White Suburban Chicago Officer Charged w/Murdering Marcellis Stinnette. Liar Cop Executed Unarmed Black Man and Shot His Girlfriend. Neither Posed a Threat or were Under Arrest After Unlawful Stop

From [HERE] A former Waukegan police officer has been charged with murder in the shooting death of a man during a 2020 police chase, and is also facing charges for using excessive force while arresting a man at a family baptism in 2019.

Dante Salinas has been charged with three counts of second-degree murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter in the Oct. 20, 2020, shooting death of Marcellis Stinnette death, according to Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart.

Salinas shot and killed Stinnette and wounded his girlfriend, Tafara Williams, on Oct. 20, 2020, during a chase after they'd fled an earlier stop in Waukegan. 

"My grandson's blood is crying out from the grave, 'Grandma, we need justice!', and we're finally getting justice," said Stinette's grandmother, Sherrellis Stinnette.

Williams was seriously injured in the same shooting, but survived. She is now charged with aggravated fleeing in connection with the incident.  

Salinas also is charged with one count of aggravated battery and two counts of official misconduct in connection with his August 2019 arrest of Angel Salgado.

"These two separate incidents demonstrate that Mr. Salinas has not lived up to the standards of his brother and sister officers," Rinehart said. "Angel, Marcellis, and every resident of Lake County have the moral and legal right to be safe."

Salinas turned himself in Wednesday after a grand jury returned indictments in both cases. His bond was set at $350,000 on Thursday, and he is due back in court on Nov. 15. Williams also turned herself in, and was released on bond.

Salinas was fired from the Waukegan Police Department three days after shooting Stinnette, for multiple policy violations during the incident, including failing to activate his body worn camera until after the shooting.

Before the shooting, Williams and Stinnette had fled a suspicious vehicle stop. Officer James Keating had pulled them over, telling them he was arresting Stinnette on an outstanding warrant, but they took off. 

Salinas later located them and pulled them over. Salinas fired the shots just 12 seconds after walking up to the vehicle in which Stinnette was a passenger and Williams was behind the wheel.

Video released by the city of Waukegan within days of the shooting did not show the actual shooting, because Salinas did not activate his body camera until after shooting Stinnette and Williams – a decision that got him fired from the department. The footage did document Salinas explaining why he fired into the car, as he is interviewed by another officer.

"It backed up right at me; it was in between my squad car…. I fired my weapon because I thought I was the next one run over," Salinas says.

Dashboard camera from Salinas' vehicle does show him following the couple's car before the shooting, as Williams' car slides off the road at Martin Luther King Jr. and South avenues. As Salinas gets out of his squad car, the couples' car begins backing up, but Salinas isn't visible in that footage, so it's unclear from the video if he was in the car's path before firing.

"I was right behind you and you almost tried to run me over!" the officer is heard yelling.

However, Rinehart said an investigation by Illinois State Police and an independent crime scene analyst determined Salinas was well clear of the car's path when he shot Stinnette and Williams. Rinehart also noted Stinnette had committed no crime that night, and neither he nor Williams were armed.

"These shots were illegal, unnecessary, and constitute second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter," Rinehart said.

In a statement, Stinnette's mother, Zharvellis Holmes, said the charges against Salinas "have been a long time coming."

"My son, Marcellis Stinnette, was innocent, unarmed, and did nothing wrong. He did not deserve to be shot and killed by former Waukegan Police Officer Dante Salinas," she said.

Salinas also is accused of using excessive force during an August 2019 incident involving Angel Salgado, who already has sued Salinas, claiming Salgado beat him during an arrest while Salgado was attending a family baptism.

Rinehart said Salinas was on patrol that day when he heard Salgado shout, and got out of his patrol car, leading to an argument. 

Police reports state Salgado had flagged Salinas down – and then Salgado "kept yelling and advancing in a menacing manner."

During the argument, Salinas pulled out his service weapon and then his Taser, and then Salgado turned away from him to go into the fenced-in yard of his family's home, according to Rinehart. Salinas followed Salgado into the yard, deployed his Taser, tackled him, and punched him in the face, breaking his eye socket, Rinehart said.

While an internal police review of Salgado's case determined Salinas' use of force was "within department policy," and Salinas was never disciplined for his actions, Rinehart said Salinas' actions were not justified.

"Angel was not hurting anyone. He was not breaking the law, and Officer Salinas had not received a complaint," against Salgado, Rinehart said. 

Williams also has filed a lawsuit against Salinas, accusing him of using "an unreasonable amount of force in relationship to the threat or force posed by the Plaintiff, who was not resisting any lawful arrest or threatening the life or safety of any police officers" during the shooting that wounded her and killed Stinnette.

Williams' attorneys said Salinas and Keating had personal animosity toward Williams and Stinnette, and said the City of Waukegan was "encouraging, accommodating, or facilitating a 'blue code of silence'" in its police department.

Williams' lawsuit also blames the city of Waukegan for improper training, as did Salgado's lawsuit.

In video from the night of the shooting, it was clear Keating immediately recognized Stinnette in the passenger seat after first pulling over the couple's vehicle at Liberty and Oak streets.

"What's your first name? You're Marcellis, right?" Keating said.

He then said, "You're under arrest, man." When Williams asks why Stinnette is under arrest, the officer replies, "because I said."

"Hey, come on, show me the hands, pal. I ain't playing with you because I know you. Marcellis, you're under arrest," Keating said.

"He's under arrest for what though?" Williams said.

"Because he got a warrant," the officer said.

The officer and Williams continued talking back and forth until Williams drove off.

"They just ran me over," Keating said.

That's when Salinas picked up the chase that ended with him shooting Williams and Stinnette.

Shot in the Head Through His Hand: Philly Cop Convicted of Manslaughter for Murdering Dennis Plowden. Jury Rejected Liar Cop’s Claim that Unarmed Black Man Posed a Threat After Unlawful Traffic Stop

From [HERE] and [HERE] white Philadelphia police officer was convicted Wednesday of voluntary manslaughter and a weapons charge in the fatal shooting of an unarmed Black motorist shot six seconds after the officer arrived on the scene.

Officer Eric Ruch Jr. told jurors he feared for his life when he fired at Dennis Plowden Jr. as the 25-year-old sat on a sidewalk after crashing a car during a high-speed chase. Apparently, the jurors found him to be not credible or a liar.

The jury rejected a more serious third-degree murder charge, but also convicted Ruch of possessing an instrument of crime. The felony manslaughter charge carries a term of up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing is set for Nov. 17. A first-degree murder charge filed against him was dropped before trial.

District Attorney Larry Krasner had little comment after the verdict, thanking jurors for what he called their “noble and demanding” public service, but said he expected to say more at Ruch’s sentencing.

Officer Eric Ruch Jr. shot and killed Dennis Plowden Jr., 25, only seconds after Plowden crashed his car at 77 mph (125 kph), stumbled out of it and fell to the ground, authorities said.

Plowden, dazed and unarmed, was holding his empty left hand in front of his face when Ruch fired the fatal shot, prosecutors said. Four other officers who were on the scene and had taken cover did not fire their weapons, according to a grand jury presentment.

Ruch shot Plowden in the head without justification as Plowden looked “dazed and lost on the sidewalk.”

“Ruch intentionally fired on Dennis Plowden less than 20 seconds after the Hyundai he had been driving crashed at nearly 80 miles an hour, Mr. Plowden had fallen to the ground, and yet was still attempting to obey commands,” the grand jury wrote.

It remained unclear why police sought to stop Plowden’s car in the first place. According to the grand jury, Ruch and his partner began following Plowden and asked police dispatch to check the registration of his car. 

Ruch’s partner told investigators after the shooting that they had stopped Plowden’s Hyundai because of a patrol alert that connected it to a homicide, according to the grand jury. 

But other officers said they were unaware of the patrol alert — which had not been broadcast over police radio — and all the information sought by Ruch from police dispatch was already contained in the alert, the grand jury said.

“There’s no information on the police radio before the incident that indicates that anyone knew for sure that this vehicle may have been involved in a homicide,” Assistant District Attorney Vincent Corrigan said at a news conference Friday. That homicide investigation remains open, he said, but the Hyundai is no longer an “avenue of inquiry.”

The grand jury said three of the four officers present for the shooting testified they did not see Plowden raise his left hand, while the fourth said he didn’t recall what Plowden was doing with it.

Other eyewitnesses said Plowden was on his back and struggling to sit up when he was shot, with one saying Plowden was gesturing with his left hand in front of his face. 

The lawsuit filed by Plowden’s wife said he was propping himself up with his right arm while holding out his left hand in a vain attempt to prevent Ruch from shooting him. A medical examiner said the bullet tore through the fingers of Plowden’s left hand before hitting him in the head, indicating the hand was raised, according to the grand jury.

Ruch fired the fatal shot just 6 to 8 seconds after getting to the crash scene, the grand jury said.

Hetznecker, the lawyer for Plowden’s wife, said that police had no probable cause to stop the car, and that officers’ statements were an attempt to justify the fatal shooting.

Plowden was taking classes to get his high school diploma and was learning the construction trade at the time of his killing. He left behind two children and three stepchildren, including an infant son who is now 3.

In a key pretrial ruling, Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Barbara McDermott barred prosecutors from telling jurors about a series of complaints filed against Ruch during his 10-year police career because he was mostly cleared of wrongdoing by internal affairs, who clear almost all complaints against police. [MORE]

White Judge Departs from Sentencing Guidelines to Apply the Law of The Jungle Standard: Hooks Up White Cop who Helped Murder George Floyd by Holding His Legs Down with 3 Yr Sentence. Out in 2 Yrs

WHAT IS COLLECTIVE WHITE POWER? From [HERE] A former Minneapolis police officer who pleaded guilty to a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd was sentenced Wednesday to three years.

Thomas Lane is already serving a 2 1/2-year federal sentence for violating Floyd's civil rights. When it comes to the state's case, prosecutors and Lane's attorneys had agreed to a recommended sentence of three years — which is below the sentencing guidelines — and prosecutors agreed to allow him to serve that penalty at the same time as his federal sentence, and in a federal prison.

Judge Peter Cahill accepted the plea agreement, saying he would sentence lane below the guidelines because he accepted responsibility.

"I think it was a very wise decision for you to accept responsibility and move on with your life," Cahill said, while acknowledging that the Floyd family has not been able to move on with theirs.

Under Minnesota rules, it's presumed Lane would serve two years of his state sentence in prison, and the rest on supervised release, commonly known as parole.

Floyd, 46, died in May 2020 after Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, pinned him to the ground with a knee on Floyd's neck as the Black man repeatedly said he couldn't breathe. Lane, who is white, held down Floyd's legs. J. Alexander Kueng, who is Black, knelt on Floyd's back, and Tou Thao, who is Hmong American, kept bystanders from intervening during the 9 1/2-minute restraint.

The killing, captured on widely viewed bystander video, sparked protests in Minneapolis and around the globe as part of a reckoning over racial injustice.

Wednesday's sentencing hearing was held remotely. Lane appeared via video from the Federal Correctional Institution Englewood, the low-security federal prison camp in Littleton, Colorado. He made no statement to the court prior to sentencing. But after the hearing was adjourned, Lane complained to his attorney, Earl Gray, that the judge had said he would have to register as a predatory offender "if required."

"I gotta register as a predatory offender? What the (expletive) is that?" Lane said. And he added: "That's what Chauvin has to do. If I have a minimal role, why the (expletive) do I have to do that?"

Gray told him he'd look into it. [MORE]

White Texas DA Drops Death Penalty but Still Seeks Life Sentence for Marvin Guy. Black Man Locked Up 8 Years Without a Trial for Alleged Killing of White Cop; He Shot Back as Cops Broke-In During Raid

From [HERE] Bell County prosecutors have dropped their efforts to impose the death penalty on Marvin Guy (pictured), an African American man who has been held eight years without trial in connection with the death of a white police officer during a botched no-knock raid in Killeen, Texas in May 2014. 

In the pre-dawn hours of May 9, 2022, a SWAT team from the Killeen Police Department ignited a flash grenade and broke a window attempting, unannounced, to enter Guy’s residence to serve a warrant to search for cocaine. Guy fired out the window at what he told the Washington Post podcast Broken Doors he believed were intruders attempting to rob or kill him. Police returned a hail of gunfire, and during the shooting, four police officers were struck by bullets. Two days later, Killeen police Detective Charles “Chuck” Dinwiddie died from his wounds.

Prosecutors charged Guy with capital murder and sought the death penalty. He is imprisoned pre-trial on $4 million bond. Guy maintains that police accidentally shot Dinwiddie during the raid. No drugs were found in the search of Guy’s house. 

“This no-knock raid should’ve never happened, and Marvin should not have been arrested,” PJ Martinez, Texas Campaigns Director of the Grassroots Law Project said.

While Guy no longer faces the death penalty, prosecutors continue to seek a capital murder conviction and life sentence against him.

Less than six months before the botched raid on Guy’s house, central Texas police in Burleson County threw a flash grenade and tried to kick in the door to enter the residence of Henry “Hank” Magee during another drug-related no-knock raid. Magee grabbed his semi-automatic rifle and fired it towards the door, killing SWAT office Sergeant Adam Sowders. Police found drugs in Magee’s residence. Prosecutors charged him with capital murder, but a grand jury refused to indict, effectively determining that Magee had acted in self-defense.

In an October 2014 article in Mother Jones reporter Shane Bauer wrote the cases raised “troubling questions about race and ‘no-knock’ police raids.” “The cases are remarkably similar, except for one thing,” Bauer observed: “Guy is black, Magee white.”

Killeen City officials banned no-knock raids in 2021, two years after Killeen police shot James Reed to death and then tried to cover up their role in the killing. Officer Anthony Custance lied to investigators about his role in the shooting before ultimately pleading guilty to charges of tampering with evidence to try to make it appear he had not shot at Reed.

Guy has languished in jail for more than eight years after firing the public defenders office and two other teams of court appointed lawyers whom his supporters say were not aggressively defending his case. In April 2021, the Innocence Project of Texas entered its appearance on behalf of Guy, with its Executive Director Mike Ware serving as lead counsel. Dallas criminal defense lawyer Justin A. Moore is serving as second chair counsel. Trial in the case also has been delayed by the pandemic.

Muslim Man Wrongly Imprisoned 23 yrs for Murder Released. Black DA said Conviction Lacked Integrity b/c Gov Used Unreliable Cell Phone Data and Hid Favorable Evidence. Unaccountable DA's have Immunity

From [HERE] Baltimore Judge Melissa Phinn Monday vacated the murder conviction of Adnan Syed after he spent 23 years in prison for the murder of student Hae Min Lee in 1999. Syed was convicted in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison; his case was the subject of the podcast Serial and documentary The Case Against Adnan Syed.

Phinn determined that a Brady violation occured in Syed’s case, meaning the prosecution suppressed evidence favorable to Syed. Under Maryland Rule 4-263(d)(5), the state must “disclose, without request, all material of information in any form whether or not admissible, that tends to exculpate the defendant or negate or mitigate the defendant’s guilt.” Prosecutors also have a Constitutional obligation to disclose exculpatory material.

Syed’s friends and family were present for Phinn’s order. The Baltimore Banner captured Rabia O’Chaudry, Syed’s legal advocate and childhood family friend, entering the courthouse with documentary filmmaker Amy Berg. Journalist Katie Barlow shared a video of Syed leaving the courthouse to cheers.

Syed’s exoneration draws attention to a larger trend of prosecutorial misconduct. According to a statement from the Innocence Project, Mallory Nicholson, John Galvan and Herman Williams were exonerated in the last three months alone due to previously concealed exculpatory evidence. The National Registry of Exonerations believes that authorities concealed exculpatory evidence in 44 percent of the first 2,400 US exoneration cases, making concealment of evidence the most common form of official misconduct. The Innocence Project believes that “[t]he integrity of the legal system requires accountability for not only Mr. Syed’s wrongful conviction but also the pain the State’s unlawful conduct caused to Hae Min Lee’s family.”

Syed was represented by Erica Suter of the University of Baltimore Innocence Project Clinic. He was released on his own recognizance on Monday and placed in home detention under GPS tracking. Maryland authorities have 30 days to schedule a new trial or enter a “nolle prosequi” indicating that they are unwilling to pursue further charges against Syed.

LAPD says White Cops Attempted to Murder 2 Latino Men b/c They “Mistook a Lighter for a Gun.” Cops Shot w/o Warning from a moving car but Faced No Imminent Danger b/c the Lighter was Not Aimed @ Them

WHEN A MERE MORTAL SHOOTS A GUN AT ANOTHER PERSON ITS CALLED ATTEMPT MURDER. From [HERE] Los Angeles Police Department officers were caught on body camera shooting at an unarmed suspect wanted for arrest from a moving patrol vehicle. It was the second such shooting by LAPD members in a particularly violent week over the summer.

Officers shot at three people, one a suspected gang member, as they were exiting a truck at Radford Avenue and Stagg Street in the LA neighborhood of Sun Valley on the evening of July 21, 2022, according to the Los Angeles Times. Video of the incident was posted two weeks ago on the YouTube account PoliceActivity:

The Times reported that the only shots fired at the scene came from LAPD. After the gunfire, a man came out of the house, telling police his family was inside and begging them to stop shooting. Another voice cried out that he was holding a lighter, not a weapon.

The LAPD’s official statement claims that officers mistook the lighter for a gun. Never mind the fact that officers gave no instruction and no chance for the suspect to drop the item in his hands, nor did the officers apparently consider that it is legal to openly carry a gun on your own private property in Los Angeles.

In July, the Times reported that the suspect “...barred himself in a nearby house,” which sounds a little bit like taking cover from some shoot-first-ask-questions-eventually cops. The family inside the house was thankfullyunscathed, as was the suspect. But by the time police set up a perimeter, brought out crisis negotiators and finally sent in SWAT officers, the person facing arrest was gone.

Rolling up on unsuspecting people and catching them by surprise by firing on them is conduct normally associated with gang members, not police officers. But this isn’t even the only such LAPD-involved shooting to happen that week. 

Footage of a similar police shooting was captured on July 18 in the Leimert Park neighborhood. Police in a moving vehicle shot at an allegedly mentally ill man, Jermaine Petit, despite officers on the scene saying out loud that Petit was not holding a firearm. From the Times:

“It’s not a gun, bro,” the officer told his partner about the metallic object in Petit’s hand, according to video of the incident from officers’ body-worn cameras that the Los Angeles Police Department made public Thursday.

But that realization wouldn’t matter. Less than half a minute later, Petit would be shot multiple times by an LAPD sergeant firing from inside his vehicle and the officer’s partner, who failed to hear the warning that Petit was unarmed, according to the videos and information released by the department.

Police shot Petit multiple times, and at least one shot came from inside a moving patrol vehicle. It turned out Petit was holding a black metal lock actuator from a car door.

Petit was initially charged with resisting arrest and assaulting police with a deadly weapon, but since the cops were never in any danger, the LAPD eventually petitioned the court to drop the charge down to misdemeanor possession of an imitation weapon. The city has not yet filed any charges against Petit.

Are Chicago Police More Likely to Prevent Crime or Shoot Blacks? Cops in an Unmarked Car Shot a Black Man w/His Hands Up, Another in the Back as He Fled and a Woman Walking by. Both Charged w/Felonies

From [HERE] Two white police officers have been charged with three felonies each after they shot an unarmed man in Pilsen and then lied to authorities about it, the county’s top prosecutor said Friday.

Sgt. Christopher Liakopoulos, 43, and officer Ruben Reynoso, 42, are charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm and official misconduct, State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said.

The officers shot and wounded a 23-year-old man in an unprovoked act of violence, and another person was grazed by a bullet, Foxx said. The officers told authorities they’d been shot at first and Supt. David Brown told the public the same shortly after the shooting. But videotape of the incident directly contradicts that, and neither of the wounded people fired shots at the officers, Foxx said.

“It is our position based on the facts, the evidence and the law that the officers involved in this incident did not have provocation or justification to shoot the unarmed victim during this incident,” Foxx said. “The evidence does not support the use of deadly force … and was not lawful.”

The two officers were relieved of their duties by the Police Department, as well.

The shooting happened around 7 a.m. July 22 in the 1000 block of West 18th Street, police previously said.

The officers, members of the Major Accidents Investigations Unit, were traveling on 18th Street near Morgan Street in an unmarked police car on their way to the Police Training Academy for training. Liakopoulos was driving and Reynoso was in the front passenger seat, Assistant State’s Attorney Alyssa Janicki said during a bond hearing Friday. 

They saw several men or boys standing near a business that was closed at the time, stopped their car and backed up near the group, the prosecutor said. 

The officers asked the group what they were doing in front of the business. As they were talking to the group, a 23-year-old man and a youth approached the officers’ car, Janicki said. The 23-year-old was carrying a cellphone and a bottle of wine in one hand and the minor was holding onto a cross-body satchel that contained a firearm, she said. 

Before reaching the officers’ car, the youth turned around and began running east down the street, the prosecutor said. The 23-year-old continued walking toward the car and waved his open hands at the officers to show he had a phone and bottle of wine in one hand and the other hand was empty, Janicki said.

Reynoso then reached his arm out of the car window and fired a shot in the direction of the victim, Janicki said. Liakopoulos, in the driver’s seat, then reached across the car to also fire his gun out of the passenger side in the direction of the minor, Janicki said.

As the minor was running from the car, he fired shots back at the officers, Janicki said. The officers shot again, hitting a pedestrian walking by and causing a graze wound to his leg, she said. 

Both officers fired multiple shots in the direction of the 23-year-old victim, Janicki said. He was shot in his back and his leg and fell to the ground, the prosecutor said. 

The officers were not wearing body-worn cameras at the time because they were headed to the police academy in the West Loop, Janicki said. 

The officers initially told investigators they fired their guns only after they were fired upon by the minor, Janicki said. The next day, the officers said they didn’t know who shot first, but said the minor pointed the gun at them before any shots were fired, the prosecutor said. After investigators reviewed surveillance footage of the area, they determined the shooting as described by the officers did not reflect what the footage showed, she said. [MORE]

Black Federal Judge Discounts Homeless Black Man's Jury Verdict from $100M to $40M. Atlanta Cop Chased and Tased a 65 Yr Old who Fell and Hit His Head Causing Permanent Paralysis - Wasn't Under Arrest

From [HERE] A Black federal judge who oversaw a $100 million police misconduct case against the City of Atlanta and one of its officers granted a motion on Wednesday that clears the city of its direct liability and shaves off more than half the verdict awarded to a 69-year-old man paralyzed after the officer tased him.

Judge Steve C. Jones said that although the jury found Officer Jon Grubbs used excessive force when he tased Jerry Blasingame in 2018, there was not enough evidence that the city’s policies or training standards were the problem.

The judge on Wednesday granted a motion for judgment filed by the City of Atlanta, which overturned the $60 million in compensatory damages that the verdict last month brought down against it. Still, the judge upheld the $40 million verdict against the officer.

Jones said he did not make the decision lightly as “trial by jury is a hallmark of our justice system, a bedrock principle of this country.” However, he said, the court must “correct a clear error in those rare cases where juries reach a legally unsupportable result.”

In respect to the claims made in this case, Jones wrote: “The jury did so here.”

The judge’s decision formally closed the case brought to the federal court on behalf of Blasingame, who was left paralyzed from the neck down by the incident.

The incident happened the afternoon of July 10, 2018 near Windsor Street, south of downtown, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court in 2019. The filing said Blasingame, who was unarmed, was on the street and asking people for money, when Grubbs and another officer arrived and saw him talking with a driver.

When Grubbs got out of an APD patrol car and told Blasingame to stop, Blasingame moved out of the street and ran, the lawsuit alleged. At some point, Grubbs ran at Blasingame and deployed his Taser on Blasingame, causing him to “fall and seriously injure himself.”

At the trial, which lasted just over a week, the eight-person federal jury awarded Blasingame both compensatory and punitive damages on August 26. The city was liable for $60 million and Grubbs for $40 million.

Jones initially did not grant the city’s motion for judgment but took it under advisement when they renewed it ahead of jury deliberations. He sided with the city after determining that Blasingame’s attorneys had not presented enough evidence that the city’s policies had created a widespread and persistent problem with excessive force that ultimately led to the 69-year-old’s injuries.

“Because Plaintiff failed to show that the City of Atlanta was the moving force behind Officer Grubbs’ use of taser against Mr. Blasingame, the Court finds that there was not sufficient evidence at trial for the jury to find against the City of Atlanta with respect to use-of-force or use-of-taser policies,” Jones wrote.

The attorneys representing Blasingame and his conservator at trial called on multiple witnesses, including two experts, who spoke about body camera usage. During the trial, the experts testified that the city created an environment in which officers felt there were no consequences for failing to comply with policies. The attorneys contended that indifference and shortcomings when supervising officers led to the excessive force used by Grubbs.

Evidence of this, the attorneys said, was that Grubbs’ bodyworn camera was in the incorrect recording mode during his encounter with Blasingame and did not capture the full incident. The attorneys contended that knowing that there would be no video footage of the encounter allowed Grubbs to feel comfortable using excessive force without repercussions.

However, the judge said that while the experts offered opinions that proper use of body cameras can reduce the use of excessive force, there wasn’t enough evidence to show if failing to use a body camera increases that force. The judge wrote that the relationship between the use of body cameras and the use of excessive force in the case was “too tenuous” to support the plaintiff’s claim.

“Even considering that evidence in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, however, the Court cannot find that there was sufficient evidence to support a finding that any policies and procedures related to (body-worn cameras) caused the constitutional violation at issue,” Jones wrote.

Jones ruling determined there was enough evidence presented at trial that Grubbs had used excessive force, but the evidence didn’t point to the city’s culpability. Jones denied a separate renewed motion for judgment filed by Grubbs, thus the $40 million verdict against him was upheld.

Blasingame’s attorney Ven Johnson told the AJC he is “disappointed” by the judge’s decision to grant the city’s motion and that he and Blasingame’s other attorneys plan to file a motion asking the court to reinstate the jury’s verdict. However, he said he is pleased the judge upheld the verdict against Grubbs.

“Judge Jones denied Officer Grubbs’ directed verdict motion for a second time and thus the court will enter a judgment in favor of our client for $40 million,” he said, adding that he will next file a motion for costs, interest and attorney fees.

The City of Atlanta declined to speak on the judge’s decision, citing its policy not to comment on pending litigation.

Records Show that Many Oakland Cops Make Over $500K a Year [the Myth of the Underpaid, Urban Cop who is Primarily Engaged in "Police Work," is Propaganda to Manufacture False Public Relations]

From [INDYBAY] Some Oakland Cops Rake In Half A Million Annually, & Have Millions Of Dollars Stashed Away:

Public records reveal that many Oakland cops rake in over half a million dollars in pay and total benefits annually, and that many of the cops are using the money for political activities according to Open Disclosure, and according to records with the Secretary of State.

Additional records reveal that in 2021, the Oakland Police Officers Association had a revenue of $2,202,613, and after subtracting their assets from their liabilities, they had $2,941,298 in net assets.

According to public records, in 2020, the Oakland Police Foundation had net assets of $1,367,475, and in 2020 the Oakland Police Officers Insurance Trust had a revenue of $2,594,071, with net assets of $325,793 at the end of the year. “The organization’s mission or most significant activities: Provide members with insurance benefits.”

In 2020, more public records reveal that the Oakland Police Emergency Net had net assets of $828,109 at the end of the year, and that the Oakland Asian Police Officers Association had net assets of $39,785.

Additional records in 2020 reveal that the Widows and Orphans Aid Association of the Oakland Police Department had $3,555,521 in net assets, and the Retired Oakland Police Officers Association had net assets of $386,332 in 2019.

According to more public records, in 2020 the Oakland Police Officers and Firefighters Health and Welfare TR had a revenue of $1,600,522, and $4,769,006 in net assets. This was established for the purpose of providing dental care benefits to eligible participants. However click here to find additional information regarding dental care for the firefighters and police.

In 2018, the Oakland Police-Community Activities League had a revenue of $409,475, and net assets of $249,004 at the end of the year.

Violent Liberal Puppeticians in California Enact the "CARE Act" which Forces Homeless People to Submit to Medical Treatment and Creates a New 'Make Them Disappear Court' for the Unhoused

From [INDYBAY] Oakland - Welcome to the Twilight Zone? Breaking bad on policy he advanced earlier this year, California Governor Gavin (Gruesom) Newsom signed a bill Wednesday to create extremist courts attacking the unhoused to address mental health and homelessness issues with SB 1388 dubbed the Care Court, by forcing unhoused people accused of having schizophrenia or other illnesses to submit to so-called medical treatment.

Reportedly, Oakland’s homeless population grew by around 1,000 people since the plandemic began, placing around 5,055 people without permanent housing.

Unfortunately, instead of focusing on proven methods that prioritize permanent housing and voluntary healthcare, Governor Gavin Newsom’s so-called “CARE Court” plan would create a new court system that subjects unhoused people with mental health disabilities to involuntary treatment. This is not the answer. California desperately needs more housing and healthcare — not more courts.”

Human Rights Watch Also Opposes The So-Called Care Court:

In a release from Human Rights Watch, it part it states, “Human Rights Watch has carefully reviewed SB 1338 and the proposed framework for the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Court created by CalHHS, and must respectfully voice our strong opposition. CARE Court promotes a system of involuntary, coerced treatment, enforced by an expanded judicial infrastructure, that will, in practice, simply remove unhoused people with perceived mental health conditions from the public eye without effectively addressing those mental health conditions and without meeting the urgent need for housing. We urge you to reject this bill and instead to take a more holistic, rights-respecting approach to address the lack of resources for autonomy-affirming treatment options and affordable housing.

Additionally, “The CARE Court directly targets unhoused people to be placed under court-ordered treatment, thus denying their rights and self-determination. Governor Newsom, in pitching this plan, called it a response to seeing homeless encampments throughout the state of California. CARE Court will empower police and homeless outreach workers to refer people to the courts and allow judges to order them into treatment against their will, including medication plans. Despite allusions to “housing plans,” CARE Court does not increase access to permanent supportive housing and indeed, the bill prohibits the court from requiring the county to provide actual housing.”

What Kind Of Treatment Will The Coerced Unhoused People Be Facing?

What kind of treatment will the coerced unhoused population be facing? That appears uncertain at the moment, but reportedly, “Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective treatment for depression and other psychiatric conditions. There is little comprehensive data on how many patients receive ECT in the United States, nor about the demographics of ECT recipients. This study characterizes the demographics of those receiving ECT, and how these demographics may have changed with time.”

Gingerbread Cottages, Gov Services Overwhelmed in Martha’s Vineyard by the Arrival of 50 Non-White Migrants. Rich, Liberal Neuropeans Seeking Immigration Rebate Ship Unwanted NGHRS to Military Base

From [HERE] A white homeless coordinator in Martha's Vineyard, the latest destination where non-white migrants are being sent by Republican governors in an effort to bring attention to the southern border, said that the island doesn't have the resources to help them long-term and that they will eventually have to move 'somewhere else." [sounds like she is a liar - a good source of info for The Dependent Media].

Martha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts that is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. The island is a resort for tourists and the wealthy and is populated by white liberals who reside in nice, gingerbread homes.

Lisa Belcastro was speaking to reporters Thursday about the community response to the newly arrived migrants.

"We don't have the services to take care of 50 immigrants, and we certainly don't have housing," she said. "We can't house everyone here that lives here and works here."

Her remarks came a day after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent two planes carrying 50 migrants to the island off the Massachusetts coast, known primarily as a summer vacation spot for the wealthy, which prompted an impromptu response by local leaders. 

"States like Massachusetts, New York and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden administration’s open border policies," the governor’s communications director, Taryn Fenske, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. [MORE]

NON-WHITE MIGRANTS TAKEN VOLUNTARILY TO A MILITARY BASE. “VOLUNTARILY” MEANING VOLUNTARily LIKE A COVID VAX MANDATE.

ACCORDING TO FUNKTIONARY:

 Probot – a propagandizing programmed robot. A representative from an organization, agency or institution, especially the Internal Revenue Service, Pentagon, State Department, or Blight House, whose assignment is to make prepared statements and answer “cooked” (prepared) questions at news conferences, briefings and the like. A probot is a proxymoron who conveys programmed disinformation in computerized language and bureaucratese jargon. A probot is one who disseminates lies, distortions and convenient mass truths composed by a superior overruling elite. (See: Proxymoron)

Nigger – “A non-white person who is subject to the system of White Supremacy.” ~Neely Fuller, Jr. [MORE]

According to FUNKTIONARY:

Racism White Supremacy - psychopathic degeneracy. 2) "The local and global power system and dynamic, structured and maintained by persons who classify themselves as white, whether consciously or subconsciously determined, which consists of patterns of perception, logic, symbol formation, thought, speech, action and emotional response, as conducted simultaneously in all areas of people activity (economics, education, entertainment, labour, law, politics, religion, sex and war); for the ultimate purpose of white genetic survival and to prevent white genetic annihilation on planet earth—a planet upon which the vast majority of people are classified as non-white (Black, Brown, Red and Yellow) by white skinned people, and all of the nonwhite people are genetically dominant (in terms of skin coloration) compared to the genetic recessive white skin people." -Dr. Francis Cress Welsing, MD. Hate and oppression can never reign. Only love is supreme.

Pastor Assaulted While Watering Flowers Files Lawsuit: Although Cops Can Request ID If Its Reasonable to Believe Crime is Taking Place, When Cops Demanded ID the Only Sign of Crime was His Blackness

From [HERE] The Black pastor surveilled, assaulted and detained by disfluent, really stupid, white cops after they demanded ID while he was watering flowers  filed a federal lawsuit against the town of Childersburg. The suit alleges the actions of Officers Christopher Smith and Justin Gable, Sgt. Jeremy Brooks and the city violated constitutional rights that protect him from unlawful arrest and guarantee free speech.

The lawsuit also says Jennings suffered emotional and psychological distress during the arrest and its aftermath, resulting in PTSD symptoms such as anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, nightmares and flashbacks.

Jennings, 56, was watering his neighbor’s roses when he was arrested on that Sunday in May, after a white neighbor called 911 and said a “younger Black male” and gold SUV were at a house while the owners — who are friends of Jennings and had asked him to watch their home — were away.

Although there were no signs indicating an unlawful entry, a break in or that a theft was taking place or that any other crime was taking place, the neuropeon authoritarians suspected him of a crime apparently because he was watering flowers. The video speaks for itself.

A Protestor Found Out Rights are Just Favors from Master. Serving 4 Yrs in Jail for Telling Cops “I’m willing to die for the Black, are you willing to die for the blue?” Now Begs Masters to Reconsider

From [HERE] Lawyers are pushing for a judge to reconsider the prison sentence of a South Carolina activist who was convicted for “breach of peace,” aggravated over remarks she made to police during racial justice protests in 2020.

Brittany Martin, a 34-year-old Black woman, is expecting a baby later this year, but in the past months, she has suffered several health complications and lost weight, said Sybil Dione Rosado, one of the attorney’s representing her.

“She has had preterm labor, she’s had several events where she had to be taken on an emergency basis to the hospital,” Rosado told CNN. 

Martin was arrested in Sumter, South Carolina, after taking part in June 2020 protests prompted by the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

Rosado said the verbal encounter that led to Martin’s arrest was along the lines of, “I’m willing to die for the Black, are you willing to die for the blue? This is just a job for you. This is my life.”

CNN has requested documents detailing Martin’s arrest. Sumter Police Department declined to comment on the case. Tonyia McGirt, a police spokeswoman, said it would be “inappropriate” to comment as the case may be reconsidered. 

Martin’s attorneys said she was not “physically violent or threatening” during the encounter.

Last year, Martin was indicted on charges of aggravated breach of peace, instigating a riot and five counts of threatening the life of a public official, according to court records.

Earlier this year a jury found her guilty of one count of high and aggravated breach of peace. In May, a judge sentenced Martin to four years in prison, court records show.

In South Carolina, breach of peace is a crime punishable by no more than a $500 fine or 30 days in prison. However, aggravated breach of peace is an escalated offense, and the judge hearing the case is charged with handing down a penalty “as is conformable to the common usage and practice in this state, according to the nature of the offense, and not repugnant to the Constitution,” according to state law.

“She’s spending four years in jail and pregnant and struggling for the life of her baby because she’s loud and Black. It’s an absolute travesty of justice,” Rosado told CNN.

In an effort to have Martin’s sentence reduced to time served, civil rights attorney Bakari Sellers recently joined Martin’s legal team and filed a memo last month. Sellers is a CNN political analyst and a former representative from South Carolina.

In his memo requesting a reconsidered sentence, Sellers wrote that reducing Martin’s sentence “will allow her to seek and receive the prenatal care she needs to sustain what has been a high-risk pregnancy, plagued by complications.”

He alleges the medical care offered by the South Carolina Department of Corrections is “insufficient to address the needs” of Martin’s “fragile pregnancy,” according to the memo. CNN has reached out to the department for comment.

A reduced sentence, Sellers says, “will adequately reflect the serious nature” of Martin’s actions.

Media Analysis Shows Columbus Police are Disproportionately Shooting and Killing Black Males. Although the Liberal, White City is Only 29% Black, 63% of the People Killed by Cops were Black

From [HERE] and [MORE] Regardless of quite a few measures carried out to reform policing in Columbus over the previous two years, police shootings have continued to disproportionately contain Black males — a disparity that has continued since at the very least 2012, a Dispatch evaluation has discovered.

Columbus metropolis officers have carried out quite a few management and coverage modifications inside the Division of Police since December 2020, when two Black males had been shot by legislation enforcement officers within the metropolis: 23-year-old Casey Goodson Jr., who was fatally shot by former Franklin County Sheriff’s deputy Jason Meade; and Andre Hill, who was fatally shot by former Columbus police officer Adam Coy. Each officers are dealing with prison prices in these deaths.

Within the wake of these modifications, the overall variety of shootings by metropolis law enforcement officials did fall from double digits yearly from 2012 to 2020 to a complete of six in 2021, the Dispatch evaluation discovered. However all six of the individuals shot in 2021 had been Black — 4 males and two females — and three of these had been deadly.

All six of the individuals shot by metropolis law enforcement officials to date in 2022 additionally had been Black males. The lone loss of life occurred on Aug. 30 when 20-year-old Donovan Lewis, who was biracial, was shot by Officer Ricky Anderson whereas serving warrants for his arrest on a number of prices.

“We now have to know the depth of the ache, and fairly actually, the phobia that’s felt within the communities that have (police shootings),” stated Ayesha Bell Hardaway, affiliate professor of legislation and director of the Social Justice Heart at Case Western Reserve College in Cleveland.

Since 2012, there have been 156 shootings involving Columbus police during which 169 individuals both had been struck or in any other case concerned. Of these 169 individuals, 104 have been Black males, representing 62% of the overall of individuals concerned.

The identical knowledge from a span of greater than 10 ½-years exhibits that fifty of the 156 shootings have resulted in 54 individuals dying, 34 of whom have been Black males. That representing 63% of the deaths by the hands of police.

Census knowledge from July 2021 exhibits Columbus’ inhabitants as being 29.2% Black.

In 2020, Mayor Andrew J. Ginther and the Fraternal Order of Police entered into an settlement with the Ohio Bureau of Felony Investigation for the state company to research shootings involving Columbus law enforcement officials. Since that point, BCI has been requested to research greater than a dozen shootings, 5 of which have been deadly.

The latest incident during which Lewis was shot and killed occurred shortly after 2 a.m. on Aug. 30. Police had gone to Lewis’ house to arrest him on a number of excellent warrants, together with misdemeanor prices for home violence and assault of his pregnant girlfriend and a felony cost of improperly dealing with a firearm. [MORE]

Another Black Person Shot to Death by Police in Liberal, White, St. Louis. Cops Claim a 16-year-old Had a Gun. White, Dependent Media Parrots Cops

From [HERE] St. Louis police officers fatally shot a 16-year-old who was reaching for a gun, police said Monday.

Darryl Ross was shot just after 11:30 p.m. Sunday at a gas station on the city's north side. Ross is Black. A police incident report said one of the officers involved in the shooting was Black, and one was white.

The city's new Force Investigation Unit, established last month, was handling the investigation.

Police said two drug enforcement detectives spotted several people with guns at the service station and drove to the parking lot. Their car was unmarked and they were in plain clothes but wearing black, bulletproof vests with the word “POLICE” written on the front and back.

Ross, armed with a gun according to the police report, walked away quickly to an alley. The detectives followed him and announced they were police officers. Ross ran, then tripped and fell, dropping a pistol, police said.

As the detectives approached, Ross reached for the pistol, the report said, prompting both officers to shoot him. Ross was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The officers were unhurt.

It was the second fatal officer-involved shooting in St. Louis in less than a week. Officers killed a 61-year-old man last Wednesday at an apartment complex. Police said a man who had been evicted engaged police in a standoff. When officers entered the building, the man charged at officers with a butcher knife, prompting several to open fire, police said.

In August, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones signed legislation creating a Division of Civilian Oversight, an independent agency to investigate allegations of police misconduct and use of force incidents. Under the new law, a Force Investigation Unit under the direction of the circuit attorney investigates use-of-force incidents. [MORE]

Who Do Mostly White Texas Authorities Murder w/the Death Penalty? Study Shows Death Sentences are more than 3X as likely to be imposed in cases involving white victims than in cases w/Black Victims

LYNCH MOBS From [DPIC] A new study of the Texas death penalty, released as the state was conducting its 400th modern-era execution in a case involving a white victim, has documented overwhelming racial disparities in the Lone Star state’s capital punishment system.

Reviewing more than 15,000 capital murder convictions in Texas from 1973 to 2018, University of Detroit Mercy School of Law Dean Jelani Jefferson Exum (pictured left) and University of Cincinnati School of Public and International Affairs Associate Professor Dr. David Niven (pictured right), found “a stark disparity” in whose lives mattered in Texas capital cases based on the race of the victim and the race of the defendant. “The Texas death penalty data shows how pervasive race is in death penalty outcomes,” Exum and Niven write in their Summer 2022 article, Where Black Lives Matter Less: Understanding the Impact of Black Victims on Sentencing Outcomes in Texas Capital Murder Cases from 1973 to 2018, in the St. Louis University Law Journal. 

“Race,” they say, “is everywhere.”

Exum and Niven found that a death sentence was more than three times as likely to be imposed in Texas in a case involving a white victim than in a case with a Black victim. While 5.2% of Texas 15,394 capital murder convictions resulted in death sentences, death was imposed in 8.5% of white-victim cases compared with 2.7% of Black-victim cases.

“Taken in sum,” they wrote, “we see: a race of victim disparity in death sentences overall; a race of victim disparity in death sentences sorted by race of defendant; a race of victim disparity in death sentences sorted by weapon used; a race of victim disparity in cases with a single victim; and a race of victim disparity in multiple victim cases. … In every single comparison, the racial disparity was statistically significant. In every single comparison, harsher punishment was associated with white victims than with African American victims, who clearly mattered less.”

Exum and Niven conducted an analysis to determine the probability that the persistently large race-of-victim disparities they found could have been the product of a race neutral process. That possibility, they discovered, was astronomically remote — one in 180 septen-decillion (numerically represented as 180,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000). By comparison, they noted, “the odds of winning the Powerball lottery … are quite literally trillions of times better than seeing this disparity in race of victim sentencing in Texas happen by chance.”

The white-victim preference in capital convictions “is so prevalent that we even see a race of victim disparity in non-death sentence cases,” they wrote. In the 11,139 capital murder cases in Texas in which a death sentence was not imposed, those convicted of killing white victims were sentenced to an average of 51.3 years in prison, nearly four years longer than the average of 47.5 years imposed on those convicted of killing Black victims.

A Death Penalty Information Center analysis found similar race-of-victim disparities in Texas execution data. On August 17, 2022, Texas executed Kosoul Chanthakoummane, the state’s 575th execution since the 1970s. He was the 400th person to be put to death for a homicide involving at least one white victim. 69.6% of all Texas executions over that time have involved at least one white victim, and 67.3% (387 executions) involved only white victims. During that same time, 79 people were put to death in Texas for homicides that involved any Black victims (13.7% of executions). 74 of those cases involved only Black victims (12.9%). That meant that a Texas execution was 5.1 times more likely to have involved at least one white victim than any Black victim and 5.2 times more likely to have involved only white victims than only Black victims.

The Texas executions also demonstrated huge race of defendant disparities. While 238 of the 254 white death-sentenced prisoners executed in Texas (93.7%) have been put to death for homicides involving white victims, only 70 of the 207 Black death-sentenced prisoners executed in the state (33.8%) were put to death for murders involving Black victims. 114 Black death-sentenced prisoners were executed for homicides of white victims (55.1%), 110 of which (53.1%) involved only white victims. Just 2.4% of the white executed prisoners (6 cases) were put to death for killing any Black victims. 

“As the Texas example provides, the devaluing effect of Blackness is apparent,” Exum and Niven write. “This is not simply a failure to recognize the value of Black lives—as the Black Lives Matter movement exposes—but a reflection of the societal view that Blackness actually reduces the value and importance of all things—from property to community spaces to ultimate humanity. In life, Black people are vastly under-protected by the law, and the same is true for Black people even in a system designed to exact retribution for death.”

“History shows us that Blackness has been devalued since the founding of America,” Exum and Niven note. “The truth, of course, is that Black victims matter as much as any, even if the legal system and society have not recognized their value.” 

Their proposed response: “We must make the radical choice to uproot systems, like the death penalty, that allow the anti-Black biases in our national consciousness to not only thrive, but to be just. To do otherwise is to perpetuate a system where Black lives matter less.”

“When we accept the fact that the death penalty reveals that Black deaths do not matter,” they conclude, “then it becomes apparent that there is not an antiracist fix for the death penalty other than its abolition.”

ACLU Requests Emergency Court Order Over ‘Abysmal’ Conditions in LA County Jail. Lawsuit says Inmates Sleep on Urine-Soaked Floors and Defecate in Trash Cans in Foul Jail Run by White Liberals

PHOTO ON THE LEFT IS FROM LA COUNTY JAIL. PHOTO ON THE RIGHT IS OF THE NATIONS CAPITOL. SAID PHOTO IS THE PROPERTY OF THE UNDECEIVER VINCENT BROWN.

From [HERE] Inmates at Los Angeles County Jail — many with mental health issues— are sleeping next to urine-soaked floors and are forced to defecate in trash cans, according to shocking claims in a new lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. 

The group filed the request for an emergency order with US District Judge Dean D. Pregerson on Thursday to push Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and the LA County Board of Supervisors to immediately address the “abysmal” conditions at the county jail’s inmate reception center. 

The suit also contains various pictures that show male inmates sleeping in a fetal position on the concrete floor without blankets and next to mounds of trash. Toilet bowls that are full and can’t be flushed are covered by a T-shirt, while inmates try to sleep nearby on filthy metal benches or seats.

“The L.A. County Jail system is a national disgrace,” said Corene Kendrick, deputy director of the ACLU National Prison Project. “For almost 50 years, the jail has been under court oversight to provide the most basic minimum standards of sanitation, health care, and human decency to people detained there. Enough is enough.” 

ACLU attorneys also claim inmates with serious mental health issues who need medical attention are often chained to chairs for days and are forced to sleep while sitting up. 

The LA County Jail houses more than 14,600 inmates and the jail’s inmate reception center is where recently arrested individuals are processed and held while they wait for a more permanent placement at the largest jail facility in the country. 

Under the emergency request, the ACLU is asking the court to order the county to limit the intake process to 24 hours at the most. 

LA County Sheriff’s Officials declined to comment because of the pending litigation.

In a statement to The Post, officials with the LA County’s Chief Executive Office said the Board of Supervisors are working to address the crisis in the jail with the “Care First, Jail Last” initiative that’s focused on closing the Men’s Central Jail and investing $288 million to “alternatives” to incarceration. 

The alternative program includes building community partnerships with community-based organizations to reduce incarceration in LA County with youth programs, provide mental health programs and create jobs for incarcerated individuals. [MORE]

Lawsuit Claims 9 Yr Old Autistic Black Child was Assaulted by Baltimore Public Fool Teacher. Video Shows Teacher Body Slam Small Boy to the Floor and Smother Him w/Her Weight/Knees as Another Watches

From [HERE] A lawsuit announced by attorney Stephen Thomas Jr. claims that a 9-year-old Black student with special needs was assaulted by a Baltimore City teacher in a school in 2019. The alleged incident was caught on surveillance video.

"Words in and of themselves cannot describe what my client experienced on that day," said Thomas.

Video released by Thomas shows the encounter in the hallway on July 29, 2019. The video appears to show the teacher violently putting the student on the floor and placing herself on top of him.

The student is unnamed.

This new lawsuit follows one filed against the city in January. Jovani Patterson, and his wife Shawnda, filed the lawsuit against Baltimore City School Board of Commissioners, Baltimore City Council, and Mayor Brandon Scott.

Patterson sued the system over allegations of misusing tax dollars. He said because students continue to struggle in the classroom, perform poorly on standardized tests, grading irregularities, and inaccurate enrollment numbers, the taxpayers of Baltimore are forced to foot the bill for not only a broken education system but added cost for the criminal justice and social welfare system as well.

“We, the taxpayer, are funding our own demise,” Patterson said. “This has got to stop. This is why we have decided to sue the Baltimore City School System.” [MORE]