Hate Crimes Increased Sharply in 2021 According to FBI Data

From [HERE] Hate crimes in the U.S. rose sharply in 2021, with victims most commonly targeted because of their race or ethnicity, the FBI said Monday after earlier incomplete data had suggested a decline.

Newly compiled figures showed an 11.6% jump in hate crimes, to 9,065 in 2021 from 8,120 in 2020, with 79% of law-enforcement agencies reporting. Statistics released in December suggested such offenses fell, but the agency acknowledged the data were incomplete because thousands of police departments—including in New York and California—hadn’t yet reported their numbers to the federal government. 

Los Angeles and New York City are now represented in the hate-crime report. Chicago provided two quarters’ worth of its data.

“We are continuing to work with state and local law-enforcement agencies across the country to increase the reporting of hate-crime statistics” to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “Hate crimes and the devastation they cause communities have no place in this country,” she added. 

Biden Issues Irrational Order for Background Checks Based on the Unsupported Factual Basis that Criminals 1) Purchase Guns Lawfully and 2) Then Leave Registered Guns at Crime Scenes for Cops to Trace

KEEPING TRACK OF WHO BUYS GUNS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR SAFETY. From [HERE] President Biden on Tuesday signed an executive order that he said was aimed at reducing gun violence, including changes that could increase the number of gun buyers subjected to background checks, while visiting the area of a January mass shooting in Monterey Park, Calif.

Mr. Biden said his executive actions are designed to move the U.S. as close to universal background checks as possible without the passage of legislation in Congress, where partisan divides have left most gun-safety legislation stalled.

The president, in his Tuesday remarks, said his executive order isn’t a substitute for congressional action. “Enough,” Mr. Biden said, directing his remarks to lawmakers. “Do something. Do something big.”

Under the new order, Mr. Biden directed the Justice Department to clarify the definition of being “engaged in the business” of selling firearms. Currently, a federal background check isn’t required for private sales of firearms between individuals. The change could result in more individuals being classified as firearms dealers who are required to conduct background checks for all sales. [MORE]

Media Silent after Facts Indicate Shawn Kemp Fired His Gun in Self-Defense of a Car Theft. Racist “Journalists” Claimed Kemp was Involved in a “Drive by Shooting” w/o a Factual Basis. Never Charged

Racist Dependent News Media Filter Out Black Reporter from "Today News Africa" b/c He Dared to Interrupt the Happy Talk of Amateur Black Probot Karine Jean-Pierre During a Blight House Press Briefing

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.

Contrary to Media Propaganda New Report Says “Crime rates remain at near historic lows.” Nevertheless Prison Populations are Increasing as the COVID Slowdown Subsides. 1.9M in Prison Most are NonWhite

From [HERE] Last week The Prison Policy Initiative released Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie(link is external). This report provides a comprehensive view of how many people are locked up in the U.S., in what kinds of facilities, and why. It pieces together the most recent national data on state prisons, federal prisons, local jails, and other systems of confinement to provide a snapshot of mass incarceration in the U.S.

Highlights from the report include:

• Prison populations are starting to rebound. Although prison populations are still lower than they've been in decades, prison populations are beginning to increase as pandemic-related slowdowns in the criminal legal system are no longer driving down prison admissions. Additionally, officials continue to release fewer people from prison than before the pandemic.

• Recent claims about increasing crime are not supported by data. Crime rates remain at near historic lows. However, some in law enforcement and on the right have sought to blame changes to the criminal legal system -- such as bail reform, changes to police budgets, or electing "progressive" prosecutors -- for increases in some crime rates since the start of the pandemic. However, these claims are not supported by the evidence: murder rates were an average of 40% higher in "red" states compared to blue states in 2020, police budgets have recently increased in the vast majority of cities and counties in the country, and places that did not implement any of these reforms also saw increases in crime rates.

• In total, roughly 1.9 million people are incarcerated in the United States, 803,000 people are on parole, and a staggering 2.9 million people are on probation.

[A Major Goal of Racism White Supremacy is to Put Non-White People in Greater Confinement] The US Leads the World in Incarceration with 2.2 million people in prisons & jails; 67% are Non-White

DECARCERATION IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH WHITE SUPREMACY’S GOAL OF PLACING LARGE NUMBERS OF NON-WHITE PEOPLE INTO GREATER CONFINEMENT.

Study Shows Black Youth are More than 4X as Likely to be Detained as White Youth. 41% of All Youths Locked Up are Black [a major goal of racism white supremacy is to put blacks in greater confinement]

RWS REQUIRES THE GREATER CONFINEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL NUMBERS OF NON-WHITE PEOPLE. UNDECEIVER NEELY FULLER MAKES IT PLAIN THAT “THE WHITE SUPREMACISTS KNOW THAT A WORLD SYSTEM BASED ON RACISM WHITE SUPREMACY REQUIRES THAT SUBSTANTIAL NUMBERS OF NON-WHITE PEOPLE BE GREATLY RESTRICTED IN THEIR MOVEMENTS FROM PLACE TO PLACE. THE WHITE SUPREMACISTS RESTRICT THE MOVEMENTS AND ACTIVITIES OF NON-WHITE PEOPLE SO AS TO KEEP THEM IDLE, AND/OR KEEP THEM FROM BECOMING CONSTRUCTIVELY SUFFICIENT.

THE RACISTS MAKE CERTAIN THAT LARGE NUMBERS OF NON-WHITE PEOPLE EXIST UNDER CONDITIONS THAT WILL MOST LIKELY CAUSE THEM TO DO THINGS THAT WILL GIVE RACISTS AN “EXCUSE” TO PUT THEM IN GREATER CONFINEMENT.” [MORE]

PUTTING YOU IN GREATER CONFINEMENT. Racists are obsessed with crime statistics in Black communities. According to the Sentencing Project, “Researchers have shown that crime reporting exaggerates crime rates and exhibits both quantitative and qualitative racial biases. This includes a tendency . . to exaggerate rates of black offending and white victimization and to depict black suspects in a less favorable light than whites.“ Under the pretense of being concerned about the well-being of Black people, the liberal white media in urban areas in particular, sensationalize crime with overblown coverage and hyper alertness. To be explicitly clear, it is a guise because we live in a system of racism/white supremacy in which most white people (or the most powerful white people) seek to dominate or seek cooperative control of non-white people with master-servant relations in all areas of people activity and project and maintain unequal power and conditions in a white over Black system. Racists, either self-described as liberal or conservative, have no intention of changing this arrangement because they are the permanent enemies of non-white people. Belief in the fantasy of “race” and hence their superiority necessitates such a result. White liberals and conservatives spare no cost when it comes to placing Black people in greater confinement. Dr. Amos Wilson states,

"Given the historical and contemporary virulence of White racism in America and the injustice toward Blacks that such racism engenders, the number of arrests, incarcerations, and in many instances, convictions of Black males should be viewed with a jaundiced eye. The willingness of White Americans to heavily tax themselves in order to finance accelerated and increased prison construction, rapidly expanding police forces and so-called criminal justice system personnel, burgeoning private police and security establishments; their willingness to finance the incarcera­tion of a Black male prisoner upwards of $30,000 to $40,000 per year, in sharp contrast to their unwillingness to tax themselves to provide for the appropriate funding of the education of Black children and to commit themselves to the ending of racist employment practices; to provide adequate housing medical care, food and clothing; clearly implies that alleged Black male criminality plays a very important role in defining the collective White American ego and personality.” [MORE]

Is Puppetician Alvin Bragg More Busy Defending a Porno Ho for his White Liberal Masters than He is Protecting Blacks from NYPD who Surveil/Stop Them w/Impunity? So Far, He Hasn't Prosecuted Any Cops

Mr. Bragg came into office vowing not to charge numerous non-violent crimes against public order. BUT He must’ve meant to promise ‘not TO charge white folks’ because somebody in his office is filling up Manhattan courtrooms and Rikers Island Jail with Black people. Bob Gangi, director of the Police Reform Organizing Project and longtime court watcher, says he’s seen little change from his perspective in the back row of Manhattan arraignments.

“They were still prosecuting low-level broken-windows type cases, it seemed to us, as often as Vance’s office would do,” Gangi said, referring to Bragg’s immediate predecessor as Manhattan Attorney General, Cy Vance Jr. [MORE].

Data from the Court Monitoring Project demonstrate that the NYPD targets Blacks and Latinos: as Blacks/Latinos Make Up 90% of All NYPD Arrests, Mostly for Victimless Crimes. Working hand in hand with the NYPD, Mr. Bragg’s DA office in Manhattan — one of the wealthiest and least equal places in the country — HAS convicted Black people of felonies and misdemeanors at a rate 21 times greater than that of white people over the past two decades. This disparity is the largest of any county in the state. [MORE]

DISTRACT ATTORNEY From [HERE] Alvin Bragg may actually do it. The Manhattan district attorney is by all media accounts preparing to indict Donald Trump for failing to account properly for hush money paid to his alleged mistress, unleashing who knows what political furies. Mr. Trump said Saturday he expects to be arrested on Tuesday and urged his supporters to “protest, protest, protest.” Cry, the beloved country.

It’s impossible to overstate Mr. Bragg’s bad judgment here. Perhaps the local Democratic DA has discovered some new proof of criminal behavior. But based on the public evidence so far, he would be resurrecting a seven-year-old case that even federal prosecutors refused to bring to court. 

As we wrote last week, the charge would appear to be falsifying business records to pay the mistress, Stormy Daniels. That is typically a misdemeanor in New York state, though Mr. Bragg might bump it up to a felony by claiming the falsification was to cover up an illegal campaign-finance donation to Mr. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. 

A key prosecution witness would be Michael Cohen, Mr. Trump’s former lawyer who is an admitted felon. Mr. Trump might claim in his defense that his payments were made to shield the affair from his wife. He has publicly denied an affair with Ms. Daniels. Proving intent to break the law will not be easy. 

So Mr. Bragg may indict a former President for the first time in American history based on the weakest of charges. He would subject the country to a trial that would be a media circus for the ages. And he would do so running the risk that a single juror could block a guilty verdict and validate Mr. Trump’s claim that this is a political prosecution.

Yes, we know, in America no one is above the law. But prosecutors use their discretion every day not to bring charges for any number of reasons. [MORE]

IN PHOTO MS STORMY DANIELS AND ALVIN BRAGG DISTRACT THE VIEWER FROM A BANK BURNING DOWN.

THIS IS NOT BLACK POWER. FUCKED FOR A FREE, as claud anderson explained BLACKS GET NOTHING FOR THEIR VOTE. The Black electorant should witness that Minnesota, Atlanta, St. Louis, Cleveland, Baltimore, Detroit or NYC or many other places where cops murder Blacks in broad daylight are all dominated by liberal Democrats duly elected by a participating black votary.

NYC, for instance is controlled by white liberal puppeticians and complementary Black rolebots. Among its leaders NYC has a Black mayor (Eric Adams), Black Attorney Generals (Alvin Bragg, Manhattan) (Letitia James Brooklyn), Black state Assembly Leader (Carl Heastie Bronx), Black Public Advocate (Jumaane Williams Brooklyn), Black DA (Darcel Clark, Bronx), Black Borough President (Donovan Richards Queens) and numerous Black judges. Add to this Black legislators who hold 13 of 51 seats on the City Council, 22 of 150 seats in the state Assembly, and eight of 63 seats in the state Senate. There are also four Black congressional representatives —Gregory Meeks, Hakeem Jeffries, Yvette Clarke, and Jamaal Bowman and hundreds of white liberal democrats all levels of government who dominate City politics and government agencies. Nevertheless, the quality of Black citizenship stays low; law abiding Blacks are frequently stopped and searched by police in their neighborhoods or cars, Blacks and Latinos make up 90% of all persons and arrested and charged with crimes, Rikers Jail is disproportionately packed with Blacks held pre-trial in reprehensible conditions, a majority of all homeless people are black, Black unemployment stays high, 63% of black families in New York are in the bottom half of the income distribution, blacks are routinely struck from juries and so on. [MORE]

Black Strawboss Upholds NYPD's Right to Remain Violent w/Law Abiding Black People for Her White Liberal Masters: Refused Most CCRB Discipline Recommendations in 2022 —100s more than Initially Reported

From [HERE] NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell refused 425 out of 754 punishment recommendations from New York City’s civilian oversight board in 2022, according to a report from the Legal Aid Society released Thursday.

That’s over half of all cases reviewed and 346 more rejections than the department originally claimed at the end of 2022.

The Civilian Complaint Review Board investigates complaints of police misconduct and recommends discipline, but it is ultimately up to the NYPD commissioner to decide whether or not to punish misbehaving cops.

At the end of 2022, Sewell issued a memo claiming to have overturned “over 70” CCRB recommendations due to findings being “unfair” to officers.

Sewell avoided public scrutiny by allowing the statute of limitations to expire on hundreds of cases rather than issuing a public “departure letter” that explains the decision not to punish officers.

“The frequency of these departures and their biased reasoning suggest a disregard for the primary goals of the NYPD’s Disciplinary Matrix mandated by the New York City Council — that is, transparent, fair, and predictable accountability for officer misconduct,” said Maggie Hadley, a member of the Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Defense Practice’s Special Litigation Unit. “This further erodes public trust in the NYPD’s disciplinary system, and we demand immediate action by City Hall to ensure that Commissioner Sewell ceases to abuse her discretion to undermine discipline.”

The NYPD did not immediately respond to 1010 WINS’ request for comment. In a statement to the New York Daily News, a spokesperson blamed delays within the CCRB for the department’s failure to follow the recommendations.

“The cases were closed after the CCRB failed to provide these 346 cases to the NYPD within a reasonable time period before the expiration of the statute of limitations,” the spokesperson said. “The Department will continue to make tremendous efforts to evaluate cases provided by the CCRB and it is our hope that the CCRB examines its own processes to ensure the efficiency of its operations.”

The statement did not address why Sewell initially underreported the number of times the NYPD failed to follow the CCRB’s recommendations.

In some cases in which discipline was rejected with a departure letter, Sewell’s justification did not follow the NYPD’s disciplinary matrix, according to the LAS.

In one case the organization reviewed, the report found Sewell justified not punishing an officer because the complainant did not suffer any injuries. The CCRB’s recommendation, however, accounted for the lack of injury by recommending a lesser punishment prescribed for excessive force without injury.

“The Commissioner's implication that a lack of injuries justified reducing this penalty represents either a misunderstanding of the Matrix or an attempt to mislead,” wrote the LAS of the incident.

In other departure letters, the report found Sewell was overly credulous or selective when reviewing police misconduct.

The LAS described an incident in which a 240-pound officer lifted a “small, skinny” 14-year-old boy off the ground “so that his head [was] above” him and slammed him into the ground, injuring the child’s back and elbow.

The CCRB found the officer hadn’t issued a warning before using force on the child. He even admitted in an interview with CCRB investigators that the boy did not resist when the officer placed his arm on him.

Sewell refused to categorize the incident as excessive force and did not punish the officer on the grounds that he “described his actions as controlled.”

Reformers Get Reformed Into the System: “Black” Prosecutor Wesley Bell Once Again Does Nothing for Black People: No Charges for White Kansas City Cops who Appear to Murder Malcolm Johnson in Store

From [HERE] A Kansas City, Missouri, police officer who fatally shot a man at a convenience store nearly two years ago will not be charged with a crime, following a decision by a special prosecutor.

Malcolm Johnson was killed in March 2021. Some civil rights, religious and community activists said the shooting of Johnson, who was Black, was part of a trend of officers in Missouri's largest city killing Black men. They questioned if officers gave Johnson sufficient time to surrender before shooting him.

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell's office announced Monday that no charges should be filed, following an investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Bell's office took on the case after Jackson County prosecutors cited a conflict of interest.

"Given the review of all the evidence, there is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer who shot Malcolm Johnson was not acting in lawful self-defense or defense of others under Missouri law," Bell's office said in a statement.

The decision drew criticism from civil rights groups and Black leaders.

"This case is not only tragic but also a clear example of how KCPD gets away with murder, covers it up, and claims it is justice. This is not justice," the organization Decarcerate Kansas City wrote on Twitter.

Khadijah Hardaway, a spokeswoman for the family of Malcolm Johnson, said the family will ask the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the decision not to charge the officer who shot Johnson.

Police said they were pursuing Malcolm Johnson for an aggravated assault, but a spokesperson for the family said police entered the gas station with guns drawn and could not have known it was Johnson because he was wearing a hoodie and driving a car that was not registered to him.

"What I saw was an execution," said Pastor Darron Edwards, of the United Believers Community Church. "The culture, the conditions, and the climate of Kansas City must change, and we're here to stand up today to demand that change."

"We're just asking for transparency and justice for the Malcolm Johnson family," Hardaway said.

Hardaway also contested the police's description of a struggle at the scene, and said that, at one point, Johnson was pinned by four officers on his left side.

“He has never had full function in that arm," she said, noting Johnson had previously suffered a gunshot wound there. "The mobility of his arm is little to none, so it was just impossible for that to happen.”

On the evening of March 25, 2021, two officers seeking Johnson for an unrelated shooting found him at a convenience store and approached him with their guns drawn. Surveillance video showed the officers grab Johnson. More officers joined in trying to restrain Johnson on the ground and an officer was shot. The report by Bell's office said the wounded officer shot Johnson twice in the head.

But videos of the shooting raised questions about the police version, and the leader of a group of clergy who questioned the circumstances called Johnson’s death "an execution."

Police Chief Stacey Graves said department officials "recognize there is still work to do with our community to build that trust and under my leadership relationships are among my top priorities," the Kansas City Star reported.

Last year, former detective Eric DeValkenaere was sentenced to six years in prison for fatally shooting Cameron Lamb, a Black man who was backing a pickup truck into a garage.

In September, the U.S. Department of Justice announced an investigation into allegations of discrimination against Black officers by the Kansas City Police Department that reportedly begins during hiring and extends to promotions and discipline.

Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Jean Peters Baker announced shortly after Johnson's death that her office's prosecution of him in prior criminal cases could be seen as a conflict of interest. Baker’s office charged Johnson in 2014 in a fatal shooting, and he later pleaded guilty to reduced charges of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action.

[ReLIARability=Expect Most Cops to Lie About Details] When a Paterson Cop Told Najee Seabrooks, 'Everybody’s walking out of here Alive, including you,' He Was Lying. Cops Try to Justify Fatal Shooting

From [HERE] and [HERE] For hours, the Paterson police pleaded with Najee Seabrooks to come out of a locked bathroom where he was threatening to kill himself.

“Everybody’s walking out of here, including you,” one of the officers told him, according to video from police body cameras released by the New Jersey attorney general’s office this week.

“I’m dying in this bathroom,” said Mr. Seabrooks, a 31-year-old mentor at an anti-violence organization in Paterson, a city of 158,000 people in northern New Jersey.

“That’s not happening, Najee,” the officer replied. “Not on my watch. Come on. You’re going to live a long time. This ain’t how it ends for you.”

Najee Seabrooks had been feeling the stress of his job, relatives said.

But at 12:51 p.m. on March 3, about five hours after someone called 911 to report a man in distress, Mr. Seabrooks was declared dead. He had been shot by two officers, who fired at him after Mr. Seabrooks came out of the bathroom and “lunged toward the officers with a knife in his hand,” according to a statement by the attorney general’s office, which is investigating the shooting.

The attorney general’s office identified the two officers who fired their weapons as Anzore Tsay and Jose Hernandez, both of whom are members of the department’s emergency response team.

The case has roiled the city, where Mr. Seabrooks’s colleagues and family have demanded to know why mental health specialists were not allowed into the apartment so they could help. Protesters have marched to decry the shooting and to call for the U.S. Justice Department to investigate. One week after Mr. Seabrooks was shot, several dozen people gathered at a restaurant owned by one of the officers involved in the shooting and banged and kicked at the security gate.

A coalition of community organizations is calling for federal authorities to investigate the police department in Paterson, New Jersey, after the fatal police shooting of anti-violence advocate Najee Seabrooks.  

Led by the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, the groups sent the U.S. Attorney General’s Office a letter Monday asking for a federal probe, citing an FBI investigation that resulted in eight convictions of city cops as well as pending criminal cases and civil lawsuits accusing Paterson police officers of misconduct.

“Mr. Seabrooks desperately needed and deserved treatment, which was available to him, not a death sentence imposed upon him by PPD,” the letter said.

Seabrooks, a member of a violence intervention group, was fatally shot by a city police officer on March 3 after a five-hour standoff while an emotionally disturbed Seabrooks was barricaded inside his home. A union leader said officers fired their guns after Seabrooks brandished a knife and moved toward police.

The institute’s letter cited dozens of news stories, government reports and a police department audit conducted by city consultants as examples of why a federal probe is needed.

“Residents of Paterson have lived for years under a police department with a history of excessive force and other abuse, all felt disproportionately by Black and Brown residents in one of the most diverse cities in the country,” said the group’s letter.

Hospital asks why crisis team wasn't called

Meanwhile, the top official at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center is questioning the way authorities responded to the 911 call that resulted in the fatal police shooting.

St. Joseph’s President and CEO Kevin Slavin said the hospital has a “highly skilled and trained” intervention team composed of behavioral health professionals to respond to “individuals in crisis.” But Slavin said that group was never contacted during the Seabrooks police standoff.

“We must ask the question – why were we not called?” Slavin said in comments first reported on nj.com. “And, demand that this valuable community resource be used in the future for other individuals in psychiatric crises.”

Attorney General remains mum

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office has revealed few details about the incident and released nothing new in the past five days.

The office said the 911 call that brought the Paterson Police Department’s emergency response team to Seabrooks’ home on March 3 involved “an individual in distress” who barricaded himself inside a bathroom and eventually was shot and killed by officers.

Amid the lack of official information, there has been widespread speculation about what took place. Seabrooks’ death has ignited community outrage, resulting in multiple near-miss confrontations between protesters and police in Paterson last week, including a tense standoff in the rain Friday night outside a restaurant owned by the family of one of the officers involved in the incident.

'Many of us continue to struggle'

Paterson law enforcement officials declined to comment about the concerns raised by the hospital president and the Newark-based social justice group, saying the investigation into Seabrooks’ shooting death is being handled by the Attorney General’s Office.

“As we search for answers on the tragic death of Najee Seabrooks, many of us continue to struggle with what more we could have done so this would not have happened,” said Slavin, the hospital president.

Since 2020, St. Joseph’s has had a partnership with the Paterson Healing Collective, the violence intervention group where Seabrooks worked. Seabrooks initially became involved with the Healing Collective when he was shot in 2021, officials said.

Healing Collective members have said Seabrooks called and texted them during the early stages of the police encounter earlier this month, asking them to help him. The group contends Seabrooks would still be alive if its members had been allowed to intervene.

Paterson Superior Officers police union, Mason Maher, said Seabrooks was wielding at least one knife when he came at them. The Attorney General’s Office has said three knives were recovered at the scene.

Hospital says police know about crisis teams

Slavin’s comments point to what could have been a different type of intervention, one by a hospital crisis outreach team that was deployed 379 times in 2022, according to St. Joseph’s. Hospital officials said they do not keep statistics that would show how many of those cases took place in Paterson or how many times the teams worked with Paterson police officers.

“They’re aware of us, they train with us, they work with us all the time,” St. Joseph’s spokesman Tom Casey said about the Paterson police. “It’s a familiar relationship on both sides.”

Casey said the crisis team has responded to cases in which people in distress had weapons. But those calls are handled in conjunction with local police, he said.

The hospital and Paterson are planning to launch a program later this year that would sent counselors with cops to crisis scenes.

Prosecutor Charges Hawaii Cops w/Intentionally Causing a Car to Crash at High Speed and Refusing to Render Aid to Seriously Injured People. Cops Didn't' Use Lights or Sirens and Conspired in Cover Up

From [HERE] Four Hawaii Police Department Officers have been charged for their involvement — or rather their lack of involvement — in a September 2021 car crash on Oahu that injured six people, two of them severely.

The Department of the Prosecuting Attorney filed felony charges against the officers on Thursday, 19 months after the incident. Prosecutors say the officers chased down a vehicle without using their police cars' lights or sirens, and then leaving the injured behind without helping.

Officer Joshua Nahulu. who prosecutors say was the nearest to the vehicle when it crashed, faces the harshest charge — causing a collision involving death or serious injury, a Class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Officers Erik Smith, Jake Ryan Bartolome and Robert Gus Lewis III face a charge of hindering prosecution, a Class C felony, and misdemeanor conspiracy to hinder prosecution.

According to charging documents, the four officers responded to a noise complaint at a beach park in West Oahu around 3:30 a.m. The officers followed a white sedan out from the park onto Farrington Highway, where they pursued the car at high speeds without employing either sirens or blue lights at any time during the pursuit as required.

The vehicle later crashed on the side of road and five out of six passengers were ejected. All six sustained some level of injury, with the driver suffering a traumatic brain injury. A 14-year-old passenger was initially paralyzed from the waist down.

Prosecutors say the officers then left the scene without rendering aid, and instead met at a nearby school parking lot where they conspired to fake reports that portrayed the crash as a single car incident. The officers later returned to the crash site after dispatch notified them there had been a massive car collision. According to court documents, they then “comported [themselves] as if [they] had no prior knowledge of the facts that gave rise to the collision.”

Prosecutors also say Smith, Bartolome and Lewis later submitted police reports about the incident that merely indicated that they had responded to the event, without acknowledging their presence during the crash.

An investigation, including video from security cameras that captured the chase, and news reports of the crash eventually revealed that the extent of the four officers' involvement.

“Three of the officers had their police powers removed following the crash, and the fourth officer’s police powers will also be restricted. Along with the collision investigation, an internal administrative investigation was initiated and remains open," acting Hawaii Police Chief Keith Horikawa said in a statement.

Thursday’s charges only revolve around injuries to the driver of the sedan, who sued the officers in April 2022. The charges do not address the 14-year-old boy who had been partially paralyzed by the crash, who sued the officers a week after the crash.

‘At Least 10 People Were On Top of Him:’ VA Prosecutor says Unreleased Video Shows 7 Deputies, Along w/Hospital Workers Smother a Handcuffed Black Man to Death as he Was Restrained with Leg Irons’

From [HERE] Three of the 10 people facing murder charges in the death last week of a 28-year-old Black man at a Virginia mental health facility were security guards at the hospital who watched and then participated in the fatal smothering, the prosecutor told CNN Friday.

The victim’s family wants answers as to how a promising musician having what they called a mental health crisis ended with him dying – and why no one stood up for him and kept him from being killed.

The county prosecutor said seven law enforcement deputies, joined by the hospital workers, “smothered him to death” while restraining him.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill said, referring to unreleased video that shows the man’s death.

Baskervill said the hospital security guards passively watched the alleged smothering but eventually joined in and piled on top of the victim along with the deputies.

The local law enforcement officers’ union says they “stand behind” the deputies while an attorney for one of the deputies charged said he looked forward to the full truth being shared in court.

Irvo (pronounced EYE-voh) Otieno was 28. On March 3, Otieno was arrested by Henrico County police who were responding to a report of a possible burglary, according to a police news release. The officers, accompanied by members of the county’s crisis intervention team, placed him under an emergency custody order.

The officers transported him to a hospital where authorities say he assaulted three officers. Police took him to county jail and he was booked.

On March 6, Otieno was taken to a state mental health facility in Dinwiddie County and died during the intake process, according to Baskervill.

“They smothered him to death,” the prosecutor said.

A preliminary report from the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond identified asphyxiation as a cause of death, the commonwealth attorney’s office said in a statement.

Otieno was held on the ground in handcuffs and leg irons for 12 minutes by seven deputies, Baskervill said.

Baskervill said Friday that video of the apparent smothering shows there were hands over Otieno’s mouth, hands on his head and hands holding his braids back.

At the Henrico County jail, just before Otieno’s transfer to Central State Hospital on March 6, he was naked in his cell, with feces all over, according to Baskervill.

She told CNN the video from his cell, which she viewed, shows Otieno was clearly agitated and in distress. CNN has not seen the video.

Otieno was pepper sprayed before five or six Henrico jail deputies entered the cell and tackled him, Baskervill said.

“He’s on the ground underneath them for several minutes there,” she said. “And blows are sustained at the Henrico county jail.”

Asked if Otieno appeared combative, Baskervill said, “I would really characterize his behavior as being distressed, rather than assaultive, combative.”

Later, at Central State Hospital, Otieno was on the ground at one point with at least 10 people on top of him, Baskervill said.

“They’re putting their back into it, leaning down. And this is from head to toe, from his braids at the top of his head, unfortunately, to his toes,” she said.

Baskervill said Otieno was eventually put on his stomach, with the pressure on him continuing, and he died in that position.

Baskervill believes Otieno was dead before a 911 call was even made. Paramedics left and State Police were not called until 7:28 pm, according to Baskervill.

“The delay in contacting proper authorities is inexplicable. Truly inexplicable,” she said.

Who are the people charged in the case?

The seven sheriff’s deputies and three hospital workers have been charged with second-degree murder.

The seven deputies who were charged were identified in Baskervill’s release Tuesday as Randy Joseph Boyer, 57, of Henrico; Dwayne Alan Bramble, 37, of Sandston; Jermaine Lavar Branch, 45, of Henrico; Bradley Thomas Disse, 43, of Henrico; Tabitha Renee Levere, 50, of Henrico; Brandon Edwards Rodgers, 48, of Henrico; and Kaiyell Dajour Sanders, 30, of North Chesterfield.

The Henrico Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4, the local law enforcement officers’ union, issued a statement Tuesday saying they “stand behind” the deputies.

“Policing in America today is difficult, made even more so by the possibility of being criminally charged while performing their duty,” the group said. “The death of Mr. Otieno was tragic, and we express our condolences to his family. We also stand behind the seven accused deputies now charged with murder by the Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Baskervill.”

The hospital workers arrested Thursday were identified as Darian M. Blackwell, 23, of Petersburg; Wavie L. Jones, 34, of Chesterfield; and Sadarius D. Williams, 27, of North Dinwiddie.

There is video footage but it will not be released to the public. CNN requested the footage but was told the material is not subject to mandatory disclosure because the investigation is ongoing.

Otieno’s family has viewed the video provided by prosecutors Thursday and his mother says Otieno was tortured.

“My son was treated like a dog, worse than a dog,” she screamed, angry that no one stopped what led to her son’s death. “We have to do better.”

His older brother, Leon Ochieng, said people should be confident in calling for help when their loved ones are in crisis. He did not believe the people he saw on the video cared about preserving a life.

“What I saw was a lifeless human being without any representation,” Ochieng said, adding that his family is now broken and is calling for more awareness on how to treat those with mental illnesses.

“Can someone explain to me why my brother is not here, right now?” Ochieng said.

Family attorneys say Otieno posed no threat to the deputies.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is working on behalf of the family, said Otieno was not violent or aggressive with the deputies.

“You see in the video he is restrained with handcuffs, he has leg irons on, and you see in the majority of the video that he seems to be in between lifelessness and unconsciousness, but yet you see him being restrained so brutally with a knee on his neck,” Crump said Thursday.

Crump said the video is a “commentary on how inhumane law enforcement officials treat people who are having a mental health crisis as criminals rather than treating them as people who are in need of help.”

Much like the arrest and death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, Otieno was face down and restrained, Crump said.

“Why would anybody not have enough common sense to say we’ve seen this movie before?” he said.

Family attorney Mark Krudys said the deputies had engaged in excessive force.

“His mother was basically crying out for help for her son in a mental health situation. Instead, he was thrust into the criminal justice system, and aggressively treated and treated poorly at the jail,” he said.

The video from the mental health facility shows the charges are appropriate, Krudys said.

“When you see that video … you’re just going to ask yourself, ‘Why?’” he said.

The 10 defendants will appear in court Tuesday before a grand jury, according to online court records. If the case goes to trial and any of them are convicted, the prison sentence for second-degree murder in Virginia is a minimum of five years with a maximum of 40 years.

Crump has called for the US Department of Justice to take part in the investigation.

'Protect Us or Murder Us?' A White DC Park Cop Claims He Was ‘Trapped in a Car’ So He Had to Shoot a Black Teen to Death. Cop Climbed Into the Backseat as 17 Yr Old Slept, Shot Him as He Drove Away

From [HERE] A U.S. Park Police officer fatally shot a 17-year-old Black driver in Northeast Washington on Saturday morning after getting into the car with him, authorities said.

The shooting occurred around 9:30 a.m. on the 300 block of 36th Street NE after the officer climbed into the back seat of the car, which authorities believed was stolen, and the driver began driving away, according to police spokespeople. It is unclear why the officer entered the vehicle.

The incident began when D.C. police received a call about a suspicious vehicle, and officers found the car parked with the engine running, according to a D.C. police spokesman. The driver appeared to be asleep or nodding off, the spokesman said. The officers ran the tags and determined the vehicle was stolen, according to the spokesman, and called for backup.

Two Park Police officers responded to the call near 34th and Baker streets NE, said Park Police spokesman Thomas Twiname. They approached the car, and one of them got into the back seat, at which point the driver appeared to wake up and hit the accelerator, the D.C. police spokesman said.

The officer was “trapped in the vehicle,” Twiname said, and unable to escape. The officer gave commands to stop and then discharged a firearm, Twiname said. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene.

After the driver was shot, the car then crashed into a house, according to the D.C. police spokesman. No one inside the house was injured.

Kenneth Spencer, chairman of the Park Police union, said a weapon was recovered from the vehicle. The D.C. police spokesman also said that a gun was recovered.

The incident is under investigation by D.C. police.

Following the shooting, a woman who identified herself as Martin’s mother was at the scene, being comforted by family members and community activists. “Oh, God,” she said. “You know I am not built for this! Help me God. Why?”

She yelled at police officers present: “You’re supposed to protect us. He was only 17!”

Other family members arrived. A young woman who identified herself as Martin’s girlfriend carried a 5-month-old baby and sobbed loudly. A woman who identified herself as Martin’s sister shouted, “This baby is now going to grow up without a father!”

Nee Nee Taylor, a community activist with Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, a mutual-aid and community defense organization, was at the scene and criticized the shooting. “Why are police officers getting inside of a vehicle?” she asked. “And why didn’t he just get out? There are two doors to the back seat.”

Twiname, the Park Police spokesman, said there is no department policy as to whether an officer can or should get into a car with a suspect. Asked why the officer entered the car’s back seat, Twiname said that is part of the ongoing investigation.

1 Miami Cop Guilty of Misdemeanor Assault after a Gang of Cops Feloniously Kicked a Handcuffed Black Man in the Head at Least 3X and then Attacked Another Black Man who Filmed It

BLACK MAN HAD ALREADY SURRENDERED AMD ASSUMED THE POSITION. From [HERE] A Miami Beach police officer faces sentencing April 21 in connection with the brutal, videotaped beating of a Maryland tourist that captured international attention in 2021.

Kevin Perez, on trial for using excessive force in the incident, was convicted March 8 of simple battery after kicking and punching Dalonta Crudup as he lay face down on the floor of the Royal Palm Hotel with his hands behind his back.

Perez, who has been suspended without pay since the incident, could be sentenced to up to a year in prison. He could have faced five years in prison and a $5,000 fine had he been convicted of an earlier charge of third-degree felony battery. That charge was reduced to simple battery prior to the verdict, after Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Alberto Milian ruled last week that prosecutors had failed to meet the standard for that charge.

During closing arguments, Assistant Miami-Dade State Attorney Joshua Novak said the case was about “the beating of an unarmed, handcuffed Black man,” the Miami Herald reported.

“This was premeditated violence and [Kevin Perez] delivered it on Dalonta Crudup,” Novak told jurors.

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, who initially called the videotaped beating “intolerable, unfathomable and inexcusable,” applauded last week’s ruling.

“Today’s jury verdict finding officer Kevin Perez guilty of battery is a clear statement against the use of excessive force in making an arrest,” she said in a statement released shortly after the verdict.

Perez’s attorney, Robert Buschel, said he plans to file a motion asking the judge to dismiss the verdict before the April 21 sentencing, the Herald reported.

Perez is one of five Miami Beach officers originally charged in the incident, which captured international media attention in July 2021. Officers Javier Serrano, Robert Sabater and David Rivas still face various battery and official misconduct charges. A fifth officer, Sgt. Jose Perez, no relation to Kevin Perez, avoided a felony charge by retiring, the Herald reported.

Surveillance video from the Royal Palm’s hotel lobby shows an officer chase Crudup, now 26, into the Royal Palm lobby in the early morning hours of July 26. As Crudup runs into an elevator, the officer detains him at gunpoint and orders him to lay on the ground with his hands behind his head.

That officer proceeds to handcuff Crudup as 21 other officers swarm the lobby, some of whom hovered over Crudup to help detain him.

Body camera footage shows Kevin Perez kicking Crudup in the head at least three times while he was still on the ground and handcuffed. A second officer also kicked Crudup at least four times before a third then picks up Crudup and drops him on his head.

Dalonta Crudup testified this month in court in his defense.

Bystander Khalid Vaughn, visiting Miami to attend the Rolling Loud music festival, then began recording the incident on his phone.

When officers noticed Vaughn recording, a few turned their attention to him, although he was at least 10 feet away from the arrest. Body camera footage shows Sabatar tackling Vaughn as at least five officers turned to help Sabatar arrest Vaughn. Rivas and Serrano also struck Vaughn in the rib cage area, prosecutors said.

Officers said Vaughn provoked them and refused to follow orders when told to back off. Vaughn denied that statement, saying he was beaten despite backing away from officers when directed to do so.

Body camera footage showed no signs that Vaughn, now 30, interfered with Crudup’s arrest.

“He was within his rights,” Fernandez Rundle said later, explaining that Vaughn violated no laws by recording the incident.

Vaughn sustained cuts on his face and a busted lip, while Crudup suffered broken ribs and a black eye.

Officers said they initially chased Crudup into the hotel because he allegedly struck a bicycle patrol officer near Collins Avenue while driving a scooter recklessly. That officer was taken to a hospital for treatment of leg injuries, police said.

Crudup initially was charged with several counts, including aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer. The charges were later reduced. In return for his testimony, he was granted immunity for his upcoming trial on fleeing and eluding police, the Herald reported.

Bullshit charges against Vaughn of resisting an arrest with violence and impeding a police investigation have been dropped.

To Justify Shooting Tyrea Pryor 15 Times White KS Cops Claimed He 'Brandished a Gun' and 'Had a Shootout w/Them.' But Cops are on Video Saying, “I Don’t See a Pistol” after Shooting Him to Death

Outrageous Force. From [HERE] Video released on Friday by lawyers representing a man shot and killed by Independence police last year captures the gunfire and some confusion among officers afterward about what type of gun the man was thought to be holding. Tyrea M. Pryor, 39, was shot and killed following a police pursuit and crash that ended near the intersection of U.S. 24 and Noland Road on March 11, 2022.

The chase began after police responded to calls about a disturbance at a home in the 800 block of East College Street. Arriving officers saw a white sedan speeding away from the residence and began to pursue.

The video shows the aftermath of the crash as officers walked up to the vehicle and ordered a female passenger to get out. After speaking with Pryor, they shot him multiple times, killing him.

After the shooting, an officer is overheard saying, “I don’t see a pistol.” Authorities previously said the officers shot and killed Pryor when they saw him display an AR-style rifle.

Harry Daniels, an attorney representing Pryor’s family, shared the video with The Star. Daniels said viewing the video confirmed his own suspicions about the case.

“The manner in which Tyrea was killed, ‘Why would he harm to law enforcement?’” he told The Star.

Daniels said the video was “shocking” and condemned local authorities for not filing charges against the officers involved.

“Their conclusion was wrong,” he said. “Mr. Pryor did not shoot a gun.” “He’s disabled, the vehicle’s disabled, rifle’s secured, but then there’s the final act of shooting (Pryor) 15 times… That last puzzle piece don’t fit,” Daniels said. “This is not a case of excessive force, this is a case of outrageous force.”

The Missouri State Highway Patrol investigated the shooting and submitted their findings to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office in June 2022, said Sgt. Bill Lowe, a patrol spokesman.

Mike Mansur, a white spokesman for the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, on Friday said “This is not a case that could be criminally prosecuted. There were a series of ill-advised events that resulted in a terrible loss of life,” Mansur said in an email statement. “After we issue detailed findings, we will respond as appropriate to further inquiries.”

The officers who shot Pryor were identified in the investigators’ report as Jamie Welsh and Hunter Soule. Both are white. The Jackson prosecutor is Jean Peters Baker, a white liberal. [MORE]

A woman said three people were banging on her door. She did not know who they were and said the three people had arrived in a white vehicle. Officers arriving at the home spotted a white vehicle speeding away and began following it. The crash occurred a short time later, police said at the time. The 23-minute dash cam video starts with an Independence patrol car speeding to the scene of the crash.

At the scene, an officer is seen helping a woman out of the car. Another officer approached the car with his weapon drawn. A third officer opens the passenger side door and orders the woman inside to get on the ground. “Why were you running?” an officer asks. She replies: “I don’t know.” The woman says she is injured and lies on the ground. A commotion erupts between Pryor and a fourth officer, who yells, “Don’t move your [expletive] hands.”

Pryor is heard moaning in apparent pain. An officer then yells “He’s got a gun.” Officers open fire, shooting Pryor several times.

Afterwards, officers removed a rifle from the vehicle and place it against a large electronic box. Paramedics and emergency crews arrive to remove Pryor’s body from the vehicle. They pronounced him dead at the scene.

The gun, however, was lawfully possessed and apparently secured in the vehicle the entire time according to Pryor’s family. [in the free range prison the quality of Black “citizenship” is so low that; no matter what the law says, Blacks are prohibited from possessing guns and [MORE]

FAMILY QUESTIONS POLICE ACCOUNT

Questions over Tyrea Pryor’s death consumed his family after the shooting. Daniels said they planned to ask the U.S. Department of Justice to review the shooting and they are planning to file a civil lawsuit on behalf of the family.

“We’re more confused than anything because we keep getting different stories,” Ebony Findley the mother of Pryor’s teen son, who shares his name, said at the time. At first, Findley heard from investigators that Tyrea Pryor had displayed a weapon, she said. Later she was told a shootout had ensued.

“They’re telling us they looked into the car and saw a rifle and then yesterday they said it was a shootout.” “None of it makes sense,” said Crystal Leggs, Tyrea Pryor’s sister. “His body... It was just overkill,” Leggs said. “It was terrible. You can’t even imagine.”

Although Booker Pannell’s Hands Were Empty, Deluded Elk Grove Cops Hallucinate That He Had a Gun and Stood Back Instead of Immediately Arresting Him. Cops Then Fatally Shot Him in the Back as He Fled

REMIXED POLICE VERSION OF THE VIDEO ABOVE INCLUDES 911 CALLS TO INFLUENCE THE VIEWER - BUT IN REAL LIFE COPS DON’T LISTEN TO 911 CALLS, NOR DO THEY ANSWER THEM. PROBABLE CAUSE IS DETERMINED BY WHAT COPS ACTUALLY SEE AND EXPERIENCE IN REAL TIME

From [HERE] Newly released bodycam footage shows that Booker T. Pannell III put his hands up and said, “Please, please, I don’t want to die” before Elk Grove police officers chased him down a hotel hallway and shot him Feb. 21. Pannell was pronounced dead at a hospital later that night. He was a 40 year old Black man. All the cops involved were white.

The Elk Grove Police Department on Friday night released footage from body-worn cameras and a hotel security camera. An investigation into the officers’ use of force is ongoing.

Pannell died during a continued local and national reckoning with policing practices fueled by fatal encounters with law enforcement. Mapping Police Violence and local news coverage show that police killed six people in use of force incidents in Sacramento County last year. Internal and outside investigators have not determined whether officers followed proper protocols the night Pannell died.

According to the video, someone called police Feb. 21 to report a carjacking near Shana Way and Whitelock Parkway. Dispatch received the report at 10:32. An officer went to the house to take a statement from the husband. The husband, a so-called friend of Pannells, told the cops that he made felony threats to kill him and fled with their car. He told the officer, “I thought he was gonna kill me.”

Around 11:40 p.m., the video says, officers went to the Holiday Inn Express on Stockton Boulevard and Laguna Boulevard, right off Highway 99. A hotel employee had reported a disturbance. A very short clip of security footage from the Holiday Inn shows a man in the lobby leaning over the front desk; that footage has no audio. When police arrived, they saw the car that had been reported stolen sitting empty in the Holiday Inn parking lot. They determined Pannell was the man in the lobby.

In the video, four officers walk through the automatic sliding doors of the lobby and three immediately raise their guns. One holsters her weapon and switches to a taser.

Body-worn camera footage shows the officers shouting at Pannell: “Hands up.” He puts his hands up.

Multiple officers then yell, “Get on the ground” multiple times, and one of the officers directs them, “One person talk.”

Although his hands are up, he appears to be surrendering and his hands are empty, the cops nevertheless stand 15-20 feet away from him and fail to approach him to apprehend him - as if they see a gun that is not there. With his hands up the cops did not face an imminent threat to their lives or grievous bodily harm.

A female officer shouts, “You will be tased; get on the ground.” TASER FIRED, THEN SHOTS Multiple officers shout more commands at Pannell. He keeps his hands stiffly raised out in front of him.

Pannell says, “I don’t want to die. Please, please. I don’t want to die. Listen, please. Please.”

In response, the female officer shouts, “Taser, taser, taser,” and deploys it.

The interaction from the moment that the sliding door opened to the moment that the officer deployed her taser lasted 35 seconds. It’s unclear whether the taser actually hit Pannell. In the video, he runs away from the officers and they chase him down a hallway.

An officer fires his weapon five times down the hotel hallway. “Stop moving!” one officer shouts down the hallway. Outside the exit door, which has shattered glass likely caused by the gunfire, a bystander and Pannell are lying on the ground.

Officers shout, “Let me see your hands! Hands!” Pannell’s corpse is lying on the ground, a few feet farther away.

When the officers approach Pannell, they see that he has two gunshot wounds — in the leg and the head.

In an edited video as a male officer holds one of Pannell’s arms, the female officer takes away a gun they claim was Pannell’s but its not clear where the gun was.

The Elk Grove Police Department said it released the [edited] video before the investigation into the incident was concluded “in the interest of transparency with the community we serve.” They published the video on YouTube Friday evening.

[no matter what the law says Blacks are prohibited from possessing guns] $30M Suit says White Culpepper Cops Fatally Shot Ellis Frye w/o Provocation on His Porch. Army Vet Had a Rifle, Posed No Threat

From [HERE] The widow of a Black Culpeper County man fatally shot on Thanksgiving Day 2020 outside their home by a Culpeper sheriff’s deputy has filed a $30 million wrongful death and excessive force civil rights lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Charlottesville. The Black man was an Army veteran and grandfather who worked as a master mechanic, according to his obituary.

Plaintiff Debi Frye entered the complaint Nov. 26, 2022, exactly two years after the death of her husband, 62-year-old Ellis Acy “Buck” Frye Jr., at their home in the 13000 block of Brock Lane. Alexandria attorney Malik N. Drake is representing the Frye estate.

The lawsuit claims the Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office has a history of unreasonable and disparate use of force against Black men.

The suit alleges the willful and wanton killing of Ellis Frye by Sheriff’s Office personnel, and seeks damages for alleged constitutional violations of search and seizure, excessive force and equal protection under the law as well as claims of negligence and wrongful death. Defendants listed in the lawsuit include Culpeper County Sheriff Scott H. Jenkins, Culpeper County, the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors, the commonwealth of Virginia, the Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office and Lt. D. Dorrough.

Culpeper County, the Board of Supervisors and the state filed motions last week to dismiss the complaints against them.

Senior U.S. District Court Norman Moon last week set the matter for a jury trial. Jenkins, Dorrough and CCSO have until March 28 to file their response to the complaint.

In a message Friday, CCSO spokesman Lt. Les Tyler said the agency stands behind the Virginia State Police investigation into Frye’s death and the review of the investigation prepared by the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.

The federal complaint filed by Drake states “(Frye), an African-American man, became agitated because of activities of workers at a neighboring residence.”

Debi Frye, his wife, sensing a possible confrontation between her husband and the workers, called the Sheriff’s Office, the lawsuit states.

Deputies and other CCSO personnel responded, found there was no safety threat and left, the lawsuit states. After law enforcement left, Frye’s daughter called CCSO, according to the complaint, and deputies and other CCSO personnel returned to the home. Upon their arrival, they observed Frye on his porch holding a rifle, the complaint stated. After some time, Frye went into his house. He later returned to the porch. There was no one at else at the residence, according to the complaint.

Sheriff Jenkins was among those responding to the scene, the lawsuit stated.

“After arriving to the Frye residence, CCSO personnel position themselves around the property, with firearms pointed at (Frye),” the complaint stated. “After law enforcement had been at the Frye residence for over 100 minutes, (Frye) stood up and began to walk down from his porch onto the ground below. After taking only a few steps, and without provocation, (Frye) was shot by Dorrough … in the neck and torso.”

Special prosecutor, Goochland County Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Caudill, conducted the review in the case. The report from his office concluded the actions were “reasonable, justified, and supported by the facts and circumstances as they were known … at the time.” The report stated there was no probable cause to believe Dorrough committed any criminal offense in the shooting death of Frye.

Lawsuit cites previous encounters

The civil rights complaint referenced the shooting death of a neighbor, also an African-American Army veteran, a few months after Frye in a separate encounter with the CCSO.

The complaint further referenced a 2018 encounter between CCSO and a white man who reportedly made threats against law enforcement and fired multiple rounds from multiple weapons. CCSO never fired back or used any other force in this incident, according to the complaint.

In alleging excessive force in Frye’s death, the complaint states Dorrough and other members of CCSO brandished firearms at Frye while he sat on his porch and as he descended from his porch.

“Defendants had no reasonable suspicion to believe a crime was afoot at the Frye residence or that probable cause existed to arrest (Frye) for any crime,” the lawsuit states. “By using excessive, and ultimately deadly, force, Defendants treated (Frye) differently than similarly situated white individuals.”

The complaint alleges CCSO failed to follow its use of force policy or didn’t have one, failed to properly train personnel in the reasonable use of force and retained personnel who were known, or should have been known, to have a propensity for using excessive force.

Widow seeks $30 million in damages

The Fryes are seeking damages for sorrow, mental anguish, and solace; reasonably expected losses of Frye’s income and services, protection, and care provided by him, reasonable funeral expenses and punitive damages.

Assistant Virginia Attorney General Calvin Brown filed a March 6 motion to dismiss all claims against Virginia because the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction.

Jeremy Capps, attorney for Culpeper County and the Board of Supervisors, filed to dismiss the lawsuit March 7. The county sheriff is a separate legal entity from Culpeper County and Culpeper County is not employer of the sheriff or his staff, the motion stated.

The county is not responsible for the acts of the sheriff, cannot be held liable and is entitled to sovereign immunity from the wrongful death claim, according to the motion to dismiss.

Eric Allen's Family say a White Mt Juliet Cop Murdered Him, Want Feds Involved. Black Man was a Passenger in a Stopped Vehicle, Unlawfully Ordered Out of Car After the Stop Concluded, Not Under Arrest

From [HERE] The family of a Black man killed by a white Mount Juliet police officer is calling on the Department of Justice to intervene in the case.

Terry Clayton, the attorney for the family of Eric Allen, has contacted the DOJ about the case.

He did that after he said the prosecutor and a grand jury in Wilson County decided last week not to press any criminal charges against the officer who shot and killed the 39-year-old Allen.

It all started with a traffic stop in November caught on body camera video.

A woman was driving and had stopped when the officer approached the vehicle. Allen was the passenger.

Police told them they were speeding, had a headlight out and issues with their tag.

The family wants to see Lo fired and criminally charged. They are also calling to remove police from traffic stops and invest in what they call “community accountable forms of safety.”

“If we stop officers from engaging in a conversation with a passenger who hadn’t done a thing, the only crime he committed was being born Black and driving in Mount Juliet,” Clayton said.

Allen’s mother was at Tuesday’s press conference but was too emotional to speak.

WSMV4 sat down with her earlier this month.

“When they pulled him out of the car, I knew he was already dead. They killed my baby,” Linda Allen said.

The family maintains Allen was unarmed.

Allen was a convicted felon, but Clayton said Allen had no outstanding warrants to his knowledge at the time of the traffic stop.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is still investigating the shooting.

Lo returned to duty with the Mount Juliet Police Department less than a month after the shooting.

Mount Juliet Police sent WSMV4 a statement regarding the incident earlier this month.

The Justice Dept Finds that the Louisville Metro Police Department Routinely Uses Excessive Force and Practices “an Aggressive Style of Policing” Against Law Abiding Black People

From [HERE] The Louisville Metro Police Department routinely uses excessive force and practices “an aggressive style of policing” against Black people, the Justice Department said Wednesday after an investigation launched following the botched raid that killed Breonna Taylor. (Attorney General remarks available here (link is external)).

In its report(link is external), the DOJ had “reasonable cause to believe” that the city government and police department engaged in “a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of their rights under the Constitution and federal law.”

The 90-page report found LMPD:

• Uses excessive force, including unjustified neck restraints and unreasonable use of police dogs and tasers

• Conducts searches based on invalid warrants.

• Unlawfully executes warrants without knocking and announcing.

• Unlawfully stops, searches, detains and arrests people during traffic and pedestrian stops.

• Violates the rights of people engaged in protected speech critical of policing.

• Discriminates against people with behavioral health disabilities while responding to crises.

The scathing assessment paints a shocking portrait of racist and abusive conduct in the Louisville police that harkens to practices more commonly seen in some southern cities during the civil rights era.

Investigators identified a pattern of police leaders in recent years commissioning reports that documented disproportionate violence directed toward African Americans and ignoring the findings or burying the internal reports. The abuses extended to the treatment of the disabled and even sex assault victims.

“Some officers demonstrate disrespect for the people they are sworn to protect. Some officers have videotaped themselves throwing drinks at pedestrians from their cars; insulted people with disabilities; and called Black people ‘monkeys,’ ‘animal,’ and ‘boy.’”

The DOJ said Louisville Metro and LMPD fully cooperated in the investigation and agreed to resolve the department’s findings through a “court-enforceable consent decree with an independent monitor.”