. It is later revealed that the officer’s microphone was broken, so no sound was recorded.
According to the officer’s report, Timothy started walking towards him, saying “you’re going to have to shoot me.” On the video, Timothy is seen walking towards the officer. The officer took a few steps back and shot. Timothy staggered off to the side, fell and died.
Claiming that the officer did nothing wrong in taking the man’s life, prosecutor of Marquette County Matt Weise, refused to prosecute and cleared officer Schlabach of all wrong doings.
The latest shooting of a black kid by a cop, once again in the state of Missouri, has created more hatred and distrust of the police. There are more protests, this time in the city of St.Louis. The details surrounding the shooting are fuzzy, as in they don’t make sense. There seems to be missing elements and someone is either lying or has no real clue as to what happened. An 18 year old boy was killed once again by an unnamed officer. As I write this we only know that he is 32 years old and white. Until we know the name of the person who killed the boy I won’t mention the boys name either. Just my new rule.
What we do know is that the unnamed officer was off duty, working for a private security firm BUT he was wearing his city uniform. This has been a pet peeve of mine for a long time now. I hate that cops can wear their government issued uniforms at private events. Whether it be working for a small firm or an entity as big as the New York Yankees. I also don’t believe police officers should be allowed to work these second jobs. Let the private companies hire their own security officers, let them be retired cops, but not working police. If the pay you receive as a cop isn’t enough, you can do some other line of work. As I have said before there is no cop draft, one takes the job voluntarily. I don’t know of any other job where you can wear your official uniform, badge etc while working for a private company. I want people who want to be cops, not carry a gun for as many people as possible to make as much dough as possible.
We also know that the off duty officer shot at the 18 year old kid 17 times. 17 times. I will say it again, 17 times. The cop said he wasn’t sure the kid had a gun until he turned and pointed it and took 3 shots while running away. The police claim a gun was found and that three projectiles were recovered that were headed downhill towards the officer. The officer also said he got into an altercation with the kid before the shooting and that he was wearing a “grey hooded sweatshirt.” A surveillance camera which was taken just moments before (image at top of post) shows the victim and two friends buying a sandwich. The store clerk said he didn’t believe the victim was armed, and no gun can be seen which of course does NOT mean he didn’t have one hidden. However there was no grey hooded sweatshirt. Two of the boys had black t shirts and one a grey t shirt. The officer also said he saw the victim holding his waistband as he ran which made him believe he had a gun. In the video we can see the pants “sagging” on at least one of the boys, so it’s possible the victim had to hold his pants up at the waist so they didn’t fall as he was running. Like I said, the facts are murky at this point.
But I want to go back to the 17 shots. I’m guessing I can do better and I’ve never shot a gun. Held one only once. Here is a cop who has been on the force for six years and is also being employed by a private company. One would think, especially in this day and age where cops are using their guns more and more every year, that accuracy of the shot would be at least somewhat important. Yet in Ferguson we get 7-8 shots at a victim that was just feet away from the officer. Shortly after that we saw over 10 shots at a guy with a knife that was also just feet away from the officer. Now 17 shots at a fleeing kid. 17.
These cops could easily take on the moniker of “The gang that couldn’t shoot straight.” Here is an idea. If, after the first, oh, let’s say 10 shots, you haven’t ended the event, then stop shooting. Just stop and turn around and go get a different job. How about that? How about a limit on how many shots a cop can take? We are talking about densely populated urban areas, with innocent people, children, who can get hit with one of those 17 shots. The autopsy shows the kid was hit 5-7 times. So at least 10 shots missed him. At least 10 shots that could have killed a grandmother or an infant. There is absolutely no reason to take 17 shots at one kid running away, even IF he turned and fired 3 at you. This is incompetence at BEST. The details to come will tell us if there is a worst.
I still can’t figure out why this off duty cop confronted these three kids who had just bought a sandwich. There are no details in the accounts I have read so far that explains it other than there may have been a robbery or something and that the three looked “suspicious” to the cop. These days that usually means they were black and there was a crime within 100 miles of their location. We shall see.
Then there is the cop in my home town of Brooklyn, New York. He was caught on camera taking $1,000 out of the pockets of a blue collar worker who of course happened to be black. He stole the money and when was asked to give it back, maced anyone who was in his way. He clearly could see that he was being filmed. He didn’t care.
So as you can see cameras won’t solve the issue of police brutality and criminal behavior. It won’t solve the problem because these bad cops believe they can do anything they want and will get away with it. Camera, no camera..audio, no audio…witnesses, no witnesses, it doesn’t matter. And you can’t blame them for that mentality because well, usually nothing happens. At absolute worst they get fired. That’s it. Where you or I would be rotting in jail, the punishment for burglary or abuse or murder by cop is you get to do something else for a living while also getting a pension. That’s it.
Over and over again they get away with it. Either because prosecutors are afraid of putting their buddies on trial or because dumb American juries think a cop can really do whatever they want and acquit. So why would they care about cameras? Or laws?
They can steal money, shoot an unarmed kid, and fire 17 shots in the dark.
This is the story about a man, going out to celebrate his birthday with his wife. According to those who know him, he is a hard working man and on this particular occasion, he withdrew $1300 from his account for the special celebration.
This is the story of a crooked New York cop, who apparently uses ‘Stop and Frisk’ as an way to carry out his crookalogy.
This is a story of what happens when the hard working man, his hard earned $1300 and the crooked cop cross paths on a street in New York.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office is investigating the incident, which was captured in cellphone video footage and turned over to the prosecutors and the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau.
The man and his sister, who were protesting what they called a “robbery,” were also pepper-sprayed by the officer during the incident.
“One of the most disturbing things about the video is the other cops standing around watching and doing nothing to stop the wrongdoing,” the siblings’ lawyer, Robert Marinelli, said, according to the news site.
Lamard Joye said that the officer took $1,300—which has still not been accounted for—from his pocket and pepper-sprayed him and his sister, Lateefah Joye, who was trying to get the officer’s badge number.
“I believe that this officer made an assumption that any money Mr. Joye possessed was obtained illegally and therefore he would not report the theft. This assumption was wrong. Mr. Joye is a hardworking taxpayer deserving respect,” Marinelli said.
Lamard had taken the money out of his bank account because he was planning to take his wife out for his 35th birthday, according to the lawyer. According to the Daily News, the incident occurred a little after midnight on Sept. 16, near a housing project in the Coney Island neighborhood.
The video begins with Lamard being pushed by the police officer against a fence. The cop seems to go into the man’s pocket, pulling out the cash. Lamard immediately starts protesting.
“Give me my money,” Lamard demands.
The officer proceeds to pepper-spray Lamard, even as onlookers begin to protest.
Stop and Frisk, the infamous police procedure put in place by former mayor Mike Bloomberg, gives New York police officers the authority to walk up to anyone on the streets of New York, stop that individual and frisk them for no reason. Reports have called into question the effectiveness of the program, showing that over 90% of those stopped had no weapons or no evidence of wrong doings.
‘To Protect and To Serve’ was once again thrown out the window as overly aggressive police officers demands an ID from a passenger in a car, then breaks his window to tase him when he asked for their supervisor.
HAMMOND, IN — After witnessing a motorist allegedly not wearing a seatbelt, police escalated a violent confrontation to the point of shattering a window to extract a passenger when he claimed not to have an ID.
“Oh my God, he’s pulling me over like I robbed a bank,” recalled Lisa Mahone, the driver and alleged seatbelt violator. “The whole situation was just crazy.”
Ms. Mahone was riding with her boyfriend and 2 children to the hospital to see her mother, who was literally on her deathbed.
“I gave him my license and insurance. I also let him know at the beginning to please hurry up because my mom is about to die,” Ms. Mahone said.
Hammond Police, fishing for more offenses, demanded that her adult passenger, Jamal Jones, produce an identification. Mr. Jones initially declined to provide an identification, but when officers continued to insist, he opened up his backpack to look for one.
That’s when police drew their guns.
Mr. Jones requested a supervisor, and Ms. Mahone dialed 9-1-1 to describe the situation and request the same.
“I am scared. And the man–pulled a gun out. A gun! Why do my kids have to see that,” Mahone told the 9-1-1 operator.
Mr. Jones expressed reluctance to get out of the vehicle due to the officers’ aggressiveness and mentioned that “People are getting shot by the police.”
“You all got a white shirt?” Jones asked, referring to the supervisor the family had been requesting. The officer responded, “Look at my shoulder, dumbass. I got bars.”
“You’re going to come out of the car one way or another,” the officer menaced. “You want your kids to see you come out through the window?”
Shortly thereafter, the HPD officers rammed a metal object through the passenger window and began to jolt Mr. Jones with a taser. Jones was yanked from of the vehicle, and Ms. Mahone and her children were showered in shards of broken glass.
Police brutality and excessive force are all over the news today, but these unfortunate characteristics of some police officers were around for a long time now. This incident happened over 2 years ago, but the circumstances and the players are the same.
When Reverend Earl Baldwin got the news that his step son was shot and killed trying to break up a fight, he rushed to the hospital to see his son. The sight of his son understandably overcame the Reverend and his emotions took over. The tears flowed as he hugged the lifeless body of his 23-year old son, Mileek Grissom, and the reverend began saying a prayer for his son.
This was apparently too much for the police officers in the room, as they unanimously decided that the father had overstepped his bounds and had to stop. They began trying to get the grieving father away from his son and finding that task a little more difficult for them to do, a taser was pulled out and the father was tased.
Somehow I think the color of his skin had something to do with why the Reverend no, the father of a dead child, was tased. But that’s just my opinion. According to the hospital, the police officers were justified in using excessive force because Baldwin they claim, was in the way of doctors trying to revive his son.
His son was dead mind you, but the doctors couldn’t figure that one out!
“Clearly this was a stressful situation and a tragic loss for this family,” the hospital said in a statement. “However, the allegations about the circumstances are inaccurate.”
Of coruse, Baldwin disagree with the hospital’s assertions.
“Watch the video,” said Baldwins’ attorney, Joel Sansone. “Not only was the child not being treated. The child was dead.”
Witnesses say the woman, identified as 44 year old Sandra Amezquita, was trying to protect her 17 year old son from getting arrested.
According to police, they were trying to arrest the teenager because he had a knife and that is when his mother intervened. The video shows an officer grabbing the woman from behind and slamming her to the ground. She landed on her stomach with the officer on top of her.
She is six months pregnant and according to her doctors, she is now having complications.
Update: Lawyers representing Sandra said police also beat the pregnant woman on her stomach with batons, and they released photos showing her bruises.
Witnesses say the woman, identified as 44-year-old Sandra Amezquita, was trying to protect her 17-year-old son from the police.
According to the officers, they were trying to arrest the teenager because they say he had a knife, and that is when his mother intervened. The video below shows an officer grabbing the woman’s arms from behind, spinning her around and slamming her to the ground. She landed on her stomach with the officer on top of her.
Sandra Amezquita is six months pregnant and according to her doctors, she is now having complications.
Update: Lawyers representing Sandra Amezquita said police also beat the pregnant woman on her stomach with batons, and they released photos showing her bruises.
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